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December 31, 2006
Timing
---MASON ENTRY---
There is the old phrase "it's all about timing" and as I look back on the last couple of days (and a few ahead) I just have to say I agree. No doubt this will make for interesting fodder for our journals in the weeks ahead!
Ontario Universal Healthcare coverage went into effect. This provides me with complete medical coverage as a Canadian immigrant.
I signed Nick and I up for ice skating lessons every Thursday night at the outdoor, public ice rink a block from our house. Eight weeks and we'll be the new Brian Boitanos on the block!
A trip to Play It Again Sports and we're walking out with our new personal sports gear. Unfortunately our feet sizes were too big (no comments from the peanut gallery) and they didn't have previously owned skates, so we ended up buying new skates and helmets. Which, I'm not really complaining about if you know what I mean! :-) Helmets are required with all new skaters, it isn't a fashion statement! ;-)
The Experience Begins!
December 30, 2006
On Our Feet
Mason has the weekend off this weekend, which has been a change from his normal schedule. Although it sounds like they will be making him work weekdays now, so it'll be nice to have some regular time with each other. We deposited his paycheck this afternoon and confirmed that this is the first month since moving here that we have not used our American Dollar savings to help pay the bills - for the first timse since we moved here we are financially stable and independent. Don't get me wrong, things are very tight becuse Mason is still looking for a permanent job, but at least for right now we are standing up on our own two feet without any help. It's a good feeling.
We also got our OHIP cards this past week, and officially became eligible for OHIP on Tuesday - we've officially been inducted into socialized medicine - now to find a family doctor :-) It feels surreal to have the medical coverage now and to realise what the options are available to me. For all the Canadians out there who are about to bash me and remind me about how messed up provincial healthcare is, please don't. From what I've seen of it so far I am quite impressed and surprised. I also come from a country where 50 million Americans have no health insurance whatsoever, and would gladly give a left foot to afford insurance.
The final thing we did today was go to Play It Again Sports and purchased some skates and helmets for our first skating class this week coming up. Mason and I signed up for an 8-week adults class at the rink by our house, we start the 4th and I'm kinda excited to learn. Once I get the hang of it, hockey is next :-) It felt a little weird standing up on the skates, but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of me landing on my ass for all of you.
Have a good Saturday.
December 26, 2006
Boxing Day Rules!
After a wonderful day and evening at Geoff's family's home in Hamilton, Mason and I took our weary selves home and slipped into bed. What a wonderful surprise it was this morning to be able to sleep in and recover from the weekend and holiday. How does the US function without a Boxing Day? I've spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing except surfing the internet in my sweats and watching the Enterprise Boxing Day Marathon on Space.
I like Canada.
:-)
December 25, 2006
Wise Words
---MASON ENTRY---
"The pressures of modern life sometimes seem to be weakening the links which have traditionally kept us together as families and communities"
As I watched the Queen's Christmas message this morning, those words jumped out at me almost immediately. Since moving here to Canada, it's been almost impossible to describe to others the emotional and practical reasons for our move here to Canada and then she spoke those words and it started to become clearer in my mind.
While I understand just about every developed country/city is going to have the "rat race" and hectic lifestyle, there's just something that happens when you cross that border of Canada. There is a true sense of peace and acceptance. There is a strong force of humanity that until you experience it, you can't understand how it's lacking in the states.
Last night, Nick and I were fortunate to spend time with our dear friend Rick at an intergenerational Christmas Eve service co-hosted by his congregation, Trinity St. Pauls and a sister congregation Bloor St. United. It's amazing how surrounding yourself with accepting and affirmative people is refreshing for the soul. I'm sure there are similar groups in the states, but there's something about walking out the doors of the church and realizing that that acceptance will continue outside those walls. I still have a mixed brain, soul and mind when it comes to organized religion and its place in my life, but nights like last night and conversations with people like Rick still give me hope.
The Queen's message today was filled with a wide range of diverse images - young and old worshiping at a Mosque, Christians celebrating the birth of Christ, seniors mentoring youth and many others. The message was clear: we must bridge generational and religious divides with the underlying belief to "bring peace and tolerance to a troubled world."
As I sit here reflecting on this day, my family, my friends, my new home country and city and the world (I know, there seems to be lots on my mind today) I am filled with both happiness and sadness. There is so much to be happy about, but in the true nature of the balance of life, you can't have one without the other. To everyone, my wish for you is that you find that 50% of true happiness in whatever you experience today and put the 50% downside away for the day. To steal an incredibly inclusive and wise line from our Queen today...
"For Christians, Christmas marks the birth of our Saviour, but it is also a wonderful occasion to bring the generations together in a shared festival of peace, tolerance and goodwill."
Posted by Mason at 01:25 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBackNew Traditions
Last night Mason and I went to a beautiful Christmas Eve service with Rick at one of his denomination's churches. It was a beautiful service filled with lots of kids and carolling. I enjoyed the fact that it was a welcoming and open congregation and I felt welcomed not only as a gay man but as a pagan as well.
Mason and I made our way home and lit a fire and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before retiring to bed for the night. We woke up this morning and listened to the Queen's Christmas Message (something new and quite beautiful), poured ourselves some coffee and opened our presents. I then whipped up some breakfast while Mason tried out his new foot bath massager (since he is a working man on his feet now) and got a fire going. Now we're sitting down and enjoying the fire and A Christmas Story before we head out to Hamilton to spend some time with Geoff, Bob and their family.
Enjoy the holidays or the day everyone!
December 24, 2006
Happy Holidays!
No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, things have just been hectic around here what with the holidays, getting settled into work and with Mason working his temporary job.
I celebrated Yule by going to the Kensington Market Festival of Lights with some friends and Mason on Thursday. How amazing that a city like Toronto celebrates the Winter Solstice...I felt very much at home :-)
Regardless of what you celebrate I want to wish all of you out there in cyber space a Merry Christmas, a Blessed Yule, a Happy Hanukkah, or a Wonderful Winter. Mason and I are truly blessed to have this community we call Life Without Borders in our lives.
For those you you waiting for that approval letter from CIC, I wish that 2007 brings you your letter quickly and happily!
Blessed Be~
Posted by Nikolas at 03:21 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBackDecember 20, 2006
Winter in Toronto
---MASON ENTRY---
I miss snow.
Apparently snow is a rarity here in Toronto which is amazing to me actually. About a month ago, we got a dusting of snow and I got all excited only to have it quickly melt away - or more accurately, washed away with a next-day rainstorm.
Denver is expecting nearly 60cm (two feet) of snow this week while Toronto basks in 6*c/43*f weather. All the newscasts here keep talking about how we'll be lucky to get snow in January much less a white Christmas. The ski area about two hours north of Toronto,(Blue Mountain) has had to suspend operations because it's been so warm - all the human-made snow keeps melting off the mountain.
Granted there will be the time I will probably curse the cold and snow as I trudge to work via buses, subways and sidewalks, but right now I miss it - especially during the holidays.
To my friends in Denver - hunker down, stay warm and cuddle up with some peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate for me.
Deep sigh.
Posted by Mason at 08:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBackDecember 07, 2006
Thank You MPs
---MASON ENTRY---
I couldn't think of a better birthday present for me today!
MPs defeat motion to reopen same-sex marriage debate
I'd be happy to kiss all 175 of you supporters of basic human rights on the lips right here-right now. Oh wait, maybe I want to keep your support. Nevermind!
But in all seriousness - if anyone needs yet another reason why we wanted to move to Canada, here it is - a solid majority (more support then when it was originally passed mind you) support equal rights for all in this beautiful country I now call home. Granted, this vote really wouldn't change anything, but it sent a message to the conservative government - don't mess with human rights in this country - even more conservatives voted against this measure.
It's a good day to be 42.
P.S. In the new world of of the war on terror, the age for a US military draft was raised to 41 - as of today, I now can't be drafted. Another good reason it's good to be 42.
Posted by Mason at 04:38 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBackDecember 06, 2006
Friends
So last night was our turn to repay WMTC for their gracious welcome right after our arrival to The Big Smoke. We had L-Girl and Redsock over to the house last night for drinks and doggie-time (Athena and Cian absolutely loved them!) before we decided to head out to our neighourhood pub, Sarah’s, for dinner.
We had a great time chatting and laughing and kvetching – from politics to Canadiana to dogs the topics were fast, furious and fun. Before we knew it, it was time to walk home for some Hot Cocoa and Frangelico and more doggie time before we had to bid adieu to our new friends and fellow ex-pats (soon to be Canadians one day.)
Thanks guys, it was a blast!
December 05, 2006
Plus d'Observations
Zed: In a training last week for work the trainer was explaining things to the group and made the comment of “you have to make sure you do X, Y and Zed.” I stopped for a moment and looked quizzically at the instructor trying to decipher what the acronym was for ZED. After a few seconds I realized he meant Zee, but the letter “Z” up here is pronounced Zed. Ah, it’s the little differences.
Taxes: Out of all the things that I heard about moving the one that came up so often from so many different people was how much we were going to hate Canada because all they do is tax you. Having lived in Taxachusetts, I got over that a while ago, but I was really curious to see if it was going to be as bad as even the Canadians made it out to be. Well, low and behold, I got my first paycheque Friday and opened up to discover…nothing different. Yes, taxes are a little higher here, but when you factored in how much Mason and I’s health insurance cost in Colorado along with the my parking fee and etcetera at DDHS, I’m really not paying that much more and EVERYONE here has health insurance. I’d gladly take that over a little extra money any day. The one thing that was higher was my union dues - $113/month!
Change: On the topic of money, I’ve noticed that I seem to take more out of the bank in bills, and I seem to finally discovered why. I’m so use to dealing with bills (it’s an American thing) since we are in love with our paper dollars. Here, change is given to you in loonies ($1) and toonies ($2), so at the end of the day while you may only have a few bills in your wallet (maybe a $5 or $10) when you empty your pockets there is a good chance (like today) where you have over $13 in change.
It's these little things I love discovering :-)
December 04, 2006
Yuletide
So tonight Mason and I decided to decorate the house for Yule/Christmas. While he was at work today I went out and bought a wreath and some garland to decorate the front of the house; I was shocked to discover how cold it was once I was outside and decorating. I enjoy this time of year, getting ready for the holidays, especially when the weather cooperates. More then anything I wanted this evening to be a special kickoff to the yuletide and hoped for some snow.
Mason got home about 6:30 with our 2006 ornament (it's a painting of the cityscape of Toronto, with Toronto 2006 on the otherside) we now have one for every one of the past 10 holidays we have celebrated together - each signifying a poignant moment in our lives. The one from 2004 represents Jonathon's death, 2002 is our trip to Hawai'i, 1999 is Athena's first Yule, 1997 is our downtown loft experience in Denver and 1996 is a hand blown glass ornament that was given to us by Shannon - our first Yule.
So we had dinner and went down to Loblaw's to get our tree. As we were picking it out it started to snow, small flakes at first and barely sticking. We decided to stop at Canadian Tire for some lights and when we got outside it was big fluffy white flakes illumnated by the full moon - our first snow in Canada. We got home, set up the tree, put on some hot water for Hot Cocoa and Frangelico for me and Peppermint Schnapps for Mason. Turned on the Yuletide carols on our iTunes and set to work decorating our home for the holidays.
I hope this winter and holiday season finds you all surrounded by friends and loved ones, and that your new year be filled with joy, health, happiness and luck.
Blessed Be~
December 01, 2006
World AIDS Day
---MASON ENTRY---
For those of you that have continued on in your lives journeys, I miss you friends - your lives have touched me then, now and forever.
For those that I'm lucky to still be part of your lives this time around, may you continue to be healthy, happy and vibrant.
WORLD AIDS DAY
