Blake just cancelled NDC practices for tonight because of 81km/hr wind gusts. The wind will die down before then but after spending the day retrieving boats that have broken loose, swamped, sunk, they won't be ready to run practices.

The waves never look as big in photos as they really are. Check out this video from the Star website;

Stupid weathermen. They said there'd be thunderstorms when I got off of work and because it was pouring rain, high winds and a black, black cloud overhead I believed them. I didn't go paddling even though I was dying to - doing an hour on the eucalyptical instead (that's what Stringer calls it). When I came upstairs it seemed to be clearing up so I checked tv and internet weather. Nope, they said a string of thunderstorms were coming across from Niagara and would be in the area all night. Aaagh, tantrums, mayhem, TORNADOES!!!

I ate my dinner. I looked at Jimmy Kimmel interviews on gluetube. I drummed my fingers on the desk. Then the sun broke through just as I was cooking dinner. Absolute b.s.

After I ate, I jumped on my bike and peddled down to Waterside thinking it would make me feel better if I saw thunderclouds or lightning over the lake. No. It was a beautiful night - sunny and there was a warm west wind ruffling the water.

Balls.

I could have gone out for a really great paddle. The one redeeming factor is that I found a couple of new spots to put my boat in so I don't have to go to Jack Darling on a summer afternoon.

After my indolence yesterday, I'm anxious to do something today - you know go running, cycling, swimming, horseback riding. All the things Tampax ads promised us women we could do... whenever we wanted.
I settle for a walk. It's just started snowing here - half-hearted effort mixed with rain - I'm dressed in almost head-to-toe Lululemon with a craft shirt and adidas jacket under my trench for added warmth plus Nike gloves and hat. Throw in my new balance shoes and my outfit completely justifies the advertising dollars spent at Runner magazine.
It's a perfect temperature as I cut across the little park just south of my place. Kevin tells me there used to be a golf course where my neighbourhood sits and the park's all that's leftof the greens. I keep heading east until I reach the entrance by the tennis courts, then cut down the trails  - angling toward my favourite stretch of beach.
The water treatment plant is STILL under construction (I think this might be year 5) so the dog park has been severely reduced in size and temporarily moved to surround the tennis courts. People seem to be ignoring this mini-leash-free area, choosing to go all-terrain, and creating paths through the forest to the lake. I like it a lot more actually.
The lake is much calmer today. Little swells - the water looks almost soft, the waves not breaking, the curl gently folds over before washing up on the sand. You could sit and watch this lake for hours. The snow-rain-snow conitnues as I head back toward the marsh, skipping stones (badly) into the lake as I go. By the time I hit the Y in the trail - the left branch exits on Meadow Wood, the other at the bottom of my street - I can see clear blue sky and sun on my left and decide to take the longer route. The blue sky lasts until I get home. A really black cloud moves in and a 10 minute blizzard follows.
I'm making pizza - half for lunch, half for dinner. I picked up one of the frozen ones - dr. oetker - but they always need more kick so I'm adding this great sauce I found in the 'ethnic foods' aisle at Metro. Seriously, what century do we live in? Do european, asian, middle & south american grocery stores have an aisle for north american products? Can you imagine what it would have? Cap'n Crunch and aerosol cheese! They'd have to call it the 'craptastic foods' aisle or something. Anyway, mostly I like the packaging of this bruschetta-type sauce called Bomba Italiana. It reminds me of childhood cartoons; Rocky & Bullwinkle, Wile E. Coyote & Roadrunner...

Friday night and I decided to have a cocktail party at my place. I picked up wine, vodka at the lcbo and tapas, baguette & drink mix at Metro. I ordered some sushi from Momiji when I got home but they screwed up the order, as usual. Momiji is great if you eat in but so-so with the take-out.
People started showing up shortly after 7:30. The party evolved in the kitchen - since I still haven't bought new furniture for the living room (and probably can't afford it after the extra money I had to drop in Fla. on car repairs) there was no overflow as more friends arrived. Eventually, with people standing in doorways, I suggested we go downstairs.
What a great night - it's so good to see everyone. Jessica's leaving in a week (unexpected) for another 4 months of navy stuff in B.C. so it was timely.
I drank too much wine but didn't realize it until I was at the door pontificating too strongly about something not worth pursuing. Mid-pontificence I could see it on Chrissy's face and tried to reel it back in. Those poor girls.
Marisha had to row at 5:45am, first on-water workout for this year, and had decided to stay in the spare room. We stayed up talking for a bit longer but both of us were struggling to keep our eyes open and hold onto the thread of the conversation. I do remember her saying that her 40th floor condo is feeling less like home these days. She dreamed the other night that she was living in a birdhouse attached precariously to a twig, way up in a tree.

Marisha was long gone by the time I got up - at ELEVEN - the next morning. I read for a few hours and, sometime in the late afternoon, went downstairs to catch up on all the tv I missed: the new seasons of Nurse Jackie and U.S. of Tara have started as well as the final episodes of Shameless from the last season.
Even though it was cold, extremely windy and raining outside, it's not like I didn't have things to do. I had planned to do yoga at 3pm with Alyson and Chanda, then get together with someone in the evening before heading down to the TFC game. I just didn't want to move. I've decided it's something about not having my own space for the entire month I was away, replanting myself on home turf so to speak. Honestly? It felt great.
Around 6:45pm, I got a little antsy because I could see the clouds breaking outside. I walked out front and could hear a roar from the lake. This could be good!
I drove down to JD (what? I'd been lounging on the couch all day - you expect me to suddenly get energetic and walk?) and couldn't believe the size & frequency of the waves!  Set after set broke 100-200m out. The beach had basically disappeared and waves washed over the path in places! There was a surfer out there, not sure if it's the same guy I've seen before or not. The board was a different one. The entire time I was there (about 45 minutes) I only saw him catch 2 short and sketchy rides but that's the only way to learn and I give him credit for staying out there. The water had to be shockingly cold in spite of his full-body neoprene. I have no idea how long he was out there - he was on the water when I arrived and was still paddling out when I left, even though the sun had dipped low.
I went home feeling better after some air but continued watching tv until 11:30 or so. I can't wait for the weather to warm up!

I'll get around to writing about the rest of my trip at some point.
I went for a great paddle on Thursday night - put in at Jack Darling beach and paddled to the river. NOt knowing what to expect on the lake, I went home and got out multiple pieces of spandex, neoprene, polypropolen, gloves, hats, socks. As it turned out, double layers of lifa, layers of spandex on my legs plus wool socks under neoprene boots were enough. The water is slightly warmer than I remember it being on my first paddle last year.
I had little bumps pushing from the west as I paddled toward the Ridgetown. As I cleared the pier at the foot of Mississauga Rd., there was a sudden crosswind from the north east that turned into a full-force headwind as I turned up the river. A completely different weather system had moved in.
Just past the Lakeshore bridge, I caught up with Holly and Hayley in their K-1s and we chatted a bit about Florida. This will be a big year for them I think. Both high achievers in school and making big gains on the water. I don't expect to be around the club much anymore but I'll at least catch up with the kids once in awhile on the water.
There were lots of people out on the river. I spotted Derek in his drysuit on sup and Liz in her OC-1. I turned with Liz and we paddled back out onto the lake, heading for Petro-Can point. There were waves now, pushing from the north-east, and we were moving fast on a conveyor belt. Liz hadn't heard me say I was parked at JD so thought we'd be paddling back in the headwind together. I felt bad about that so paddled most of the way back with her since it would be a quick, fun return ride to my car. I turned again at the foot of Mississauga Road.
As I was carting gear between beach and car, a passer-by misunderstood my path and said, "You're not going out right now, are you?" She seemed so concerned. I understood though. As the sun went down it was getting really cold.

I was woken at 7:30am by the sound of hammering on the wall between my bedroom and Katrina's. In true landlady fashion, Jeanie was on a rampage. I'm not sure if it was spring cleaning or some menopausal overload but she was hauling everything out of the closet, actually, half the furniture out of the bedroom, at the same time scrubbing, vacuuming and running multi-loads of laundry.
I didn't fight it, I just got up, got myself a cup of coffee and set to it with my packing. I had a rough plan to load the car tonight and, if I woke at 3am as I have for the past three nights, head out then or at the latest, 6am, getting a full 12-15 hours on the road. Unfortunately, things wouldn't go as planned.
Around 11, I felt I'd done enough, loaded the car up with my boat and beach gear, grabbed a Starbucks misto and yogurt w honey and hit US19 south.
I parked on the Dunedin causeway and paddled out to Honeymoon Island. I could see Peter's truck and trailer parked further along the road and hoped I'd run into him and the campers at the beach. The water is a beautiful turquoise here, a nice change from the Anclote River which is currently a blood & dirt red from the recent storms.
I had a wonderful dolphin moment along the way. I could see two of them playing in the shallows to my right. As I hoped, one of them came over to check me out. Instead of leaping along beside me as they sometimes do, he rolled on his side and cruised along beside me for about 50m looking intently into my face. Just as I realized I was having an animal planet moment, he skimmed under the boat, directly under the boat, shadowing my path. Then he gave the boat a nudge and dropped off behind. It was probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me on the water!
I was on a bit of a high so instead of turning into the beach, I paddled to the furthest end of the island before turning back.  On the way back, I could spotted the outriggers pulled up on the beach and headed in to find the group in the cafe. They had just finished up lunch and we went back to the beach together. They hung out for a bit while Peter snagged a nap on one of the benches. I was reading a book and listening to 80s radio on my scorpion. They left about a half hour before me. Once I'd had enough of my book, I packed my gear and launched my boat. I just don't enjoy lying around the beach anymore. Honeymoon Island is my favourite destination - it never disappoints. I wish it was my home paddling site!
I was driving home craving a hamburger when I noticed that there was a clunk in the front end and the brakes were grabbie. It was 4pm on friday afternoon but I took a chance and called Tim who had put the new hub on when I first arrived and found out my wheel was falling off. He said to bring it right in. He asked if maybe I wasn't just paranoid because of what had happened on the way down and I said possibly but could we go for a spin. I drove for a bit and then he said, "Okay, chinese fire drill!" I haven't heard that since high school when we would load up the car with people and then, at a stop light, all jump out and run around the car, getting back in at other spots. Made me laugh. We switched spots and then he put it up on the hoist when we got back to the garage confirming that the brakes had seized on the other wheel. By now it was almost 5pm. even though his garage is usually closed on Saturday, he said he'd order the parts right away and he would come in at 9am to fix the problem. What  guy! He's confident he'll have me out of there by noon so fingers crossed!
I went to Muzzies and got a Bungoburger. While it was cooking, I went to the liqour store and picked up a case of BL lime. I sat at the kitchen island eating my burger with my beer and, all things considered, felt pretty content.

I'm wondering if I should have left last weekend so I'd remember what a great holiday I've had, instead of this restless "What can I do today" feeling. The place where I'm staying is a madhouse once again. The woman talks non-stop, stream-of-consciousness stuff regardless of whether someone else is having a conversation or writing email or whatever. Plus, she doesn't work so she's around the house ALL THE TIME. Oh and she's a boozer (a really bad one) and has these fits of jealousy about this or that woman chasing her boyfriend. Then there's the boyfriend's 8 year old daughter who is extremely smart and cute and high-maintenance although no one seems to remember to feed her until about 9pm and she's doing her homework until all hours of the night. As soon as I'm home, I'll write an entire post about how I landed in this bizarre and unexpected situation. All I can say is the phrase "being sold Florida swamp land" isn't restricted to purchasing real estate - it can also be about renting.

Honeymoon Island Beach day! It was 55 degrees in the morning but it quickly warmed up to a beautiful 78 so I didn't head out until around 11am. The wind is still from the north so I had a quick ride to the beach with lots of bumps from where I put in off the causeway.
There was a sea cucumber washed up on the beach where I landed. at least I think it was a sea cucumber - I've only ever seen one, translucent grey in a milky broth in a restaurant in Hong Kong. This one was pink and gelatinous and was definitely a relative of some sort. Actually, along the beach I could see other pink lumps being examined by curious beach people.
Later, at home, I mentioned it to Bob and he said there are a lot of boats that go along dragging their anchors, carelessly dredging up all kinds of sea creatures. He thought this was probably one of those situations and the carcasses were washed up on shore. Seems very likely that was the case.

I lay on the beach reading my book for a couple of hours, trying to even out my tan (impossible). By then I was bored so I packed my gear and paddled up to the western end of the island before heading back to my truck. It was so nice there that I got the board down and paddled around for an hour or so. By then it was 4pm. My skin was feeling tight from too much sun, I was hungry, thirsty and tired. I headed home, stopping at Paneras for a sandwich & B21 for a bottle of Pinot.
Jeanie had pulled some art supplies out for Katrina who was painting at the kitchen island. I headed to the porch, hoping for a quiet read. No luck. Jeanie wanted to talk about some woman who was calling all the time, trying to steal her man and, randomly, wanted to borrow $20 for gas. I tried deflecting but she was relentless and I eventually had to just put the book down and make appropriate noises. mmhm, oh dear, really?, too bad.
As the sun set, a truck drove by the corner and a man inside yelled something. Jeanie waved and yelled hi so the truck reversed and pulled up at the end of the yard. She went over to talk and was tied up for about 10 minutes, enoough time to get through some solid pages of my book. Did she know him? As it turns out, not really, but she had told him about her "bed & breakfast" while drunk somewhere. But he was a chatty older man, wanted to know if he could drop by sometime with a bottle of wine, why yes, he might be interested in renting a room. I'm rolling my eyes even now. sheesh. Crazy town.

So the rainy, t-storm warning lasted until noon yesterday. This kind of sucked because I'd bounced out of bed at 6:55am, ready for an early morning paddle. As I headed toward Anclote River Park, I could see the thunderhead over the Gulf. I circled back to where Peter is keeping his boats at Gretchen's dad's house. I took my time circling the neighbourhood, clocking the progress of the black cloud as I crossed each road that ended gulfward.
I rigged my boat at the ramp and tucked it in under the palm trees by the motor boat. The storm was coming fast and I was pelted by raindrops that were a degree or 2 from being hailstones. As I headed back out the road, I met Pete & his campers on their way in to tie down their boats. I turned back to help.
His boats are actually in a perfect spot - even though they're on a point, they're protected by the house & garden on the north, west and south. Since this storm was coming from the north, there was little concern. However, we pegged the straps down tight over the boats and I moved mine under the strap between a double and single. The wind came through then and it was INSANE! I was soaked by the time I jumped into my car (but my hair looked great - all curly and sexy!).
Jeanie was around the house so after I dried off, checked fb, email accounts, wrote a blog post, I tried watching tv in my room. That just made me more restless. They said the severe weather watch (thunderstorms & tornados) would end around 8:30am, then changed it to around 9:00am. I took a book and headed to Danny K's for breakfast, hoping to pass the time until I could go on the water. The lightning and thunder continued while I ate my tarpon omelette (feta, spinach, onions) so it was no surprise to hear that the watch had been extended until 11 when I got home.
I decided to get some decent books. There are no book stores nearby so I've been limited to the kinds of beach books you can find at the drug stores. Terrible. Since our (legitimate) book club was meeting at home tonight, I figured I'd pick up this month's book choice, The Paris Wife. I had to drive up to Port Richey to the Gulfview mall - an hour round trip - to find a Walden books. They actually had a single copy of the book - about Ernest Hemingway's first wife. (Bob says that Books a Million on Tampa Avenue is actually open too but I didn't mind the trip to the mall).
By the time I got home, the storm front had swept past and I could head out. It was a tough paddle up the river - slack tide with a vicious headwind, but when I turned - woohoo!! - it was worth all the work. I had thought I was spent by the time I reached marker 17 (where the river opens out onto the Gulf) but it was so much fun when I turned, I found my second wind! There were waves all the way back. They were especially good near the mouth of the river so I returned a few times to ride them back down. The tide had started to go out by this time but the ride in was great! At each corner there'd be set after set of bumps. Such a fun day.
It was still overcast when I got back so I went up to the nail salon at the corner of US19. I had gotten a pedicure just before I left home but I forgot how quickly beach life can destroy the nails. This place has those super high-tech massage chairs so I had a great, relaxing pedicure. My feet and legs are so messed up by, in this order; cuts on my feet from walking too far in ruber flip-flops, stepping in a fire ant hill, walking into the stones around the firepit (in the middle of the dance floor) at the Zone, that I wouldn't have been surprised if the esthetician refused to touch them. She spent more time on the foot & leg massage than she did on tending my toes but I was okay with that.
When I got home, I still wanted to do something active. Run? blah. The answer was right in front of me -it was an hour until sunset and the bayou was beautiful. I unstrapped my board from the pathfinder and walked it to the dock down the street. This turned into a bit of a comedy act. The tide was out so there was about a 4 foot drop from dock to the water. The water was pushing the board around a bit and I carefully lowered myself over the side and was just able to touch my toes to the board. In spite of my best efforts, my lulu spandex got hung up on a nail, really hung up. Balancing on my toes, resisting the push of the water, I reached back and tried to unhook the snag. It was completely wrapped around the nail and, props to Lululemon, there was no way that luon material was going to tear and set me free. I hung there in limbo, then finally managed to hike myself back up onto the dock, release the fabric and get back on my board without incident. I circled the bayou a few times with a really good tailwind from the north, heading back in only as the sun hit the horizon. After a ho-hum start to they day - it had turned out to be perfect!
The family arrived home just as I finished strapping the board back on my truck and we enjoyed a glass of wine on the porch, admiring the final, shifting colours of the sunset.

It's pouring rain and we're under a severe weather watch so I'll catch up a bit on my posts. First and most important, Carrie and Attila's little boy made his appearance on Saturday, April 2nd - Noah Joseph Buday was born at 7: 26 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz. I'm stealing a couple of pics from Carrie's fb.