Saturday with Family

Today I got to sleep in until 9:30am! My nephew was up at 5am but since I'm only the aunt, I didn't have to be there for that. So at 9:30am I got to walk downstairs and enjoy a breakfast of pancakes that I didn't even have to make. Living with family can be amazing. I am blessed to have my brother and his family open their home to me, and their kitchen. I will officially get fat eating all of their amazing home-cooked leftovers.

After breakfast it was time to suit up and wander out into the big, fat, falling flakes. It was a winter wonderland this morning and perfect snow for snow fights and snowmen. After tossing around a few snowballs with my nephew it was time to help with the family-made snowman. And what a snowman he is! Rob and Kat are hardcore about their winter crafts! There was serious body-shaping and the addition of arms, ears and a crown of spiky hair! With a carrot nose, gravel teeth and kiwi eyes, our 5-foot-plus creation was complete. What a wonderful way to start the day. You never know how fulfilling family time can be until you have gone a long time without it. And then you want it to last forever (okay, maybe not forever outside, but you get the picture).

15 Year Old Rye

I first moved to Toronto in the summer of 1994. I was 19. I was on my way to study journalism at the newly-minted Ryerson Polytechnic University. The school had a great reputation for media arts and I was stoked to have passed the tests for entrance. And so I arrived, and failed, and built other things for my life far away from the city of Toronto.

Now I am back and I am amazed at the changes. Ryerson has become a veritable force in the heart of Canada's largest city. The grey, drab building of my days are receiving facelifts and the glowing name of the school hovers above the city blocks with omniscient intent. Spreading its wings, the university has crossed over Yonge Street and established the Ted Rogers School of Management (they may soon have to rename the school Rogers University as the company supported the communications building over on Jarvis as well!). The management school now occupies the space where the firts multi-plex cinema was built in the city and where I would regularly (too regularly?) skip off for movie matinees between classes.

The iconic Sam the Record Man spinning disks are finally gone and the proposed Student Learning Centre is moving in to take its position less than a block from Canada's version of Times Square. Growth is deemed inevitable but part of me is sad to see the small institution with a firm grasp on developing hands-on disciplines morph into another cookie-cutter community of commercialized academics. The other part of me is reminded of how much has changed - for me. Fifteen years and I am back in Toronto. The garden paths of my youth are overgrown and lost to concrete and I feel a sense of release in that reflection. So long Rye High.

Go Train Go!

So I am a commuter now. I officially "live" in the suburbs and work in the city. My commute takes me on the GO Train for a daily trip every morning and evening of my working week. I have survived one week so far and the trips have become a pleasing ritual.

I was nervous about having to take the train. In order to make it to work for 9am I must board the train at 7:38am!! Anyone who knows me will understand that I am rarely (never?!) awake - let alone dressed and OUT of the house - at 7:38am! It has changed my morning and made me more alert upon arriving to the office. The morning ritual begins with a brisk walk to the station and then settling into the seat of my choice. The good thing about getting on the train at the end of the line means that there are many vacant seats to choose from. Of course, it also means that I am on the train for a long time. The trip to the city takes an hour. In that time, the sun fully clears the horizon and sends golden shafts into the windows. I have taken to reading in the morning but often find myself dozing mildly for a portion of the trip. By the time the train hits the halfway mark of the journey the seats are full and I am happy that I am not one of the many people who will have to stand for the ride.

The ride home is more of a challenge. The sun sinks quickly and the trip's darkness does not help my tired eyes after a day of work. I missed a train once this week and had to wait a full hour downtown before the next one arrives. After 7pm there is no train and I must take the GO bus back out to the 'burbs. It has been an interesting development in my life to commute to work. At the moment I enjoy the extra two hours of time each day to read my books. It would be better if the train had Wifi but I think I will tackle this challenge by downloading a good TV series (maybe "Dexter") onto my Ipod and watching an episode as the train brings me onward in and out of my day.

Lovely Surprise (with Tears on the Side)

One of the things I love the most about loving someone is when you get surprised. I woke up the day after moving to Ontario for work and found the poem below in my boyfriend's facebook status. It's sweetness and quality surprised me. And, yeah, it made me cry.

The morning after will not be bright, for the great Pisces did take her flight, into Darkness and out of sight. The Sun will shine but not the light, of my Raye who went to fight, concrete Jungle of big and might. And the River pours throughout the night.

Trawna Bound

And so here I am, sitting in the Halifax airport about to board a plane to Toronto. Only this time it is a one-way flight. This time it is with two suitcases full of workday clothes. This time it is for an entire season. This time it is an end. This time it is the beginning.

I am not sure how I feel about it all at this point. I feel like crying because I am leaving my excellent man behind on the east coast. I have never had to make a life choice with another life in the mix. It is a challenging experience to say the least.

I feel excited because I know I am moving on to something new. I am about to be invigorated with a different work environment and learning new tasks. I feel open to the opportunity to be moving to the country's largest city and all it has to offer. I will become a commuter and I will have access to events that previously felt so far away. How fun it may turn out to be!

I feel happy because I will be moving to my brother's home and I will be able to see my nephew and neice on a daily basis. It will be a joy to reconnect with my family and I count myself so lucky to be able to take a job opportunity and be supported by family in the process. Often I am not aware of the gifts in my universe until they are readily at my fingertips. But lucky I am.

I delayed my departure as long as I could. But now it is time to go. Time to step into a role that will hopefully connect me to the next path in my life. I have taken a gamble by leaving a full-time job that I understood very well to take a short-term contract in a completely different role. But I have a partner, family, friends and a dynamic city on my side. So HELLO! I say to Toronto. I am on my way.