Almost as good as a real dog...
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
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 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.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
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!
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.
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.
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