I'm home! I had a fantastic trip and will do my best to post some stuff in the next few days. Internet access was so sketch there, I bought a notebook and kept a written journal.

I´ve been here for just over a week. I´m really not spending a lot of time on the internet so will just give a brief overview.
The town I´m in, Dominical, is basically a surfer town. I arrived about 2 weeks before the big tourist season (spring break) so it´s been pretty quiet at my hotel and in the surf camp. Worked out well, having an instructor to myself. So the week broke down like this.
Day One was all about the simplicity of surfing - you have a board, a wave, you stand up and you surf. We spent the afternoon at in the whitewater at Dominical. There are two rip currents at this beach so it was interesting to finally be able to see what that´s all about from beach level. I did well, and was really pumped about the rest of my lessons. Just thinking that if I had never taken up paddling, I would never be able to do this.
And if day one was all about the simplicity of surfing, day two was all about learning to respect the ocean. My instructor Raymond took me over to Dominicalita - a smaller beach in a protected bay. No whitewater surfing here - the waves were 4-6 ft and I got my ass kicked on a couple of them. Wiped out on one wave and as I was standing up, got taken down by the next one in the set. Tumbled, dragged across the bottom of the ocean, came up on the wrong side of the board and got a good crack in the quad. Learned some good lessons on this day!

First, just want to update on two multi-bypass surgeries on men who are so loved by all who know them.

My cousin Graham is finally through the worst of it and has miraculously done it without brain damage or other (predicted) bad stuff. Let's face it, a few days ago, they were saying another hour of life would be a blessing.

And Daddyo, just 16 hours after his 7 bypass surgery was on the phone and talking with the family.

Both these men are so good at their core and have engendered so much love in those who know them, this has only strengthened my belief in Karma and the power of love.

I have a ton of stuff to write about Costa Rica and photos to upload - unfortunately, the internet here is so slow it times out before I can get even one photo up. Lots to tell! I can pass along this though...weather forcast is sunny, mostly sunny, sunny, more sun....well, you get it.

Well, I'm in Costa Rica. The flight was great, we got in early and my driver was waiting after I cleared customs with a sign pressed up agains the main window. It's a 4+ hour drive from the airport in San Jose to Dominical but I was so pumped to be here it didn't matter. Jony, the driver, speaks some english (lots more than I speak spanish) so we were able to communicate a bit but for the most part it was a pretty quiet ride. We stopped partway across the mountains at at a resaurant where I had what will be my first of many plates of rice and beans and chicken. It was fantastic though for only 3,000 colones (1$C = 555 colones). And I didn't realize how hungry I was until I put the first forkful in my mouth.
I'd forgotten how bland Canadian chicken is for the most part. I will sometimes buy free-range at the St.Lawrence Market just to get that true chicken flavour. It tastes amazing here.
We didn't get to Dominical until about 7:30 and by the time I unpacked and cleaned up a bit it was almost 9:00. I had a corona at the hotel bar and then walked around the corner to the soda. I'm too tired to bother with food. I picked up a 6 pack of Imperial beer and pringles. I got a little packet from the green Iguana Office. It has a bunch of meal vouchers and a schedule of the surf excursions. The tide progresses by 45 minutes every day so it changes. Plus we go to different beaches. I'm pretty excited.
My first session will be at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon which is great - I can use a sleep-in. My cousin Graham is still struggling so I've been a little anxious. They had to put him in a temporary state of paralysis to get him to stop fighting the equipment and staff.

From today's Globe & Mail Re: Mike Schaus

No news came through the night and I expected the worst this morning. I was surprised to see that his daughter, my cousin Susan, had posted a message on Facebook shortly after midnight asking friends to pray for a miracle. He is still in this!

This morning at 9:30, more than 24 hours after he went in for surgery, I received a text from Susan. Unbelievably good news! Graham's made it through the night. His heart stopped for 2 minutes sometime during the night (I guess that was the code blue) but he's still in there, fighting for his life. He's developed a slight fever so they have fans all around the room. I called Susan right away. She understandably sounds strung as thin as wire but is hopeful. Enough so that they were able to convince her mom to go back to a friend's to get a few hours sleep.

I guess this is when religious people would pray and it would be so much easier to have that outlet. Instead I'm sending all my love, good thoughts, calm, regular pulsing thoughts towards Saskatchewan.

I'm waiting to hear news about my wonderful cousin, Graham Taylor, who is out in Saskatchewan. He went in for bypass and valve reconstruction surgery thrusday morning at 9:00am.

At 4:00pm he was out but by 5:00pm he still wasn't stable. His heart wouldn't maintain a steady beat and his blood wouldn't coagulate.

By 8:00pm they were working on him and wouldn't let the family in to see him.

At 10:00pm they were using the paddles for a third time but he wasn't responding. Currently they are in a full code blue (I don't even really know what that means except that in hospital shows it's really bad) but I think it's complete heart failure. He's already had two other triple or quadruple bypasses in the last few years. Susan says they did 6 bypasses this time (is that even possible?) and reconstructed a valve.

He's also got an old surgical scar that runs straight down the centre of his chin. That's from when they split his face open to remove a tumor the size of a baseball from his throat back in the 90s. Seriously, it was huge - when you looked in his mouth, it looked exactly like a baby was crowning and about to be born. Basically, this guy is a survivor. I can't imagine him losing this fight.

He's actually my mom's cousin so he's about 74 years or thereabouts but he's ageless. Intelligent and funny, he's a bull of a man who ran his farm on his own up until a couple of months ago when he and his equally dynamic wife, Isabel, finally decided to move into town. He's written a number of books, had a regular column in their local paper and was minister of tourism for the Saskatchewan Legislature. Well-travelled and educated, they lived in Hong Kong throughout his cabinet posting, raised their younger kids over there before returning to Wolsely to continue his political career locally and take care of the farm. I can't imagine not being able to pick up the phone and call him so we can discuss Canadian politics and laugh at my 80 year old uncle Max with his steady stream of 30 & 40-something girlfriends.
I will wait.

Just a couple more days before I'm out of the cold and wind!! Three weeks in Costa Rica is the best cure I could think of for this winter of my discontent. And when I get home it should be spring...

One day last week, I think it was Friday, it was incredible in the morning +9, but the temp fell steadily over the course of the day until it was -25 in the evening.

I had dropped by Jackie and Blake's in the evening (missed Sydney who was already in bed) and got home shortly after midnight. I heard a loud bang from my bedroom. I went upstairs and heard a couple more loud bangs before deciding it was just the house timbers cracking. All that moisture generated by thaw and then extreme temperature drop.

I spent Saturday morning at the nail place in Credit Landing - personal maintenance. It's been ages since I've had a pedicure. Transforming into my summer self!

After the gym last Friday I dropped by Rogers and grabbed a movie to take over to Alyson's. I was planning to pick up Sex & the City for girls movie night but made an executive decision to change it when I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona on the shelves. Timely, since the Oscars are in two days and Penelope Cruz is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in this flick. I got to hang out with Meredith and Hilary before bedtime. Carrie came over too - with a giant bag of ju jubes which we hid from the girls under a blanket. What?? We were thinking of the kids! Alyson told Meredith that it was time to go to bed so Mummy could have some time with her friends.
Mizz M.J. told Alyson that she didn't think she should have to go since we're her friends too. Pretty funny (and she kind of had a point)!
Anyway, the movie was really good and P.Cruz is amazing as the crazy ex-wife.

Saturday, I had to run some errands at Sherway, went to the gym and then pretended I was going to do housework by lying on the couch - you know, my usual Saturday.
Saturday night I met up with Eve over at Katy's. Omg, that poor girl. She blew out her knee playing soccer in their mixed league (she was in goal and some guy totally took her out). Rich saw her leg bend the wrong way and told her to stay down but of course she didn't. She tried to play out the rest of the game but realized something was really wrong because her leg felt "all rubbery". turns out she tore her MCL.
She spent a brief amount of time on crutches with a robocop leg brace but now she has a cane and soft splint. I took some photos which I will add later. It was so much fun even though we just sat in the kitchen eating snacks, drinking cranberry martinis and talking. And talking and talking. We haven't had any time together in ages and now that I think about it, the main reason has been because Katy is always busy with some team or other. She must be going mental having to sit on her butt all the time.
The next day I spent 2+ hours sweating vodka out of my system at the gym. Seriously, think Gavin on a spin bike.

Somewhere between 1200-1500 people turned out for Michael's wake. His friends collaborated to provide a playlist of his top 25 songs and helped out by driving airport shuttle for friends arriving from all over to celebrate Mike's life.

click image to enlarge

I was going to post about my weekend but will do that later. A young paddler from Banook, Mike Schaus, died in his sleep early Sunday morning. I didn't know Mike and have only had a couple of brief phone conversations with his dad about a team he was putting together. However, like everyone in paddling, I was aware of the family who are very active and popular in the Atlantic Division.
Mike was a member of the 2007 Junior Worlds Team and a member of the National Development Team last year. He was supposed to be heading down to Florida on Sunday morning. Some of his friends have returned to Halifax from the Pines to be with the family and Mike's girlfriend, Laura. All my thoughts and sympathy are with them.

We're back in the deep freeze. ugh brrr.

I was watching the coverage of Obama's visit to Ottawa last night and as he and our governor-general, Michele Jean, strolled down the red carpet, I realized that the cool kids are running things. Not in a John Hughes creepy-rich-kid kind of way, but you know, like in high school - the attractive, athletic, popular kids were running for SAC president, playing the lead in the school musical, captain of the ski team, head cheerleader, etc.

This an observation only, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I'd certainly rather watch the social confidence of the Obamas, our G-G and even P.M. Harper than the grating awkwardness of a G. W. and Laura or Nixon for example. I wonder if this is part of why everyone has so much confidence in the future. For North Americans, this just kind of confirms that we can relax, that the social order has righted itself.

I had dinner with Johnny O last night. Ostensibly arranged as a client meeting, it was really more of a catch-up. We just went to the Pump but it was nice to sit and talk in our local (while someone else served our food and took away dirty plates). Btw, it's wing MONTH at the Pump if you're into wings.

Johnny's doing really well. We talked a little bit about all his trips in the past few months - Colorada, Vancouver, Kashagawigamog - but mostly we talked about how we miss our paddling friends and how close our relationships are with them.

Okay, I started writing this on my morning break at work and never got back to it. As an illustration of how true our conversation was, when I got home tonight and collected my mail (seriously thinking, "what bills will there be today") I was very suprised and intrigued to see this undersized envelope.


What a rush! This is the first card I've gotten as Grandma Lynne! It was from Andrea Paiement's daughter, McKenna. I think the poor thing is really confused about where I fit in the gene pool but we'll work that out later. She knows I bring her Easy Bake oven supplies and that seems to be enough. This photo with her soon-to-be little sister was taken just a couple of weeks ago

ugh.
I've been running on a treadmill all winter and don't ever let anyone tell you it's the same as running outside.
The past couple of days were pretty nice so I ran outside. Yesterday was a longer run but felt pretty good - mostly, I suspect, because I was just so darned happy to be doing something in fresh air and light.
Today, I ran during my lunch hour and
every
step
was
an
effort.
The whole time I kept thinking, "Why is the wind so strong and blowing from every direction?" "Why is the road on such an extreme angle?" "Why can I feel the pebbles right through my shoes?" "Is this what a heart attack feels like?"
Okay, it wasn't as bad as that but considering I've been running on average 40 minutes a day, 6 days a week, I didn't expect to feel this out of shape. It's the cardio that is so different. It's so much easier to get my heart rate up when working against inertia and pavement.
Anyway, in spite of all that it feels really good to be challenging myself again.

How's everyone's doing in Florida? I suspect today will be the first full day of training for most. How hard to go from the university life to the Pines. However the atmosphere makes up for any pain and fatigue. Hope you guys are having a good time!

I went up north for the weekend. There were a lot of deer where I stayed. When I came home, I went for a 7km run around my neighbourhood. As I was running along Orr Rd (by the Petro Canada property) I saw deer at two separate spots. They were inside the fence, just standing there looking out.

I was so wrong on the ice breaking up.

Take a look at what a difference a few days (and a few degrees) can make.

neato. The New version of Google Earth 5.0 now lets you explore the ocean!

It is POURING here! We've had temperatures upward of 10 degrees and it's been raining all day. All that snow laboriously shovelled onto my lawn by moi is almost gone! Thank goodness I live on a hill or all that water might be collecting in my basement. I wish I could take a picture to show you how my street has turned into a river. If it freezes overnight, we might be in trouble.
My brother emailed me that Winnipeg has been in a deep freeze since Sunday night - literally. He sent a video some kids made of themselves skating down Pembina Highway. Talk about making the best of the situation. This isn't the version my brother sent, I've chosen the one added to youtube later because the girl skating in the video also wrote and performed the music.Very cool song - reminds me a bit of the Be Good Tanyas.

Okay, the ice won't be breaking up for a long time but it was really nice to see some open water in the harbour this weekend!

Finally, we get a break from the freezing, snowy weather! The weekend temps have been pretty amazing and it's supposed to continue for the rest of the week, getting colder again on the weekend.

Saturday went up to about 10 degrees. I think they said we broke a record from 1991 for highest temp on this day. Whatever, Ryan and I had planned a day of shopping on Queen St. West and this just made it that much better.

The idea was to get some stuff I need for my trip in March so we hit up all of the board stores (they're all along one strip): Billabong, Roxy, Quicksilver, Oakley. But here's the thing - I really just wanted some board shorts and a rash guard but since there isn't a huge demand for surf gear in Toronto - der - and even less for womens surf gear, these stores only carry fashion shorts and no rash guards. The guy at Oakley was able to find one in their storage room (he was almost more excited about my trip than I am) but it was a men's large and white. I decided to hit Sporting Life on Sunday. They're so overpriced but sometimes they're the only source.

We stopped for brunch at the Rivoli before dropping our bags at the car
and heading over to the Eaton Centre. Ryan was looking for some cologne (he's never been a big cologne guy but thinks he should be wearing it now that he's single). And that's where I made my favourite purchase. We stopped in at Lucky Brand Jeans and they had this great tote bag - the Cherry Bomb! The bag I currently use for travel is an old leather Roots messenger-style bag. I bought it back in 2005 just before our trip to Berlin. Anyway, it's in pretty rough shape and since I only plan on taking carry-on with me to C-R, I was so happy to find such an awesome bag! (oh man, there are two cats gearing up for a fight - or maybe sex, hard to tell - outside the window - sounds so weird)

Ryan found some cologne he liked - Code by Georgio Armani - a really nice, subtle scent. I gave up on trying to find surf gear and we called it a wrap. Good thing - it was already 3:00pm and I'd spent waaay too much!

This morning I dropped by for coffee with Alyson and Carrie and then went to Sherway. I spent about an hour trying on board shorts and rash guards (see, Sporting life has everything) and was able to settle on a couple pairs of shorts. I ended up getting a medium men's rash guard because they're the only ones that come in 3/4 sleeves. Plus most of the girls' are too ...um... girlie for me. Most are turqouise or pink with Love or Peace or polka dots splashed across them.

In about 15 minutes I'm heading out to meet Andrea - we're going to see Taken at the AMC Winston Churchill. It's a thriller and since she's 34 weeks pregnant, I made her promise that I don't have to deliver her baby if she gets scared into labour, haha. Oops, turns out she's only 31 weeks pregnant. Who can keep track with so many people pregnant and expecting around the same time? That reminds me, I think Sarge and Marie's baby is due any day now.

It seems so long since I've posted. I'll have to backtrack ...let's see, chili ....

Oh right, on Saturday, January 24th, a bunch of us planned a trip to Dagmar for some cross-country skiing followed by dinner at Karen and Kevin's, hence the chili.

I had arranged to meet Dray at the club in the morning to find out about paddle pool for wics. I tried to time it so I got there when everyone would be out running but the midget boys were sitting on the front stairs. When I asked if they'd already run, they said no, it was too cold and that they never run if it's colder than minus 6. Weird. Man, we were never allowed to use that excuse (the infamous Robbie Burns run when the temp was minus 38 comes to mind). Granted we never liked running when it was freezing but there was a certain satisfaction after saturday morning practices. I really felt like I'd done something and when I got home would light the fireplace and sleep in front of it for an hour. Actually, I would pretty much be bagged for the rest of the day so maybe it's not such a great thing.

Dray was in a meeting so I wandered around the club. I haven't been there all winter and it's funny how a couple of months changes things. Aside from the fact that all the bantams and midgets have grown a foot, there are two brand new Schwinn spin bikes in the breakfast room (there may be more, I just stuck my head in the door) and someone has contributed a Nike 'Wings' poster for the weight room. You know the one - it shows the full wingspan of a young Michael Jordon. It's hung up behind the chin up bars and looks so good! Being down there reminded me of how much I miss the days of training with the kids. No one complains about mortgages or rush hour or bad relationships. It's just laughs and posing in front of the mirror the whole time. Oh well, I'm hoping to be around more this summer so it's all good!

After I left the club, Chanda met me at my place and we picked Marisha up on our way to Karen's. It was a pretty cold day - minus 26 - but the sun was shining and some of the trails are protected from the wind. In the chalet we ran into Scott Madill and Jill and a few other east enders. I haven't seen Jill since she started her chemo and almost didn't recognize her with super-short hair. She looks great! She's through the treatments now and just waiting for the all-clear.

I haven't been skate-skiing for a couple of years. What a gong show! My first loop around the Meadow was pretty heavy going but I got a laugh and some inspiration from Boogh and J.R. as they flew by me in the opposite direction. Was all of Frenchman's Bay on the trails? On my second loop a guy just yelled as he went past, "Stay over your skis and get your nose over the tips". I had to laugh. That's what Eve and the guys would do when I first took it up - passing lane coaching. It doesn't matter who it comes from - it helped me ski better and things went smoother from then on.

Back at Mr. & Mrs. Chief's we warmed up with some wine, chili, crusty bread and minstrone soup. I was reminded of what a great bond we've all forged over the years. I'm not sure exactly when we went from being teammates to family but that's what it felt like as we passed around the food, refilled glasses and talked about everything and anything. We literally had to force ourselves to go home, we were having such a great time.

I dropped Marisha up the street from her bf's place. She staggered a little but I'm not sure if it was exhaustion or wine.

I helped Chanda load her gear into her car and then ran inside. I was freezing and realized how rarely I've been outside this winter. I'll have to make more of an effort, especially since we've had soooo much snow this year. I've complained about not being able to skate-ski for the past couple of years due to lack of snow (which is a crock since last year had heavy snowfall too) and should be thrilled with what we have this year.