That's right.... 0 days.

8 hours and 7 minutes...but 0 days.

My swim partner has just called to cancel. As I haven't slept a wink all night I'm going to crawl up in a blanket on my couch and see if I can grab an hours sleep.

Overheard on my walk home last night.

Little girl #1 - "My dad can kick any bad guy's butt"
Little girl #2 - As she skips ahead kicking her heels up towards her bottom, "Look I can kick my butt too".

So innocent..yet sooo funny.

Woo hoo!

Just one more day until Trent arrives and 3 until we leave for Tofino with Mitch and the Mistress.

Wow...this guy is huge!

On a completely unrelated note, I felt like a fish out of water in the pool this morning. It just didn't feel good and I struggled to regulate my breathing the entire time. After 1200 m I was exhausted/dejected and called it a day. Shannon wants to go again tomorrow morning...not ready to commit yet though I am sure when the alarm goes off in the morning I will pull my speedo over my sorry butt.

God I love new gear.

Picked myself up this sweet little wet suit at Costco tonight. Now I have no excuses for not entering the Open Water Swim Series this summer.

While I was writing the last post I discovered a great new show on OLN. Breakbound, about a guy from TO who has given himself 2 years to try and make it pro on the surf circuit.

Sweet!

I had my freestyle clinic this afternoon. I was good, I definitely learned a few things but I wish there had been more actual swim time. It was a lot of information in 3 hours and I felt that my technique got worse through out the clinic as there was just so much to think about. It will be interesting to see if I can now apply this to my regular swims.

We finally got a break from all of the rain today. It was beautiful and sunny as I walked across the bridge to swimming. On the way home it had clouded over a bit but was still nice..that's when I took this picture.

I've also took a few shots of the eagles. Everyday I stop as I cross the bridge to see if I can see them..I wouldn't be surprised if a few people start taking to calling me the crazy eagle lady as I'm always peering over the ledge to catch a glimpse of them and get very excited if I get to see them take flight. Unfortunately it's a little tough to see them in the picture..but the white in the middle of tree is one of the eagles.

Yeah...I just saw the counter on my blog and we are finally down to 7 days, yes just one week.

Trent will be here for 9 days! We get 5 days in Tofino and two on either end. We haven't made any real plans for when we are here in Van..just plan to get a few swims in and see Shark Water. Tofino of course will consist of surfing, exploring the beaches/tidal pools and lots of R&R.

Woo hoo

I'm starting to tire of all this rain..though on the bright side it does give me lots of opportunity to wear my fun new rain coat.

Not too much planned for the weekend.

Scored some tickets (12 actually) to the Canada vs. Scotland U20 match tomorrow. I've set up a number of managers who are soccer fans with tickets so it should be a good time. There's a half time reception being hosted by the Province...hopefully its beer and burgers!

Sunday I have a free-style swim clinic from 1-4 PM. I'm hoping it will help me become a more efficient swimmer and figure out how to better engage my legs. Shannon and I decided to race two of our 50 m fast pieces in this morning's workout. I did pretty well, kept up with her right to the end finishing only about an arms length behind, though I'm not sure if she was going all out. I realized that I can probably swim a lot harder than I am right now.

No clue what I ate yesterday to inspire the following dream but it was a doozy.

The setting of my dream appeared to be a dusty campground with lots of Japanese tourists who did not speak english milling around. It all started when I was lured into looking at a snake under the promise that there was no way it could get near me. As I peered in, the snake lunged and wrapped itself around my arms and neck and had its mouth open on my but didn't sink its fangs in. I of course was initially paralyzed with fear as I awaited in the inevitable. When I didn't die immediately I start to freak out, in as calm a fashion as possible, and kept pleading with people to help me but no one would. After repeatedly asking for help a car finally pulled into the parking lot and one of the occupants managed to cut the head off of the snake. All I can remember was the hysterical feeling of panic that my worst fear was finally coming true..that I was going to be killed by the snake.

Needless to say I didn't feel to well rested when I woke up this morning.

Swimming is going well. I met Shannon at 10 AM this morning and we got in a good swim before heading to the market to do a little shopping. After our workout we worked on my flip turns. It's been years since I have done them but I think with a little practice I might be able to incorporate them into my workouts.

We had a nice break from the rain today. We didn't get any sun but it was warm and dry, you can't ask for that after all the rain the last few days.

Starting to get excited for our trip to Tofino. Twelve days until Trent arrives. Woo Hoo! I picked up a board for Trent on Thursday that we found on Craigs List. I've nicked named her the Mistress. Right now she is leaning against the wall at the foot of my bed. I still have to pick up Mitch as he's stored in Niki & John's garage. I can't wait to get the Mistress and Mitch out to catch some waves.

Well I've done it. I've signed up for a Masters swim program at the Van YWCA. We were at the Y just before 6AM this morning to ensure that we got into the class as they sell out quick. By the time we were finished registering (3 of us) the class was sold out. Lucky.

Had a good swim this morning with SB, a new friend. She used to swim for Dal so I had to work hard to keep up with her. Ok...I didn't actually keep up with her but I was able to start each set with her. I was really tired today for some reason and had no legs. Not great when every other set was legs!

Other great news today...the sap is running in NS. That means I can place my order for maple syrup and ensure that I don't get caught without as I'm well into my final jug.

I'm not sure if you ever checked out my link to Parkers Battle with ADA when it was up on my site. I was happy to read today that Kevin and his family are finally on their way to Milan to start treatment for Parkers ADA. I'll be adding the link back to his blog so that any one interested in following their story can. There was an article in the Toronto Star today too.

I have just come home from breakfast with Scooper at the Tomahawk. Once again, I say its worth the two bridge crossings just for the Yukon style bacon. After struggling to finish last time I learned my lesson and went with the half order of french toast plus the side of bacon. Scooper on the other hand went with the Yukon breakfast (I think that was the name) which came with enough of the Yukon style bacon to feed a family of five...no joking.

Besides the breakfasting I have had a very productive weekend. Friday night I set aside as Night of Jenn. I picked up some movies after work (Babel and The Last Kiss) and then ordered in the Chalet Swiss. Yesterday I had a list of things to do of which I accomplished all. I took a car load of stuff to the Salvation Army and am relieved to be rid of the snowboarding boots that have caused me so much pain. Also went to see The Lives of Others... Academy Award winner for best foreign film. I thought it was excellent. It gave a great insight into what society was like in t he GDR before the wall fell.

Today its cleaning the fish tank and making a big batch of vegetarian chili. I still get a good laugh whenever I think of #3 and I making chili with the veggie ground and trying to convince #2 (a die hard carnivore) that it was meat. While #3 and I couldn't taste the difference all she needed was a spoonful to taste the difference.

I have a new respect for models after spending the day at a photo shoot that will likely net us just one or two usable shots. I was the model who needed remedial, no matter how much I tried to relax and have fun, I just couldn't get a natural smile.

And the makeup...OMG. It took several washes to get it all off of my face. I'm not even going to try and brush my hair as I am sure I have over a can of hairspray in it. Hair was up, hair was down and eventually hair was half up and half down. Quite fancy for a marathon runner I tell you.

It was a fun day but a long one. I can tell you even if I was model material I most certainly wouldn't want to be one. I can understand why they never feel thin enough and are so fixated on their looks after having each shot of themselves discussed and picked apart.

If I ever needed a DC, now is the time. I'm investigating tax implications of a trust account for a proposed foundation (which requires answers immediately) while trying to arrange a photoshoot for Friday. All of this on top of my seasonal marathon madness.

Chips and DC... is all I ask for to get me through this afternoon

If my soul ain't cleansed by the challenges of my Lenten fasting today then I've no hope.

I finally got my lazy ass to the pool this evening. I wasn't even half a lap in when I was cursing myself for taking so long to start swimming again. I really do enjoy swimming and am glad that I over came the hurdle of just getting to the pool that first time.

Just over two months until the Kits pool opens. Woo hoo. I'm quite sure Trent and I will spend a lot of time there this summer. It will be so nice to have someone to swim with. I so want to throw in a speedo comment now but I'm going to be good and just have a little giggle here on my own.

It is sad that I am so scarred by high school drinking incidents that I can not drink concentrate OJ without being reminded of the fuzzy navel. If that's not reason enough to drink fresh squeezed I don't know what is.

Ugh.

Ahh sweet bed. Drove in from Whistler this morning to pick up a friend who was flying in at 8:30 AM. Was already in Squamish by the time she called to tell me her flight had been delayed and she wasn't taking off until at least 10:30 AM. Sucky for her but good for me as it means I get to crawl into bed for a few hours as I was up before 6:00 AM in order to get back to the city on time.

I was reminded this morning of one of the reasons I love Vancouver so much. It's that you get to live in a beautiful lush green city on the water and then you can drive to winter, less than 2 hours away in Whistler.

80's Trivial Pursuit = Much Fun

My quiet weekend has just been cancelled. I got a last minute invite to Whistler when some friends of a friend at work got caught in TO because of the bad weather. So I'm off for another weekend in Whistler. Coming back late Saturday night as I had already made plans with a friend flying in from Kelowna to go snowshoeing Sunday afternoon.

So next weekend I will sleep!

It's official. I am tired of winter clothing and ready to start breaking out the spring attire. I hate winter work clothing and as a rule try to buy as little as I can get by with. I'm at the point where everything I wear just feels blah. Let it be over soon.

On a bright note, I made the ferry reservations for our trip to Tofino in April. Woo hoo just 33 days until we head for the coast.