...because nothing says "I love you" like a good vajazzling !

I'm a big fan of the Old Spice Manmercials. Especially the ones featuring Isaiah Mustafa...

Just caught a couple minutes of American Idol and now I need to scrub my ears with some Gil Scott Heron.

On Sunday morning, I walked up to the coffee shop in Clarkson for breakfast and a latte. It used to be called Creamdales but it's under new management and I didn't note the new name. They're planning to go all organic. Anyway, I grabbed a table in the window. It was an amazing, sunny day and I wasn't in any hurry to leave. Fortunately I'd brought a book - a cover for what amounts to pure laziness. You can sit around forever if you're reading.

When I got home, I checked email and took a look at my blog stats. I noticed that someone had come to my blog by searching a friend. This is actually really common and the way that lots of people end up at my blog. What caught my attention was that the search was done from my friend's own office network server at 10:13 on Saturday night. I sent her an email saying not to be creeped out but she was so I sent her the name and position of the person (for those of you who think your visits are anonymous...well, they're not.) Anyway, don't know yet if she asked the person why they were doing a search on her. Intriguing!

Cool, go to Google Maps to do a virtual run on olympic courses...Skeleton!!

So tired this past week. And for no reason. Anyway, I've booked my vacation and have something to look forward to in March.

Carrie and I co-hosted the book club at my house on Tuesday. It was so great to see everyone after a particularly long break between meetings. Co-hosting worked out really well too - Carrie brought the food, I bought the wine. I thought most of the women drank white so bought 3 white, 3 red. As it turned out, I should have just picked up 6 bottles of red. Through the entire night I only poured one glass of white. And boy, did these ladies need a night out! They're all young mothers and I forget how restrictive their lives are. Actually, Lee Anne brought her new little girl - just 7 days old (can that be right? I have to check). And Lisa brought her little girl who must be 6 months or so. Both left early. We took longer than usual socializing but did finally get around to discussing the selection - Book of Negroes --by Lawrence Hill.

I was so tired the next day, I skipped my usual spin workout and went to bed early. Still tired on Thursday and skipped SST as well. I hope this is just a seasonal thing. Maybe I've just become lazy (lazier).

For Friday, I reminded Chanda to show up early for paddle pool so we could jump in with the kayakers but unfortunately their workout was switched to the morning. Rumour is that someone in the paddlesport group complained about them overlapping into our time (btw, the masters called & they want you in their program). It's actually so much better to do the workout with the kayakers but whatever. I'll be in warm, sunny, salty place soon.

On Saturday, Excel gym hosted a spinathon for Eve. I did an hour at 11am (which means I got out of bed at 10:25 - shameful). I believe it was organized by Carrie's parents but I got requests from different people to fill bikes so I'm not sure - maybe it was a group effort. I hadn't been there before so it was cool to check out a new facility in the neighbourhood. They ran the hour like a spin class and it was fairly tough. Bonus - oranges and Starbucks coffee were provided!

Since there were a couple of slots open in the afternoon (the spin ran from 7-7) I promised to see if the paddlesport group wanted to take part. There were only 3 of us but one really wanted to do paddle pool.

I went home and slept for an hour before heading back to the canoe club for Rachel's wig party. Tons of people turned up - wearing wigs - it was completely awesome. I also had the winning bid on the Crayola silent auction package. Guess what your kids are getting for presents...Pics are up on fb.

One of my favourite guys contacted me on fb last night. Bob Craymer was every girls favourite crush all through junior and high school. He was super cute...as in David Cassidy cute, which in the early 70s was the best kind of cute. Actually, the first time I saw Ashton Kutcher on That '70s Show, I thought "OMG, Bob Craymer!"


All through school our classes and locker assignments were alphabetically determined, so - Craymer-Curry - we were always in the same home room with lockers beside each other. The fact that he'd frequently pull the back hem of my dress over my head during hallway rush hour never changed my opinion of him. He had the best attitude: always positive, sweet, he charmed everyone and crossed over the boundaries of adolescent cliques. In all of my memories, Bob is laughing.

He did some modelling while we were in school and for years after was the lead singer for the moderately successful band, Trixie Goes Hollywood.

I guess we all assumed he would continue with one of these careers or move into acting. Instead, he's now designing green furniture and interiors in Los Angeles.

Check out his website: robertcraymer.com

It's really too bad that he doesn't deliver to Canada because he's done some beautiful work!

I was having drinks with a friend recently and, while discussing a particular situation, they observed that I was “really good friends with so-and-so”. I didn't say anything at the time because I was caught off guard. Since I’ve never considered the person in question a friend, the idea that others might think we were came as a complete surprise.

Later at home, I thought about my relationship with this person. Did they think we were friends? They'd definitely been calling me a lot lately to vent about something or someone. It's not a conversation, more of a hostage taking. ***Note: I'd like to apologize to the people I've forced to suffer through my imagined, personal dramas*** Anyway, when they call, I have no choice but to listen. (And, shameful as it is, I have on occasion put the phone down and walked away. They're always still talking when I come back.). Eventually, I have to get back to work and end up cutting them off mid-sentence.

Have I, simply by answering the phone, contributed to their misperception that I'm "there for them"? Just when I've decided to start distancing myself from them, I suddenly feel this crushing burden of responsibility.

From this, I'm sure you can figure out that the friend is female. Guys don't care if you're friends. While they may have one or two really close buddies, for the most part they care more about maintaining beneficial relationships. That can mean anything from a person who makes you laugh to someone who can get tickets to a basketball game. Women it seems, are hardwired to declare their friend status all over the place and demand proof– we're best friends, BFFs, whatever. Crap. Did this mean I would have to declare that we were not friends?

Okay, here's the thing. In my life, I've made major alterations to my opinion on what constitutes a friend. Pre-divorce, I thought everyone was my friend; my boyfriend's roommate's girlfriend, the guy who spins videos at work, the cafeteria lady or the convenience store guy.

After I got divorced and all my female friends abandoned me for the single guy my husband became, I got an education in the definition of friend. The field narrowed considerably. It was further diminished when the guy I considered my failsafe, my mentor-in-single-life declared that we were definitely not friends.

So like we do, I adapted and refined my perspective on the world. Going forward, the people I consider friends are defined by...what? Shared history? Similar worldviews? A sense of loyalty. A feeling that I could call on them in an emergency. The pleasure I feel for them when something good happens adn the heart-squeezing when  they or one of their children is sick or hospitalized.

The result is that at 50 I have far less friends than I did at 40 but considerably more acquaintances.

Unfortunately, I still feel responsible for people who call me friend. Reciprocol or not, I guess I'll just have to suck it.

Marisha's birthday weekend & Nordic Fest at the Scenic Caves in Blue Mountain.
Marissa, editor of Get Out There magazine, took this pic of (L-R): Scott, me, Marisha, Eve, Liz, Wai Ting (Jonathon's friend from Taiwan) & Fred.
We stayed at Nancy M's biatch-pad and went snow shoeing & x-country skiing at the Scenic caves.
Karen & Chanda arrived shortly after this photo was taken. I headed back to the house and the girls did a x-country loop.

The night before, Marisha, Nancy and I had dinner and drinks in Blue Mountain. I had a cold and bailed early on the night.

Spare me the analyses and comparisons. Are we going to relegate ourselves to playing never-good-enough, little brother to our square-jawed, over-achieving, all-star, older sibling forever?? My opinion: the Olympic opening ceremonies were as Canadian as it gets.

Gretsky's long truck ride in the rain to light the outside cauldron? It may have made for bad tv but for the fans who ran alongside the truck cheering and waving, it was an unprecedented opportunity to be part of an Olympic Games opening ceremony (not to mention brush with greatness!!)

Anyway, here's one of the guys I can't wait to watch. Yeah, he makes something like 7.5 mil a year but he clearly isn't some overpaid, mtv prima donna. Here's his winning performance from the X Games last month. Look at the way he comes back from an unintentional spinal realignment...

It always happens...the more I have to write about, the less I write. Lots has been on my mind though and I wish I had the time to blog it; Eve's treatments, current affairs (Olympics, George Bush's "Miss me yet?" billboard. Sarah Palin writes speech crib notes on her hand, the urrbandictionary defines that aid as a Redneck Teleprompter), what to do this summer, what to do in March (anyone know of a good rental in Florida, Gulf side? Fred gave me a contact but the guy hasn't gotten back to me) and so on. I definitely need to replace those clocks up top (must have been copyright issues but the Vancouver one will be down to zero in a couple of days)

Right now I'm feeling dehydrated and tired. Have to get up at 5am so I'm shutting it down.