January 23, 2007 by Gail
I took the older three kids on Sunday to Mike and Tosca’s place so they — and Kermit — could meet baby Parker and Darcy the dog. Parker was born on August 23, the last time I was in Vancouver — actually, the day I flew in. I got to see his debut, the day he arrived home from the hospital and two days after he was born, and boy has he ever grown! At 19lbs and five months old, he’s a bouncing, happy baby cutting his very first tooth.
More photos of Parker and the Ms after the cut:
Posted in Family, The Ms | 1 Comment
January 23, 2007 by Gail
I just finished Darren Barefoot’s blogging survey for his talk at Northern Voice in Vancouver next month:
Why do you blog? Why do I blog? Why does anybody? As the medium enters its pubescence, it’s a question that I wonder about all the time. I’ve talked about it with a lot of different bloggers, and everyone offers a different reason.
In February, I’m giving a talk called “Why We Blog” at Northern Voice here in Vancouver. In preparation, I’m launching this ad hoc survey to gather more opinions and voices from the blogosphere.
The survey is 16 questions, and hopefully won’t take you more than 10 minutes. I really appreciate the time you might take to complete it. As a token of that appreciation, I’m giving away a few prizes:
- One randomly-selected person who completes the survey will win an iPod Shuffle.
- Another randomly-selected survey completer will win two Lonely Planet books–Micronations and Experimental Travel
- I obviously want to promote the survey, so I’m also giving away one CAN $50 Amazon or iTunes gift certificate to a randomly-selected person who blogs about it. Just link to http://www.whydoyoublog.com and you’re qualified to win.
A quick disclosure and disclaimer: For my day job, I’m a partner at Capulet Communications, a company that does a lot of online marketing. While this survey might informally inform (heh) my work there, it’s not in any way associated with Capulet or our clients. I’m passionate about the online world, which is why the topic is of both personal and professional interest.
For something like this where I write more than a sentence or two in an open comment field, I normally take a copy of my answers — but I didn’t this time, for some reason.
This website has served so many purposes since its inception nearly five years ago that it’s taken on a life of its own. There is a question in Darren’s survey that asks if I would like more readers, and I said yes, but not so much for people to read my writing for its own sake, but to raise awareness about cancer issues, terminal illness, and other major life events. And to an equal, if not greater extent, I hope people get inspired to enrich their lives — to go flying, take photographs, travel and see places for themselves, write, and love deeply.
Technorati tags: metablogging, Darren Barefoot, survey
Posted in gailatlarge.com | 4 Comments
January 22, 2007 by Gail
So, I’m living proof that one can take the red-eye from Vancouver (11:30pm, the last flight of the day), arrive at Toronto Pearson, have a quick face and teeth wash, take the Airport Rocket (192) to Kipling, ride the subway to the office, change, and be on time for work at 9 o’clock.
Although, I don’t recommend such an itinerary if one cannot sleep on an airplane or has more than carry-on baggage*.
I’m trying to stay awake so I can stick with a sleeping routine that doesn’t require a midday nap.
Here, have some photos of Spinnaker the Pacific white-sided dolphin performing at the Vancouver Aquarium on Saturday:
Melissa approached the Aquarium trainer after the dolphin show to ask a question, but she suddenly got a case of shyness. The girl before her asked how old Spinnaker is, and Melissa’s eyes went wide when the trainer said 19. When you’re seven years old, 19 must seem ancient!
* There was one drawback: the liquids-and-gels restriction that is implemented very inconsistently across airports and even within airports means that one can be unlucky enough to be prevented from “smuggling” such things as their own toiletries, even domestically. I was lucky on the way to Vancouver that the hand creams in my carry-on weren’t taken away. My seatmate wasn’t so lucky. I was unlucky on my way back to Toronto because the inspector in Vancouver found a small aerosol can of Jil Sander scent I’d purchased at the duty-free in Germany last spring. As partial as I am to this scent, I wasn’t about to be late for work so I could check and pick up a bag in order to save it.
“It’s a 150ml can, and it’s not even full,” I argued.
“It doesn’t matter, we look at the capacity, not the amount in it.”
ARGH! Consider yourselves warned, people!
Technorati tags: Vancouver Aquarium, dolphin, Spinnaker
Posted in Out + About, Travel, Vancouver | 1 Comment
January 21, 2007 by Gail
We all piled into the van and drove to the Vancouver Aquarium yesterday, an outing that involved four adults and five kids — a ratio that works quite well, but still requires a frequent body count lest we lose a stray kidlet in the weekend Aquarium melee.
I drove us around Stanley Park beforehand to view the storm devastation, passing by gigantic uprooted trees and mounds of churned soil. There’s been a massive cleanup to clear out toppled trees, but the damage is visible and extensive: the forests are thinned out, barriers knocked down, gardens completely destroyed, sections of the park closed off. It’s going to take a long time before Stanley Park returns to its former glory.
The Aquarium has been renovated and further expansion is planned, I’ve been told. The main attraction — to the kids, anyway — was Clown Fish Cove. It’s grown from a small wing downstairs to a larger section on the main floor by my favourite tank of jellyfish.
We were joined by Dad and Sophie for dinner in New Westminster at The Old Spaghetti Factory, where we had our own long table to fit our party of 11 (six adults and five kids). It was coordinated pandemonium!
We picked up the twins’ birthday cake on the way home and here’s a little preview of the festivities:
We celebrated a bit early, so we could have a party while I’m in town. I woke up early this morning and eventually all five kids joined me, expecting — what else? — cake for breakfast!
(More photos after I return to Toronto.)
Technorati tags: Vancouver Aquarium, jellyfish, birthday, YouTube
Posted in Family, Out + About, Vancouver | 1 Comment
January 20, 2007 by Gail
Melissa and Michael showed me around their school yesterday:
A few more jumping pics at the tag MJE_school.
Today: Vancouver Aquarium, tally ho!
Posted in The Ms | No Comments
January 20, 2007 by Gail
Maddy (5) and Megan (2) with Allan at the Y. The kids have taken to the pool like fish to water, apparently. The older 3 M’s (Melissa, Michael, and Maddy) are in swimming lessons, and the twins love to splash around. I didn’t think to bring my bathing suit, so I held court poolside with their camera and shot some footage of the aquatic activity. A few shots of Megan, who was closest to where I was sitting, and one of Melissa:
Technorati tags: swimming, black and white, kids
Posted in Family, The Ms | No Comments
January 19, 2007 by Gail
Miss Megan (almost 3) and I try and outdo each other in the face scrunching contest. I’m getting beat rather soundly.
Technorati tags: black and white, kids, making faces
Posted in The Ms | No Comments
January 19, 2007 by Gail
Pearson Airport, Terminal 1
Toronto
I’m at my friend’s place in downtown Vancouver now, my brain a little confused as to whether it’s time to take a shower and go to work or if it’s time to go to bed. I took my stuff to the office and subway-ed directly to the airport after work, with plenty of time to catch the 8pm flight to Vancouver.
It was great to hang out with my friends tonight and catch up, though — it’s been a while since we’ve all been together and shooting the proverbial breeze. In a matter of hours, I’m going to hang out with some little people who phoned me a couple of weeks ago asking, “When are you going to come and visit us, Auntie Gail?”
“Soon,” I promised.
Far be it from Auntie Gail to break a promise.
Technorati tags: YYZ, Pearson Airport
Posted in Friends, The Ms, Travel | 3 Comments
January 17, 2007 by Gail
Last month I met Holly Yvonne, a fellow Flickrite from Pennsylvania, and her three little ‘uns. (Her fourth will be along any day now!) When I walked in the door, I met Holly’s littlest fella almost straightaway, which stopped me in my tracks. Not just because of his smiley ways, but because he looked so much like David when he was a baby (larger version). There aren’t many baby photos of David online, but compare this larger version with the one on the right.
Uncanny!
Technorati tags: baby photos
Posted in David, Flickr, Friends | 1 Comment
January 17, 2007 by Gail
It was a “heads up” wedding announcement to our friends and family. David and I designed it together, while I was in Vancouver packing up my apartment and he was in Pennsylvania, waiting for me to come home to him.
Except for the picture of the Tri-Pacer (I think one of David’s cadets took that one), we took the photos ourselves. As one of the radiation clinic nurses said, “You guys were a team.”
View larger.
2007 has been much kinder to me than 2006, but even with all the good stuff happening to me recently, not a day goes by when I didn’t wish with every fibre of my being that I could share it with David. He was always such a great source of encouragement for me, and not having him here makes good news a little less exciting… or incomplete, somehow.
Next week I begin my 10-week program with an adult grief support group. There was no space left for the fall session, at least in the evening, so I’ve had to wait a few months. I haven’t been to counselling for a couple of months or more, but I’m looking forward to trying a small group setting. There are only 8-10 people in each group and each session lasts for two hours, so everyone should have a chance to speak. One issue I had with individual counselling is the 50-minute time limit. That time frame just didn’t seem to work for me — I felt rushed and anxious and under pressure. At least in a group setting, I don’t feel obligated to do most of the talking. As well, the counsellor/patient dynamic is very different from a peer environment, and the latter is what I need right now.
Tomorrow is my last day as an agency temp, and today when I was given my contract paperwork to fill out, there were some spouse forms included in the package. It’s been years since I received benefits, so those pages took me by surprise.
“Oh, I guess you won’t be needing those,” the administrator said, and removed them from the package.
Welcome to widowhood, I thought.
Technorati tags: postcard, wedding announcement
Posted in Engagement/Wedding, House of Fielding, Widowhood | 4 Comments
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