Even though I wasn't particularly tired this morning, I stayed in bed until 11am. I have the most comfortable, down-filled bed in the WORLD and no early morning plans sooo ...why would I get up? Anyway...oh did I mention that I'm cat-sitting? Yes. This is Bijou. If you aren't out of bed by 8am, she has something to say about it. She has a quiet meow and isn't aggressively obnoxious, so that's nice but every 20 minutes or so, she'll jump on the bed and meow, walk around a bit, stare into your eyes about 1 inch from your face and then charge down the stairs.

Around 11, the phone rang twice and then stopped. It said "Jackie". This happened a couple of weeks ago - Sydney had gotten hold of the phone and dialed the first contact on the list. I thought it was the same today until I got a text saying Jackie was at Starbuck's in PC. I met her and Sydney there (Blake was in a meeting at Helen's). Liz & Chris Lightbound joined us and we also ran into Clare and Monique who had just finished db practice at MCC.
When I got home, I checked email and noticed my son's FB status said something about "an interesting experience on the way to renting a video last night". I thought it was odd he didn't mention anything when he came over but figured it was just something related to his group of friends. He called me later and filled me in....
After he left my house last night, he decided to return the Wanted video we watched and get something else. He went to his favourite neighbourhood video store. As he was about to go in, a young guy carrying a giant knapsack busted out of the store, pushed past him and ran across the parking lot. Ryan knows everyone working there and the clerk, an 18 year old girl, met him at the door saying, "That guy just stole all of our video games. What should I do?" Ryan told her to call 911 and he'd call her in a few minutes. Ryan saw the kid travelling along Major Mac so, going along behind the neighbourhood plazas and sidestreets, Ryan tracked him for a few kilometres until he stopped to wait at a bus stop. Ryan called the police on his cell and told them exactly where they could pick him up. He continued along a sidestreet, coming out past the bus stop, on the opposite side from the store. The kid never even noticed him. As Ryan was walking past the bus stop, three cruisers and an unmarked car came flying up for the takedown. He said the kid, who turned out to be 15, put up a pretty awesome fight considering what the crime was, his size and how many cops were there. He had a couple thousand dollars of merchandise in the knapsack so the store employees were pretty grateful that it was recovered. I think the cops reacted as quickly as they did because one of the stores in this video chain was robbed at gunpoint a couple of weeks ago. I'm just grateful Ryan didn't tackle this kid on his own.

Today was my personal start of Christmas. I didn't plan it that way, it just happened.
I went into Oakville early because I need a blender. The one I have is basically useless and the carafe is made of plastic. I want a steroid-induced, ice-crushing blender that keeps margaritas cold and doesn't add toxins to my breakfast smoothy. Canadian Tire just can't provide that kind of selection so I had to go to a bonafide kitchen store and I knew of one in Oakville. Little did I know that the Christmas season would bite me in the butt. And to the soundtrack of Pink Floyd... cha-ching.
Let me say up front that I did not come home with a blender. However, since I was infused with the spirit of giving by then, it didn't really matter.
The traffic going into Oakville was pretty heavy. Since it was only 9am, I'm guessing a lot of people were getting a jump on seasonal shopping - possibly induced by crazed shopping stories of our neighbours in the US. Thanksgiving is such a tragic time for them.
The weather was beautiful - sunny and 4 degrees (felt like 10) and I didn't mind strolling along main street, waiting for the stores to open. I had my Starbucks.
My favourite store, House Warmings, wasn't open yet but the kitchen store next door was so I thought perfect, get the blender issue out of the way asap. Unfortunately, they only had 2 types of blenders - one with too many options and the other with too few. I scoped out some christmas-ey table settings though and by the time I left, House Warmings was open.
This store never disappoints me. Many of my so-called Christmas presents to self come from this store and this year was no different. Most notable though was the addition of the GLAM line to their shelves. I found the most amazing gift for two of my teenaged nieces! They don't read this so I can post here that I got them these stylish usb drives (and one for myself too). The 1gig drive folds in so I'm thinking just add a chain and they're a pretty nice pendant (you can't see it in the pic but each is embellished with rhinestones). And at $35 they are a deal. I bought an extra one of the black & white for myself.


After that store, it's pretty much a shopping-induced blur. All I know is I came home with a bunch of decorations, wrapping paper, novelty Christmas crackers for the dinner table, several other gifts and a new red coat. More impressive is what I didn't buy considering I was in lighting stores, Lululemon, B2, etc...
Later in the afternoon, Ryan came over. We went for a walk in the marsh where we skipped stones into the lake, a tradition that hasn't changed since he was two, and checked out the snack selection at the local convenience store. After helping me hang a couple of pictures (which we later decided would look much better at his place) we watched a dvd - Wanted - and ate junk food. We ordered in Spoon and Fork for dinner.
It was a pretty awesome day all round!

My car is not only a money pit, it's a constant source of guilt. In 'An Inconvenient Truth', Al Gore made me feel so guilty about driving an SUV and my personal carbon footprint that I went and looked at new (smaller) cars the next day. Then this morning I saw a bumpersticker on the back of a Ford suv (driving towards the Oakville Ford plant) that said "Lost your job yet? Keep buying foreign".
Meh, I was probably just more vulnerable to the guilt because it was 6am. Trust me, if I could afford to ditch the Pathfinder, I would. In a second. I've never liked that car. Ever. i bought it so I could cart two big dogas and a C-1 around.
Even if I could, it's unlikely I'd buy something domestic anyway.

I'm always talking about wanting to paddle in Hawaii so Larry forwarded some recent photos of a 14' tiger shark feasting on a turtle at Hawaii Kai. I've been on shore around this spot but Larry has paddled here. Since it's right at a buoy, it's easy to pinpoint the location.
The shark photos were taken on Monday November 10, 2008. Larry wasn't there but this is a popular paddling/surfing spot. The first photo is that location, from his last trip. He's actually in the water turning on his video camera - about 10 feet from where the shark was spotted. It's kind of reassuring that the occurance was unusual enough to make the news but still...


Now, I'm fully aware that the ocean presents very different life forms from those found in Lake Ontario and am willing to risk it in order to paddle there. However, I would still be completely freaked out to see this, even from a distance.

Okay. Fine. I'll go to the gym.
Monday was the last time I paddled. Zero degrees but sunny so it wasn't bad. No one else is on the water anymore, not even the Bohms or Tamas Partay. My footwell bailers are taped up and I wear warm wool socks and neoprene boots so my feet were warm but my hands, at least my baby fingers, were frozen as long as I was on the lake. When I got off the water, it took about 2 minutes for the water to form a candy coating of ice. It actually wasn't slippery to handle but when I put it down on those wooden sawhorses we have set up as racks, the bow started to slide along the crossbar. One of those crusty towels that's always hanging on things stopped it's slow drift to the edge.
Actually, I don't mind being back in the gym. The first night there, I ran into Mary Anne S.. I haven't seen her in over a year since she dropped off the women's team for health reasons. She's doing well and it was really nice to catch up on what's new.
That night I only did an easy 30 minute run and 20 minute bike but I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the running. In terms of sensation, the pleasure I felt was equal to drinking a big, cold glass of water after being extremely dehydrated and it just escalated the longer I ran. yay! I love running again (nothing like constant 6k time controls to kill any pleasure you get from an activity). I doubt I'll ever be fast again but quite frankly, I just don't care.
The next time I went to the gym, I ran into Larry. My workout was the same as last time and we both agreed it was nice to just do our own thing with no set program. The past couple of years, Larry's run a program - primarily for Kyle and Chrissy - out of Revolution. He invited a couple of us to join after awhile so it was equivalent to the high performance program at the club. This year, I'll get up early a couple of mornings a week to do a circuit or whatever but not every day - very excited at the prospect of sleeping in.

MEC in Burlington

1030 Brant Street, Burlington, Ontario L7R 0B2

The new store is located just south of the Queen Elizabeth Way. The building features a photovoltaic/thermal solar system that generates electricity, which is fed back to the Ontario Power grid. It's on track to receive LEED Gold certification.

Thursday was beautiful weather. The lake was wavy but disorganized so I only did 5km on the lake and then another 2k on the river in the dark. It's okay though. Since there's nobody else out there, I don't have to worry about getting clocked by a rower.

Friday was another nice day but no paddling - we were having a party for Cat. All those guys live in the east end so it was at a Jack Astor's by the Town Centre. I went straight from work and did some shopping in the mall before heading back to the bar to meet up with everyone. I haven't been to the Town Centre in ages - I guess it hasn't changed much over the years except for population. It was PACKED - at 5:00pm on a friday - that's pretty crazy. The party for Cat was good - a lot of people came out to congratulate him on his move to SAP-HR.



When I got home much later, there was a missed delivery notice in my mailbox - shipment of books from Australia. Yahoo! I picked them up at Turtle creek post office on Saturday. Chris' Alphabet Surf has arrived and all autographed by Chris. It's very cool. Maybe your child will get one for Christmas.
Speaking of Chris and Emily - they're expecting TWINS! Em posted this amazing ultrasound of them on fb.



Saturday, it was raining but mild so I put in 10km , coming in just before the temp dropped - just a couple of degrees but that's enough to make it...less pleasant. When I got home, I cranked up the fireplace and made a pot of tea. Laurie dropped off some products for me to try but the rest of the afternoon was spent curled up on the couch with a glass of red wine and a book. Ahh, I love my life!
On Sunday I took my dad a Tim Horton's coffee and honey cruller. He's not supposed to have either but what's the point. Really. I was oging to save it for after his breakfast but he wouldn't eat. It didn't take long to understand that he wanted the donut and not the cold scrambled eggs and watery oatmeal. I hit Chapters on the way home and picked up Crow Lake for the book club and The Master and Margarita for myself. Supposed to be one of the most important works of fiction for our generation.
I was hoping to get down to MEC to buy a drysuit to keep paddling but I completely forgot about the Santa Claus Parade. There was also a Raptor's game on at 12:30 so there was NO WAY I was driving into the city! After running some errands and doing some housework, I tried to settle in front of the fire for some more lazy reading but it never really happened. Ryan was finally coming to get his piano out of the basement and I had promised beer and pizza for the buddies who were coming to help him. He called around 4:00 to let me know what time they'd be arriving and I realized I hadn't picked up the beer. I had to get to the beer store before 5:00 (I didn't actually know it was even open on Sundays).
Ryan, Derek, Jared and Steve came over and had no trouble getting the apartment grand out of the basement and into the rental truck.
My stupid iPhone has been giving me the usual "Call Failed" problem - it lets me dial a number and stays connected just long enough for me to say hello and then it fails. Ryan gave me a couple of things to try and it seems okay now but there's definitely something wrong. We just can't determine if it's the SIM card or the network. Now Ryan says I have the 4000 series SIM but maybe I should have 4000 series, 2nd generation. We're going to look into it tomorrow.
Later, when I checked my fb, there was a wall post from Matt. They had done a downwinder out on the ocean - 5 metre swells.
He wrote, "today it was an onshore/slight cross wind, so the faces aren't really clean enough to surf. Wes just got a new boat though, he was lacking for a couple weeks, so we should be making it out a little more often for the next bit. But yes... past 5 days... perhaps sickest in history... pictures to come..."
I'll definitely post those when they come!

My advice to you for the weekend. Hell, for the whole winter...

Danielle B. fainted spectacularly during the Remembrance Day assembly at Cawthra yesterday. She wasn't feeling well going into it so tucked herself into the second row, behind some taller students. Good thing because she fell forward and then sideways before being caught by a friend. The choir of 300 performing arts students kept singing as teachers scooped her up and carried her out of the auditorium.
We were laughing about it in the changeroom tonight because a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the performance since they were singing, "For the Fallen".
Danielle says it was a combination of too many choir practices, workouts, not enough sleep or food. She's feeling much better now, thanks for asking.

I love that the kids on fb have already joined a group called "When I was your age, the first african-american president of the united states was elected". I'm not sure if they actually recognize the signfigance of the event but full credit to teh information revolution for giving them the opportunity to take ownership. I know we didn't do the same for man's first moonwalk or the assassination of Kennedy.

Google uses their incredible resources and launches the ultimate flu tracker: http://www.google.org/flutrends/
Quote: "We've found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional systems."
I love google. Google is genius. I want to work there.

I've been so behind on blogs lately but just want to take a second and pass on two happy announcements from the Barclay family...
Louise, Jonathon and Mia are expecting a new family member...not the baby penguin originally requested by Mia but she's equally excited about the new baby set to arrive sometime in March.
Also Dave has announced his engagement to Australian girlfriend Kara. The wedding date is set for next May.
Congratulations all 'round (especially to Linz who now has places to stay ALL over the world!)

On Saturday, Jackie and I went to the baby show. (I was telling my friend John and his first question was, "So did you buy one?").
Anyway, I don't know if they were having these when Ryan was born in '79 but if they were, I never attended one. It was actually pretty good and a fun way to spend the morning. They were giving away a lot of free stuff and after the first couple of booths, I realized they didn't know or care if I had a baby or grand-baby so I started taking some of the stuff for Carrie. Both Jax & I got some Christmas shopping done and I was constantly amazed by the innovations in babycare. My pick is the M coat which they had in a couple of colours, including a rich, chocolate brown. Seriously, I would buy this coat just for walking around.
Afterwards, I dropped up to the condo to see if Sydney was awake. She woke up while I was there (probably because I no longer have a "baby-asleep" voice) and was super-cute, as always. I haven't seen her since her birthday and she is rock solid on her feet and walking. She was a little sick with a fever but was very flirty once she was fully awake.

Sunday;
Am I the only female who can spend a couple of hours wandering around a drugstore?
I needed hair gel and since I haven't done anything physical for a couple of days, decided to walk to the Shoppers at Clarkson Crossing. The weather is overcast and windy and cold enough for me to need a jacket under my vest (but not gloves). I haven't gone drugstore shopping for awhile - I've been saving myself for a trip to Sephora - but I really enjoyed myself. I spent a lot of time checking out hair and bath products and tested all 4 Harajuku Lovers scents - not for someone my age but I was curious. They have beautiful ads and I think Gwen Stefani is amazing.

I remembered my sister telling me something about a product called Freeze which is supposed to minimize deep wrinkles. Considering that her usual skin care includes products by la mer, I was surprised when she told me she got it at Shoppers. This stuff must be good! Oh boy, I hit the skin care aisle in full spontateous purchase mode, dropping a couple of mid-range ROC products in my basket - Complete Lift Pen for eyes($34) and Lip Repair Stick ($7 - basically chapstick) - before recruiting the woman from the cosmetics counter to help me find the self-proclaimed wrinkle-eraser. She showed me two products - one from Estee Lauder (which has a tendency to curdle??), another from Dermaglow which works well under makeup - and told me about a third from Smashbox. I settled on the Dermaglow ($75. I know pricey, but seriously Botox in a jar? How fantastic is that?! Plus I can return it within 30 days if I don't like it.). And what I love about paying at the cosmetics counter is... free samples! I got a primer from Smashbox, face scrub from Avene (which I just saw rated best in some fashion mag product comparison) and Jessica Simpson's new scent Fancy (it isn't completely hideous and these little perfume vials are great for the gym bag or for travel). I remembered the hair gel at the last minutes and then threw in a 5-piece manicure purse set and a new hairbrush just because.


Here's a review of my purchases (of course I tried them all as soon as I got home); The eyelift worked immediately and the feel reminds me of a treatment my mom showed us when we were teenagers - a little egg white applied around the eyes would tighten the skin as it dried. Unfortunately egg white gets flakey under makeup, this doesn't.
The Dermaglow wrinkle freeze also showed quick results. The cosmetician said it works progressively - "training the muscles that create the wrinkles to relax" - and I'll have to use it every day to see full results. Oh, reeaaallly. I'll let you know.
The $7 lip balm seems to be worth it. I applied it as I was walking home (I've killed my lips paddling out on the lake in the sun and wind this year), 3 hours later, I've even had a drink and it's still on there, lips are smooth... Entertainment for a Sunday afternoon!

If you ever need work done on your car, I'm recommending these guys. They do great work with sincere follow-up. I just took my car back in for a post-transmission inspection and after a brief drive-around they put it up on the hoist to check nuts and bolts, that kind of stuff. They even topped up my oil - no charge! Justin will take good care of you, I promise/

Wow, it didn't take very long for people to turn on Sarah Palin. I'm recommending Jon Stewart because he does it with a smile... "Just so you know, Sarah Palin has been tagged and released back into the wild..."

Back to last weekend...Saturday morning.
K.C.'s Timbersports team from Lakehead was competing in Lindsay so Tamlyn and I decided to go watch. We arranged to catch a ride up with her parents Joanne & Blair and had to be at their place for 7:00am. I let Mac know someone needed to pick the boys up for their 8:30 practice and, since neither of them owned a watch with an alarm, woke them up when I left at 6:30.
The weather was amazing, that perfect fall day with bright sun and temperatures hovering between crisp and fresh. K.C.'s mom was filling bags with blankets, coats extra mittens and banana bread (for K.C.). I guess the last time they went it was bitter cold and she wanted to make sure no one was uncomfortable. Her concern proved well-founded. Lindsay was sunny but cold. In fact Tamlyn and I spent a big part of the day wrapped in their red Canadian Tire car blanket ($9.99!). Tamlyn even resorted to a make-out session with a coach in order to stay warm. More on that later.
These Timbersports events are some fun and reminded me of Whistler in a way, without the snow. Loud music blasting, lots of lumberjack-type people wandering around in interesting gear, the odd dog, and even a kitten (he was too small to leave home alone).

K.C.'s team was up for the Ducking competition pretty much as soon as we got there. This is a relay for 4 - one pair rolls a log down a ramp and then back up again, settling it into a notch at the top. Then they're teammates do the same. They can't touch the log with their body at any time. Fastest time wins.


Some teams had a tough time getting the log back up the ramp and you could see where the would struggle against getting their shoulder up under the log to hoist it up.



Lakehead had no trouble and finished the competition with the fastest time (although we didn't find that out until we were on our way home - no times are announced throughout the day).


We had to wait around for the vertical chop competition and from here on things fell way behind. Even though we had warm gear on, there's a lot of standing around so we were getting cold. Tamlyn and I grabbed a spot in the sun on the bleachers and I think we both actually fell asleep for a few minutes.


K.C. and her partners were pretty awesome to watch in the vertical chop and swede saw events but we were waiting for the Timbersports equivalent of senior men's war - the Water Boil.




By now, the sun was going down. I was pretty comfortable but Tamlyn was still cold. I had hiked back to the car to get my telephoto lens for the water boil and when I came back, found Tamlyn (or at least a person about Tamlyn's height covered in the red Can-tire blanket) with arms out, face first, full body pressed up against one of the team coaches... sorry, I should say bus but it's funnier the other way. Technically though it was a coach. She was right. After sitting in the sun all day, the metal sides of the bus were really warm so we hung out there until the final event.

The water boil gets pretty intense and the paramedics who had looked bored for most of the day, suddenly came to life. I could see why. What with close speed work with a hatchet, fire and boiling water, there were lots of opportunity for injury.
One guy, I think he was from UNB, cut himself through his leather glove with a misdirected chop, then basically lay in the fire while trying to get it hot enough to boil. I don't know if you can get a sense from this photo but this is him from behind, basically spooning the fire while he blows on it. A teammate patted out his smoking jacket and the medics waited until he completed the event to move in and take care of his hand.


K.C. had this one down to an art form. She was quick and economical with the time she spent on each part, splitting the log, shaving kindling, building and then stoking the fire. A large portion of time is spent blowing on the flames to get it hot enough to boil the water which is in a tin can with a bit of detergent (makes it more obvious for the judges to determine when it boils).


The whole day was fun and pretty interesting. Plus it was great to see K.C. mid-season. Her parents were a laugh on the drive.

Since I'd given my billets a key, there was tons of food in the fridge and pantry and I'd arranged for Mac to drive them home, I wasn't too worried about getting home a couple of hours later than planned. When I got there though, Ian was standing right inside the door. I guess he'd heard the garage door opener. I said "Hi, so you guys got some dinner for yourselves?" He said no. "So how do you feel about pizza?" Perfect. We ordered a couple of pies and watched another movie. This billeting thing was pretty easy! Of course, they promised to tell Mac I was providing them with well-balanced, nutritious meals!

I remember how I felt after the last presidential election, when I learned that George W. Bush had won. The overwhelming disappointment to know that an entire country had just rolled over and taken it. (my first edit was a little more concise but I didn't want to say "ass-fucking" on my blog....erm...sooo anyway...)

This feels better - brighter day and all that. Exciting times. The media are talking about the US "making history" by electing a black president. Uh huh, history in evolution. They're finally joining the rest of the planet where ethnicity, gender doesn't necessarily determine a person's ability to lead.

Countries with leaders of differing ethnicity is not as easy to boil down to a Google search but click to view a list of female presidents and prime ministers .