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A Medieval City Divided By a River
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| Sunday, March 16, 2008 |
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On a recent visit to Canada, former British prime minister Tony Blair commented, “Canada is poised to become an economic and political powerhouse in the world.” He continued, “I often say to people, Canada will become one of the world’s most powerful nations.” Blair then added this caution: “As power grows … so does more responsibility.” At least he is more optimistic than a Time magazine article that ran a few years ago, of which the front cover read, “If Canada disappeared from the face of the Earth, would anyone notice?”
So what would Canada do as the next superpower? [cont'd...]
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Christmas in Belgium
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| Sunday, December 30, 2007 |
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Where do you go when you’ve just eaten your tenth Toberlone or Terry’s Chocolate Orange from your stocking? Why, Belgium of course. For more chocolate. Not that we didn’t get more than enough for Christmas, but there’s no chocolate like Belgian chocolate. Actually we just wanted Mel’s mum to see some nice European Christmas markets. We took the Eurostar early Friday morning and returned the next evening.
Our hotel turned out to be perfectly located – right across from the train station. We got Arwyn changed and fed (mushy peas, decidedly un-Belgian) and went to the Grand Place. The square of medieval, gothic buildings was as beautiful as ever. When I told my co-worker we were going to Brussels after Christmas he gave me a look as if to say, “Oh you poor thing.” Personally, I love Belgium! The food is amazing. Sidewalk cafés are open year-round. Waffles on every street-corner. What’s not to love? [cont'd...]
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Mr. Mum in Prague
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| Sunday, November 25, 2007 |
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Right now we are packing for another trip to the City of a Thousand Spires. Mel is doing a rehearsal for her second annual undergrad PR event. There are a few things that are different on this visit to Praha though, besides it being more business vs. pleasure.
- This time Melody isn’t pregnant.
- This time we KNOW that Melody isn’t pregnant.
- Um, this time we really hope that Melody isn’t pregnant!
- This time those few multiplying cells inside of Melody have transformed into a smiling, pooping, cooing little bundle of absolute lovable goober.
- This time it is me that is going to be carrying the baby, not mummy!
Yes, while Mel is organizing business cases I will be strolling Prague’s cobblestone streets, taking in the view from the castle and visiting with Smetana and Dvorák. On top of that, I’ll also have Arwyn strapped to my tummy and will be toting a backpack full of nappies, baby wipes... [cont'd]
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Missing Mel
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| Wednesday, September 26, 2007 |
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At home. By myself. All alone. Survived the most boring flight ever from Toronto to London. How many times can someone watch a $250M blockbuster (Spiderman 3) and still find it interesting? Apparently not more than once. I spent the rest of the time staring at the wall in front of me, picking at that thing they call a “meal”, and wondering just how many sheep I would have to count before having a chance at falling asleep. Landed at 6:30am, went through customs, got my bags and hit the tube just in time for morning rush hour. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the good thing about lugging suitcases and a bright red Canada backpack around is that you can act like a complete tourist and not have to feel ashamed (ie., taking lots of photos at random things).
Survived the first day back at work after three weeks off. I was disappointed that I had only received 9,753 emails during my absence... [cont'd]
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The Baby Has Landed
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| Friday, August 24, 2007 |
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So here we are, safe and sound back in good ole T.O. A big thanks to Catherine who accompanied us on the journey from our house to Heathrow. Overcoming rush hour masses, miserable weather, heavy suitcases, a baby in a baby carriage, a dire case of tube-ophobia (on poor Catherine’s part) - we made it to terminal 3 with nary a pooped-out nappy.
When we checked in we started to realize some of the benefits of travelling with a newborn (yes, there are some!). First of all, you get to check-in at the Special Services desk and avoid the entire queue. Secondly, the kind ladies behind the desk will merely smile at your 200lb overweight bags when they see the little one cooing in her stroller. And, if you can encourage a few earth-shattering squeals when you take your seat, you may even find that half the cabin has relocated and given you several rows to yourself. Bonus!
On check-in, I almost raised a level three security alert after mistakenly asking for a bayonet instead of a bassinette...
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My Daughter is a Jet-Setter
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| Saturday, July 28, 2007 |
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Today is a very exciting day for our little girl: she received her passport!!
I’m certainly not into celebrity news by any stretch of the imagination, but I did find the following story about Matt Damon amusing. It’s titled, “My Daughter is a Jet-Setter”:
Actor Matt Damon’s one-year old daughter may not be walking, but she is definitely flying, for her parents travel a lot and they ensure that they take her along with them.
The 36-year-old actor said that his girl, Isabella, who would turn one this week, had already got more stamps on her passport than what Damon had when he was 30.
“We travel a lot but try to bring her everywhere. She has 11 stamps on her passport. She has more stamps than I did when I was 30,” People magazine quoted him, as saying.
Not that we are in any sort of competition, but Baby Arwyn could give Baby Isabella a run for her, um, nappies. We were trying to count the number of countries she’s has been to since she was a wee zygote...
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Arwyn Eleanor Wallis
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| Saturday, July 07, 2007 |
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In the wee hours of this Saturday morning, at 02:27 on 07/07/07, our beautiful baby girl was born into the world! At around midnight the day before, Melody had started having irregular contractions. The next morning we were debating on whether to go to our scheduled noon appointment at the hospital, knowing that if you go before your contractions are a regular 5 minutes apart they will just send you home. Well, we got there, and after having been examined by the midwife, she said, “I hope you brought your hospital bags with you, because you’re three centimetres dilated and you’re going straight upstairs!”
After waiting about 12 hours, the baby was becoming somewhat distressed, so the doctor recommended an emergency c-section. The operation was very short, and after just a few minutes I was holding our little girl in my arms. She did receive a few bruises during the delivery, because at 4.2kg (9lb 4oz), “This kind cometh not out but by prayer and forceps!” They should heal soon though...
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Quite Quaint
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| Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
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Last weekend was our last little trip away before Baby Wallis makes her grand appearance. Flying is definitely out of the question, so we decided to drive to Norfolk to stay at a B&B. We expected the world “quaint” to be in frequent operation over our little trip, and Norfolk did not disappoint. The B&B was quaint, the little towns were quaint, the terrifyingly narrow country lanes were quaint, even the torrential downpour was quaint.
On the way there we passed two small towns called Little Snoring and Great Snoring. Tell me, in what other country in the world would you find a town called Great Snoring? We didn't take the time to stop in, but from what I hear the attractions are quite the draw during summer months. In Great Snoring, watching the grass grow and the Saturday afternoon “let’s check the expiry dates on our neighbour’s dairy products” stroll draws folks from – well, at least as far away as Little Snoring. The annual Scrabble Fest is only to be outdone by Little Snoring's Elevator Musi..
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Capital Cool
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| Friday, June 08, 2007 |
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Recently, New York Magazine rated the British capital the world’s coolest city. You might think that quite the compliment coming from New York; but to that we say, “Tell us something we didn’t know!” Here’s our own list (in no particular order) of the things we think are cool about London...
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Memory Lane Can Be Painful
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2007 |
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Funny the things that trigger memory flash-backs. Often it’s through hearing an old song that you’ve associated with a past event or time. Every time you hear that song, all the memories and feelings of a past life come flooding back. Or a scent... like last week as I was pulling ferns out of the garden. The smell of broken ferns instantly transported me back to a cottage memory, when as little boys my brother and I paved our way through the ferns in the forest like two great adventurers.
This week, it was getting in touch with an old friend through Facebook (thanks JM!). Getting in touch with someone from the conferencing and gallivanting days of uni, I suddenly remembered the url of the homepage I created just after graduation. And guess what – it’s STILL THERE! Eeeek! This is before the days of supersi.com, a couple of years before the likes of wallis.ca, and many years before anything .co.uk-related.
I gingerly opened up the time capsule and took a peek...
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