Friday, July 30, 2004
10:53pm I'll Have a Slice of Diva
I can really get used to this kind of service. I haven't had to lift a finger since we got here. The maid service comes in and makes the bed, brings fresh linens and towels and even loads and unloads the dishwasher. For a small fee they'll even do your laundry, but I prefer to do my own dirty laundry. At a $1.50 a load and $1.00 for a box of Tide with just enough detergent to do one load I really miss my ensuite laundry. The last time I was in a coin operated laundry was in my senior year of university which when you do the math turns out to be quite some time ago. Enjoying this while it lasts!
Jay got home at 6pm today which is early for the kind of hours he's been putting in lately. We took a drive for a bite at a great little vegetarian Indian food spot located beside a Target Greatland. I love Target! But Target Greatland - oh yeah baby! On the way back, we cruised around Midtown Atlanta admiring the pretty condo complexes in the area. There are some really beautiful places to live in these parts and not nearly as expensive as the rents in New Jersey. If Jay's company ever decides that they want him to work out of the Atlanta office again, we've got our eye on the pretty Italian villa-style complex situated just around the corner from the office.
Our friends Jonathan and Gigi are flying into town from Toronto tomorrow morning. Jonathan's older brother and his family have lived just outside of Atlanta for many years. We've been invited to have dinner with them at their home tomorrow evening. Perhaps we'll get in some sightseeing with them this weekend. Apparently Gi has her shopping agenda down to take advantage of the Georgia Tax Free Holiday.
Cindy and Norm are celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary at a San Diego spa getaway. Go Norm for planning that on the downlow! You really must school other husbands on the fine art of planning couple weekends on the sly! For the record, real men do get massages and manicures! Hope you are enjoying your luxurious weekend together. Call me between spa treatments. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!
Thursday, July 29, 2004
11:45pm Southern Hospitality
Georgia certainly lives up to its reputation for dishing up some good ol' Southern hospitality. Just take a walk along busy Peachtree St. during business hours and you'll be met with a "Hi, how are you!" in that syrupy accent from passersby.
Jessica and I had lunch at the cafe downstairs today and our server promptly brought out a plate of fries with Jessica's meal, even though her mac and cheese didn't come with any, simply because "all kids expect that a meal naturally comes with french fries" he said. When I got the check I discovered that her meal was on the house.
After lunch, we took a quick walk to the library to get out of the humidity and to do a little reading. The librarian recognized us right away and asked Jessica if she had enjoyed the magic show that we watched Tuesday morning. She warmly thanked us for coming and told us that she hopes to see us often.
Now try smiling and saying a friendly hello to a complete stranger on the streets of Toronto or New York City and see if you don't get slapped with a restraining order. Hmph!
12:41am Queer Eye for the Straight Blog
I'm dying to give my blog a makeover! I wonder if there is a Fab Five equivalent in the blog world whom I can contact for assistance. Our recent move and the hassle of trying to install MS FrontPage and my blog files to every computer I've been using over the past few weeks is a huge pain in the rear. I'm missing a few entries and a handful of photos in my gallery because I forgot to backup my files before leaving Toronto. Aaargh!
Jay has already addressed part of the problem by breaking down and purchasing a laptop so that we could be completely mobile. Now we wonder how we survived this long without one. Yay - gotta love free high speed internet and WiFi.
I've been experimenting with Blogger, a blog publishing tool that would allow me the freedom to blog from anywhere there is internet access. Somehow I managed to mess up the journal page on my website. Some of you may have already noticed because I was having some difficulty troubleshooting. I'm certainly no techie but I'm determined to figure things out. Look out for a new and improved blog coming soon to a neighborhood nearest you!
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
11:30pm Peachy Keen in Georgia
Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia! After three long weeks of being apart, we flew to Atlanta as a family last Sunday. Its nice to be all together again. Jessica and I will be spending the rest of the summer here with Jay.
So far we're enjoying our new surroundings in Midtown Atlanta. Its a vibrant, modern and very progressive city. The weather is hot and humid. People have that Southern drawl and slow-as-molasses attitude. Sales tax is 7% and the state of Georgia has a Sales Tax Holiday today until Sunday. I'm thinking that the province of Ontario should follow that model. Everything is a short walk away including all the important things: Starbucks and a Nail Spa. I have my priorities straight. Hee!
Jessica and I spent most of yesterday experiencing the local culture with a visit to the High Museum of Art conveniently located across the street from where we're currently staying. The building itself is an architectural wonder both inside and out.
My 5-year old is becoming quite the seasoned museum patron. At least she does a pretty good job of making it appear that way, as one museum guest observed with a chuckle. Whatever happened to Chuck e Cheese and Cheerios? Hee!
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
4:57pm Neither Here Nor There!
Jessica and I have been in Toronto for three weeks now and I'm beginning to feel neither here nor there. I've got one foot in the US and the other here on Canadian soil. Our furniture and personal belongings (and my heart) are in Jersey, my daughter, my clothing (and my body) are in Toronto, and my husband is in Atlanta. Aaargh!
I'd forgotten how clean the City of Toronto is. Sure we've lived near two of the hippest most cosmopolitan American cities - San Francisco and New York City. Toronto is still home home I suppose, but I still love San Francisco. Nothing can quite compare. A lot has changed here - where the heck did that Bank of America building come from? And there are new luxury condos every time you turn around. There are a few more homeless people sleeping in front of Toronto City Hall than I remember.
This city is beautiful and CLEAN! But its going to take me some time to get used to the 15% sales tax again. Ouch! I'll definitely need a job to afford myself here. Hee!
Monday, July 19, 2004
3:56pm Atlanta or Bust!
Its been three weeks since we left New Jersey and almost that long since my last update. I'm in withdrawal - for more reasons than one. I miss our friends, our life and the comfortable little place in Watchung. I've missed blogging and for this reason finally got the motivation together to pull the pc out of its box.
I have so much to blog about that I'm not really sure just where to start. It turns out that this entire New Jersey to Toronto to Atlanta move has taken a whole lot longer than we had anticipated. We certainly "nested" in Jersey and managed to acquire more furniture and just more things in general without even realizing it. Our life in California was fairly mobile in the cute-but-disposable-IKEA-furniture kind of way. To think that we left Canada four years ago with nothing more than our clothes, a handful of my favorite stainless steel kitchen utensils, one set of my favorite bedding, and a smattering of Jessica's most beloved toys - whatever could fit into the trunk of our car or could come along for the airplane trip.
We ended up turning in our Crystal Ridge Club keys on Friday, July 2, two days later than planned. We finally vacated the apartment and had our final walk-through by 2:30pm. We got on the road towards Toronto by 3pm - 3 hours behind the Negrillo family who were heading that direction to spend the Fourth of July weekend in Toronto with us. I went into "leadfoot mode" with just one rest stop break to try and catch up with them on the Thruway. We caught up just before the border crossing and drove the rest of the way to my parents home together.
We had a wonderful weekend together. We attended the church services at the Fairhavens Community Church - the new group that is meeting in Vaughn Region. The message for the day was quite timely outlining how God has a plan for us.
We enjoyed the sites of downtown Toronto and the beautiful landscape of Edwards Gardens, Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist tour, had a yummy Swiss Chalet meal, and some great conversation with our good Jersey friends - Ulysses, Jo, and their boys, PJ, Aaron and Joel.
I felt like a tourist in my own hometown since I'd never been on the Maid of the Mist tour before either. We all had a great time and it was sad to see the Negrillo's go. They've become like family to us. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Soon after we waved goodbye to our friends, I drove Jay to the airport to catch his flight to Atlanta. Things seem to be going well. Second day on the job, Jay found himself catching an early morning flight to San Jose, California with two of his new colleagues to meet one of the company's clients. Talk about getting thrown into the fire!
There's a funny side story to that San Jose trip. Imagine the fear when I checked my email to find an America West Airlines Confirmation in my Inbox - flight reservations for a Jay Gamez from San Jose to Toronto with a layover in Las Vegas - charged to our credit card. Odd! Crazy thoughts were going through my head, "I could swear Jay told me he was working in Atlanta", "The nerve of him taking a vacation to Northern California without me!", "Identity theft!" as I quickly dialed his cell. Phew - turns out that no crimes had been committed and that Jay really had made that reservation on our credit card to expense later.
So Jay had been in four cities in two different time zones all within one week. This is now his third week at his new job and things seem to be going well. He's beginning to hate the travel and we hate being apart all week.
Actually I should have been in Atlanta with him since last Sunday. That's another funny story. Jay arrived in Toronto late Friday night and the thought of having to do the 17-hour drive the following day as originally planned was not one he relished. So after a very short discussion, we booked airline tickets to fly to Atlanta Sunday afternoon instead.
As luck would have it, I woke up Sunday morning with a fever and the last thing I felt like doing was getting on a plane. Luckily enough, we got a refund on the airline tickets booked for Jessica and I. Jay made the trip back by himself again and I'm here in Toronto for another week. We fly out on the weekend since Jay has to be back here to attend his brother's Bachelor Party.
It's been a busy several weeks with all the growing pains of moving and all the transition that goes along with it. I've been sorting through the personal belongings that we stored at my parents home when we left the condo before our California move. One of these days I swear I'm going to have a garage sale. I've been visiting my Toronto friends. We also got in some house hunting time before Jay left and fell in love with the Deerhurst model in a new Richmond Hill development. Of course there's a hold on Phase II until further notice so the search continues. I think we're a little jaded where real estate prices are concerned. We're so accustomed to seeing million dollar starting prices on tiny townhomes in the Bay Area that suddenly the prices in these parts look like a steal. Gotta work on a new mindset!
My gallery is finally updated with pics from our last Jersey visits with Jane, Paul, Eric and the kids and our friends at the Crystal Ridge Club, Niagara Falls. Thanks to Eric for sharing his digital pics of our coffee visit and Brianna's 6th birthday party with me to post in the gallery.