Catching Up

"Complaint is the largest tribute Heaven receives." - Jonathan Swift

My friend Judy called today to complain that I haven't blogged for two weeks. Mea culpa. In a way, it's nice to know someone is reading my blog. I don't have a mechanism to see if anyone looks at it so I'm never really sure. It isn't that I don't have anything to write about but rather that my days and nights have been busy and when I have had a little time, I've been spending it reading. I bought a few books at the rummage sale at my mom's nursing home and I never have been good at leaving books laying around unread. My days have been busy with work (for which I am thankful) as well as activities for my boards. I'm also still negotiating the house issues - the repairs to the kitchen cabinetry started today. With any luck, the broken door will be replaced and all else completed by the end of next week.

It is the season of annual general meetings in the not-for-profit sector, at least in the organizations where I have a seat. Last week Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada held its AGM at a club in Chinatown. It was a good evening devoted to boosting the agency's profile and thanking sponsors and volunteers. The club, One Up, no doubt provided a good rate for the venue and food (which was really good) but made up for their shortfall in the prices at the cash bar. I bought a glass of wine for one of my fellow directors and thought it was a bit pricey at $10.50. Mixed drinks were above $15. I did make a new culinary discovery that evening. Each table held a bowl of Hershey's Christmas Kisses - white chocolate with candy canes - really yummy and destined to be my treat of choice this holiday season.

Last night was the AGM for West Toronto Community Legal Services. The event was held in the recreation room of a subsidized housing apartment building. One of the women on the staff of the clinic made dinner for the attendees. It wasn't as fancy as the food served at One Up, but it was just as good. A fair number of clients and guests attended the meeting. When the business portion was completed and we had enjoyed a short dessert break, we were treated to an excellent presentation about housing and tenant rights. The audience was engaged and participative. The night served to highlight to we board members, just what a fragile community we support at our clinic and how important the work is. All in all, it was quite uplifting.

On Monday night, I attended It's Always Something, an annual show held at the Princess of Wales Theatre to raise funds for Gilda's Club. Gilda's Club was established in honour of Gilda Radner, the wonderfully funny comedienne whose life was cut short twenty years ago when she lost her battle with ovarian cancer. Gilda's Club provides support to people and families living with cancer. The show was fabulous. Comedian Russell Peters hosted and kept us in stitches with his raucous, politically incorrect humour. Nothing is sacred in his world. At least his racial jokes poked fun at everyone - an equal opportunity bigot. Other performers for the evening included Dave Thomas, Eugene Levy, Colin Mocherie, Divine Brown and the Canadian Tenors. Between performances of the star studded cast, a young couple took the stage to talk about the challenges they are facing as their three-year-old daughter goes through two-and-a-half years of treatment for leukemia. They talked about the things for which they were truly grateful - a Canadian health care system that doesn't hand them medical bills when they already have so much to deal with; Gilda's Club, where they can go for support and where their daughter can go and play without feeling conspicuous; the well wishes and prayers of so many people. It was humbling. After the show, VIP guest, which I was lucky to be, were treated to a first-class reception with champagne and nibbles including some great little cupcakes.

Tuesday night found Merv and I at a lobster party. Our friend Nancy arrived at 7:00 P.M. on a flight from New Brunswick with 15 lobsters cooked and packed in frozen peas, ready to eat. Ten of us assembled at the home of one of her friends and managed to devour those lobsters accompanied with tossed salad, potato salad, bread and lemon meringue pie. I managed a whole 1.5 pounder plus the tail of a second. It was heaven on a plate.

This weekend holds some promise. Merv won tickets to the Tut exhibit at the AGO for Saturday afternoon. After we've been through it we are planning to drive to Guelph to treat Jacob to dinner. I haven't seen him for two weeks so I'm really excited. It's been 25 years since the Tut exhibit was in Toronto and I'm looking forward to that too.

So Judy, you can see I've been really busy. Please forgive me for my lapse in blogging these past couple of weeks. I'll try to do better.