Trent and I are now officially registered to run the First Half Marathon on February 15th.

The race sold out in 3 hours and 27 minutes.

I think I have found my dress. It was the second dress I tried on and I feel pretty confident it is the one. I'm still going to keep the dress shopping date I have set with JM and the appointment I have in Michigan when I go to visit my sister but I'm pretty confident that this will be the one I go back for.

I'm not allowed to discuss further as Trent doesn't want to know anything about it.

Wow...its been a busy & very lucky few weeks of concerts for Trent and I here in Van. Last week we saw Loudon Wainwright III (father of Rufus and Martha) play at the Kay Meek Centre. Last night we were treated to Celine Dion (we were invited by my SVP) who put on a spectacular show at GM Place and now we have been invited to go see Neil Young play tomorrow night. Trent and I had talked about buying tickets as Neil is the one performer I really wanted to see before it was too late but we decided against it as it just wasn't the fiscally responsible thing to do at this time. To finish the week out we are going to see Matt Mays play Saturday night at the Commodore where we saw Iron and Wine play on my birthday.

Woo hoo! Sorry, can't contain my excitement yet.

Damn you Peter Griffin...the bird is not the word.

Trent says I have given up on blogging so here I am to prove its not true. I was just taking a break.

It's been a busy three months since Trent moved back.

We've done a lot of work on the apartment to find a way to fit in two people and lots of gear. Luckily Trent has a way with shelving.

Last Saturday we completed our marriage preparation course. As much as we joked about it, there really were some good topics. On the wedding front...we got a lot accomplished in NS on our trip there in August. The reception venue and church are all set, we met with the florist and even found our location for the photos..the Dingle. The next big thing on the list is the dress for which I'm heading to MI in November to do some shopping with my sister.









Last Sunday Trent and I headed up to Squamish and climbed The Chief. It was a beautiful day and the 1.5 hour climb to the top was worth every pained step I take now...the downward trek is a little rough on the legs.



Ok..that's all for now.

Happy 150th BC.

Trent and I finally had a quiet lazy day today after 10 days of entertaining my father and two weekends on the Island.

Thank you to everyone who supported my swim at Thetis Lake. Thanks to you I raised over $200 for MS with the event raising over $40,000 in total. I was quite nervous before the swim as I haven't put in a whole lot of distance over 2000 later but I am happy to report that my swim went well. Still not finishing as strong as I would like but that will come. The 3K consisted of 2 loops of 1.5k each around two island. My first lap had to have been quite a bit longer than 1.5K as I over swam the furthest bouy and had to back track a good 100m. I also kept finding myself quite a way off from the bouys despite swimming what I thought was a good line between them. As I crossed the finish line Trent was just getting ready for his race. He had swam a strong 1.5K against a very competitive field of local triathletes.

This past weekend we were back on the Island for the start of the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Duncan. I had to be there for work Fri/Sat so Trent and my dad tagged along and we did a little sight seeing in the Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo areas before heading back to Vancouver Saturday evening.

Trent is off to Halifax Thursday and I am heading back to the Island Friday morning. I'll be a few days in Duncan at the NAIG and then I am heading to Tofino for a few days with surfboards in tow.

Like a good captain I went down with the ship...more on that to come.

On Friday night we camped at Sasquatch Provincial Park which is just outside of Harrison Hot Springs. No sasquatch were sighted but we did see a deer. It was fun to do the whole car camping thing, even if just for one evening. We arrived in Harrison mid afternoon and after setting up our tent we headed out to the local golf course for some twilight golf. At $15 for 9 holes it was a whole lot of fun. I still maintain the 6 holes is where its at. I am sure more people would play if they made a few 6 hole courses.

I can no longer say I have never tipped/sunk in a dragonboat as our boat went down at the Harrison Dragonboat Festival on Saturday. After crossing the line and cheering our victory in the Division C Championship our boat was hit by backwash and combined with our cox having sharply just turned us into shore saw us go over before any one had a chance to react. And boy was it cold. Harrison Lake is glacial fed. Little did we know earlier in the day when we were loading the boat from the beach and commenting on ice cream headaches in our feet that later we would be swimming in it. After a brief scare we were all accounted for and we got our smaller ladies out of the water quickly while the rest of waited for what seemed forever for the rescue boat to come get us. The crew took home not only hardware but a good story to boot. Most impressive was that our missing flip flops were returned to us well after we were out of the water.

Sunday Trent and I both competed in the Kits Challenge. We were up at 5:00 am as we had volunteered to help out at the race. Didn't seem like a big deal when we agreed to it but after being at the dragonboat festival all day Saturday in the scorching heat and driving the two hours home we were whipped in the morning (see photo below taken at 5:45 AM. I switched from the 3K to the 1.5k and even with the shorter distance really struggled. With no energy to really push it I relied on my ability to swim can to can and not get off course. Between the second last to the last bouy I am not sure what happened because all of a sudden I was about 200m out from the bouy and had to swim directly back in. I'm blaming the currents/tide but perhaps there was some swimmer error in there too. Trent was waiting for me on the beach when I crossed the line having finished a few minutes before me. He too wasn't particularly happy as his shoulder was really hurting but all in all we still had a great day down at the beach. After stopping for brunch on the way home we both took well deserved naps for most of Sunday afternoon.

Another busy week. Tomorrow night it is fireworks after swim and then Thursday we are off to do the Grind with some friends. Friday morning my father arrives and then we are heading to Victoria for the weekend. We are going whale watching Saturday afternoon then going to annual lantern festival that evening. Sunday its back to the water with with Thetis Lake Challenge. No excuses this week...I'm hoping to come out of the water happy with how I swam.

Thank you to all who have sponsored me for the swim. Your generosity is much appreciated.

Trent is putting a more detailed account of our canoe trip on his blog should you be interested in reading more.

It seems like it has been go go go since Trent and I got back from our canoe trip in the NWT. Here's a quick summary of the trip and what we've been up to since.

Canoe Trip
The canoe trip was awesome. We covered some 200 km in two and a half days. Not exactly how we wanted to do it but we tried to wait out the ice and when we could wait no longer we set out by 4X4 to the river. And what an adventure that was. 400m's in we were stuck and our machine died requiring a rescue. Not a great start but things got better. The ice on the Great Bear River was spectacular. I have a whole new appreciation for icebergs and fast moving water. No bears were seen on the trip but we got a good howling at by a wolf pack our second night and on the third evening a lone wolf considered joining us for dinner. I'm going to try and get some pictures on flicker when I get some time.


The Dickinsons
We got back to Van on Sunday of the long weekend and after a quick swim we headed out to meet D&D for dinner before they headed back to TO. It was great to catch up and exchange stories from our respective adventures.

Canada Day
On Canada Day I swam my 2k race. I hoped that I was recovered from the trip but 600m in I really started to feel tired and my right shoulder started to scream (200 km in 2.5 days with no training = angry shoulders and traps). I finished the race but didn't have anything in me to follow my race plan which would have seen me build my speed through out the race and come in strong. I was lucky to make it in at all. I ended up being about 20 seconds slower than last year but considering how I was feeling I was ok with that.

Kid Rock & Matt Mays
Matt was opening for Kid Rock at his Vancouver show so he hooked us up with tickets. I'm not sure what I enjoyed most, Matt Mays and El Torpedo, Kid Rock or the people watching. Trent headed up to Whistler to catch MM & ET play a solo gig on the Tuesday while I stayed in Van as I had a previous commitment. It sounds like he had a lot of fun living the life of a roadie for an evening.

Misc
In between all of this we have been trying to retrofit the apartment to accommodate two people with a lot of gear. Thankfully Trent is very handy and has a passion for shelves. We've also been doing a lot of swimming.

Last Thursday at open water practice I didn't expect the lifeguards to let us go out as the water was super wavy. After the lifeguard ran us through the heightened safety rules and all swimmers were buddyed up we were allowed to go out and swim (if you would call it that) a shortened course. It was so FUN. The swells were massive and with everyone watching out for one another it made for a very social swim filled with lots of laughter and hollers.

Tuesday night we went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at Theatre Under the Stars. It was a beautiful evening and the show was a lot of fun. Sound system could use a little work though.

This weekend we are off to Harrison Hot Springs for a dragonboat festival. Two of the BMO teams will be racing there so Trent and I are going to coach. We are camping tomorrow night at Sasquatch Provincial Park. I can't wait. Sunday its the Kitsilano Challlenge. I'm planning to swim the 3K and Trent is doing the 1.5K.

I know there is more but this is all I can come up with for now.

Trent is laughing at me as I keep madly swatting at a mosquito as  I write this post.  Its tough to get indoors with out a few making it in with you.

The ice came back in Friday evening and it doesn't look like its going anywhere soon as the winds haven't been blowing in our favour.  

As a result we've had to revise our plan and we are now planning on leaving Tuesday morning.  We spent a lot of time talking with some of the locals yesterday at the Aboriginal Day celebrations who are familiar with our planned route from their hunting and trapping.  As we can't cross the Great Bear Lake we are going to have to cut across to the mouth of the Great Bear River via Little Lake and the use of some quads that the guys have over on that side of the lake. Without the use of the quads we'd have about a 6K portage.

I'm so glad we got the opportunity to attend the festivities yesterday.  Trent and I both competed in the archery competition (to the amusement of all the on look

ers), and the couples egg toss which saw us knocked out in the second round when I put my finger through our egg.  

In addition to the games we ate and ate. One of the elders took a shine to me and helped me gut my fish (ok..he gut it) and then instructed me on how long to cook it on the fire.  Not long after that was done he brought me over some delicious pan fried lake trout which wasn't part of the normal offerings.  I also got to have bannock straight off of the fire.  Again..delicious.

Tomorrow is Sahtu Day which will involve more community events and some tradition games in the evening.  Trent are I are trying to get all of our organizing and packing done tonight so that we can take part.  

Just a quick post before we head out to join the Aboriginal Day activities (it was a slow morning).

Bingo was a lot of fun last night.  I was left in the care of three lovely ladies who watched over me and made sure I didn't miss any of my numbers.  Our table wasn't getting very lucky until I won with a small X on the bonanza.  You'd have thought I won the lottery with my scream of excitement which drew laughs from the entire room.  I took home a big win of $125 which more than paid for my entry fee, cards and nevada tickets.

After bingo we headed to Barb and Seymour's where we joined up with the other teachers for a final celebration.  Most left this morning, with headaches I am sure.  It definitely has taken me a while to get myself ready to tackle the day.

I arrived in Deline yesterday afternoon to warm temps (15C) and lots of sunshine & bugs...Trent wasn't kidding about the bugs.

While waiting in Yellowknife for my final flight, Trent's friend Shawn swung by to visit. I had about an hour to kill so he took me for a quick tour of Yellowknife and showed me all of the places that have become so familiar to me through Trent's stories. Back at the North Wright hanger, I was then treated to another visit by Trent's cousin Kelly who came by and spent the last half hour with me. It was great to see both of them and catch up on what's going on.

I've been here only 22 hours or so and its felt like a whirlwind. I've met so many of the people that I've come to know through Trent over the past two years. I'm not sure if there are many more female students left for me to meet as it seems each time we leave the house we run into another group of them.  Coincidence...I think maybe not.

When we got to the school this morning I was excited to see that his class had left messages for me on the chalkboard. There were also notes on the wipeboard in the staff room joking about Trent's leaving. I joked with them that I was starting to feel really bad for stealing him back but my huge grin gave the truth away. The principal also offered me a teaching job...apparently my lack of experience or teacher training isn't a problem at all.  (Trent humoured me allowed me to take his photo with the note in the staff room.)

Tonight we are off to a BBQ and then Trent is calling Bingo. I am going to play with some of the ladies from school, it should be fun. Tomorrow is Aboriginal Day and there are all kinds of cultural games and activities going on which we plan to participate in.

Plans are to start the canoe trip Monday. There have been many jokes about people joining us but hopefully we'll just have the pilots do a few fly bys over the river to check on us as they go between Deline, Tulita and Norman Wells.

Time to run, we are almost cleaned up here and want to get a quick paddle in before we head to the BBQ.

I'm up, the kettle is on and I am about to pop some bread into the toaster.

That's right, zero days left! 1 hour and 56 minutes until I start my journey North. Woo hoo.

See you soon.

We've got a busy summer of swimming lined up once Trent and I return from our canoe trip. In addition to my Friday morning masters swim, Monday open water swims and Wed nights at Kits Pool with the swim girls, Trent and I have signed up to do a number of races.

July 1st - Canada Day Classic 2K Port Moody
July 20th - Kitsilano Classic 3K Vancouver
July 27th - Thetis Lake 3K Victoria

The Thetis Lake swim is in Victoria and is a fundraiser for the MS Society. If interested you can pledge me right here.

Trent might be able to get a race in back in Halifax in August but our plans to head to the Okanagan for a race will have to wait for next summer. We'll just have to do the wine tours and for go the swimming when we head out to Kelowna to visit Sharon.

My dad is coming out in July and is going to accompany us to Victoria for our race there. It will be just like when I was a kid and he and my mum would come to regattas to cheer me on, though its a little harder to hear the cheers when I am actually in the water.

The countdown really is on now...just 3 more sleeps until I head up to meet Trent and we head out on our great northern adventure.

The bear spray is bought, the paddles wrapped and my hiking pack filled to the brim. I spent the weekend picking up the last of the essentials; some chocolate chips and marshmallows for fireside treats, a tetrapac of wine and some firecracker pepperettes. These should round out our freeze dried selection of foods quite nicely.

We are giving ourselves 5 days to make the approximate 200 km trek. If all goes well we should be able to get from Deline on Great Bear Lake(our starting point) to about half way up the Great Bear River. Plans are to stop the first night just above the rapids. This will give us a chance to scout them out and see what we have to deal with the following day. From that p.oint on Trent with the help of some locals has mapped out a few other good spots to stop as we make our way past Tulita and to Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River


Peonies at the market on Saturday. Aren't they beautiful!

On top of shopping and packing, I also managed to get a good swim in on Sunday. After doing the grouse grind in the morning I had a light breakfast and then took a short nap before heading out to the pool to put in 3000 m. My goal, which I accomplished, was to swim the entire distance without any significant breaks. I took 4 short stops to clear my goggles and have a swig of water totaling no more than 20-30 seconds each. I'm feeling prepared for my first race on Canada Day. The distance will be no challenge, I just need to focus on setting an aggressive pace and not settling too much as I have a tendency to be a little lazy and not push myself. Basically what I need to do is find someone to set a good pace for me to follow and then to build for my finish as I know I have the power to pick it up and go when I need to. Hopefully the 10 days away from the pool won't hurt me too much...at least with the paddling I will still be using a lot of the same muscles.

Went for a swim tonight with a some girls I know from masters swim. We met a Kits pool despite the cold temps and grey skies. It was a great workout as they are definitely a little faster and used to pushing each other in workouts. I swam much harder than I normally do when I swim on my own but it felt really good.

I'm getting excited for my Canada Day swim where my goal is to swim faster than last year. I haven't figured out a time goal yet but I'm hoping to take a few minutes off of my time and break 35 minutes at a minimum.

Sun and warmth please...I'm done with this cold, grey weather.

I survived.

First open water swim of the season was tonight. As the day progressed today I began to experience more and more anxiety over the swim as it was cloudy and cold outside and the water temperature was a chilly 14C.

After some words of encouragement from Trent (and a bit of an a@$ kicking) I pulled on my new wet suit and waddled down to the beach. Just as we were about to hit the water the sun peaked out from behind the clouds long enough to provide a little warmth. The warmth was not long to last for the cold water quickly took my breath away and froze my feet. Drawing on what I learned from last season I took my time getting my body used to the cold before starting to swim too hard.

It was tough spotting the first bouy and more than a few of us found ourselves a good couple of 100m's off and needing to swim back. The main stretch didn't seem as far as I remember but the final leg into the beach was a challenge as the tide was definitely pulling us all off of our lines. I swear each time I looked up I was facing a different direction.

I felt great coming out of the water. A little dizzy, some cold feet but all things considered great.

All that and home in time to watch the game. And I thought the swim was stressful!

June 1st, can you believe it? 18 days 'til Deline!

Summer really has arrived in Kits.

I started yesterday morning off at the local nursery picking up a few final plants for the balcony. I added some radish and beets yesterday (started by seed), dill, thai basil and parsley in addition to two peppers. The first pepper is a sweet chocolate pepper and the second is a chili pepper. My tomato plants are growing so much, I am so excited.






After a light lunch I wandered over to the pool for a short swim. Found out that if you buy a month pass anytime in June you will get a second month for free. Woo hoo..I'm so glad I waited to finish off my 10 pass.

Last night I went to see the The Visitor. Its the story of how two illegal immigrants change the life of an widower who is stuck in his lonely life of being a professor who pretends to be busy just to avoid social interaction. I loved it. While it was a slow movie I enjoyed just sitting back and watching and feeling the movie develop. The lead character reminded me a lot of my father.

Today the Kits Farmers Market opens. I love biking over and seeing what fresh from the field fruits and veggies they have to offer. I've avoided grocery shopping all week because I wanted to let what I pick up today set the tone for my meals this week.

I am also going to go to a skin cancer screening clinic down at the beach today, its National Sun Awareness week. I figure you can't be too safe.

Not so much Viva Las Vegas.

As Caron and I arrived the sun and warm weather decided to take a vacation. Plans to laze by the pool were quickly replaced with some good shopping, serious napping and an evening of roulette.

We didn't end up going bridal gown shopping as most of the places I tracked down didn't carry the designers I was looking for. I did try on one dress at White House Black Market but it was more of a formal dress than a gown but it was fun to put a white gown on.


On Sunday before I left I walked over to the Mandalay Bay to visit the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was great and I would totally recommend it to anyone planning to visit Las Vegas. The fish and sharks were absolutely beautiful and the aquariums were unbelievable.


Sunday afternoon, after Caron had left and just hours before I took off the sun made its return. Unbelieveable!

After updating Trent on the tomato plant purchases he asked a good question. How are we going to eat all of those tomatoes? I don't have an answer yet but I am up for the challenge.

I am sun burnt from my swim today. Silly me didn't think to apply sunscreen anywhere except for my face this morning. My arms are a bright red and my back even more so . Must apply lots of sunscreen tomorrow. On a positive note, at least I will have a little base for Las Vegas next week.

Happy first day of summer.

Alright, its not officially summer but everyone knows that May 24 is the start of the summer season and with that the Kits Pool opened today. I was there just after 12:00 PM (gates opened at 12:00) and the line up was a couple of hundred people long. Lucky for me I had my swim pass and was able to walk up to the gate and right in. It felt great to be back in the saltwater pool with the ocean and mountains in the background. I thought I would just do a couple of lengths (each length measuring 137.5 m's) but I felt so good I kept going for a total of 16 lengths or 8 laps (2200m's). All that swimming this winter really has payed off.

Earlier today I visited the local nursery and picked up a few things for the balcony. After last season's discovery of the heirloom tomato at the Farmers Market I wanted to try my hand at growing some. I came upon one heirloom the Eva Purple Ball (at right) and picked up two others, a beautiful yellow tomato and some husky reds (cherry tomatoes). The balcony gets great sun in the afternoon so they should do well...as long as I can find someone to water them while I am away. I also picked up a variety of herbs which are happily tucked into the resident rosemary and thyme.

I was in Victoria on the weekend for a swimathon on Saturday.

Friday night I met up with a friend for dinner at Rebar Modern Food. I had heard about Rebar from my sister years ago and remember leafing through the cookbook at her house. I was glad when a colleague from the Island suggested it for dinner. Rebar is famous for their seasonal, local and mainly vegetarian fare and it didn't disappoint. The hummous and tomato chutney we got to start was to die for and I had the three sisters burrito which was sooo good.

Saturday morning I met up with another friend who teaches at UVIC for brunch at Mo:Le. Again...it was primarily vegetarian and delicious. I had a bacon and cheese risotto with poached eggs and broccoli (yes, I know bacon is not vegetarian and that is the reason I am not vegetarian).

At noon I headed over the Saanich Commonwealth Pool for the swimathon. I was part of the BMO Belugas team and had set a goal of swimming 4000m's. It quickly became evident that there were 4 of us who were a more serious swimmers than the rest. I proposed that after every 1000m we go down the slide. To my surprise the two local guys and RR all thought we should do it every 500m. So off we went taking turns leading each set, clamoring out of the pool every 500 m and run walking over to the slide to join the line of kids snaking up the staircase to the top of the slide. Ohh how I wish I had photos as we must have looked so funny. At 3000m's I lost my swim partners and finished my last 1000m's doing an assortment of different strokes to give my tired shoulders a break. The complex is awesome...it has an Olympic sized pool, dive pool, wave pool and the 3-4 story high slide.


Saturday night it was off to dinner in the Rosemeade Dining Room at the English Inn. The food was fabulous and the evening was only topped by the tour of the show kitchen at the end of our meal. Apparently the kitchen has just undergone a $1 million reno, now only if they could afford heat.

I've added a weekend in Victoria to the list of places Trent and I must visit this summer.

Less than 40 days not until I am off to Deline! Yeah.

The date is set and the venues are booked. All this happened last week while Trent was in Yellowknife with a bunch of 9-12 year olds and I was neck deep in marathon. Thank god for Trent's mom...she's been the one getting things moving.

So here it is...

Date: July 11, 2009

Wedding ceremony: St. Agnes Church

Reception: Pier 21

I'm really happy that we got Pier 21 for the reception. Both of my parents immigrated through Pier 21 when they came to Canada from England in the 1950's. I'm really happy that we are finding ways to link my family in to the event as there are so few of us compared to Trent's family and until Trent we had no ties to Halifax. I am also wearing my mother's engagement ring as well as receiving Trent's mom's (yes...I know I am a very lucky girl). It was really important to me to involve my mum somehow and I know she would be so happy to know I was wearing her ring.

I am off to Vegas in 2 weeks with my sister for a little R&R. We are planning to do a little wedding dress shopping while down there. I wanted my first time trying on a dress to be with her though I suspect I will end up buying in Vancouver. I know the style I want but now we just have to see if how it looks when I actually get to try one on.

I think we are going to get Trent's suit through Maxwell's Clothiers. Anyone who has been to Hong Kong on a canoe trip will know Maxwell's. They come to TO/Vancouver a couple of times a year and when I thought of it, it just seemed right.

I wasn't sure whether I was going to post about Trent and I getting engaged but I think I can't keep it off of the blog as I am sure there will be many future postings about the whole planning process. I try not to put anything too personal on the site but its big news and really, anyone who reads this blog probably already knows.

So there you have it. We got engaged when we were at the Rock Water Secret Cove Resort. His asking did not come as a surprise as we've talked about it extensively but he certainly caught me off guard. I was convinced the proposal was coming on our canoe trip in June so when he pulled out a ring box (another surprise) I was stunned.

We think we've nailed down a wedding date, July 11th, 2009. The church is reserved and now we are looking for reception venues. Not easy when you live in Vancouver/Deline and are planning a wedding on the opposite coast (Halifax). Thankfully we have the support of Trent's mum and sister and many friends/family who have been married out there in the past few years.

Last night I had dinner with some friends and one commented on how much has changed for us in the past two years. Two years ago I was just settling in BC. They were trying to have a baby and I had basically given up on the idea that I would ever get married. Now they have a beautiful 6 month old and we are planning my wedding. Who would ever have imagined!

And my final thoughts for the evening..integrated ribbon baby. That's where its at. Let the games begin!

Trent left last night for Deline. Its exciting to think that he's into the final stretch now and I'll be up there helping him pack up in no time before we head out on our canoe trip home (more to come on that in future posts).

We closed out his visit with seeing the Boss play here in town on Monday Night. Man can he rock. The guy didn't take a single break or pause in the two and a half hours he played. And the man can work a microphone stand.

I've just got home from a beautiful evening snowshoe on Mt. Seymour. We started up around 7:30 and climbed steadily for about 40 minutes to reach Suicide Bluffs. From there we had the most spectacular view of the city and Vancouver Island in the distance. To the east we could see Mt. Baker poking out about the clouds. We reached the summit just in time to see the sun set and then began our descent. We had a seasoned snowshoer with us who introduced us to what I will call free running down the mountain. Find a clear patch of deep snow at some of the downhills and then let yourself go. The first one was pretty scary as he looked back at us and asked 'you're not afraid of steep downhills are you?" At that point I couldn't even see over the edge. But one step in and we were all squealing in excitement as we ran, slid and rolled our way down.











Some of you might recognize this shack. Its the one made famous in several Kokanee commercials. Normally we look up at it as we pass by on our way up Dog Mountain so it was cool to actually get to check it out up close as most people don't venture up this peak as its pretty steep (going up and down as we discovered).

For those of you on the East Coast and in TO you've already had your Earth Hour. We're about 36 minutes away from it here on the West Coast. Trent and I are planning to turn off the lights, tv & laptops and eat left over thai over a candle lit game of scrabble.

I appreciated the Globe's list of 60 things to do during the hour..in particular #22 as I just finished watching the Leafs beat the Habs (sorry Dan).

Trent and I have just returned from 3 days on the Sunshine Coast. We had rain, we had sun and we even had some good hail but that was okay as the plans were to do a lot of nothing. We stopped at Molly's Reach, made famous on the Beachcombers, for lunch upon arriving on the sunshine coast. After some fish and chips we were on our way up the coast.


We stayed at the Rockwater Secret Cove Resort in one of their Tent House Suites. It was sweet! Each tent is equiped with a king size bed, heated tile floors, propane fireplaces, stone shower, jacuzzi tubs and views of the beautiful cove below. It truly was a magical escape. Trent made a little video of the suite which will do a far better job at showing your our tent house suite.

Found a picture of Trent. He's #106..the guy who looks like he is wearing red shorts. I'm guessing this was in his first leg...the 10K.

The Rock and Ice Ultra starts in a short 35 minutes. I spoke to the boys earlier and they sounded excited and ready to finally get going after months of training. Temperatures are in the -20 to -30 C range which is perfect for them. Any warmer and they would have to start taking off the layers they have grown used to training in and any colder frost bite becomes a bigger concern.

Shaun will be running the first leg (~10km) and Trent will take the second leg (~6km) . Shaun will follow with his long leg of about ~24km and Trent will finish it up with with the final 30km. I'm off somewhere in my calculations but its something like that. They are thinking its going to take them somewhere around 8-9 hours...all depends on the conditions and what kind of pace they can maintain.

You can check for live up dates on Sleep Monsters. They already have some pre-race coverage posted from the last few days.

Three updates for you from the world of bacon.

1. Kitsilano's thickest bacon ...just up the street from us
2. Bacon ice cream yes, you read it right
3. Bacon Comedy

Trent and I have planned out our meals for Sunday. It all starts with a Kits Coffee cinnamon bun when I pick him up at the airport. From there we are heading to Go Fish for fish & chips and dc. Dinner will be our traditional first dinner of a Tropical Pig pizza from the Flying Wedge, though we may change it up and go out for pizza at the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co.

Yes..I know its sad that I have planned our meals already but its been a long time since Trent has had the chance to eat out and its been a long time since I have had french fries or dc.

Ohh and I am ready for lent to be over.

What I'd do for a plate of french fries and a dc right now. On the bright side I have definitely lost some of the winter weight.


Did I mention Trent arrives Easter Sunday? I'm really looking forward to that too (ok..maybe even more than the fries and dc).


Trent's big race is next Saturday. You can look for updates on Team Delfaxouverville on the Rock and Ice Ultra site. They are racing in the Cold Foot Classic, a 75km, one day event.

Yesterday I ran in the local St. Paddy's Day 5K. It was a lot of fun..well other than the run part. I had set some loft goals for myself time wise. I wanted to run under 26 minutes and was aiming to break 25, which I knew was rather ambitious considering I have only been back running for the past 6 weeks or so and I've had trouble getting out more than twice a week with my current schedule. I also had two side bets going; one that I would beat a friend's husband (I didn't) and the second that I would be slower than a guy I know who leads a marathon training group with the Running Room (I wasn't).


I came in at a reasonable 25:41. Slower than I had hoped and behind GV but still with in my goal time range. My first KM and mile were right on track but when we left the seawall and started up the long low incline I was faced with the reality that I really haven't been putting in the time/distance to race. I was knackered. My legs felt great but the cardio just wasn't there to push any harder.

We've been doing track work out for the past three weeks and I've been running pretty quick in my 1000m repeats for me. Each week lowering my time considerably from the week before. The problem has been its been taking me quite some time to recover from these runs. I've been doing some reading and I think I have been running too fast. I need to slow down (who ever thought that I would need to do that) in order to improve.

Tomorrow I start my masters swim class, two mornings a week. I'm looking forward to it as I really need the structure of a swim club to push me to swim fast. I've been swimming about 3 times a week for a good six weeks now so I should at least have the base needed to start pushing myself in the water.

Trent arrives a week today! Yeah!

I was a little early for a meeting this afternoon so I decided to wander around Indigo for a bit. I shouldn't do that. I can never leave without buying a new book.

Today's purchase was a good one and I think some of you will really like it; the ATHLETE'S GUIDE TO YOGA It clearly, with photos and descriptions, explains all of the poses and what you should be feeling. That's the most important part to me...sometimes I'm not sure if I am doing a pose correctly and to be able to pinpoint where I should be feeling it will be so beneficial.

My yoga session ends at the end of March so I am hoping that I can use this book to fill the gap and start taking my practice out onto the rooftop on sunny days.

The average home price in the Lower Mainland is $912,000.00

I don't think we will be buying anytime soon.

Oh the joys of swimming before work.

When I got to work and went to change out of the old t-shirt I wore walking in I discovered that my wet towel caused the ink on some on some papers to run and stain the white sweater I had planned to wear today. The one day I didn't pack my work clothes in a plastic bag this happens.

I am now sporting my very old and worn blue long sleeved t-shirt with slacks and cute little flats. Its quite a look.

Last week when we were in Whistler we went to the tube park. I seemed to be the only one who thought it was a little dangerous. I kept thinking what happens if you fall off and hit your head...they didn't give you any safety equipment and the runs were really icy and fast. Well...I spoke to my sister today and they've just returned from a family vacation from hell. I will skip all the minor events that led up to the trip finisher but let me just say I didn't think things could get worse. So, remember I mentioned how I thought the tube park was dangerous. Point proven...read on.

While on vacation skiing in Northern Michigan Ben took the kids to the tube park and decided to take a run down himself. Somehow his tube left the track, jumped over the next one right out of the park and landed him down on a patch of ice. He managed to get the kids and get back to their hotel on a broken foot and with severe cuts to his face. While in the bathroom cleaning up he starting screaming for Caron to go get their friend Alan (Ben and Alan are both Doctors). I will leave the gory details out but let's just say he broke a bone around his eye cavity which lead to a rather frightening displacement of his eye when he blew his nose.

No more tube parks for me.

I've finally got myself back on track exercising.

Tuesday night we began track work outs for running. I definitely have a love hate relationship with them. Each lap of the track I just kept envisioning the pounds falling away and that gave me the motivation to keep going. I think the workouts are going to be fun, we have a good group of all different levels and a beautiful track to run on. JS/LA...do you remember those killer hill/speed work outs we used to do with Konrad...in the blazing August sun. I don't miss them!

I've also got myself back in the pool...now if I could just read the workouts and stop swimming extra distance. Yesterday I doubled one element off the workout and ended up doing 400 m of kick. I barely made it up the stairs from the pool after my workout. I'm registering this week for the masters swim program at the local YWCA. It will be two mornings a week and should quickly whip me back into swimming shape.

Floor hockey ends in two weeks. We are heading into the playoffs tied for first place. It's been an interesting season with fun plastic stick floor hockey turning into a very competitive and sometimes volatile game. I joke about rumbles after the games but sometimes I'm not sure how far off that is from the truth. Apparently the crazy confrontational girl's husband had to step in between her and a guy she picked a fight with last week (the week before she took a swing at a guy on our team). Can't wait to face them in the finals!

Friday night I went to opening night of How it Works the latest production from Touchstone Theatre. The play is about Al, a divorced father, his teenage daughter who is battling a drug addiction and how the women he begins dating changes all of their lives. I loved the play and how each of the 4 characters came to life through out the duration of the performance. The best part was that the play was set in Halifax and featured lots of contemporary Canadian music. Recommend it to everyone if it comes to your town.

Last weekend I was up in Whistler for 4 days. We lucked out with the weather as it was sunny and warm the entire time. I wasn't in the mood to snowboard so I got myself two good snowshoes in.

Saturday I did a nice 3 hour tour through Lost Lake Park out to the Green Lake lookout. It was beautiful and really quiet. That's me enjoying a cup of tea when I stopped for a little break to enjoy the view.

Sunday we went to the Spa and spent much of the afternoon enjoying the outdoor hot tubs at the Fairmont Whistler. Sunday night we rounded up the whole gang and went to the Tube Park. OMG...it was so much fun. I seemed to have the perfect build for speed as each time I overshot the end of the run and hot the back wall..not even the guys managed to do that every time!



On Monday I headed home but stopped at the new Olympic Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley. I arrived just in time to watch the Canadian National Team training at the ski jumping. What a sight! I got to see about 10 jumps which included one good wipe out. How does one decide they want to get into a sport like that? Right now they only have one snowshoe trail marked at Callaghan. It wasn't very long but it was beautiful. They have a second longer trail cut but it hasn't been marked yet so I didn't want to venture out there alone.

Quick somebody rub me...my luck continues.

On Saturday I was in North Van at a sports store picking up some snowshoeing stuff with friends when I saw a contest to win one of those fancy new water bottles that are all the rage right now. I entered joking around that who knows...perhaps my luck would continue. Well didn't I come home from work today to find a very entertaining message telling me to sit down because there was exciting news..I was the winner of a water bottle.

Too funny.

Finally...Sunshine. After weeks and weeks of rain today we finally had a full day of sunshine and blue skies.

Saturday morning we went snow shoeing at Seymour and did the Dog Mountain trail (7 km). It was a beautiful morning out on the trail with fresh powder. We were teased with the possibility of sunshine at the peak but our summit rewarded us with fog so thick you couldn't see a thing below. Upon our descent we made our way to Deep Cove for a delicious brunch at the Arms Reach Bistro.

At the same time that my snow shoeing adventure was waking place Trent was out on Great Bear Lake training for his race. To say conditions were a little different would be an understatement. While we had 10 people, a dog and brunch he was out alone with only walkie talkie contact to town in -30 temperatures. He's definitely going to deserve a little R&R when he comes for Easter after his race. Hopefully once he's recovered he'll be up for shoe shoeing in the mountains.

I'm off to Whistler on Friday morning for 4 days. It will be great to have a few days off after how busy its been at work the past few months. I'm bringing my snowshoes and hope to explore some new trails while the rest of the gang are tearing it up on the hills.

I finally finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It took a while for me to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. Next on my list was Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley. This is one of the books Trent got me for Christmas. I think I am going to really like it as it is described as a historical romance that mixes fact and fiction, but I'm going to put it on hold for now and read As It Is In Heaven next. NB loaned it to me tonight and said I should read it now, over Valentines Day. I think I will save Trent's book for closer to when he comes comes to visit in March. By the way, he really enjoyed The Princess Bride, which was the book I searched high and low for. I can't wait to read it as it sounds even better than the movie...can that be?

I've started work on my second knitting project, a scarf for my father. My goal is to make a good go of it this weekend so I can get it in the mail to him before the end of the month. What I really want to be able to knit is mitts. I can't ever imagine that I will have my mother or grandmother's skills at knitting but I'll be happy if I can make a good pair of mitts and a toque.

There was a lot in that last posting so I just wanted to add that while the Year of the Rat is supposed to bring me good fortune and good times I think I am already pretty lucky in both those things. I don't need to be told that.

45 days!

GUNG HEY FAT CHOI - Happy Year of the Rat!

As a rat I am told that good fortune and good times will surround me this year.

It's not even 12:00 PM and good fortune has already found me...twice in fact

1. I received an email that I had won tickets to a preview showing of Definitely, Maybe coming out on Valentines Day
2. I received a second email from GetOutThere magazine that I had won a wetsuit in a contest I entered online with them last month

Yes...I'm thinking it too. You should rub me (head out of the gutter please) for good luck.

Rats are water signs and it is said that they make a very good match for monkeys and dragons, but do not get along well with rabbits, horses and roosters. The brown earth influences of this year also make oxen a favored friend of the persevering rat but add conflict to the year as the elements of earth and water seek a balance - especially during the early part of the year.

The rat's stone, the deep red garnet, is the color of joyful celebration. It signifies the loyalty and passion of the most honorable traits of the sign that will rule the year ahead.

In China, it is said that there are few poor rats. It is considered very auspicious to be born in the year of the earth rat. Babies born under this sign are intelligent and hard working. They are intelligent, curious, sociable born leaders who do well in any group, but value ties with family and close friends more than social contacts. The earth influences balance the rat's water nature for those born in this year making them able to control the flights of intellect that often draw the rat away from a good course. The selfish and calculating aspects of the rat are toned by the nurturing earth force. These are leaders to be followed with trust and good partners for a life filled with good fortune. The rat is clever, sometimes too clever. When mixed with the passion and charm of this sign, the rat can be manipulative as a life partner (don't believe this Trent) or business associate. The ability to initiate new ideas and work hard to reach a goal led the rat to the first place of honor at the side of Buddha. These are traits that bring success in both business and personal affairs.

Since the rat year begins a new cycle, remember that decisions made during this year will carry long term consequences. Do not make changes without careful planning especially during the beginning of the year.


Rat : 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 The clever rat has made many ambitious plans that will be put into action this year. Good fortune and good times will surround the rat in this year of glory. Easy social grace is a gift of those born in this sign, but trusted close friends and family are the center that the rat needs to secure prosperity. Beware of the battle of earth and water that may confuse the scurrying rat. This beginning of the year will see the rat tempted by many flirtatious relationships. Faithfulness and loyalty are difficult with so many admiring glances. Understand the fear of those you care for as you seem to be drawn to many new relationships. Take steps to avoid damage to your true partners. As the year passes the successful rat will see more serious relationships bear fruit. Although the rat is a water sign, boat cruises are not a good vacation plan. Travel to exotic lands to explore,meet new people and experience adventure may be the perfect honeymoon. With the influence of the earth aspects of this year, promises of commitments become real and those born in this sign may experience the blessings of marriage and of children added to their family. The rat who cannot focus on success will be misled and find much conflict and many uncomfortable scenes caused by straying from a match that will bring good fortune. When prosperity and love come easily they may not be treated with respect. The rat who will succeed is the one who remembers that greed and manipulation may bring quick victories but ultimately strengthen enemies. The cat is ever watchful of the rat who stole its place. Listen to the guidance of ancestors, loved ones and trusted friends. Beware of the flattery of casual admiration to completely fulfill the promise of extreme good fortune that this year holds.

It's Shrove Tuesday or what is better known today as Pancake Day. It also happens to be Vancouver Island Day. Happy Day Vancouver Island.

The Lenten Fasting begins tomorrow. To clarify for those of you knew to my life...the fasting has more to do with a post Christmas cleanse than religious purification..but hey, who can't use a little purification.

I've decided to up the ante this year as the usual sweets and DC was starting to get too easy. So, for 2008 I will be giving up the follow:

• The usual sweets (baked goods, chocolate and candy)
• Diet Coke (and all pop..not that I drink other pop)
  
• French Fries and potato chips
• All meat products (pork, chicken and beef)
• The elevator in my building (except for when I have heavy loads like luggage)

I tried to persuade T-Bone to join me in abstaining from the meats but despite my asking her WWJD she still refused.

The best part about Lent 2008 is that not only does the fasting end Easter Sunday but Trent also arrives that day! Yeah

While most people are glued to the tv this afternoon watching the SuperBowl I've just returned from seeing a production of Small Metal Objects as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. The performance took place in the Central Promenade of the Vancouver Public Library which was busy with Sunday afternoon traffic in and out of the library and the surrounding cafes. The audience were seated at one end of the space with headphones on listening to the mic'd actors who interacted with the general public in the space. The transformation of the public space into a stage (stole that from the program) was the best part. Some people were oblivious to what was going on while others tried to avoid or were confused while others like the homeless guy just played right into the scene.

Today I also saw the eagles...equally as exciting. When I went for my run this morning I sighted two eagles in the tree....there has only been one all winter! As I got closer I could see that one had something in its claws. Turns out he had a seagull and was carefully plucking it clean...it looked like it was snowing white feathers. Just so you know..I'm not the only eagle mad person out here, there was quite an audience gathered watching the dinner preparation.

Trent has just returned from a training run..apparently his finger tips feel like they are bleeding. Not good! If you haven't checked out his blog recently, you should. It's cold there!

Two years to the day that I moved into my apartment my name has finally been added to the buzzer list. So...I wonder how long will it take for Trent's name be added.

It's beautiful and sunny out so this will be short as I want to get out and run some errands before the rain/snow mix they have been calling for the last 48 hours arrives.

Yesterday morning I went snowshoeing up on Cypress Mountain. It was a clear morning and the views of the city below were stunning...so much so we all forgot to take out our cameras. After zig zagging through the forest up to the Upper Warming Hut we made our way back down to the Hollyburn Lodge for hot chocolate. Inspired by Trent, I went to the Yeti website yesterday to check out some of the local snowshoe races...definitely intrigued but I think it might have to wait until next winter as I haven't had much time to train and races are starting right away.

Speaking of training, I have new motivation to get back into the pool. I've signed up for a swimathon on May 10th in Victoria. This will be a great way to kick start my open water swimming season. I don't know all the details about the swimathon yet but I think I am going to aim for swimming an hour rather than a certain number of laps. Its hard to keep track of all of those laps when training and I think at the swimathon they have someone do that for you.

Okay...I can not ignore the sunny skies any longer...its been dreary for so long that I have to get out there and take advantage of it.

Thanks to Dan for pointing me to this site with what could be a new break through in deliciousness...bacon chocolate chip cookies with maple cinnamon glaze. Ohh I can't wait until the weekend to give the recipe a try.

I wonder how they mail?

Wow, what a week. I watched more figure skating in the last 7 days then I have in all 35 years of my life. I laughed, I cried and I cried some more. I think I can say that I finally get figure skating. It took a long time and and it took meeting some extraordinary people for me to come to this understanding and to appreciate the artistic element of the sport. To do what they do all with grace and style truly is impressive.

I worked a lot of hours and had to put on my game face day after day regardless of how tired and cranky I was but it was all worth it. This opportunity I had to experience some of the best skating we have seen in years and to meet some of the greatest skaters of the past, present and future would have been something my mother would have just loved. She would have been thrilled to hear all about my meeting Brian Orser and Victor & Shae Lynn. So while I enjoyed the week of skating for all of the fun and excitement of the competition I will treasure the experience for my mother and all the joy it would have brought her.


This is a colleague and I with Patrick Chan at the Skaters After Party the night of (or should I say morning after) his big win. He was a total sweet heart and just so excited by his success that day.

Wow...has it really been a week since my last posting? I'm finally home with an a few hours off before heading out to my final Figure Skating event. Going to take this chance to nap as it was a late night last night (2:00 AM) and early morning today.

Dare I say it? I have become a fan of figure skating. It's true and I will explain but right now my couch beacons me for nap.

Ummm...I think I might be a tom boy. I just had a look around the apartment and from my bedroom door I can see our paddle bag, my skates and hockey stick, my floor hockey shin pads and my snow shoes. This also suggests to me that we need more storage space in this apartment as most corners are filled with sports equipment and books.

This morning I ventured up to Mt Seymour to do a little snowshoeing. It was pouring rain as I left Van and I worried that it was going to be ugly at the top; but as I made my way slowly up the mountain the rain turned to snow. While it wasn't sunny at the top it was still a beautiful warm day with fresh snow making the trails spectacular. When I was deep in the woods I kept hearing these loud bangs which at first I thought were avalanches being set off (we've had a record season out here for avalanches). I quickly realized that it was actually snow falling off of the trees. The warm temperatures coupled with the wind was causing huge packs of snow to fall. It was quite spectacular to watch and hear, though I must admit, from that point on I saved my rest stops for clearings in the trees.

I was very sad to just read in the Globe that Sir Edmund Hillary has died at 88.

If you haven't had the opportunity to do so; I would recommend you read his autobiography, View from the Summit. It's a great read and reveals how there was so much more to him than simply being the first man to conquer Everest.

Jenn & Trent + MEC (or other outdoor store) = trouble.

We both love gear...its not good.

Trent and I went to see Juno tonight. I really liked it and can understand why Ellen Page is generating so much hype these days. It was a cute movie with some great lines in it. Definitely going to check out the soundtrack as anything with CatPower is good in my books.

Juno - Can't we just like kick this old school. You know, like I stick the baby in a basket, send it your way, like Moses and the reeds?
Mark Loring - Technically that would be Old Testament.

I read the following horoscope for Trent and I Wednesday as we relaxed in our comfy first class seats on our way back to Van. Strange that it was relevant but thankfully nothing went drastically wrong as predicted. Things actually went very smoothly for us...even better than smooth considering we got to ride first class.

Libra - Keep things simple over the next 24 hours, especially if you are on the move or meeting people away from your home base. With Mars and Pluto opposing one another across the travel axis of your chart the more complicated your arrangements the more likely it is something will go drastically wrong.

We are finally back in Vancouver. Despite snow storms following us across the country we managed to make it to and from all of our destinations with out too many delays. We even managed to fly Executive Class home on the Montreal to Vancouver leg. To top it all off we went to the Canucks game last night and got to watch them trounce the Rangers from some sweet seats (thank you GV).










Highlights of the trip

1. Meeting Trent in TO after almost 4 months since we last saw one another
2. Meeting Sydney - she is even cuter in person.
3. Spending 5 hours on the train sitting in front of drunk, loud guy who was on repeat
4. Learning of Trent's visa issues at the US border and walking the yellow line
5. Meeting Snickers the guinea pig
6. Making Christmas cookies
   
7. Seeing Alex and Hannah eyes wide running for the presents Christmas morning
8. Guitar Hero
9. Getting some quick visits in with friends in TO
10. Getting picked up by Sinead and Liam (and Mike) in Halifax
11. Turkey dinner! Yum
12. Getting locked out of the house for 5+ hours and then getting kicked out of the mall when it closed
    
13. New Year's Eve with Trent's friends
    
14. Learning that Christian reads my blog regularly (Hi Christian..will try and update a little more frequently for you)
15. Jumping in Lake Banook New Years morning
16. Open House New Years Day at Trent's mum's and finally getting to taste one her infamous cinnamon rolls (delicious)
17. Getting back to Vancouver in one day when many others weren't so fortunate
18. Sleeping in my own bed again