Anniversary

Hey folks, It's the third instalment of the TGIF email and this one comes with pictures (ooo ahh). Well this past weekend we had a big celebration in our house...no, not Phil Mickelson winning the Masters (finally), though that was cause for much joy. Instead we celebrated our one year anniversary as a married couple. :) Friday evening I took Shell to a nice little restaurant on Bloor St. and we had a lovely meal, then a nice walk up and down Bloor. With the new house and everything there wasn't much in the way of "gifting" too much, though Shell reminded me that the first anniversary is "paper", which to me means the mortgage and the big ginormous check we'll be writing in a few weeks. She did however get some nice flowers from me which she really seemed to like http://stamant.org/Albums/Variety/images/100_4214.jpg and she picked out a little bauble at one of the shops on Bloor. Saturday (our actual big anniversary day) we had planned to go to Home Depot and IKEA and look at some things for the house, then catch a movie...however, fate (and the monstrous cold I've had) decided against that and I was forced to stay in bed, medicated out the eyeballs, while Shell spent the day shopping. I was very sad that she had to go alone (at least I was sad the moments I was conscious). Shell is working on a new stained glass window as a donation for a charity event. This is the work in progress, I'll make sure to send a picture when it's finished. http://stamant.org/images/100_4216.jpg This weekend we're going to Georgetown to sign the mortgage papers and then on to Waterloo to spend the day there. Tuesday is the big Landing Day, so this afternoon I got a haircut and had some pictures taken for my Permanent Resident Card!!! Next week's TGIF should include the official story of how I was welcomed to Canada (unless they send me back to the US) Here's the deep thought of the week: I finished the Sidney Blumenthal book this week, and on the whole it was a good read. There was an interesting portion of the book that dealt with President Clinton and Prime Minister Blair's attempts to promote Third Way politics abroad. In one speech, Clinton spoke about the irony of the real dangers we face in the future. He remarked that here we are, in the most advanced age imaginable-technology and science have created vast new areas of research and development, we are exploring the very fabric of our universe and ourselves. And yet with all strides we've made, and as modern as our civilization has become, the real danger exists in the form of our oldest problems- fear, hatred, and fanaticism. In the age of our most evolved state, we are threatened by the oldest disputes. We have not been able to overcome them. Author and cartoonist Kin Hubbard said, "There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose." We must continue to tackle the problems of our own age, and those of our fathers, and our fathers fathers, for often they are one and the same. Cheers, Ron