After the gym last Friday I dropped by Rogers and grabbed a movie to take over to Alyson's. I was planning to pick up Sex & the City for girls movie night but made an executive decision to change it when I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona on the shelves. Timely, since the Oscars are in two days and Penelope Cruz is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in this flick. I got to hang out with Meredith and Hilary before bedtime. Carrie came over too - with a giant bag of ju jubes which we hid from the girls under a blanket. What?? We were thinking of the kids! Alyson told Meredith that it was time to go to bed so Mummy could have some time with her friends.
Mizz M.J. told Alyson that she didn't think she should have to go since we're her friends too. Pretty funny (and she kind of had a point)!
Anyway, the movie was really good and P.Cruz is amazing as the crazy ex-wife.

Saturday, I had to run some errands at Sherway, went to the gym and then pretended I was going to do housework by lying on the couch - you know, my usual Saturday.
Saturday night I met up with Eve over at Katy's. Omg, that poor girl. She blew out her knee playing soccer in their mixed league (she was in goal and some guy totally took her out). Rich saw her leg bend the wrong way and told her to stay down but of course she didn't. She tried to play out the rest of the game but realized something was really wrong because her leg felt "all rubbery". turns out she tore her MCL.
She spent a brief amount of time on crutches with a robocop leg brace but now she has a cane and soft splint. I took some photos which I will add later. It was so much fun even though we just sat in the kitchen eating snacks, drinking cranberry martinis and talking. And talking and talking. We haven't had any time together in ages and now that I think about it, the main reason has been because Katy is always busy with some team or other. She must be going mental having to sit on her butt all the time.
The next day I spent 2+ hours sweating vodka out of my system at the gym. Seriously, think Gavin on a spin bike.

Somewhere between 1200-1500 people turned out for Michael's wake. His friends collaborated to provide a playlist of his top 25 songs and helped out by driving airport shuttle for friends arriving from all over to celebrate Mike's life.

click image to enlarge

I was going to post about my weekend but will do that later. A young paddler from Banook, Mike Schaus, died in his sleep early Sunday morning. I didn't know Mike and have only had a couple of brief phone conversations with his dad about a team he was putting together. However, like everyone in paddling, I was aware of the family who are very active and popular in the Atlantic Division.
Mike was a member of the 2007 Junior Worlds Team and a member of the National Development Team last year. He was supposed to be heading down to Florida on Sunday morning. Some of his friends have returned to Halifax from the Pines to be with the family and Mike's girlfriend, Laura. All my thoughts and sympathy are with them.

We're back in the deep freeze. ugh brrr.

I was watching the coverage of Obama's visit to Ottawa last night and as he and our governor-general, Michele Jean, strolled down the red carpet, I realized that the cool kids are running things. Not in a John Hughes creepy-rich-kid kind of way, but you know, like in high school - the attractive, athletic, popular kids were running for SAC president, playing the lead in the school musical, captain of the ski team, head cheerleader, etc.

This an observation only, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I'd certainly rather watch the social confidence of the Obamas, our G-G and even P.M. Harper than the grating awkwardness of a G. W. and Laura or Nixon for example. I wonder if this is part of why everyone has so much confidence in the future. For North Americans, this just kind of confirms that we can relax, that the social order has righted itself.

I had dinner with Johnny O last night. Ostensibly arranged as a client meeting, it was really more of a catch-up. We just went to the Pump but it was nice to sit and talk in our local (while someone else served our food and took away dirty plates). Btw, it's wing MONTH at the Pump if you're into wings.

Johnny's doing really well. We talked a little bit about all his trips in the past few months - Colorada, Vancouver, Kashagawigamog - but mostly we talked about how we miss our paddling friends and how close our relationships are with them.

Okay, I started writing this on my morning break at work and never got back to it. As an illustration of how true our conversation was, when I got home tonight and collected my mail (seriously thinking, "what bills will there be today") I was very suprised and intrigued to see this undersized envelope.


What a rush! This is the first card I've gotten as Grandma Lynne! It was from Andrea Paiement's daughter, McKenna. I think the poor thing is really confused about where I fit in the gene pool but we'll work that out later. She knows I bring her Easy Bake oven supplies and that seems to be enough. This photo with her soon-to-be little sister was taken just a couple of weeks ago

ugh.
I've been running on a treadmill all winter and don't ever let anyone tell you it's the same as running outside.
The past couple of days were pretty nice so I ran outside. Yesterday was a longer run but felt pretty good - mostly, I suspect, because I was just so darned happy to be doing something in fresh air and light.
Today, I ran during my lunch hour and
every
step
was
an
effort.
The whole time I kept thinking, "Why is the wind so strong and blowing from every direction?" "Why is the road on such an extreme angle?" "Why can I feel the pebbles right through my shoes?" "Is this what a heart attack feels like?"
Okay, it wasn't as bad as that but considering I've been running on average 40 minutes a day, 6 days a week, I didn't expect to feel this out of shape. It's the cardio that is so different. It's so much easier to get my heart rate up when working against inertia and pavement.
Anyway, in spite of all that it feels really good to be challenging myself again.

How's everyone's doing in Florida? I suspect today will be the first full day of training for most. How hard to go from the university life to the Pines. However the atmosphere makes up for any pain and fatigue. Hope you guys are having a good time!

I went up north for the weekend. There were a lot of deer where I stayed. When I came home, I went for a 7km run around my neighbourhood. As I was running along Orr Rd (by the Petro Canada property) I saw deer at two separate spots. They were inside the fence, just standing there looking out.

I was so wrong on the ice breaking up.

Take a look at what a difference a few days (and a few degrees) can make.

neato. The New version of Google Earth 5.0 now lets you explore the ocean!

It is POURING here! We've had temperatures upward of 10 degrees and it's been raining all day. All that snow laboriously shovelled onto my lawn by moi is almost gone! Thank goodness I live on a hill or all that water might be collecting in my basement. I wish I could take a picture to show you how my street has turned into a river. If it freezes overnight, we might be in trouble.
My brother emailed me that Winnipeg has been in a deep freeze since Sunday night - literally. He sent a video some kids made of themselves skating down Pembina Highway. Talk about making the best of the situation. This isn't the version my brother sent, I've chosen the one added to youtube later because the girl skating in the video also wrote and performed the music.Very cool song - reminds me a bit of the Be Good Tanyas.

Okay, the ice won't be breaking up for a long time but it was really nice to see some open water in the harbour this weekend!

Finally, we get a break from the freezing, snowy weather! The weekend temps have been pretty amazing and it's supposed to continue for the rest of the week, getting colder again on the weekend.

Saturday went up to about 10 degrees. I think they said we broke a record from 1991 for highest temp on this day. Whatever, Ryan and I had planned a day of shopping on Queen St. West and this just made it that much better.

The idea was to get some stuff I need for my trip in March so we hit up all of the board stores (they're all along one strip): Billabong, Roxy, Quicksilver, Oakley. But here's the thing - I really just wanted some board shorts and a rash guard but since there isn't a huge demand for surf gear in Toronto - der - and even less for womens surf gear, these stores only carry fashion shorts and no rash guards. The guy at Oakley was able to find one in their storage room (he was almost more excited about my trip than I am) but it was a men's large and white. I decided to hit Sporting Life on Sunday. They're so overpriced but sometimes they're the only source.

We stopped for brunch at the Rivoli before dropping our bags at the car
and heading over to the Eaton Centre. Ryan was looking for some cologne (he's never been a big cologne guy but thinks he should be wearing it now that he's single). And that's where I made my favourite purchase. We stopped in at Lucky Brand Jeans and they had this great tote bag - the Cherry Bomb! The bag I currently use for travel is an old leather Roots messenger-style bag. I bought it back in 2005 just before our trip to Berlin. Anyway, it's in pretty rough shape and since I only plan on taking carry-on with me to C-R, I was so happy to find such an awesome bag! (oh man, there are two cats gearing up for a fight - or maybe sex, hard to tell - outside the window - sounds so weird)

Ryan found some cologne he liked - Code by Georgio Armani - a really nice, subtle scent. I gave up on trying to find surf gear and we called it a wrap. Good thing - it was already 3:00pm and I'd spent waaay too much!

This morning I dropped by for coffee with Alyson and Carrie and then went to Sherway. I spent about an hour trying on board shorts and rash guards (see, Sporting life has everything) and was able to settle on a couple pairs of shorts. I ended up getting a medium men's rash guard because they're the only ones that come in 3/4 sleeves. Plus most of the girls' are too ...um... girlie for me. Most are turqouise or pink with Love or Peace or polka dots splashed across them.

In about 15 minutes I'm heading out to meet Andrea - we're going to see Taken at the AMC Winston Churchill. It's a thriller and since she's 34 weeks pregnant, I made her promise that I don't have to deliver her baby if she gets scared into labour, haha. Oops, turns out she's only 31 weeks pregnant. Who can keep track with so many people pregnant and expecting around the same time? That reminds me, I think Sarge and Marie's baby is due any day now.

It seems so long since I've posted. I'll have to backtrack ...let's see, chili ....

Oh right, on Saturday, January 24th, a bunch of us planned a trip to Dagmar for some cross-country skiing followed by dinner at Karen and Kevin's, hence the chili.

I had arranged to meet Dray at the club in the morning to find out about paddle pool for wics. I tried to time it so I got there when everyone would be out running but the midget boys were sitting on the front stairs. When I asked if they'd already run, they said no, it was too cold and that they never run if it's colder than minus 6. Weird. Man, we were never allowed to use that excuse (the infamous Robbie Burns run when the temp was minus 38 comes to mind). Granted we never liked running when it was freezing but there was a certain satisfaction after saturday morning practices. I really felt like I'd done something and when I got home would light the fireplace and sleep in front of it for an hour. Actually, I would pretty much be bagged for the rest of the day so maybe it's not such a great thing.

Dray was in a meeting so I wandered around the club. I haven't been there all winter and it's funny how a couple of months changes things. Aside from the fact that all the bantams and midgets have grown a foot, there are two brand new Schwinn spin bikes in the breakfast room (there may be more, I just stuck my head in the door) and someone has contributed a Nike 'Wings' poster for the weight room. You know the one - it shows the full wingspan of a young Michael Jordon. It's hung up behind the chin up bars and looks so good! Being down there reminded me of how much I miss the days of training with the kids. No one complains about mortgages or rush hour or bad relationships. It's just laughs and posing in front of the mirror the whole time. Oh well, I'm hoping to be around more this summer so it's all good!

After I left the club, Chanda met me at my place and we picked Marisha up on our way to Karen's. It was a pretty cold day - minus 26 - but the sun was shining and some of the trails are protected from the wind. In the chalet we ran into Scott Madill and Jill and a few other east enders. I haven't seen Jill since she started her chemo and almost didn't recognize her with super-short hair. She looks great! She's through the treatments now and just waiting for the all-clear.

I haven't been skate-skiing for a couple of years. What a gong show! My first loop around the Meadow was pretty heavy going but I got a laugh and some inspiration from Boogh and J.R. as they flew by me in the opposite direction. Was all of Frenchman's Bay on the trails? On my second loop a guy just yelled as he went past, "Stay over your skis and get your nose over the tips". I had to laugh. That's what Eve and the guys would do when I first took it up - passing lane coaching. It doesn't matter who it comes from - it helped me ski better and things went smoother from then on.

Back at Mr. & Mrs. Chief's we warmed up with some wine, chili, crusty bread and minstrone soup. I was reminded of what a great bond we've all forged over the years. I'm not sure exactly when we went from being teammates to family but that's what it felt like as we passed around the food, refilled glasses and talked about everything and anything. We literally had to force ourselves to go home, we were having such a great time.

I dropped Marisha up the street from her bf's place. She staggered a little but I'm not sure if it was exhaustion or wine.

I helped Chanda load her gear into her car and then ran inside. I was freezing and realized how rarely I've been outside this winter. I'll have to make more of an effort, especially since we've had soooo much snow this year. I've complained about not being able to skate-ski for the past couple of years due to lack of snow (which is a crock since last year had heavy snowfall too) and should be thrilled with what we have this year.