Julie & Keenan's
2002-2003 JOURNAL



August 24, 2003

August 24! That means it is the last week before the end of the year. Well, if you are talking about a year that starts on the first Monday of September, which is how things work here.

As for what happened this past week, it's hard to say, because we can't really remember much. This journal is being written after our return from our annual holiday which usually includes our wedding anniversary, as it did this year.

If reading this journal for the past 11 months and three weeks hasn't completely turned you off from ever knowing anything about us ever again, then you are more than welcome to check out our second anniversary journal.

August 17, 2003

It didn't really impact us too much personally, but years from now we may want to remember where we were in the "great blackout of 2003." Not surprsingly, we were at work. Initially it was thought to be just a breaker in the office, then we thought maybe it was the building, then the neighbourhood...then Dale came up and reported it was most of Ontario and a big chunk of New York state too!

We simply carried on. We couldn't do computer work so we did other tasks, included cleaning up and organizing. Keenan and Dale went to meet Dan and some friends at Woody's on Elgin. They got a bit of free food that was otherwise going to go bad, had a beer, and then went home. We enjoyed the peace and quiet with a couple of candles, and dined on cashews and cheese before calling it a night. Keenan was asleep before midnight (very rare) but was awakened when the power snapped back on around 1:00 am. As far as we can tell, the power stayed on, even though it was still out for a day or more in other places.

At work on Friday we went in early just in case any ACES participants showed up for a trip to Mont Cascades. It didn't make sense to go, because even though it was open, we had to be aware that various bad things could happen, the most likely being sipmly that people would be ordered not to travel, and we'd be stuck in Quebec. Surprisingly, lots of parents and participants showed up and had to be turned away. The power was still out at Heartwood House, so the cleaning continued. It's sad how long it has been since we've had a chance to clean up, and it was definitely a great investment of time. The power came on in the afternoon, and we left after 7:00. It was a long day, but very productive.

We then visited mom and dad Wellar who were just back from their trip to Iqaluit and Pangnirtung. They had a great time and some amazing pictures to show for it. Maybe First Air will donate another trip for the auction this year, and we can really promote it with their story and all the great photos.

Saturday morning we played tennis with Moe and Kae at Carleton. Julie did great, it was her first time serving and playing a real game. Moe and Kae are both very good doubles players, so it was a great opportunity to practive. Kae had a bit of a sore knee so wasn't at her best, which helped us to actually beat them in a best of 5 sets. But it was all about having fun. We had such a good time we went out for breakfast afterwards. Cora's was really slow and we got 50% off the bill. It probably should have been free, but we weren't in the mood to be nasty, it was too nice of a day.

Saturday night we went to Les Fougeres with Dale and Elaine. It was really good, we both had the Table D'Hote which really can't be beat. It included a nice tomato soup, a pork appetizer, an arctic char main course, and chocolate/fruit dessert, each accompanied by a specially chosen wine. Dale and Elaine had wild board and a duck special which they shared. We talked until almost midnight and were the last people in the place.

Sunday it was time to pick up supplies for the SMILE camping trip, which of course meant fighting the hordes at Costco. We stored everything back at the office, and then did a small bit of personal shopping and headed home to listen to the Renegades game on the radio. Despite and impressive first half, they lost the game after falling apart in the third quarter.

We took advantage of the cool evening to get in some tennis at Windsor Park. It was amazing to be free of stifling humidity for a change! The rest of the night we spent packing and organizing supplies for the camping trip.

August 10, 2003

We had a great time on Saturday night with Sean, Chantal, and little Kelly. We all hung out for about 8 hours, but we hadn't spent much time together for a long time, so there was lots of catching up to do. While acknowledging the usual challenges of being a parent, it seems to be suiting both of them quite well. Thursday night we had an absolute blast at the Renegades game. Dad Wellar was able to get a ticket right next to our season tickets with dad Kingstone, and the four of us had a great time. We screamed our lungs out with our neighbours in front and back of us, and Ottawa emerged with a stunning victory, including a goal-line defensive stand and a game-ending interception that sealed the deal for the Renegades.

August 3, 2003

It was a bit of a funny week. It's the time of year when things are sort of in limbo at work. Although the summer program is in full swing, there's less SMILE clients around due to vacation schedules, so some of the sessions have only one or two people when there would normally be four or five. There's lots to do to get ready for September, but it's still hard to find all the time we need. Next year we're going to juggle the schedule around a bit to make sure we have more planning time.

Interest in the housing project continues, even though it has been over for a couple of weeks. The Ontario Association for Community Living published another article, this time about the project's outcomes, and it was very well written.

Thursday night the Renegades lost a heartbreaker to the Eskimos. They were driving for the winning touchdown during the last minute of the game but they simply ran out of time.

On Wednesdau we went to Jim Watson's birthday party at the home of Alana Kainz. She was a charming host and we managed to chat with a few interesting people, even though we didn't really know very many of those in attendance. Jim always seems to have a lot of good people around him, and it was nice to meet some of them.

Saturday night we went out to Cumberland for a joint celebration of Keenan and David's birthdays. We went out the day before and got David a new VCR, because his old one - which dates back quite some time - was lacking a few modern features. Like A/V jacks. He seemed to really enjoy it, and Keenan got it all set up and we watched a video of the housing project.

Keenan had already received his digital camera, but he got a really good memory card to go with it. And he finally got a chance to try it out on Sunday, because Christina and David's son Ben got baptised. I don't think too many people in the church - including David and Christina - cared much for what the priest had to say in his daily sermon, but Keenan took the opportunity to master his camera, and even got a nice little movie clip of the ceremony.

July 27, 2003

We were all rather exhausted at work this week. There are a few clients away on vacation, and coming off the high of the housing project, there was a certain lack of energy from everyone. But it was a reasonably productive week, and we even go home in time for a normal dinner on a couple of occasions.

Thursday was Keenan's birthday, and as he prefers, it was pretty low-key. We went out for dinner at Al's with his mom and dad. He celebrated by eating a 28 oz steak. Afterwards we went back to their place and checked out the photos from their trip to Newfoundland. In return, we showed them the housing project slide show on the computer.

Saturday Julie started to tackle the disaster that is the interior of our home, while Keenan continued the work of putting together a 3:20 video of the housing project, which is finally done.

We went out and played some tennis in the afternoon. After about half an hour, the rain started to come down, but we kept on playing, until the balls got so heavy it was impossible to hit them over the net. It was fun.

Saturday night we went to see the bird migration movie that was playing at World Exchange. It was a strange but remarkable film. Birds have a very hard life!

Sunday Julie continued her clean-up mission, and Keenan was trying to finish off some of the work from the housing project. We ended up having another battle over music and the slide show. A bunch of new slides have been added for a re-showing that is coming up, and we just couldn't find the right song to add to the mix. In the end, it was a matter of dividing the number of slides by the total time of the existing songs, and adjusting the time per slide accordingly. Sigh. Well, at least we eventually figured it out!

In the afternoon we got out to the tennis courts again. We've been playing at Windsor Park, which is right next to the Rideau River in Old Ottawa South. It's a nice setting, and usually we can walk right up and play, whereas other decent public courts can get very busy.

Shopping for groceries came next, which is a lot of fun this time of year. Unbelievable deals on fresh veggies and of course it is now raspberry season. We are eating those up like you wouldn't believe.

Sunday night we kicked back and enjoyed the newly organized living room, watched some Clint Eastwood with the cats, and then called it a night.

July 20, 2003

WOW! The housing project is over, and it was just AMAZING. Julie put together an itinerary for the Saturday celebration that blew everyone away...it was about as close to perfect as a party could get. And of course it was a huge team effort. Keenan put together a 12 minutes slideshow with no less than 150 photographs, all of which had to be cropped, sized, and organized. We argued about the musical accompaniment to the slides at 2:30 am the night before, and it was worth it.

It the party didn't blow everyone away, then the big surprise afterwards sure did: two shiny white limousines to take everyone down to the market and keep the party going. On the way we did a special drive by of Jim Watson's house, because he was throwing a little part for Cyndi. We hung out in the street with everyone for a while and then went down to Zaks. Julie left with most everyone to head back around 11:00, but Keenan, Dale, Grace, and Chris went with Cooper, Ian, and Ryan to the Hard Rock until it closed.

The project is over but there's more interest in it now than ever. It looks like CBC and CKCU will be airing radio documentaries in early August. The New RO came out to the celebration, and we have some pretty amazing video of our own that needs to be edited together.

With all this going on we've continued to find some time to play tennis. Julie is developing new skills at a rapid pace, especially her serve which is starting to become pretty consistent!

We saw Cyndi and Colin and Carleton on Thursday and for a minute again on Saturday night, but we managed to come by on Sunday afternoon for a while as well. They were just in the process of fixing up their house...even though it is already sold. Yup, nice people!

The Renegades had a horrible game on Friday night. Just awful! Hopefully the next one will be better. It's hard to tell yet whether this is a good team or not.

July 13, 2003

Dear diary...we apologize. Another two weeks has gone by. But it is summer, and between the extra work schedule and recreation, there's not much time for you!

We just got back from a great kayaking workout on the Muskrat River. The night before we played tennis together. Julie has been taking lessons with Elaine and Fran and other people in the class, and she's advancing quickly. Keenan provided a bit of guidance about serving, and Julie did pretty good with it, even though she hasn't had any lessons at all about that particular skill.

Friday night we were out at Baton Rouge with David, Christina, and Ben (he's a big healty boy!) and ended up sitting just a few feet from a big group of parents and other relatives of the housing project participants. It's only a one-month project but it's become one of the most publicized and popular initiatives we've ever been involved with. Keenan ended up putting together a whole website about it, click here to check it out.

What else has been going on...along with David we are having a total blast so far with the Ottawa Renegades season. There was a game on Thursday night with our new starting quaterback Kerry Joseph, and he got the job done with a thrilling 34-32 victory. There's a great group of people all around us...everyone was high-fiving everyone and just having fun. Keenan was so pumped after the show that he called The Team 1200 and got on the radio to talk about the new quarterback and to ask why the heck the coach stuck with the previous quarterback for so long. The announcers had a bit of wimpy response, but he had fun being on the show anyway.

The weekend before, Peter was in town to visit, and we went out to Cumberland to have dinner with him. John came along as well as Joan, we had a great time talking about various things, especially everything that Peter is up to, and his many options for the future.

Mom and dad Wellar got back from Vancouver but were off to Newfoundland within a week or so. They are having a summer of travel to remember! It's not over yet, in August they will be going to Iqaluit with the package they got at the auction in April.

June 29, 2003

It can't be two weeks already? Then again, so much has happened!

The biggest news is that the On Our Own Together housing project has started at Carleton University. Move-in day was June 21, and we were both on duty for the whole day and night and the next day until 10:00 pm. It was a great experience. They were so excited, it was great.

The project has been getting good publicity. Keenan did an interview on CBO morning, Julie did an interview with The New RO who came and shot some tape on move-in day, Carleton Now did a story, and CKCU did an interview with Fran and some of the clients. There's been so much demand for access to the project that Keenan ended up creating a website that he tries to update daily. It's at www.liveworkplay.ca/CAR if you are interested. Be sure to sign the guestbook!

So what else has been happening...well, it was the first regular season Renegades game on Friday. We weren't able to attend the pre-season game, and it was kind of neat to see that the season ticket holders around us were back from last year, and they were all teasing us about missing the game. We had an incredibly busy day before the game and in all the rush there was no time to eat dinner. We ate some hotdogs (no buns! the Atkins nutrional plan is still going strong) but it wasn't quite enough. Then Keenan got lucky and the lady behind him spilled her beer on him, so she bought him a big bag of peanuts. The games are a lot of fun, and oh yeah, on the field it was 32-30 for the bad guys. But very exciting!

Saturday we finally got back to kayaking. The weather has been brutally hot for more than a week, so when the humidity broke, we were thrilled to be on the water. It was a pretty amazing workout, 24 km on the Madawaska in about 4 hours.

Sunday we met both sets of parents at the Mayflower for an early dinner, and then off to the NAC for Jesus Christ Superstar. We got a box again, which is just so enjoyable for many reasons, and the show was really good. The performer who played Judas was amazing, he had to sing these almost heavy metal style songs, and he really blasted them out.

June 15, 2003

Wow! We just got back from our one week vacation, and it was something else. We paddled almost 100km in five days on the Bonnechere River and Barron River. The cottage we rented was perfect. Nothing fancy, but it was fully equipped and comfortable, and right on the water. The whole adventure is written up in detail including photographs at www.gokayaking.ca. Keenan hurt himself a little bit, so you will want to read up on that.

What else has been going on? Well, the LWP Visioning Day and Pool Party was last Saturday and Sunday, and it was a very successful weekend. Julie and Fran did a great job organizing things so they would go smoothly. For whatever reasons, this year people were very focused on the two of us and making sure that our commitment to the organization is continuing. The attention is a bit discomforting but on the other hand it is sort of nice to know in such a concrete way that we are by no means being taken for granted.

When we got back from our kayak holiday we visited both families to celebrate father's day, and had a great time showing photo slides on the computer and catching up. Keenan's parents just got back from a trip to Victoria and Vancouver themselves, so they had lots to talk about and their own pictures to show. All four parents will be going with us to see Jesus Christ Superstar in exactly two weeks, which should be fun.

Back on the home front, our fron lawn project continues. Our new tree is doing great, and our seeding of white clover is starting to take off. It should be really neat once we have 100% white clover on the lawn. Maybe we will start a trend and put a stop to this wasteful practice of fertilizing and watering to grow grass that doesn't really belong!

What else? Elaine graduated from Carleton and got a medal for academic achievement. We couldn't make the party but there were about 35 people there so we probably weren't missed. Dale is going wild with the ShopBot (computerized router) in the woodworking shop and is coming up with all sorts of ideas for new projects.

Jen is thinking about university studies, so we are helping her investigate that a bit. It would be neat for her to try it, because clearly it is something she wants to do.

June 1, 2003

There's a real sense of change of season in the air. The auction and golf tournament are now over, and the last SMILE@night and Journeys programs wrapped up on Friday. It was a great night. The LiveWorkPlayers (the drama group from SMILE) finally got a chance to present "The Camping Trip" which they all wrote together with Keenan. He was so excited that he messed up the stage directions and left out a scene that had to be inserted later. That same night everyone got their yearbooks, which were a big hit, thanks especially to a lot of hard work by Fran.

The housing project is just three weeks away. We had to do one of the hardest parts of job and ask one of the potential participants to leave the project. It's for the best for all concerned, but that didn't make it any easier.

We had two great meetings on Friday that really lifted our spirits. The first was with three of the important players with respect to the financing of SMILE, and the second was with three individuals at CJOH television, who we hope will help us to increase the LWP profile with that station.

Saturday we had a good time kayaking at Lac La Peche. It's still early season there, so entrance was free and there weren't many people about. It was a bit of a rainy day, so we got to try out some new paddling gear that worked great. For more about the trip, drop by www.gokayaking.ca for a write-up including pictures!

Saturday night we had a nice visit with the Kingstones. We talked a lot about some changes we have made to our diet. We are following the Dr. Atkins nutritional approach, and our second week (the "induction period") is just about over. Basically, it's about cutting back on carbohydrates and eating more protein. We have both lost a small amount of weight, but more importantly, we feel better. And in unexpected ways. Keenan is falling asleep at a more normal time, and we have both noticed that our teeth are cleaner. There's really nothing negative to report thus far, but of course it's a bit of a struggle just learning how to do our shopping with all the changes.

Sunday we did all sorts of shopping and running around. We stopped for lunch and ate outside in the Blair/Ogilvie area and were treated to a show by the Snowbirds! We don't know what they were doing, but they went roaring by time and time again, performing stunts of all kinds. It was really fun to watch.

We picked up some more white clover for the front long. It's coming in nicely where we seeded previously, and now that the rest of the yard is all cleaned up, we are hoping for 100% coverage. While Keenan was messing around in the yard Julie was preparing a fantastic beef stroganoff. Yep, it was a very domestic Sunday, which for us is pretty rare, so it was a nice way to end the week.

May 25, 2003

OK, we missed a week again. But last weekend we were camping at Charleston Lake, so it was hard to find time to keep up with the journal. We left Friday afternoon, and once we got out of the city, had a lovely drive via the rural route through Merickville and southward to the provincial park.

We had reserved a site in the Meadowlands campground, and it is appropriately named. As far as car camping goes, it was a pretty nice spot. We brought a ton of stuff for three nights of camping, but forgot our Coleman stove. This was perhaps a blessing, as we had a lot of fun cooking over the fire. We ate well. Chicken breasts, salad, steak, oatmeal with raspberries...we only had hot dogs once! We never left the campsite to go shopping either. It was clever management of two coolers and six bags of ice.

We got the tent up no problem (last year we went camping and had to start putting it up in the dark) and with an air mattress and sleeping bags it was pretty comfortable. The weather was amazing for that early in the year, with lows of 7 and highs around 20 each day.

Saturday we went out kayaking on Charleston Lake and we had a blast, with a trip of over 22 kilometres. You can read all about that one (including pictures) at gokayaking.ca as well as our Sunday trip on Singleton Lake and Red Horse Lake, which is named for a pictograph of a horse. We got some interesting photos from that trip as well.

We arrived back at the campsite Sunday to find that Holly, Eric, and Wolf had come up to visit as planned. Their tent was up, and soon the human beings arrived as well, back from a visit to the beach. Wolf is a big boy now and is probably going to be some sort of athlete. He has quite an arm on him and wants to play catch with anyone and everyone, although the catching is still a work in progress.

We had a great time catching up over a roaring fire. We all had breakfast the next morning and went to the beach before heading back to Ottawa.

Yesterday (May 24) was the second annual LiveWorkPlay golf tournament. Rain had been predicted all week, and waking up Saturday morning, there was little doubt it was coming. By the time we started off for Mont Cascades, the rain was falling, and so were our spirits. A golf tournament is a ridiculous amount of work for not that big of a cash return, so the idea that the whole day might be washed out was hard to take.

But the forces of negativity lost out! Despite a steady light rain for the entire day, 85% of the registered golfers showed up, and a surprising number completed 18 holes. There were lots of volunteers in the clubhouse and out on the course that helped make it a great day. Vicki, Jenny, John, Fran, Grace, and Warren were outside supervising the contests, while Julie was in the clubhouse with Wendy and others managing the registration. Keenan was out on the course with Sean, Dean, and Bob, as were Dale and Elaine with Dan and Shane. Dale packed it in after 9 but he needed to save his strength for selling raffle tickets.

The dinner went off extremely well. Keenan managed to get it moved up to 5:30 and Julie called everyone on the dinner-only list and got them to come early. Because more golfers than expected actually stayed out to complete their rounds, we ended up holding dinner until 5:50. The beef and chicken fajitas were well received again this year.

Kurt Stoodley was an enthusiastic MC, despite a lousy sound system. Mark Papousek from Y105 came out and golfed and was so moved by his experience in talking with LWP participants that he asked for the microphone so he could make a donation of $250. It was that kind of night. Everyone seemed in good spirits, pehaps because we all felt we had overcome the elements to do something important and worthwhile.

I guess the other big news is that we are eating differently. Basically, the carbohydrates are vastly reduced, and protein is in. It's not about starving ourselves, because we aren't going hungry. It's mostly about avoiding enriched white flower and other nasty things that our bodies don't need.

What else has been going on? It's hard to remember. We had a nice visit with Christina, David, Meredith, and Ben and a wonderful barbecued salmon dinner.

Oh, and we went to a Sens game with Kevin and Christine. It was game two against the Devils, which they lost, and eventually lost the series after scratching their way back into a 7th game showdown.

We also went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Corel Centre with Fran and a friend. It was a pretty young crowd for the most part, and we didn't know the music too well, but they are definitely an entertaining band with a very good stage presence. We had floor passes and ended up about 8 bodies deep at the side, which meant we got to see all of the action with the security staff dealing with the sick and obnoxious. Sometimes this action was more entertaining than the music!

May 11, 2003

Well, it looks like we missed a week!

It's hard to believe it is May 11. Work has been crazy! The kiosk is now open on the market, and everyone is really into making it better and selling the products. We sold six clocks in the first week, which is just fine, considering we have a small selection and it is still very early in the season on the market. Keenan finds the sales aspect quite fun, and made the first sale of his shift with Ryan by convincing the customer to buy a beaver clock as a gift for her mother-in-law in France...because of the connection with Canada and the fur trade. Well, at least it's true!

The auction may be over, but the golf tournament is May 24th, so although we are just starting to work on it, it feels like we are late getting going. There's 12 teams signed up so that's an OK start.

We've actually been out quite a lot. On the 29th Julie was surprised by a better late than never birthday party at Pancho Villa with the usual suspects in attendance as well as Daniel, Pennie, Jamie, Wendy, and apologies to whoever else was there, it seems a bit of a blur at this point.

We got Michael's tickets for the second game of the Sens playoff series with the Flyers, and after a boring first period, we were treated to 40 minutes of awesome hockey and a 4-2 victory. We bumped into Elaine and Ian who were sitting just a few sections away, and also enjoyed themselves. We got some free cheering towels as souvenirs. We are going with Kevin and Christine to the second game of the series with the Devils.

Yesterday we had a nice afternoon of kayaking on Meech Lake, and last weekend we had an amazing 4 hours on a different section of the Jock River. If you want to find out how Keenan scratched his face on some bark, read all about it at gokayaking.ca.

What else...oh yeah, it was Fran's birthday too, and we went out to Baton Rouge for dinner and then the Xmen sequel. The movie and food were both OK, and the company was lots of fun. In addition to the usual suspects, Wendy and Elaine were there along with Grace and Chris, and Jamie too. We all gave Fran a pair of groovy Converse shoes.

We finally spent some time with Marni, Dave, Phoebe, Jason, Flannery, and Jane. It was actually the second birthday party for Jane, as we had attended one the previous week with mom and dad Wellar. We went over to Arthur Street right after we left Meech Lake. It's a very active group and we felt a bit dizzy afterwards, but it was nice to see them.

The night before (Friday) we took all of the clients to the Tulip Festival to see The Guess Who. Along with other staff and volunteers that was a group of 50 people. It was a really good night, mainly because nobody got lost, even for a second or two, something that is hard to control with a group of teenagers and adults mixed in with 3000 others!

Sunday we took mom Wellar and mom and dad Kingstone to Cora's for Mother's Day. Dad Wellar was in Kingston for some sort of alumni meeting. We had a nice breakfast and both moms looked to be quite excited with their gift of box seats to Jesus Christ Superstar in June. It should be a lot of fun.

April 27, 2003

As expected, most of the week was all about getting ready for the auction on Thursday night. As usual, some people waited until the last minute to bring in donated items which creates a bit of havoc when you are trying to develop 200 copies of a program that includes 100 items that have to be in exactly the right order. Sigh.

We stayed at the office late every night, and until midnight on Wednesday. This was a good investment because it meant things were in pretty good shape for Thursday. Keenan had an interview on Rogers Daytime (tv show) at 11:45 and a few people actually showed up because they heard about the auction on the show.

We got everything over to The New RO by about 2:00 and started setting up. Julie and Fran were the leaders on that task...Keenan, Dale, and Jen helped out as needed. All sorts of people were pitching in, including Cyndi's former camera person Ian. It all started to take shape just in time, and then MBNA volunteers showed up to help with the registration and payment process. They were awesome.

We both did live interviews during the six o'clock news while the silent auction was going on. Jim Watson did a short speech at 7:00, and then had to leave. Kurt Stoodley and Kevin Nelson decided to act as co-auctioneers which was kind of fun. Dale got to return There were over 180 people that registered, and there were probably about 150 that packed in to the studio for the live auction.

Keenan's parents ended up as the big spenders, they took home a beautiful Karsh photograph as well as the trip to Baffin Island. Julie's parents got the Michael Runtz photo and gave it to Julie as a birthday gift on Saturday night. It's an amazing damselfly, just beautiful. In the end, the event netted $27k, which is our highest total ever, so there's no question it was a great success. You can see the write-up in the Citizen by clicking here.

Although Friday was technically a day off, there was lots of work to do, and we put in almost a full day. We got a nice surprise when Julie's uncle David called to give us tickets to the first game of the Senators playoff series against the Flyers. It was a very exciting game and the home team won 4-2.

Sunday we had a wonderful afternoon of kayaking on the Jock River. As always, you can read all about it at www.gokayaking.ca.

April 20, 2003

April 20...a bit scary to be typing that. That means the auction is just four days away! Ah well, at least it will be done, and life can return to the normal state of abnormality. Julie did a telephone interview that will be played on Majic 100, and Keenan organized four days of promotions on the Breakfast @ The New RO where they will feature different items that will be up for bids.

The wasn't much time for anything social, but we had a very interesting evening at a goodbye party for Cyndi hosted by Jim Watson. It was a group of very nice people, most of them from the media. Keenan had a nice letter about Cyndi published in the Sun and there was a bit of a humourous moment when someone at the party thought that the author was a woman.

At work we continued learning how to use the machines in the shop by coming an hour early for work, and it went very well. Now last but not least we are staring to learn how to use the ShopBot, which is a mammoth computerized router. This is a little different because it is mainly about understanding and using the software, rather than hands-on manipulation of the tool.

We had the day off on Friday, but basically we just traded one type of work for another, and spent most of the day finishing off a grant application to the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Julie did most of that work while Keenan did some important writing for the auction and starting tracking down graphics that will be needed for the program.

Saturday Julie attacked the front lawn, and discovered that grubs have eaten the roots of 80% of our grass. This is fine, because we don't much care for lawns anyway, but until we figure out what we want to do instead, it will be a bit of a muddy mess.

Sunday we went booting up to Lac La Peche for the first kayak of the year, only to discover that the ice was not off the lake! Undaunted we ended up on the Rideau where we put in at Chapman Mills. You can read about it at GoKayaking.ca just click on Journey #25.

April 13, 2003

This was a week filled with long days that began a bit earlier than usual. From Monday to Thursday they started at 8:00 in the Against The Grain workshop so Dale could give all of us some instruction in the use of the major tools. We've all got a handle on the planer, jointer, and table saw at this point, which is a good start.

Friday morning was a VERY early start. We were up at 5:00am to pick up one of the program participants (Lucas) so the three of us could appear on Cyndi's final breakfast show. It was shot live from her and Colin's house. Colin opened the door for us around 6:30 just as Cyndi was going live from her kitchen - in her pyjamas! We hung out with Colin in the living room while Cyndi finished her piece. We had some donuts and chatted until we were part of the segment going live at 7:10. We all ended up on the verge of tears. Cyndi asked Keenan two different questions where the answer ended up being "saying goodbye to a friend" which got him going, and then Lucas said goodbye to Cyndi "from the bottom of his heart" and that got Colin going off camera and basically we all just made it through the five minutes without crying.

Lucas did an awesome job, and we dropped him off at home before going to our next stop, which was to MBNA Canada Bank where we were to help honour some of their most committed volunteers (including Wendy of course!) and also receive $1000 for LiveWorkPlay. We had to leave a bit early for our next stop, but it was a nice ceremony and we got to meet some of the other people who work for organizations that MBNA sponsors.

Our next stop was the dentist at 10:00. All was well for Julie, but Keenan needs to come back in May for what appears to be small cavity. Whatever it is, it's coming out.

Friday night felt like a second day, but it ended the way it started, with saying goodbye to Cyndi. The SMILE group spent a couple of hours making touching statements and shedding tears. It was no doubt very hard for Cyndi and Colin but it was a critical point of closure for the participants.

Keenan was lamenting not spending more time with them while they were in Ottawa, but Julie pointed out that all of our schedules made it very difficult, and we might end up seeing them just as much by visiting Philadelphia from time to time.

Saturday we both got a decent amount of sleep, and then went out in the afternoon to pick up a couple of auction donations, and a couple of kayaking items in Westboro. It was a beautiful afternoon, although it turned cold later. We also got an "adventure map" for the area of the Bonnechere River where we are intended to vacation in June. There is a stretch of about 35km of water with very few portages, which sounds great. We are just working on a place to stay, and have a lead on a cottage.

April 6, 2003

The weather turned nasty, and what seemed to be an early spring gave way to ice and snow. Things are supposed to get warm again at the end of the week, but it seems kayaking season is going to start a bit later than we had hoped.

Things are really getting down to the crunch now, with so much happening at once. The auction is just around the corner, the kiosk is starting on the market May 1, the housing project is coming near, summer program registration has started, there's the golf tournament on May 24...yikes!

With so much going on we are starting to get serious about developing expectations for all the LWP clients and their families. There's only so many hours in the day and we are going to burn out, in part because we haven't set enough limits. That will have to change, and the process is underway.

We had a chance to see Cyndi for a few minutes. Jim was supposed to be there but he was double booked because the time had been changed. Robert joined us, and we went over some updates about the auction and got caught up on what is happening with Cyndi. She's going to be in Philadelphia in about a week, it's just crazy! There was a nice story about her in the Citizen, you can read about it here.

March 30, 2003

It was one of those rather exhausting weeks, and it was hard to get home at a reasonable hour in the evenings.

It's now public knowledge that Cyndi is leaving The New RO for an amazing opportunity in Philadelphia, where she is going to host a new morning show. We get along with them so well and have quite a few things in common, and we were just talking about finding more time to spend socially with Colin and Cyndi, and now it's too late, so we are kind of sad. But we are trying to look on the bright side...we will have some friends to visit on the east coast of the USA.

On a more practical level, there's obviously some implications for LWP, but of course Cyndi is doing her best to look after that and things are going well. Kurt will replace her as host for the auction, and he might even be interested in getting more involved, I guess we will see.

Heartwood House was in our thoughts a lot this week, as it is still taking a lot of time and energy due to our role with The Founders Group, and along with some others on TFG we are realizing that this has to change, and hopefully taking some steps to bring about those changes.

Like a lot of people we are watching a bit too much CNN as well. Looking back at this journal years from now people might wonder why we have so little to say about the war in Iraq, but even after 10 days it is hard to describe how we feel about it. We know people are dying, but it still seems unreal. It's always there in the background, and it is definitely depressing. But life goes on, and we have our own battles to fight, and people who are counting on us.

Friday night the SMILE group had a pot luck at Pennie's place, and the other group went for dinner at Biggs, so afterwards all the volunteers and staff ended up at Pennie's and we had some good fun.

Saturday Keenan had what he claims to be the tennis match of the century playing with David against James and James from the Ottawa West group. It was the first time he came back from tennis looking like he'd had a serious workout. Julie was out picking up gifts for Christina's shower, which we went to right after tennis, but just for an hour because we were going out to Cumberland to join John at the Kingstone's place. John had purchased this interesting morbid chess set (very neat) and the three men played chess while Julie and Trish looked up some vacation destinations on the internet. It sounds like an odd scene!

Sunday we finally spent some time with mom and dad Wellar. We had a great late lunch, and talked about all sorts of topics and got caught up on things. We all ended up in the computer room (what is it with parents and computers these days?) installing some software and working out some internet complications.

The ice is pretty much off the Rideau and we can't wait to get on the water!

March 23, 2003

We are finally "event free" for a while. Although we did attend the Heartwood House Barra MacNeils fundraising event at Centrepointe Theatre on Monday night, we didn't have any work to do, it was just a matter of watching the concert. Opening act Riverbend turned out to be quite entertaining, and the Barra ManNeils proved that they know how to work a crowd. It doesn't look like the total raised is going to be as much as most people had hoped, but fundraising is a tough business and it was definitely a good learning experience for those who hadn't done anything like this before.

The surveys are coming back from "bring your parent" night and it is very rewarding to see that individuals and their parents are getting a lot out of SMILE and are generally very happy with LWP and especially the staff.

On Friday we met with the manager of the Byward Market building and saw the location for the Against The Grain kiosk. To be blunt, it's a doorway. Literally. A very small space to say the least, but no doubt it will be extremely busy, and a very interesting experience.

Saturday night we finally visited Christina, David, and Meredith at their new house in Barrhaven. It's pretty much a brand new house and it has lots of room, and a park is being built just a few seconds away. Meredith can really move now, and put on a good show circling through the house at high speed. As usual we were very well fed. Julie brought some delicious homemade eclairs that were a real hit.

It was a real "baby" weekend, because on Sunday we went to see Sean and Chantale and new baby Kelly! She's a real cutie. Keenan took a digital photo of each person with the baby, and they came out pretty good.

March 16, 2003

It was another busy week culminating with yet another important LiveWorkPlay event, and there's no question we are looking forward to a week without one.

Individual family meetings for the housing project have started, and whenever possible they are being recorded on digital video. Keenan has been learning to use the video camera and put together two short videos that were used as part of separate presentations on Friday's "Bring your parent to SMILE" night.

It sounds like a fun time, and mostly it was, but it was also a lot of work and there was some major stress involved as well. The decision was made to share with SMILE families the reality of the SMILE funding situation, in an effort to be transparent and also of course to hopefully generate greater interest in supporting LiveWorkPlay. The message was less frightening than it might have been, thanks to an increase of $35,000 per annum from MCFCS, which was confirmed just a few hours before the parent night activities began.

It's always stressful talking about money, but there was a certain sense of relief about it when we all debriefed afterwards. Up until Friday night there were vastly different levels of awareness among the families, and now everyone should share at least the same basic understanding.

Saturday was setting up to be the last great ski day of the year, so we took advantage with another jaunt out to Mer Bleu. The idea was to do the entire perimeter circuit - the 50, 51, and 52. The added challenge was the need to complete it at a rapid pace, as Keenan was due out at Ottawa West for tennis at 3:00.

We got started at exactly 12:30, and the conditions were unbelievable, although they deteriorated a bit as the temperature flirted with going above zero. We made the east loop of the 50 in exactly 30 minutes, crossed Anderson, climbed the hill, and then stopped at the 51/52 for some water and grapes. We took the 52 for the first time and were a bit surprised by the length of the loop, which seems longer than 3.5 km. As we returned to the south end of the 51, Julie was running on reserve power, but the furious pace continued back to the van. Finish time: 2:15. Total time: 1:45 minutes. Estimated average speed: 6.85 km/hour.

Julie spent the afternoon getting closer to the finish of a huge project with all the LWP photos that have accumulated over the years. There are thousands and thousands of them, and it's some job categorizing and getting them into albums.

Keenan had some good tennis matches and then had a beer with Moe, Kae, and the others where the big topic of conversation was the Barra MacNeils concert on Monday night. It looks like it might be sold out, which would be a terrific outcome.

At 6:45 we headed over to Cyndi and Colin's place for dinner and drinks. It had been a long time since we were able to get together socially, and it was a lot of fun. We all ate a bit too much, but enjoyed a spirited game of late night ping pong. The home team emerged victorious, but not without a struggle!

Sunday morning we felt the effects of the previous day's efforts, and enjoyed some added sleep time with pookie and bubba, who basked in the strips of sunlight seeping through the curtains.

March 9, 2003

It was an exhausting week, but it all paid off. Thursday was a great day for LiveWorkPlay with the grand opening of the Against The Grain workshop. Dale somehow managed to get 9 plaques done and also a special wood-carved sign that was given to The New RO on the air during the morning show. Anyway, it's a bit of a long story, so just click here for all the details.

After it was all over we went out for a quick drink and Dan came along as well. The poor guy had to listen to us all babbling about LWP stuff and stories about clients.

We tried to sleep in Friday but it didn't happen, so we went into work. We had an afternoon meeting with Cyndi and Jim about the auction, and they are both off and running with some great ideas to make it a success.

We also had a great meeting with three professors from Ottawa U, who are interested in research opportunities related to the housing project. They were also off and running on a number of concrete tasks, so that is very promising indeed.

Friday night Julie organized an Improv team to put on a show for Journeys and SMILE@night. It was a backup plan after Grease sold out at the Centrepointe Theatre, but it was probably a more valuable experience for the participants. A couple of them even got in the act. Along with Fran, we got in the act too, playing that game where you are a guest at a party with a certain characteristic and the party host doesn't know what it is. Julie was an alien and Keenan was a clown, while Fran was a vampire. Oddly enough, Julie gave the host the most trouble.

Saturday we had no trouble sleeping in a bit, and then made our way out to Mer Bleu for some more skiing. We tried a different loop trail and it was great. During the first half saw maybe six people. The total trip was about 9km and it took us maybe an hour and a half. We were really booting it, but the conditions were great and it felt really good.

Saturday night we went to the Siam Bistro for another awesome meal. It's become one of our favourite places. After the meal we ended up out at AMC Kanata to see The Pianist. That was the plan, but we got the times mixed up and ended up at Chicago, which we both found highly overrated. The drive home was made exciting by quite a decent snowstorm.

Sunday seemed a bit windy and chilly for skiing, so we decided to do some work around the house, and also to do our taxes. We went in to the office because our tax software was for a PC. It didn't take long, and we netfiled, so it's done.

Michael and Sally had a few items to donate, so we went and picked them up. A nice coffee table and reading lamp that we took back to Heartwood House and set up in the lobby. It looks really nice. We also got an old but sturdy radio/cassette for the shop.

By the time we finished our grocery shopping it was freezing out. After a really good meal we watched the curling finals and Julie spent the evening looking at our finances and checking out vacation possibilities for June and August while Keenan continued his project of understanding the digital video camera and working on some of the dozens of hours of LWP video that are sitting on VHS and DV cassettes.

March 2, 2003

Well, the last three weeks certainly flew by! We'll try to catch up.

We can remember that on the 13th we went out to the Kingstone residence with some Chinese takeout to do some catching up. Keenan was still under the weather (in fact, he was basically sick for the entire month of February) but we had a nice time. On Saturday we finally caught up with Dad Wellar's birthday over a nice meal at the Singapore.

Earlier that week we got a surprise via a fax indicating that we would have the chance to apply for some additional funding in support of SMILE. This meant working day and night to get the proposal done because the due date was the 21st, and we knew there wouldn't be any time to work on it in the coming week.

The reason there wasn't any time? It was the big trip to Montreal with the clients from SMILE! Everything worked out pretty well. There were 14 participants, plus the two of us, Jen, Fran, and Dale. We stayed at this interesting place called Castel St-Denis, which is basically a big sort of bed and breakfast place without the breakfast. We took the train, and then the subway, which got us within a few blocks of the hotel. It was a bit of a hassle getting through the subway crowd and some funny things happened, such as participants getting tangled up in the subway turnstiles, but nobody got hurt and nobody got lost. We had a very nice dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant called Manana. Ryan (former employee who moved to Montreal) was able to join us for dinner. He was surrounded by participants most of the time so we didn't get much of chance to talk, but it was great to see him and hopefully we can visit another time.

Tuesday was a bit of an ambitious agenda...breakfast, then the Science Centre, then dinner, and a Habs game. The breakfast was pretty hilarious. We ended up at this place with these two young guys who were doing all the cooking on a bunch of electric griddles. The funniest part of it all was that everytime any one of us ordered "French toast" the guy taking the orders kept reacting by making ordinary toast. Dale finally straightened it out, and the "chef" was legitimately surprised to find out that "French toast" meant what it meant.

The science centre was OK, although many of the displays were a bit hard to understand for our group. We did see a great IMAX movie about "humans and risk." Lots of people jumping out of planes and off of cliffs, and some interesting information about why people do it, and the physiological reaction people experience.

That evening we managed to get in to Cage aux Sports with another 600 people before the hockey game. The food of course was mostly lousy, but everyone had a good time, and the service was very good. We were two rows from the very top of the Bell Centre for the Canadiens game, but the crowd is a lot of fun up there, and you can actually follow the game pretty well. After the game Keenan and two clients got separated from the rest of the group due to an emergency bathroom situation, but thanks to cell phones it all worked out fine.

The participants were all dragging by the end of the night, and everyone was asleep within minutes, which was a good thing, because we went to the Biodome the next day before catching the train back. There was a pair of river otters just like the ones we saw on the Bonnechere last summer. They are amazing creatures to watch.

Thursday night we had a fundraising meeting and everyone is rolling. It's not a big group, but they are dedicated. This should be the best auction ever. Read on for another reason why this should be so.

Friday morning we put the finishing touches on the SMILE proposal, and delivered it at noon. Friday night (because we are all crazy) we had a Family Fun Night event, which was a series of stations with fun games that Fran and Julie put together. We also had a little ceremony to thank the Ottawa District1 Masons for a donation of $2000, and Dale took them on a tour of the shop, which is probably going to result in some orders.

Before we left for Montreal, the two of us had a meeting at The New RO, and were excited to confirm that they are going to host the LiveWorkPlay auction at their location. It was a nice boost of excitement for the fundraising team, and should really help with promotions.

Sunday the 23rd we took our time getting going for the trip to North Conway, and ended up right in the middle of huge snowstorm. Keenan didn't have too many problems with his own driving, but there was a lot of cursing about what other people were doing, and there were lots of cars in the ditch, particularly going through the mountains in Vermont. Between the plows and the idiots, the trip took an extra two hours. About an hour from our destination we encountered a moose in the middle of the 302. She stood and stared at the car in front of us for a few seconds before sauntering back into the snow-filled ditch. Fortunately, we did get into the Stonehurst Manor in time for a late dinner. Julie did a repeat of the meal she had there two years ago, including the chocalate bomb dessert. Keenan went a bit crazy and ordered the one pound prime rib, which was so huge it turned him off meat. For about 22 hours. All the meals were fantastic, but the soups and salmon dishes were the most memorable.

We went skiing on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The trails were a bit icy. Despite driving through a snowstorm, it never reached the White Mountains. But we pretty much had the trails to ourselves, which was very peaceful. The conditions made for some good speed in the flats, and made the downhills awfully exciting.

Nearby North Conway is one of our favourite places to shop, but we didn't spend much this time. Our biggest expenditure was probably at the Bavarian Chocolate store. Mmm.

We had a pretty nice room, but the best feature was the 32" television, which was rather unexpected. We caught up on 24 and The Shield while relaxing by the gas fireplace. There was one bit of sadness on the trip, which was the discovery that "Mr. Bigelow," the beautiful white cat who used to be one of the hosts at the Manor, had passed away. Apparently we were not the only past visitors who had grown attached to him, because there was quite a shrine to Mr. Bigelow on the piano. They had also set up a wishing well to collect donations for the humane society. Yes, we contributed.

The drive home on Thursday was very smooth, and much faster. We crossed the border at a little town called Swanton which is right near the junction of the Vermont-New York-Quebec border. On the way into the US at Cornwall the US customs asked us a few more questions than usual and even looked at our ID, but the Canadian guy at Swanton asked maybe three questions and waved us on. It seems a good place to cross and avoid the crowds on the main highway.

We popped in to work before going home, just to clear the voice mail and see how things were going. Dale was there working on a project for a course he is completing, and filled us in on the rest of the week. We grabbed some awesome takeout from the Siam Bistro, checked in with our parents, and chowed down before falling asleep pretty early.

Friday we slept in a bit and decided to go skiing in Mer Bleu. It was fantastic. The conditions were absolutely perfect, and the weather was sunny but just cold enough to keep the snow from melting. When we got home we found out from Sean that Chantal had given birth to their baby girl Kelly on Monday at 6:15 in the morning. It will be fun to get together and see all of them!

Saturday we slept in a bit more, but managed to get out for some more skiing on a different trail in Mer Bleu. It was almost 7km but we did the whole thing in a just a bit over an hour. It had occured to both of us that our approach to cross-country skiing was similar to our approach to kayaking: we might not be technical experts, but we can cover a lot of territory! It was another beautiful day.

Sunday brought some more snow, as well as the realization that a crazy week of work awaits us after this all to brief holiday. We thought about skiing again, but decided to focus on shopping, dishes, laundry, and all that other good stuff. We watched some of the Brier in the background throughout the afternoon and then again in the evening over dinner. After doing a bit of work-related organizing, we watched The Road To Perdition on DVD. A rather grim film to say the least, but quite good.

It seems a long way until the next holiday in June, but we will just have to make a better effort to take more personal time on weekends.

February 9, 2003

It was the week of sickness. Keenan got an emergency appointment to see his dentist on Monday afternoon due to pain in his remaining upper wisdom tooth. Sure enough, it needed to come out, but the work would have to be done by a specialist. Tuesday he went under, and it came out.

Meantime, at Julie's urging and with some editorial assistance, Keenan had written a letter to the Ottawa Citizen about a $50,000 survey of people with physical disabilities in Ottawa. The survey confirmed what everyone should already know, so Keenan's letter essentially said "get on with solving the problems." The Citizen liked it so they sent out a photographer and put a picture with it. Keenan's face was all swollen up from the dental surgery, but thanks to the top-notch photographer, you can hardly tell. Click here to see for yourself.

Although the tooth itself didn't feel too bad, Keenan got some sort of horrible throat infection that knocked him out for the rest of the week. He put in a full day on Wednesday and a half day on Thursday, but that was it. The next three days were full of pain and not much sleep. That meant not much sleep for Julie either, who also seemed to pick up a bit of a cold by the weekend.

In between all the whining and suffering, we had some good times on the weekend. Julie rented 2 DVDs with the first 8 episodes of the TV series "The Shield" which we had always planned to watch but never got into it. Wow! Pretty gritty stuff, but really well done. We watched all off them in just two days.

February 2 , 2003

The highlight of the week was Cabaret at the NAC, which we saw from a box with both sets of parents. It was simply excellent. There was not one moment where our attention wandered from the stage. We had only seen an amateur version previously, a quite good production at Carleton University, so we don't have much to compare it with, but we certainly agree with what many critics had to say: it was riveting! The story is a grim tale with an entertaining and light-hearted veneer, which is what makes the message so effective.

On the work front, Julie finished off a few proposals, and Keenan finally got the contract from ODSP for the innovative project. Way too much work for $5000.

Friday was a particularly brutal day of dealing with the challenges of one individual that we are no longer able to support. Mixed in with dealing with that was a meeting with a counterpart from Alberta who is in Ottawa for some professional development and taking the time to visit some local agencies. We managed to block out the distractions and give her some quality time.

Friday night after the program we all went out to Barrymore's to celebrate Dale's birthday. Earlier in the week we decided to celebrate by playing a nasty practical joke, which went off extremely well, although Keenan had to do most of the sneaky work, and did not particularly enjoy watching Dale suffer. But at least he knew we had been thinking about him. Friday night Grace and Chris came out, Jen got Fern to come in to town, and Dan and his girlfriend also showed up along with Elaine, Dale, Fran, and the two of us, so it was a good-sized group.

Saturday we were both exhausted and did quite a lot of sleeping, as well as a bit of planning for tax and RRSP season. Sunday was more of the same, although we did get out of the house for some essential shopping. The kitchen got cleaned up, we shared a delicious steak dinner, and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

January 26, 2003

We worked. A lot. Every day and every night.

Saturday we rested, Keenan played tennis, and we cleaned up the house a bit.

Sunday we went for a walk to Pleasant Park Woods and back. Keenan is learning to use his GPS. It was kind of fun, we could track how far we walked and how fast. We kept up a pretty good pace, an average of 5km/hr for a total of an hour.

Sunday evening we were out to Cumberland to watch the Super Bowl. As it usually is, it was a fairly disappointing game. Tricia distinguished herself by staying awake all the way through the third quarter. The game was not great, but the company was good, as was the meal and the wine.

January 19, 2003

Monday was a very busy and long day, but quite productive. We went with eight SMILE participants to meet with Alex Munter at City Hall, and he was very interested and very knowledgeable about the housing issues that are of concern to us, and by coincidence he happend to be informed about co-housing, the model that we seem to be heading towards.

That night was the big tour of Carleton residence. About 15 families showed up with a total crowd of over 30 people, so we had to tour the suite in shifts. Everyone was very positive, and 10 people paid their deposit by the Friday deadline. We were hoping for 8-12 as a viable number, so it worked out very well.

This is grant-writing season so we were at the office late every night...writing, writing, writing. If only we had more time to spend on those tasks. We use every ounce of experience to put together an application in a condensed period of time, but it sure would be nice to have a chance to prepare and reflect a bit.

Everyone at the office is very busy but it doesn't seem like anyone is burning out. The ShopBot (computerized router) finally arrived and Dale is moving ahead quickly with getting the shop ready.

Friday night we all went out to the New Ed, with Wendy, Bob, Vicky, Grace, and Chris. Jen's friend Fern showed up a bit later. Oh yeah, Bob and Wendy got engaged! Things move so fast it is hard to remember even the big moments sometimes.

Saturday Julie was very busy putting the finishing touches on a catering job for Frontier College, who had a meeting with about 50 people. Frontier are our new neighbours on the top floor, as they have just moved upstairs to help us expand the shop on the lower level. We should have lots of fun with them.

Saturday night it was Tricia's birthday, so we went out there along with John plus Jim and Jennifer. It was a nice evening including some spirited ping pong. The cold weather had led to a rather incredible bit of frost buildup in the ping pong room, so once we turned the heat on, it of course turned to water. Suffice it to say we are all fortunate that no one ended up with an injury.

January 12, 2003

Back to work! Four straight days of meeting with all the SMILE participants to set the agenda for the next few months. Everyone is ready to go for the trip to Montreal, and there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for the housing project this summer, although there is a lot of anxiety too.

Work is finally coming to an end on the new upstairs offices that we agreed to build so we could have some more space for the workshop downstairs. Dale and Fran have been doing lots of work in there, with some help from other Heartwood people, but it sure dragged on a long time.

We went to the launch of the new NewRO@Noon show. We managed a few seconds with Jim, shared a laugh with Cyndi and Robert, and chatted up a number of local notables before we had to haul it back to the office. Somehow Keenan got mentioned as one of the "who's who" that was at the event. And people think that working with people with developmental disabilities is unglamorous. That'll show 'em.

Friday Keenan was beset by computer problems at work, and lost a whole 7 pages of the LWP newsletter, but he tried writing it on the Mac over the weekend and had a lot of success. The challenge now is to find a way to print it out, since the wide-format printer at work is rather fussy and has never been used with a Mac.

We rented the first Lord of the Rings movie, thinking we might want to see the second one in the theatres, but Julie fell asleep within a few minutes. Keenan was able to stay awake, but switched to Footloose on television half way through because he was bored to tears. It seems we aren't big on the whole fantasy science fiction genre.

Sadly on Saturday the season run for the Steelers came to an end with a devastating overtime loss to the Titans and a very bad call by the officials. It was a great season and now we can't wait for the Renegades to get going this summer.

We were supposed to go skiing Sunday morning but Keenan was up so late working on the newsletter there was just no way it was happening. So, it was cleaning, cooking, reading the paper by the fire, and watching football.

January 5, 2003

Happy New Year!

Tuesday night was the LiveWorkPlay New Year's Eve Gala. Everything went off without a hitch, and it was completely sold out. It was probably the best one yet, because all the newcomers seemed to have a great time. Dale did a great job on DJ duty, and everyone seemed impressed with the ballroom dance demonstration by the staff and clients, even if the second half of it was a bit messed up.

We had fun hanging out with Elaine, Fran, Pennie, Cyndi, Colin, Robert, Lil, and others who cruised by our table. We didn't dance as much as in previous years, but Julie nevertheless came home with sore calf muscles. After the part we went to the Elgin Diner with Elaine and Dale for some late night poutine. Well, it was morning, actually. A dubious way to bring in the new year, but it was nice to get home without feeling hungry.

We didn't wake up until about 2:00 pm the next day. We put in a full day at the office on Thursday, which was mostly a very productive discussion with Fran and Dale about goals and a bit of planning, and then we took our work home for Friday. Keenan is working on the newsletter that is due out in a couple of weeks, and Julie is working on some grant proposals.

The NFL playoffs have started, and we watched part of the two games on Saturday. Keenan also played some tennis, but he barely survived getting there. He went bounding out of the house and forgot about the icy steps under the fresh snow and went flying, landing in the middle of the stairs on his backside. There is a very impressive bruise, but other than that, he seems to have escaped serious injury.

Sunday was, of course, the BIG game...Steelers vs Browns. We piled onto the couch with Bubba and Pookie and settled in for what we hoped would be an easy Steelers victory, but it didn't go that way. Cleveland was up 17 points in the third quarter, and we were starting to lose faith, but then came the miraculous comeback! It could not have been much more exciting. After Pittsburgh scored a touchdown and completed a two point convert to go up by three, Cleveland went marching down the field and with seven seconds left, had a chance to get in position for a game-tying field goal, but fortunately for the Steelers and their fans, the clock ran out just as their player was trying to get out of bounds! We can't wait for the game next Saturday against the Titans.

We also managed to go for a nice walk and clean up the house. It's amazing how much stuff can accumulate. We both got some great new clothes during the holidays and it's time to make room for them. Of course, that means getting rid of some old stuff. Maybe next weekend.

December 29, 2002

Well, we had most of the week off, so why are we so tired?

On Monday Julie went in to work to change our phone messages and put together a deposit for the bank. Keenan got a lot of work done on a draft for a new website to promote the LWP workshop. The site is called "Against The Grain" and you can get there by going to www.canadaclock.com, www.canadaclock.ca, or www.against-the-grain.ca.

Monday night we were thrilled to settle in and watch the Steelers on Monday Night Football, and they did not disappoint, defeating league-leading Tampa Bay, and securing their presence in the playoffs.

In the afternoon we went for a hike with Christina, David, and Meredith. It was a bit slippery on the Stoney Swamp trail which made for a bit of excitement, but no serious injuries. We went back to their place afterwards for yet another great meal.

On Tuesday Julie went out with Marie and also cooked up a turkey, stuffing, and cranberries. Keenan was out doing his traditional last minute shopping. Thanks to all the Christmas hype, there are actually very few people who shop on the 24th, so it was pretty clear sailing.

Tuesday night we were out at the Kingstone residence for some chili prepared by Peter. Keenan and David had several rousing games of pingpong while Julie, Tricia, Peter, and Michael chatted.

Wednesday morning we got to sleep in until 10:00 and then we exchanged gifts. There was lots of nice clothing, such as pants and shirts for Keenan from Land's End, and lounge wear from Les Ailes for Julie. Keenan also surprised Julie with a pair of Blundstone boots after swearing that buying footwear as a gift was too complicated.

Keenan talked on the phone with his parents who were pleased with their gifts, which included tickets to see Cabaret at the NAC at the end of January. Some of our gifts included a very nice sweater from Trailhead for Julie, and Keenan got a Columbia ski jacket. Then it was out to Cumberland.

We assembled in the living room with David, Tricia, Peter, and Michael for some four hours of unwrapping. It was hard to keep track of it all. Keenan got a handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) and Julie got a Nikon camera among the dozens of gifts received. Keenan was most excited to receive a set of four DVDs featuring all the games of the 1972 Canada/USSR hockey series. Julie was sporting a variety of new clothes and looking very sharp.

Thursday Julie was up first and went to do some quick shopping and also stopped in to see Dale and Elaine's cat Smokey (or is it Smoky?). Julie fell in love and spent over half an hour with the long-haired seductress.

Julie managed to rouse Keenan out of bed with promises of checking out the eletronics sale at Audiotronic. We had been talking about getting an affordable DVD player for the bedroom. Well, long story short, we came home with a DVD player as well as a television. We spent a bit of time moving things around and figuring out all the wiring, and then settled in to watch a couple of rented DVDs, including The Big One by Michael Moore, which we recommend (not as good as Bowling for Columbine, however) and Waiting for Guffman, which was a split decision. Keenan does not recommend it ("only half as good as Spinal Tap") whereas Julie found the community theatre setting funnier than the heavy metal theme in Spinal Tap.

Friday we got a bit of rest and then went to the theatre with David, Tricia, Peter, Michael, and John to see Gangs of New York. The consensus was that it was about an hour to long, and that despite some fine acting (particularly by Daniel Day-Lewis, who might have a shot at an Academy Award) it was all rather predictable. After the movie we moved on to Gabriels for a nice dinner and parted ways.

Saturday we watched some football together before Keenan went off to play tennis with 7 other people from the league who had booked courts rather than wait for the league to return after the holidays. Julie got things organized with Christina and David for dinner at Baton Rouge. We had some great conversation and a delicious meal (they really have some of the best ribs anywhere) and then went to see Catch Me If You Can. The four of us have some diverse taste in movies, but we all liked it. Unlike Gangs of New York, this movie flew by pretty quickly considering it was also about three hours in length. It's a Spielberg film, and likely to receive a few awards. Tom Hanks was solid, as was DiCaprio, and Christopher Walken did a great job in a supporting role.

Sunday was football day of course, as well as a chance to do a bit of cleaning up. The Steelers won again, and they host a playoff game against Cleveland next Sunday. We will be tuned in with great expectations.

It was a bit of an odd week, with Christmas parked right in the middle. We had a lot of fun but don't really feel like we had a holiday, although we are certainly more rested physically. We definitely need to take a little trip or get outdoors for some skiing (we need snow!).

December 22, 2002

Big news...the New Year's Eve Gala it totally sold out! This is great news, it means we can relax a bit more during the holidays.

The housing project is really on track now, after we had a great meeting with a representative at Carleton housing. The facility is much nicer, and we found them very easy to work with, having already organized a tentative contract. This was another great relief, as we were having so many troubles with the University of Ottawa, we were starting to worry about getting any facilities at all.

All the clients at LWP were pretty wired this week, and I guess all of the staff were as well. Everyone was definitely ready for a break. There was a really nice potluck party for everyone at Heartwood on Wednesday with a huge turnout. Moe played guitar and it was a lot of fun.

Monday night was the last board meeting for the year. It was really quick and mostly good news items. Thursday was a big cleanup day. There was a lot of progress but Julie and I spent most of the day at our desks trying to get a lot of things done so we would have less to do during the holidays.

Tuesday night Keenan, Dale, Sean, and Jen went to Barrymore's to see the Headstones. Dean also came, and brought a friend, as did Jen and Dale. Julie took a pass to catch up on some sleep. Keenan spent the entire night in the mosh pit, and still has the bruises to show it.

Thursday we were at the Chateau Laurier for a nice dinner hosted by Joan. We drove by her house and picked up Peter who is down from Toronto, and mom and dad Kingstone, and we all went to the restaurant together.

Friday we spent the whole day with Fran, Dale, and Jen at our place. Elaine dropped by later after finishing her exams. A roaring fire, tons of snacks, and a few beverages with lots of conversation. It was a great way to unwind and launch into holiday mode.

Saturday was for shopping, and Keenan also fit in two hours of tennis. Sunday we visited with Marni, Dave, Flannery, Jane, Phoebe, and Jason. We had a nice dinner and then dropped by to see mom and dad Wellar.

December 15, 2002

The week got off to a good start with a visit from a local councillor who dropped in to meet everyone from SMILE and learn more about what we are doing with housing. He was very encouraging, and didn't seem to have any trouble understanding our co-housing concept. Julie was bursting with ideas during and after the meeting.

Sue Sherring from the Ottawa Sun gave the LiveWorkPlay New Year's Eve party top billing in her December 13 column. A couple of days before that, with some help from Cyndi, Keenan organized for Dale, Cooper, and Fran to appear on Breakfast at the NewRO to promote the part as well. The publicity is starting to pay off, as we have already sold our minimum requirement of tickets.

The Barra MacNeils fundraiser for Heartwood House is in full swing. Keenan is doing the posters and website, which look really cool. We are feeling cautiously optimistic about selling out. It should be a great event, and hopefully a St. Patrick's Day routine.

Friday night was Family Fun Night, which was mostly organized by Julie and Fran who did a great job. The two of us spent the night playing and singing holiday songs with the groups moving through the six stations that had been set up. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and the volunteers were awesome.

It was a pretty crazy week, even by LWP standards. Fran organized the making of something like 2500 chocolates in order to fill all the xmas orders that have came in. Dale is now half way through his adult education diploma after completing another section this week. He also brought in the first revenues for the woodworking shop. Jen is in the initial stages with a couple of clients who are moving towards paid work, which is always challenging. Keenan tied up almost all the loose ends for the SMILE trip to Montreal in February, and Julie has been working very hard to ensure that all of our bills are paid up and finances in order before the xmas break.

Saturday night Julie was at a "cookie party" (no, that's cookie, not kooky) organized by Elaine. This was a girl's only event, so after spending some of the afternoon doing a big outdoor cleanup made possible by very mild weather, Keenan caught a nap and watched some television.

Sunday was the usual football and cleanup sort of day. We are both pretty exhausted and it is definitely time to take a break from work.

December 8, 2002

A big part of this week was spent driving through the mountains and hills of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Along with Wendy, Jen, and Fran, we drove down to the MBNA America operation in Belfast, Maine, to find out more about their Support Services which provides competitive employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.

On the drive down, we took the scenic route, leaving Ottawa about 8:30 am and travelling down through Cornwall, across northern New York to Vermont, and then through the beautiful White Mountains across to the coast. We also stopped in Stowe for a nice lunch. All five of us ordered the same special, which was a turkey pot pie and mashed potatoes. Funny thing, there was no "pie" at all, as the meal was in fact a delicious combination of chicken and vegetables in gravy. There were no complaints, but we regret not asking why they call it a pie instead of a stew.

Arriving in Belfast at around 8:00, we located our accommodations which were nothing short of spectacular. We had been told we would be staying in "cabins" on MBNA land, but these were much more than expected. The two of us got what amounted to our own bungalow in the woods overlooking a nearby river. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room with a big fireplace, ana a full kitchen.

Jen, Fran, and Wendy were at another MBNA property a minute or two down the road, which is situated on a mountain. Their cabin featured three bedrooms, one of them in the loft, and floor to ceiling pine boards. It smelled wonderful. Continuing up the mountain, there is a conference centre on the top, overlooking the ocean. A bit further down there is also a full gym, arcade, and skateboarding rink. Amazing.

We didn't spend a lot of time in the cabins, however. Thursday night we were looking for a place to eat and ended up in a lovely coastal town called Camden, where we enjoyed a delicious meal, thanks to the hostess who served us even though they had already stopped serving dinner. We briefly relaxed by the fire in the cabin and then called it a night, as we would be starting the day at 8:00 am at the MBNA offices.

We had a little trouble finding the correct facility, but we were right on time and enjoyed a very full and productive day. We met in a conference room with different MBNA staff members who are involved with Support Services. We also got some hands-on experience, as we joined with a team from Support Services who were packaging holiday gifts for local children. It was a high speed assembly line and a good workout for all of us. Melanie and Mary from MBNA answered all of our questions and it was definitely worthwhile spending time face to face and seeing them dealing with the daily challenges and success of the operation.

By the end of the day it was obvious that much of what MBNA is trying to accomplish in Support Services mirrors our own efforts with SMILE. It's a very impressive operation, and it takes a lot of very committed people to make it work. Our challenge now is to help Wendy and the rest of MBNA Canada to develop something just as effective, while adjusting for a smaller scale and fewer resources. The nice thing is that there are people at MBNA America who are more than willing to help by sharing experience and expertise.

Friday night we went back into Camden with Mary from MBNA and a small group of friends and colleagues who joined us at a pub for the evening. Julie, Fran, Jen, and Wendy also went for a quick 45 minute shopping spree in the local stores, which were open late for the "Christmas by the Sea" festival.

The entire area is just gorgeous, and although there are no sandy beaches such as we have enjoyed in places like Ogunquit, the coastline is very interesting from a kayaking perspective and we are giving some thought to returning to the area in June or August.

The drive on the way down took over 10 hours, but we tried a different route on the way back that saved more than an hour but wasn't as nice a drive. Keenan did all the driving in both directions, and there weren't any serious mixups. Despite all the hype about the challenges of customs, we were treated well on the way in and out of Canada with no unusual delays.

Perhaps we were overtired by the time we got back around 6:00 on Saturday, but after re-acquainting ourselves with Bubba and Pookie, we went out to see the movie Bowling for Columbine. It's just excellent. If you haven't seen it, we give it two thumbs up without hesitation. Check out Ebert & Roeper for review of the movie. There are lots of references to Canada in the film which makes it extra fun.

December 1, 2002

Wow, December already! Although the onset of cold weather is not exactly a thrilling prospect, it does mean that we have some holiday time coming up, and the timing is pretty good. There's no question we could both use a bit of rest, and getting our own house in order wouldn't be a bad idea.

Earlier today we finally got the kayaks in the house. If you are wondering why we waited so long, perhaps it was the subconscious knowledge that the task would be extremely difficult. It was. These things are over 17 feet long, and like most houses, ours is not built for taking watercraft down into the basement. However, after pouring hot water over the padlocks and preparing a space downstairs, we somehow managed it without any serious injuries to the kayaks, items in the house, or ourselves.

Saturday was a big shopping day. Julie spent most of the day no the road with her dad, while Keenan gladly puttered around the house until the afternoon and then played tennis. He is starting to recover some of his skills from his teenage years, and in particular his serve is starting to click.

We went shopping together in the evening, and then we rented the movie Pumpkin, which is one of the stranger films you will ever see. Julie and I would both recommend it, but it is not for everyone. Roger Ebert does a decent job describing it (and gives it a thumbs up), listen to what he and Roeper have to say before you consider seeing it. We'd be curious to hear what people think.

Friday night the weather was a bit nasty and several people had called in to say they were not attending, so it was decided that the Friday night program would be cancelled. However, there was still lots of work to do, so we all worked in the evening anyway. Some of us joined Dale to work on drywall in the new office we are building for Heartwood House, and some of us worked on things that need to be done for next week.

The most exciting event of the week was a visit from three representatives of the Trillium Foundation, as they are currently in consideration of a major proposal for Heartwood House funding. Keenan had organized to join Moe and tour around with them, but it was such a crazy day that it almost didn't work out. Holly and Eric and little Wolfie had come by to drop off the video they had made during the Halloween Family Fun Night, and they walked right into a difficult situation with one of the clients that both of us were dealing with. It all got resolved around 1:55 and the Trillium folks seemed very impressed with all the groups and activities in the building.

Thursday night Julie went out with Marie. They ended up enjoying the festive holiday special at Swiss Chalet, which apparently was quite good although Julie continues to be disappointed that the holiday treat is no longer a Toblerone bar.

On Monday morning one of our clients slipped and fell on Chapel Street on her way to the program. Keenan just happened to be outside at the time and spotted her on the sidewalk. Julie ended up spending just about the whole day with her at the hospital, as it was very busy in the emergency room. In the end it was stitches and bruises, and definitely the trip to the hospital was needed.

Back on the home front another exciting thing was the discovery that our car is still running. Keenan picked up a new battery and installed it and the car roared to life just like it always has. It looks and sounds like a beast now, but there's really nothing serious wrong with it, so we had might as well keep on driving it!

November 24, 2002

The biggest news of the week was that we finally closed the Canada Clock deal. In the end all parties seemed pretty happy with the agreement, but it sure was a lot of work. Our lawyer Dean who was hooked up with us thanks to Julie's uncle Michael did a great job seeing things through to the end. The lesson here was the same as it always is...don't get ahead of yourself, because the further you get into a deal, the more stressful it is to correct errors made in the beginning.

The ball kept rolling on the United Way story, as Keenan appeared on the Ottawa Citizen television show on Rogers alongside United Way president Michael Allen. It went well, although in retrospect Keenan felt he obviously should have had a bit more of the speaking time, even if it would have meant politely interrupting. On the other hand, he came off as polite and respectful despite having obvious concerns with what many would consider the rather hypocritical portrayal of the United Way as a broad-based supporter of community agencies, when the reality is that less than 3% of charities in Ottawa directly benefit from United Way funds.

Interestingly enough, Heartwood House ended up receiving a couple of donations from individuals this week, one of whom made it very clear that they were doing so because they were disenchanted with the United Way. The goal certainly isn't to tarnish the United Way, but rather to encourage positive change and fairness, so where we hope to go from here is to work cooperatively with the United Way with that goal in mind.

Friday night Keenan was with the Journeys group for a potluck in the SMILE room along with Daniel, Fran, Elaine, Wendy, and Jen. Afterwards he and Fran and Elaine and Daniel joined Julie and the rest of the SMILE@night group (including Grace, Steve, Pennie, Dale) at Whispers where Dave Kalil was playing. It was a lot of fun, although Julie ended up getting food poisoning and was sick all weekend. However, she managed to keep all of her weekend obligations, of which there were many!

Saturday evening we went out to the Singapore with mom and dad Wellar to celebrate Keenan's mom's birthday. Afterwards we went back to their place and watched There's Something About Mary, and we all had a good laugh.

Sunday afternoon it was Marni's birthday celebration at Dave's house. They also had some friends there, which meant that including Jane and Flannery, there were six kids between the ages of 5 and 16 running wild in the house. Fun, but definitely nice to get back to a quieter environment later in the day. Marni seems to be doing very well.

That evening we were out to the Kingstone's for the annual Grey Cup party. We had a great dinner followed by quite an exciting game. We were all cheering for Edmonton but mostly just wanted a close game, which we got.

By Sunday night Julie was pretty weak and got to be early. After a week of enjoying a bunch of meals Julie had prepared the previous Sunday, Keenan tackled a week's worth of dishes while watching Sunday night football (an exciting overtime game). The coming week is going to be very busy, and Monday will be rather brutal with several meetings in addition to the usual workload. Ah, but the holidays are coming...soon.

November 17, 2002

We got behind again! There's been a lot going on at LiveWorkPlay keeping us busy. We wrapped up a proposal to the City of Ottawa for funding to support a project for the coming summer. The idea is for a group of the adult SMILE clients to spend a month living away from their parents in the residence at the University of Ottawa. LiveWorkPlay would offer supports and also document everything that transpires so the data can go towards developing a plan for the future. It's a really solid proposal, with great support letters.

Dale and Fran have been have been doing a lot of work getting the shop ready for action, and along with Jen, the whole lot of us spent parts of the last three days building a new office space at Heartwood House. Yup, that's right, building an office space. We are taking an empty classroom and putting up the walls and doors and lighting to turn it into office spaces for four organizations. It was a lot of fun, and if not for the distraction of all the other things that have to be done at LiveWorkPlay, it would have been downright relaxing for the most part. Dale did a great job getting us involved in just about every aspect of the project.

Friday night Keenan was out with Journeys at a 67s game while Julie was out swimming with SMILE@night. Afterwards Keenan went out to Barrymore's to see a concert, but Julie called it a night to catch up on some much deserved rest. Sean, Chantale, and Dean were waiting at Barrymore's when Keenan arrived. It will be interesting to see if Sean and Chantale's baby has an appreciation for a good driving beat, because the band Big Jeezus Truck might have set a record for decibel levels. Despite being beyond the half way point in carrying a baby, Chantale does not seem at a loss for energy, as we all pretty much closed down the place at 2:00 am.

On Saturday there was a huge article in the Ottawa Citizen about the United Way and its relationship with non-member community agencies, with Aphasia Centre, Heartwood House, and LiveWorkPlay as examples. There was a big picture of the two of us with Cooper, Rachel, and Jason on the third page. It's not too often you see anyone making critical comments about the United Way, no matter how constructive, so hopefully the article will help bring about some important changes. If there are inequities or inconsistencies and no one ever points them out, that's not really being supportive, that's just adding to the problem. From their response in the article it seems like the United Way is looking at it that way as well, which is good news.

LiveWorkPlay certainly deserves a small bit of support from the United Way for programs like SMILE, but it is inconceivable that they are not supporting Heartwood House. Only time will tell in each case, but one of the promising outcomes from the article is that the United Way laid out their reasoning for not offering the support, and it was all rather technical and certainly not indicative of a closed door. If we address their concerns and then funding still isn't forthcoming, that would be a bit of a different problem. We'll have to wait and see.

Saturday night we were out at the Kingstone residence for an evening of dinner, conversation, and pingpong with another five guests. It was a good time and we picked up a few tips on some paddling routes as well.

On the Wellar side of things, Marni is recovering after having elective surgery to correct an old injury to her leg. She is back to work on Monday and sounded pretty chipper on the phone on Sunday night.

The previous weekend we had all of our parents over for a dinner party. Julie tried out some new recipes that worked out extremely well, and it was a good time as well as motivation to clean up the house. The night before Keenan went with SMILE@night to a Senators game. It was all a bit of a rush because the offer of free tickets came just two days before the game so all the plans had to be changed. Julie was at "Gotta Paint" doing some ceramics with those who did not want to see the hockey game.

It's amazing how quickly December is approaching, but so many things are peaking right now at LWP, the timing should be great to have a break and recharge for the new year.

November 3, 2002

The story for Monday-Thursday is "we worked - a lot." What else...we went out to the Singapore with Fran to celebrate the very successful completion of her first six months of full-time work. We also enjoyed watching the eagerly anticipated first episode of "24" which was one of the few televisions shows we watched on a regular basis last year.

We were also able to formally announce that the Ontario Trillium Foundation is providing $25,000 towards improving LWP kitchen facilities and the workshop. It sounds like a lot, but setting up a professional shop is expensive. It's a big investment but it is going to be well worth it.

Friday night both groups went on the Haunted Walk of Ottawa. It was a special version featuring a trip through the old jail and gallows at what is now a hostel. It was pretty creepy, and some of the volunteers and staff were as scared as many of the participants!

Saturday night Wendy and Bob hosted a staff and volunteer pot luck party. There was a huge turnout and everyone seemed to get along great. Everyone had lots of personal news, and it was also a good chance to catch up on what everyone is getting out of involvement with LiveWorkPlay.

Sunday there was lots of housework, and also a couple of hours at Heartwood House to unload a truck full of wood that now belongs to LiveWorkPlay. Most of it is aromatic cedar that will be used to make clocks, which is going to be one of the main products. Dale, Elaine, and Jen were there when we arrived, just as the unloading began. We had to go down several shorts sets of steps to get to the storage room and it was quite a lot of work, but nobody got hurt and it all got done.

Maybe it was good luck that we were unloading the wood instead of watching the Renegades game, because they managed a wild 26-25 win over first place Montreal. And our NFL favourite Steelers managed a three point victory over division rivals Cleveland, and are now alone in first place. Along with David we renewed our tickets for next year and are really looking forward to it.

It looks like kayaking season is really over now. We are really going to miss it, but we are looking forward to our first full spring with our own kayaks. There's a long list of trips we want to try, and lots of trips from the past year that would be really different in high water levels. The challenge now is how to keep active in the winter. It looks like a mix of cross-country skiing and possibly snow-shoeing is going to be the plan. Keenan is the number one spare in Kae and Moe's indoor tennis league, and Julie is thinking of clearing the dust off the treadmill as well.

October 27, 2002

And here we are, a week behind yet again!

Perhaps we can start from the present and work back. We enjoyed a busy Sunday at home. Julie was out in the world buying groceries and a few kayaking items (more on that later) while Keenan cleaned up the yard a little bit and cleaned up the Corolla. It was completely covered in pine needs, and the battery was dead too. CAA came and started it up, and said it should be fine with a new battery. It doesn't look the greatest but for a 1990 it has very few problems, and the cost of keeping it running is so little that it doesn't seem to make sense to think about replacing it.

Last night we had dinner with David and Christina at their place. We were too late to see Meredith, who was sound asleep. It sounds like she has been growing leaps and bounds. Aside from great food and conversation, we also got the big news that another baby is on the way! The little boy or girl (consensus seems to be that it will be a girl) is due in April.

Just before going for dinner, we were at the final home game of the Renegades. It was another wild one! An entertaining 45-34 loss in front of more than 25,000 people. It didn't look like all of them were in attendance, and at times it felt like more than half of the fans were from Montreal, but it was lots of fun. We have bonded with all the people that sit around us, and everyone was shaking hands and saying 3see you next year3Z?4 when we filed out.

Was Saturday a busy day? You bet it was. Before the football game we had already put in about four hours volunteering with the Heartwood House OC Transpo unclaimed items sale. It1Z?4s like a big garage sale of all the lost items that nobody every came to pick up. It was a bit of a zoo, spread out in the hallways all over the building, but it certainly appeared very successful. We don1Z?4t know the tally yet, but a few thousand dollars should be a certainty.

Friday was an equally crazy day, owing for the most part to the Family Fun Night that started at 7:00. It was a combination Halloween celebration and open house. There were six stations set up in different LiveWorkPlay rooms. Julie and I were hosting the station in the workshop, where we did a singalong. It was the first time for most people seeing the workshop, and they all seemed very impressed. And why not? It's pretty impressive. There's tens of thousands of dollars of equipment in there, it has really come together.

The rest of that week is a bit of a blur. Keenan finally got the newsletter out, and got some nice feedback about it. Julie and Fran spent a lot of time preparing the Friday night activities, Dale was occupied with the shop, and Jen was setting up some clients with new work placements. We all worked long hours, but we also had a lot of fun together. We1Z?4re a pretty amazing team, and there seems to be no limit to what we could all accomplish together. We were all getting a bit crazy by the end of the week, but despite spending so much time together, Fran and Dale met us for breakfast on Saturday morning.

On Sunday the 20th we tried to go paddling on the Madawaska but Keenan was slow getting going and then the 417 was jammed, so we decided to put in at Shirley1Z?4s Bay instead. You can read about that journey on the kayaking website. It was a lot of fun because we ended up hanging out with Moe and Kae. After that we were off to Cumberland to watch the Renegades lose to Toronto. There was a very interesting halftime show with Muhammad Ali.

To put this timeframe in historical perspective, we should not that 3the sniper3Z?4 (or the suspected sniper) was finally caught. We did our best to avoid overexposure to the story, and did a pretty good job of it.

October 13, 2002

Well, we missed a week of this journal. Where does the time go?

We just got back from three days at Killarney Lodge in Algonquin Park. What a nice place. Mind you, you pay for what you get. But we got a very large cabin with a big covered veranda overlooking Lake of the Two Rivers. The waterfront was sandy and shallow, perfect for launching the kayaks. Julie got a bit crazy and rousted Keenan out of bed in the darkness to go for a pre-sunrise paddle on Saturday morning. It was pretty amazing, out on the lake with the loons and ducks in the fog and darkness.

It was a great way to build an appetite, and the meals are amazing. Huge, but also top quality. One of the best features of Killarney is that you get three full meals a day included with your stay.

David and Tricia came with us and stayed in a cabin within shouting distance. We had two nice short hikes with them, and they tried out the kayaks on Sunday morning. Each cabin comes with a canoe, so there were more than enough boats for everyone. David decided to stick with the canoe, while Tricia had a great team with Keenan's kayak.

There was a nice little surprise for the two us at work this week. The Ottawa Citizen gave LiveWorkPlay "runners-up" recognition for their annual literacy awards. They said some nice things about our work, but more importantly, it's a start in building a new identity for the organization. There's a lot more going on than people might expect.

There was a big success for the clients at work with the launch of the new cafeteria program. There are three teams of SMILE participants making and serving lunches three days a week to customers in the building. They sold out every day in the first week of operations!

We went out to movies twice, once with Fran and a friend from school, and once with Fran and John, a Kingstone family friend. We finally saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was pretty much as good as everyone said, and also Red Dragon, which had its moments but wasn't as good as the original on which it was based, Manhunter. We had fun afterwards at a nearby bar, Keenan especially, since they were giving out free Guinness to each person, and he got to drink all of it at our table since no one else wanted any.

September 29, 2002

The week flew by. It got off to a fun start with the first hour of dance lessons at Dance Zone that is now part of SMILE every Monday. We started with learning the basic step for swing dancing, which was a blast. This will continue for another eleven weeks, and appears destined for great success.

The Friday evening programs started, and it looks like it will be a great year. The volunteer corps is awesome. We were even missing some of the key regulars, but it still went fine. We are also sticking with music as a key to everything. We ended the evening with about a half hour of guitar and singing in the cafeteria with both groups together in a giant oval. It was a great way to start the season as well as end the evening. The group of parents in the lobby could not believe that the singing was coming from their children.

Jen got back from Vancouver and had a great time. Keenan was certain that she would not show up for the Friday night program, given she was scheduled to come back late in the afternoon, but she showed up as promised.

We spent the afternoon on Saturday up in the Gatineau Hills with Marni, Flannery, and Jane at King Mountain. It was nice hike with lunch on a big rock overlooking the valley. That evening we went out to the Kingstone's where we were joined by Michael and Sally for dinner and conversation. After they left Keenan and Dave played about ten games of ping pong while Julie and Trish chatted into the evening.

Sunday we slept in a bit, but managed to get our act together and head up to Meach Lake for some kayaking. There was lots of wind but it was a great day. We came across a very interesting waterfowl that we think must have been a red-throated loon. Apparently during migration it would be possible to see one in this area. It was very large and swam powerfully under the water. It popped up quite close to us a few times, hopefully a picture or two will turn out and we can identify it more definitively.

We also saw a couple of herons, and a common loon who put on a real show, flapping his wings and standing on the water to show us who was boss of the lake.

Sunday evening we relaxed with Sunday night football and made a bit of a dent in the laundry pile.

September 22, 2002

Things are really moving at work. The workshop initiative is going great guns, and getting ready for the AGM on Friday also took some time. But the meeting went very well, although it was very steamy in the Heartwood House community room and Keenan was sweating buckets.

We went out for drinks with Fran, Dale, and Elaine afterwards, and had a nice time on the New Edinburgh Pub patio. Saturday we didn't go kayaking because our boats and gear were still a mess from PEI and we had a lot to do, including researching a new laptop computer for work and looking into air conditioning for our house. We ended up having pizza with mom and dad Wellar on Saturday night, and then spontaneously headed off to the movies to see the new De Niro movie, City by the Sea. Two thumbs up from us!

Sunday was the Renegades game at 1:00. A very exciting overtime loss to Calgary. Then some grocery shopping, and a relaxing evening with the cats and some B movies on television.

September 15, 2002

We were both pretty tired all week, and did lots of sleeping.

At LWP, Dale was in the shop most of the week with an electrician, and they made a ton of progress, with lots of cool features, including emergency shut-offs for all the machines.

There was lots to do, including finishing a proposal to Industry Canada and getting ready for the AGM, but the biggest challenge is keeping the clients involved with meaningful activities while at the same time trying to organize their schedules. As a team we all worked out the calendar for the entire LWP year, which is great to have done, and now we can hand it out at the AGM.

Saturday we went to see Rent with mom/dad Kingstone, Wendy, and her friend. We got a nice box at the NAC, all to ourselves, which was fun. We had seen it something like two years ago, and it was interesting seeing it again, as we did not have to try and figure out the story but could sit back and enjoy it. It's a really powerful show. Fran was also there with a friend, sitting in a different area, so we went out for dinner afterwards.

The Renegades actually won a road game, beating Calgary, so it should be a good game when they play again in Ottawa next Sunday!

Sunday Keenan went golfing at Cascades with Sean and Dean. It ended up being a beautiful day for golf. We spent evening at home relaxing. There's a new series on TV about the making of Cirque de Soleil that we are enjoying.

September 8, 2002

It was an intense first week back from vacation. After the holiday Monday, which was spent mostly at rest, we had four entire days of meetings. Three days with all the clients and staff, and one day with staff. The meetings were sensationally productive. The participants are communicating so well lately, it is really rewarding to see all the progress. They made some very clear statements about the way they want SMILE to operate, and are taking a greater role in helping to ensure that things work the way they want it to.

As a staff we are obviously a very good team and we all know it. We are into the fine-tuning stage now with our own inter-relations. It's all about continuing to improve. We also got a big donation of used computers that will make for a fun project (they will probably be sold very cheap or even given away after being fixed up by SMILE participants) and also a big donation of tools for Against The Grain.

Friday night we went out with Christina and David O. to the Siam Bistro for a great dinner and then a nice walk through Westboro. They are doing well, although Christina is getting used to a new position having just gone back to work, and David is getting used to a lot of driving around to pick up and drop off Meredith, who we are looking forward to seeing again soon.

We continue to enjoy the Renegades games with David K., even though the team keeps losing, as was the case on Saturday afternoon. And of course we were glued to the US Open and cheered loud enough for New York to hear us when Pete Sampras managed to outlast Agassi. We cheered for both of them but our hearts were clearly with Pete.

Saturday morning we had a good paddle on the Rideau River and Mosquito Creek. We are still a bit sore from PEI, believe it or not. It was a real change of pace to be on calm waters.