… increasingly, when it comes to Toronto I’ve got a case of the blahs. I’m sorry, I know a lot of 
you are fans and staunch supporters — which I certainly have been — but I’ve got to be honest.
While I do believe that Toronto has tons of potential I also feel that too much of it is still untapped. And yeah, it frustrates and disappoints me.
I moved here from Montreal 32 years ago (wow, time sure does fly). As North American cities go, Continue reading
I am someone who has always thrived in chaos. What looked like a mess to everyone else has always 
been my comfort zone. ‘Order’, on the other hand, has traditionally given me a rash. Until very recently.
Precipitated by a desire to move, the constant sighs of my cleaning lady, and more clutter than even I could bear I finally attacked every square inch of my apartment. Went through absolutely everything, discarding the unwanted Continue reading
Back in September I wrote about how I was finally attacking my closets and drawers and cupboards
and pantries and shelves and papers. Long overdue it was.
Well I’m happy to say I’m done. Mission accomplished. And you may find this hard to believe but I actually enjoyed it. So much so I seem to have become obsessed with order.
I now wake up in the middle of the night and go through stuff and purge. While I’m watching TV or reading a book I suddenly get the urge to reorganize what I’ve just organized; and I do it! In slightly under two months I’ve gone from thriving in chaos to being OCD.
Clearly I am channeling my mother who is, of course, loving it.
Speaking of my mother, when I moved her out of her apartment and Continue reading
A friend’s grandson just turned 1 and I went to his birthday party. I was talking to her 
daughter’s (the baby’s mother) father-in-law and Ellen (my friend) said to him, “Fransi and I have known each other all our lives.” He was intrigued and wanted to know more.
Our mothers met in the laundry room of the apartment building where they both lived, in Montreal. I was an infant. Her parents were newlyweds. The Continue reading
“Bang! Bang! BANG! Crash! Splat. Ouch! OW!” Don’t worry. That’s just the sound of me knocking my head against the wall. 
Go on, ask me why. Just trying to use up some of my frequent flier miles, is all. HA!! It would probably be easier for me to call the White House and ask to speak to President Obama. And I know you feel my pain.
Not too sure anyone likes any airline’s loyalty (frequent flier) program, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find an unhappier group than Aeroplan members. When it first started up, years ago, it belonged to Air Canada. Then it split off and became a separate entity, although it’s still for passengers who fly Air Canada and its partner airlines. Frankly I’ve never understood this whole Continue reading
Have you noticed? I only really noticed it on the weekend. The days are getting longer. Thankfully! I’m one of those people who need daylight. The more, the 
merrier.
While channel surfing last week, some time, I saw Goldie Hawn being interviewed. She was saying when she lived in Vancouver, because her son was playing hockey there, she couldn’t handle the lack of sunshine. It is a gloriously beautiful city, but winters can be kind of dreary. Lots of grey skies and rain. Anyway, she said she was depressed all the time; and finally figured out what was wrong.
She was suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). In other words, lack of sunlight. No, it’s not a bunch of hooey. It was first identified around 1845, but wasn’t officially classified until 1984, when psychiatrist Norman E. Rosenthal started studying cases of depression that seemed to occur only in winter. He observed thousands of people with the same symptoms; and, ultimately, wrote an article for The Washington Post.
Obviously it’s prevalent in winter because the days are shorter, the weather is colder and we’re indoors for longer periods of time. So Continue reading
365 And Counting 