niagara-on-the-lake

Today's picture was taken during our trip to Port Elgin with friends. I am sure the people in the store thought I was very strange when I posed for this picture, but how could I resist?

Had fun at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Every year, my mom-in-law is kind enough to take Jeff and me to Shawfest...this year we saw The Shop At Sly Corner. A bit slow at first, but I quite enjoyed the last half. Great acting! Earlier in the day, we went to Niagara Falls and did the Maid of the Mist thing, crowding onto a ferry boat with about a hundred people clad in the thin plastic rain ponchos (these are passed out to everyone ahead of time). The boat chugs out to the Falls, where we are buffeted about by the churning water and soaked by heavy mist (more like rain, actually, but they probably wouldn't attract as many tourists with a boat ride called "Maid of the Rain"). Great fun! And the water cool-down was especially welcome that day, which was sweltering. My dad takes friends and relatives to the Falls whenever they come visit from Japan...he estimates he's been on the Maid of the Mist about 46 times. Went to the Fudge Factory on Queen Street and bought four different kinds, yum.

I was pleased to see that my cycling buddy, Dave Goulden, posted on the blatherchat from a cyber cafe in Halifax! Very cool! I am ashamed to admit I did not go cycling this week. I did aerobics instead...I'm starting to attend the" advanced" classes, which are way fun but pretty gruelling - routine is basically a warm-up, cardio step aerobics, hand weight exercises, ab exercises (abdominal curls, push-ups, etc.), then cool-down. I don't understand how those instructors can keep talking in a normal voice whilst doing abdominal exercises that have the rest of us groaning in agony. I always come out of class feeling great but pretty wobbly. :-) If I'm feeling especially virtuous (or if I want to wait for the lines for the showers to die down a bit), I'll go to the weight room to work out some more. You may think all this would mean I'm incredibly fit right now, but that is sadly not true. When Jeff and I went cycling at the cottage a couple weeks ago, I still couldn't make it up some of the hills and had to walk my bike up while Jeff waited for me. :-(

Had a productive practice with Allison and Jodi last night. Ran through our Contata concert set, which is tentatively:

Battle On! (Xena song)

Homecoming (based on Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Rocket Man")

Another Story (relatively new song by Allison and me)

Secret Rose (we're hoping to do this one with Mark Osier)

A new song as yet untitled

Monday (new song by Allison, almost always makes me teary-eyed...summarizes a great deal of how I feel about filk and friendships and having to say good-bye to people at the end of conventions)

The Truth Is Out There (X-Files song)

I'm sort of nervous about Homecoming, in which I fingerpick guitar throughout; I still feel relatively new at this "playing guitar in concert" thing. Flute is much easier! :-)
I also still find it odd that I'm actually starting to sing with the group. I remember swearing never ever to sing in public in the early UT days. Allison and Jodi, though, have been so encouraging and supportive that I find myself trying things that I never would have conceived of trying before I hooked up with them. They'll never get me to sing lead, though (Debbie says stubbornly). :-)

Going out with my friend Cathy tonight; we're seeing the movie Mulan. Rand's coming to visit tomorrow. Have a great weekend, everyone!

rand visit

Internet Explorer definitely IS slower than Netscape. I'm using both browsers right now, still
comparing. I'm partial to Netscape because Eli works on it :-), but I'll probably use both
to check my website HTML.

Went to see Mulan on Friday with Cathy. Really enjoyed this movie! Wasn't so keen on the music
(like the music in Little Mermaid way better, for instance), but I loved the characters and
the animation. The Asian characters were really well-drawn...usually they end up very
stereotypical-looking in animated movies.

Rand came to visit on Saturday, which was fun. He, Jodi, Allison and I went out for dinner at
The Friendly Greek in Richmond Hill and then hung out at Jodi's for a while afterwards.

I'm trying out the new version of BBEdit. Great stuff! I think I'm going to use it as my
HTML text editor from now on (I've been using PageSpinner up to now). Very handy since I
used the old BBEdit to create issues of Inklings, so now I don't have to open up as many
applications (I almost -always- multitask, you see :-)).

sara and annie

Had dinner with my sister and her family last night. Annie knows my name now! She calls
me "Deebee". Sara and I were playing chase in the living room and Annie toddled after me,
yelling my name. We had a bubble-blowing session in the backyard after dinner, and I got
bubblestuff all over my skirt and hands and arms. After that, Sara wanted to do crafts
with me, and she showed me how to make a popsicle stick flower. Annie wanted me to read
a picture book to her, and crawled into my lap after handing me the book while Sara
tugged on my sleeve, saying, "Auntie Debbie, come play with me!" Eeek, major guiltfest.

Fell asleep on the subway home; being an aunt is exhausting sometimes! :-) I don't know
how you parents can handle it.

Today's Site: The Big Network...
keep informed of all the important holidays! Today, for instance, is Elvis Presley Boulevard Day.

canada day

Happy Canada Day!!! Toronto has a bunch of events going on all day. I vowed to work for most of the day, but I might go check out the festivities at Harbourfront or
Nathan Phillips Square at lunchtime. More later.

[2:30 pm update] Walked to Nathan Phillips Square for a hamburger, heard some music and a mediocre comedian, ate an icecream bar that melted more quickly than I could eat it, got my free Canadian flag, checked out the facepainting booth (but the lineup was too long). On the way home, noticed stuff going on at the Campbell House (historic house at University and Queen), discovered the Festival of Celtic Culture was going on! Checked out the booths but didn't buy anything (unfortunately I was too full from my hamburger to sample from the pastry table), listened to a Celtic group perform out on the grass.

weekend

Jodi's sick :(, so no UT practice tonight. Jeff and I are going to the cottage tonight, back on Sunday (I feel entitled to take Friday off since I worked Wednesday). I hope everyone has
a great weekend!