The reason I will ask you to donate generously...

Waiting rooms are hushed at 9:30 in the evening.

I know this because a few months back I found myself in one such room as I helped a friend who was having a CT scan. It was where people in gowns wait quietly for their name to be called; wait for diagnostic tests to be completed, and I suppose, wait for the news that comes with these kinds of tests. At the Princess Margret Hospital the news more often than not involves the word cancer.

On this particular night the room was empty except for a couple of people.

Although I tried not to look, tried not to intrude, my eyes were drawn to a woman in her early twenties. Like all young woman she was pretty, and like all people in this room she was clad in a hospital gown; she stared straight ahead — only her hands moved ever so slightly. In the time I spent in that waiting room she never moved except for her hands; her stoic gaze never faltered; she waited alone for her name to be called…

I will ride in the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Ride to Conquer Cancer again to support the advances to defeat cancer in our lifetime and to ensure those who are battling cancer know they are not alone — and that their character is an inspiration to us all.

As Canada’s largest cycling fundraiser, the Ride to Conquer Cancer has raised over $194 million for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The funds raised through the ride support Personalized Cancer Medicine research, treatment advances, education and new standards of care at the hospital, across Ontario and around the world.

Any donations are greatly appreciated.

Please pass this on as you see fit.

iamgpe

Moments — who says the universe doesn't have a sense of humour

I looked at my calendar for the week and was struck by two appointments I had on Wednesday and Thursday — I even mentioned it to a friend who just laughed. I’m still wrestling with whether it’s funny or just ironic; either way “someone” has a sense of humour.

On Wednesday I have a colonoscopy* and on Thursday I have an appointment with my tax accountant**.

In fairness, there will be some who just see this as two appointments with little appreciable correlation; let alone humour. In reality I suppose this is true, but I will say both involve some discomfort to work through; for both I’m prepared and expect everything to go as planned, so in the end, it’s all good. I also just found out that my new bike (which I have patiently been waiting to ride for two months) will be ready Friday for fitting and pick-up. Maybe, as I look at this week, Friday is just a reward for working through Wednesday and Thursday, and in the end everything will have gone according to plan — although I’m now starting to question who’s plan it actually is.

Yup, the universe has a sense of humour, and I will just have to grin and bear it until Friday.

iamgpe

* a procedure in which a flexible fiber-optic instrument is inserted through the anus in order to examine the colon.

** Tax accountants are the financial experts who understand all the government rules and regulations that determine the amount of money owed to federal, provincial or local agencies.

Moments — I'm behind with my blogging

What the reasons are I’m not really sure —

Maybe the long winter has gotten to me and I’m just waiting to the first day of spring before I start up again.

Maybe the busy days have me too tired to blog at the end of the day.

Or maybe, the last three weeks has had me dealing with some sort of gremlin* and I’ve been afraid to put “pen to paper”. I will admit the growing evidence has me thinking this is the only plausible explanation.

• I showed up for my morning flight only to find out I’d booked an evening flight.

• The plane was delayed due to a faulty lavatory light.

• I have a cavity — I never get cavities.

• I forgot a work thing that I never forget.

• I went downtown for a meeting only to discover I’d forgotten my power cord and the battery was at 7%. And of course there was not a Mac person to be found.

• Had to buy 500 sheets of legal sized paper because there are still some people who insist on using it.

• I lost my favourite watch — truth be told I left it in a gym locker.

• I’ve discovered there’s a scratch on my phone.

• Sure enough, as it started to rain, I realized I had forgotten my umbrella at the last place I visited.

Although I will admit if I look in the mirror… maybe… just maybe the reason I’m behind with my blogging is I’ve been too busy whining and not concentrating on what I’m doing.

In fairness, it has been a long winter.

iamgpe

* grem·lin [ˈɡremlən] NOUN — an imaginary mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for an unexplained problem or fault, especially a mechanical or electronic one.