Four

This is a sculpture garden in Outremont.

This is my favourite block on a street called Lusignan. The person who lives here just put boxes and pots right out on the sidewalk. It's probably a nuisance for the snowplow and it's surely against the rules, but they just did it and look, it's beautiful. It's a small thing but I admire that.

Hi girls,

Today was another painfully quiet one. The kind that takes away all feelings of being highspeed or hardcore, even for a messenger at the height of his or her career. When I felt like I wanted to do this forever, days like today were so discouraging and worrying. Today I just sat and did a crossword, snoozed on my lunch in Dorchester Square, and generally just let the time slip by. I considered calling in and saying "I'm just going to head home and call it a career." But I didn't ride my Bertrand today after all, and you can't have a five-day countdown that stops at three and a half. I guess I just want to see it through at this stage, however redundant I feel on the road this week. They already hired some picture-perfect East-Coast style hipster to replace me. All in all, it was a numbing work day, but we had a really lovely evening reading, meeting Hannah at the park for some trike laps around the fountain, and then having our first-ever family of four supper together. So me and today don't have any hard feelings.

24 (work) hours to go.

Five

You'll see when we travel together as you get older, when I sightsee I'm really drawn to derelict industrial-looking stuff like this. Also churches for some reason.

Charlotte and Harriet,

Today was my last Monday as a messenger. It was warm, humid and cloudy but it didn't rain. It was dead quiet and I didn't even feel a twinge of sadness for the end of my career. I did all my mourning when we left Ottawa, where I was a part of the community and I had something to leave behind. It was sure comfortable... when it came to messengering I knew everybody and everything. I even ate for free, but there was no more excitement, so that's more or less what I was looking for when we came to Montreal. Mom had her own reasons and it was the best thing we could have done for ourselves at the time. Then once we got here, I didn't race, play polo or go to the bars, and I realized almost right away what I suspected I might: that I just didn't want to do the job anymore. We never set down roots here, and we started thinking of it as a working holiday. I had a lot of fun learning the city though and I felt good that I could make a living for us here. Also, Mom made a great friend and we made the most of our very hip neighbourhood. Luckily we were paying attention and we acknowledged that a place like this is best for people like us to visit. We have a quieter life ahead of us, but it wouldn't have been so clear and I certainly would have regretted it if we hadn't come. I put my red Bertrand back together tonight, so if the sunny forecast holds up I'll be going out fast and stylish.

Four days to go.

The Mess in Mason ????

This Friday Allen will officially end his career as a messenger. It is truly monumental. This career has taken him around the world, introduced him to life long friends (undoubtedly), and led him to me. He started his career almost 9 years ago this September coming. The job is not just a job for him but his community, our community. I know that this has been a great journey for him but another begins. In September he will embark on a journey that will lead him to fulfill other goals and happy quotient. And although he will be studying to be a mason, the blog's title will remain, for without the messenger no mess would exist, and the messenger doesn't end with the last message delivered.

We all love you Allen and we are all here to support, guide and follow you on your voyage!!!

Love Your Wife, Charlotte, Harriet and Alley

Dancing with Harriet

Harriet loves watching her sister. Charlotte loves interacting with her. PERFECT COMBO! This video shows amazingly well how much they are in love with one another.

Charlotte Drinking Tea - Oh So Dainty!

I drank tea since I was probably Charlotte's age. Although, my teeth are pretty white and cavity free (although I have a feeling that might not be the case), we still limit this stainy beverage. It is so hard though because it is sooo good.