And one more honourable mention....

• Volunteering at Concerts in the Park with the M&M family.

Lise's Top Ten of 2006

10. Boston Pizza opened a store across the street from where I work! Woo hoo!

9. December 15 - Nancy and I see the Nathaniel Dett Chorale at the Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts. Mere words can't describe the experience...and it brings forth that Christmas spirit.

8. November 10 - Liz, Tasha and I see Wicked at the Canon Theatre. We laugh as Ga-linda screws up the lines during "Popular" - making it all the more fun.

7. Wayne Johnston releases the Custodian of Paradise, which is a sequel, or rather an expansion of the story he began in my favourite novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.

6. May's patio lunch with Mom, Dad, Alex, Paul and Julie. Nice visit, nice weather, yummy food. It's the simple things that make life a pleasure.

5. December 16 - Dinner with Claudine and Minard at the David Duncan House, only this time Chyra came along too.... "Chyra and Auntie Lise eat zucchini toGETHer!"

4. Saw Pinball Clemons speak at a work event in May. He is a truly genuine human being and an inspiration - which says a lot since I have no idea what 'running back' or 'combined yards' mean.

3. Woo hoo!!! Motorcycle ride with Aunt Julie through Lorette, Manitoba in July. First time I've ever been on one that was moving. I think I sat on one that was parked when I was 2.

2. Coaching Grandpa to write his memoirs by way of asking him questions and getting him to send me answers via snail mail. So far I've learned about his first car and his early memories of Winnipeg. As well as how they kept track of time in rural Manitoba when he was little.

1. New Job! Even if it may only be for one, maybe two years (though I continue to hope for more). I now work with a group of challenging and inspirational people at in a role that, although sometimes frustrating, feels meaningful and purposeful. Yay!

Some honourable mentions:

• Groundhogs at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. They are mesmerizingly entertaining.
• Knorr Frozen Entrees - Yum.
• I discovered a new bookstore - Books on the Hill in Richmond Hill.
• Target's dollar store section.
• Hearing Rick Haldenby talk about the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture's move to Cambridge, not once, but twice.
• Rugelach at Mom's Love Delicatessen and Bakery.
• My personal discovery of YouTube (okay, I'm a bit slow sometimes).
• Getting An Inconvenient Truth for Christmas...and already watching it twice.
• Dixie Chicks concert, Melissa Etheridge concert, George Stro...whatever in person, Jackie Richardson sings the national anthem at the Inaugural Meeting of Council in Richmond Hill.
• Anderson Cooper rings in 2006 on CNN.

Here's to all the great moments to come in 2007!

Mom wishes you a Merry Christmas

Another reason why life doesn't seem fair....

Monica Lewinsky just received her master's degree. From the London School of Economics. How nice that she got a chance to do something that not many women in this world have the opportunity to do. I mean go to graduate school at a prestiguous institution. What did you think I meant?

Somehow I just think that there were harder working, more ethical women out there who try to live lives of real purpose who deserved the opportunity more.

The Hour with George

Where is the Secret of Life?