Its good to be home. In just over 24 hours I have already been able to catch up with some of my favourite people. Got to spend a little time with CH Tuesday night after she picked me up at the airport. Wednesday I lunched with t-bone and Ltd. Dan which was all too short but felt like just like I was meeting them for lunch when I used to work just down the street. After a brief nap Wednesday afternoon I headed over to meet #'s 3 & 4 for dinner. Got all the DB gossip from the season thus far and then we fell into our usual DB planning. Ahh the master plans :) #3, we really need to get back to our world domination plans. Stayed at 3 & 4's last night as we had DB practice this morning...I think I actually miss the 5:45 AM practices. There were a lot of new faces in the boat but I was glad to see that it still felt good. I expected to struggle as we were doing 5 X 500 M but I think all of the running and swimming has got me into pretty good shape. Ladies...it was so great to see you all!

Off to spend the next day and a bit with my Dad. Hoping the rain/thunderstorms hold off so I can get some good backyard/pool time before heading to the cottage tomorrow afternoon. Sounds like there will be a good crowd over at the G&G cottage on the weekend so hopefully I will get to spend some time with all of those guys too. Hydrotard anyone?

Heading back home to TO this afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family. I just never realized how hard it is to try and see everyone, even when it seems like you've got lots of time.

This trip is primarily family, though I do get lunch with T-Bone and Ltd Dan Wednesday and dinner that night with #'s 3 & 4 . Planning to hang out with my Dad and brother Thursday and Friday then I'm off to Mike's cottage Friday afternoon for a few days. Heading back to TO on Sunday for some more family time as my sister/Ben and the kids are at my Dad's for the weekend. It looks like we will have the entire family there Sunday afternoon which I think my Dad is really looking forward to. Yes...that does mean that David will probably be there too. Monday I head back to MI with Caron and the gang where I will hang out until Friday. It's Hannah's 7th birthday so we'll be having a little party which will be great as I never get to be there for birthdays.

Friday night is the big night out, I'm hoping lots of my friends can make it. I'm looking to AS and T-Bone to pick a great spot (no pressure ladies) as my pick is always the Underground Garage but we know what happens when I go there. I'd prefer to not be hung over beyond belief on my flight home Saturday. Will send out an email with details next week.

Gotta Jet (KMS)

I could almost have thought I was in TO this past weekend with the sunshine and heat.

Started to weekend off with drinks and dinner at Watermark with the BMO ladies. We couldn't have had a better spot right on the balcony looking out over the beach. We did some great people watching while eating yummy appetizers/great salads and drinking some tasty summer martinis.

Saturday was another beautiful day and after picking up our race kits we wandered over to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch at Go Fish. I had heard it was good but never expected it to be that good. The fish tacos were to die for and the tuna burger, OMG! If only PK could see me now!

Sunday it was off to UBC for the ScotiaBank Vancouver Half Marathon. It was crazy hot out even at 7:00 AM but we persevered and managed to drag our sorry selves across the line in just over 2 hours. No one in the group managed to come close to their time goals and I think we were all pretty happy to just finish the race. I'm hobbling about today but all things considered I'm doing better than I expected as my knee is not happy.








After a quick brunch Sunday morning NB and I headed off for pedicures at Pure Nail Bar on 4th. We then met up with the sailors at Jericho Yacht Club for a quick beer on the patio. I accompanied the boys on the trip back to Kits Yacht Club. It took us no time to get back with the wind but when the centre board wouldn't drop to allow Captain Neil to steer us into the dock we ran into some troubles and ended up way over at the far end of Kits Beach toward the Burrard Inlet. It took over an hour of Darcy and I paddling and Neil and John pulling the boat in the water to get back to the club. Now you might be thinking why wouldn't they just motor in? Well yes we could have done that if the motor hadn't fallen into the water the week before in another more perilous sailing expedition. If you could have seen me when we got back to the club. There I was dressed in a cute little orange and pink skirt with a white tank top; soaked, filthy and limping. At least I had good toes!


View from the Jericho Yacht Club balcony.

Woo hoo. JB called me last night from Pacific Boarder. He was just picking up his new M13! Sweet! We may try and get over to Pt. Roberts in Washington tomorrow and catch some waves. Boog also mentioned some standing wave that Liam took him to once...gonna try and track that down.

I'm already thinking about my next board. It will probably be a Mini Malibu or something along the same line. It catches waves like a long board but handles more like a short board.

I think I may have reached a new point in my personal development today.

I have always had a hard time speaking up about being dissatisfied with a product/service. I never want to inconvenience anyone and feel bad complaining. Well today I went back to my hairdresser as I wasn't really happy with how some of my highlights turned out. Last time she did them I got this beautiful sun kissed section right at the front which I absolutely loved. Well this time, it turned out brassy and rather orange, I'm sure most people wouldn't even notice but every time I look in the mirror its all I can see. Antonella was great, she went right to work on it. We re-highlighted and dried it but still I saw the brass. So again she applied some toner kind of stuff to counter act the brassy look but still it persisted. Next we tried a special blue shampoo. She told me to take a look and see what I thought after the third try. It's certainly better but I still think it looks brassy but there isn't much more we can do at this point without completely frying my hair. Its weird how I feel bad about Antonella not being able to fix my hair. She gave me a bottle of this special blue shampoo ($22) to use and I felt really guilty about taking it. She's also offered to do my next set of highlights for free which my gut reaction was to not accept but the more I think about it, it is my hair and I have to live with it everyday now.

Add this to my car negotiations (I'm not paying a penny over $$$ and I'm not leaving with out my free DVD player) and I'd have to say I am becoming one strong gal.

Went and paddled OC-1 at FCRCC with a couple of the BMO dragonboaters last night. Had one of those experiences where you are out with a first year paddler and they discover that you are actually pretty good. I was hoping to avoid this whole type of situation and quietly slip into the back of the boat but alas the secret is out...I can dragonboat rather well. Ohh well. The highlight of the evening was seeing a harbour seal, god they are cute.

For the paddling ladies, I've started my recognisance mission as BMO paddles out of FCRCC. I overheard two ladies talking about a women's crew and how they think they would do. I walked back and forth several times but couldn't quite figure out if they were talking about dragonboat or outrigger. I did see a sign recruiting paddlers for the national team race off. Almost considered giving them a call and checking it out. How funny, but wrong would that be! I've got some good intel now its just a matter of following up.

Weather for the next few days is supposed to be beautiful, sunny and between 25-30C. As Birdy would...I'm Lovin it!

I just saw that Kevin Wallace has finished the Race Across America, coming in a respectable 5th place. Glad to see that he garnered front page coverage for this awesome feat. Please check out his site and show your support either via a message or by sponsoring him as he raises money for the Betty Wallace Health Centre in Mississauga. Kevin is a member of the Mississauga paddling community and has done some pretty incredible things in his life.

I noticed yesterday in the Globe that the Ontario Court of Appeal has begun proceedings on the Steven Truscott appeal. I wrote a book report on this case back in grade school and ever since I have been facinated by it. What I didn't realize was that Anne-Marie MacDonald's The Way the Crow Flies is based loosely on the case, will be adding it to my summer reading list. It would definitely be interesting to sit in on the proceedings. The case reminds me a bit of the WM3, minus the crazy red necks. From all that I have read it seems to be that a gross injustice was committed against an innocent 14 year old boy just so they could say they solved the crime.

I had my first kite lesson with Steffan last night. If you go to the Peter Lynn site and look under Team you will find Steffo's bio.










I think the first lesson went well, despite the lack of wind. We started off with a small beginners kite (with Steffo above) but there wasn't enough wind to keep it up so we moved on the 10 M kite which we managed to get inflated and up flying after a lot of running back and forth across the field trying to fill it with air. I was starting to get the hang of the figure 8 movements but there just wasn't enough wind to really do much more. I can't imagine having to handle a kite, worry about other kiteboarders all the while trying to ride the waves.













Had a lovely 2 hour lunch yesterday with JB. We met up and wandered over to the local english pub to catch the England/Sweden game. It was great fun and there is nothing like coming back to the office feeling just a little tipsy! Bring on round 2! Football...not beers I mean :)

It looks like I am going to be back in TO again in August.

I got the call late last week that I am in for the G&G crew at Club Crews and as long as I can bench 180 lbs and run a 4 minute mile then Blake says I am on the ladies roster for the national team race off. I'm thinking I might be able to crack the 4 minute mark if I go up to Whistler and sprint down one of the ski hills. I may never walk again (knees & hills are not friends) and will probably kill myself trying to stop but hey, if that's what Blake wants. All kidding aside, I'm very excited to get the opportunity to go back and race with the the crews. The women's team is really close to my heart and I can't wait to get back in the boat with them. And then G&G...well what can I say, I miss that donkey show. I will definitely do everything I can to make sure I am in racing shape come August.

Giddy Up!

I've just had a moment of weakness and agreed to race with the Finding BMO, the Vancouver BMO dragonboat team, at a race out here in July. Ohh why do I do these things?

Nothing too exciting to report from the weekend.

I went for a good swim Friday night after work. I'm up to 10 laps in the pool now which is 1375 m's. This week I will add another 2 to get me over the 1.5 K mark. I think I can already see my arms starting to find the tone that has been MIA for the past few months.

I rented Water Friday night on my way home from swimming. Despite being totally enraptured by the beauty of the movie I crashed around 10:30 PM on the couch and couldn't make it through the last quarter. That was saved for early Sunday morning, nothing like starting one's day off sobbing all alone in your apartment. Will definitely have to purchase Water for my personal collection. Could Lisa Ray be any more stunning and Chuyia...what an amazing little actress. She almost made me like children, tantrums and all.

Saturday we did our last real run before the half marathon this coming weekend. It was sad, both NB & I struggled and it was only 11L. I can't wait for this race to be over. My knees hurt and I'm tired. This week I am totally taking it easy. I am looking forward to the post race brunch at Aphrodite's Cafe. I'm actually not even sure if I am going to have brunch or go straight for dessert...they make some good pie! NB and I also went to the Punjabi Market Saturday afternoon. I was looking for material to make a lamp shade for a cool lamp I found a while back at an antique market. After visiting around 10 different garment and cloth shops I finally found what I wanted. Its a beautiful bluey/tourquoise colour with some pretty embroidery. I really wanted to buy a few sari's but refused to humour me and my desire to bring back the everyday sari (apparently there has never been an everyday sari for the white girl). Guess I gotta keep looking for that Indian man of my dreams to outfit me in beautiful and more importantly comfortable sari's so I can eat butter chicken and eggplant the rest of my days.

Saturday night I went to see An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary about Global Warming. It brought me back to the days when I was probably 8-10 and lived in constant fear that Nuclear War was inevitable. I left the theatre feeling guilty over my SUV but more scared that perhaps we've past the point of no return when it comes to global warming. The movie did a good job at summarizing the wealth of scientific data available on the issue and presenting it in a format the average person can digest, though I did think more could have been done to illustrate some of the things we can do as individuals/communities to make a difference. One of the last points Gore talks to adds up the total effect that all of the seperate initiatives, like Koyoto, can have on reducing global warming and it shows you that everything makes a difference. To think that this man could have, or should have, been the president of the United States. Makes one wonder how things would have played out differently over the past 5-6 years had he become president.

Sunday I had my first beach day. After I had finished all of my errands/chores I headed down to Kits Beach with my blanket and book in hand. What a wonderful afternoon I had, just lazing around, catching some sun and munching on a Vera's burger. Good times.

Starting to get excited for my trip home. Watched a bit of MMVA's last night. Not like I have ever gone or really followed them but it made me a little home sick as I saw all the lights and action on Queen West. 7 more sleeps!

If you believe the rumours it appears that Zach and Mandy have split. This quite excited me as it renewed my faint hope that I might have a chance until I read on that he was recently spotted trying to woo Jessica Simpson. Please say its not true....after Garden State I had expected so much more from him.

Hmmm. I've just updated my title on my work signature to Manager, Marketing Support. This is a new role which I am currently creating but it hasn't been finalized yet. I saw that they had updated the Divisional Directory with this title so I figured I could go ahead and start using it. From the reaction of my manager, I think I may have jumped the gun. Nothing like forcing the change you want :)

My winning streak may be coming to an end. Poland didn't make it through the first round of the World Cup and I haven't won a match in days. Perhaps the luck is just pooling for Saturday's 649.

Not much else to report. No major plans for the weekend. Might go to Squamish on Sunday and hike the Chief or something else around there.

A little Canadian content today over at Questionable Content.

Won the Korea/Togo match today...add another $4 to my winnings.

Met Benjamin Jake Vriend last night. The little big man is really cute and quite the little snuggle bug. After feeding him he just nestled into me and fell right asleep.

Just got this great photo from the yogathon.

Ok Ladies, as per your request I have amended the comments function to allow you to leave what I expect will be your wise ass comments that I so miss.

Ok..so here's the weekend update.

Had a big date Friday night. Everyone else bailed on the game so it was just JB and I at the Whitecaps game (ok..so it wasn't really a date as he's married and his wife wanted to come to game but couldn't). Anyways, it was a lots of fun; we ate hotdogs, drank beer and wandered around Swanguard Stadium to find the best spot to watch the game (on the grass behind the fence right at the north east corner of the field). All of the excitement in the game was in the last few minutes of play. Miami scored the go ahead goal right at the 90 minute mark and then Vancouver came back to tie it up in the last few seconds of extra time.

Saturday NB and I ran our final long run...21K before the big race. I didn't feel too bad but NB really struggled. Its weird how we each have good days and bad days, luckily they usually fall on different days so we can get each other through the runs. Rounded out Saturday's activities with a bike ride over to Granville Island Market and a swim at Kits pool later that evening. Had what appeared to be a lonely guy at the pool try and pick me up. Started to get a little uncomfortable when the polite conversation started to get to lots of personal questions about me. Finally pulled the I need to go meet friends just as he asked if I wanted to go grab a bite to eat. After hiding in the change room for a bit (he got out of the pool at the same time as me) I called T-bone and proceeded to have a conversation with her voicemail as I made my escape.

Sunday I picked up a friend, RN, to go kayaking over at Bowen Island. The weather report called for sun and cloud in the afternoon but as we took the ferry over it didn't look like we were going to get any sun. Just as we launched our kayaks the sun came out and we were treated to some great weather the entire afternoon. My day was made when on our way back in, a harbour seal popped his head up about 20 feet in front of us. Plans are now in the works for a camping/kayking trip on one of the Islands up the coast.

And the winning update. Didn't win the Super 7, but it is confirmed I won the baby pool (JM & GV had a healthy little boy..well not so little 8lbs 3oz) and on Saturday I won one of my games for the FIFA pool with the Trinidad/Tobago and Sweden tie.

Wow... I just had a great 15 minutes

1. Whitcaps tickets finally arrived...there's a good chance that I will be able to keep a pair for myself for tonights game
2. JM is in labour right now so it looks like I am going to win the baby pool
3. Ticketmaster just called and they are refunding me for the Xavier Rudd tickets
4. I just picked up a Club Panini from Jugo Juice and its ohh so tasty!

I just tried to set up some Doctor's appt's for when I am back in TO. My family doctor is scheduling physicals for late July right now (I'm coming in June) and my Eye Specialist is booking in November. Guess I won't be taking care of any of that stuff on this trip. Time to get my MSP (BC Health) set up!

Went to the Nike Run - Vancouver last night. NB & LE have been going for a while but it was my first time. Thought we were going to be the only ones for a while as it was pouring rain, but by run time we were up to about 7-8 runners and 3 run leaders. Our run leader...I'll call him Roma was great, lots of fun. The run finished with a crazy steep 3 blocks straight up hill. I put my head down and just went and managed to do the entire hill without stopping at a pretty good pace...almost threw up mind you. The best part of the run was that I tested out some Nike shoes...got to like wearing someone elses sneakers when its pouring out. I had nice dry shoes to change into afterwards.

We went to see X3 after the run. I've never been a big comic book fan but I have to admit, I really like XMen. It might be because I love all of the super powers. We were talking about what power we would each want and I said to be able to breath underwater. Apparently that wasn't exciting enough so I think flying would be cool too, I liked the look of Angel's wings. I also thought that Juggernaut had some pretty good lines, I particularly liked his knocking himself out.

Did you see the last lines after the credits? Very exciting! There has to be an X4 now...doesn't there. I guess if I was comic book fan I would know this. Ohh well, one can only hope.

I'm sad to report that my father's girlfriend Esther passed away this morning. I wasn't sure whether to mention it but have decided to post a little something in tribute to her.

Esther came into my father's life about five or six years after my mother passed away. The positive impact that she had on my father couldn't be missed and to her I am ever grateful. Together they both found happiness again and took advantage of every day that they had together. While it is tragic that he has had to deal with such a loss once again, its comforting to know that he doesn't have to live with any regrets of thoughts of "if only we had"...because they did. Whether it was trips to the Caribbean or downtown to meet me for lunch, everyday they were up to something new. So I just wanted to say thank you to Esther and her family for welcoming my father, and the rest of us, into your family. We were very lucky to have you for the time we did.

Went for my first swim in the Kits Pool last night. Wow...is it ever great. At 137.5 M it only takes a few laps to put in a quick KM or 2. Bought myself 10 tickets to start and will see how it goes from there, I'm thinking a monthly pass might be in order.

Good morning!

If there was any night on the weekend where a mechanical bull should have been involved it was Friday night!

We didn't quite make it into the Xavier Rudd concert Friday night. We were a little late and the security guards were instructed not to let anyone else in (as you can tell from the picture we actually had a lof fun with them). We made the best of it and watched through the gates (second photo) before finding a gap in the fence and sneaking in for about the last minute of the last song. From there we headed down to Granville Street and ended up a crazy wild little bar, the name...no clue! We managed to befriend just about everyone there which may have had something to do with the copious amounts of beer and jagermeister we were downing! You know you are having a good time when the guy singing knows your name and repeatedly gives shout outs to you! In the course of the night I managed to snag the singer's wristband, the bongo drummer's hat and the waiter's cowboy hat. All were returned at the end of the night I'm proud to say. From there we hit another bar very briefly before going for late night Chinese from this crazy window in a wall down off of Granville somewhere.

Strangely I didn't feel too bad come Saturday morning and managed to get myself to the yogathon with plenty of time to browse around before the actual yoga started. The highlight of the yoga was this one crazy instructor had everyone pushing out all of the bad energy from their bodies then pulling in all the good vibes in a very Phoebesque running fashion. People were a little reluctant to join in at first but I have to tell you...it felt really great once you let yourself go. I'm actually going to track her down and check out one of her classes.

Saw MI:III on Saturday night. Tom Cruise just kind of creeps me out now. Nuff Said!

After all of this my Sunday run of 18K wasn't the best. It was quite the mental battle to say the least and now I'm hobbling about as my right knee is none too happy.

Sunday afternoon we watched X2 in preparation for going to seen XMen 3...Can't wait!

Having my first little get together at my place tonight. Everyone's meeting there for drinks and some BBQ before we head to the Xavier Rudd concert. Should be interesting to see how we get 9-10 people plus my current boarder into my little one bedroom apt.

Then tomorrow its the yogathon...it's not too late to sponsor me :)

Saturday night...maybe a little mechanical bull riding if I am lucky!

I finally decided to check my lottery tickets this afternoon. I've had these two tickets in my desk since March and early May. Sure enough both of them were winners. Now before you get too excited I'm talking a free ticket and $1, but winners none the less. I redeemed my winnings for a ticket in Friday's Super Seven and then splurged for another ticket for Saturday's 649 which is supposed to be a big one.

I'd suggest that if you aren't in my good books right now you'd better start sucking up! God...can you imagine if I actually did win?

What would I do with this money? Here are just a few of my ideas.

1. Make my surf hostel in Tofino a reality
2. Open a second one in Costa Rica
3. Plan a great trip scuba diving all the great spots in the world
4. Climb something
5. Start some sort of charitable organization or support one that helps get kids active

What would you do?