Last night was Peter's indoor paddling event. Chanda drove to my place and we car-pooled in to OPA.

Quite a few people were there - Nathan, Stringer, Dray, Attila, P.J. and a few of the Mayfair bunch. It was a good event - lots of races, lots of cheering, good results! Pete had also brought in beer and sandwiches from the butchers/caterers. I've posted some photos on FB.

Kaylynne's home for reading week and we decided this was a good venue to get together. She brought me some honey from her dad's beehive and a whole bagful of kekoi from her trip to Kenya.
It's so great to see her! Of course I had to see the scar from her (unexpected) heart surgery at Christmas. It's much smaller than expected and looks like it'll fade quickly.

When Kaylynne started pulling the fabrics out of her bag, it looked like she was opening a bazaar. They're all such gorgeous colours, I had trouble deciding and had to limit myself to seven: 2 x 4m fabric, 4 kikoi and 1 kanga (I can't remember if this is what Kaylynne called it but she explained it as the wrap people use to carry babies or, you know, wood).
She, Chanda and I were just hanging out together and I can see why some people say we girls are sometimes cliquey or even bitchy. There were other people to talk to and we should have really been circulating but since we haven't seen each other in awhile, we have lots to talk about, mutual friends, stories to share. I had every intention of going to talk to this person or that but before we knew it, most of the people had left and the guys were getting their poker on.

Kaylynne is finished school this year so back in the 'saug for the summer (after a brief stint in Kenya, mentoring new students). In the course of our conversation we determined that we'll do dragon boat together (the heart surgery has forced her to retire from high performance kayak), form a(nother) book club. Kaylynne and I also discovered we both intend to take sewing lessons so there's that too. We have our hearts set on Chelsea's mom for a teacher but realize she's probably too busy. We figure kikoi would make amazing boat and paddle covers.

I grabbed my stash of beautiful fabric, seriously feeling like a gypsy, and got ready to leave. No way was I getting sucked into losing my money at poker (I've only won twice while playing with the guys). Kaylynne was leaving to return to PEI with her sister + sister's boyfriend first thing in the morning so we said bye at our cars

I had a raging headache for some reason so after I dropped Chan at her car, I went straight back out to shoppers to get a giant bottle of advil.

Ryan and I are meeting Laurel for dinner tonight - Steak Frites on Yonge - so I asked if he wanted to bring Sylvie along. I haven't met her yet and I thought this might be a good opportunity - just a couple of us shouldn't be so overwhelming. We met at Laurel's and then headed over in one car.
The restaurant has a good atmosphere, basic cuisine. Sylvie is great - I like her a lot! Smart, confident without being overbearing, self-sufficient, works as a project manager for a non-profit org that provides educational tools or some such.

Sunday, I went to see my dad, first time since his last trip to the hospital. A nurse goes in to administer the iv drugs every day and he's still on oxygen. At first I was stunned by how alert he was, then realized it was most likely due to the oxygen. Miriam was the caregiver on today. She was feeding him the nursing homes gelified version of breakfast - anything solid is watered down and anything watery is thickened by some powder they add. He still frequently chokes on it though - a horrifying few moments with soundless gagging while he tries to pull air into his lungs and form a feeble cough - there's nothing you can do but wait it out. Things that were alarming a couple of years ago are just routine these days.

Miriam said she just passed her citizenship test and will be attending the ceremony tomorrow (Family Day). She said she had failed the test once because they changed the questions. I wasn't sure what she meant so she explained. New Canadians can choose to study from the book provided by the government or from the actual test, with answers, that's posted on the Internet. She had been studying the one on the Internet when Canadian Immigration had actually changed the tests. So she failed. This time she had passed because the correct cheat test was online. I smiled and congratulated her when I was actually pissed that so many people are getting their ticket to border freedom (Canadian passport) without bothering to learn anything about the country. Yeah, I know, how naive am I.

I never finished that last post... so after the travel slideshow, Ryan and I decided to catch the last of the sun and walk up to the grocery store in Lorne Park. On the way I asked if he and Sylvie were still dating (they hadn't been going out for very long before he left) and he said yes, they had carried on through fb, txts and phone calls while he was gone. I wasn't sure because he hadn't mentioned her wanting to pick him up at the airport or when he'd be seeing her now that he was home. .
As it turns out, he was heading over to her condo in a little while. We talked about his plans now that he's home;  careers he'll pursue, the companies at which he'll apply and so on but not about residence. You have to understand, for a parent, no, make that for a mom, this conversation is full of pitfalls. On the one hand it's important that he knows my home is always his home, on the other, having a 31 year old son back at home can cause a strain on your mom-son and other relationships. As usual, I was overthinking things. As it turns out, he's moving in with Sylvie! I haven't met her but it sounds like they have a good relationship. I'm really pleased about it!

I didn't know what Ryan planned to do on his first day home. Actually, I didn't know his short or long term plans. He'd given up his apartment and job when he left for Australia. For the time being though, I figured I'd hang around the house until he woke up so I could find out more. i cleaned up a bit, went for a long walk through the marsh and Jack Darling, watched some tv....Ryan just kept sleeping. I was starting to think I should just make my own plan for the day when I heard him walking around upstairs. 12 hours - not so unusual for that kind of trip.

He was still pretty groggy but was trying to force a reset of his circadian rhythms. We had leftover thai food for brunch and then connected his camera to the tv for a slideshow of his thousands of photos. Actually, he discovered that he'd left the cable for his Sony camera at Gavin's so we put his card into my camera and then had to search around for the video cable for the Canon. It was so worth it! His photos are fantastic. I've only seen a handful that he uploaded to FB. And there's a clear evolution of his photography skills from the start of his trip to the end.

Friday afternoon was beautiful and sunny so after work (we got off at 3pm - hour early for long weekend) I went for a run/walk, then grabbed a coffee at Tim Horton's in Clarkson and walked home through the marsh. I was out of the wind in there but the treetops were constantly thrashing. The occasional twig came down but I figured I was fairly safe from bigger branches since this had been going on all day. The trail was icy and the creek was high and fast from all the melt but the sun was everything. I feel like I can make it through a few more weeks until spring, no matter what winter has left to throw at us.

Ryan's flight was coming in between 8:30 & 9:00pm. Thanks to the internet, you can find out every detail about a flight's progress, including minute-by-minute changes to departure & landing time. I was buffeted all over the road by the 100km hour winds as I drove to the airport. I kept my mind off what the approach and landing would be like. If it was that bad, they would have cancelled all kinds of flights, right? I watch the planes coming in as I drove up the last stretch of the 427 and it was interesting.

I texted Ryan to let him know I was in the airport. Since the last leg of his flight was from San Francisco, it was doubtful they'd be delayed too long in customs. His flight had landed but still no text (found out later that his phone had been disabled). I looked up from my book just as he walked through the exit - tanned, thinner, looking great. Not jet-lagged or travel weary at all! He was shocked by the cold as we walked through the parking lot but he said he didn't mind - he was happy to be home.

He'd flown straight from Alice Springs to Melbourne to catch his flight and hadn't eaten in hours so we went to the Crooked Cue for a meal. He told me some of the stories from his trip, especially the last stretch through the outback. About halfway through, I could see him start to lose focus. The hours of travelling were finally getting to him. The only souvenir he'd bought was a leather hat for the outback so I made him put it on for a photo. He also got me a bunch of RipCurl stickers for my board/boat/blade.

When we got home, he wasn't quite tired enough to go to bed so we decided to watch a movie. Everything available was pretty intense - Inception, Machete etc - too much for someone baffled by 24 hours of air travel. We settled on Toy Story 3 as something mindlessly entertaining. It's actually pretty clever. Of course he barely made it halfway through before he passed out.

I'm so pleased Ryan's home again and that he had such an amazing experience.

The weather in Toronto is INSANE!  Sunny & warm - It was 12 when I was driving into work this morning, w-network says it's 8 now but that's with a brisk 45km/hr wind.
For some reason,  I completely gapped out on Marisha's birthday in early February so I invited her over for dinner along with Eve and Chrissy. Chrissy had a CKC-WOD organizing committee meeting so she dropped by later. We ordered in Thai food, had mini New York style cheese cakes instead of a birthday cake, lots of wine, lemon ginger tea and laughs. Great night just hanging out and catching up.

Ryan gets home from 3 month in Australia tomorrow night. He's been in the outback for the past week - Melbourne to Alice Springs. I hope he's not too jet-lagged when he gets home - I want to hear all about it and check out his photos.

Damn. Some chinese spammer got into my gmail somehow and harvested my contacts. Sent at least two emails before google disabled my account. Funny, the worst thing about cleaning up this type of infection is the number of emails you get from people saying, "Hey, I got this email from you and it looks like you've got a virus". Each one requires a response.

My hair has been bugging me a lot lately, plus I'm not really creative with it - up-dos, messy buns etc. so Friday night, got it cut off. I've basically had my hair in a pony tail since last April and I need a change. Also, I've gained a lot of weight so a new hairstyle is one way to effect immediate change. Hopefully having to take more care of my hair will inspire me to pay more attention to other aspects of my life.

I'm still getting my hair done byVictor in Hazelton Lanes so I parked at Kipling and took the subway into the city. When I left work at 4pm, 680 was reporting the Gardiner was a parking lot so I am loving the subway system!

I love my visits with Victor and I love the new look.  I should have taken a picture of it when I got home but it was late and I was tired. After that, I didn't bother. It always takes a few days before I'm adept at styling it.
Saturday morning, I had breakfast at Helen's and then took a walk through Port Credit. I haven't been along main street for awhile and one of the guys at work told me about a new store for glasses. I found it and he was right, they have some great styles. I bought 3 pair.

I went home planning to hang some pictures, reclaim my house post-renovation, but damn, my new tv makes it difficult. It's so shiny and big, it calls to me even though it's turned off. And it's recorded all of my favourite shows....it's like Ryan Reynolds without his shirt on - impossible to ignore. So, I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in front of the tv.

Alyson and I have been trying to get together but our plans fell through when Dray's sister Holly asked them to babysit. I was just trying to figure out what I should do for the evening when Alyson called back and invited me for dinner. I haven't seen those guys in ages - it was really nice to hang out with them and the girls. Meredith and Hilary are pretty amazing, they're so outgoing and fun. Meredith sang a song for me - she is a natural - confident, with a strong, melodic voice.

On Sunday afternoon, I met Chrissy & Jeff at the canoe club to go skating. Dray was riding the bike upstairs and stepped onto the balcony to wave. After not seeing him for months, suddenly 2 days in a row! Del also dropped by - he was coaching a crew for Jess who was at a course for the navy reserves. We had a brief catch-up before he had to go inside.

Around 6:00, I headed over to Secko's for the Superbowl. Blake and Sydney were there (Jackie wasn't feeling well so stayed home with Mason), along with Amy and her two boys and some neighbours of Tammy and Greg's with their 4 kids. The children stayed downstairs for most of the time - their house is amazing for these kinds of parties. The basement rec room is a kid playland and is far enough away that you don't hear noise unless it's the somebody's-hurt kind. Then the associated parent goes down and fixes it.
No one there was a hardcore football fan - except for Dylan - so although we watched the game, we weren't glued to the tv. We were so busy socializing, none of us even noticed that Xtina messed up the lyrics. The half-time show was terrible. BEP meets TRON (although Slash was ok) and Green Bay won.

I've worked for the school board for 24 years and we (administrative staff) have never been given a snow day. In fact, for our board (East York and then Toronto) I can only remember a handful of snowdays for students. Today, they shut us down... about an hour after I got to work.

They've been talking about this monster storm "the size of Texas" for almost a week. 30cm of snow, mad traffic issues, stock up on bottled water and groceries, hide your kids, hide your wives...mayhem! I wondered about cancelling our 6am practice but since I we had discussed it on the first day and vetoed skipping due to weather and no one messaged, I decided to go. I set the alarm for 5:10 but was woken up by thunder around 4:45 - a crazy boom that shook my walls and rolled into the distance for over a minute. It was so uncharacteristic of thunder that I wondered if there'd actually been an explosion at the Petro Can plant.
I looked outside and there really wasn't a lot of snow - somewhere less than 10cm. Still, I threw a shovel in the back of the Pathfinder in case I got plowed in somewhere. I'd put the truck in 4-wheel drive before backing it into the garage last night but really, all these precautions were unnecessary.

The first thing I heard on 680 was that the Gardner was closed in both directions between the Humber and Kipling. A hydro pole had been knocked down, dragging the wires across all lanes. My destination was Islington but decided to go straight across Lakeshore instead of getting caught in the bottleneck at Kipling. I got to Pete's gym at 6:00 and of course no one was there. I texted Peter and he responded right away - he figured we wouldn't bother because of the weather. I felt really bad but going back home wasn't an option and the doors wouldn't be open at work for another hour. Pete came and opened up - gave me a workout and went outside to shovel the walk in front of the gym. He's gotten the furnace installed now so the gym is warm.

I heard on the radio that pretty much all of the school boards had finally caved and declared a snow day for kids. We, on the other hand, had received an email from our boss the night before asking those of us who live close to the office to arrive a half hour early to cover for others who might get stuck in traffic.

The only people in the entire building were the I.T. department. Nameir came and asked me to take a look at the board website. It said all schools and admin offices were closed. It took our bosses approximately 10 minutes to send us an email to go home. It was barely 8:00 so I said I was going to stick around for awhile to let the plows clear the roads. It was nice and quiet - why go back out on the road?  One of the guys who lives in the apartments behind our office mocked us "Haha, see you suckers, I'm going home" and I pointed out, yeah to your children and wife, stuck in an apartment. I was surprised when he sat back down and called his wife to say he had to stay at work a little longer.

Our boss said if we wanted to stay for a little while and clear up some work, she'd give us a day off at another time. Most of us took her up on it. Eventually the caretaker realized we were in the building. He was shutting it down so he kicked us out around 10. Still in that short period we had cleared up a lot of outstanding work. Yay us!

I stopped at Starbucks, then went by Carrie and Attila's on my way home. I wanted to drop off a Food & Drink magazine I'd picked up at the LCBO for Carrie and some Boo boo bling (registered trademark) from Sephora. That was for Charlie. It's little rhinestone flowers you stick on bandages to sparkle them up. They were having a pyjama day - lounging around the house. Carrie is just two days away from starting her maternity leave. To say she's looking forward to it is an understatement although I understand that she's not too comfortable at the moment with some hip/pelvis issues.

By now the roads were clean and green (that's right - cb radio talk for "roads are clear". The '70s never leave you). The plows had been by at least twice and scraped them down to pavement. Ever notice how the combination of a clean road and salt actually makes the road *more* slippery? The driving's better with a layer of snow on them. Not that it mattered - there was no one out there. I went to the grocery store and bought a ton of fruit - I've been craving it. That weekend in Calgary really threw me off. I slept almost all afternoon. Good because I've been averaging about 3 hours a night since last Friday.

When I woke up, I went outside to find that my next door neighbour had shovelled my driveway! I felt kind of bad because I'm sure he pictured me out working or whatever, when I was just metres away, curled up like a slug in the comfy chair. Anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to take over the art supplies I'd picked up for their daughters at christmas. Mini-easels and canvasses with brushes and acrylic paints. When he opened the door, Ian just peaked through the crack and said he just had his longjohns on. They had taken the kids x-country skiing on the river. I said no worries and thanked him, handing over the bag for the girls. They showed up a few minutes later, coming from the marsh where they were walking the dog. They told me there were waves coming in on the lake from 200m out - pretty much like last night when I saw this guy surfing.

I was watching the Daily Show the other night. I'm recording all the shows I miss because I go to bed so early. Anyway, there was a guy on who's writing (another) life and times of John F. Kennedy. They had a big build up to his interview "which is the most memorable inaugural speech?",  "The most moving?" and everyone answered, "JFK's 'Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country'". I agree with that. So this guy has a photocopy of a speech made by the principal of John Kennedy's prep school, the prestigious Choate, when John was there as a student. And guess what the hook in his speech was. Yup, "Ask not what your school can do for you but what you can do for your school". According to this guy, JFK totally plagerized one of the most memorable speeches in US history.
yeah, you should blush Jack/John, whatever your flipping name was.

Just got my vacation approved for March! I'm going a little later this year with the idea that I might hit New Orleans on my way home for the French Quarter Festival April 7-10. We'll see how the month pans out.

Larry and Derek did a stand up race in N. Carolina - the Coldstroke Classic.  I had considered going until I found out that "Coldstroke" refers to the temperature and is not the name of a river or location. Larry came first and Derek second in their divisions so it was a successful trip for them. Some 100 people there in various divisions so it looked like a fun event. I think Larry even won some cash.

Ryan's still in Australia and I was briefly worried when I hadn't heard from him in a day or two. The last I'd heard, he was on his way to Brisbane but all of a sudden it was all over the news that there was massive flooding all over the area. It didn't help that youtube had tons of videos posted by locals.

Ryan was supposed to be there with Nuangi. She postponed her arrival for a few days and Ryan held off in the Gold Coast until the worst was over. Two days after the peak flooding, he went in, headed to the volunteer centre to sign up for cleanup duty. I'm not sure where he stayed the first couple of nights but that last time I talked to him, he'd just moved into Nuangi's apartment and the power had just been restored.

I'm home sick with the flu today so will take the time to back-post to catch up on the end of 2010.

Saturday morning I woke up to the sound of a snowplow rumbling up the street and the scraping of shovels on pavement. I could see through the skylight that the tree branches were covered in fluffy snow that continued to fall.
Shovelling the driveway seemed as good an excuse to rouse myself as any so I pulled on some clothes, ran the coffee maker and went outside. I was pretty proud of myself for getting out of bed before 11:00am. No lie, my life is good (as in "I do what I want").
It didn't take long before I was back in the house with my comfy clothes on, a latte in my hand and some Zeppelin playing while I read a book. Usually I'm hyper to get out of the house but given the weather, I was content.
Then Chrissy texted that she was in Port Credit buying skates, did we all want to go skating on the river. Can you think of a better way to spend a snowy day? It was the perfect suggestion. We got to the club shortly after 2:00pm and shovelled out the rink that the kids at the canoe club had made. Then we just kept shovelling. A half dozen guys had started creating another rink in front of the rowing club but when they saw us, they brought their shovels over and we created a huge rink. I haven't skated in 3 or 4 years so by the time we finished, I was ready to go home. It was perfect though, a little over an hour was just enough.

Because Mississauga doesn't pick up electronics like Toronto (you have to take them to the recycling depot yourself), Chrissy and Jeff came by to help me get it the monster mahogany tv off the curb. I'd put it out there in the hope that someone might want it but no dice. It was out there for a week, frozen, rained and snowed on. No one would think it still worked and I'm sure my neighbours were starting to hate me!

New Years Day, I caught a ride with Carrie and Attila to J.R. & Fanny's open house. So many people I haven't seen in a long time - the host & hostess, Mike & Barb S., Lara & Chris Diggs, Jodi B. etc etc. not to mention all their children, assorted relatives & neighbours.
Good times, good times. They had an amazing spread of food - JR had picked up a few hundred mussels and a giant wheel of Oka cheese on his trip through Quebec and Fanny had roast porks and assorted dips, sauces and appetizers. And POUTINE!! unbelievable. Perfect New Years day party, the kidlets were in the giant playroom downstairs, the guys gravitated to the deck (and the shucking table) and the rest of us wandered from one room to another. It was great reconnecting with so many friends.
Since I don't have any photos from the event, I'm posting JR's extranormal video Typical Windy Weekend.

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.