Emerging from my cocoon

It's been hard to find time for blogging lately. My father's wake, moving into my new townhouse, a general flurry of activity and a bit of an emotional dead zone have conspired to keep me away from the keyboard. So here's a ten minute summary of the last few weeks...

Chris returned from camp having ultimately enjoyed himself but missed his "second life" in World of Warcraft. His mother has bought him a MacBook laptop in the belief that this will help him with high school. Jury's out on that one I think. He's been at my place for a few days but has mostly been with his mother since getting back from camp. He returns Monday for his week with me although the house is still mostly heaps of boxes. He's also finished his first week of high school, which seems to have gone well. I'll need to pump him for details tomorrow. While he was with me he had an "introduction" morning to get familiar with his classmates and get the lay of the land and seemed to be comfortable with the prospect of high school.

My half brother Hugh was in town for a week or so staying with my sister. He helped me move in along with Sheryl and my friend Adrian. Hugh, Chris and I spent some time together, watching Ratatouille and spending a day at the CNE. The CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) is Toronto's classic end-of-summer fair. We watched the Canadian International Air Show, which Chris deeply resented, rode the roller coasters and observed piglets and baby goats. Hugh is now visiting my brother in upstate New York but should be passing through town in another week. Maybe I'll have a place for him to stay this time.

What about me? Well I've been busy ignoring the piles of possessions scattered throughout my townhouse. I've also been teaching my Running Room clinic and trying to stay on top of my own training. I've got the crazy idea of going down to Australia for my father's final wake and doing an Ironman triathlon at the same time. It's also Toronto International Film Festival time. This year on top of my usual volunteering I've got a paying job helping operate one of the Festival's box offices. For the last week I've working from as early as 5:30 AM until early afternoon as a Box Office Line Supervisor. In the afternoons I've been a Volunteer Captain at various theatre venues. This will continue for another exhausting week. Didn't help that on Opening Night I went to the Gala party and stayed out until 3:30 AM, leaving just 90 minutes for sleeping before the next day started!

Speaking of the Toronto International Film Festival I've managed to see two films so far, which surprised me given my wild over-commitments; When Did You Last See Your Father? and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Both are excellent films with great performances, camera work and scripts. The first film hit a bit too close to home, dealing with a man coming to terms with the impending death of his father. These films will undoubtedly be released widely, I generally try to get to films at the Festival that are unlikely to show up on North American screens but these happened to fit my free time slots.

Listening to: The Reasons by The Weakerthans from Reconstruction Site.