there's no place like home

So I'm back in Philly after 10 wonderful days in Toronto. I miss Toronto. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I saw my family, Joyce, my brothers and sisters from other mothers - I miss the fellowship, I miss church, I miss board games, I miss the food, I miss the community. I grew up in Toronto physically and spiritually - so a part of my heart will always be with the people there. Anyhoo.. here are some highlights:

homecoming
So a lot of people came over on Nov. 18th for the homecoming party my family help put together. It was amazing to see everyone again and to have great conversations with people. Unfortuneately, I didn't get to talk to everyone, but to those I did talk to it was as if I had never left. We talked about God, school, sports, etc. I loved it. I think this is when it truly hit me how much I miss Toronto. My friends are great and I felt so loved. That even though I was far away, they still remembered me and were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. It reminded me of the prodigal son - how his father, although he was far away, remembered him and was excited and grateful to see him when he came back. I think this was a little glimpse of heaven as well. When we enter through those golden gates, we will see people that we haven't seen for a while. We will enjoy the fellowship and the community - and we will celebrate. I can't wait!

raptors game
Went to see the raptors game on Nov. 22. It was the first time that I brought Joyce to a sporting event. (Well - one time we sold 50/50 tickets at a raptor game but we only got to see one quarter so I don't think that counts). It was a great game! Raptors were able to build a 19 point lead that they were able to squander before pulling out the win in the 4th quarter. When I got home I got an email from Ray (who's from cleveland and sent the email before the game was played) with the subject title "sorry". Sorry? I was confused because I couldn't think of what he would be apologizing for - so I opened up the email and it said:

"I just wanted to apologize in advance for the game tonite.
Hopefully it won't be too upsetting to watch....and you'll somehow find a way to enjoy yourself while watching your team get destroyed by Lebron."

So I emailed him back rubbing it in his face :P

wicked day
This was a day I was looking forward to for a long time. Joyce got tickets for wicked back in June or July. I didn't want to set my expectations up too high - because when I do that things just never seem to live up to the expectations. But it was tough when everyone that's seen it or knows someone who's seen it says that its the best musical ever. So anyhoo, the day started off with me helping Joyce with one of her prints. I was assigned to keep the stone moist while Joyce rolled on the ink. It was interesting to see Joyce in action - in her element. Then we went downtown for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Joyce had a 2 for 1 coupon for this so that was great! I had sausage penne and Joyce had mancotti. They were both pretty good - but the soup that came with the meal was so hearty that neither of us could finish our meal. We had to doggy bag it :(. (Aside - I think I must be past my prime or my stomach's shrinking or something - can't even finish a soup and pasta... how sad - and I think 3 or 4 aunties came up to me after sunday service telling me that I got skinnier... :S) After the Old Spaghetti Factory we walked around downtown and in the Eaton Center. We went to a place downtown that was selling the charlie brown Christmas tree! That was hype! It looked like such a sad tree - but it was a tree to love (as the box said :P). After that we went to Joe Badaldi's for dinner. I had the veal and Joyce had the steak pasta. Joyce also had a 2 for 1 coupon for this restaurant so we were dining like royalty! This time, the soup wasn't too hearty and we were able to finish our meals (Although for a while it seemed like we wouldn't finish...). Then after dinner we headed off to the Canon theatre for the show. On the way we also saw the big crystal tree in the eaton centre that was unveiled that day. And I saw that they opened an apple store in Eaton centre! Anyhoo, the show was awesome. The songs were great, the story was fantastic, the singers/actors were amazing. I had the song popular stuck in my head for a while after the performance. It met my expectations and more ;) Joyce was all giddy afterward hehe - she's cute. Then after that we went to a jazz bar to listen to jazz for one of Joyce's classes where she has to journal about 10 or 15 different jazz performances. Fabulous day.

Anyhoo, I'm pretty tired right now - I need some rest - long day at the airport. But I really had a great week.. I'll find some pictures to post up another day..

I miss Toronto.

Edit: 11/27/06
I still miss Toronto, but it was truly a great week - Got to catch up with Joyce, family, friends from church and school. I wish there was more time that I could spend back home. Its too bad this program is so intense that they only give 2 days off for Christmas break. :( Oh well - I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn. I hinted at this earlier, but my homecoming really did feel kind of what I pictured heaven to be like. A big celebration with lots of food, good fellowship, talks with people that we might not have seen in a while, talks with people that we may not have even known before. Just an amazing time of fellowship as we celebrate the victory that was won through Jesus Christ. Can't wait!

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
~Hebrews 10:25