When I was a kid, my Gramps tried to convince us that the work my mother did on Parliament Hill included setting the Peace Tower clock. Like leaning out of the Peace Tower and moving the hands on the clock. What she actually did was research for Mr. Gordon Fairweather, MP for Fundy-Royal. She spent …
End of an era
Wong’s Palace opened in 1978. That same year my grandparents started going there to eat. When my daughter was born we took her there and put in her the same high chairs I used as a baby. It has been our family place my whole life. Every Christmas Eve dinner, birthdays and other celebrations. When …
The E minus
During the 2008 federal election I was the first to arrive at the office. I would get there around 6 am, relieving the overnight media monitoring, who was always much peppier than I was – me having just woken up, and him being full of caffeine and adrenaline. Upon arriving at the office, I had …
For Laurie
Before this year I had read one Agatha Christie mystery in my life. I read And Then There Were None when I was a kid. My friend Laurie challenged herself last year to read as many Christie’s as she could. When Laurie died earlier this year the Facebook group that she created drafted a bingo …
Living out loud
My friend Laurie passed away this week. It was not unexpected, but still devastating to know that such a kind soul has left the world. She was a dear lady, kind and friendly. Every evening I’ve been thinking about Laurie, about her boys who she loved fiercely, about her husband and how quiet things must be …
Exploring Science and Tech
I grew up in Ottawa and I have vivid memories of visiting all the city’s museum – and since we’re the capital we get a few. Science and Technology was one of my favourites – the trains, the crazy kitchen – and I took my kid there a couple of times before the museum had …
Taking An Opportunity
My husband went out on Friday night and the kid was feeling restless. I wanted to just lie down and read my book, but she wanted to do this or that. Finally at around 6:30 pm I started googling and I decided we would go on an adventure, the kid and me. I picked out …
Into Nature
We spent part of the March break at Montebello, which was my idea. I took the kid there once before and we rather enjoyed ourselves, and I thought it a great place to get away, but not too far away. Turns out Montebello is quite popular during March break, and they appreciate the business so …
#MFO16
My daughter has reached an age where she still has many questions, but she is exhausting the ones I can actually answer. This is why I’ve started using outside sources and calling in favours. Last year I planned on taking her to Ottawa’s Maker Faire but things didn’t work out (I think we all ended up …