A Week for Saying Goodbye

I started the week saying goodbye to Sumin. We have been George Bacon for the last two years. Let me explain. Sumin and I have shared a homeroom class at Blue Willow P.S. for the last two years. Her last name is George, my last name is Bacon, put it together and what do you get? You get George Bacon! We called the kids George Bacon and we generally had fun confusing other people in the school. The first year we put up little signs that said "Who is George Bacon?" Sumin is off to Mexico to teach - I'm going to miss her!















For the last three and a half years at church I've been one of the leaders of the youth program. In this picture are four of the girls and one of the other adult leaders. Since we're moving to Whitby we'll be going to a different church building and I was therefore released from my duties. I'm going to miss the girls, but hopefully they'll all keep in touch - email is such a great thing!















This is a picture of my friend Roslynn. She is another teacher from Blue Willow P.S. She and I met three years ago when we were both new to Blue Willow. I taught her grade 4/5 class music. Roslynn is a beautiful person inside and out and she is embarking on a teaching adventure just like Sumin. Roslynn is going to be teaching in Dubai for the next two years.















The last goodbye of the week was the Treagars. Becky and Seth moved into the ward a year after we did. They are our LOST buddies. They are from Arizona and are heading back - Seth is going back to school to get his M.B.A. Below is Colton - their one year old. We've had lots of fun hanging out with them.
















I think I'm finished saying goodbye for a little while, unless of course you count saying goodbye to Ken tomorrow morning at the train station... well, that's another story.

The road leads to Whitby.

Can you see the building for the trees? This is going to be our happy home for the next year. Hopefully we'll actually be spending more time there than on the 401!

The building is almost 40 years old but very well maintained. There are a number of older tenants in the building and consequently it is very, very quiet.

We'll be squishing back into a one bedroom apartment but it will be great. Our apartment is on the main floor and we actually have a side door to a little patch of green space! Perhaps we can even plant a flower or two in the spring.

The road to somewhere?

So where are we? It's July 21st - Harry Potter Day. (We've already read ten chapters) Yesterday was an interesting day. Ken had the day off and I completed the last day of the second week of summer school. Ken picked me up after school and we drove to Uxbridge to check out some apartments.

Plan A - well forget plan a, Plan B was get transferred and live somewhere like Port Perry. I decided not to transfer so we thought that Uxbridge (Plan C) sounded like the next best option. That was until yesterday. You wouldn't think that after paying $900 a month for a palatial apartment in Toronto you'd be expected to pay $800 a month for a tiny hole in the ground in Uxbridge? At least I wasn't prepared for the two apartments we looked at. The second (or rather second and third) were two apartments above a store. I figured it might not be our first choice but it might not be so bad, but I just can't see myself in either of the apartments.

That's when Plan D (!) started to form. We headed from Uxbridge to Lindsay to see how long it would take to drive to Oshawa. It took about 45 minutes using the 35 and the 401. Not too bad really. What about Oshawa to Woodbridge? Well if there's no traffic it will take about 45 minutes. (No laughing allowed, I'm too fragile)

Hopefully in another week or two we won't be homeless and we'll be able to embark on the next great adventure - moving!

Graduation Day

Today was a beautiful day. The weather was beautiful, Ken was beautiful, the ceremony was beautiful! It really was a lovely convocation ceremony. The graduates were all encouraged to think about how they could give to their communities, to not take for granted the level of education they had attained or the wonderful country that they live in. We finished off the day with a beautiful BBQ graciously hosted by my parents, featuring the beautiful chef Andrew.

A Midland Adventure - Chasing a Sunset

Ken wanted to see the sun set in Lake Huron, so we thought perhaps we would drive to Kincardine after we had finished helping his parents move. After saying goodbye to his Mom around 5:30pm on the side of highway 12 near Coldwater, we decided that Kincardine was too far. Instead we settled upon Midland.

After finding somewhere to stay we wanted to find something to eat and then watch the sunset. We drove down to the water and it just wasn't right. The trees were in the wrong place - directly between the water and the sun. Ken wouldn't get to see the sun set into the water. Resigned to this fact we decided to eat at the only restaurant beside the water but the hour wait for food sent us in search of an alternate location.

This is a picture of the largest outdoor mural. The mural depicts a Wendat man speaking with a Jesuit priest. I took this picture while standing in front of the restaurant we didn't eat at.















We got back into the car with food being the goal. However, once we started driving we decided that we could wait to eat, and we began chasing the sun. We kept driving north and west. We found water in several places, but the sun wasn't in the right place. Finally when we were about to give up we found it. A rocky little bit of beach looking westward. We got there just in time to see the sun sink into the water.





































































Just before the sun sank from view another car drove up interrupting our solitude. Out came a man and a guitar. He sat down and played and to our happy surprise he was great. I snuck a picture of him as we were walking back to the car. Our own private sunset complete with a serenade!

Moving Day

Codrington has been Ken's parent's home for the last thirty years. You can imagine then, that this past weekend which saw the completion of their move to Manitoulin Island was bitter-sweet. This is the house that they lived in for the past nine years. Ken and I drove up on Friday to help as much as we could.















This is the back of the house. The smaller building to the right is the garage that was built within the last year.















It's difficult to tell but this is the garden. When Ken said that his parents had a garden in their backyard I had a city-girl picture in my head. Over the years they grew many different things, among them: raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, corn, potatoes, squash, peppers, onion.




















This is the tool shed. It is actually more like a large tool house. It's hard to have perspective when there is none but the "tool shed" is the size of a small bedroom. Konrad called it Grandpa's Cottage.





















Last but not least, the day before the move Jen drove out with Konrad and Anders. We all went to dinner and visited. This picture was taken back behind the restaurant in Brighton.

An Interesting Tradition

I'd heard the stories, but seeing the poor innocent toilet surrounded by gun-toting hooligans is perhaps more reality then I bargained for.

My understanding is this - on Boxing Day the McCartneys would shoot a toilet.

Upon further investigation (I asked Ken) this only happened twice.

Little Ken

Finding old pictures is fun! It was fun for me to discover baby pictures of Ken. I suppose this picture was taken in late January or early February of 1979.





















Notice the hairline - see any similarities? I love the dirt and tomatoes!

















Isn't the fish so cute? I wish I knew the story behind this picture of Ken and Laura.





















This is by far my favourite photo of Kenny! I'm assuming this is a kindergarten picture. Isn't he just adorable!