Almost as good as a real dog...

I wouldn't say the holidays went by too quickly but that's probably because I didn't take any extra time off and continued to work through. We had a bunch of extra days off to make up for Remembrance Day and the fact that holidays fell on Saturday. The season fell a little flat for me what with our family getting smaller and Ryan being away in Australia but there were highlights that made up for that:
Pete and Sarah's Fake New Year party on Dec. 23rd. This is always a fun event. Low stress & well-attended...
It was so great to see everyone - some I haven't seen in ages; Sarah, Christina, Kris, Les, Tamas & Steph, Conor, PJ, Rachel E. as well as those I see all the time, Pete, Attila, Eve & Cliff... I didn't take any photos but I think Sarah took some so I'll harvest her fb photo albums...

I had cancelled out of christmas dinner, telling my sister I'd be heading up north for a few days of x-country. To make up for it, Laurel and Tara came down to Port Credit for lunch on christmas eve day. I had a low-grade UTI that I thought I could treat by eating loads of pineapple and drinking cranberry juice. (What? Too much info? It's my blog - you don't like it, go read the Huffington Post). As luck would have it, the infection escalated the morning of our lunch date. Do I cancel so I can go to my doctor's in Markham or a walk-in clinic before they close for 3 days or do I tough it out? If I cancelled on lunch, my sister would think it was personal so I toughed it out. I spent the next few days in a fog of abdominal pain and fever until Clarkson's walk-in clinic opened again on Monday.
In spite of that, I visited my Dad on Christmas morning and took some presents to our favourite nurses and the caregivers. Laurel and Tara were there too so we had some more laughs. My poor Dad. He's so used to absolute quiet - our giggling and chattering must make him crazy but he can't say anything.
On the way home I stopped at the big Shoppers in Port Credit, surprised it was open actually, and ran into Greg. Too funny. He was buying Tammy's present (it's okay, she knows the whole story). They had discussed not getting presents for each other but then she'd gotten him a bunch. He invited me to drop by after dinner which was super nice but I was looking forward to just getting home and lying down.

I'm giving Christmas a pass this year. To paraphrase the waitresses;

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.

NEW ORLEANS!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
WOOO WOO  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

ALRIIIIIIIIIGHT YEAH.
aahaa oh yeah!

So last night I was pretty tired after my workout at Peter's. I ate a quick dinner and was in bed reading by 9:30. I couldn't settle though and out of the blue I started thinking about going to New Orleans on the weekend. I've never been there before but at 2,084kms distance, not a simple weekend destination.
I lay there for about an hour while I debated the crazy quotient. Telling myself on the one hand that adults shouldn't act on such impulse but on the other, remembering that the last time I felt so driven I joined a d-boat program at work. That led to sprint, outrigger, standup paddling and all kinds of life-quality goodness. So, important points made, I was wondering why there can't just be a significant sign to indicate the best decision...
Cue the computer - just as I was thinking that, I heard my computer boot up in the other room. This happens occassionally when the furnace starts or some other unexplained household vibration wakes the machine out of sleep mode but under the circumstances, I couldn't help but laugh. And I couldn't ignore it either. I finally got up, logged on and checked cheap flight webpages. I wasn't really surprised to see a seat sale - $197 direct flight to Nola. Not bad when compared to other flights that were double and triple the price with 1 or two connections. I started to book but cancelled when I saw there were approximately 80 seats still available. Telling myself to sleep on it - I could still book it in the morning -  I was about to go to bed but just couldn't let it go. I logged on again and when I saw that 20 seats had been snapped up in the past 5 minutes, I just gave up and booked it.

I'm so stoked for this trip! I'm staying in the French Quarter and, even though this is mostly a sightseeing and shopping trip, I've already narrowed down my evening entertainment through this insider breakdown of the local scene.

I'm hitting the boxes again, trying to shuck off the material baggage. At the moment, it's a stack of paper. On the top, some autographed pics from Adam starting with his 2003 Worlds silver and on. Then there's the cover of the Regina Sports section - our C4 winning at 2006 nationals (we've even signed one - Chrissy, Eve, Jess, me and coach Larry Cain). Further down is a bunch of newspapers I saved in 1980 - the death of John Lennon - then a couple of the Saturday supplement magazines from the Toronto Star. One is from Oct 13th 1979 and the other January 5th 1980. I don't think I saved them, I think they the just got packed up in some move and have travelled with me ever since. They're funny to go through though. The latter has an article about Canadian up-and-comers for 1980s. They were off the mark with names like Carling Bassett (12 yr old tennis protege), Martyn Burke (filmmaker) and Pointed Sticks ("We're not punk. We're a pop band for the '80s.") but they finally hit it right about then 15 year old Alex Baumann setting his sights on the 80 & 84 Olympics. Then there's the ad for the 'Ayds Reducing Plan - We've learned to take weight off and keep it off". A product that disappeared shortly after for obvious reasons.
I'll scan some of this stuff later but right now I have to stop procrastinating!

Wow, long time since the last post. I guess it's been a fairly busy time but mostly in a domestic way (read boring). The never-ending renovations continue but I hope to close the book on them/write the final cheque before the end of the year. I know I've said this before but I will NEVER hire someone to do renovations again. What I mean is, I will take a course in electrical, tiling, drywall or whatever needs doing and do it myself.
So in the interim, I've put most of my old furniture from my Markham days up for sale - first on a popular classifieds website, then in a yard sale. I was able to get rid of a ton of stuff and made about $1500! 
You just don't realize how much you accumulate. Each time I pulled something out of a storage space, it revealed 5 other things...
For example, I had a never-been-used double mattress & boxspring stored on its side in the cold room. Mike was buying it and as I hauled it out I found the headboard footboard, a rocking chair, antique singer sewing machine, two massive mirrors (6 ft) and assorted other household stuff that I didn't want or need. Although I got rid of quite a bit in the yard sale, I still have a garage full of furniture - wall unit, couch and chairs, coffee and end tables - and I'm starting to despair of ever getting them out of my life. And while I can finally get my Pathfinder back in the garage, I really want the other half empty too. I'm trying to decide on whether I should get a storage locker or just shift the stuff any way I can.
The house is upside down - it looks like I just moved in with boxes all over the place, framed pictures leaning up against walls and my standup board lying on the floor in the living room. It's becoming obvious that I can live without whatever's in those boxes and I think that's what's keeping me from opening them.

Hey, I know her!

Alyson was honored for exemplory service at a ceremony this past week. She received a weekend away at Deerhurst and an offer to let her "kiss the General" from that guy.
(I really hope his title is the General-something although I don't think that makes the offer any more appealing or appropriate)


Congratulations Alyson!!

I feel like I'm on vacation in my own town! Maybe it's the upside-down quality of my life - evanescence of our family, renovation chaos at my house, summer patterns disrupted by seasonal change or having a new toy - but whatever it is, I LIKE IT!
Saturday morning I bounced out of bed at 7:30am and was at the beach by 8. I remembered my camera this time and was setting up a self-timer shot when a woman (who looks exactly like Morty's mom) offered to take this photo of me. It really doesn't do justice to the sky that morning, the sunrise and clouds were spectacular. (and you might say that blows my theory about people on the lake not acting like water people but as it turns out, she and her husband are sailors, seven seas and all that, originally from Bermuda, so my theory stands.)
As before I paddled to the canoe club and got my outrigger for the return trip.

Well, it's officially an addiction. The sun can't rise early enough for me but I found some time before work this morning and got down to JD for a quick trip to the harbour and back on my board, not quite 5km. It was just rollers, a little foggy and cool but perfect paddling weather. I didn't want to come in, I was enjoying it so much.
I was tempted to go out on it again tonight but decided to test the rudder on my boat instead. It's working just fine and I enjoyed a steady 9km workout - straight out into the lake and back. With the air temperature dropping, the water feels pretty warm. I'd gone out in crop tights and a Craft long sleeve with a dryfit T over top but was peeling layers off before I passed the Ridgetown. The t-shirt was enough (yes, I kept the pants on.).
We took most of the docks out at the club cleanup last weekend. (when I say "we" that doesn't mean I actually helped with the lifting/removal. I was busy cleaning the showers and taking photos). When I came in from my workout, the newest crop of banti were standing around on the remaining 2 docks, squealing and talking and holding their boats on the water. They were completely oblivious to the fact that the athletes gathered around the ends of the dock were not an admiring audience and really just wanted to get off the water. It wasn't completely their fault - Dean was standing at the top talking to them. He'd say "girls move your boats" then immediately distract them with some useless task; "who left those seats/paddles/life jackets there? Go pick them up." and they'd leave their boats to scramble around on the dock. There aren't a lot of boys in this group - hey, with so many girls, maybe Missy can produce the next Carolyn Brunet.

That's our new head coach on the right, by the way. Derek's resignation, submitted shortly before CCA, became official when the athletes returned after the post-nationals break. Expect a lot of fall-out from this in the future. Kyle stepped in as interim head coach and a job posting appeared on canoe-kayak.ca sometime this week.

After I'd put my boat away I as joking around with Steph about her 'fat hand". She's seriously allergic to bee stings so when she got stung on the hand last week, it swelled up to blowfish size. I noted it had shrunk and asked her if she'd put her fat hand on a diet or was she worried about it being anorexic since it lost a ton of weight in a short time...etc. She pulled out her old standby, "Does anyone smell OLD, like decaying flesh and Bio-Oil?" I came back with something weak like, did she have to send her hand to fat hand camp but I was already defeated.
When I got home there was an email that Marisha was going to be on CBC's As It Happens. It was coincidentally 2 minutes to broadcast time. It's an interesting story that I meant to post here a couple of weeks ago. Instead I'll direct you to the programme's link for Thursday, September 30, 2010 , select "listen to part one" and advance to the 17:10 mark.

After the fiasco yesterday, I was determined to get out on the water tonight.
I rushed home from work. My heart sunk a little when I saw that the contractor was still at my house but he was just packing up. I told him right away that I was rushing to go paddling - I had a very small window of daylight - he's a pretty focused guy and I knew he's understand. He was awesome and just showed me the stuff he did today - varnished the stairs (don't go there, don't touch that), put up my beautiful new bathroom light fixture - while I ran around finding my gear. We chatted while I tied my board to the roof of the pathfinder.
I got to Jack Darling and it looked pretty good. I thought I might paddle to the club if conditions were right but once I got on the water I realized the chop was a little bigger than it looked from the parking lot. It was a fairly regular roll from the south, probably the smallest chop we'll get on the lake, so at least it was something I could work with. But once I was up on the board, I knew I wouldn't be paddling to the club. I angled out into the waves turned and rolled back in to the beach. I did that a few times until I got my legs under me. Then I worked on rolling back in and then turning back out into the chop. I thought about how if I had someone standing there coaching me, I'd be a lot more aggressive so I just got a lot more aggressive. I paddled out a lot further and on the next one I was watching how the board took the waves - and sliding off the back of most of them. I noted how on the bigger ones the nose of the competitor really submarines, (I'm going to have to get better at running on the board!). On the next loop I caught a couple of waves. The wind was starting to shift and come up a bit as a dark storm cloud moved in from the north. By then I'd been out there for 45' and was getting tired. I did two more runs out & back and then came in.
An older gentleman who had been sitting in the car with his wife in the parking lot the entire time got out while I was loading the board and asked me a few questions, commented on the weather. His wife just stayed in the car reading People magazine. Actually it's surprising the number of people who were just sitting down at the lake in their cars. It was such a pleasant way to spend the evening. At the club I'm always rushing...rig the boat, get on the water, put the boat away, get out of the club before they want to lock it up.
When I was done, I pulled on some warm clothes and walked down to the lake to see how the waves break in that bay. It's well protected from the stronger SW winds by the natural curve and the Petro Canada pier. But along the park there are a number of stone piers that break up the wave pattern. Also some sandbars. I don't think of it as my local beach yet but I know I will soon.

I seemed to make all the wrong decisions today; from what route I took to work to how I spent my leisure time afterwards.
It was raining all day today and as the temperature dropped, so did my enthusiasm about going for a paddle tonight. With the high winds, I self-encouraged by thinking about what a fun outrigger paddle it would be and headed to the canoe club. At least the rain had lightened up a bit.
You know those times when you're just feeling lethargic mentally and physically? That was me. But I rigged my boat and walked towards the dock. That's when it really started to pour!
Okay, so I have these flip flops that I've been meaning to get rid of for awhile. The bottoms are completely smooth and slip-slide on any slick, wet surface: e.g. the boat bay floors. Twice in the past couple of weeks I've sliced my toes up from sliding into something sharp as I skidded across that floor. SO PAINFUL.

Anyway,  I was super careful getting my gear. I walked carefully down the ramp to the dock and as I took the last step, I hit wet wood and goose poo and my legs went out from under me. The good news is I went straight down, landing on my butt. The bad news is, so did my boat. It bounced off my shoulder at impact and the rudder rammed straight into the (wooden) ramp.
I flipped my boat over on the dock and tried to straighten the rudder but it was bent into the hull and couldn't budge. I carried it back up to the top and inspected the damage. The paint was a little cracked but at least it hadn't punched up through the hull. It didn't take long to realize I couldn't do much with the rudder attached to the boat.

I removed it and took it up to the repair room. Tamas Sr. was out on the water so I was a little tentative as I tightened the pin into the vice grip and carefully bent it back to 90 degrees. No damage! I popped it back onto the boat...good as before. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go on the water anymore.

When I got home, I really just wanted to have a hot jacuzzi (yay for renovations) and go to bed but forced myself to go to SST for the circuit with Alyson & Chanda. No lie, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have gone. In fact, to make sure I didn't sit down on the couch, I left early and went to the New Balance store for some workout inspiration. I bought a new water bottle and some Hue toe socks (for dress shoes).

There must have been 17 people in the class - far too many for the space so it was a little frustrating. Then I bashed up my leg on the tire jumps (do a two-footed bunny hop into the centre of a tractor tire and immediately out again) when my shin caught on the tire and I hit the astroturf. Okay, there weren't 3 tires, only one but you get the idea.

Then buddy decided we would do suicide runs between circuits instead of rest, then we had to switch our first exercise for something else on the next round. Listen, that's not normally a big deal but this group has trouble remembering which exercise they just finished or who they're following. Anyway, I knew I was just cranky from my BAD DAY and struggled through. Of course I felt better after we were done. Still tired but at least the day ended on a positive.

Okay, I realize it's a photo of my OC-1 and not my new Bark board. I took the photo on Sunday after I paddled stand-up to Missy, then returned in my outrigger. I didn't remember my camera was in the car until I got back.

I had a weird night on Friday and only fell asleep around 6:45am. That blew my only window for paddling. The club clean-up was 9-12, I had to meet the contractor at my house to go over some stuff at noon and then K.C., Courtney and I were catching the 2:36 GO to meet Ryan at the TFC game.
The game was so fun. Let me qualify that, TFC lost but we still had a good time.

After the game K.C. and I hit Momiji for dinner. Court was going out so her dad came to pick her up there.

On Sunday morning, my eyes flew open at 7:45am. I made coffee, slurped down a few spoonfuls of yogurt and got into my paddling gear. I was at Jack Darling by 8:10.

The guys have told me that they're wearing wetsuits when they go on the lake. In spite of the warm air temps, I figured they must know what they're doing and pulled mine on over shorts and a Craft long sleeve. Within a few strokes I was BOILING. I'm still not sure if it was necessary. I guess if I'd gotten wiped out by a motorboat or went swimming I'd think differently but there was no one on the water and it was perfectly flat. An unbelieveable day.

As planned and mentioned above, I paddled my stand up board to the canoe club. About 1km into it, I realized I didn't have my leash. I'd been so excited about getting on the water I forgot it! But it's rare for the Peel marine unit to be out that early so I wasn't too concerned about getting a fine. Anyway, they're nice guys and don't often pull a Halton.

As I was coming into the harbour, I heard my name called from way up. I looked up and there was Chrissy on her fabulous, penthouse balcony. I waved my paddle and carried on, kind of distracted by fishing boats that were heading towards me. She yelled again and I realized she had her camera. I paused for a minute but was already drifting past the corner of the building and out of her sight. I hope she got a good shot!

The second I hit the dock at Missy, I stripped off the wet suit. What a relief - like running out of a sauna and jumping into cool water! I checked my gps and was surprised that it only took me slightly longer to paddle the distance than it did in my outrigger. Cool.

No one was at the club yet. I stowed my board in the back alley, by the club kayak paddles and rigged my boat. The oc paddle felt ridiculously light & short so I was awkward on the first few strokes, reaching way too high. But once I settled in, I felt I was paddling with more power and better technique. So it was a good decision - the switch up will be great cross-training for all disciplines.

When I got back to JD, I grabbed my thermos and camera from the car. One thing I've noticed - in places where people have a genuine connection to the water they live on/near, they'll approach me on the beach with questions about the boat or the sport in general. In Mississauga / Toronto, people will watch me from far away or leave the beach as I approach. I find it strange and sad that the majority of Torontonians feel no real affinity for this amazing body of water (14th largest lake in the world!). It was no different today - within seconds of pulling my boat onto the sand, I had the beach to myself.

Before loading my boat on the car, I enjoyed my coffee sitting on the beach just absorbing the reality that I'm pretty close to living my dream. It may not be the tropical location I ultimately hope for (read "warm water") but I'm close to the beach and have the equipment and gear to enjoy it fully. Now I just have to retire so I can do it whenever I want.

Record-setting 31 degrees today. Driving to work was difficult. I had my new Bark board on the roof of my car and each time I passed an opening where I could see the lake, I had the STRONGEST urge to drive to the beach and go for a paddle. I should have done it!
I think I may have had the perfect evening..
I was able to pick up a fanny-pack life jacket at West Marine so I don't have to wait to paddle on the lake (or worse, wear a regular pfd).
I came home and ate something, waiting for the 75km winds to die down and took my board for it's first paddle.
I genuinely love stand-up. I mean, you know how you try something new and it's fun but then you invest in all the gear, you may not be as driven or don't like it as much as you thought. Then the next year it's collecting dust in the garage? I love this sport.
Anyway, I paddled until it got dark and had a giant smile the entire time.
I came home and had eggplant parmesan, a glass of wine.
Weird Science was on tv.
Little Miss Sunshine was on tv.
I feel fine.
I can even ignore the giant QEW star I got in my windshield from an 18 wheeler at lunchtime.

Curse you Joe Fresh for ruining a favourite song by using it in a commercial. Nouvelle Vague's cover of Dancing With Myself.

The contractor cleaned up the house A LOT before they left last Friday. I'm actually reclaiming some of the living space beyond my bedroom! yay. There's still some stuff to finish but I think I'll actually have my house back to myself SOON.

It's been a long haul and it's not fun having strangers in the house all day. I asked them to take a few days off when my mom died but I wish it could have been a little longer. Although it didn't feel like grieving, I was tired all the time and there was no way to have the house to myself when I wanted it. Some days I'd go home and want to cry - having to face the mess, all my possessions packed in boxes... I just keep remindiing myself how much better it is than before and what it will mean if/when I decide to sell the house.

I don't mean to sound like my life is a drag. In all of this, I got a chance to try out stand up paddling. I love our community because everyone's so encouraging and ready to help. Mike H. got a bunch of boards together and met Courtney and me at the beach at Jack Darling one night. We paddled around the bay there, switching up boards and paddles. I came away from it so pumped and asking myself why I hadn't been standing on a board on Lake Ontario (or some other body or water) all my life! It's the perfect combination between surfing and paddling.

Having an SNL day.

Some blog posts are for my own record keeping so, as I often do with personal items, I've left the longer posts about my mom's funeral unpublished.
I do want to say how pleased I was that several of my friends came to the funeral. I was having a particularly unemotional day (a relief since I'm a messy crier) and felt a little self-conscious about not being overwhelmed with grief. However, they all know me and it was just the moral support I needed.
Mom is buried just steps from my sister Heather and we put one of the large bouquets from the grandchildren on her grave. The one thing that stood out was the cliche of a giant crow cawing from the pine tree at the head of Heather's grave. Honestly, do funeral homes put out special crow bird-seed to attract them?

We went to Laurel's for the rest of the afternoon. The kids went swimming and I tried out my new Tough 6020 camera.

At some point, they decided we should have dinner so Tara and Ryan went to the store to pick up vegetables and steak. The cousins and Randall did everything and it was a fantastic meal. When the dining table came up one table setting short, I was voted person least qualified to sit at the adult's table and sent outside to the "kids table". I was fine with that since our family is one of story-tellers, each story well-crafted and practiced. And long-winded. The people laugh on cue for the punch line but you just know they're ready to pounce with their amusing tale.

The kids table was way more entertaining! My nieces, nephews and son are fun and witty. And Robin's two boys kept us laughing. John (5 or 6 yrs old) had swallowed so much pool water that he'd thrown up just before dinner. He was lightheaded and loopy, describing in detail the operation he's going to have in a couple of weeks to take skin from his forehead to fix a hole in his ear-drum.

Andrew (maybe 8 yrs old) listed all the R-rated movies he's watched at the homes of his friends and recited lines of dialogue , the nature of which he clearly had no idea. It wasn't anything too shocking, The Hangover, Inglorious Basterds, that sort of thing, but he kept us laughing, never sure exactly why.

We were going to do some karaoke but the dvd was missing from the box and Tara figured it was in Melissa's room which was locked. She hadn't come home and apparently to break into her room meant death or a voodoo curse or something so we had to give up on that idea.

I stayed about 20 minutes too long and by the time we'd dropped Katherine and Isabel off at the hotel and driven home, my ears were buzzing with fatigue and I had a wicked headache. After figuring out which flight they'd take home the next day, the cousins said goodnight. I didn't sleep great - too much rich funeral food and wine I guess.

The next morning, I drove Judi and Linda to the airport and then headed to the club for a paddle. I was exhausted but the lake just had little bumps rolling in towards the harbour so I did a straight out and back. It felt like a short paddle but I still covered 10k and felt MUCH better than I had in days after the enforced inactivity.

So my mom died this morning around 2, in her sleep which is good, no pain. I know, kind of weird to be posting this on my blog but I'm at a loss for what to do and I feel like I need to do something. If it was daytime there would be people to call, things to organize, emails to send, tasks to keep me busy. But here it is, the middle of the night, they couldn't get a hold of my sister, she isn't answering the phone, I've emailed the extended family, made an executive decision not to call my brother in Winnipeg until the morning. I've spoken to him at length over the past couple of days since mom started fading. There's no point in both of us sitting awake in the middle of the night with nothing to do (as it turned out he woke up at 2:17am and never went back to sleep, I totally should have called him).
I've done all the organizing you can do at 3AM. Our terrific email server for work is down so I can't let my boss know that I won't be in tomorrow, I've refreshed the ICF worlds page a million times which strangely doesn't make them post results any faster and I've looked at what's new on facebook. Three times.

We've been expecting this for so long, you'd think I'd have a plan of some kind. The funeral arrangements were made years ago by my parents while they were still healthy. The nursing home said I can come and sit with her until tomorrow morning when they call the coroner so I guess I'll do that.
Something I didn't know: The coronor investigates every 10 deaths in nursing homes so they'll determine where my mom is in the count and if she's not number 10, they'll call the funeral home.

I am tired. Mom's nursing home called on Wednesday morning and said she was unresponsive, dehydrated and they had put her on oxygen. It's difficult to gauge what level of alarm to register since she's been unresponsive since sometime in the mid-2000s and she's spoon-fed meals which consist mostly of thickened liquids and watered-down puddings. Anyway, the fact that they called was enough. I texted Ryan to meet me at the home and headed down there.
The caregiver, Larcy, had been emotional in the morning when she talked to my sister, crying and saying "she's in god's hands now". But Laurel is up at the cottage, planning to come home on Saturday. I told her I'd call when I had more information. Do we sound like callous bitches? I don't know. Since 2005 we've stood in almost every emergency room east of Yonge St. and been told by doctors on at least 3 occasions that mom was dying, wouldn't last out the day. My dad has been at death's door on 5 or 6 separate occasions. Last fall we were told once again that mom wouldn't leave the hospital alive when they discovered she has an inoperable abdominal aortic aneurysm. It could burst at anytime and while they were sure it would kill her within hours last October, she was eventually returned to the nursing home.
Anyway, when I got to the home she appeared comfortable. Apparently she'd had flu-like symptoms on the weekend but nothing that inspired serious concern. She was fine now though. No fever and her colour was good. The oxygen wasn't necessary but they left it on in case she needed it in the night. She'd taken in fluids by the spoonful while never opening her eyes.
We stayed all afternoon and she never woke up or registered our voices. I talked to her about family members and occasions, stood over her while talking to my brother on the phone and then my sister. Not a blink or twitch - other than the Parkinson's kind. The nurse indicated that her blood pressure was normal but her heart rate was high.
This morning, they called to say her blood pressure had dropped dramatically in the night and was still low, heart rate still accelerated. I asked Larcy if she thought I should tell my brother to come home and she said she didn't think so. But she said something along the lines of "it's up to god". Because my mom's religious they think we are too so I just smiled and said, oh mom would like that.
I called Laurel to say she should come home today. I haven't been able to get a hold of her since this afternoon when she texted to say she was on her way. However, she often doesn't respond to her blackberry if she's tired of talking. I can only assume it means status quo.

Day Two (race day):
We had to meet the rest of the team in our hotel lobby at 9:30am. LOVE the late start!! The hotel had told us the db teams couldn't have the free breakfast voucher that regular guests got but we all kept asking for them anyway and eventually they gave them to us. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't very good (we didn't go back the next day). I gave my voucher to Katy because she didn't mind the food and Alyson gave hers to a distressed russian guest when the front desk wouldn't replace the one she'd lost.
Since a lot of our regular crew couldn't be there, we had paddlers joining us from all over. As women drifted in we heard a familiar loud voice and noticed the group of women from the subway last night. Oh man, they were part of our group - on Peter's team. We looked at each other uncomfortably, glad we didn't do subway olympics. We would have looked like such a-holes.
Our busdriver Donald was waiting for us outside in the schoolbus. We loaded up and were at the racecourse in minutes. The water looks exactly as I remember - flourescent green and poisonous. Even on gglurth the water is significantly greener than the grass around it.

Doug went to 'Command Central' (no kidding, that's what they called it) and got our tent number along with a few free cases of Zico coconut water - plain, lemon-lime and pomegranate. Coconut water is supposedly the best new post-workout recovery drink so we were all interested in checking it out. It was warm so not completely appealing but we figured it would taste better chilled. I thought the pomegranate was really good but ending up drinking quite a bit of the plain at the end of the day when I ran out of water. And since we didn't have any spares, the organizers also provided us with drummers for the 2 crews from MCC. Our drummer was Lily, a paddler from one of the Flushing junior crews.

Our first race was a 250m at 11:48 but they were already behind schedule. We sat in the marshalling area for ages but finally got out on the water. Without exaggeration it was the most brutal 250m I've ever done. The water is incredibly shallow - maybe 1m. The boat just plowed the entire time. We only had 18 in the boat (it's the rules at this event) and there is no describing what a struggle it was. We won by a boat length.

We changed into dry clothes and went into the festival market to check things out. There wasn't a lot there, mostly insurance companies and telephone service providers with long lineups of asian people patiently waiting for a free giveaway fan or spin at a wheel of fortune. This is the scene at every db festival I've been to and I never understand it.

We got some great bbq'd chicken on a stick and watermelon spears and sat on a curb in the shade watching kite flyers and skywriters advertising Geico.

Soon it was time to get ready to race again. We were all pretty grateful there was only a 500m left. None of us could imagine doing, say, a 2K on this lake!

We loaded the boat and got onto the water before the other crews so we could try out a different setup. The plug was out on the front air pocket and water poured from it into the boat as we warmed up. So much water that someone in the middle started bailing. We were set up back heavy, hoping to lift the bow during the race. It was worse though, it still plowed but now with the broader part of the hull, so we did one more start to empty the hull and then had the back benches shift forward. No more water came out so I put the plug back in and secured it with a twist.

This race was even worse than the first and not just because it was twice the distance. I can't even explain. It felt like we were driving the boat through mud and we couldn't raise the stroke rate above 51-53. While 2/3rds of the boat would have been able to sustain it, a higher rate would have thrown the other third for a loop. The force of water in the hull must have forced the plug out because I looked down at one point and water was once again pouring out of the front.

We won by half a boat. Based on the 250m, I was surprised we didn't drop the other boats more but when reviewing the race in my head, I remembered seeing our wash spreading in a flat line from our bow waaay out across the lanes on either side. Another result of the shallow water.

Later, someone told me we had the 2nd fastest time of the day for all divisions but I just went to the nyhk website and the results just show standings, not times. I guess posting those plodding times would be bad publicity for the event.

This was a money races so while we changed and packed up our gear, Doug went to find out about the awards. He came back with our medals and a promise from organizers that "the cheque is in the mail."

We don't even know how much we won. The website was a little vague.

Did we win $500 + $500 + $1500 or just  $1500? Plus the "subject to change" line.

Well, the whole thing is sketchy. I don't mean to be cynical but I've raced at this event before - in 2001 - and when the Canadian mixed crew won (seems to me it was $3000 that year) we were told, "Oh sorry, you should have read the fine print. Only American crews are eligible for the cash". The coach was pretty pissed because he'd discussed this with the organizer several times on the phone before planning to travel to the event and was always told there was no problem.

We didn't mind. We were sponsored by Continental Airlines and they'd covered our flights, accommodations & uniforms. On top of that one of the directors (who paddled with us) took us to really fab restaurants the whole time we were there. After the races he was very excited about our win and promised we would be Continental's corporate crew and could expect many more paid trips to events around the world (they had recently announced the first non-stop flight between New York & Hong Kong). We were all pretty pumped about that but you can understand why we were not at all upset when it never materialized. A month later 2 airplanes flew into the Twin Towers. The airline industry flatlined and Continental had more important things to think about.

Anyway, you can see why we were a little sceptical about receiving our prize money. Again though, it was all good. We'd had a fun time so far with still one night and one full day to ourselves.

NY ROAD TRIP!!

Doug's women's teams are heading to New York for the Flushing Meadows db event. It's our second of 3 races for this season so we've been looking forward to it. Plus, our last db road trip to New York was such a good time, we're hoping to top it!

Day One:
On Friday, Katy got to my house around 4:20am and we drove over to get Eve. She's always ready and waiting on her doorstep so we were a little surprised when we pulled up to a dark house and no sign of Eve. Katy went up and stuck her head in the door and then walked back to the car laughing.
Eve had been all ready to go but when she walked out the door, she'd almost stepped on a tiny black kitten sleeping on their porch. It had been hanging around their place for a day or two but it wouldn't let her pick it up and her cat would hiss and growl at it. She's such a softy and was worried about it. She didn't want to leave it out there but Clifford wasn't about to get out of bed to wrangle it. We tried to convince her that it probably lived in the neighbourhood and would get found by it's owners so really, there was nothing else to do but get on the road!
Chrissy was sitting on her bag at the door of their building, then we got Rachel and drove to Alyson & Dray's. We stowed our gear and piled into the rented van, picked up Chanda and headed for the border! Well, after a stop at the Bronte Tim Hortons, that is.

It was so great to be on a road trip with this group of women again! We travelled together so much up until a couple of years ago so we immediately slipped into familiar patterns which meant a lot of laughing.
Alyson took the first shift and ended up driving most of the way. She's a great driver and enjoys it so it worked out well. Eve took the second shift and we hit Woodbury Commons, about 90 minutes outside of New York, around noon.
This place is the outlet mall to end all outlet malls. It's the Disneyland of shopping. No joke. Here's the satellite view (I don't think this gives a true indication of the scale but that large gray mass is it);

There are so many stores and I'd guess 3km of trails but when you factor in the backtracking and looping around, we probably walked closer to 6km. Our prime destination was the Lululemon outlet but oh my god, there is every store you can imagine! I didn't actually buy much except a bottle of water and a long T at Miss Sixty but that was probably due to sensory overload. If I had gone with a specific item in mind, I would have been able to break the bank!

We loaded up the van again, this time with Chanda driving, and made our way to the hotel in Queens. I have got to get me a GPS. Alyson had borrowed her partner's Garmin and I don't know how we would have found our digs for the weekend without it.

Originally we'd tried to get a 2 bedroom suite for the 6 of us but when I called, the hotel was mostly booked so the best I could do was one double room and a 1 bedroom suite with a king size bed and pull-out couch. I also booked a rollaway so the 4 of them would be fairly comfortable. Katy had decided to come at the last minute and they were able to find a spot for her.
Alyson and I got to our room and discovered we had an ENORMOUS rooftop terrace! We tried to organize a little cocktail party both nights we were there but everyone was so busy it never happened. We've decided to do another trip to NYC - just for shopping - and stay in the same place.

We met up with Nancy, Liz, Karen & Patti in the lobby and the 11 of us jumped on the number 7 straight to Times Square. After dinner in O'Lunney's Pub we joined the flow of humanity on Broadway. Alyson was looking for a particular store that sells a popular doll and accessories but we were unsuccessful.

On the subway ride back to Queens, we overheard a loud woman's voice talking about db and how important it is to "use the bicep". We figured they must be our New York competition. We were laughing and thinking maybe a round of subway olympics was in order but never followed through (seriously, we're not that arrogant it's just that the bus olympics were so much fun in Berlin, we'd use any excuse to have them in NYC).

Some things are more fun when you're doing them yourself. Others are more fun when you're watching someone else do them.
Having a mid-life crisis, for example. It is way more entertaining to watch someone going through one than it is to live it.
I had a mid-life crisis in my early 40s. It was loud, messy and pathetically predictable. It was also endlessly amusing to the (much younger) people around me. At the time I didn't understand why but now that the flip flop is on the other foot, I totally get it. It's fun to watch someone spin out of control. And you don't have to feel guilty about laughing because they will tell you a hundred times that they just don't care how they look 'cause they're having so much fun.
I bet a third of all tabloid sales can be directly attributed to celebrity MLCs. It's so predictable that there's even a slot machine called Mid-Life Crisis. The right combination of symbols can reward you with a coin bonus or, if you have too many "adventures", a madly pumping heart symbol.

So here are the signs of  an MLC (or a to-do list, depending on your point of view);

- acquiring a brand new, age-inappropriate wardrobe - should be at least one size too small.
- end/abandon that long-term relationship you worked so hard to build
- acquire a new group of  'friends with benefits', preferably younger and/or more attractive than your ex. Bonus if they also make more money.
- a new tattoo or piercing
- a stocked bar and your single friends on speed dial.
- getting fat and flaunting it. Women tend to lose weight during a mid-life crisis although some, along with the men, gain weight. What with all the drinking and take out food, it's unavoidable. The thing about older fatties is they really embrace the pudge and the way it looks in their new wardrobe. On the plus size, uh side, you get unlimited use out of that line, "there's more of me to love".
- increased investment in lotions and potions (skin cream for women, viagra & rogaine for men)
- a new vehicle - a shiny red convertible or motorcycle may not be in the cards once you're reduced to a single income and facing the high cost of divorce lawyers, but it's completely cool if you can convince a honey to invest in one that you get to drive! (on that topic, I love this quote, "A man with a midlife crisis buys a corvette, a man with a lamborghini has no crisis." --Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons)
- a puppy or kitten - nothing establishes your singleness and separate household like a fur-baby. Be prepared to make a thoughtful gift of it to a honey once it has chewed up your favourite shoes.
- attending concerts of the latest and greatest bands/singers. So what if the kids point and whisper "narc". (do they even use that word anymore?)
- a new vocabulary. Suddenly, everyone is like, dude and brah
- taking up a new (possibly extreme) sport - no surprise that beach vollyball courts, spin classes and dragon boats are filled with adult-onset athletes. They're so hardcore.
- a gym membership. You may only use it twice but the fact that you have one makes you feel like you're taking matters into your own hands.

I'm sure I've missed a few. If I'd kept a blog back then, I'd just check it for reminders but I'm glad I didn't. It's not a period of my life that I want to examine too closely. After the dust settled, my mantra became "Relax, no one ever died of embarrassment". You might want to keep that in mind if you're going through a midlife crisis or planning one in the near future.

J.R. is our friend. About 2 months ago (we were at Pickering regatta), his 3 year old neice, Zoe Gottwald, saw their neighbour out cutting the grass with a riding lawn mower and ran out to say hi. He yelled to her to stop and hit the emergency cut-off but it was too late. Zoe's leg slid under the blade. Three years old.

She was airlifted to Sick Kids where they tried to save her leg. Unfortunately, it had to be amputated below the knee. She and her mom, Jason's sister Denise, have been living at Bloorview Rehab Centre and doing well.

Sick Kids is all about the children and the Roussels want to say thanks for all the amazing care Zoe received. They're hosting a golf tournament on September 9 - 12:30 shotgun start at CedarBrae Golf and Country Club to raise money for Sick Kids.  The money will help other children get to the same great care. The plan is to raise $25,000.00

Mark the date on your calendar and get a foursome together. They're also looking for prizes and hole sponsors. If you don't golf or can't make it, please consider a donation. There'll be a website up soon with more information and they'll be sending out invitations

Please Find Zoe Gottwald on facebook and become her friend. Look for the event on my profile and rsvp. They'll have links to the website and updates soon.

Feed the fish.

Getting comfortable makes me nervous. It's not that I crave drama and excitement but life in the suburbs is so homogeneous that I'm afraid of losing touch with reality. And if you don't have a handle on the real world, if you are too cozy and sheltered, it isn't long before you're peeking at the world from behind your curtains or jumping out to shake a fist at little kids and yelling, "Get off my lawn!".

I had to go see my lawyer in the King West & Dufferin area. I got there early so wandered around the neighbourhood. It was hot! 28-30 degrees. I headed east on Dufferin, past Lamport Stadium where a soccer team was running drills and looked like they might melt....or stroke out. Then I was into the hipified, 30-something haven of Liberty Village. Not so different from home, with lots of interesting shops, galleries & cafes and people who looked like me (or at least like me 25 years ago). I liked it here and was completely in my element.

Turning west, I crossed over Dufferin and headed into the McDonald's on the corner to use the washroom. It's completely different on the west side. Seedy, dirty strip plazas with quikky marts and cheque cashing services. In the washroom, there was a cleaning woman in heavy leather gloves carrying garbage bags from stall to stall, emptying those hygienic garbage disposal thingies you see in some places. She had them stacked on the toilets and advised me to not touch them or brush against the garbage bags already stacked along the wall. I was like, "Of course. Not a problem" but must have a had a weirded-out look on my face. She shook one of the bags. It made a plasticky, rattling sound and she said, "Yeah, not ladies paper products. These are all needles."
Apparently there's a bad drug problem in the area but the owner of this McD's won't admit it & won't hire a proper bio-hazard/needle removal company to deal with the junk. And since the employees aren't paid enough to patrol the bathrooms, it falls to the regular cleaner to deal with the fallout. She volunteers at some drug centre, she said, so is used to it.

She also filled me in on this anti-drug fun fact: if you don't want people shooting up in your bathroom, install blue lights. The user can't find a vein. And you know what? I googled it and she's right. Apparently it's a fairly common practice in european clubs.


After that enlightening chat, it was time to meet my lawyers. I've been waffling a bit but I've decided to pursue the lawsuit. At first I was saying, "I'd hoped to live my life without getting involved in any kind of litigation" but then remembered that I've been divorced twice.
Okay then, that ship has sailed so I might as well jump in with both feet.

Somewhere along the way my life has become so comfortable that I can be unsettled by the idea of suing someone or surprised that blue lighting isn't just a trend in club decor.  Here's the point... ease and complacency make us old.

It's not that I want to trip over junkies every time I leave my house or walk into an armed robbery at my local convenience store but if your day in and out is spent in Pleasantville, you become fearful of the possibility. And the network news does it's best to reinforce the impression that this is exactly what will happen if you step outside of your bubble. As time goes on, the bubble gets smaller and smaller until...well, see above about peeking out from behind your curtains.

It's hot in the city!

Here's an email representation of how the week at work is going;


Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 10:22 AM
To: ITS TechAlert
Subject: RE: Server issues

As a result of the partial power failure in the datacenter, several servers and appliances went down. Application owners; please verify for apps and/or contact me
Thanks Mike, Dmitriy, Yury, Foroozan, Zaki, Ernando, Munir and Joey for participating (directly and remotely) in this unscheduled Sunday event.

Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 2:38 PM
Subject: High Temperatures in Data Centre Require Systems to be Shut Down

Good afternoon,
The failure of one of the compressors on one of the A/C units for the Data Centre and the increased loading caused by the high outdoor temperatures has caused the remaining units to reduce their operating capacity by 50%. This is causing temperatures in the Data Centre to approach 100 degrees and may result in systems going into thermal failure.


Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:26 AMTo: ITS TechAlert
Subject: RE: datacenter shutdown, an update

SERVERS UP - 129
SERVERS DOWN – 164
DATACENTER room temp at 9.30am = 75F, 24C

Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 July-06-10 22:51
Subject: RE: datacenter shutdown, an update, July 6, 19.00h

Unfortunately, power interruption last night at 21.00h seems to have triggered AC unit C malfunction, as a result, the room temperature is now reaching 83F.

There are now 113 servers UP with 180 DOWN

Sent: July-06-10 13:54
Subject: RE: datacenter shutdown, an update

The room temperature is now (13.45h) 77F, slowly going up.
147 servers are UP
146 servers are DOWN


Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 7:01 AM
Subject: RE: datacenter shutdown, an update, July 7, 6.50h

At the present time, the temperature in the datacenter is 83F with very hot spots between racks.

Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 2:02 PM

To: ITS TechAlert
Subject: RE: datacenter shutdown, an update, July 7, 14.00h


Servers
UP = 162
DOWN = 131
Room temp, 75F

“The world makes up for all its follies and injustices by being damnably sentimental”
~~Thomas Henry Huxley


The first time I saw the video below, I dismissed it based on the saccharin nature of "glee" productions and Toto combined. I received it again the other day, on it's second or third circuit of the viral email world, but this time viewing it brought an unexpected rush of sentimentality.  I remembered an experience during my first time at camp which snowballed into memories from paddling which spawned this post that is so saccharin and sentimental you'll get a toothache just reading it.

The memory it sparked is from when my sister and I were sent to church camp. At 12, it was my first opportunity to be free of an overprotective and controlling mother. The church stuff was secondary and most of our time was spent outside. OUTSIDE!!  Canoeing, orienteering, swimming,  soccer, hiking, running, campfires! It was a candy store of new experiences and I loved it!
One night after dinner, the entire camp of 100 or so gathered in the lodge for a "pow wow". We sang songs, performed skits and fidgeted through the director's god talk.
At the end, one of our favourite counsellors (a laid back, long-haired, hippy-type) got up and turned out the lights. "We're going to create a rainstorm," he said, "using only our hands and feet." He insisted it would be exactly like the real thing but only if everyone invested in the idea and worked together. We would be amazed at what we created. Together. He promised.
As babies of the technology age and cynical tweens, my cabin-mates and I mouthed yeah rights at each other. How could you recreate such a BIG thing, a GOD thing, without masses of technical instruments and playback devices? Not possible!

Maybe you've done the rainstorm team building exercise before or heard of it. Either way you'll see the method of re-creation when you play the vid. It is stunning in it's simplicity.

I was floored by it. In that first brush of 100 pairs of hands my cynicism evaporated. We were creating a rainstorm. By the time we were bouncing off the wood floors as a counsellor strobed the overhead lights, we were the storm! It was indescribable, intoxicating. As we walked back to our cabins, I was quietly aware that some vital synthesis was taking place in my psyche.

It wasn't until my second viewing of this performance that I felt the thrum of a chord struck. My overwhelming attraction to paddling when I first tried it was no coincidence. The sense of success and exhilaration in the boat, when everyone's doing the right thing at the right time, is the same one I felt the night of the rainstorm.

I'm not sentimental in my everyday life but I've been so lucky in finding the sport, the club, the coaches, the teammates and crews I've been part of, that when it comes to paddling I'm a huge marshmallow. When you spend years with one group of people, honing your technique, skill set and timing, then use that in performances that are near-perfection, sentimentality is unavoidable. No surprise that team athletes relive past events, races, regattas and tours, stay in touch and support each other long after their glory days are over. It's when I think of our times together that things like this performance of Toto's Africa can bring my cynical and sarcastic self to its knees.

When you play the video, watch the individual faces, especially as the audience reacts to the first crack of thunder...they're not even a minute into the piece and each performer's contribution has been validated. They're aware of it's success, that it couldn't have happened without them. Front row, back row, in front of or to one side of the group - each performer is invested and aware of the whole, whether they're carrying the main melody or doo doo doohing in an undertone. They're equals and unselfconscious in the execution of their job. As they gain momentum, they increase in stature, they shine. Check out the percussionist who is so rocking this number.

I identify with them. With the look on their faces. Don't you?  While accepting their applause, a performer in the back row pats his neighbour on the back and she turns, nods her head in satisfaction. We nailed this.
Haven't you felt that partnership? Winning a race, finishing a project, having a baby? We made this! What a team!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Look for something from your life in this and take a moment to wallow in it.

Sentimental? Damn right.

This has been a great week. I had Monday off and slept in. Stopped by Starbucks and ran into two of my favourite people - Laurie and Sylvie (btw, are you both french?). We had coffee and just as I was about to leave, Eve showed up (in her new C-fit T). She was meeting Rachel and since L & S were leaving, I sat down with them for a minute. Rachel's little boy William is a sweetie with one of those heart-cheering grins.

I headed home to a big pile of laundry after that. yish. It would have been tolerable if I could've tuned into Ch131 while I folded but my internet connection was boned. Just as I'd get on a roll writing an email or watching True Blood it would crap out.

Monday night we had db  - a 6k time control. Dray came down to help out and ended up driving the motorboat and shooting video. Larry and Stringer also came out in their oc-1s. Eve & I were pretty insulted when we noticed Larry had a resistor on his boat. About 250m into it, he suddenly shot ahead and I thought, "Sheesh, make us feel bad - like you can't even paddle slow enough to stay with us." About 150m later I realized it was because he'd removed the resistor. The other crew was missing 2 paddlers and had a 2 minute headstart. We maintained a 52 stroke rate throughout the piece and caught the other boat before the halfway point so we were happy. No joke, I am so glad I do all that long distance paddling.

Afterwards we had Bud light lime and pizza while we watched the vidi. I was doing something retarded with my arm - I'd gotten a crimp in my shoulder during the first 10  strokes and never actually worked it out. Somehow in countering it, I tightened my bottom forearm and now it feels like mild tendonitis - probably a combo of mouse-working and paddling. We worked out our rooms for New York (New York!!) - Alyson, Eve, Rachel, Chrissy, Chanda and me in a 2-bedroom suite. Sweet!

Tremblant! What a great weekend at Stringer's. Jackie, Eve & I drove up together and arrived around dinner time. Marisha and Erin left later and arrived shortly after 11pm. Julie was coming up for Saturday only since she had to work at her C-fit gym.
In spite of the forecast the weather was great - sunny and just a bit cooler than Toronto. After breakfast, Eve and I went shopping and the others took a hike. They got lost for awhile but eventually found their way home and we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Dinner was at El Diablo and we hung out at the bar to watch the end of the World Cup match - Chile v Spain.  Something I forgot from previous restaurant dinners in Quebec is if you enjoy curry dishes, don't order one in QC. They serve it with a very bland white sauce with a hint of some spice which could be cinnamon, possibly some other spice but definitely not curry.
The next morning was a slow start for everyone. We were waiting for Jules to arrive so didn't make any plans. At some point we got tired of sleeping, lounging, eating, sleeping so Jackie and I took a walk around the village. We saw some of the triathletes finishing the trail run portion. Some of them looked far too fresh to have completed the 56km or whatever the poster said it was so we decided that there must have been a relay portion. When we got home, we made the mistake of turning on the tv just in time to see a police car burning in the middle of T.O. and the group smashing windows, spraying graffiti and stuff. It was mezmerizing (even thought they just kept showing the same clip over and over).
Julie finally arrived and had brought each of us an awesome C-fit shirt. We prepared lunch, cracked open the wine and sat down to a game of phonetic scrabble (which doesn't always work between anglo- and franco-phone players). We went to the pool for a bit, watched a movie and were too wiped to go out again.
After a lazy day yesterday, we decided to climb the mont today. Pretty good hike. We are not dumb people but none of us brought water. Fortunately, there was a restauarant at the top and we rehydrated there. Eve and I decided to take the gondola back down - me because of my knee (climbing up is fine climbing down causes much pain and swelling) and Eve because one of the chemo drugs damaged her lungs and it takes some time to recover . I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the ride! It's so quiet and the view was everything you'd expect. Spectacular! It took us 90 minutes to do the climb, Marisha & Julie did the descent  in 45.
We ran in to Jackie and Erin just returning from the mini-golf. Damn, we wanted to do that to but it was getting to that time where we needed to pack up and head back to Ontario. Not before we had a little more time at the pool though!

We were planning to stick together on the way home but because of a quick on/off of the highway to check our directions, lost the other girls right near the start. We headed back through Ottawa while the other two sent crazy texts from Oka, Hawksbury etc...
Eve took over driving just before Kingston. We had just gotten back on the highway after stopping for gas, when we heard a clunking sound. Or I should say a clunk sound since it just happened the once. Within minutes there was a weird thrumming coming from the front end. Since I'd just had the car in for service on the front end bearings, I thought maybe it was something to do with that. As we went on though, it sounded more and more like a flat tire. It was pouring rain so we pulled off at one of those gas stations with a giant canopy over all the pumps. No flat but when I tested the lug nuts on the front driver's-side tire, found I could tighten them by hand. While the girls dug out the tire iron, I found the wheel locks. We tightened the nuts and did a couple of laps around the parking lot before testing them again. The pimply-faced kid at the cash register asked if we needed help but we declined and decided we'd just stop again a few km down the road to test them again. Whatever, it held and we were pretty pleased with our pit crew.

We should have tuned into 680 before we got on the highway. The DVP was flooded from all the rain and closed at the Bloor-Bayview exit where we wanted to get off. Since we couldn't see any red taillights I decided not to get off at Eglinton as Jackie suggested and carried on. What a dummy. Traffic seemed to be moving along just fine but then stopped dead. Eventually we got to Jackie's sometime around midnight.

Eve and I carried on down Charles where we witnessed a group of loogans fighting. Probably the longest drive home from Tremblant ever. We want to go again but I'm thinking of flying Porter if we do.

Interesting. So here's what everyone's talking about at the moment...
Earthquake registering 5.5 hit us today. Epicentre between Ottawa and Montreal.

Here's a photo of the devastation in Toronto...

Toronto Island weekend.

My car is out of commission so Eve picked me up at 6am and we headed to the Boulie to meet Ian and a few of the other coaches. So great - Ian had offered motorboat rides so we didn't have to deal with the gong show at the ferry terminal.

There were 8 of us so we took the whaler (Ian, Conor, Eve, Chelsea and me) and Steve took the zodiac with Konrad and Del.

As we were leaving, Ian pointed towards the Palais and said, " Wtf, there're people on the breakwall". Mostly he just noticed them because they had the 10-man dboat pulled into the breakwall with them. Clearly they'd untied it from it's mooring and used it to ferry themselves across the gap. It was a group of 20-something's partying on in their underwear. As we approached Ian said he'd slow down enough so Conor could grab the end of the boat and we'd keep going. We pulled up and Ian said, "What - are you retarded? You can't just steal a boat".

They were so proudly self-conscious of their obvious hip factor; up partying all night, in their underwear, watching the sunrise from the breakwall. Hell, that's just a weekday morning for a paddler and they seemed disappointed that we weren't more reactive to the nudity.

One girl in particular got cranky about us taking the boat after Ian said they could swim back. As we tied it back to it's offshore mooring one of the guys, let's call him "Drum Circle", started swimming back. After a couple of strokes he realized he could just stand up and encouraged the rest to follow. Crank Grrl whined over and over that she couldn't swim so Ian offered to call the Marine Unit to pick them up. She said yes, do that but Drum Circle knew he wasn't referring to a taxi service and said don't bother.

We left them to it. Ian called the lifeguards, Evan and Robert, asking them to check on the 10-man when they got down to Sunnyside since we were fairly certain they'd just untie it again. They did and the guys found the boat up on the rocks behind the Palais.

Seriously, private motorboat is the only way to travel to this festival. I'm spoiled for the ferry now. When we got over there, we had a tent, chair, tarps, all of our gear, everything we would need to survive 2 days on the Island. This was especially good since they had forecast massive thunderstorms for the entire day on Saturday.

Day one was beautiful and sunny and, as much as I was dreading this weekend, with the communting/parking/ferry stress removed it was actually awesome! I got to hang out with some friends I don't get to see nearly often enough, took care of my own crews and helped out with others and got to know my paddlers a little better.

Dave was really entertaining when it came to the ridiculous starter. They don't like to use CCA officials so they just get one of their friends to do it. She gave Dave a time penalty early in the day - maybe even first race - and he was not impressed. And it wasn't even a real time penalty - it was something like .5 of a second.

Eve's brother was there with a vistor from Taiwan. Adward was pretty cool about hanging around the Island all day but I have to say, it wasn't the most difficult thing. Especially since he's a photog. Lots of material there.

Day two and I slept through my alarm. Wow - I haven't slept through the night in weeks and the one day someone is coming to pick me up at 6AM I sleep until 5:58. Fortunately, I hadn't unpacked my bag from the day before. I just had to throw on some clothes and brush my teeth! Still, it meant wearing nasty racing jerseys worn the day before.

As we got to the Boulie we saw that zodiac going past the sailing club. As it turned out, Ian was waiting for us to get there and had given Steve and the guys the other boat. After we remembered that Del was going to paddle across with Pete, we packed up our gear and left. We caught up with the other boat just around the pretend ferry that goes to the Island airport.