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BABIES!!!

MY BEST FRIEND FROM HIGH SCHOOL IS PREGNANT!!! I am so excited. I think I could have only been more excited if my sister called to say she was pregnant.

I am SO HAPPY for her. I can't wait to see her. I was already being an annoying mom figure - "eat more broccolli, drink red wine - the French say so!!"

Only one thing made me sad - I won't be here to see cutie pie being born. I wasn't there for her wedding and now, another milestone missed.

What's next? Retirement? Well, let's hope I will have stopped touring the world and settled down by that time to see her through another milestone.

But never mind - I have to get there as soon as possible!! next week even!!!

E and D - congrats so much. Can't wait to see you!!!

Still Writing and the Weekend Jaunt

Had a great weekend in the city again. Walking down the club district streets to my friend's house I get so much inspiration for writing. And then, as usual, I get to the computer and it all goes blank.

I do remember my "beacon feeling". Looking up at the CN Tower. I am in a space that people come to from all over the world. A tourist attraction. I have been all over Europe to see these tourist attractions but I have never felt that way here.

To me, it is just home. I don't live here anymore but it still feels like home.

When I left my small town to come to school in Toronto, I would always look up at the CN Tower and remember how far I had come. I was in the 'big city', living on my own and being independant.

In the years after my parents left for the US, I would look to it and feel safe. I had done it. I was here. I felt comfortable in a place that is looked upon as a busy hustling place where people holiday.

I missed that feeling. I've been so many places this past year and have enjoyed so many fantastic things. But I have never been able to feel at home in those touristy places.

Here I can.

I can't explain why I would want to feel at home in a touristy place - why not just my home town?

Maybe it's just another way of connecting with all those people I saw milling the streets in places like Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Paris.

They were all just living their lives. And now I am just like them again. I do have something in common with the city dwellers of Lisbon, Athens, Amsterdam and London.

I feel at home amongst a wonder of the world.

***************

On a different note, I'm sending out some good thoughts for a good friend who is going through a difficult time.

The mind can work in such mysterious ways. It's such a farce that there are so many times when you think you're going off the deep end but when you really might be, you have no idea.

I hope that I have the strength to help her get help. I know she is strong and will get through. It's just hard to see her like this right now.

So, send her your happy thoughts. She needs them.

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