Thank you for your time. {From my email}

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it, " Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown.
Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossingover into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture.... Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said
"What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was the thing I value most," Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. 'Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,' the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. 'Mr.Harold Belser' it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. 'Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life.' A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:"Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most was...my time"Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days
"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said."Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"
---------------------------------------------
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away, think about this.
You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
You mean the world to someone.
If not for you, someone may not be living.
You are special and unique.
When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.
When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.
When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.
Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
Always remember the compliments you received.
Forget about the rude remarks.
Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.
If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

"Thanks for your time"

Bumper cars and lacrosse = Whirlyball

Yesterday afternoon J calls me up to ask me if I wanted to go to play whirlyball in her place that night. She had been offered the ticket free because she is a good member in standing.
I say what is whirlyball, and where is this going to be?
I then said yes, and took the directions down.
I had time to walk home, stopping for a Burger Shack burger along the route. One hour of walking = the fat in a burger shack burger... So it's all good.
I got home, phoned my Mum for her Birthday. Happy Birthday Mum! Then I drove off to play.
I got to the Rink and got cold feet, called J up and she tried to talk me into it... I was stuck in chicken mode, meeting all these new people, playing something I have never played.... I was chicken for about 5 minutes. I reminder myself how brave I have been so far and I walked into the Whirlyball entrance to Rinx. There were a bunch of friendly people there watching the game of whirlyball in progress. I talked to them, I watched, then I called J to tell her I was staying and not to wait up.
I was next to enter the court. With the tips on how to drive the bumper car one handed while trying to scoop up the ball with a scoop shaped racket, I joined the team of red. We battled the team of yellow. You ride around trying to get the ball in your scoop without using your other hand.
You shoot at a square board on one end of the court the same colour as your bumper car. You make 3 points for a bulleye and one point for hitting the board at all. It was a lesson in controlling the car first game, then improving the scooping and ball handling techniques for the subsequent games. Then you go for a drink after the game...

Red Hot night with the Chili Peppers

On Sunday night I got a phone message left by my oldest friend inviting me to the red Hot Chili Peppers concert Tuesday night at the Air Canada centre in TO.
It took me three minutes to think about . I had time to ask advice... But no time to wait for answers. Of course I was going! I met my friend , her husbands friend and his teenager at Gate 1 in the Air Canada centre. Thanks to my friends husband being away on business I got his ticket, poor guy...


I showed 'S' how to take a pic with her cell phone, she took a pic of the stage and emailed it to her hubby across the sea.
I took a few pictures too.
There was an enthusiastic Peppers fan next to me who had been drinkin a lot.... He was very funny and I think I will save that story for another time.
Oh yeah, The Red Hot Chili peppers were great! That band knows how to play! Understatement.
I enjoyed it so much I was dancing half the show. They did a smashing encore on top of a stadium rockin' show.

As you can see we were far from the stage.
Mars Volta, the opening band, on the other hand, was a pile of loud noise on top of loud noise... I could not tell if the singer was male or female, French or English. The guitarist played in both bands. How odd that he plays in a band like Mars Volta that drowns out every sound they make with every other sound they make. Yet he shines with The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But what do I know about music...
I just know I had a great time!

Baby I'm so good to me.

I have not only just bought a cell phone and a watch *shakes her head* I have also just bought two new CD's. Sloan Never Hear The End Of It and Barenaked Ladies Are Me. I am happy with both CD's, I love them equally.
I try to whisper budget in my ear but I think I have gone deaf to my practical side. Well I have resisted buying more shoes this week but not from lack of trying them on. What Barbara needs is a boyfriend who looks like a rock star, only without tattoos, who will remind me to put my wallet away because he'll pay this one... LOL
No, that won't help my spending habit at all. *sigh*
What I really need is that guy, but he's a bit of a nag and won't let me buy things unless I have it in my 5 year budget plan.
No, that would make me really grumpy...
What I really need is to spend time on myself without spending money. Go for walks. Learn a new sport. Meet new people just for the fun of meeting people. Borrow a library book or three.
I just have to avoid large malls, record stores, and guys who look like rock stars but nag like accountants.

My watch stopped

Well my watch stopped so I knew I needed to buy a new one. The thing is, people tell the time by their cell phone these days. I also needed a mp3 player. The thing is, people can download music and listen to it on their cell phones. I did not want a cell phone but I don't have my own private telephone line so.... I bought a Rogers phone yesterday. I have figured out how to download music into it and I have taken a few pictures with it, but I have yet to use it as a phone...
I loaded the CBC Radio3 podcast all about the Polaris nominees (yeah I had to catch up with that, the only time I had was commute time). So there I was listening to my podcast and checking the time and taking a pic of a camera crew from Global on Bloor St. I work right next to MTV on Yonge and they had camera crew out on the street today too.
I guess you see that a lot in Toronto.

Mid week job change

Hmm mid week I started a new job. I like the job, I like the location. I won't say more right now in case it something happens... *knocks on wood*

In other news... I don't have other news. I have yet to make solid weekends plans. Maybe I will go visit my great grandparents cemetery, that would be in Scotland.... Scotland Ontario!

Weekend weeds.

I am trying not to let this cold I have slow me down. Yesterday I did some weeding. I weeded half the garden 'til the bees told me that I better not be pulling out more of their favorite flowers... They didn't quite put it in those words but I got the message.

My next task was to mow the lawn. I found the mower, then I was looking for the extention cord... Could not find one. In fact the mower had no cord. Duh! I have never used a power mower before. I did not even know how to start it. I asked the kids and they did not know how to start it either. I was not going to let a silly mower that I knew had to work somehow, stop me. A red button on the side was my first clue. Too bad I had not found it before I pulled the rip cord 100 times... Push the red button 3 times then pull the cord. Got it! One more task down.

Next little thing was to drive M to his soccer finals. I was not sure that there would be parking so I dropped him off with no promise to watch the game, but I found parking and witnessed the final match. Good job M! It's not easy being goal keeper. His mother , my sister soon joined me in watching the match. She had been off on a wine tasting tour of Niagara all day. I am happy she had the chance to do that.

Today on my agenda... Take M bowling then go visit my grandparents grave in Newmarket... Sounds like fun eh?


Update: I not only found Newmarket (after almost taking a few wrong turns) I found my grandparents headstone right where my father said it would be. I had a nice conversation with them, then I took the long way back and enjoyed the scenic route along Bayview.

Just some pictures.

This Park to be turned into walk of fame park?











Sharon Stone at the film fest.



Protesters at the film fest who lost money in the stock market.
Don't they know that is a form of gambling?
You never know when you will need a pic of the CN Tower...

I'm fine don't worry about me Mum.

Yesterdays news about the shooting at Dawson was shocking and sad. I first saw the sketchy details of this event on Barbara B's blog. Then I went to the CBC site to confirm and turned on the radio to confirm that because it's so unbelievable. I used to live on that same street just two blocks east of there and work just one block west of Dawson on Green Ave.
I have seen all the emergency services people do mock exercises in that very place to prepare for emergencies. Well it may be to early to say but I think the police and urgence sante did a very good job in those conditions yesterday. I have to say but the lessons learned from The Ecole Polytec. tragedy may have saved lives in this case.

I can't believe I complained about my week.
So many in Montreal and elsewhere are having a much harder time.
I have work this afternoon and tomorrow so things are looking even better for me.
I hear the weekend will be good weather so I hope that your plans and my plans include enjoying that.
Have a good one.

being positive
Barbara

Not a good week so far

It sucks to be me this week.

I have no work so far this week. That's the downside of being a temp.
Lots of job searching but no word yet from prospective employers.
My tire was very low on air (again)this morning and I had to get that fixed ASAP.
I forgot my wallet when I was over at the tire place. Lucky for me he fixed it and let me drive home to get my wallet.
Ok, I can't feel very sorry for myself I have too many blessings.
A roof over my head and food in the fridge plus some gas in the car and some money in the bank.
The biggest blessing is my family. Another wonderful blessing are my friends. I miss the ones in Montreal and I am thankful for the ones on the net and I am looking forward to meeting the ones I have yet to make in Toronto.


So don't feel sorry for me, that's a waste of time.
:-)

Blog dating

As a blogger to fellow bloggers, do you think this really works?
From the Toronto star an article about blog dating.
If you have heard about any successful matches started this way let me know and maybe I'll try it.

How was your Friday?

How was your Friday?
I wanted to drive downtown and find fun and or trouble. Well the plan got changed by a freakish rainstorm that made me change my mind about driving in the torrential hailing mess just as I was leaving work. I took an alternate route and left my car at home. Subway to downtown is a better solution. It was only raining in the northern part of Toronto for some reason so any plans in the downtown area were unaffected.

I was looking for signs (from God I guess) as to where to go. I was thinking I'll get off at the Queens St. station but I got of at Bloor instead.

There were some crews setting up for film fest events going on near the Bloor station but it did not interest me. I started walking... I walked south, then I walked west, then south, then west, until I got to Queen St. I was looking for something to do on Queen. The street has a ton of restaurants and shops. Well I reached a point where the street was blocked off to cars. I went to see what was happening. Hmmm STAR, City TV, and MUCH have set up an event with a red carpet and a stage in front of their building.
I saw flyerman there giving out flyers on the street promoting his own thing. He had a leather jacket that lights up as you can see in the first picture. Interesting character that seems to be 'known' in Toronto.
In the center of the action there were lights, cameras, crews and Terry David Mulligan...(you know the guy that did Good Rockin' Tonight on the CBC before there was MUCH.)

It was a star schmooze special!
Well, I had nothing better to do so I stayed to watch the action.

I observed how many people it takes to get a little red carpet special on the air. Quite a number. Hundreds, if you include all the security, Police, Press who showed up and got in front of me.... buggers. I got there before they did but they got all the choice spots to set up their cameras. They kept getting in my frame. My camera had low battery status so I could not take time to prep a shot. I had to turn the camera on then take the shot before the power was too low. It worked for over a dozen lousy shots. So much for getting Samuel L Jackson in the frame... In this picture here there is Terry David Mulligan talking to Eugene Levy way in the background then just in front of my there is a press guy and his camera man interviewing who knows who. If anyone can tell me who the subject is and who the TV press guy with an eye patch is then I thank you for filling me in...
Yeah I know. My photos suck. It's the experience of being there in amongst the action that made the night memorable. I did see Sook-Yin Lee of CBC Radio One looking very beautiful is a Versace gown. She was promoting that movie everyone is blogging about ... Shortbus.
See what I mean about the press getting in my way?

I am not a celebrity expert so I will end the is blog post by saying I did not stick around all night to see the bigger stars because they are just people... very late people. I hate it when people are late.

What are the weekend plans?

I have Friday night off and I am just going to head downtown after work (all by myself) and just find trouble or fun whatever comes first...

Well Sat. night I'm going with my sister to see this funny guy.
Dave Merheje Comedy
September, 9 2006 - 8:30P at
Fiddlers Green

Sunday my parents will be at my other sister's in Burlington and we will meet them there. Yeah! I think that will be the highlight of my weekend!

I was not tagged and I won't tag you but you can copy and paste if you want to try it.

I borrowed this from Mellowlees blog


1... Things that scare me
People that jump out of nowhere and go BOO! What's wrong with those people?
2...People who make me laugh
My family. Rick Mercer. Jian Ghomeshi and gang. All my blogger buddies. Colin Mochrie
and I guess Jon Stewart too.
3...Things I hate the most
Criminals and anyone who makes or sells weapons.
4...Things I don't understand
War
5...Things I'm doing right now
Listening to the radio, blogging, drinking water and thinking.
6...Things I want to do before I die
Travel, love, laugh a great deal and make a positive difference in someone's life.
7... Things I can do
I can adapt. I can find the good in things. I can smile. I can wrangle audiences if given a chance.
8... Ways to describe my personality
Self absorbed but kind. Patient. Calm. Serious yet funny (funny odd and funny haha)
9... Things I can't do
Play music, I can barely read music.
10...Things I think you should listen to
The laughter of children.
11...Things you should never(have to) listen to
High piercing screams of pain and terror.
12...Things I'd like to learn
Maybe to read and play music better.
13...Favorite foods
Sushi, spicy foods of all kinds, and my dads Irish stew...
14...Beverages I drink regularly
Coffee, water and tea.
15...Shows I watched as a kid
As a young kid? Mr. Dressup and Friendly Giant, as an older kid Star Trek, Gilligans Island and Fantasy Island. Any show with a cute hero in it....

A post to your health!

Hello world!

I am sure you can't wait to hear about my mall experiences. I have been visiting a lot of malls this weekend with my sister and her kids. It's back to school clothes shopping we go. Oh yeah.
I even visited sports check with nephew. He had to get new hockey skates and new hockey gloves. His mother was not there so he chose pretty expensive skates. I am a rookie at this so I can't be blamed. When his Mom arrived to pay the bill I got out of there fast and took off to the food court to have what is not available in Quebec... Arbeys! Roast beef with cheddar and curly fries. We used to have that in a few Montreal malls but they went under one by one. I sat in front of a fountain at the Yorkdale mall and enjoyed that saucy sandwich while watching little boys try to play in the fountain. There dads would not let them... My sister found me there after paying for the $$ skates. :-) No blame was laid.

Did I tell you I went to see Lord Or The Rings on Saturday? It was fantastic! I loved it! The kids loved it! The stage production was amazing. I hear it's the last weekend for the play. I am so glad we did not miss it! I would pay just to ride on the revolving stage. It's like an amusment park ride. All stage parts move around, up and down, in pieces, or together. It was so cool!

I hold my bottle of water and propose a toast. Here is to Toronto, a world class city! May she find a place to put her garbage, and may she keep her older buildings restored to new use and may she solve her poverty, lack of affordable housing, and crime problems and may I see you visit her and me in the near future.

I propose another toast to your health as well! Cheers!

Vote for George Stroumboulopoulos!

Vote Here
The Gemini nominations are coming up. You can vote to decide who will be nominated in the Viewers choice awards for lifestyle host. There are some good choices... But I am only giving you the single link. Use the link as much as you need, with as many email addresses and postal codes as you need and tell as many friends as you can think of to tell.
Cheers!

Reposting this post now because there is very little time left to get in your votes!
The Winner of the Viewers' Choice Award will be announced during the 21st Annual Gemini Awards broadcast on Global - November 4th, 2006.