I'm not writing much these days because my father's in the hospital. I don't want to remember this time later so instead I'm going to post about other things.

I went to the TFC home opener last Saturday with Marisha, Sonya (this
was her birthday present) and Ryan. So much fun. It was a great day: friends, beer, sunburn, 1-0 for us. I told Ryan to remind me of that day whenever season's ticket renewal time came around. It is so worth it. For some reason the 7 seats to my left remained empty the entire game. I swear they were the only empty seats in the stadium! I hope it just meant they had found a really good spot along the rail in the beer tent because it would suck to have empty seats beside me the entire season. My new seats are as close as you can get to the fan section. I loved our old section - lots of spirit - but it's way rowdier (= fun) in 109!

After the game, we walked along King Street past Rob's restaurant. Rob's gf, Esther, was outside the Bungalow putting up planters. Even though the bar was closed she invited us in for a drink. Big mistake! She opened the french doors onto King and we sat at the window table. That's all it took for other TFC fans wander in and order drinks. Esther handled it like a pro - calling in Rob and a bartender to pick up the slack. We apologized a million times but she said not to - that it was an unexpected windfall. They're going to get the TFC schedule and make sure they're open after every game!

Afterward, Ryan went off to some bbq, Sonya went home to feed and walk her 18 month old "golden doodle" Fin while Marisha and I hit Burrito Boyz and then went on to Hot Docs. We saw Talking Guitars, about Flip Scipio, the dutch guitar restorer. The film was not fantastic but it was interesting to have Flip at the Q & A afterward. He is a very funny man.

On the training side of things, I've been paddling outrigger for the past month. I still have my C-1 but don't see myself paying a fortune to go to Dartmouth for just one or two races. Pete has been great about loaning me one of his Hody OC-1s. He's been keeping it in an empty slot at the club and it's worked out really well, allowing me to paddle until my new boat arrives this weekend. The weather these past few weeks has been phenomenal. I'm so glad I've been able to take advantage of it. Thanks Pete!

Hmm, there's clearly a dutch theme happening here today. If you're a fan of Rube Goldberg, check out this commercial for a dutch department store. Just click here, let the page load, don't try to select anything, give it a minute and watch what happens.

Click here for a good article on Adam's training leading up to Beijing. Rob Longley did a great job of describing life at the Pines. Reading it immediately put me back there and made me smile. The grey cubicle with the grimey window overlooking the 427 actually disappeared for a few minutes.

Most of you know that I've been thinking about moving to a downtown condo in a year or two but I may have to rethink that plan. There's a lot to be said about living in a great community like Port Credit. Aside from the obvious benefits of being close to the lake and trail system so many of our friends are still living here. Yesterday, after a discouraging weekend of clearing out my parents' house, I couldn't stand to be stuck inside anymore. I headed toward Clarkson with a vague intention of hitting Shoppers and Starbucks, avoiding the tempting shelves of red wine at the liquor store and then swinging back home through the marsh.
Instead, I ran into Carrie and Charlie on their way to the bank! We had a coffee at Tim Horton's and Carrie invited me back to their's for a bit. Charlie is a sweetheart - she's so happy and SO active! Running into them was just what I needed after such a dismal day.

I'm a big collector of music. Tv is a great source - commercials, themes from shows, credits - especially since the stigma of "selling out" has been removed. If I hear a song I like, I hunt it down on youtube or google - great resources when you don't know the name of the artist. Today, I went looking for the song "New Soul" from the most recent Macbook "Air" commercial. A search of Feist's listing came up empty. I just assumed it was Feist - it sounds like Feist, they used 1-2-3-4 in the iPOD commercial. Anyway, as it turns out, it's an artist named Yael Naim. Love the song, love the video! Maybe girls can relate more to this but this reminds me of every new start I've made in my life - my first apartment, holding my son for the first time, first home of my own, first time in a new country...all great memories. Anyway, it's worth a watch if you have the time...

Some great news from Jenn & Trent!

They became engaged on

March 27, 2008

(don't worry, I had Jenn's OK to post it here!)

Congrats to Team Delfaxouverville for coming third in the Cold Foot Classic - 12 hours 41 minutes!

Louise and Mia celebrated their birthdays along with Easter this past weekend. Alison and Ron flew over from Toronto and Linzee from Bali.

Adam randomly pops up on tv during a Raptors away-game. He's training at the Pines so was able to catch the game in Orlando where Rod Black found him. Here's the "Pressure, I eat it for breakfast" interview in case you missed it...

Secret training for the 2008 Olympic K4?

Not really. The guys had an AYF paddle on the schedule and decided to do it in this boat.

I've just checked Jenn's blog and Trent has started the Rock and Ice Ultra marathon in Yellowknife. Temperatures are in the -20 to -30 c range (apparently ideal for the racers). You can check race reports at Sleep Monsters. Trent and teammate Shaun are competing as Team Delfaxouverville in the Cold Foot Classic relay - a 71.5 km, continuous foot and snowshoe or XC ski race. The website states that "...runners must carry snowshoes and skiers must use classic or backcountry skis on an ungroomed trail. The Cold Foot Classic is a fully supported race. There are 4 road accessible check points along a well marked trail and racers are encouraged to cache food, gear and have a support crew on stand by."

Team Delfaxouverville

(Trent's on the right - with the giant snotcicle)

I was late for work this morning ... stupid cows. That's right, cows. A trailer overturned coming off the 427 ramp onto the westbound QEW and four cows took a little tour down the highway and around the Dixie Rd neighbourhood. Apparently they had to call in a rodeo expert to round them up. Just when you think the daily commute is repetitive and tedious, there's livestock blocking your route.


Really, I should have expected it. I woke up abruptly at 5am with the feeling that someone was staring at me. It was just the moon shining straight into my eyes through that skylight window at the top of the stairs. It was incredibly bright and although the weather network says it's a "waxing gibbous", it looked full. And circumstances prove that we're still in full moon effect. I hope it wears off by lunch because the guys in the office are acting like 11 year olds (providing a continuous stream of fart and booby jokes).

I'll write more about training camp later. I just have time to post this update on Chrissy in Australia. She's been taking her bronze medallion to become a lifesaver at Bondi Beach. Of the workouts, she writes;



"...we have to practice this run/swim/run a couple times a week. It's only 200m, if that, of swimming and a total of 100m of running, but let's just say I'm third in the water and not even close to third coming out???!!! These darn Ausies! How do they do it? I can't even begin to explain how heavy my legs feel trying to run out of the water after swimming... seems so easy on Baywatch?! (not even going to mention how hard it is to run on soft sand - that's another story and skill to be learned later) The good news, I've been practicing my swimming so was heaps better today - mind you, the surf was pretty calm ... Above is a pic of our Bronzy Group. Our theory and practical tests are coming up. If I pass that - no more goofy orange hat... it's straight to the cool red and yellow one!"

Hmm, that gives me an idea for a photoshop... Check back in a couple of days.

We've been really lucky with the weather (I know, not so much at home). It's been beautiful! We're doing lots of paddling but yesterday was our day off. I drove down to Dunedin thinking I'd get a ticket to the afternoon Jays game after doing some shopping. Once I got there though, I didn't feel like shopping and the game was about 6 hours away. After briefly considering the rental bikes available along the Pinellas trail, I decided to drive to Clearwater. Best idea yet! I got there early so there was no backup on the causeway, easy parking and lots of prime beach real estate. Ahhhhhhh. After a couple of hours, I went for a walk along the main drag. There's a lot of construction going on - mostly condos replacing outdated hotels. Nothing much to see - the same sorry surf shop chains that you see at Cocoa, selling the same cheap sweatshop, self-promoting t-shirts. I headed back.

The traffic around Dunedin was crazy and I had kind of bonked from not eating so decided to pass on the game. Too bad - they won. I took a short walk through Tarpon Springs and then hit the Lime in the Coconut (shake-it-all-up) for a conch salad and to hang for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5 I dropped by the bayou to go for an AYF paddle but there were no boats available. Ended up watching the other group doing their 2K time controls.
Eve, Chanda & I had dinner at the Lime in the Coconut. We watched the Cincy and Pittsburgh college ball game. The bar cat kept coming in and trying to junp up on the chairs at the next table. The server apologized each time she came to collect him and explained he wanted to go sleep there since it was so cold outside. Keep in mind we were wearing tanks and jeans. We had team boats in the morning so called it a night as soon as we got home.

Congratulations to Larry's other championship girls...

St. Mildred's Hockey

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning...

Time, as they say, flies....

Tutts turns 40

(appropriately shown here with The Black in 1997. Doug is the record holder for number of times winning this trophy)

Steph King (Haldane), due July 12th.

Here she is showing off her baby bump at a Raptors game.

Chrissy having fun on the rope climb at Bondi.

I finally got to see my father today. He woke up for a bit and he definitely recognized me. He's better but they still haven't determined the source of the infection that put him in there. Thankfully, he doesn't have pneumonia and there's nothing wrong with his heart, no sign of a stroke. They finally got him out of the ICU and into a private room so it's quiet and he's more comfortable. We're hoping tomorrow to hear that he'll be moved into the long-term care wing until we can find him a bed at a more permanent facility.

Last night I got one of those calls I've been dreading. My Dad's been taken to the hospital. He's in the ICU but I can't go see him because I'm sick. The word palliative has become part of my vocabulary.

I'm so sick. The kind where I can't imagine ever feeling better again. I went to bed delirious with a fever around 4:00pm on Friday afternoon and, except for a trip to the walk-in clinic, haven't gotten up for more than a few minutes to take medicine or make a cup of tea. Ugh. I can't even care that I'm missing our three day weekend - the first ever family day holiday.

Even though I've been a little...umm...lazy this weekend, I did get out a bit. I was really grateful to Alyson who shook me out of my inertia to go for a run on Saturday night. It was warm enough for there to be melt water but cold enough to form black ice on the roads . We decided to run on the sidewalks for traction but since half of our route was low ground, we got massive soakers. And you couldn't see the puddles coming in the dark! It was great though to just run and talk. We used to run together a lot when Alyson was still paddling and I didn't realize how much I miss talking to her. Lately, we're rarely together unless we're doing a workout at the gym.

On Sunday, as mentioned, it was ridiculously cold for this area. I bundled up and went for a walk in the marsh and didn't run into one other person the whole time. While most of my body was swathed in wool, goosedown and sheepskin, my poor thighs were only covered by a layer of denim. They were BURNING about 10 minutes in and by the 40 minute mark, felt like they had swelled to twice their size!

Unlike the last time I took a hike during a storm (when I couldn't hear anything over the sound of crashing waves), this time the wind was howling and the lake was quiet. It was almost shocking to stand on the beach, protected from the wind, listening to small waves lap as they climbed the beach.

Am I the only one who's tired of Kanye West and his, "my momma's a saint" posturing? I'm guessing that I've got lots of company after last night's Grammy performances (both the singing and the acceptance speech).
I have to admit, they did seem to start the music a little sooner than normal on his speech but for him to pretend that mentioning his mamma means the world should stop so he can finish thanking her properly is a bit OTT. Do it on your own time, jack. It was also a little weird, the whole, "last night you came to me in my dreams and now I can't wait to go to sleep." thing. I mean, I'm a mom but I would be really worried if my kid was saying stuff like that. The guys at work tell me that he's a tiny guy, 5'3" or something so maybe that has something to do with it. Whatever, it still spells i.s.s.u.e.s....