Being 25

When I was 25 I figured I knew it all.

• I had left home and chose to live in a different country



• I had fallen in love many times



• I had experienced many types of work



• I had been given some fantastic opportunities



• I had traveled to some beautiful places



• I had been wild



• I had been responsible



• I had lost a baby through miscarriage



• I had lived with a man I thought I loved



• I had shared my life with good friends



• I had found the ideal job



• I had the respect of my parents and family

I found myself pregnant again when I was 25. I was very happy, and even when the father of the child I carried did not want to have the baby, I remained happy and planned my life as a single mother. I thought that by the time I delivered this child I would be mature enough and would have had enough life experience to be a wonderful, loving mother.

Things didn't quite go that way! I was terrified when he arrived. Scared that I would do all the wrong things, motherhood does not come with the delivery. I really thought I would be fine since I wasn't a teen or a very young mum. I kept my fears to myself and did the only thing that I could... my very best. Of course, I screwed up on a number of occasions, but the experience made me a better mum.

Even up until he was 16 I was worried that I was doing the wrong things. When he made mistakes I figured it was because of something I had done wrong. But eventually I had to let him take responsibility for his actions, and when I did, it was a huge load off my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a bad kid, I had just taken on ALL the responsibility ALL the time.

So here we are now, with him turning 25. He has experienced a lot too.

• 4 years of university



• living in another city by himself



• living in another country by himself



• teaching in a country whose first language is not English



• facing a judge for a error in his own judgment



• losing a loved one



• watching his friends losing a loved one



• long and solid friendships



• girlfriends



• many types of work



• vacations in many parts of the world

However, having taken similar roads, we are different people. I was ready to take on a family, and be the mother and the person who would mould this child's life. He is still looking for fulfillment in his life.

I don't worry about him anymore, because he is a man and is capable of taking care of himself.

The best advice for anyone who has children is to think back to when you were their age and remember how you felt about your life. At 15 things were complicated, at 21 life was exciting, but was your family that important to you? Friends tend to take place of family for a few years, but then in the end, (usually about the time you have children of your own) your family plays an important role in your life.

St. Lawrence Market Customer Appreciation Night

This was another event I posted at MEETin Toronto. 30 members signed up, although only about 25 showed up.

The food was as always plenitul.

Salads, fruits, sushi, pizza, crepes, fish, meat, cheese, pastries, apple fritters, custard tarts, juices, and chocolate covered strawberries were just some of the foods we found.

The wine and beer was only $2,

but we had to pay with Toronto Dollars.

For entertainment there was singing, dancing,

drumming and I even saw magic.

We stayed for about 90 minutes and then went home with our tummies full.

Easter Brunch

Saturday was the preparation day. I went to the market and to the grocery store and bought the last minute items necessary for the meal. I also got to the clean up of the apartment and some food preparation. I made the croissants, put together the ingredients for the oven omlettes and prepared all the fruits and vegetables.

Sunday morning I put the omlettes in the oven and started to put the veggie and fruit platters together. At 11:15 the first guest arrived. In the end Thomas cooked the hash browns, bacon and sausages, while I got the rest of the food ready and greeted my guests.

There were 17 of us in all and we had a wonderful time eating and drinking and eating some more. We shared stories and information about ourselves, and generally had a fun time.

The menu had some additions that guests kindly brought along and I think by the end everyone was satisfied by the food.

We had:
· Ham, green pepper and cheese omlette
· Roasted red pepper and cheese omlette
· Asparagus and cheese omlette
· Hash browns
· Sausages
· Bacon
· Bagels
· Cream cheese
· Hot cross buns
· Croissants
· Preserves
· Dolmades
· Babaganosh
· Hummus
· Salad
· Veggie platter
· Fruit platter
· Muffins
· Cookies
· Candies
· Fruit juices
· Tea and coffee

My guests included:
· Howard
· Sharon
· Al
· Devashish
· John
· Nick
· Charles and his friend John
· Lynn
· Lynn
· Niki
· Mark
· Alex
· Beatriz
· Ildiko
· Thomas

Each guest was given a little treat left by the Easter Bunny.

Around 4 pm the guest stared to leave, and then Beatriz and I washed and dried the dishes. After she left I sat down with a cup of tea, feeling happy that it all turned out so well.

End of March

It has been a very long time since I put anything here, in fact a long time since I did much of anything.

I haven't been out socialising either, not sure why, but probably just because the weather had been cold and I'm a lover of warmer temperatures!

Anyway its the end of March already and I wanted to add a few words.

I finally made a new purchase last week and got myself a flat panel moniter for my computer. It is great, and I wonder why I didn't get one sooner. Money probably! Anyway it was a belated birthday present to myself.

It was a PD day at school yesterday so that the teachers could interview parents. I wasn't needed for any interviews, so I did photocopying and lamenating, and I also helped to set up the library for our upcoming Book Fair next week. I left school shortly after 1pm.

Next Friday will be the Easter Break so I get Friday off and also the following Monday, so that is 3 short weeks in a row. And March break was just a few weeks ago too. So it has been quite pleasant knowing that we have these occasionl breaks.

I dropped by the Canon Theatre yesterday to pick up a couple of tickets for We Will Rock You. I thought I'd take Beatriz for her birthday. I cheaped out though and I hope she doesn't mind. I bought the stools that were just $20 each. I will make up for it by buying dinner afterwards!

I also picked up 24 invitations for the St. Lawrence Market Customer Appreciation Night. They open after hours and have loads of samples of food for people. I organised an event last year with MeetIn Toronto, so I am doing it again this year. It's on April 12th.

Also I am hosting an Easter Brunch for the group. So far about 4 people have signed up. I will serve *easy* foods, like oven omlettes and hash browns with bagels and cream cheese.

And finally later on in April is Thomas' birthday. He'll be 25. Amazing when you think of it, I was 25 when I got pregnant with him! He hasn't given me his wish list of gifts yet. I was thinking of giving him some money towards his driving lessons.

So that is it for now, I need to get back to "Spring Cleaning"

Check back again soon.

Hallowe'en Party

It was a wonderful evening with about 17 people showing up to celebrate.

My guests were:
A belly dancer


A cowboy


A beatnik


A rock star


Jackie Kennedy


The grim reaper


Cruella DeVille


Dr. Ben Dover, Proctologist


A boy scout


A Hawaiin hula girl


Dracula


An executioner


Two 80's girls


A Playboy bunny


A spider web covered girl


And of course myself. I was supposed to be a Black Widow Spider, but I looked more like a witch, with my long black dress.

I made some munchies too. There was meatballs, chicken nuggets, vegetable rolls, samosas, saudage rolls, cheese and onion puffs, mini quiche, veggies and dip, hummous and pita bread. Of course not forgetting the chips, pretzels and candy.

For dessert there were some lovely chinese mooncakes, and dough balls, banana bread and carrot cake.

I had put caution tape on the storage room door and put a cd player in there with monster noises coming from it. I made a giant spider and sat it in the sunroom with more caution tape on its doors too.

I made a mural a couple of nights before that I pinned to the wall, wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.

We played the mummy game: teams of 2 wrapping and unwrapping their partner. The winner of that was the cowboy and the hula girl.

Then we voted for our favourites.
The best costume went to Jackie Kennedy


The most original went to the belly dancer


The cutest went to the hula girl


And the creepiest went to Dracula.


Everyone went home with a Trick or Treat bag with goodies, and a great time was had by all.

I had rented Scary Movie 4, but we didn't have time to watch it. Good thing, because when I viewed it the next day, it sucked big time!

October 28

is the date I have chosen to throw this party. I have listed it on MeetIn Toronto and so far about 12 people have signed up.

I will decorate my place with a SPIDER theme, and have a few games and prizes, as well as a best/cutest/creepiest and most original costume competition. As for food I am thinking just snacks, and people can bring whatever they want to drink.

I bought a cd of scary sounds, and it sucks, so I have to look for another one.

As for my costume I am thinking of a spider costume, you know, the widow spider, who bites of the heads of her lovers!!

LOL!

See more progress on: throw a halloween party

Come hang out at my place.

On Friday the weather looked miserable, and that was the forecast for the whole weekend. I wanted to get together with friends but didn't want to go out in the rain. So I decided to have a last minute party on Saturday.

I posted the event on MeetIn.org here in Toronto, and asked people if they wanted to hang out. I would preovide the apartment and pizza and they could bring the beer, or whatever they drank.

I also sent an email to a few friends who weren't on the MeetIn site. When Keitha got hers she sent me an email saying 'thanks for the laugh.' I didn't remember sending her a joke, but then she explained I had written "I'll provide pizza, you byob." She had read it, "I'll provide pizza, you boob!"

One person emailed me suggesting we watch a movie, so I put out the call for people to bring dvd's of their choice.

Anyway now I had to spend Saturday cleaning, it seems the only time I really clean is when I have people over!!

So about 20 people showed up. I ordered 3 extra large pizzas, that wasn't really enough, I only got one slice, but that meant I could eat LOTS of dessert! And my guests brought huge amounts of desserts. Beatriz brought ice, Munny brought peanuts and Al brought chips. Mona brought bread and a great red pepper spread. Manal brought popcorn for the movie, Henrieta brought chocolate cake, Richard brought blueberry pie, Georgia brought apple pie, Alice brought keylime pie, someone else brought chocolate peacan caramel coffee cake, and Mark brought chocolate birthday cake. I didn't know it was Mark's birthday, so this was a bonus. Of course I put candles on the cake and we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Mark had also brought a bottle of champagne to toast his special day. So it was kind of a surprise party, a surprise to me!

At one point someone knocked on my door. It was someone visiting my neighbour who had cut her hand and needed a bandaid. Jeez what some people will do to crash a party!

So we all had a great time, and ended up not having time to watch any movies.

People left a few at a time, but a handful stayed until shortly after midnight.

Michigan Pictures day 2

So the following day we shopped all
morning, but took a break to find a Krispie Kreme doughnut shop. We had found coupons in the motel to buy a dozen get a dozen for .99, so who could pass up that offer?

They had this amazing van outside in the parking lot. I took loads of pictures of it, because I think it looked very cool!


Here is Sandra buying hers. She was attending a big barbeque at her Dad's house later that day, so this was going to be her contribution for it.

Then it was time to find a post office so that we, (the Canadians) could buy ourselves some American stamps for future swaps. I ended up with lots of one dollar coins in my change that I donated to PST for the prize vault. Who knew there was an American $1 coin?

Outside the post office were these signs protecting newly painted lines on the road. It was just begging for a picture to be taken! Both Keitha and I posed.


Along the highway there were signs saying that if a worker was killed or hurt while working there was a $7500 fine and 15 years in prison. I asked Sandra if the same went for these cute little workmen signs!

Pictures from Michigan

For some reason I am not able to add pictures to my blog about Michigan so I am adding them here.



The first picture is of myself, Geri and Keitha in the van heading toward the border.




Next we see a terrible accident that happened just ahead of us, although we still can't quite figure out how this happened. It was a single car, and by the looks of it no one was seriously hurt.



Next is outside K-Mart where we met up with Sandra. She drove past us at first, but then we eventually found each other!




And finally here we are after at a shopping spree in a scrapbook store. We ended up getting a few gifts here for Robin with a discount since we bought so much collectively. 

Yuk Yuks

Hey I had a good day yesterday.

It started off with a trip to John Innes Community centre where I did 45 minutes of aquafit in their pool. I have only been going for two weeks, but every Tuesday and Thursday I find myself looking forward to it, eventhough I HATE to exercise!

I later walked downtown to meet Beatriz for lunch. We chatted about our upcoming spa that we would enjoy together. Hopefully it will be better than the last place we tried!

In the evening I met up with Ildiko who had offered me a ticket to Yuk Yuks. We spent an hour and a half laughing at about half a dozen short acts, and then the feature comedian, Wafik Nasralla. It was very funny, and I knew that I needed the laugh, as things have become a bit stale in my life lately.

Thanks Beatriz for lunch. Thanks Ildiko for thinking of me to join you for a good laugh.

Road Trip to Michigan

Keitha picked me up at 7 am and we were on our way to Michigan. The plan was to pick Geri up at the truck stop in Sarnia and then to cross the border and drive onto meet Sandra.

Our drive to Sarnia was uneventful and we chatted about what we thought Geri would be like. We arrived at the Flying J truck stop and sat down to breakfast. Keitha had a buffet breakfast and I had toast and jam with tea. Geri was to meet us at 9 am, but showed up at 9:25 having had some trouble getting something for her car. She had coffee and we were off at about 9:45.

We drove to the border crossing where we had to sit in the car for a while as people were going through. When it was our turn the guard wanted to know about what fruit I had especially those little orange things. They were my apricots, but I guess the way I say it is unusual, because she asked again. We passed through without further question.

Then we had a long drive to Lapeer Michigan. On the way we passed an accident that happened a few minutes before, and a car had rolled onto its roof. We had a short delay as we sat in the car waiting for the ambulance and police to arrive. We finally arrived at K-Mart in Lapeer where we were to meet Sandra. We were a bit early, so we looked around the store. I found a neat binder for $4 that I can keep my die cuts in.

Sandra arrived and we all got into Keitha’s vehicle and headed off to our first Scrapbook store, Crystal’s Scrapworks. I spent $33 there on a few items, but found some magnetic stamps. We went across the road for lunch at a Bistro where I ordered a house salad and ice tea. Then we drove over to Davison and checked out Karen’s Creative Stamping. There was so much at this store that I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. I managed to spend another $30, and found some very cute purse and shoes stamps.

It was after 5pm and many of the independent stores were closed, so we decided to go to Birch Run and look at the mall for some good deals. I found a nice green jacket at Eddie Bauer for about $28. We walked around there while Sandra looked for pots and pans for her kitchen. She did find some.

It was late so we looked for a motel to spend the night. We drove to Flint and booked our rooms at the Super 8 Motel. Keitha and I shared and Sandra and Geri shared. We then drove to Appleby’s restaurant for dinner. I had a beer and a lovely vegetarian pizza with artichokes. After dinner we returned to the hotel to sleep. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep, too hot, too noisy and too smelly! I got up at 5am turned the air conditioner cooler, took 2 advil hoping that would help me sleep, and put in my ear plugs. I did fall asleep and was awoken by Keitha blowing her nose!

After a shower and a quick bite to eat we went to Target in Flint. I was not really impressed! Sandra did buy a change of clothes and Keitha found some books, and Geri bought a few things too. In the same Mall we found a Jo-Ann store. I went crazy in this store. There was so much to buy and much of it was on sale. I got 2 great punches, a square and a circle, as well as two 12 x 12 albums. We left there at about 12:20.

We drove to a Krispy Kreme store where we bought dozens of doughnuts with a coupon we got at the motel. They had a very cool van in the parking lot and I got lots of pictures of that. We then took Kathy back to K-Mart where she had left her car, and did a quick once over at the Dollar Tree store, but there wasn’t much available there. We said our goodbyes, and were on our way by around 2:15pm.

The drive back was pretty uneventful. At the border we declared that each of us had spent about $175 and we were told that after 24 hours the first $50 was okay the rest we needed to declare. Then he said, “Drive safely” so we drove off! We all assumed that was what he meant!

We dropped Geri off at the Flying J, used the bathroom and got a tea, and headed for Toronto. I got back to my apartment at around 6:15, so it was a safe and enjoyable journey.

What I want in a man

What I Want in a Man, Original List (age 25)

1. Handsome
2. Charming
3. Financially successful
4. A caring listener
5. Witty
6. In good shape
7. Dresses with style
8. Appreciates finer thing
9. Full of thoughtful surprises
10. An imaginative, romantic lover


What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 35)

1. Nice looking
2. Opens car doors, holds chairs
3. Has enough money for a nice dinner
4. Listens more than talks
5. Laughs at my jokes
6. Carries bags of groceries with ease
7. Owns at least one tie
8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries
10. Seeks romance at least once a week


What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 45)

1. Clean teeth and a kind face would be nice
2. Doesn't drive off in the car before I'm in it
3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally
4. Nods head when I'm talking
5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes
6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture
7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach
8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids
9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down


What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 55)

1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed
2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public
3. Doesn't borrow money too often
4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting
5. Doesn't retell the same joke too many times
6. Is in good enough shape to get off couch on weekends
7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear
8. Appreciates a good TV dinner
9. Remembers your name on occasion


What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 65)

1. Doesn't scare small children
2. Remembers where bathroom is
3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep
4. Only snores lightly when asleep
5. Remembers why he's laughing
6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself
7. Usually wears some clothes
8. Likes soft foods
9. Remembers where he left his teeth
10. Remembers that it's the weekend


What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 75)

1. Breathing
2. Doesn't miss the toilet.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Try everything twice. On Madam's tombstone (of Whelan's and Madam) she said she wanted this epitaph: Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. (keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches ;-)

3. Keep learning and trying new things: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. It's good for the spirit!Never let the brain get idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen: Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love: Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, (hippos), music, plants, hobbies, chocolate!whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is. (and don't listen when anyone TRIES to guilt you!)

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.

The beginning of the summer

Finally yesterday was my last day of work for the next 2 months.  I was happy when I left the school eventhough it was raining very hard and I rode my bike through it all the way home.  In fact it was quite nice!

When I got home I noticed a police car outside the building and 2 officers in the lobby.  I almost asked if they were there for Kris, a tenant that I helped out a few months ago.  But I figured that they wouldn’t tell me as I wasn’t a relative, and it was none of my business.

Later that afternoon another tenant came to ask me if I knew where the karaoke machine was, (why, I have no idea).  After 15 minutes of complaining about the possibility that it had been stolen, she was about to get on the elevator, when she suddenly said, “Oh yeah, Kris is dead.”  I couldn’t believe it, and asked which Kris she meant, and yes it was the same Kris I was wondering about a few hours earlier.

That put a huge damper on my celebration of the beginning of my summer holiday.  I made a few phone calls and found out that it was true she had been found in her apartment, and had probably been there a few days.  Only 38, and a life gone.  I can only believe that she is no longer suffering the trials and tribulations she endured during her short life.  

A neighbour came to my door today to suggest we have our meeting room named for her.  That may take a bit of convincing, but it is a nice thought.

So begins my summer off.  Hopefully I will have many more up days than down days like this.

Hot Chicken Leg

Many years ago I worked in a Laura Secord store that sold mostly chocolate, but also had a lunch counter with sandwiches, salads, drinks and a variety of other foods.

"Could I have a hot chicken leg please?" a man asked.

We had a microwave, and cooked chicken, so I held up a selected chicken leg for his approval, but instead he just looked at me in a strange way.

"You wanted a hot chicken leg?" I asked.

"No, a hot chicken leg." he replied..

Thinking he was just a strange man, I put the selected poultry in the microwave and heated it.

I placed it in a bag, and offered it to the man.

Confused, he frowned.

"I want a hot chicken leg please," he said again.

"This is a hot chicken leg," I said.

"No!" said the man, very slowly, in his best Asian English,

"A hot C H O C O L A T E."

In the past month I have ...

Until I posted the previous post I didn’t realise that it has been over a month since the last one!

Some of the things that I have been doing in that time are:

got my bike fixed with new handle bars

tidied up my scraproom

went to a spa

played Bingo

visited a Buddhist Temple

went to a Blue Jays baseball game

hosted a scrapmeet

went to Sweets Expo 2006

tried to ignore Mother’s day

was told to go to emergency for a stomach ache

had a pedicure

This weekend is a holiday here in Canada – Victoria Day. I have plans for Sunday to have brunch with a singles group and to go on a walk organised by the Royal Ontario Museum. Next week I will be going to see “The Lord of the Rings” at the Princess Of Wales Theatre. So there should be a few more posts this month!

FOR CLOSENESS T-R-A-V-E-L

Inmate Mitchell King had a visitor -- his wife. King was serving a six-year jail term in Auckland, New Zealand for armed robbery.
But his wife didn't want to be away from him for that long. So they held hands. And they stuck. She'd rubbed her palms with Super Glue.

Their new-found closeness was short-lived, and their separation painful. Her technique is not one I'd recommend for a closer relationship.

But if you want more closeness; if you desire relationships that are deeper and broader, more meaningful and longer-lasting, then remember the word "travel."

T is for TRUST. Trust is the glue that holds people together (not Super Glue). A relationship will go nowhere without it.

R is for RESPECT. "Do not save your loving speeches for your friends till they are dead; do not write them on their tombstones, speak them rather now instead," writes Anna Cummins.
It's about respecting others and letting them know that you value them.

A is for AFFECTION. Sometimes affection means love. Sometimes it means a touch. Always it means kindness.

V is for VULNERABILITY. Though we may feel afraid to let another too close, no relationship will go anywhere without risking vulnerability. Entrepreneur Jim Rohn says, "The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy." And the love.

E is for EMOTIONAL INTIMACY. Learn to be open. Learn to communicate freely. What kinds of relationships you make are largely determined by how openly you have learned to communicate.

L is for LAUGHTER. Victor Borge got it right when he said, "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." It's also the most enjoyable.

For relationships that can really go somewhere, just remember the word "travel." Then enjoy the trip!

http://www.lifesupportsystem.com/

No Easter celebration here!

I worked on the page for Ashley. I used folded iris paper to make a flower. I also made six thank you cards for Ronae’.


I called Dad and we had a long chat. He seemed very down talking about how if he hadn’t had his morning job he would have realised Mum was sick and he could have helped her. There isn’t much I can do from here, but I changed the topic and tried to lift his spirits as best I could.


I went for a two hour bike ride along the Don River and took a few pictures of interesting trees. On the way back I stopped at the Distillery District where I sat outside the café to drink a pot of tea. Everyone there was out with their families, which made me feel quite alone. Where are all the other single people?


I called Kate to find out what had happened when she gave her notice. She sounded much better, and it very glad that she made the decision to quit.

Take a minute to read through these cool facts.

ALASKA
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.

AMAZON
The Amazon rain forest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea, off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the nexteight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.

ANTARCTICA
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh waterin the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches.Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.),Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

BRAZIL
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

CANADA
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."

CHICAGO
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

DETROIT
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M - 1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located on two continents.

LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles dePorciuncula--and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

NEW YORK CITY
The term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s who used the slang _expression "apple" for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time- The Big Apple.
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jewish people in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.
AFRICA
Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28.
Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38.

OHIO
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio; every one is man made.

PITCAIRN ISLAND
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4.53 sq. km.

ROME
The first city to reach a population of one million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C.There is a city called Rome on every continent.

SIBERIA
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M.
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001, has a population of eighty, twenty less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

SAHARA DESERT
In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.

SPAIN
Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the first business there.

ROADS
Chances that a road is unpaved
in the U.S.A.: 1%,
in Canada: 75%.

TEXAS
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.

UNITED STATES
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips and in times of war or other emergencies.

WATERFALLS
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.And that's about all you need to learn for today !!

Woodbine Racetrack

Glenn organized an event through www.meetin.org to Woodbine racetrack.

Mark another member of meetin gave me a ride to and from Woodbine.

There were about 12 - 15 of us, and some of us had never been to a race track before.

The weather was perfect with the sunshining and the a nice cool breeze to keep us from getting too hot.

There were 10 races, but we didn't stay for all the races. The last of us left after the 6th race.

Everyone of us who placed a bet, won at least once. I placed 6 bets and 3 of them paid out! Of course my bets were only $2, but hey a win is a win!

We went down to the paddocks to watch them get ready for their races. The horse in the pink was rearing up so I thought it would either do well becasue it was raring to go, or it would do really badly because it wanted to go its own way. Another man looking on down there told us he liked the green number 5 for one of the races. I had already placed my bet, but Glenn went up and bet on that horse. And wouldn't you know it, Green number 5 won, my horse number 2 came in 2nd and the pink one came in third!

We left after that race, all very happy with the day in the sun.