A busy, busy week. The Exultate concert was Friday night, and as President I got nominated to give the opening speech, which concerned me greatly for most of the week. However, Steve Wadhams provided some excellent material for me to write the speech (largely concerned with a brief bio of Benjamin Britten and a discussion of some of the music we were singing) and it flowed out pretty quickly Tuesday night... And fear gave me reason enough to practice it pretty much continuously Wednesday and Thursday nights, which meant that by Friday I had most of the speech from memory. I took a written copy up with me to be sure, but basically it flowed very well and I was greatly relieved.

After that, the concert was a lot of fun -- though Britten takes a heck of a lot of concentration to sing -- and then the weekend stretched wide and stressfree ahead!

The other big event of Friday afternoon was that we got the keys for our new house in Riverdale. Saturday and Sunday we took Autoshare cars out to the Home Despot at O'Conner and St. Clair E. to get stuff: mainly towel racks and toilet paper holders, but also snow shovels, rakes for leaves, motion sensors for outdoor lights, and a couple of new locks. We're moving in my stuff next weekend and all of the stuff from Anne's apartment the weekend after, and then we'll be in unpacking and cleanup mode for, well, probably the rest of the year.
posted by Tom at 11:13 PM | link | (0) comments

Several weeks have passed since my last blog, which seems a bit inexcusable. On the other hand they've been very busy weeks.

The memorial service for my grandparents was very nice. Mum and Uncle John put together a very moving service, with lots of music and brief memorials from grandpa's friends and colleagues. The church was packed with people who knew him from Rotary Club, his bridge club, friends and family. After the service Mum we had a reception at grandpa's house, which is now up for sale... It's a bit sad as it's been the family's base in England since my mother was 5 years old.

When I got back from England I had three nights in Canada before heading down to New Orleans for a Microsoft Partners Conference. It was huge -- some 3,000+ attendees -- and lavishly catered in a massive conference centre on the riverfront. I didn't get to see much except the conference, sadly, but did get to eat out a couple of times and enjoy the fine cuisine of Louisiana.

Last week was a bit less hectic at work, but there's still a lot going on. On Tuesday I chaired my second Exultate board meeting, which was very productive, and had the distressing realization that there's only one more rehearsal to go before the concert! It will, however, be an excellent concert, so if you aren't planning on coming yet, please do! For more details please visit the Exultate site.

On Wednesday I met our real estate agent, Molly, and the seller of our new house, to review the final details of the work that the seller's contractor had finished. The house is great, though we will definitely have a few logistical challenges to work out. Can't wait to move in. We take possession on Friday! Molly was there to see if she liked the basement apartment, and she did, though it might not be big enough for all her stuff...

Thursday was my birthday, and my sweetie Anne got me a lovely leather backpack laptop bag to use instead of the Accenture-issued laptop briefcase I've been lugging around. It's very nice... My Mum and Dad sent me a nice card and I have some money towards a washer-dryer. I'm an adult now!

Finally, yesterday Anne Dutton and Andrew Sedman came to visit! They're in Canada until, well, today, but they abandoned their kids with Anne's parents and came in to the city for the day. We went down for a nice Italian dinner on St. Clair.

Ok, so that's me up to date. The list of to-do items is dauntingly long, both for work and for the move. I can't wait until November when (hopefully!) it will all be over!
posted by Tom at 1:10 PM | link | (0) comments