niecevisit

Went to my sister's place last night for dinner, and she showed me an advance copy of her newest book, I'd Know You Anywhere (Annick Press, text by Hazel Hutchins, illustrations by Ruth Ohi), which comes out this fall.

Annie was the model for the little boy, and Kaarel posed as the model of the father. She changed the facial features, of course, but you can still still elements of their expressions in her drawings. It's so wonderful to flip through the pages and see Annie's face peering out at me everywhere! Here's an example of the original photo where Ruth had Annie and Kaarel pose:





And here's the resulting illustration:





I have such a cool sister! Here's a picture of her from last night:





She hates having her photo taken, so I generally have to either take stealth photos, or so many in a row that she can't possible hide from all of them. I chose the latter route last night.

After dinner, Jeff and I put Sara and Annie to bed. The current ritual is for us all to pile on top of Annie's bed for bedtime story reading. While Jeff and Sara were talking, Annie started reading a picture book to me. She just started reading on her own within the past few months; I get such a thrill out of hearing her sounding out words herself.

It's hard for me to concentrate on her reading as she sits cross-legged beside me on the bed, though; I just want to hug her all the time, and kiss her head over and over. When she was younger, she used to let me cuddle her as much as I wanted but now that she's getting older, she's mastered the trick of making her body ram-rod straight when I hug her, so that she slides out of my arms. Triumphant in her escape, she giggles and runs away.

Sometimes, though, she'll clamber into my lap and lean against me. I hug her very gently, feeling as though I'm trying not to scare away a small bird that has hopped up to take food from my hand. Those are the kind of moments I treasure most.

I am crazy about those girls. :-)





Thanks to Margaret Bumby for letting me know that the name of the guy with the drum is David Rozian (also known as "Davroz" in techie circles). Supposedly he makes a great chocolate chip and cinnamon cookie. :-)

A couple of you have asked about Urban Tapestry's Relay For Life gig this Friday (a Canadian Cancer Society charity event). We're going to be performing from 9:15-10 pm at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough. Here's the full entertainment line-up for the event that evening:

7-Jun RELAY FOR LIFE
6:30 -7:00 Warmup
7 - 7:30 Opening ceremonies
7:30 - 8:15 Salome Bey
8:15 -8:30 Dance
8:30 - 9:00 Luck Fool
9:00 - 9:15 Comedian
9:15 - 10:00 Urban Tapestry
10 - 10:40 Luminary Ceremony
10:40 - 11:30 Beautiful 2000
11:30 DJ

Here's our tentative playlist, which will likely change during the performance depending on the audience and the timing (we've been warned that we may have our performance slot expanded or shrunk by 10 minutes):

Cuz He's A Guy
This Island Earth
Alien Jellyfish
Marvin
Library Boy
I'm A Believer
Friendship Song
Technonerdboy
Another Story
70s Song
(I Want To Believe)) -- may cut this
Neurotic Love Song
Twinkle In His Eye
Viewmaster
Hockey Monkey

We suspect the venue will be very casual, with people talking and walking around while we're playing, with the main focus being on the relay itself.