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Events of the year (personal) Trip to Algonquin, the Laurentians, Montreal, Gaspé, Tadoussac region, New Brunswick and Vermont. Attending the 2002 Popular and American Culture Conference. Attending the Bob Geldof concert. Becoming an aunt again. And again. Improving the Cadsoft.com Web site (as part of my paid employment). Developing the Mathematics.com Web site (also as part of my paid employment) Building the shed. Jean's new car. Eating at Toqué in Montreal. Getting the family room painted.
Events of the year (global) The Olympics: The skating scandal, the hockey golds, Becky Scott's win, the short-track speed skating team... Ontario Conservatives: Hydro crisis; welfare policy kills the poor while rich corporations pay no taxes at all. African crisis: AIDS epidemic, the new Ethiopian famine, stoning sentences in Nigeria War on terrorism: Bombing in Bali, stand-off with Iraq Federal Liberals: Chrétien will resign — someday; gun registry mess
Live theatre we loved Mamma Mia, Toronto Pirates of Penzance, Grand Bend Two Pianos, Four Hands, Waterloo Stage Theatre Maggie's Getting Married, Waterloo Stage Theatre I'll Be Back Before Midnight, Waterloo Stage Theatre
Live concerts we loved Bob Geldof, Palais Royale, Toronto Jeans'n'Classics Band with KW Symphony: A Disco Ball, Centre in the Square, Kitchener Jean'n'Classics Band with KW Symphony: Tribute to David Bowie, Centre in the Square, Kitchener KW Symphony: Swing on a Star, Centre in the Square, Kitchener Jeans'n'Classics Band with KW Symphony: Rockin' Christmas, Centre in the Square, Kitchener
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Personal News Archives: 2002Dec 15 | Nov. 11 | Oct. 12 | Sept. 15 | July 14 | June 6 | Apr. 6 | Feb. 26 Past Newsbits stored here for a while. December 15, 2002I'm an aunt! Again!
I wasn't around for the phone call, because Jean and I were in London for the Trudell (ProResp's parent company) Christmas party. We had fun, though you know you're partying with wusses when Jean and I (and Dominic, Carrie, Cathy, and Graham) are the ones closing the party out. We did visit with Michelle and Hugh last weekend, since Mom was there. To pass the time waiting for Jackson, we did some shopping (we went to get shoes for Jean, and two hours later left with a very nice Christmas outfit for Cathy), caught up on Angel viewing, ate a very fine dinner, and even (but don't expect to see this very often again) played cards. The next day, France, Michel, Côme, and Suzanne came to visit. I think it was the first time they'd seen our house. So, they missed out on our pink, wall-papered family room, because we actually got it repainted! Now it's blue above, and just off-white below. Looks much better. Anyway, it was also nice to catch up with them. They were visiting local elk. (Seriously.) November 11, 2002We went on quickie trip to Québec (the province, not the city) last weekend. The reason, basically, was that Jean had vacation days to use up. He had planned to go to Timmins, but when he called his Mom, he found that she was going to be away. So this became the itinerary:
Jean had Tuesday off as well to recuperate. We also went to two KW Symphony concerts in October — one with the rock band, one without — and quite enjoyed both. The Waterloo Stage Theatre season has also started. The first play, the comedy Maggie's Getting Married, was quite enjoyable, but Come by the Hills wasn't to our taste. October 12, 2002
Mom and Dad came to visit for a week. They went to Stratford, and visited with various area friends, and did some shopping. We also went to see Mamma Mia in Toronto; that really was a lot of fun. And as always, it was nice to be able to sit and talk! As reported to most via email, we quite enjoyed our summer vacation. We visited many beautiful areas — Algonquin Park, the Laurentians, the Tadoussac region, Gaspé, Fundy Park in New Brunswick, Deer Island and Campobello Island, and the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and (briefly) New York. We had mostly good weather, and enjoyed fine meals. The family reunion in New Richmond was fun as well — neat to see the cousins and such after so many years. I hope to get some pictures posted soon. (I really need a digital camera. :-) Meanwhile, at home, Sandy has been diagnosed with diabetes. We're currently trying to figure out the appropriate amount of insulin for him, which means repeated visits to the vet for blood tests. He's already responding well to the treatment, though. And very fortunately, the insulin shots don't seem to bother him at all. Mostly he doesn't seem to even notice them. Jean has a new car in his life: (Click image to enlarge it.) We took the new car for a test drive to Timmins on the Canada Day weekend. (We took Friday off as well.) The trips there and back went well, and we had a relaxing time in Timmins (which was experiencing a heat wave). We met up with our friends Paul and Sylvie. And we were there for my parents' small surprise party in honour of their 40th wedding anniversary. It was hosted by Uncle Gilles and attended by various local relatives, some of whom I hadn't seen in a while. That was a nice time. And I think Mom and Dad were basically pleased what the gift their children came up with, which was one of those new DVD/VCR combos. Things are going well at work. I have a co-op student for the summer, which is keeping me hopping. Jean is involved with various interesting health initiatives. Sandy has had some trouble with a sore back, which has affected his mobility. Otherwise, the cats are just fine, and being pretty good about staying in the yard. Even Romey. Our party on June 1 went quite well. We were blessed with good weather, so everyone was, in fact, able to enjoy both the indoors and outdoors. We had way too much food, but at least the leftovers have been enjoyable. The crowd (of about 35) mixed pretty well, considering that they certainly didn't all know each at the start. And the hosts had fun too. We went to Toronto on May 11 for Hugh's 30th birthday party. During the day we went to the Ontario Art Gallery, where I saw the Yes Yoko Ono exhibit. (Jean went to see other parts of the collection instead.) I was just in time for a guided tour, which was very helpful. I ended up quite impressed with a number of her pieces, but you do need to understand some of the thought behind it. The party itself was good, though we didn't know a lot of people beyond Mom and Dad, Michelle and Hugh, and the Macphie parents and brothers. The next day that whole gang trouped back to Waterloo. Mom, Dad, and Michelle cooed appropriately at the buffet Jean built, then we went to the Macphie's for Mother's Day dinner, where Michelle and Hugh made their big announcement: They are expecting in November. We went to the finale Electric Thursdays concert: A Disco Ball. It was a lot of fun. They had six different vocalists, three men and three women, each doing songs best suited to their vocal range. A couple of the male singers really got into camping it up, while the third just looked slightly horrified. We've signed up again for next year, and are also considering attending other KW Symphony concerts. We're just back a week's vacation in Montreal and Québec City. The highlights of that were:
Jean has finished his buffet. It looks good (as pictured). Jean has just received word that he can (probably) hire some more staff at work, which should reduce his stress and feeling of being overworked. He's surprised but very happy about that. I've received my leather jacket, and another raise (due to changes in when reviews will be done). The Waterloo Engineering.com staff continues to shrink, with the project manager having to decide to fulfill a long-time dream of moving to California (where her closest family lives). There is a possibility that the replacement project manager will be Waterloo based, I suppose. In fun activities, we quite enjoyed the Electric Thursdays “Tribute to David Bowie” (that's the KW Symphony + rock band). We've also been to a number of movies, as a lot of high-quality ones seem to get released at this time of year. See also: News Archive 2001 |
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