People will stare.

 

People will stare.  Make it worth their while. Terrific advice...don't you think?

It takes just as much effort to look like a slob as it does to look presentable.  If your hair isn't washed, put on a cute chapeau.  If you don't feel like fixing your face (not that it needs to be fixed but it's such a quaint expression) a swipe of powder and a tinted lip balm will take you from Wintery washed out to polished in under one minute.  A long coat hides a multitude of sins (even jammies tucked into tall boots for a midnight run to the drug store - trust me on this one). 

It has been another whirlwind few weeks - meetings for every committee under the sun, lobster dinner, business excellence, civic awards, young professionals, politics etc.  Oh and on top of that I have Royal Ribbons to run and business is pouring in...so I'm hopping all day long.  Not to mention my little part time job - I got a message last night to come to work on Saturday morning.  Good thing I have a wardrobe ready to take me anywhere!

I discovered one of the moms from the Little Prince's school just got her yoga certification so I took her very first class last night.  I am thrilled to have yoga in town again! 

I took the Danish exchange student to a community dinner that is put on by the poverty coalition.  It started at the seedy hotel and was frequented by welfare types and drug addicts but the guy in charge has done a tremendous job of building it up, getting people the help they need, and cleaning up the hotel.  Now the dinner is open for anyone to come so we stopped in, had a bite to eat, chatted with some people and helped clean up. The Cheeky Reaper and I are hosting a fundraiser for this group - we have 150 tickets to sell to a movie screening and champagne reception so it was nice to spend time with the people we are doing it for and some of the people on their board of directors. 

I am getting my hair cut this afternoon.  I've been letting it grow out a bit over the winter but I think I will cut it back to summer length again.  I just don't have the time or inclination to blow it out every single day.  Stay tuned to find out how it went with my stylist!

Comments keep bloggers inspired...please take the time to say hello!

Have a fabulous day!

December Recap!

The last month has been a blur of activity and shopping.  I so wanted to blog more but I just didn't have as much time as I needed.  Blogging takes a lot of work...research, taking photos, photo editing, layouts etc.  There just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes!

I am spending this week puttering around the house, getting closets tidy and organized, all the laundry done, writing cards to my penpals and all the little things that get neglected when our minds and bodies are off celebrating.

I feel like Christmas rushed up at me this year...yes I know I have had a whole year but, with the basement renovation taking almost an entire year, my storage room was held hostage until almost December.  As it is, the basement still isn't finished but we needed to take a break.  Since I didn't have a lot of planning time and everything was such a mess I decided to do very minimal decorations and barely decorated the Christmas tree.

Did you know if you don't putz with garlands, little filler ornaments and all that other nonsense a tree can be decorated in less than 1 hour?  No?  Neither did I.  The best part of all of this...it will take me a short amount of time to get it all off the tree. 

I decided this year to get every single piece of Christmas decoration into the living room and get it all sorted out, get rid of what we don't use and organize it by theme.  Perhaps a project for the new year so it can be done as it is coming down.  

The month kicked of with our Civic Awards pot luck meeting.  We all brought a dish and the chair of the committee hosted it at her house.  We had our meeting, patted ourselves on the back and got down to the business of breaking bread.  It was nice to socialize with the other committee members as we are usually busy getting to and from commitments.  The chair of the committee is almost 80 and is described as me in 40 years.  I knew we were soul mates when I saw her datebook is monogrammed.  I took coffee and cake in to her 80 year old husband who was in the den watching tv....he was also doing needlepoint.  We were all having such an enjoyable time I ended up missing a Rotary cocktail party that was on the same night. 

Royal Ribbons was busy up to the first week of December.  I got all of my orders printed and out the door and catered to my last customer of the year with a smile on my face.  I love my personalized ribbon business but I was happy to have my time freed up a bit so I could focus on other things.

We had our Rotary Christmas dinner at one of the local restaurants.  The meal was so-so but the brussel sprouts were amazing!  I ate mine, the mayor's and some of Hermes Scarf Friend's date's servings.  I was telling HSF about one of the much older man who is always verry, verrry flirty with me.  Always telling me the colour I have on is so flattering and then some.  I noticed none of the other women got a Christmas kiss that night!  HSF asked me if I had never noticed I probably remind him a lot of his wife.  No, in fact, I had no noticed that...but come to think of it...I see the connection.  HSF said he is bound to adore anyone who is well mannered, has short blonde hair, is pretty and well spoken...she said I look just like she probably did 40 years ago.  The quilted riding jacket completes the look.  Ok...not so creepy now!

Neighbour and I went to see the 'New Year's Eve' movie and I loved it!  I thought it was a great holiday movie and thoroughly enjoyed it.  We have to see Dragon Tattoo and Twilight soon!  With all of the schedules we need to factor in, it's hard to get a night everyone is free!  PS...I always forget just how insanely cute Zac Efron is.

I attended the Chamber of Commerce cocktail party for all of 20 minutes.  Enough time to do a lap, grab a drink, eat some nibblies, say hello and get on my merry way!  I suspect a lot of the members did the exact same thing as it was a bit quiet when I was there.

I managed to have lunch with HSF a few times - usually to discuss business as we are on several of the same committees so it's a handy way to eat and accomplish the discussions we need to clear up before meeting with other committee members.  Oh and we like to gossip.  Small town life!

It's hard to believe my parents' Christmas party was less than 3 weeks ago.  It seems like a hundred years have gone by!  I have an outfit post from that night coming soon.  The Little Prince charmed the crowd when he was finally comfortable enough to sing his Christmas song for us.  We all cheered and clapped when he finished and he loved it so much he sang it again!  And again!  Six times.  I finally had to stuff some chocolate in his mouth to get him to stop!  I spent some time chatting with my mom's oldest friend and finally got the story of why her daughter divorced her husband.  Turns out he started his own business and she didn't like being home alone as much as that entailed.  Charming.  A young man tries to make a better life for his wife and child and gets divorced for it. 

We joined my inlaws for brunch with Santa at the country club.  The food was really good but I find these sorts of buffets are wasted on me.  I wish we could just buy half of the buffet.  After we ate we went to my inlaws' house to open presents.  One of mine was a fleecy long housecoat...something I would never wear.  It was returned when we passed the mall on our way home.  I got a gift card so I will pick out something from the MAC counter or some such thing.

We spent a day in Toronto going to the Eaton Center, the Christmas Market and dinner at my favourite restaurant in Yorkville.  I realized after that I forgot to go by T&Co to see if they had the carousel windows here too.  I always make a reservation at the restaurant as I like to sit at the same table every time.  It looks out onto Yorkville Avenue and at this time of year there is always lots of hustle and bustle.  I fondly remember one year it was snowing and the street looked so beautiful with everyone rushing home laden with shopping bags....

Strings of street lights  

Even stop lights

Blink a bright red and green 

As the shoppers rush home with their treasures

...the Little Prince came with us this year for the very first time and he had a ball being his mommy's city child.  He loved the subway and taxis!  He needed to be changed into dinner clothes so the Suburban Prince took him to the car and I headed to the restaurant...to order a glass of something civilized. 

I took our sometimes babysitter out for lunch and a catch up.  We are both so busy we hardly ever have time to just sit and chat for no reason at all.  She recently got engaged to our contractor so we had lots to discuss...wedding plans, flower ideas...bridesmaid drama....she is 15 years younger than me so I have a very different perspective to offer.  Hopefully she doesn't make herself crazy!  The cafe we lunched at is always beautifully decorated for the holidays.  I wonder if the frog is for sale!

The library book club met a few days before Christmas to discuss the latest book.  I didn't even crack it open.  It was some sci-fi sort of thing and that just isn't my style.  I did arrive with cupcakes and enjoyed everyone's company...most of whom hadn't read the book either!  We don't get a say in the books that are assigned so we end up stuck with book the weird organizer likes.  What I did learn is Tim's has 'kegs' of hot chocolate - but they must be ordered in advance.

I took a shift at the LCBO ringing the bell for the Sally Ann kettle.  It was so much better this year as I was actually inside the store.  Last year I was outside for a couple of hours and almost crying by the end of my shift.  As I was on the sidewalk last year I didn't pay a lot of attention to who was going in the liquor store.  Want to see everyone you know all in one afternoon?  Hang around the entrance of the liquor store!  This year I noticed there are a lot of people who need booze like a hole in the head going in and spending their welfare cheques. 

We took the Little Prince to get his picture taken with Santa.  I find it incredible how many malls have done away with with taking photos or have removed Santa altogether!  What's that about??  The mall by us has a great Santa and the Little Prince did an awesome job hanging out with him.  The mall had a great idea and offered people a memory stick full of photos for one price.  We ordered that and the photographer went crazy taking over 50 photos for us.  Santa just kept going and wanted more photos taken!  At one point I realized my son could probably be a model and decided to look into it in the new year.

 I had the hardest time shopping this year.  None of the people in my life need or really want anything and I hate wandering the malls.  I prefer to know exactly what I want to buy and get it online or find it online and go right to the store to get it.  I hate shopping...I like buying.  Why is it people who don't want anything still insist on presents?

Our local theatre has a fundraiser each Christmas and it is a bit tourist draw.  Local businesses decorate Christmas trees and they fill the theatre all season.  Tickets are purchased, filled in then dropped into the box that goes with the trees one would like to win.  I got a phone call a couple of days before Christmas to tell me I had won a tree!  I love it!  I was hoping if I had to win a tree it would be this one!  The photos just don't do it justice!

A friend of mine organizes a Christmas lunch for those less fortunate or alone on Christmas day.  I found out he has been paying for it himself (for 100 people!!!!) so I got to work and spread the word to my contacts to see if anyone would help him out.  I managed to get all of the potatoes donated as well as lots of turkeys...and some cash donations.  He was overwhelmed at the generosity and it was so nice to see how happy he was!

I spent a few evenings wrapping presents.  Considering how few things I bought for people I don't know how I had so much to wrap...but I might've gone a little bit overboard buying clothes and books for the Little Prince.  Thank goodness for gift boxes that come already decorated!  I did have fun using my own personalized ribbon tho!  I think it is the perfect finishing touch!

My parents came on Christmas eve and stayed over night.  It was a nice relaxing day as I prepped all the food ahead of time and instead of a big turkey, I made a turkey casserole.  It was all yummy and I didn't have to spend the day in the kitchen!  It makes a huge difference when my inlaws aren't here.  It's not that they aren't pleasant...they are just needy.  Even the Suburban Prince agrees we need to impose a time limit when they come over as they would say for days if we don't kick them out!  After my parents had been with us for 24 hours I told them the B&B is closed and they got their car packed, coats on, hugged us goodbye and went home!

We had our neighbours in for dinner on the 27th.  I kept it super simple with ceasar salad and lasagne.  Before they arrived I made a plate of baking and told the Suburban Prince to take it to the elderly couple across the street....40 minutes later he got home to find our friends and me sitting in the living room having cocktail wondering if he really did vanish into thin air!  Turns out the neighbour offered him a whiskey and he is just easy led astray.

Tonight I am going to the mall to exchange some presents I am not in love with, have a light dinner and finally see Twilight.  I plan on doing very little for the rest of the month.  We will, as usual, stay home for New Year's Eve.  I will see about making a nice dinner for us to enjoy while watching the concerts from all over the place.  I remember the year I was pregnant Denis DeYoung was performing at Niagara Falls and he was great!  Hopefully we will catch some good shows this year.


Have a fabulous day!

Kiva - Loans that change lives

I first heard about Kiva a couple of years ago when my brother-in-law gave me a gift card for it.  I checked out the site, picked someone to help and used my gift card to lend them $25.00.

I had never heard of micro-finance but I had heard of a man who was changing the world one small loan at a time...and now I had the chance to do the same!

A few months later I got an email saying my $25.00 has been paid back in full and I could use it to lend to someone else.  And so on.  Here we are a few years and many loans later and we have helped a lot of people in the 3rd world get businesses off the ground or expanded. 

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of micro-finance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. Learn more about how it works.

Since Kiva was founded in 2005:

• 634,599 Kiva lenders
• $253 million in loans
• 98.90% Repayment rate

They work with:

• 144 Field Partners
• 450 volunteers around the world
• 60 different countries

At the Rotary conference I attended a couple of weeks ago I learned how micro-finance works and how it helps people.  Someone might have 5.00 and keep it under their mattress which is very dangerous and makes it very easy to steal.  By providing a bank account lets them keep their money safe and secure.  Field partners go to remote areas with mobile banks!  Some of their clients have never had a piece of ID so they are issued a bank card with their fingerprint on it.  Suddenly, they exist.

Loan officers work with people to help them create small businesses with their loans and make sure the loans are paid back.  They offer business and financial advice and get to know their clients just the same way you would know the people at your own bank branch.

From Kiva...

"Poor people, with access to savings, credit, insurance, and other financial services, are more resilient and better able to cope with the everyday crises they face. Even the most rigorous econometric studies have proven that micro-finance can smooth consumption levels and significantly reduce the need to sell assets to meet basic needs. With access to micro-insurance, poor people can cope with sudden increased expenses associated with death, serious illness, and loss of assets.

Access to credit allows poor people to take advantage of economic opportunities. While increased earnings are by no means automatic, clients have overwhelmingly demonstrated that reliable sources of credit provide a fundamental basis for planning and expanding business activities. Many studies show that clients who join and stay in programs have better economic conditions than non-clients, suggesting that programs contribute to these improvements. A few studies have also shown that over a long period of time many clients do actually graduate out of poverty."

Imagine.  No, really imagine.  Being able to help someone out of poverty at no cost to yourself - you can cash out once the loan is paid back, put the 25.00 back in your own bank account and go on with your life knowing you made a real difference.

Why am I writing about this today?  Well, it's 11 days until Christmas and we are all running around trying to figure out what to give our loved ones - why not give them the gift of giving?  You can buy Kiva gift cards for as little as $25.00 and they lump sum can be used over and over to help people pull themselves out of poverty.  As Oprah would say, it's not a hand out, it's a hand up!  And you get to feel good about doing it!

UPDATE:  If you go to the site you can choose gender, country, industry and find someone you like.  I tend to pick people who just need a little bit of money before they have their full loan so the process gets underway quickly.  I only wish I could write to them and say 'Great job!' but alas, we don't get an address for anyone we lend money too.

Have a fabulous day!

25 Acts of Kindness - Bloghop!

 I saw this list on Pinterest and thought it would be nice to take on the challenge.  25 acts of kindness before Christmas.  Most of them are very easy and things I do all the time anyway...do we really need to be told to hold the door?  Unfortunately yes, so let's see if this will spread.

I will post my progress on a weekly basis and would love for you to join me!
If I learn how to to a bloghop I will link us all up!

1.  Work at a soup kitchen
2.  Deliver gifts or goodies to your neighbours
3.  Pay for the person in line behind you in the coffee shop
4.  Host or participate in a food drive
5.  Work at the food bank for a day
6.  Tip your mail carrier and delivery person
7.  Donate used books and magazines to a library or doctor's office
8.  Offer babysitting services to a friend
9.  Deliver care packages to the homeless
10.  Visit a nursing home
11.  Deliver goodies to your local fire and police stations
12.  Smile at strangers and say hello
13.  Hold the door for everyone you see going into a building and ask them to do the same
14.  Write snail mail to 5 people
15.  Deliver old towels and blankets to the animal shelter
16.  Give your spare change (or more) to someone in need
17.  Over tip your waiter/waitress
18.  Send letters or care packages to soldiers
19.  Forgive someone
20.  Take a meal or coffee to an elderly person
21.  Leave a wake up surprise for your spouse or children next to their bed
22.  Start a conversation with a new person, welcome them to your community
23.  Write a letter to a parent you admire letting them know what a great job they are doing with their kids
24.  Compliment 10 people
25.  Send a text/email to someone you haven't spoken to for a while and let them know you are thinking about them

Please join my blog hop and let everyone know how you do with the list!


Have a fabulous day!

Monday's Random Thoughts

It has been a crazy couple of week of meetings, meals, events and work! 

- On Sunday I attended a charity tea at High Heeled Life's house...you can see the pictures here.

- On Monday I attended the annual Rural Urban dinner in our town.  The first surprise was when I found out we are the urban side.  Really?  Ok!  The rural side is verrry rural.  Farmers.  Like reallio trulio farmers.  The second surprise was when I realized that even tho we were sitting at the same table as 6 farmers, they weren't going to speak to us.  Hermes Scarf Friend and I tried forcing ourselves on them but they were having none of it!  The urbanites *ahem* are expected to mingle with the farmers and we will be called out if we don't.  It's all in fun and raises money for charity but I think I will raise some expectations of the farmers...like next year they should actually speak to us!

- On Tuesday morning I had a civic awards meeting.  I picked up the chair of the committee and we went to another member's house.  He must be retired as he is around all the time and...he baked us scones!  I want to know who the heck has time at 8am to bake and clean up before someone comes over at 9am!  I didn't know much about what this meeting was about - and I was told I was chairing it!  Ummmm.  Shoooot!  I made it up as I went along and we got through it!  The chair sent me the nicest email telling me how much she admires and respects me.  I get a bit misty just thinking about it!

- Tuesday evening I had another meeting - Rotary Christmas fundraising this time.  Last year we made it competitive and had teams assigned to each of us.  This year we are keeping the teams but not the competition...but if we sell 500 hams and 150 boxes of chocolates the chair of the fundraising committee will come to a meeting in drag...and makeup.  He is currently growing his mustache for Movember.  This will be fun.

- If you follow me on Twitter you might've been witness to my thoughts on a conversation about ribbon colours for the Christmas chocolate fundraiser.  The chair thought pink ribbon on lime green boxes would be weird (because agreeing to dress in drag and makeup isn't weird).  A lawyer on Twitter actually offered to call him and sort it all out!  Now preps, don't worry, I got my way and we will be offering the choice of pink or red ribbon on the chocolate boxes. Crisis averted.

- The basement renovation is coming along nicely.  The drywall is almost all up which means the power tools will get a break...as well as my headache.  The other day the guys were down there and a fight escalated until I thought it was going to come to blows.  The guy in charge knows one of the issues we have had is the noise level.  Not the work noise, but the stereo they play down there and the fighting that used to go on and rang through our entire house...one of them has the whiniest voice, it just makes people want to punch him in the face!  Anyhoo, the fight got louder and louder until I heard the guy in charge yelled at the top of his lungs 'We're not supposed to be yelling!!!!!!!!'.  And then silence.

- Hermes Scarf Friend and I worked for the hospital gala last week.  We set up the silent auction room and there were 85 items!  Some of them were big ticket like Pilot Friend donated a flight for 4 to Ottawa, a tour of the parliament buildings and lunch with our local MP, trips to Toronto with hockey tickets, $400 bottles of wine and so much more!  I have watched enough soaps to know getting on the hospital board will be the pinnacle of my career as a Suburban Princess...this is step one towards that goal!  It was so much fun seeing my custom ribbon on a few of the auction items!  To order your own personalized ribbon please visit Royal Ribbons!

- The other day the Little Prince was looking at photos on one of the laptops.  He came across one from the highland games in the summer and said 'Oh I do love a marching band!'.  He is definitely an old soul!

- I went to a 'shopping extravaganza' the other night.  I was invited to bring my ribbon samples, a dish for the food table and a prize for the gift basket.  I had never been to this sort of thing so I had no idea what to expect.  I'm all for being a team player but I would struggle with asking people to bring so much to my house.  Have you been to such a thing?  The hostess invited lots of vendors from different companies to set up their displays and invited lots of guests to come and get some Christmas shopping done while holding a glass of wine and eating something one of the vendors brought.  One of the shoppers won the gift basket all the vendors donated to.

- Remembrance day brought nice weather.  I am always happy to know the people at the memorials don't have to stand in the rain or snow.  I find these events so emotional and end up having to think of other things while I am there so I don't start sobbing.

-  Does no one ask 'How are you?' back anymore?  I always lead with 'Hi so-and-so, how are you?' and almost always get 'Good thanks' back but they never ask me how I am!  It's a bit of a conversation killer isn't it?  I'm always left wondering if I am supposed to walk away, carry on with what I was going to say, stand there staring at them....

- I have been talking to the Little Prince about Santa and asked if he is going to write a letter to Santa.  'Yes'...Ok...I asked what he will say in the letter.  He replied, 'Thank you'.  Four words:  Mom. Of. The. Year.


Have a fabulous day!

Charity Tea Recap & Photos!

Last weekend I attended a charity tea at High Heeled Life's house.  It was called the Serendipity Christmas Tea and we were all asked to bring an unwrapped gift for a teen girl which would be donated to the local charity collecting for Christmas.

 

We were greeted at the door with a glass of champers.  You can see it ready and waiting on the table.  I've decided I need to be handed a glass the moment I walk into any building.

The all important branding and signage!

 

Some great items were collected for the teen girls who need some love at Christmas.

 

Every surface was beautifully decorated - I know the pain of living with a renovation!

 

Sometimes we just work with what we have!

 

Prepare to gain 10lbs just looking at the food - I lost track of how many treats I ate!

Everything was beautifully made and presented!

 

Never be afraid to ask if something you are deathly allergic to is in something you are being served.  Better safe than sorry!  I was told tho, these were amazing!  

 

More food read to be warmed up!  

These were delicious - cranberry and turkey I think!

 

Seriously...I would've forgotten to serve the tea!  

Fortunately HHL always has lots of people around to help out!

 

Three different teas with all the fixins!

 

Sugars and honey!

I had eaten so much I didn't even try to top it off with a scone, but everyone else raved about them!

 

Mmmm clotted cream.  'Nuff said!

 

After sugar and champers it's nice to have a glass of cold water

 

Uh huh.  We were expected to eat it all!

 

My favourite cupcakes!

 

Macarons.  NOT Macaroons.  Two totally different cookies. 

Don't try to tell me in America they are called Macaroons.

They aren't.

 

So about those cupcakes....if you are ever invited to HHL's house, ask for the cupcakes.

Treasures from Paris.

 

One of the tables all set for a group of ladies.

 

All the little details were perfect!

 

Every teacup was different!

 

Another table by the big comfy couches!

 

Magazines were laid out...just in case 7 women ran out of conversation!

 

Fresh flowers everywhere!

 

I sat at one of the couches to eat all of the yummy treats. My favourite was the egg salad sandwiches - apparently they contained some highly guarded, secret Italian ingredient.

 

Yes, I photographed other plates too!

 

Thanks for inviting me to your charity tea HHL!  I had a great time with the girls!

After we ate everyone gathered around the big couches and like fun loving women who are no threat to each other we laughed and screeched and cackled and had a great time!  Now we know one of the girls has her family's meals all cooked by her MIL, her husband gets the kids to school and does the ironing and the children sort the laundry.  She gets to read books and take baths (oh and work full time).  We are all a little jelly bean!

At the peak of hilarity there was a tentative knock at the door - the room went silent and one of the husbands was let in....looking terrified!  We sat there looking mostly prim and proper until we forgot he was standing there before we went back to conversations about why men cheat, how to make children say please, religion in the 1st and 3rd worlds and anything else we could come up with!

I was exhausted by the time I got home!  It was a great day for a great cause!

Have a fabulous day!

How a spoiled princess gets to a Rotary conference!

Last weekend my Rotary club was hosting the district's annual conference but we don't have a place to hold a conference in this town so we had to have it in Collingwood which is about 4 hours away.  I was thinking I wouldn't be going as I could only make it on the Saturday and 8 hours of driving in one day just isn't my idea of time well spent.

Enter my pilot friend.  He had offered to take a group of Rotarians up to the conference on the Friday afternoon and since I asked nicely, and make him custom ribbon and treats for his plane he agreed to take me on the Saturday morning.

In case you are wondering how I come to know people with private planes and get flown around...I make nicenice with everyone and ask for what I want.  Life is as simple as that!  I asked my pilot friend and if he had said no, well then...I wouldn't have gone.  But he is a nice man who is easily bribed so he agreed to meet me at his airport (yes, his airport) at 9am on Saturday.

Pilot friend needs a code name...Daddy Warbucks?  The Red Baron?  Any other suggestions?

Let's have a look at this plane.  The bottom arrow is the 'step' and the top arrow is at the hand grip.  I am 5'2" and had a moment when I wondered if I would need a boost or a box to stand on.  Fortunately I was wearing pants with a little stretch so I managed to get up there with minimal embarrassment.  The object is to put one foot on the step, grab the hand grip, then step up onto the wing near the door.  I should point out this turned out to be a lot easier than getting down from the plane, in high heeled boots.

The plane has all the bells and whistles including auto pilot, traffic alerts, gps and heat (which I found is important as it's chilly up there in the big blue sky!).

The screen on the left shows the horizon, altitude and speed...the one on the right shows our route and the geography around us.  Another amazing feature this plane has, which the pilot called 'The Wife Pleaser', is a parachute.  I don't mean a parachute for the passengers...the plane has it's own parachute.  My blood pressure dropped dramatically back to a normal level when he told me about this and showed me how to use it.  One never knows when the pilot flying the plane might have a problem and be unable to land safely - pulling the chute and turning off the power to the plane will let it float down to the ground safely.

Ready to take off.  Pilot friend has a hangar and runway across the road from his house.  Another benefit of living in the country...there's lots of land!  It's completely hidden from the road, easy to get to and has it's own parking lot.

 

 The moment one realizes...no one is flying the plane!  It was on autopilot so we got to chat and learn about the plane on the way to Collingwood. 

The cars are so tiny!  We were about 24,000 feet up which sounds like a lot but isn't really but the cars, houses and sheep still looked teensie!

Checkerboard farms.

 

Pilot friend asked me if I wanted to fly the plane and, since I'm not an idiot, I said YES!  He told me what to do, took it off autopilot and I took over.  I wasn't very daring as my goal for the day was staying alive (sing along with me!), so I focused on keeping the plane in the air, going straight and in the right direction.  I did learn it's easier to fly by looking out the window than at the controls and screens.  But then I've never been very good at video games!

 

We got to Collingwood, borrowed an airport car and went to the conference.  Yes, I almost forgot we were doing this for the good of Rotary.  When we got there they were between sessions and on a coffee break.  Perfect timing!  So we got cookies and warm bevvies and figured out which sessions to sit in on.  But not before making our way through the crowd of very excited Rotarians and so many friends I haven't seen for a while (who were all suitably jellybean knowing I was flown there).  My chocolate chunk cookie and I chose to go to the microfinance and microcredit session and I am so glad I did!  I am sure we have all heard of Kiva (I have countless Kiva loans out there in the 3rd world) and this session explained the Rotary system of microfinance and how loan officers on the ground, in the trenches so to speak, help people save, get loans, learn about business and get out of the dire conditions we all have seen on tv but are fortunate enough to not have to endure.  Yes, I know...run on sentence.

After that session we had lunch and got to see all kinds of awards being given out.  Because this was a district conference for 55 clubs, getting an award is a bit of a big deal.  Awards were given for literacy programs in schools designed by Rotarians, monies raised by Rotarians to help eradicate polio, awards for amount and length of service.  I saw a man I thought looked familiar then realized he is Jack Layton's son, there to accept an award given to Jack who was also a Rotarian.  Agree or disagree with his politics, he was a true Rotarian and devoted his life to 'the people'.

After lunch we saw a presentation by Jamie Fraser (not that Jamie Fraser) of Dignitas International and he spoke of his time in Africa working as a doctor.  When he came back to Canada he was so affected by his experiences (some of them were very unpleasant and spiritually damaging) he knew he needed to continue the work, so, he has devoted his life to changing how the 1st world views AIDS in the 3rd world.  He has been fighting to get governments to provide the same treatments as anyone in Canada would get.  This is so important as the 3rd world will always be the 3rd world if something doesn't change.  Eradicating AIDS in Africa means countries wouldn't be as dependent on the 1st world.  Isn't that what we all want?

 

After the presentation there was a big walk in Collingwood to promote our efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Pilot friend/Daddy Warbucks/Red Baron and I chose that time to leave as neither of us had planned on staying for the dinner and gala.  When you know that many people in a crowd it takes a while to actually get out the door.  I was happy I got to see our friends who do so much good work in Laos before they left - we wont see them again until April at the earliest!

Pilot friend is in agriculture and used to own grain elevators in Collingwood so he asked if I wanted to see how one works.  We arrived just in time to see a truck of corn being weighed, tested then unloaded into the elevator.  The machinery is huge and everything reeks of ethanol.  We got to taste the corn, which is very dry and grainy when it's not cooked on the fire and slathered with butter and salt.

The farmer bringing the load of corn in saw my badge and said 'I see you are a Rotarian'.  I said we both are (pointing to pilot friend) and he was asking what we were doing up there and told us he is a Rotarian in another district.  We are everywhere.  My one regret is I didn't ask the farmer more questions about how they harvest the corn and get it off the cob...so unlike me!

We got back to the Collingwood airport, gave back the loaner car, inspected the plane and got on our way back home.  Lots of autopilot and chatting about pilot friend's family history in the area and maybe a teeeeeensie little bit of gossip about a mutual friend.  We did a lap of our town and it was so neat to see town hall and the park from the air!   My camera battery was dying so I didn't get any shots of town but let's hope there is another chance!

 

I managed to squeeze in one last shot before the battery died.  We were about to land at pilot friend's airport when he told me other pilots this he is crazy to land between the trees like this.  Charming.  I suggested he not tell people that until after the flight is over!  We landed safe and sound, disembarked and got the plane put away.  The Suburban Prince and Little Prince arrived about a minute after we landed so they missed the plane coming in but did get to see it in the hanger and chat with pilot friend for a few minutes. 

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday in October!

I got home and then had to put a load of laundry in an go get some groceries.  It's a hard splat back to reality!  That's the problem with being a spoiled princess - real life is a bit hard to stomach!  To add to that, we got a call around 9pm that the town is in a state of emergency because our water station had two pumps break and we need to conserve water.  As in....odd numbered houses get to shower on odd numbered days and we have to go get cases of water from the rescue and emergency volunteers set up in town.  The good news is I have lined up for water in 3rd world country so doing this didn't seem so bad.

Have a fabulous day!