The Unstrung Harp

I will post an entry soon about the last few days of my visit... and what I've been up to since I returned to Canada ;)

Thursday, May 26th:

I was up around 10am and arrived at the flat for some breakfast in time to leave at 11 for Tesco's (the grocery store).  Both Susie and Trevor were working today, so we had Adam for the day and that was an experience. I've discovered that the children are a little easier to manage in smaller doses (like one at a time ;) ).  Tesco's was actually quite fun.  I love seeing the British packaging for everything and all the different things they have stocked on the shelves.  We had to do a shop for the coming party on Saturday (Grandad and Ronnie's seventeenth wedding anniversary and likely the only chance they will have to take photos of all seven grandchildren together).  I got some turkish delight :D

Katie arrived at the flat around lunchtime with her two children and we headed down to the Rye (a gorgeous stretch of grass and gardens bordering the River Wye) to feed the swans and ducks.  It took ages to cross the grassy area to reach the riverbank... the three children kept attempting to stay right where they were, running around crazily and playing together (and with the other children out with their families).  The sun was shining and it was quite a warm day, so no one was really in too much of a rush (except for my grandfather, who likes to have a set schedule ;) ). 

Eventually, we made it to an area with tables and chairs and a little place selling drinks, ice cream, and candy.  I had a Sprite and a Smarties ice cream bar that you had to push up in a little tube.  There were swans and ducks swimming happily in the river, and we had brought some bread for the children to feed the ducks.  It was decided that as the ducks in this spot were probably well fed, and weren't really interested in the bread we were presenting, we might as well wander along a little father.  Many other families were out for walks and several people had rented little rowboats to row down the river.  (Quite a peaceful scene!.... I wanna rent a boat and go down the river!)

My cousins fed the ducks (we even found a mother duck with three baby ducklings!  They looked soooo fluffy and cute :D ) but I think most of the bread was eaten by the children themselves.  A photograph was taken that I am quite afraid to see: all the kids were out of their strollers and we were heading back from the river.  Katy needed to devote all her attention on her youngest (Ethan) who was clumping along happily after the other two, and she was trying to push the empty chair at the same time.  She had to pick him up after he stumbled and I started pushing the stroller.  Everybody laughed and pointed out how rare a sight that was and decided that a photograph must be taken.  I ended up surrounded by children (some of which weren't ours, just ones that my cousins were playing with).  I look absolulely horrified.  *frightened expression*

Thursday evening was going to be quite exciting as Ronnie's clarinet quartet were going to be playing in the common room.  The performance was a lot of fun, and they did soo well!  Katy and Susie left the children with their husbands for the evening, so the guests from our family were: my grandfather, Susie, Katy, Uncle Phil, and I.  We also had a great turnout of the residents.  The quartet played a good mixture of classical and jazz music (which kept everybody entertained).  I had fun talking with the various members of the quartet after the performance (they had tons of questions about the harp ;) ).

My family spent ages talking together afterwards and it was really wonderful!  I loved getting a chance to talk to Katy and Susie without their having to keep half of their attention on the children.  We've decided that we're all going to take a girl's night out next week, probably on Wednesday :D

Friday, May 27th:

This was the day that Ronnie and I had plans to go into London.  Grandad called my cell at a quarter to eight and I headed over to have breakfast and get myself ready.  Ronnie and I caught the train around 9:30 and we had a lovely ride discussing all the tiny little stations we passed.  We went by the stop at Wembley Stadium (the home of international football, according to my grandfather).  The old stadium has been recently knocked down, and they are rebuilding as part of London's 2012 Olympics bid.  We could just see the new structure.  Once arriving at London Marylebone Station, we got on the Underground and headed to Waterloo station on our way to the London Eye (http://www.ba-londoneye.com)

Ronnie and I each took a fabulous photo of the Eye, then we got in line to pickup our pre-ordered tickets for an 11:30 flight.  Tickets in hand, we got on the back of the line to board.  The day was already beginning to get warm, and everyone was getting quite hot and crabby.  Thankfully, our line moved quickly and soon we were inside a capsule with about 12 other people, about to take off.  It was an amazing ride!  It's rather like a large ferris wheel that goes slowly enough to see all of the London skyline.  The capsules are made of clear windows and you can stand and walk around inside.  We took some fantastic photographs.

After we exited the Eye, we walked along the embankment and across Westminister Bridge.  On our left was Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  We went past Parliament Square (with statues of Sir Winston Churchill and various other important people) and Westminister Abbey.  We walked up Whitehall Street and took several pictures (a certain someone requested pictures of me with random english things ;) *points* you know who you are!)  We passed Downing Street (where the prime minister lives at number ten), then we walked further up Whitehall.  I had my picture taken with one of the mounted guards and we saw Horse Guard's Parade. 

At the end of the street we reached Trafalgar Square.  We looked across to Canada House (one of the places in which my choir sang when we toured England!!).  I had my photo taken with the famous Lions and the fountains of Trafalgar Square.  From there we went to Covent Garden on the Underground.  We had lunch at an English pub (I had a MASSIVE meal: a steak, guiness, and mushroom pie), then watched a hilarious street performer, and listened to an opera singer.  Ronnie and I were absolutely boiling by this point (Grandad told us afterwards that he had been watching the news, and London had been the hottest place in Britain that day).

From Coventry Garden we took the tube to Oxford Circus (where the two best shopping streets meet - Oxford Street and Regent Street) and we walked through Carnaby Street (which was famous in the 60s for "way out boutiques").  We headed back to Oxford Street and went into Hamley's (a world famous toy store) where I had the best time ever!  All the employees were demonstrating all these amazing toys... there were five floors of nothing but toys!  After Hamley's we went up Regent Street to do some clothes shopping.  Unfortunately, by that point we were so hot and tired that our hearts really weren't in it, and we turned around and went back to Marylebone Station to head home.

I'm having a lot of fun here.... but I'm missing everybody in Canada... especially Phil (*grin* no offence intended to the rest of you lot)  *sniffles*

Tuesday, May 24th:

I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing at 9:30am (which still felt like 4:30am Canada time).  we had decided that Grandad would wake me up with the cell phone and then come and pick me up and take me to their flat.  *grin* apparently I didn't make a whole lot of sense and he decided to leave me to sleep for a little longer (I don't actually remember this call, I assume I was polite ;)  We had decided that it would make most sense for Tuesday to be quite relaxed and so we had a calm morning watching tv and some dvds.  I watched most of the movie Brassed Off! and really enjoyed it (abou a brass band in England) although I didn't get to watch the end.  It was a dvd that came free with their newspaper and so had several annoying features, such as no fast forward or scene skip, I stopped the movie when Grandad had a guest over and couldn't get it to play from where I had stopped it!  The only way I'll be able to see the end will be to watch the entire thing over again!  (Unless I watch it in Canada, or rent a copy here).

Around 1:30 though, chaos descended...  Katy and Susie (my step-aunts, although not that far off from my own age) arrived with their children and my cousin Sarah (16 years old).  Katy has a girl, Emily (3 years old), and a boy, Ethan (1 year old).  Susie has a boy named Adam (2 years old).  All that were missing were my two other cousins, Helen (9 years old) and Matthew (7 years old).  I'm not particularly used to children, so I said hello to Katy and Susie and chatted a little, and pretty well ignored (and was ignored by) the children.  I did watch their antics in vaguely horrified fascination... My family has decided that they're going to change my opinion of children over the next two weeks, *grin* good luck to them. 

Later in the evening, my grandfather and I walked a little ways to the RAF club (a sort of pub/bar type thing) to meet my Uncle Phil.  It was absolutely wonderful to see him.  He has been extremely ill and we were worried at one point that he wouldn't make it.  My mother was very worried, but of course the past couple of years meant that she couldn't leave my father for any length of time.  My uncle looks very thin and much older than he actually is, but I was so happy to be able to tell my mom that I had seen him and that he's doing well.   I had some Appletizer (a sparkling apple drink) and a packet of crisps and settled down to talk to my uncle and listen to him and grandad talk.  I enjoyed looking at all the characters in the club ;)

Wednesday, May 25th:

Grandad called me at 9:30 and came to get me around 10.  There was some excitement when I was just going to have some tea and toast with jam for breakfast. My grandad suggested that I have a boiled egg and soldiers (bread and butter cut into slices to be dipped in the egg, one of my favourite meals as a child).  The egg was cooking and nobody could find an eggcup!  THey had moved to the new flat quite recently and I guess the eggcups had gone missing... lol, I ended up eating my egg out of a candle holder, the egg perched precariously on top of an unused candle! 

We had plan to go to a lunchtime recital at the town hall and we left around 12:15 to walk into High Wycombe.  The weather, which on Monday had been quite rainy and unpleasant, obliged us by changing to sunshine and a lovely warm day.  We arrived at the hall and enjoyed some refreshments (I had a pineapple juice, a sandwich, then later some sparkling lemonade).  The recital started at 1:10 and was very enjoyable.  There were three duets: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Francis Poulenc, Fratres for Violin and Piano by Arvo Part, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Leonard Bernstein, and then a Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano by Darius Milhaud.  The violinist seemed rather nervous, but the caliber of the performers was very high.  I love the Fratres, I had coincidentally just listened to that piece before I left for England.  I should explain that both Ronnie and my Grandad are very musical, Ronnie is first clarinet with the RAF band and used to be a music teacher before she retired.  My grandad has never had any formal musical training, but seems to have a natural skill level that is quite frightening.

After the recital (it was in the Oak Room in the town hall, and my grandfather took great pleasure in announcing to Ronnie and I that he had found the Oak Room's Cloackroom... *sigh* read it outloud...)  We decided to spend the day shopping for some odds and ends in Wycombe.  I picked up some postcards and worldwide postcard stamps from the tourist office in town.  I grabbed a cheap hairdryer and a couple of disposable cameras (buy one, get one free at £8.99!) at Boots pharmacy.  At Marks and Spencers we picked out some pork and veggies for dinner, some clotted cream (since I wanted some while in England) and some scones to have with the clotted cream and jam.  We then wandered over to the railway station to book tickets for Ronnie and I for Friday (we're going to London for the day! We've even got a trip booked on the London Eye!)

Upon arrival at the flat, I filled out my postcards then started typing the last posted journal entry.  Uncle Phil came over for dinner and we had a very pleasant meal.  Not long after he left, Katy, Stephen (her husband), and their two children came to visit on their way back from Tesco's.

Forgive me for how long and boring the next few entries are going to be, I want to keep a good record of my adventures during my trip ;)  I've only got access to dial-up so I don't have the chance to stay online for long, I just check my email briefly and post what I've typed up offline...

Thursday, May 19th and Friday, May 20th:

Both days were spent getting ready for my trip: compiling lists of last minute things to buy or find, doing some boxes for the office, etc.  Random days, really, those days where you feel you haven't accomplished a whole lot and you can't understand where on earth the time has gone!

Saturday, May 21st:

Phil had ordered tickets for Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith.  I picked him up from work a little after 5 and we headed back to his house.  He showered and changed while I read a little (I was quite happily reading Microserfs).  We had some dinner (pork chops, corn on the cob, and potatoes) and then his mom gave me some cheesecake brought home from the restaurant where his brother works.  It was absolutely delicious!  I borrowed four of Phil's books to bring to England (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Harukami Murakami, Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland, Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem, and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas - Tom Robbins).  The movie was at 8 and we arrived a little early so as to have enough time to wander over to Chapters.  We wanted to pre-order two copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (to be picked up as early as we can after midnight on July 16th *grin*).  After pre-ordering we walked back to the cinema and paid for our tickets.  The movie was quite enjoyable, not fabulous, but certainly much better than the last two.  It had some memorable moments.

Sunday, May 22nd:

After church with my mom, she and I went to the grocery store to get some things for dinner (since Phil was coming over after work)... including... KING CRAB LEGS!!! Phil and I had been talking by text and the poor guy was having a massively horrible day, so I sent him a text to say that we were having a surprise before dinner.  I spent the day until Phil came over packing.  While waiting for him to get ready, I finished Microserfs and gave the book back to him.  The crab legs were delicious!  Phil and I then sat as I half-heartedly did some more packing, both feeling rather sorry for ourselves and dreading the coming morning.  Since the van was picking my mother and I up at 4:30am the next morning, I had to send Phil home quite early.  He gave me the sweetest going away gift possible... a box of 3 Laura Secord truffles (truffles are heaven :D ) that had music printed on their tops! *melt*

Monday, May 23rd:

My alarm went off at 3:30am and I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, very nervous and tired.  I got ready and did some last minute checking of things (made sure I had my tickets, passport, money, etc) then the van arrived and my mother and I grabbed my things (a suitcase, a small carry-on travel case with wheels, and my purse).  My mother was coming to the airport to help me through check-in, but mainly because I was absolutely terrified.  I had never flown alone and was convinced that something horrible was going to happen: I would end up in Bulgaria by accident, or customs would think I was a terrorist and arrest me, or my luggage would end up somewhere far far away, or I simply would have no clue what to do and get lost in the airport and be found there in a crumpled heap of dried bones having starved to death or something... strangely, I had no fears of the actual flight itself, just whatever was to occur in the two airports.  I was afraid of all the events surrounding those surly-looking official people in uniforms.  I don't know what it is about uniforms, but I always find that no matter what the circumstances, I always feel slightly guilty around police and those sorts of uniformed officers.  I know I've done nothing wrong... but I feel that they're already convinced of my guilt :S  No worries, random rant about uniforms over ;)

My mother and I were dropped off at the terminal, we took my luggage and went to Air Canada International check-in.  we had arrived in plenty of time as it was around 5:30.  Boarding time wasn't until 8am and the flight was scheduled to leave at 9am. I was told that I should head through security and be on the way to my gate at 7, since it would take about an hour to get there (the terminal is so new, that the airfield isn't actually finished.  It's still under construction, so the planes are not able to actually get in.  We were to be bused to the building with my gate).  After handing over my suitcase and grabbing a luggage tag for my hand baggage, my mother and I wandered to the food-court area and went in search of some breakfast.  We found what we wanted and took a seat.  My mom and I observed an interesting phenomenon: no matter who you are with in an airport, something about the atmosphere just kills all conversation.  You just can't think of anything to say and lapse into a vaguely uncomfortable silence.  Even the effort of conversation seems too much to bear.  We discussed last minute things, I made my mother go through the steps of what happened after security for the thousandth time, and that was about it.  After a stop to the washroom (where my mom told me that I looked like I was about to have a nervous breakdown) we stood outside the gates separating security (and the world inside the inner bowels of the airport) from the outside world. 

Eventually, it was time, and I hugged my mother and headed to security.  This was the hardest moment.  I looked behind me and saw my mom standing there and she essentially represented for me all that I was leaving behind: Phil, my parents, the cats, my harp, etc.  Now don't misunderstand, I had been looking forward to this trip for ages, and knew I was going to have a wonderful visit with my family... I was just seeing the parts that were frightening me.  I'll admit it, I went through security (putting my hand luggage on the belt, taking off my coat, going through the metal detector) blinking hard, with tears threatening to start falling down my face.  I set off the alarm (I knew I would) and experienced the particular joy that is having a surly guard scanning you for hidden weapons.  After it was decided that I was not, in fact, rigged with a bomb or something, I turned around to give a final wave and sickly smile to my mom.  I felt very lonely as I went down a floor on the escalator and tried to figure out which way to go to catch the bus. 

After the bus ride, I found my departure gate with no trouble and sat down to read and send some texts (while they were still coming from Toronto and not ridiculously expensive from England.  My row was called and I went past the desk and into the corridor that would take me to the plane.  I was extremely lucky about the seat that I was assigned, not only did I get a window seat, bu I got  window seat with the emergency exit!  This meant that I and the person next to me had an astounding amount of leg room and were really comfortable!  I hurredly sent some last texts while we were allowed the use of cell phones then settled in for the flight.  The view was wonderful, I loved watching as we took off and seeing the plane break through layer after layer of white, cottony, gentle-looking clouds and into bright sunshine. (No worries, I'm aware that sounds sickeningly sweet... but it *was* beautiful, and it made me happy :) )

During the flight, I started and finished Neil Gaiman's Stardust (which I greatly enjoyed), listened to music, had a rather unsuccessful sleep, and started Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.  When we began the descent I was excited to notice that we broke through the clouds, blue skies, and sunshine straight into evening in England (remember that England is five hours ahead of Canada).  Dark blueish-black sky with twinkling white lights, England looked utterly stunning, like it was dressed in stars... I made my way off the plane and headed through immigration.  The first thing that really made me realize I was actually in England was the fact that the announcements being broadcast throughout the airport were all read by people with British accents!  Not surprising, obviously, but it was the first thing I noticed ;)  After immigration, I grabbed my luggage and went in the direction of customs.  I followed the "nothing to declare" line.  I wasn't given a problem at customs and went through a door to suddenly find myself facing a sea of people all waiting for passengers off the flight.  My Grandad, step-grandmother (Ronnie), and the warden of their building were all waving happily at me.  After hugs, we all headed to the exit and the car.  We had some slight difficulties in finding the correct way out of the airport, but eventually were heading towards High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.  We dropped my suitcase in my room and I joined Grandad and Ronnie in their apartment for a little snack then went back to my room to get some sleep. 

I suppose that I should take a moment to explain that Grandad and Ronnie are living in a block of flats for the elderly, and they don't have an extra bedroom.  The block has a guest room available in a different building, and that's where I'm staying (it's essentially next door ;) ). My room is adorable: a couple of beds, a dresser, bedside table, ingredients for making tea, and a little washroom.

Before going to bed, i surprised Phil with a quick phone call :D  The five hour time difference meant that I didn't actually succeed in falling asleep until sometime after 3am, but hopefully this will soon change as I get used to it.  *tired sigh*

More to come!

It's been awhile since my last update, so I guess I'm overdue for another. This is going to be a large entry... but I'm sure I will forget something, I've been extremely busy;)

My second year of university ended well. I was happy with my marks and thrilled with my jury. I did about 5 practice juries for different people (grateful thanks to all who sat through it;) and I am convinced that those run-throughs really made the difference. The jury was on Tuesday, April 20th at 11am and consisted of:

• Technique: (scales, arpeggios, dominant and diminished sevenths - solid and broken)
• Orchestral excerpt: harp cadenza from Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers, memorized
• Study: Sequidilla by Carlos Salzedo, memorized
• Pieces: Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel - Marcel Tournier, Prayer for Harp - Sergui Natra, and The Harmonious Blacksmith - Handel, arr. by Salzedo. All memorized, except for the Natra Prayer

I was extremely nervous during the setting up and the technique, but as soon as I started playing the Tchaikovsky it suddenly seemed as if I was doing another run-through. My hands were steady and I was no longer nearly as nervous. I made a couple of mistakes, but because of my confidence level they were not at all noticeable (*grin* except to my teacher).

Saturday April 23rd: Phil and I spent the evening at his house then walked to the cinema to see Kung Fu Hustle. It was quite funny.

Sunday, April 24th: I went to a cat show at the Ajax Community Center with my parents (it's become an annual family trip). Unfortunately, no breeders were showing any Cornish Rexes, but we saw the most adorable Sphinx kitten. She was absolutely beautiful and such a character:D We also got some free samples of cat food (I managed to get more out of the guy running the tent than we were supposed to get ;) The shows always make me want another kitten...

Monday, April 25th: I had a lesson with Jennifer Swartz (Principle harpist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and professor of harp at McGill University) at Lori's house in Toronto. We were working on the Sergui Natra Prayer for harp. It was really intimidating as I had just heard her performing the piece flawlessly at a concert on April 3rd! She was really helpful and the piece improved immensely with her suggestions. It was an expensive lesson though... *gulp* it was worth it.

Friday, April 29th: Danielle, Adam, Phil, and I drove back to Waterloo to move Danielle's and my stuff to an apartment a floor above where we were living this past year. I am so beyond grateful for the two guys. I don't know how Danielle and I would have done it otherwise. We had to move the contents of two bedrooms (including desks and mattresses), a storage closet, the bathroom, and the kitchen. We were on a time limit, so everything is just piled wherever it landed in the new apartment... *grin* it will be an experience to sort it all out.

Saturday, April 30th: Phil and I went to see the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was fabulous!! We must go see it a second time ;)

Sunday, May 1st: I went to Phil's and we had dinner with his parents (steak and trifle). His mom's trifle is the most amazing thing I have evar tasted! *happiness*

Tuesday, May 3rd: Since sometime in the exam period, Phil had been planning a surprise for me for doing so well throughout the school year. He had an appointment scheduled at York on the Tuesday morning and I went with him, we were hoping that we could head to Toronto right afterwards and have the surprise. After his appointment, the weather pretty well decided for us that it wouldn't work out. Apparently good weather was necessary for the surprise (my curiosity grew ;). It was dark, rainy, cold, and windy so we decided to go to the Pickering Town Center instead of TO. We did some shopping, had a great meal at Golden Griddle and picked up mother's day gifts (I got some body shop stuff for his mom and the Phantom of the Opera on DVD for my mom)

Thursday, May 5th: Our three month anniversary :) We spent the morning together watching movies and such before he had to head out to work.

Saturday, May 7th: The American Harp Society, Toronto Chapter Scholarship Competition. I was absolutely terrified *grin*. My mom, Phil, and I drove to Armour Heights Presbyterian Church in Toronto with my harp. I was playing two pieces in the "6 years of study and under, pedal harp" category. It was an astoundingly long day... rewarding, but long. We arrived shortly after 1 so I could have time to warm-up before the competition started at 2. I played two of my jury pieces (the Zabel and the Handel) and was quite pleased with my performance. I was beyond happy with the Zabel, it went gorgeously... but the Handel wasn't my best performance ever. My class was quite close to the beginning, so I was able to sit and enjoy the later classes without the threat of performing hanging over my head. I loved hearing all the other harpists, but there were a few factors that made the day less than enjoyable for us all. First of all, the church is in the middle of nowhere -> there is no sign of food to be seen. Not even a convenience store or grocery store anywhere! We were absolutely starving! Secondly, the seats (church pews) were the hardest, most uncomfortable seats I've ever encountered. Thirdly, they wouldn't announce the placings until all classes were over. We didn't find out how I did until 6:30!  *grin* I was happy though, I tied for first place in my class... yay for a scholarship! :D

Sunday, May 8: Mother's Day.  My mom wasn't feeling very well, so we skipped church and went out to breakfast together. Aren't we such rebels?! The rest of the day I spent going through box after box of old files for the clinic.

Monday, May 9: Phil and I headed out for a day in Toronto.  We met at the Go Station and went for lunch at the Stem once we arrived (we've abandoned the Stem recently as we discovered a new favourite restaurant). After an enjoyable lunch (Phil had a cheeseburger and fries, I had a cheeseburger and a greek salad) we headed out to do some shopping. I knew that the surprise was a possibility so I had dressed carefully (in my black sarong with the orange and red dragon twining around my ankles and the top to match). I felt pretty! After some wandering around and shopping we headed to Honest Ed's (since I had never been there before). What an astounding store!  We had sooo much fun exploring the place (it's massive, tons of different floors and an east building and a west building - or something like that). We found this delicious cream soda that we had discovered at our other favourite restaurant, Phil got a pair of shoes, and we each got some candy. We were standing in line waiting to pay for our purchases when I pointed out the sign that read "It's fun shopping at Honest Ed's!". Phil turned to me with a devilish grin and whispered "it's fun shopping for condoms at Honest Ed's!"... the gentleman ahead of us in line was buying an absolutely massive box of condoms. We know what he'll be up to later *shudder*

At some point in the afternoon, my mom called me on my cell phone to let me know that she was going to see a Chihuahua puppy who was in a very bad home. Now for some unknown reason, my mother has recently developed a desire for a Chihuahua. It makes no sense to me since she has always loved and wanted a big dog, *shrug* but who knows. A puppy is not a good idea for our house right now.  One of our cats (we have five) has become very agressive and violent towards the others, particularly our smallest cat. There is no way that a new miniscule puppy is going to help the situation. I was almost positive that I would return home that evening to find a Chihuahua puppy. This story will continue...

So... the surprise! We had stopped at the Eaton's Center for some Laura Secord ice cream around 6:30ish. After some pressing Phil finally agreed that we were going to have the surprise tonight, at 8:00. *Glee* We finished up some wandering and shopping and then headed to the subway. I was lost pretty quickly as we moved from one subway to another, and couldn't guess what on earth he was up to. (Not for lack of trying ;) ) We left the world beneath Toronto and climbed up some steps to the outside. After some walking outdoors we entered a building and found ourselves inside an extremely typical looking food court. By this point, I was craning my head around and looking in all directions, attempting to figure out what was going on. We stepped onto an escalator and headed up. Phil told me I would have to close my eyes once we reached the next floor and after I did so, he led me off the escalator and down a corridor. We entered an elevator and began to rise, and rise, *grin* and rise. My ears were popping and I couldn't help but ask "What is this, the 10th floor or something?!", Phil replied "... Something like that!" Eventually, the elevator stopped and he told me I could open my eyes. I read a sign that said "The Panorama Lounge" and we stepped into an elegant looking, vaguely rectangular shaped restaurant/lounge. It was beautiful, but didn't seem to be anything absolutely marvelous until my eyes met the two walls (the longer sides of the rectangle, facing each other). Those walls consisted of windows, and the view was... simply stunning. All of Toronto was spread out before us, we were above it and could see forever. It was somewhat like what you might see from the CN Tower, except that the tower itself was right in front of us! I was absolutely speechless, it took my breath away. We were shown to our table and handed menus. Phil grinned at me and mentioned that we were on the 51st floor of the building. We ordered Bruschetta and Blue and White Baked Nachos to share, Phil ordered a Silky White Russian, and I ordered a Summer Breeze. We took our drinks out to the balcony to wait for the food and gaze at the view. The balconies were large, covered with couple-sized couches just at the right height for watching the amazing view. I curse the fact that all we had was my camera phone, and not an actual camera, but we still took some pictures.  *grin* Scroll down to see them, although they certainly don't do the view justice. We headed back indoors to eat, then were outside for the remainder of the evening. (Note to Phil: I've already said this, but I feel it can't be said enough... You are soo sweet :D This was a fabulous surprise and I so enjoyed it!  You did extremely well at evading all my attempts to get clues out of you beforehand;) Thank you so much *kiss* *happiness*)

I arrived home late to find puppy food and toys all over the kitchen, the spare room door shut, and my dad not in his bed (whenever introducing a new animal to our home we confine them to one room for the first little while, and make sure they get lots of human company). I knew what I would find the next morning...

Tuesday, May 10: His name is Coby and he is a teacup chihuahua. Like all chihuahuas, he's kinda ugly.... but I suppose he's kinda cute too. He's smaller than our smallest cat and has an extremely lively personality. Scroll down for pictures...

Wednesday, May 11: I had a meeting at Deer Creek Golf and Banquet Facility for Ajax's upcoming 50th Anniversary Gala (June 11th). I'll be playing while the guests are assembling before the meal and getting their drinks. We needed to discuss various elements of the evening (where the harp and I will be set up, times, etc.) and it was a very useful meeting. For one thing, my mother and I ended up at the wrong end of the course entirely, so we're enormously glad we tried getting there before the actual date of the Gala! I spent the rest of the day working at the clinic.

Thursday, May 12 and Friday, May 13: Both days were spent working at the clinic... *grin* such fun...

Saturday, May 14: The American Harp Society, Toronto Chapter had arranged a Masterclass with Rita Costanzi (http://www.ritacostanzi.com/). I had played in a masterclass with Rita two years ago and found it to be a wonderful experience, so I was very much looking forward to this one. My mother decided to come with me and we drove out to the now familiar Armour Heights Presbyterian. I played the Handel (feeling that it needed the most help) and got many helpful suggestions. Actually, it worked out rather well as another harpist played the same piece... we both got the benefit of two sessions on it. During the evening Carole came by to pick up the puppy and take him to her house for the next few days (as we were soon leaving for the cottage), he might stay with her permanently. We'll be rather sad, but I think it's best for the puppy... we'll see what happens.

Monday, May 16 - Wednesday, May 18: Phil and I ordered our tickets for the Lord of the Rings musical next year *grin* kinda expensive, but I think it will be enjoyable whether the actual musical is great or terrible ;) We've picked an excellent date to go see it. About lunchtime on Monday, Phil, my mother, and I finished packing up the car (and the Rex kittens) and started the drive to the cottage. Some highlights of the trip included the chocolate lava cakes we baked on the Monday evening (*drool*), the walk on Tuesday, and the discovery that pocket candy is the best thing evar. Phil and I went on an unexpected adventure on the Tuesday night. We wandered outside planning to look at the stars, only to find that it was cloudy and we couldn't see a thing. We headed down to the dock, hoping to at least get a better view of the beautiful night sky, and walked the length of the dock. Our dock consists of a typical long dock, built on the ground and a large floating dock, square-shaped that is attached to the first. Tee hee, attached.... there lay the adventure. It apparently was no longer quite so securely attached. We looked back only to notice that we were gently floating away from land! Thankfully we hadn't gone too far and could just about stretch far enough to pull ourselves back to the dock that was actually attached to the shore. We didn't have to spend the night freezing in the middle of Christie Lake ;)

Now I'm preparing for my trip to England. I'm heading out on the 23rd (this coming Monday!)for two weeks to visit my family in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. I'm kinda nervous, but excited too. I'm going to miss Phil desperately.:(  oh and the cats... and my parents too, I suppose. ;)