Finding My Way Home...

Well, it's been an eventful couple of weeks.
The schedule has included:
- an East Indian cooking class (with some of my favourite people)
- several going-away dinners
- THE Sketchy Pub Crawl (complete with a naked lady spinning in a basin of water)
- packing up my house (100 million thank-you's to Sarah for her ruthlessness)- packing my car (100 million thank-you's to Danielle and eventually Nuala for cramming my entire life into a Toyota Tercel)
- visiting my brother and family in the booming metropolis of Chesterville and adoring Baby Oliver
- driving for almost 17 hours straight, sleeping at a rest stop and a gas station and arriving home bright and early Tuesday morning. I should mention that the drive home encompassed everything that I have ever known about the trip between PEI and Ontario - complete with very few stops, Mille Feuilles, cheese curds and country music.
- bike riding with my sister
- sailing with my brother and his family and my nephew Daniel. This turned into an adventure on the high seas as my brother (a sailor by profession) grounded the boat on a sandstone shoal just around the other side of Boughton Island. For many this would be solved by an immediate call for assistance, however, in an attempt to save his dignity my brother made us get into the water and attempt to push the 7, 000 pound sailboat off of the rocks. Despite our efforts we eventually had to call my father who sprung into action and dispatched the Coast Guard Auxiliary who towed us off. We set sail and arrived home 10 HOURS later!
- singing at a local ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) complete with a huge cheering section from Georgetown Royalty and my niece Drew who insisted on shouting "That's my Aunt! That's my Aunt!" when I walked on to the stage
- buying a brand new silver bicycle!

The past couple of nights have been late ones, filled with attendance at a not-so-bad concert series called "Close to the Coast" and the company of good friends.

Tomorrow we set sail for the Iles de Madeleine (check out our B&B at www.ausalange.com) for a couple of days and then I *might* think about packing for the next leg of my journey.

So there you go, a nice superficial summary of the last couple weeks.

And there's a mouse running across the floor.

"The city's got the right name-New York. Nothing ever gets old around here."

We went to New York last weekend - as per some requests, here's a brief travel log :)

The journey began (as most journeys do) with a lot of excitement, a white Ford Cobalt (that's right - white!) and 4 really beautiful young women! We went to seek our fortune in the big city - or at least partake in a weekend of joy and laughter!

The drive went off without a hitch and we arrived at my sister's house in Jersey shortly after midnight. We rose early in the morning and bused it into NYC to continue the adventure! Our explorations took us to Battery Park, where highlight was some incredible "Pigeon Interpretive Dance" - that's right - 4 women and one man dancing in pigeon outfits in the park in the middle of pigeons.
At Danielle's request we enjoyed a light lunch with sandwiches and sangria at the "Teany" tea shop, owned by Moby. It was wonderful and we felt hip.
Luckily, next door we found Toys in Babeland and had a lovely little browse... only 2 out of the 4 of us made purchases ;)
We continued on to the Feminist bookstore that was on Sarah's list of things "to do" - also very hip!
Nuala then guided us to our near demise on Canal Street, where we were ushered into back room and up long deserted staircases all for the sake of designer knock offs. Never again Nuala, never again... It was scary. And sketchy.
However, Canal Street soon led us to SoHo, where we felt much safer and more hip.

[Beautiful Girls in SoHo!]
We carried on an met my sister for dinner (Zuni as usual!)

Sunday saw us go for manicures and pedicures (100 million thank-you's to Melissa such a lovely treat!) We had a lovely visit with Melissa's friend Brian and meandered back into New York.
Sunday afternoon in Central Park was lovely, but was made even lovelier because we spent it at the zoo!!!!!! Highlights include the monkeys and the polar bear. And the giraffe.

[Ok, it wasn't real]

We walked to Rockefeller Centre to meet some of Nuala's for lunch - sadly Pret A Manger (our desired lunch location) was closed - forcing us to find a greasy pizza place to fill our empty bellies. We soon returned back to Jersey (albeit about 3 hours later than expected) and after disassembling a bike (thanks to the MD Bike Doctors) we, as it were, "busted a move" back to the True North Strong and Free.
[You may note that the gang traveling back to Canada includes an extra body - final travel roster - Nuala, Karen, Sarah, Me and Danielle]

I know that I say it every time, but it was truly one of the best trips yet! We crammed ridiculous amounts of fun into two days, laughed until our sides hurt and made the bonds of our friendships even tighter. It certainly didn't hurt that I have one of the coolest sisters in the world that my friends adore!
In truth, it didn't really matter where we went, but rather who we were with. In the end it was the good company that made the journey such a joy!
"Good company on the road is the shortest cut."

Although - who couldn't love a city that loves me?

"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children, that makes the heart too big for the body"

Laura is my summer piano student.
I've been meaning to write about her for a while now, but I always get distracted after our lessons.
Laura makes me remember the importance of bringing music to the lives of small children. She is 5 and 1/2 (a fact that she will quickly correct you on if you estimate her age at 5) - she'll be 6 in December.
Laura reminds me to find joy in everything. She runs up the aisle to the piano where we have our lessons, and always has a million stories from the week that has just passed.
We've spent the summer learning finger control, and dancing around the church to different "beats". This is a phenomenal thing to see if you've never experienced the joy expressed on the face of a 5 and 1/2 year old as she figures out exactly why it is she's tapping her feet, or why we move quickly to some music and slowly to other music.
Laura also expresses incredible excitement in remembering terms like "double bar", or "quarter note" and remembering what side of the note to draw the stem.
And she loves music. And she's allowed me to have a part in creating that love.
And that is where I'm finding my joy these days.