My Favourite Things: Monday

Good morning!

Is it alright that I assume that first thing Monday morning each of you logs on to check the blog?  I mean, that is what you all do, right?  Feel free to lie to me.  It may be better for my ego.  But of course this is what you all do! How else will you know what today's category so that you can play along on your own blogs?

Glad we got that all sorted out.

Today's category: meaningful souvenirs

Once upon a time, nearly seven years ago, The Len and I got hitched.  It was a lovely, sunny day (as evidenced by the insane sunburn I got during photos) and for our honeymoon we headed to beautiful Ottawa.  That is to say, we headed to Ottawa after a requisite pit stop at the nearest Shoppers Drug Mart to grab a couple of ice packs and a giant bottle of aloe vera.  You thought I was kidding about that sunburn? I wasn't.

We had a lovely time in Ottawa and on our final day, we had a sunset dinner on a steam train: The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield dinner train.  It was a beautiful ride along the Gatineau River; while we ate dinner musicians took turns in each car to provide musical accompaniment to our scenic tour.  Once we reached the little hamlet of Wakefield, the engine was separated from the train, moved onto a turntable and turned so that we could head home again.  During this process, we were able to roam about the little town.

It was in Wakefield that I bought the little train that bears our last name:

I had wanted to get a special souvenir to take home on our honeymoon, and as I browsed through the store knowing that we were heading home in the morning and I had yet to find something I knew the train was the perfect thing when I saw it.  It would be a reminder of the wonderful train ride, but also be a neat symbol of our unity in marriage.

I love the simplicity of the train and 'raw' look of the pieces.  I toyed with painting it initially, but have since decided not to.  I fell in love with it just as it was in the store, and so it shall remain.  Poor little caboose looks like it has a target on its side, though!

Since I had always toyed with heading back there one day with our children and buying each of them a train with the letters of their names, the train now holds additional sentimental value in that it truly represents our family... as complete today as it was on the day we rode that wonderful train along the Gatineau River, sipping wine and watching the sun set.

Now, what about you? What's your favourite meaningful souvenir?