Okay, tiling’s done, but the house is still upside down and I was starting to ask myself, “What the heck’s so wrong with a shabby kitchen anyway???” There’s something kind of tempting to living beneath your means. On the one hand you could try to convince yourself that you’re above all that superficial nonsense and […]

I think it was about eight or nine years ago that we first got our brown tweed sofa and loveseat from some big box store or another. We preferred the fabric to leather that was highly fashionable at the time because it was *warmer*. Leather feels so cold to the touch. We used those sofas well […]

LOL. Knew I wouldn’t win the Hackmatack! But really! Losing to a cat named Binky! It was a little graphic novella, all of sixty odd pages, about a cat that wants to go into outer space. Now this award is chosen by grades 4 and 5 I think. They don’t have a young adult category, that’s […]

What a day it’s been! Started this morning with a presentation in west Saint John, New Brunswick. About seventy eager children arrived, many of whom had read WANTING MOR. I had to present in the main room of the library with women and babies weaving through the grade four and five kids sitting on the floor, […]

I’m writing this from my hotel room in Saint John New Brunswick, on tour with the Hackmatack award. The ceremony is on Friday the 13th (in three days or two–too tired to count) and WANTING MOR is up for the award but I doubt it will win. The old adage of it’s an honour to […]

But mostly downs. This week has been tough! Every morning I’ve been getting up early to go to a different school, and every night I haven’t been getting to bed in time. It’s definitely taking its toll on me. Of course there was the news on Sunday night that Osama was dead. Such a relief […]

I know I said I wouldn’t be blogging till I got back, but it’s kind of surprising how much time you have when you don’t have to do any housework! So I’ve actually been thinking of sharing my thoughts while I’m away. The last few weeks, I’ve been honestly too busy at home to think […]

With minimal but significant damage. Gained four pounds!  I could blame it on the stress but really, there’s no excuse. We celebrated my father’s 75th ‘birthday’ on Saturday, even though we’re not exactly sure which day he was born. Pakistani birth certificates are notoriously inaccurate. He was born at home and parents have a certain […]

I had to do two presentations at some libraries in Kitchener on Friday and it was one of those situations where you get really treated well–taken out to lunch, the whole works! After the gruelling week I had, I was looking forward to it. Eager beaver that I am, I got to the venue an […]

It’s that time of the year when my schedule tends to run away from me. Within the next six weeks I have a five day road trip/tour of Espanola and Manitoulin island skills, I have a full week’s presentations when I get back, I have a trip to Orlando Florida for the International Reading Association […]