Monday

Today was truly a magical day. I was watching Leigh, and as she was napping on my breast, I was thinking fondly of my beloved friend Courtney. Moments later, after Leigh awoke, a package came in the mail from Alaska - from Courtney! She sent me fabulous gifts: an original painting from a Native Alaskan artist, depicting Raven flying to the sun, followed by his shadow; a journal with Dr. Seuss illustrations, "Oh the places you will go!", and a gorgeous framed picture of her, holding a sign that reads: "I am thinking of danio". I have been on cloud nine since.

I also spent quite some time reading for and planning my travels to Montreal (setting-up a role-playing game for Jerome, Demie and me), Evanston (preparing a fireside focusing on the fear of God and inter-religious spirituality), and China.

This evening, I had planned a dinner with Charlotte and the family, which turned out to be a surprize goodbye party, attended by some twenty friends from Quebec - mothers and their babies from the Holland Center, members of the Baha'i community, and students at Charlotte's laboratory - all of this secretly organized by her, of course... Here are some pictures:





\\

Sunday

Yesterday, Sunday, was also amazing! We went back to the Cosmos Cafe, this time with the family, and Guy-Claude was introduced to the infinite-fruit experience, waffle-version.



Then we headed to a special Qu�bec attraction: a sledding experience! We rented a sled, walked it all the way up the hill, and slid back down, possibly reaching 50 miles/hour! It's right next to _the_ Qu�bec monument, the Chateau Frontenac:













These shots were taken during my second slide down:





We also went down the "Funiculaire", a big elevator that takes one from the top of the hill to the bottom, by the river:



Then we took a boat across the river and back (at no cost, since bus-pass holders ride for free!)







Andr� and I walked around outside on the boat, marveling at the view, and at the ice we were breaking to get across:



The effect on the danio was progressively worse:




It was truly a majestic day in Qu�bec!

Saturday

Last Saturday was a fun-filled day! We started off with a Christmas party at the Holland Center, which is a locale where they hold various babies' and children's activities for anglophones. The party opened with a puppet show!


The party was well attended, and I got to visit with various mothers and their babies, whom I have known through taking Leigh to other Holland Center activities.


Leigh and Angus have become close friends over the last year. He' a couple of months older. They know each other through their mothers: Charlotte and Kathleen, who appears on the far left below:


Charlotte hosted a craft for the children. When they take it home, after a couple of days, the snowmen can be peeled from the wax sheet:




This is Maxime, possibly my biggest fan. He followed me around, kept nudging me for attention, staring wide-eyed at me! He took a picture me too!




It was a delightful party!


Then, in the afternoon, Charlotte and I, along with Guy-Claude, Andr� and Leigh, held another Values Workshop at the university, attended by half-a-dozen babies! The guys at the top-right were visiting from the Madagascar club, and might help organize a workshop next session.


Min, in the front, is Chinese, and told us all about Chinese holidays and celebrations (the workshop focused on China). I'll actually be taking a two-hour Chinese lesson with her tomorrow.

Jerome and Démie from the previous post:

Along with the full tarot reading I got: