Posted Sunday, July 20, 2008 9:29 PM
It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged. Mostly because not much is going on. Work is good, still working out and training for the tri in August, enjoying the pool, etc. I have been keeping up with everyone's blogs though (even though I may not comment alot) and it's funny that I really look forward to reading the updates and seeing what everyone's up to. Edmo's ready to go any minute, Mandy's pregnant, Julia heard the heartbeat, etc. I'm even pulling for Jackiemac, who I don't know, and hoping that they're successful soon. There are even a couple of fellow Canucks on here which is cool (Jackimac I suspect is one of them as I got the Shoppers Drug Mart reference).
The summer weekends have been awesome this year. It seems like every weekend has turned into an impromptu pool party with friends coming by last minute. Paul and I are thrilled with that! We knew when we saw this house that it was perfect for hosting friends and family and making awesome memories. So far, so good. Other than Tupelo getting sick and leaving us we've had great times here so far.
Speaking of Tupelo. It's been just over two months since he's been gone and I'm still so sad about it. I start thinking about him at the oddest times and get so sad and will start crying. Paul and I were in the pool today and it was a little overcast. We started to talk about something funny about Tupelo and all of sudden the clouds cleared and the sun started shining on us. I pointed at the sun and said "Heh, Tupelo heard us talking about him and came for a visit!". Seconds later I'm balling like an idiot and Paul is trying to comfort me and Lola is halfway into the pool because she thinks something is wrong. I hate that he's gone. I miss him.
Sorry if I've bummed anyone out. I truly meant to just talk about how much I love weekends! :-)
Posted by
iamcdn
Filed under: Tupelo, weekends, friends
Posted Saturday, July 05, 2008 3:42 PM
to sports on t.v. It's a gorgeous and sunny day, the pool is clean and beautiful, but I'm sitting in my living room watching men's beach volleyball. It was the Wimbledom final earlier (yay Venus!) and LPGA golf before volleyball. The Olympic trials are on tonight and women's beach volleyball again tomorrow. I guess the only solace I can take is I actually PLAY sports as well as watch them.
It's been a pretty uneventful week since Tuesday. I went shopping in the U.S. after work yesterday. The fourth of July helped make the border very quick (no traffic), and the stores very empty. We ate at P.F. Changs and there were very few tables occupied. I bought a new pair of Lucky jeans (my favourite brand!) on sale, which hardly ever happens, a very cute sundress from American Eagle and I found a HOT dress for the two weddings I have to go to in August at White House, Black Market. All in all a very good shopping night.
We're heading to Sarnia tomorrow for Bay Fest to see Bon Jovi in concert with our friends that moved up there. Bon Jovi's not my favourite and i would have never bought concert tickets if Dave and Janet weren't going. Paul and I will spend the night at their place and come home Monday. I took Monday off of work and Friday is my compressed day so it's only a three day work week for me!
I hope my U.S. friends out there a very Happy Fourth of July!
Posted by
iamcdn
Filed under: holiday, shopping, sports
Posted Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:08 PM
I ran the HBC Race for Canadian Athletes 10k today! My first 10k and I did awesome! I ran with my friends Sharon and Elaine. Sharon runs 10k on a regular basis and Elain has run 4(!) marathons. I thought for sure they'd leave me behind around 3 or 4k but I was able to keep pace with them for the whole thing. I finished in 1:04:35. Paul didn't even get a picture of us crossing because he wasn't expecting me for at least another 10-15 minutes! There were athletes from the Canadian Olympic teams at the finish line to give out the medals which was very cool. If I only I could figure out how to add a picture I would post a couple.
I'm going to lounge by the pool and enjoy the rest of my Canada Day Holiday. Happy Canada Day to any canucks out there.
Posted by
iamcdn
Filed under: running, 10k
Posted Sunday, June 29, 2008 10:22 PM
Okay, enough about Tuesday's race I know but I'm getting nervous! I'm not sure I'm ready. I don't want to be last! I don't want to not finish!
I picked up my race kit today. Very impressive. There's usually a t-shirt and maybe a magazine along with your race number in the race kit. Not for this race. You actually get a running shirt with your number on it so no fiddling with pins and paper numbers. There was also some great swag including sunscreen, lip balm, gum, energy drink, Motrin (which I'm sure I'll need), candy, floss, a running magazine, etc. All finishers also get a medal created by the Royal Canadian Mint that looks like the Olympic medals. Very cool. I've been thinking about doing some kind of display wall in my workout room downstairs and displaying all of my race numbers with my official times, etc. This medal will fit in nicely thank you very much.
I tried doing some research on how much activity I should or shoudn't do tomorrow night before the race. Lots of info on what to eat the night before but not alot on how much activity might be too much. I've decided to err on the side of caution though and take it kind of easy. We'll see how it goes.
I'll try not to post again tomorrow about the race because I'm sure if there is anyone out there who actually regularly reads my blog they're probably considering stopping because I need to just get over it. But I can't promise anything 
.
Posted by
iamcdn
Filed under: running
Posted Sunday, June 29, 2008 10:51 AM
We've had so much rain in the last two weeks here it's crazy. My gardens need a good weeding, which I had planned to do this weekend, but it's been raining so darn much I haven't had a chance to get to them all.
Paul and I played in the annual International Border Association golf tournament on Thursday. Enforcement agencies on both sides of the border take turns hosting it. This year it was in the U.S. at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Very beautiful course and the weather was gorgeous. The fighter jets taking off and landing (where would they be going?) during our round was pretty cool too! I golfed really well which was great since it was my first time out this year. I can't wait to get back out there!
Tuesday is the Canada Day (July 1st) holiday. A day off from work - yipee! I'm running in my first 10k race though and I'm nervous!!!!! It's a race that's being held in a bunch of different cities across Canada to raise money for the Canadian Olympic athletes. I'm running with my friend Sharon who runs 10k regularly and her sister Elaine who used to do marathons. Awesome. 5k is all I've done up until now. I went out yesterday morning to do a 10k route to see what kind of time I would be looking at and whether I'd drop dead from doing it. I ran to my sister's place which is 5k from my house and stopped to chat with her for a bit. She's a gym rat but doesn't do any exercise in the form of sports so she thought I was crazy and offered me a ride home - very tempting. I downed a bottle of water which was a bad idea because less than a kilometer after leaving her house I thought I was going to puke. I had to stop and walk for two minutes but felt AWESOME when i started up again. I was making really good time when it started to sprinkle, no big deal, I've run in rain before. Then it started to pour. All out, can hardly see in front of you, pouring rain. Okay. Then comes thunder and it starts to get dark. Not cool. I'm a little afraid of thunderstorms and I'm running down a street with many, many trees. Next thing you know I see a black Ford F-150 coming my way. Could it be? Yes! Paul and Lola have come to rescue me. Paul heard the horn blast at the golf course near our house so know that lightning had been spotted. Also knowing my little kid like fear of thunderstorms he figured he should come get me. Soooo, 8k down in a little under an hour (pretty respectable I think). It's too close to try it again before Tuesday so keep your fingers crossed for me.
The good thing about all this rain is I don't have to feel so guilty for staying in and watching all of the awesome sports on t.v. It's like I've died and gone to sports heaven. Yesterday there was Wimbledon and women's golf during the day and Olympic trials for track and field. Today there's women's beach volleyball and Olympic swimming trials! God I'm a nerd.
Posted Saturday, June 21, 2008 7:27 PM
A question from a relative newcomer to the Nest. Is there any way to reply to someone directly who's made a comment to your blog? I love that people are reading and commenting and once in a while I'd like to acknowledge something someone's said.
Posted Saturday, June 21, 2008 7:01 PM
I'm spotting a trend here and to be honest, it blows. I hate having so many things planned on my summer weekends. I'm very selfish about my time and want to spend it at home doing what I love. Gardening, laying out by the pool, etc. This weekend is "showermania". I had a wedding shower this afternoon and a baby shower tomorrow. Tonight I'm also going to a high school reunion night at a bar owned by a guy I went to high school with.
I spent the better part of today running around to buy the shower gifts for today and tomorrow. Very unlike me as I'm usually the nerd that races off to the store as soon as she gets the shower invitation to get the pick of the list. Well, the last couple of months have had me preoccupied with other things and as a result I'm doing last minute gift shopping. This results in only very large items being left on the registry ($649 vacuum cleaner) or things that are what I want to spend but will probably look to others like I'm cheap ($50 frying pan - who walks in with one frying pan?). I know, I should care what others think and the bride knows how much it was but whatever.
The shower I had this afternoon/evening was a "Martini - Bride and the City" themed bridal shower. I love the bride; she's a great friend that moved out of town a couple of years ago so I don't see her alot anymore. The problem is that I know her from playing volleyball with her and her fiance; so I don't know ANY of her friends. They were a snotty bunch too. The bride was gracious and we chatted for a while but I knew I couldn't hog her the whole night just because I didn't know anyone. There were no tables to sit at etc, more like a cocktail party. I tried introducing myself to the "pregnant girls" circle. They each smiled politely as I introduced myself and proceeded to ignore me. I then moved on to another group of friends and introduced myself again. Again, barely an acknowledgement. You can only try to enter a conversation so many times before you get the hint and move on. Strike three was with a middle aged looking lady hanging out by the martini bar (complete with hunky bartender by the way). I introduced myself and we started chatting, she was a friend of the bride's mom. Then another woman from their golf leauge approached and, well, you can probably guess. Strike three. The blessing is that it was an open house style so I could make a hasty exit after getting my picture taken to prove I was there.
Tonight I'm going to a Kennedy reunion night at a local bar owned by a former Clipper. I'm going with my best friend Sharon who is the only person I keep in contact with (at least before Facebook came along). It should be pretty funny. It's been almost 18 years - oops, showing my age.
Tomorrow is the baby shower. In the mom to be MIL's backyard. It's supposed to storm - awesome. Other than the mom to be I will only know one other person there. Luckily though, Dana doesn't know anyone else going either so I'll have someone to hang around with!
I'm so happy for my friends when they get married, procreate, etc (I know - you can't really tell from this post), but I wish the shower thing didn't have to happen. I would gladly purchase and send a gift without them even having to have one!
I'll end this now. I need to work up the will to get dressed and get going. I hope everyone else has a great weekend and gets to spend it doing what THEY love.
Posted Sunday, June 15, 2008 10:17 PM
The weekend has flown by! I picked my niece Ally up after work on Friday for a sleepover. We took a trip to the mall to have dinner and she of course suckered me into buying her a new Build-A-Bear. She was so pumped it was almost worth the $30 I got raped for it. It's the special edition Canada Day bear with maple leaves all over it. She named it Sarah. Where she got Sarah I have no idea. We had a great night and made French Toast Saturday morning. Saturday was spent running around grocery shopping etc. I did stop by my friend Sharon's place and ended up having an impromptu lunch with she and her family. Saturday night I ran in the Moon in June 5k. I was nervous because I don't normally run in the evening and it was HOT and humid. I did great though and set a personal best! It was a great evening. I love the race atmosphere. Everyone's so friendly and supportive even to beginners like me. There were 600 people racing so it was quite an event. My next event is the "Try-A-Tri" August 10th. I've been training in the pool because the swim is the part that's giving me the most anxiety. The 11k bike and 3.5k run won't be too bad. I hope I don't drown! After the race Paul and I went to my friend Sydney's house for a pool party. She's my running partner and she and her husband also participated in the race. We have a great time unwinding and talking about the race in the pool. We were the last ones to leave after playing Guitar Hero until 3 in the morning. Yes, I'm 35.
Today's been kind of up and down. It's Father's Day so my husband got a gift from Lola our dog. It was also very sad for me because we lost our other dog Tupelo exactly a month ago today. It was also hard because the Father's Day gift it usually from the both the dogs. My family was coming over for a pool party/bbq for my dad so I had no choice but to put a smile on my face. It ended up being fun though. My neice and nephew are awesome and Lola loves when we have company. My dad had a great time and the weather held out. I can't believe it's 10:30 already though. Time for bed so I can start the craziness again tomorrow!
Posted by
iamcdn
Filed under: running, Tupelo