New Blog!

I have made a move from Blogger to Wordpress, which is hopefully a last and final move.

Lots of pluses over there - able to migrate both of my old blogs to the new site so everything is one place (all the way from 2006!), cleaner design, more of my own design than just a template, more features, etc...

So hopefully you'll check out the new blog and say hi! You can find it at:

http://ericswanderings.wordpress.com/

I'll be posting over there from here on in.

Toronto Island

I'm a little behind on posting this but about a month ago we headed over to Toronto Island for the day with some friends of ours, taking advantage of some smoking warm weather.

A short ferry ride later we were picnicking like we were at some secluded park instead of in the city. It's a beautiful spot with a great vantage of the city, a quick reprieve from big city life.



It was a nice day full of friends.


A water park gave us some reprieve from the heat. As soon as we put Daija down her feet were in motion and she was tearing through the water with absolutely no fear! She loved it.



We hit the model farm where the little buddies checked out the horses, the pigs, and many other animals.


We passed on the clothing optional beach though....

And after a long day in the sun we arrived home happy, burnt and tired.

G20

Next weekend Toronto descends into controlled chaos as the G20 world leaders arrive to ... well, we're not sure what they're going to do but it will likely involve a lot of talking... something I'm sure they had to do in person.... in downtown Toronto. I'm pretty sure it was the most logical place to meet.

In fact, the build-up to the meeting only proves that downtown Toronto was the most illogical choice for the meeting. Not that Harper cares one wit. The fence around downtown Toronto is up. Cell phones are ready to be jammed. Fake lakes have been built to highlight the best things about Ontario (which is clearly our fake lakes and Muskoka chairs...) While sitting around the fake lake, reporters will be wined and dined at no cost to them. Garbage cans, bus shelters, and mail boxes and anything that might hinder cops beating down protesters have been removed. Now, trees are being removed because protesters might rip them out and rush the meetings with a tree... Speaking of protesters, sound cannons have been bought and laid beside the normal tasers, tear gas and billy clubs. In light of this, businesses are shutting down. UofT has decided to close its doors and move all the students out of the area, including dorm students. Baseball games are cancelled, CN Tower closed, shows cancelled, festivals pushed out or in danger, epic gridlock, etc... etc...

I tell you, this all seems perfectly sane.

Except, it doesn't. And all at the price tag of an estimated $2 billion dollars which, for some reason, is far more than any other summit and is being called "the most expensive three days in Canada's history".

All for what? To market Canada? To show we have money to spend? To talk about economics and climate change while taking Lear jets and consuming mass amounts of just about everything possible? As some have said, G20 has never been more than "a really expensive dinner party".

I would love to get down there and check it out but to get inside the security gates I need a good reason... How does, "Because I'm paying for it" sound?

365 Days Later

When we first moved to Toronto (a year ago today!), we moved into our house pretty much site unseen. We saw a few pictures but they were in the middle of renovating so it was hard to see what it actually looked like and a friend went and saw it for us. We thought it would do the trick and it was a decent deal but the one thing we wanted fixed before we moved in was the yard - it was a mess! Actually, I don't think 'mess' quite describes the disaster zone it was at the time.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen last summer so this summer we've been determined to have a yard we can enjoy and where Daija can plan. We've been working on it and now, 365 days later, we have a yard!

This is what it looked like to begin with (and this was already after we cleaned up all the junk back there...)

Nolana spent countless hours out there yanking weeds and tilling the soil and often Daija was out there helping.

Daija would collect the rocks, play with the worms so they didn't get lonely and keep Mommy company. Some of the time Daija wasn't so much 'helping' as just rolling around in the dirt...

Eventually, we got it to the point where it looked like this.

We sectioned off the one side for a little vegetable garden where Nolana is growing a few varieties of tomatoes, lettuce, aragula, some other salad greens, cucumber, beans, zucchini, sweet peppers and some snow peas that aren't doing so good at this point.


Daija loves being able to go out and help water the plants with her little watering can. Sometimes Mommy likes to be able to go out and water Daija....

Yesterday, I went and picked up a truckload of sod and dirt and Nolana and I got it all laid down. Now we have a yard!

While it's nothing fancy, we can now spend some summer evenings out there BBQing. Daija can run around and play (we're hoping to get a little sandbox) and it all feels just a little nicer than before. It only took us a year....

"Can Daija come out and play?"

This weekend I was home alone with Daija as Nolana was away for the weekend at a ladies retreat. Saturday evening as I was preparing dinner, I heard the doorbell ring. Daija freaked out (she has a thing for doorbells...) and I wondered who in the world it could be; I wasn't expecting anyone. Must be a salesman or someone looking for donations I thought.

I opened the door and there stood the 8 year old boy who lives across from us. "Can Daija come out and play", he said. I kid you not.

It's pretty cute, he just loves her. And Daija thinks he's pretty cool too. He rides his bike around and she comes in after being out there with him asking me for a bike (she can sign both 'want' and 'bike').

I felt bad having to tell him that Daija couldn't come out right then because we were going to eat. I definitely felt way older than I am - kind of like the mom in the cartoon. I'm too young (and Daija's too young!) to be answering the door to my child's friends, asking if Daija can come out and play!

* Come to think of it, the boy kind of looks like the one in the picture too!

Procrastination

A few random links that I've come across and feel like sharing.

Awesome cartoon from Matt Bors. I especially love the spill/not a spill. I think we're a little past calling it a spill.... time to think of something a little more accurate.

This month the first World Cup in Africa's history comes to South Africa. It's going to be crazy. Want to know how much African's love football? Watch this.

" The African Game" -- Documentary Film Screener from REDD Kat Pictures on Vimeo.

I remember being in Ethiopia and walking into the cafe/bar next door to our apartment when the Arsenal games were on. The place was packed and every eye was glued to the TV; the place would explode when they scored. (H/T to Africa is a Country)

I'm a bit of map lover. I like scoping out surroundings, plotting out locations, trying to remember every country in the world and being able to place it on a map.... that kind of thing. It's a disease. Which is what makes this link so cool. 10 Greatest Maps that Changed the World.

Ever thought of buying a prostitute? No really, some NGO's, churches, random white dudes out there seem to think this is a valid way of helping out. Sounds good in theory but check out this article which succinctly states why it's not at all a good idea. Lesson of the story: Good intentions are not enough.

Speaking of good intentions that ended up with less than savory outcomes, I am reminded of this cartoon: