Alex & Happy Feet!

06Sep

Today was a very big Me day. Alex came for a day of brotherly bonding / sibling revelry with Carman (including coaching him in The Treadmill room) and Elisa came on the morning train from London so we could have a Spa day together. This blog will primarily be about our day, but in the interest of fair play the boys’ day went something like this:

Carman got up and then he heard a sound...it was Alex at the door, bearing yet more bottles of High Protein Ensure (Thank You!). Alex rustled up some sandwiches with the tuna Pamela had left - they ate and headed downstairs to catch a cab to TGH. 

They go to the Treadmill Room, Carman does his program and issues orders, Alex wipes equipment, transfers tubing from spigot to spigot and generally does Carman’s bidding; our breathless friends and their support peeps ask where I am, then are all very jealous when Carman tells them. 

Boys finish up and head to Starbucks, Carman gets his treat and Alex refuses the offer of a cafe mocha (yes, Roe, even though it was buy one get one for a buck day and uncle Carman said he was paying!!), they head home in a cab. Our nephew Mark arrives and they visit while waiting for me to return...

to be continued...

Around 9:30 I headed down to Union Station to meet Elisa and, while waiting for her, am entertained by teams of UoT Dentistry frosh, obviously involved in some sort of scavenger hunt as the tear running from teh station down the street. When Elisa arrives I'm engaged in giving directions to a beautiful woman, who had been standing near me on the corner studying a map. She and her husband will be moving here and she is charged with finding a suitable place for them to live - a daunting task in this town!

We chatted with her a bit, then did a stroll up York to Queen (staying in the shade) and into The Bay. We did a quick look around for (but didn’t find) the 7 Virtues Perfume display. I’m a bit sensitive to perfumes so don’t ever linger in those sections of a store, but am curious about the products of 7 Virtues. Headed by Barb Stegemann (who presented her pitch on Dragon’s Den, Feb11), their goal is to encourage legal trade with businesses in nations experiencing strife (Haiti, Afghanistan, the Middle East) as a way to build peace. The organic oils in the perfumes they produce are from Afghanistan and Haiti. The 7 Virtues  We didn’t find the display, so will look next time we’re in The Bay. We continued on our way and took the ped-way across to the Eaton Centre.

My friend is a purse-aholic (and doesn’t want to recover) so we ventured into Coach and had a fun chat with the salesman, who started off with “Hello Ladies, either you’re on a day off or someone is verrrry late for work today!” This reminded us both that in fact, we were playing hooky and that made the day even better!

From there we had to cruise thru the Williams Sonoma store (we’re both suckers for anything kitchen) checking out the myriad of cooking tools, fancy soaps & lotions, wall of olive oils and even scored a couple of recipes from the rack. This reminded Elisa that she had not only come to spend a day with me at the Spa, but had brought me a gift from a new shop in London - a bottle each of olive oil balsamic vinegar!

When we make our way out through the Sears store to Yonge & Dundas and meet up with the University frosh, being exuberant and effervescent all over the intersection to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis - a cause near and dear to my heart (it afflicts our transplant program friends Heather (post) and Jess (pre)). We chat with the students, I make my donation and we continue our progress up Yonge St. 

We’re booked for a pedicure & lunch at the Elmwood Spa (housed in a beautiful building built in 1889 and the original home of the TO YMCA) and they’ve suggested we come early to enjoy the whirlpool, steam room or both before our appointment. We’ve decided to sacrifice good hair (hairdo + steam = ugh) for relaxing in the whirlpool. After a heavenly soak, we change and don the cushy robes they’ve given us to head downstairs for our pedi.  Fariba and Mariola spend the next hour treating our feet to a soak, mud wrap, massage and pretty polish, then send us on our way to the terrace on the 4th floor for lunch. 

We soon understand why everyone comes to lunch in the robes - no waist buttons to have to undo part way thru the meal! Lunch is 3 courses and wonderful. After the appetizer, Elisa opts for the chicken and I order the Atlantic salmon (no surprise) entree. We are also forced to enjoy a black bean brownie with a little vanilla ice cream for dessert - more lunch than either of us ever eat, but we’re doing this for Carman who has provided us with a gift certificate toward the day. We linger and laugh over our lunch and finally realize there is nobody else here... so we should leave too!

We make our way back to Union Station by way of a stop in another kitchen shop (no purchases, just fun browsing) glancing down from time to time to check on our happy toes. I reluctantly give Elisa a hug goodbye, sending her on her way and already counting the days til our next visit later in the fall. We haven’t planned what we’ll do, but I know it will be fun!

I hop on the subway and head home to hook up with the boys...(continued from earlier) the plan is to order pizza but I think I’ll leave the eating to them after the lunch I’ve had!

The bad news today is that our friend Mark is feeling not better and is still on reduce program at physio and Jess had to leave physio early today and was sent to the ER at St. Michael’s. The good news was 5 hours later, armed with antibiotics and new puffers, she was released to go home... but with strict orders to return in the morning if she didn’t have a marked improvement in how she was feeling. 

Today (Saturday), her auntie Heather reports that she is doing very well and behaving herself so we may be able to visit tomorrow!