(The following is from the Fall 2010 issue of Sudbury Living magazine. The issue is on sale now at selected newsstands. Don't miss the cover story Greater Sudbury police chief Frank Elsner by Sudbury Living editor Vicki Gilhula.)

In a perfect world I would send this memo to my boss:

So sorry, I don't have time to come to work in September and October. My social calendar is full.
The Jazz Festival at Science North runs from Sept. 10 to 12. This is the second year for this festival, which is organized by the Sudbury Community Foundation. I missed it last year, but I heard it was a “world-class” event.
Then, there is the Sudbury's international film festival, which starts Sept. 18 and continues to Sept. 26. The festival is great fun, and it attracts people from other parts of Ontario and northern Michigan. Many movie fans take the week off and watch 20 movies or more. Not only are we lucky to see films that normally don't play here, we have a chance to see them months ahead of their North American release dates.
The annual Arts Studio Tour will be held Sept. 25 and 26. This is a great opportunity to visit artists' homes and galleries. I have Saturday, Sept. 25 circled for the opening concert of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the month, the Sudbury Theatre Centre's season begins with Moonlight and Magnolias. Theatre Cambrian will present Billboard's Best from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. I can't wait.
In October, there are several special events planned to raise money for breast cancer research which I hope to attend. I am taking a few days off at Thanksgiving, and later in the month, I need time off to organize a birthday party for my mom.
The women who host the LEAF Women's Day Breakfast are planning a movie evening instead this year at the Rainbow Cinemas, Thursday, Oct. 21. A week later, I have invited author Ray Robertson to Sudbury to do a reading at the main branch of the public library (Oct. 28 at 6:30 pm).
As I write this, plans are underway for an authors' festival to be held in early November. Poet Roger Nash will be hosting several authors in Sudbury under the auspices of the people who organize the Harbourfront Authors' Festival in Toronto. I can't miss that!
I am having too much fun living in Sudbury. Maybe around mid-November, I can slow down and do some work on the Winter issue of Sudbury Living. I will let you know when I figure when I am taking my remaining vacation days.

Of course, it is not a perfect world, so I will be at my desk at Sudbury Living from Monday to Friday editing the Winter issue of Sudbury Living. Maybe, I will have a little time to have some fun after work.