Kelly Date October 18, 2009

Hello Again!

As predicted this past week was crazy busy, but enjoyable nonetheless! I left Wolfville very early Tuesday morning to catch a 7:00 flight to Toronto. And, I do mean early! I had to be up by 3:00a.m. but was so excited about the trip I'm pretty sure I didn't get to sleep until 2:00a.m. Oh well, I did manage to get some sleep en route and felt up to a full day on arriving in Toronto.

Chelsey and Trevor were there to pick me up as

planned and we spent the day wandering around downtown Toronto enjoying the sights and sounds. I took my camera along so I was even able to get some good photographs. The funniest thing was a large group of people dancing for a Cadbury chocolate bar promotional gig they had going on right in the centre of the business district.

People had to dance on a large purple mat in order to win a 'purple goodie bag'! Of course Chelsey wanted one but there was no talking her into participating so I decided to take up the cause and danced my way across the mat in exchange for the prize. Too funny...Chelsey is now the proud owner of all things purple... t-shirt, chocolate, bag, etc. I took the pictures on either side as an example of some of the contestants, but I thought I out jigged them all lol. Well, maybe not but it certainly got some smiles from Chelsey and Trevor.

Next morning, we were up and on our way to Geulph for my conference,

actually arriving a bit early as the traffic was better than anticipated. I spent the rest of the morning hanging out with Rob who I knew from some work I did with him in central BC this past spring. It's always nice to know someone when you go to new places.

Late in the afternoon, I joined a tour group to take in several points of interest in and around Guelph including, the Wellington micro brewery, a potato research station, a small rural tourist town, and a local food market. They were all interesting stops and it was especially nice to get out and see a bit more of Ontario other than the urban centers. I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely the fall colors were and had a great time exploring. Oh yes, I ate some of the best cheese ever at the local food market. Tis a very good thing I don't live anywhere near the place or I'd be my own best/worst customer lol.

The rest of the week was spent taking part in the conference and of course my first attempt to present at this type of venue. It went well, or so I felt, but it was just as stressful as I had imagined it might be. But I had worked very hard to have the information flow and make sense and thought I accomplished that in spades.

One night I went out with a group of delegates and had a great time and the next I wandered around taking photographs of downtown Guelph. They have some amazing architecture there and beautiful old churches and bridges as you can see from the photographs.

I ended up in a nearby pub to get some food and a brew and ended up chatting with a local by the name of Burl Levine who is an amazing poet. He quoted some of his best work and actually honored me with a copy of his published book entitled 'Inklings About Relationships'. It was a real treat and great fun.

The next morning I was up early again and off to catch a ride into Toronto with some newfound friends from the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia; Harold and Cindy. We managed to get lost but did make it on time in the end.

I am now back at home in Wolfville and I cannot tell you how excited Mr. Finnigan was to see me! Wow, he was over the top wiggly lol. What a wonderful pooch. It's good to be home - it was a great week and a wonderful experience, but as I say...."Home is a good place to be."

Chat next week.....