Steff's Stuff

2009-08-03T07:36:00.002-05:00

I finished this book before going away on my holidays but I haven't had the chance to write about it until now. Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment was interesting not one I would recommend it didn't really have an ending. It was about a dog who was old and very sick and the couple who owned it would do anything for her.

While away I started to read Columbine by Dave Cullen

Jodi Picoult

2009-07-19T10:23:00.003-05:00

This book, Handle With Care, is not on my Oprah book list but someone lent it to me and I do love Picoult's books, like her other ones I couldn't put this one down, like her other ones it is a controversial book. This book deals with whether to abort a baby with a disability or not, which disability is more worthy than others. I was able to see all the characters point of view of the issues they have to deal with. It also shows what the family members have to deal with by having a daughter/sister with a disability and their daily routines. I definitely recommend it and would like to see your thoughts on it too.

My next book is Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment.

Ernest

2009-07-11T07:40:00.003-05:00

I have finished book number 4: Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. It was about his life told by him as he was living in Paris in the 1920's. I got to "meet" some of his friends and other noble writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hemingway definitely enjoyed his alcohol and drank at every possible time he could find. He also enjoyed going to the track to see the horses.

My next book to read is Jodi Picoult's newest book Handle With Care.

Bzzzz

2009-07-02T19:15:00.004-05:00

Plan Bee was definitely an interesting book especially if you like bees. It is basically a book all about the facts of bees, honey and beekeeping. If you are interested in becoming a beekeper this book would be very useful, unfortunately that is not my calling in life. I did learn a lot about it and I will see bees in a different way from now on, but I think I am ready for another type of book so the next one on my list to read is A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway it is his biography.

2009-06-29T18:18:00.002-05:00

I have finished Camilla as my summer reading program progresses. I am down 2 and 23 to go. Camilla was an interesting story about a 15 year old girl living in Manhattan New York in the 1950's. She is learning a lot in this year about her family and love and the world around her. She had to mature quite quickly to deal with everything around her and yet she is still a child.

My next book is Plan Bee by Susan Brackney, after picking it up from the library I realized right away that this may be a tougher read for me as it is not a novel but more of a book about honeybees and bees in general. Hopefully I can learn a bit about these busy little creatures.

2009-06-23T18:24:00.002-05:00

It didn't take me long to finish my first book of the summer. I finished it last night and I have already picked up,thanks to the library, my next choice to start tonight. Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle. I am not sure what this one is about but will try to be as excited to read it as I was with the last one.

Yes, My Darling Daughter was a very captivating book and kept me wanting more. Although at one point I thought I may have read too much too late in the night as I ended up dreaming about it and couldn't get back to sleep. It is quite an intense book full of mystery and wondering what will happen next. It seemed very real like watching some of the CSI episodes.

Summer Book Reading

2009-06-21T16:07:00.002-05:00

I have decided to take Oprah up on her summer book club, she has a list of 25 books that she says you can't put down so I thought that it is a good start for me. I am trying to get most of them from the library but since summer has started today I went to Chapters to get my first read. I am starting with Yes, My Darling Daughter by Margaret Leroy. I will be going to New Brunswick for a week in July so I am hoping to get a lot of reading done driving there and in the early mornings before we head off for the day. My goal is to at least get through 1 book a week and see how that goes.

Boston Bound

2009-05-31T20:19:00.003-05:00

I am on my way to the Boston Marathon with a qualifying time of 3:39:44. This will be my first time to Boston and I am looking forward to it all. I trained hard since January to go and now it is a reality. Someone I trained with also qualified and I am so happy for her too she worked hard and was very determined to get there.

To hear more about how this all came to be check out my other blog here.

I do have to thank my running group for putting up with me and dealing with my competitive nature. I know they are happy for me too and I am so lucky to be able to run with them all.

A Sad Day

2009-04-13T18:39:00.004-05:00

TSN'S MAGGIE THE MONKEY TO RETIRE AFTER 2009 NHL PLAYOFFS

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip159423#clip159423

TSN regrettably confirmed today that world-renowned post-season prognosticator Maggie the Monkey will officially retire after making her picks for the 2008-09 NHL Playoffs.

Maggie will make her first-round playoff picks during the NHL ON TSN PLAYOFF PREVIEW SPECIAL on Tuesday, April 14 at 9pm et/6pm pt. Throughout the network's NHL playoff coverage, TSN will look back at Maggie's stellar career and her on-again, off-again, relationship with NHL ON TSN host James Duthie.

"This is an emotional day and really an end of an era," said Duthie. "Sure, we've had our ups and downs, but Maggie helped put this network, and the NHL, on the world stage. We plan to send her off in style, so if anyone has a great recipe for a goodbye banana cake – we'd love to have it."

Maggie the Monkey, a crab-eating macaque from the Bowmanvile Zoo, gained international fame in 2003 as a guest analyst on TSN's NHL Playoff coverage with her ‘highly scientific' method of predicting NHL winners by spinning a wheel. Maggie boldly - and correctly - predicted the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would make it to the 2003 Stanley Cup Final® by beating favoured Detroit, Dallas and Minnesota.

Overall, Maggie the Monkey's playoff prediction record is an impressive 40-35. Maggie's best year was 2006 when she finished first out of a panel of TSN hockey experts including Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire. The one blemish on Maggie's broadcasting career – is that she has never correctly picked the Stanley Cup® final winner. She plans to go out on top and improve her record with her 2009 Stanley Cup® winner prediction this year.

Taken from tsn.ca

New Job

2009-04-01T19:40:00.003-05:00

My new job has been going well, I am a much happier person and stress free. Sure the drive is longer but it is definitely worth it in the end and I do not have to deal with traffic as I am now out in the west end. I can easily get to my running group after work because it is on the way home.

I have 2 little ones, one is almost a year old girl and the other is 2 1/2 year old boy and they have quite a busy schedule. I go to 2 music classes in the week and 2 playgroups then I have Friday to do what I think they would like to do. Grandad also comes by once a week to take the little boy out and spend some time with him at the different museums and galleries. He really looks forward to his time with his Grandad. Now that the weather is nicer we get out to the park outside their front door on a regular basis.

This is definitely a good fit and I look forward to going to work again.

Google Reader

2009-03-05T11:27:00.002-05:00

I was informed of this great website http://www.google.com/reader. It allows you to type in the sites/blogs that you visit frequently all in one place and then you can go to this site to see if /when anyone has updated their blog. It helps save you time, instead of going to each separate blog on your own and finding nothing new, you can go to this one and view them all.

You will need to sign in and set up a profile but think of all the time you can save while still enjoying all the great things to read. I think you should try it out and don't forget to add my 2 blogs to it.

http://boston42km.blogspot.com
http://stephgordon.blogspot.com

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2009-03-02T10:32:00.003-05:00

I just finished reading this book. It was a nice light read nothing overly exciting but an easy read. It is about a woman (Rebecca Bloomwood) who works at a financial magazine, yet has a hard time keeping her own finances under control. Basically, she just loves to shop too much.

I know that the movie is out in theatres now but I don't think I will be one of those going to see it.

My next big book is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, it is about 817 pages so I am not exactly sure how long it will take to finish. I figured that if I can read this book I can possibly read anything.

2009-02-22T19:50:00.002-05:00

These past 2 weeks I was out of commission at work as I have decided to change families. However, I was asked to supply in a daycare centre. Yeah money!!! It was quite a different experience for me as I am used to one or two children at a time and working 10 hour days. At this place I worked with about 8 preschoolers and there were also about 5 kindergarten children. These children are very busy and when they first told me their names about 4 of them told me it was Spiderman, some were the red one and the others the black one. The ratio was about 4 boys to 1 girl, so there was a lot of Spiderman action going on.

The weeks went by quite fast and I was happy to help them out. They seemed happy with me too and were sad to see me go on, who knows maybe I'll be back full time one day.

Changes

2009-02-08T19:58:00.002-05:00

I am making a few changes with my blog. I will no longer be blogging on here about my running, instead I have decided to start a new blog dedicated to just running and my progress. For those of you interested in that part of my life feel free to visit me and comment at http://boston42km.blogspot.com .

I will keep up with this blog as well but leave it more to my thoughts in other areas and my day to day things like books I am reading or have read and other such things.

2009-02-03T11:14:00.003-05:00

I haven't been keeping up with my running routine as much I should be. I know it is early on and I shouldn't be skipping runs already but it seems whenever I am suppose to do my run we get another 20cm of snow, plus we had our bus strike so it would take me a long time to get home or to run club (sometimes too long that I miss run club). Running outside on my own is not really safe either and the treadmill is broken. Although now I don't have much of an excuse to miss because I am off work for 3 weeks.

I gave my notice to my family in mid January giving them about 2 months to find a new caregiver (how nice of me eh?). They decided that 2 weeks was sufficient time and so now I am off earlier than I expected and a little tighter on money too. I believe that it will be worth it in the end. The new family heard about it and offered for me to start about 2 weeks earlier (so nice) so now I am just stuck with 3 weeks instead of 5.

This weeknd is going to be a nice treat, as my aunt is coming up from NJ and we are planning to get together and maybe take in the Art Gallery and eat Beavertails along the canal, plus it will be the first weekend of Winterlude. I am looking forward to it.

Reading "The Reader"

2009-01-22T19:36:00.005-05:00

So it has been just over a week and I have finished yet another book, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Quite amazing for me, but I wanted to finish it sooner than later in case I liked it and wanted to see the movie. I found it to be interesting, yet depressing about a young boy who began a relationship with an older woman and read to her many books until one day she disappeared. He later (years later) ran into her when she was on trial for a very serious crime. I will leave it at that so I don't give too much of it away. I am not sure about seeing the movie I may wait until it comes on DVD, but Kate Winslet did win a Golden Globe for her part in it.

On another note, my Marathon clinic started on Tuesday night and so far so good. I know, I know I haven't gotten to the hard parts yet but I feel pretty good about this one and I am sure no matter what happens it will help me on my road to getting to Boston. We learned that over the course of the clinic we would have run the equivalency of running from here (Ottawa) to Toronto AND back. That is before running the actual race! So I still have a lot to do since at this point I have only run 22km.

I'm Back.....Finally

2009-01-14T18:49:00.002-05:00

Yes it is true, I am back and hopefully will be back for a while now. I have been quite busy over the past while with Christmas and New Years and making changes with work. I have been reading lots but I haven't posted anything. So here I am.

I just finished this lovely book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It takes place in 1946 in London and in the little Island of Guernsey which is located in the English Channel near Normandy. An author from London befriends a group from Guernsey who lived through the Occupation. It is not like other fictional books but letters sent back and forth telling their story. It was a nice change from some of the other books I have read.

Other things happening this New Year is next week I will beginning my training for my next Marathon. It is being held here in Ottawa and I am also going to be a group leader with the Running Room which will give me more motivation to get out and run. Although hopefully it won't be as cold as it is today -36 with the windchill!! Not exactly what I call fun. I hope to finish the race with a time of 3:50:00. Yes that is 3 hours, almost 4 hours of straight running. Anyone want to join me? I didn't think so. I am also considering running the NY Marathon in November but it is hard/expensive for a Canadian to get there. So I am trying my luck in the lottery and if they choose my name then it is a go. Cross your fingers for me.

The Rideau Canal opened on New Years Day and has been opened since then. I work near there so I have walked along it with the young one, the smell of the Beavertails keeps me coming back, I don't always eat one though. I also went for a skate but I may have to wait a bit before I do that again.

Vive Le Montreal

2008-11-23T11:00:00.005-05:00

I planned a trip away this past weekend to get out of Ottawa for a while, Montreal was the city of choice. One reason being because I haven't really visited there in a long time and the other being it is only a 2 hour drive. It was such a cold day but the sun was suppose to shine most of the day. I was able to get away from the Ottawa Santa Parade, but noticed when I got to Montreal the over abundance of children with their parents lined up along Saint Catherine Street. Apparently I didn't miss the Santa Claus Parade after all, I just got the french version. I did find that the Montreal Parade was much more entertaining than the one back home.

I tried to use my french while there but it seemed like everyone knew I wasn't really from there and so switched to english for me, although in one spot their english was as good as my french so I didn't feel too bad. I did meet quite a funny sales guy in one of the shops explaining to me how he knew and I tried to defend myself but english was used in the end.

After some lunch I strolled through McGill's campus, the buildings are so beautiful. I would definitely want to visit here again but on a warmer day so I can enjoy it more. All in all it was a good day.

We Are All The Same

2008-10-23T13:09:00.003-05:00

I have just finished this book by Jim Wooten and it was definitely an eye opener as to how life is so different in other parts of the world. It is about a young boy, Nkosi, who came to this world infected with AIDS. He is from a place in South Africa which was known as Zululand, his mother had the HIV virus and when she was impregnated passed the disease to him. He was only supposed to live a few years but because of all the love given that was given to him he became a role model to others living with this disease.

This book also talks about the history of South Africa and how the government helped or rather didn't help this boy or the other millions of infected people, but rather ignored the issue. It really touched me and made me truly thankful that I am living in a place with such freedom, love and help. I do hope that there will be a lot more positive changes for the people in Africa and that the government understands the full meaning of it all.

Barbara

2008-10-07T16:41:00.004-05:00

I have just finished reading this wonderful book. It is a memoir of Barbara Walters. It showed how she began, some of her personal life and the many many interesting people she met/interviewed. I enjoyed watching 20/20 and learning more about these interviews she did was like a sequel to the show. She has come so far and is still going far with the many tasks she is accomplishing even now.

What I enjoyed the most was the chapter on The View, all the different roads they took in finding the right combination for their panel today. I don't always get to watch the show because of my job but when I do I am not usually disappointed. It is like a calmer kind of debate than the political ones.

Definitely a book I was looking forward to reading and was not disappointed.

Toronto Waterfront Marathon

2008-10-05T20:34:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday I ran my first Marathon, that's right all 42.1km of it. I met up with a friend of mine that I have been training with and we decided to run together as much as we could. I didn't want to hold her back if she was having a good run and I wasn't. We started off well in the big crowd of people, for some reason they wanted the half marathon and full marathon runners to start together which was very busy and difficult to maintain a pace as we were dodging around some of them. I felt good and took all my 10 and 1's religiously, for those that don't know what that is, it is running for 10 minutes then walking for 1 minute.

My first 10km was right on track for my pace. I continued to feel strong and run through it all. When we reached the halfway mark things got more serious for me as some of the runners were finishing and I could focus more on the other 21km I had left. At that point I noticed that I had lost track of my friend and so I carried on alone. Because the race had a lot of turn around marks I was able to cheer on the leading man and the leading woman as they went past me and eventually found my friend.

At about the 40km mark I noticed my calf starting to cramp up but remembered there were only 2 km left and so I pressed on ignoring the pain. It didn't take long to forget about it because the adrenalin kicked in and it was so nice and helpful hearing the crowd cheering me on. I felt strong right to the end and pushed it right over the finish line. No hitting the wall for me.

My gun time was 4:01:07

And my chip time was 3:57:40

I came in 37 out of 154 in my age/sex category and 891 out of 2532 over all.

I guess I am bound for Boston one of these days. My next marathon won't be until May 2009.

One and a Half

2008-09-17T18:42:00.005-05:00

In a week and a half I will be heading down to Toronto to run my first ever (and hopefully not my only) Full Marathon. I had run a Half Marathon (21.1 km) back in May and had a good time finishing it so I thought the next thing to do was train for a Full (42km). The only problem was that there was no time to recuperate after one race before training for the next. I guess I didn't have to choose this Marathon as Toronto has another one mid October, but I liked the idea that the Waterfront Race was quoted as being "flat, fast and festive". I wanted a good experience for this first one so that I would be willing to try it out again and one day get qualified for Boston (one day).

The training through the summer was tough especially with all the humidity we had this year, but I made it through and learned a lot about my body and what gels worked. I was also busy this summer with Ultimate Frisbee which is a nice change from the constant pounding of my poor feet. My summer Frisbee team had a pretty good season in that during the playoffs we won the second tier. Now the fall season has begun and we now play 2 nights a week, which means that along with all my running and the increased distances/speeds/hills I don't really get much of a break. Plus when I play Ultimate I don't just go and have a good time but I am also very competitive and want to make the plays so I have fallen on my knee a few times the past week (but hey, I caught the disk), I now have a few bruises there but not too much pain right now. I will be playing in 2 more games before heading to Toronto so maybe I should go a little easier on myself (if possible).

I do have to say that after all the work I have been doing I will definitely be glad when this race is over and I can just go and run with no plans and schedules. I will let you all know how well I do after the race, but since it is my first and I am just wanting to finish the race I do still have a time to finish in mind (between 4h and 4h30min).

Wish me luck

WICKED

2008-09-01T19:11:00.004-05:00

I was so happy to get to go see this Broadway at the NAC. It was very good considering I didn't really know what it was about. I knew enough like that it involved the Wicked Witch of the West and how she became so "wicked". I tried reading the book before going but couldn't really get through the first few chapters.

The music was good and catchy (I will probably get the CD soon) and the costumes were amazing, especially this one that ressembled a pom pom. It was a nice break during a very busy day and much needed.

I moved out of my place the next day and into another the day after that. We had such great helpers too, we could not have packed a truck any better ourselves even if we tried. We kept wondering if all our stuff would actually fit. Our motto ended up being "Don't worry about the chairs".

Moving in had a few hiccups as we were supposed to have the keys and the elevators at 9am, although when we showed up there was no one there and there was no number for us to call either, I started to worry since I had to get the truck back by 4 that afternoon. It turned out the lady had to take a bus and forgot about the holiday hours. Then she couldn't find our keys and so had the super let us in so we could start to unload and hey look there on the counter were all of our keys. After that everything went really smoothly and we had everything out of the truck in about 2 hours. We had great help for the move in too and we appreciated all that they have done for us.

Thank you

Update

2008-08-10T16:59:00.008-05:00

It has been quite a while since my last little update on here. So I do have a few things to share with you.

I finally saw The Dark Knight, now there was a lot hype before this movie came out into theatres and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to see it or not. It seemed like a lot of people were going to see it just because it was Heath Ledger's final film and I didn't want that to be the reason for me to go see it. I did see it and the movie was quite good, definitely not a movie for the kids. My only problem seeing it was the other people around me who talked during it and had quite a loud laugh, but other than that I would recommend you to see it.

I also saw Mamma Mia, also a good movie and also some annoying people sitting beside me. They decided to explain the movie to each other and talked through the whole movie. Not fun. The movie was almost exactly the same as the Broadway one, I wasn't sure about Meryl Streep playing the part of Donna but I was surprised with how well she did. Pierce Brosnan however, could have used a few more singing lessons but that is just between you and me.

August 3rd Ottawa held the Red Bull Flugtag competition. I went downtown to see the different "aircrafts" there were so many people and so little space to sit and watch, some people seemed to have paced the Alexandra Bridge to see it better but there was no stopping on the bridge. We stayed for 19 of the 32 competitors as it was a very humid day and we were afraid of getting too burnt. One of the ones we saw was the ultimate winner. Yeah!

August 8th was the start of the Beijing Olympic Games and because I am lucky enough to have a job where the little one actually naps in the morning and the afternoon I was able to see most of the opening ceremony and Canada enter into the Bird's Nest. My favourite parts of the opening ceremony was the many more hands, many more fingers, many more drummers drumming on drums (taken from a Dr. Seuss book), and the men painting on the big scroll of paper.

I am moving to a smaller apartment and have about 3 weeks now to get this place in moving order. I have come to realize that I have too much stuff and so Value Village will be seeing me a lot in the next few weeks. Painting things back to white and packing boxes are also not some of my favourite pastimes but these things all have to be done. Luckily we have a group of people willing to help out at the end of the month and I am much appreciated to you all.

Finally it is another 48 days until my 1st marathon (42km) in Toronto. I have been working hard and I am just hoping to finish the race I have no set time to finish in but I will build on it for my next marathon, whenever that will be.

Happy 141th Birthday Canada

2008-07-01T12:13:00.006-05:00

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends. How are you/did you spend your day on this special day?

I started out by going for a little run.......well it wasn't that little it was a 10km race put on to support our Canadian athletes before they head off to Beijing for the Olympics this summer. Some of the athletes competing this year came out for the run as well and even led us into some warm ups before we sang the anthem.

Most Canada Days in the past have been cold and somewhat wet, this year however it was nice and cool and full of sun, then as the race started the humidity decided to come visit us yet again. I had a hard run and got a stitch early on (within the first 2km), but somehow I was not only able to finish but also get another PB. Everyone in the race was so fun to run with encouraging people and helping them through. I have to say this is one of my favourite runs.

Enjoy your Canada Day!

Hot Hot Hot....High High High

2008-06-07T13:51:00.006-05:00

Two big things happened today for us here in Ottawa, one was the EXTREME heat and the other was the price of gas.

We have been having above average temperatures here, usually we would be in the mid 20s (celsius) at the most, today we hit 29 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 39. For me it is a little too hot, it is like hitting a wall when walking out of the house. I believe we will be having this weather for the next little while along with thunderstorms. The weather men are also expecting an above average summer, so I guess I will be taking advantage of the local beaches around here, hopefully it won't be too crowded.

Our gas here is also on the rise, I noticed today that it was at 134.5 a litre. Not so good for me who drives quite a bit to get to work and I also drive the kids around to their various activities. I have a feeling this may prevent a lot of families from vacationing too far from home. I'm not sure how much I will do except for a wedding and more races coming up at the end of the summer. What kind of plans do you have for the summer months? Traveling much? What are some of your Hots and Highs?

Also a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this little girl. She turned 1 year old today!

My Book Binge

2008-06-01T17:24:00.004-05:00

Here is the list of books I have read this month. I am not quite an avid reader as probably some of you are but I have been reading 3 this past month and that is a big accomplishment for me.

Whistling in the Dark - Lesley Kagen

A nice summer story taken place in 1959 about 2 sisters living on their own because their mother is hospitalized and their stepfather is always at the bars. Plus there is a murderer and molester out on the loose. Enjoyable and an easy to read.

My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson

One friend asks the other to look after her child when she finds out she is dying, but problems arise and lessons are learned.

Little Pink Slips - Sally Koslow

Basically a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. I am still reading this one and I am on page 73.

National Capital Race Weekend

2008-05-25T18:54:00.005-05:00

I have completed my Half Marathon race. It was nice and cool in the morning which is what you would want, but then it got hotter and hotter which is not what you are hoping for. I met with my group of runners and got a few "team pics" taken before the race since we may not see each other by the end. We made our way into the corrals to get set for the gun to go off. There were about 9000 participants in the Half Marathon. I started off well trying to get my nerves out, although I do have to admit I went faster than I should have for the beginning of a race. My plan was to go at about a 5:15 pace for about the first 20 minutes and then take a 1 minute walk then I would run a bit faster at a 4:57 pace for 10 minutes and walk for 1 minute all the way to the finish line. The race had quite a few hills in it which I went at a fast pace to get up it and then found I didn't have much in me when I got to the top to continue at that speed.

There were lots of water stations along the way, usually I avoid them to try and get past the other runners but I found I stopped long enough to take a cup of water to dump on my head and cool me off a bit. We did have sprinklers and sponges but not until the 15km mark of the race.
I didn't have much in me near the end of the race but I still managed to push it the last little bit and I finished with a time of 1:49:06. I am quite happy with this time as it is also a personal best for me. I was a little worried about making it because I find it tougher running in the heat rather than the winter, and I am glad I didn't pass out and was able to walk on my own at the end. There were a lot of people passed out along the race route. I was the 294th female to finish out of 4742 and the 59th out 760 in my age/sex category.

The Countdown Is On

2008-05-18T12:39:00.003-05:00

I have been training for the past 4 months for the Half Marathon race. I do have a certain time I have been working towards and am hoping that everything will go as planned. I have run through snow, rain and sun. I have done my hills work starting at 3 and going up to 9 hills over the weeks. I have done my 3 nights of speed work. I have run the race route 2 times the past few weeks so now all I seem to have left is to actually run the race.

I have had a great group of people to run with and we plan to start off the race together, but then it is everyone to themselves. Some of these people are running this for the first time and others are trying to cut their time a bit. All I know is that crossing that finish line is going to be the best feeling. I will have lots of people out there cheering me on and helping me get to that line. My Grandmother will be coming in from Cornwall, my 2 sisters and my mom (I guess I will have to get lots of whacking sticks). So far the weather is looking pretty good and hopefully it will stay that way.

It is suggested that you have another goal lined up for after the race so you have motivation to keep going, so I am trying to decide between 2 races both are in Toronto but one is along the waterfront and the other is through the streets of Toronto. Oh, and it is a MARATHON!

Wish me luck.

I'm Back

2008-05-04T12:41:00.003-05:00

I know I have been away from here for quite some time. I think I have just been having some blah moments where I felt like I didn't really have much to say. I have still been reading a lot of your blogs and keeping myself up to date on what is going on with you. So I figured it was time for me to update a bit now too:

I have just run 21.1km as part of my training for the ING Ottawa Half Marathon Race later this month. I met with my pace group downtown to run the route we would be running for the race. Even though it rained for the first half of the route it felt good to finish and I still felt good at the end. Sunday is usually our Long Slow Distance (LSD) run so we didn't run it at a race pace but we did tend to go faster than we should have. We will be running it again next Sunday as well, hopefully it will be a bit more sunny then and we can really enjoy it. The route is quite nice it starts at City Hall and goes across the Parliament Buildings, over to Hull then comes back along the Rideau Canal. I am actually looking forward to the race, it might sound crazy but I am.

I went down to the Tulip Festival this past weekend, it started this weekend and goes on until Victoria Monday (May 19). I wanted to go just to Dow's Lake area which is along the canal, however my sister thought it was better down at Major's Hill Park so we went there and unfortunately not many of the tulips have come out to show their bright colours yet. We will probably head towards Dow's Lake next weekend to see more. I did get a few pics though, here is one of painted Tulips all in a row.

The new family I am with has just moved into the Glebe and I am loving everyday being there. We are about 2 blocks from the Rideau Canal, a block from Bank Street and it is just a short walk to the Nature Museum which we will be getting a membership to at some point. I now have the little one (11 months old) on a great schedule and I am really enjoying my time with her. We go out on a walk everyday and eventually will be making it to the Tot Lot down the street, a park only for Toddlers. The mom will be going back to work in a month and then things will change for the little one but hopefully she will adapt well to it.

I will be starting another season of Ultimate Frisbee in the next few weeks. I played with this same team last fall and I enjoyed it quite a lot so I decided to play with them again, for the summer we will be playing on Friday nights.

That is pretty much all that is new with me for right now. What have you been up to? Plan to do in the coming weeks now that summer is at our doorsteps?

Dancing is Back!

2008-03-17T15:11:00.026-05:00

Dancing with the Stars starts tonight and I am so excited to see the new group of celebrities and dancers make their way out on the dance floor. They will be dancing some great dances some of my favourite ones to watch are the Samba, the Foxtrot and the Jive, but there are many other ones too.

Here are the list of Stars with their partners for this season.

Kristi Yamaguchi (figure skater) and Mark Ballas

Marissa Jaret Winokur (Broadway star) and Tony Dovolani

Jason Taylor (NFL player) and Edyta Sliwinska

Monica Seles (tennis pro) and Jonathan Roberts

Priscilla Presley (actress) and Louis van Amstel

Penn Jillette (magician) and Kym Johnson

Marlee Matlin (actress) and Fabian Sanchez

Mario (R&B singer) and Karina Smirnoff

Steve Guttenberg (actor) and Anna Trebunskaya

Shannon Elizabeth (actress) and Derek Hough

Cristián de la Fuente (actor) and Cheryl Burke

Adam Carolla (comedian) and Julianne Hough

I will predict who I think will win this competition and my vote goes to Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas

Boleyn

2008-03-16T11:26:00.005-05:00

I have just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It was a long book, 735 pages to be exact and probably the largest book I have read to date. It is about....you guessed it....the Boleyns; Mary, Anne and George. The slow rise of power all the way to their deaths. The story was told from Mary's point of view and although it is a fictional story it is pretty close to what they encountered.

This book has just recently come out to theatres and I am interested in seeing how similar it is to the book. In most cases I find the books are better than the films. In this film Scarlett Johansson plays Mary Boleyn, Natalie Portman plays Anne Boleyn and Eric Bana plays King Henry VIII.

My next book is Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky.

A Book Meme

2008-03-09T15:59:00.003-05:00

Here is what you need to do:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Post a comment here once you post it to your blog so I can come see.

Here are the sentences from my book:

Lord Henry Percy laughed. "I'm sure I could get an indulgence," he said. "The Pope would surely grant me a dispension.

The book is The Other Boleyn Girl

Spring? Where?

2008-03-09T11:05:00.009-05:00

This is outside my basement bedroom
window.....it is quite pretty.
<------------

This is just outside my

place and the "steps" that

lead down to the sidewalk.

--------->

This is the snowbank before the main road outside my place. If you look closely you car even see the top of a car. I was standing on the bottom of the steps.

<-------------

This is how deep the snow is as I was

walking out to see how to get my car

out.....which I could not get. The snow

was up to my knees!

-------------->

This is the only reason why I still like winter Mmmmmmmm!

Hawaiian Chair

2008-03-06T10:43:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHiqVygN-w0

Check out this You Tube infommercial it is too funny and you will not be able to contain your laughter. So choose wisely where you decide to watch it.

A Little Time Away

2008-03-06T07:42:00.008-05:00

I have just returned from a little time away from one big city to another big city. I took a nice calming train ride from Ottawa to Toronto where I had a nice little visit with my aunt in her new home. While there I did a lot of walking......but to me walking is what I really like to do. I was able to peek inside little shops along my way of things and fashions you can't always see here in Ottawa. After my first day walking around I went down to the beach front and sat there as the waves of ice came crashing in. I found a couple of swans swimming around looking for something to eat. They were quite friendly and came up quite close to me hoping that I had some nice treats for them but unfortunately I did not. Maybe next time. Even though the boardwalk was covered in a thin layer of snow there were quite a few people out dog walking, exploring and running. It made me think of the big Marathon that Toronto hosts in September that would go all along this boardwalk and into the downtown core along the water. Hmmmmmm....... maybe.

My second day of exploring took me up to U of T. The University area has a lot of nice little coffee shops and many many people bustling here there and everywhere. I really loved the architecture of the buildings too. My tired feet were happy to be going home and I boarded the train only a half hour late. Who knew winter was going to stay around longer, I thought that after this trip that Spring would finally be in the air.Well......I came home to 28cm of more snow and I hear we are looking at more for the weekend. Argh!!! Will it ever end?

Finished

2008-02-23T17:51:00.003-05:00

It only took me about 10 years on and off the finally read this classic book. I actually found The Great Gatsby quite entertaining to read and now looking back I am wondering why I never read it before. Maybe it was because I was being forced to read it through school, who knows. I am glad that I did and I encourage and challenge you to read it if you haven't already or re-read it to welcome back this classical book.

My next book is a toss up between The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory which explains itself in the title and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky about World War II and the invasion of the Nazis in Paris. What do you think?

The Bugs

2008-02-22T20:09:00.003-05:00

I have finally been hit by those mean bugs......I have gotten my first cold of the year and I am very sad by it :( I was hoping I could avoid it this winter and I was so close but they got the better of me. Luckily it is a Friday and I can hopefully get rid of it before seeing the little ones who infected me in the first place. Although I am sure she didn't want this either. After finishing with the first family (the sicko group), I ran over to the drugstore to get my new favourite friend........

This is who I rely on during these hard times of mine when I cannot think, breathe and sometimes sleep, it will not leave me when I need it the most and has never let me down before. So I am depending on it to follow through for me again. Good night zzzzzzz

Another One Down

2008-02-15T19:45:00.003-05:00

This book, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, was another memoir. It seemed interesting at first but about halfway through I found I was feeling a little depressed reading it. It was about a family of 6 living below the poverty line, how they dealt with their problems and how they saw the world as an adventure. It started out in Phoenix and ended in New York City. The kids eventually moved on and most had very successful lives, which is what helped me to keep reading this book, I was looking for that happy ending and even though not everyone in the family had a "happy" ending they were all happy in the end.

For my next book I've decided to go back to a classic, one that I was supposed to read in High School and never did, one that I've tried to read before and have since put it down......The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hopefully I won't put it down this time.

27 Dresses

2008-02-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

I went to see a movie this afternoon, 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. Katherine plays Jane who has been a bridesmaid for 27 different weddings and has even had to coordinate 2 weddings in the same night taking a taxi back and forth throughout the night. James plays Kevin/Malcolm Doyle who is a writer for the NY Journal, he writes the Commitments Page but is tired of it and doesn't really believe in weddings. He thinks they are just how the government and other businesses can scam money from those "in love". I won't give too much of the movie away, but basically what I got from it was you won't marry the "perfect" person, meaning that you will always have to work on a relationship with whomever you are with and fighting is good. Not all the time, but a relationship is not real until you do have a fight. Plus making up after is always the best part......no?

It was a very funny movie and it had me laughing quite a bit. I know that the ratings to go see this movie were not 5 Stars, sure it probably won't be an Oscar winner or anything but it was certainly a nice light movie, definetly a chick flick.

No More TV?

2008-02-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

This strike has been going on for quite some time now and I think it is time for everyone to settle down and fix this. Not only are they losing A LOT of money but they are losing alot of support from us people who watch their shows. I don't know about you but I don't think I can handle much more reality shows with all their dancing and singing. Something must be done! Plus the movies are quite slim in the pickings. I demand that you bring back our tv shows that we have invested our time in.....it's only fair. I just had to vent that out. Maybe if they would show more Toronto hockey games it might not be as bad.

Although, on a positive note about this whole strike issue, I am reading and running more so maybe this isn't such a bad thing, considering how much news coverage there is about USA and Canada's obesity rate. Perhaps this will influence more of us to get out and become more active, or maybe we will just watch more and more reruns who knows. Whatever it is I hope they are able to negotiate and come up with a happy ending. We'll just have to wait some more and see.

Reading

2008-02-03T06:58:00.001-05:00

I have just finished reading another book, Eat, Pray, Love this one was a biography of Elizabeth Gilbert. Liss just got a divorce and was quite depressed and so she travelled for a year to find herself again or for the first time depending on how you look at it. She decided to pick three areas to see and divided up her time within those threes countries.

The first country on her list was Italy. She spent four months living in Italy and getting to know some fascinating people (Luca Spaghetti). She not only gained more on her self but she also gained more around her waist and had to get a new wardrobe often. She always found the best places to eat seeing as how that is what Italy is known for, along with everything else they are known for their good food.

The next country she travelled to was India where she stayed in an Ashram. She learned the importance of meditation, prayer and self worth. Taking time to pray everyday, most of the day. It was such a big change for her from being in Italy. She also met some interesting people there too, one man who took to calling her Groceries.

The last country she went to was Indonesia to spend some time with the "Medicine Man" who had asked her to come back to Bali. This is where she fell in love again, the people really took her in and taught her to love again. Again she met a lot of welcoming people and enjoyed her time and saw much of the country.

I don't want to tell you too much about it because I want you to go and read it for yourself. I really enjoyed it and I am now on to my next book.....The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Juno

2008-02-02T01:13:00.000-05:00

I finally saw Juno! It was such a good film starring Ellen Page who played Juno MacGuff, a 16 year old pregnant girl looking for a perfect family for her baby. Michael Cera played Paulie Bleeker, the father of the baby. Jennifer Gardner and Jason Bateman played Vanessa and Mark Loring, the supposed perfect family.

The film is about how Juno and Paulie ended up getting pregnant and the decisions that Juno had to encounter after learning of her new status. She took things well and dealt with them very maturely for a girl of her age. Her humour added flavour to the movie and kept people watching. I definetly recommend you seeing it if you haven't already since it has been out in theatres for over a month now.

Hypothermic Half

2008-01-27T15:42:00.000-05:00

So I have just finished my first official Half Marathon (21.1k). Official in the sense that I actually trained hard for this. This race was called the Hypothermic Half. From the picture, you can see why it is called that. It wasn't too cold of a day for the end of January and the sun may have popped out once or twice but I didn't really notice. I was pretty focused on my race. I had my music going and my Garmin by my side helping me along.

There was one little problem with my music which took a little while to fix. I started the race listening to it and after a while I noticed I was listening to the same song over and over again. Apparently I had it set up to repeat one song rather than the whole playlist, so once I got that sorted out everything else went quite smoothly.

This race is not one of the most exciting ones to run since it is a lap kind where I ran the same area about 4 times, seeing and smelling the same things over and over. It took place at the Central Experimental Farm. So you could definitely smell the farm many times especially as the wind blew your way. The only good thing about running the many laps is that I was able to cheer on the other runners from my group as I passed them as they did for me. It always feels good when you hear someone giving you those words of encouragement, and it is probably what helped me get through the race. I am proud to say that I finished the race with a personal best time of 1:52:50

I have started already training for the next big race of Ottawa the ING Half Marathon in May, it is one of the biggest events here in Ottawa as a lot of the racers who run the full Marathon run it to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I am very excited to participate in it this year. Last year I ran a 10k but I feel I am ready for the Half and maybe next year I will finally attempt a full Marathon as well (not necessarily for the Boston though). Training for this has me being a group leader with the Running Room. We started last Thursday and hopefully I will have more in my pace group this week but if not that will be ok too.

Reading Again

2008-01-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

I have started reading again, no not Harry Potter, I have put that aside for a while....I needed a change. I found this book at Chapters, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and it sounded kind of interesting. It is about a boy in College who leaves when he becomes poor and parentless and joines the circus. He made friends after making a lot of enemies first and even fell in love. The story goes from the present, at the age of 93 to the past, starting at the age of 23. It really was a good book since it took me less than a week to read it and that rarely happens. I just felt I had to know more about the circus life and what went on behind the scenes. Basically I couldn't put it down.

I went to the book store again in search of another great book and picked up Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, it is a biography. We'll see how it goes.

Dilemma

2008-01-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

I've been having a hard time adjusting to my new situation at work. For those of you who don't know me.....in September I finished Nannying for one family (sort of) and started with another. The family I finished with (Family 2) has 2 children 6 and 4 years old, I was with them for about 4 years and both the kids started full time school this year. It was sad to not be with them as much anymore.

The new family I started with (Family 1) had their first child in June and asked me to start with them in September to get adjusted while the mother was still on maternity leave. Also so that I wouldn't get a job somewhere else and leave them looking later on. Since she was on mat leave Family 2 asked if it would be ok if I worked part time with them as well. I would pick up the older kids after school and stayed there until mom and dad came home for the night. So basically I work 7:30-2:30 with Family 1 then I drive to the school to pick up the kids and I am with them from 3:00-5:30. I was delighted to do this since I didn't really want to leave the older kids anyway.

It was in an agreement between the 2 families that I would do this until January when Family 2 mom was to go back to work. Well now it is January 15 and I am still in the same situation as I was in before. Now don't get me wrong I love the time I spend with Family 2, I am just getting more and more frustrated with Family 1. I didn't think being a Nanny would be following the mom around while she did her errands and appointments, because mom is on mat leave I am basically not doing too much with the baby, who is now 7 months. I feed her in the morning and at lunch and I play with her during the day when that is possible. Mom puts her down for naps because she likes to stay in the room with her and watch her sleep. I am finding it harder and harder to do my job as a Nanny. I don't feel like she trusts me or thinks that I can handle things as she is always intervening. She will be going back to work but the when is what is bothering me. Can I really put up with this for the next 5 months she is on mat leave? Will things be any better then anyway? Should I be looking for another family?

This is just something I have been thinking about lately. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A New Year

2008-01-13T19:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in a while so I thought now would be a good time. I've been back at work for a week now after having a good two weeks off over the holidays. The week started off really well, I heard lots of interesting stories about what the kids did over their holidays and surprisingly the baby missed me.....or so it seemed.

She is now 7 months old and is more attentive, I can actually play with her now and she responds to what I do. She likes to knock over my towers repeatedly :( She is not quite crawling yet but can sit well on her own. She has started eating more varieties of foods which is not always nice for me, her favourite right now is sweet potato. I have also begun taking her to some playgroups (well one so far), she really liked watching other kids play and move around. Hopefully she will start to move around more herself because she is starting to get heavy.

The other 2 kids went up to Montebello Quebec after New Years for a few days with another family and had a good time.....well mostly good. Poor little Choo Choo ended up getting an ear infection the day before they went and had to go on antibiotics. They have had many experiences with ear infections and ear tubes that they still had all the ear plugs so she was able to swim still. They also tried out cross-country skiing and I think it is now Nugley's favourite thing to do as that was all he really talked about. Then I had to try and get them back on their routine after picking them up from school, hopefully next week will be better. Choo Choo ended up getting hives, a reaction from the antibiotics so she was itching all day at school and the next day too thankfully they went away pretty quickly. She was very brave.

Choo Choo on her new horse from Santa

2008

2008-01-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

Well, 2007 is over and done with and 2008 has come, what will it bring for me? for you? We will never know what is ahead which I find exciting. I had a pretty good year last year and I am looking forward to what is to come. I have not made any New Years Resolutions, not really sure what I would consider an actual resolution anyway. There is always the usual ones about living healthier, exercising more, cutting back on finances, but who actually keeps these? and what do they actually entail? I would just rather take things one day at a time and just enjoy everything I do, with my friends and family.

I ran in a Resolution Race last night along the Rideau Canal, I ran a 10k and beat my personal best, I found that a good way to end of the year for sure. Now I'll have to see where I can go from there.

What did you do for your New Year's and what kind of plans are you setting? Well what ever they may be I just hope that you are happy.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-27T09:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas has come and gone. I hope you have all had a nice time with your family and friends, I know that I did. I spent my holiday time with my family, we opened our stockings filled with little goodies and then opened our presents. I was really excited with everything and was excited watching other people open their special gifts especially the ones from me.

We had turkey dinner at my place meaning I got to cook it. I was stressing over it a bit but once it got in the oven I felt much better and didn't realize how simple it is to cook it. Now carving it was another story.......I guess I just don't have the patience to slice it just right, I ended up cutting huge slabs of meat with the electric knife. At that point I just didn't really care, I could barely think anymore from the cooking stages, the many visitors here, and the lack of coffee in me. But luckily everyone ate up and enjoyed it all. Then it was time for my least favourite thing.......the clean up.

All in all it was a good day and I can now enjoy the next few days off to relax, or can I?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Baking...Baking...Baking

2007-12-08T13:43:00.000-05:00

I have been fortunate this week having only to pick up the 2 older children from school at 3, so with all my extra time in the morning I figured I had time for a little baking. I planned out what I was going to bake, made my list and headed off to the grocery store and the lovely Bulk Barn. I first had to consult with my Grandma on a recipe and she seemed delighted that I enjoyed some of her favourite desserts.

The next day I began my bakefest.....I started with one of my favourites....well they're all are my favourites or I wouldn't have made them. Anyway, I made some soft ginger cookies and some date squares, the date squares did not exactly turn out the way I expected, and actually I ended up burning them as at one point I forgot to put the timer back on.....OOPS! The recipe I used was from one of the Internet websites, but then I remembered about this great recipe book I got for Christmas last year. It is one of the best because it has all the old family recipes in it dating back to my great great grandparents. The recipes were found in some old books and written by them. Very cool. As I was referring to this book my great Aunt had a recipe for Matrimonial Squares aka date squares. So I thought I would try it again and they turned out great.....I should have known better than to mess with family recipes.

The next day I attempted the recipe from my Grandma, apparently they are called saucepan cookies, not a very original name, but I do remember how much I liked them when she made them for us last year. It seemed easy enough but as I progressed I realized that there may be some things are better to just eat than to make. I think I will leave this one for my Grandma to make. I also made some macaroon cookies and the classic Rice Krispie Squares with sparkles on top.

I still plan on making shortbread and sugar cookies but I just ran out of time and honestly I am not looking forward to it. I don't really like getting too messy and these cookies will be messy and probably frustrating at times. We'll see.

Clockwise: ginger cookies, rice krispie squares, macaroon cookies, saucepan cookies. Centre: date squares

It Is Cold

2007-12-02T17:26:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that Jack Frost is showing up on our doorsteps already. It seems like we didn't get to finish off with Fall properly, and BANG winter is here. Now, it is not that I don't like winter, I mean there are lots of fun things to do throughout the winter. Skiing, skating on the Rideau Canal, seeing the Lights, building snow castles, snowmen and snow angels. I love the snow, really I do, it's just the cold that seems to get to me. In Ottawa we don't get it as bad as some other places in Canada but it does last for a long time, and by February we are looking for it to all go away and for the warm air to return. We are expecting a lot of snow over night tonight. It always look nice with the snow but causes a lot of headaches trying to get to and from work. I expect a lot of delays tomorrow.

I am advancing the distance in my runs now working up to the Half. Today I ran 14 km in the snow and minus temperatures. I am so glad that I have decided to do this with other people or I may have given up by now. It takes a lot to get up in the morning and run. I hope that I can last until the end of January when the race takes place.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

2007-11-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

Winter is here....or rather it is knocking on our door. We were hit with a storm the last couple of days. It started Wednesday morning, stopped for a while in the afternoon, then continued Wednesday night and all of Thursday. I was so happy to have gotten my winter tires put on a few weeks ago but at the same time was worried about the other drivers. Who forgot to put winter tires on? How close are they driving towards me? I made it to and from work without any problems. The drive to work took longer, as expected, but the trees looked so magical.....covered in a white blanket on each branch, very Christmassy (if that is even a word).

So it got me thinking of Christmas and all the work that goes into it, the lists, the cards, the shopping, the line ups. Actually, I love all of it, I guess you could call me a people watcher. I could go to the mall and just watch other people all bustle around each other while sipping my Timmie's. I am excited for Christmas, mainly because it is when we all get together as a family and just have a good time. Sometimes it is hard to find time like this in our busy schedules but I am glad when it comes...even if it is just to get a phone call.

As I am loving all this snow right now, I know it will go away.....but not for long. If only we could have the snow without the extreme cold (-30). If only.

Update

2007-11-06T11:51:00.000-05:00

So I have been working with this new family for almost 2 months now and things are going much more smoothly than before. Loo Loo is about 5 months now and has taken to me and actually smiles at me now when I arrive in the morning. Mom is still at home with us but because she is going back to being a resident at the hospital again she has a lot of studying and research to do and allows Loo Loo and I to play or go for walks. Every now and then she comes in for cuddles because it is hard to be away for your baby all day long. I am really enjoying being here and I get along well with both Mom and Dad. I am still with the last family too but only until Christmas so it will be sad to say good bye to them, actually I don't think I could so I will have to take the kids on some weekends during the year.

I have recently finished playing Ultimate for the season and had a great time and met a lot of great people. We just finished off last night with a get together at one of the pubs downtown. Now I can focus my time on my running, hopefully, I am having a hard time with it as my knee likes to hurt me so I have decided to have someone check it out and give me some advice on what to do so that I won't have to give it up. My next race is set for Dec. 31 (the Resolution Race). It is only a 10k.

Dancing!!

2007-10-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying what I can watch of Dancing With The Stars which right now is just the results show. Last week there was an amazing guest singer/dancer, Wade Robson. He is actually the choreographer for when the professionals dance on the show. I have attached a link to his dance, absolutely amazing and definitely kept my attention. Check it out when you get a chance.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OLJASCTZ3z0

Gatineau

2007-10-22T12:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days of fall we have had yet. So my sister and I drove out to one of the most beautiful places for such a day, the Gatineau Hills. It is this huge forest full of different trails throughout it. As we were driving, we passed many people either walking or biking.

We ended up driving to the Mackenzie King Estate. A place where our 10th Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, would go to and fell in love with all the beautiful scenery. He ended up buying some of the land and built a cottage there to spend his summers. Over the years he invested more and more into the land. During his last few years he made it so that the public could come and enjoy everything that he enjoyed about the Gatineau Hills.

We took one of his paths down to a waterfall. The hike was nice with stopping stops telling us a little bit more of King's personal likes. We hiked all the way down to find there was no water for the waterfall. So we hiked backed up to the estate and made our way home. Everything was so beautiful though and it was great to see it.

Thanksgiving Half Marathon

2007-10-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

Today was the day of my Half Marathon (21.1km). I had a turkey dinner the night before because I didn't really know how willing I would be to eat any turkey afterwards.

I got out to Cumberland, where the race was taking place, at about 8 am. My race didn't start until 9:40 but I wanted to make sure I was there and knew where to go. The had a nice Tim Hortons booth set up with coffee and timbits, so I had a little bit of coffee to help me wake up and keep warm. It was a cold, crisp morning. This race was at the Cumberland Village Museum, it kind of reminded me of a smaller version of Upper Canada Village. They had a lot of pioneer buildings and lots of farm animals. Since I had some time before the start of my race, I visited the animals. My favourite to watch were the roosters. I had some nice conversations with them (hee hee). Choo Choo and Nugley were also coming to the race, they were participating in the Turkey Trot, a 1 km race, and

Dad was going to run it with them. I was able to cheer them on before my race started they did awesome, I was so proud of them.

Next it was time for my race to begin. I wasn't sure how I would do, how much I would walk, but I just started out and was going to play it by ear. I started off well and felt great at the beginning. I knew there were going to be hills, but I didn't realize how many and how steep they would be. At about the 14km mark I started to feel some pain in my knees and shins, so I slowed it down a bit and took in more water, I didn't want to push myself too much. I felt better afterwards, then as I was coming back towards the Museum I felt all this adrenaline hit me and I got some more speed knowing that I only had about 1 km left to run. So I finished my race with a time of 2:01:28, I guess finishing in under 3 hours was a good guess I had no idea I would finish that much under. I am feeling some pain now but I can still walk and I think I'll be ok. I am looking forward to doing it again.

The pictures are of the Cumberland Museum and I am the runner with the orange shirt on.

Still Running...

2007-09-30T16:42:00.000-05:00

Since May I have run in a few races. A 10k in May for the Ottawa Hospital, a 10k on Canada Day for Canadian Olympic Athletes, and a 5k that was part of a triathlon/duathlon. So I guess it is now time for me to pick it up a little and set a new goal for me. I signed up a while ago for a half marathon (21km) race hoping that I would train hard and perform well. However I got busy, distracted, whatever you want to call it, so I am not ready for this race but I am still planning to run, very very slowly if I have to. I don't want to injure myself so I can't run later. This race is taking place on October 7, that's right Thanksgiving. It is being held at the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, a little town just east of Ottawa, and they are raising money for the Ottawa Food Bank. At this time of the year our leaves are all changing colours so it only fits that this race be called the Fall Colours Marathon.

Today I ran with a group from the running room, they wanted to run about 16km today but since they knew I was running in the race (they aren't) I ran a little less and met them back at the store after. they were a lot of fun to run with and it easier than running on my own. In a few weeks I am joining the running room half marathon clinic, so I will learn more about the right and wrong things to do while running this distance. I think I will still run with this other group when I see them though.

Anyway wish me luck with this new challenge. For this first race my goal time is anything under 3 hours. Not a big goal but that's all I can do right now. Oh and if you have any suggestions for good running music let me know. I already have a few dance cds with a good beat to them.

Hockey 2007/2008

2007-09-28T08:15:00.001-05:00

So tomorrow is the day that the NHL will start their regular season, well kinda, there are two teams that will start their regular season tomorrow and the rest of the NHL will start on October 3 (which includes my Toronto Maple Leafs). The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, the Stanley Cup Champions of last year and the Los Angeles Kings are playing tomorrow and Sunday and they will be doing something special. They will be playing in London England as a new experience not only for the players but also for the city.

I have joined a few hockey pools this year, all for fun, but somewhat competitive too, mainly for bragging rights. I have just finished all my live drafts and I feel like I have a good chance this year as long as I can keep up with it all throughout the season.

Here in the picture is G Jean-Sebastien Giguere, D Francois Beauchemin, LW Chris Kunitz, and C Rob Niedermayer taken in front of Tower Bridge in London.

Kitties

2007-09-22T19:09:00.001-05:00

I am living with my sister and I own one cat (Joey) and she and her boyfriend own 4 cats (Humphrey, Pumpkin, Little Guy and Humpy). Now Humpy is the daughter of Little Guy and is usually a very good cat. She sleeps well at night, doesn't get into too much trouble. One thing that she does and we are not sure why, but maybe she has a little thing for this dog here. It is usually down in my sister's bedroom on the window sill. Then all of a sudden we look down the hall upstairs and here it is. I am not sure why she does this but she does it at least once a day sometimes more. It is very cute but also very weird. Oh well at least she is not bringing mice or crickets home, like some of the other ones.

A New Adventure

2007-09-19T19:57:00.000-05:00

I have recently started Nannying for a new family. We have decided to start slowly and gradually bring up my time spent with them as the mom is on maternity leave at the moment anyway. I started on Monday for a couple of hours and I got to hold the baby (we will call her Loo Loo). The first hour was great but then I tried to give her a bottle and she lost it. I think it was too much change at once for her. They haven't been giving her a bottle before but thought they would start the process. So the final hour was crying crying crying. She associated me as the bottle girl. So I left for the day thinking I was a baby hater. :(

The next day I stayed a little longer and mom and me took her for a walk (she loves going on walks), we walked down to a Timmie's since we were in need of some caffeine and then came back and relaxed in the house. She was a bit happier for the duration I was there.

Wednesday (aka today) I arrive and Loo Loo is all ready to see me. She and I go out for a walk on our own this time just around the area so she can see that I may take her away from mom and dad but I will always bring her back. She was ok to start our walk and got a little fussy finally after a little while she fell asleep. I kept telling her about all the things that were going on around her and observations that I made so that she can get used to my voice and know that I am safe.
Daddy was home for a bit today because he is on call tonight at one of the hospitals so he didn't have to be there until four. He missed seeing all the unpleasantness Loo Loo gave me the first two days and thought that maybe a life size cut out of myself would help Loo Loo get adjusted to me when I am not there. I didn't really agree.

This new family is so nice and relaxed and I think we will all get along great. I am looking forward to being with Loo Loo these next few years and baby #2 whenever it happens.

2007-09-16T20:07:00.000-05:00

So I have just finished A Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult and I think it was the fastest I have read any book before, excluding Clifford's books. This one just really grabbed my attention and kept it for the duration, plus I also had a lot of free time to read this book during the week.

This is a story about a prosecutor who deals with a lot of molestation trials then finds out it has happened to her 5 year old son. She knows too well how the legal system works and what she doesn't want her son to go through. There are a few twists through out and even right to the end of the book. Definitely one of my favourite Picoult books.

Now I am going back to the fourth Harry Potter book.

Funny things

2007-09-14T11:07:00.001-05:00

I have noticed how much these two little ones are not so little anymore. They are both in school now, so I am seeing less and less of them and as I start a new nanny job I will begin (slowly) to see even less. Hopefully, and I am sure I will, I will be able to maintain a relationship with them on weekends or holidays every now and then.

I was picking the kids up from school this week and Nugley's teacher came up to me to tell me something. My first thought was uh oh what did he get into. Her story goes like this: She was telling the class about her family, that when she was little she was called Julie. She has a brother who was called Jacob and she has a mom and a dad. After telling this to the class, Nugley put up his hand and said "I think my Dad used to be your brother", because they have the same name. Too cute.

Today when I was driving them to school we were discussing birthdays and that Choo Choo's is coming soon and she will be 4 and that Nugley's is in the winter near Christmas. Nugley said " I wonder why they chose that day for my birthday". Again too cute.

I am going to miss these moments which is one reason why I am glad I have this blog to refer to over and over again.

Harry is Back

2007-09-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

I know I have been lacking in the blog writing but I am here and hopefully I can continue to Blog more. I have recently (as in today) finished reading the third Harry Potter Book. The Prisoner of Azkaban (aka Sirius Black). Now I will watch the movie to complete it. I have decided to take a bit of a break with the Harry series and I will be starting another Jodi Picoult book, Perfect Match.

My New Toy

2007-08-20T18:15:00.000-05:00

This my new toy ( which I am still trying to figure out). It is a Garmin Forerunner 305. I mainly wanted it because I am training for a half marathon soon and I wanted a good way to track my progress and to push me a bit too. This "watch" has a GPS satellite installed in it and keeps my pace, my heart rate, and time in it's memory until I get home and transfer it to my computer. It keeps track of where I go for a run and if I choose to run the same route it will compare the two and show which areas to work on. I love this watch. Thanks ebay!! You made it more affordable for me.

NYC Day 2

2007-08-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

On our second day here we were happy to have my Aunt show us around some of her favourite areas in New York City. So again we took the train from NJ to Penn Station followed by a subway to Greenwich Village and walked over to Washington Square Park. There was an area where people could go and challenge each other to a chess match. I did see a few people playing. We walked next down through the SOHO area where there were lots of artistic people and the main reason (I think) was so my sister could go to Anthropologie. Ever since my Aunt wrote about it in her blog, my sister's had an attraction to it. I actually enjoyed going there as well and saw a few things I liked as well. There was a huge bird cage in the middle of the place.

Next we made our way over to Little Italy and had some lunch at a little restaurant there called Da Nico Ristorante Italiano. We all felt much better after some food in our systems and then we could explore some more places. So our next area was Chinatown and we went down one street that was full of fish at every store. Some of the fish were still alive and the sellers would bring them out when someone was interested in buying to show how fresh they were. The smell was unbearable at times. I even found a vendor selling frogs in a bucket I couldn't believe that people actually ate frogs. It was definetly an interesting experience.

Our next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge. We were not exactly sure on how to get there but there were lots of helpful people pointing out the way and sometimes giving us more info then we really needed. First we had to walk under the bridge to be able to walk over the bridge. Again this day was a super hot day and you could really feel it walking up the bridge. We walked to the halfway point to look around a bit then came back down the same way. It was quite a walk and called for a Starbucks afterwards for a cold drink. Next we walked down to the Fish Market, now it is not a fish market, I think it used to be but now it is a shopping area on the pier. It was quite peaceful and there was even a woman doing mime.

Next we made our way towards the Staten Island Ferry where we waited forever to board the ferry along with everyone else. The announcer came on and said that the ferry we were waiting for was cancelled and we had to wait for the next one. So we did, along with all the other people. Once we got on we were packed on the boat with barely enough room to move so I couldn't really see too much. On the way back over was a little nicer plus I decided to stand near the edge of the boat to get a few photo opportunities like this one of the NYC skyline.

Then we took another subway up to Grand Central Station. What a great place that was. So full of people and we were able to do few fun pictures there too. This is my picture of Cheryl among all the passengers running to their destinations or so it looks that way.

Finally before heading back to NJ for the

night we went back to Central Park because my Aunt wanted to show us this amazing fountain known as Bethseda Fountain. Unfortunately, they do not light the fountain so it was a very dark place, but kind of enchanting. This water lily was in the fountain and I didn't realize how big it was until I took the photo.

New York City

2007-08-08T20:31:00.001-05:00

Our first full day in the area we took the train from NJ to Penn Station and set off on our adventure. We headed to Macy's and browsed all 8 floors of this huge department store. We had to first get me a coffee so we found a Starbucks inside. Then on one of the many floors I found and bought a nice summer shirt. Next we walked up and had some lunch at Bryant Park. We had some hot sandwiches (I don't know why since it was the hottest day ever) and some water. Afterwards we walked around and went inside the New York City Public Library. It was a huge building and just beautiful inside (and air conditioned). We were not sure if we were allowed upstairs but apparently we were so maybe next time I'll have to check that out.

Then we worked our way up to Central Park stopping at some other landmarks like Rockefeller Plaza and Centre where we stopped and tried to get a tour of the studio but found out we were too late for that day. It was a good thing we stopped there because before we were going to leave it started raining, so we waited it out. Then we continued on our way to the park and I had to stop at F. A. O. Schwartz, the huge toy store, they had some of every kind of toy you could think of, even an actual nursery where you adopt a child (doll) from a hospital and the worker is dressed as a nurse too. We walked up Fifth Ave admiring all the high fashion shops wishing to be able to go in. Finally, we make it to Central Park and we were planning on visiting the zoo there but yet again we were too late for that day. So we just walked around among all the tall trees. We sat down to rest our tired feet before the long walk back and just enjoyed the view.

We were starting to get hungry again so we set off to find some place to eat heading down Fifth Avenue and passing by the Radio City Music Hall towards Broadway and Times Square. There was so much going on along Broadway maybe it just seemed that way because of how busy it was. We tried to get some food at the Olive Garden but the line up was an hour and a half wait so we went across the street to another little place and had a huge meal and some martinis. Then we finally made our way back down to Penn Station to get the train back to NJ. I don't think I've walked that much in quite a while and my feet were definitely feeling it. But after some rest I was ready for another day......

NJ

2007-08-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Me and my two sisters have just returned from a weekend in NJ/NYC. My Aunt lives in NJ and was kind enough to allow us to stay with her. It took us about 8 hours to drive there and we were very happy to get out of the car. After taking all of our luggage up to her place and figuring out where we would each sleep we went off to the beach (Sandy Hook Beach). From the parking lot to the water was such a distance especially since we had to walk through such soft sand full of little shells. Once we got to the water it was so refreshing and calm. You could hear the waves coming in and crashing, there were children playing in the water too. So because we were at this spot we had to get some pictures taken, and it was so beautiful as the sun was setting just over the way. As the sun was setting we walked along the shore and got splashed by the waves. Before leaving I saw a crab that had been washed up from the Ocean trying desperately to get back to his home in the water. Finally the waves took him back right before I was able to get a picture of him. I was able to bring home a piece of the beach though, a big shell left on the side of the beach. Next time I will have to go for a swim in it. This is my favourite picture of the beach here on the right.

Harry Potter

2007-07-24T14:13:00.000-05:00

I have just finished reading this book and since I am on holidays I was able to read it quite quickly. I am sure that you all know what the storyline is so I don't need to go into too much detail if any. I am now watching the movie as a finale to the first part of the series. My next book....yep you've guessed it, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Vanishing Acts

2007-07-21T21:08:00.001-05:00

So I have recently finished this book here and it was quite a good book since it did keep my attention and made me want to read more. This story took place in Arizona about a girl who found out she was not who she really thought she was and had to try and piece back her memories and try to figure out who she was/is and who she wanted to be.

My next story to read is because of the hype of the new book released across the world. I have to decided to start at the beginning though with book number one: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The Beach

2007-07-19T18:53:00.000-05:00

This past week Choo Choo and I went to the beach. We tried the week before but it was cooler and we couldn't stay that long because the big storm clouds advanced on us. This time though, it was a beautiful day. Finally there were no clouds and the sun shone all afternoon. We had a nice picnic lunch and then enjoyed playing in the sand and the water. She loved running and falling in the water. We saw a few motor boats and after they went past the beach we enjoyed being bobbed up and down from their waves. I left her to build her own little mud castles she really likes to mix the sand with the water and throw the mud back into the water. I think I did get a little too much sun even though I did put sunscreen on. Choo Choo got a few more slathers of it then I did. I plan to go back in the next few weeks while the family are away on their vacation. Maybe I'll bring a book with me too.

Happy Birthday

2007-07-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

Last night I was invited to this amazing party and not for kid duty. I was around all week at work watching the ordeal unfold and was finally able to see the final touches. The Mom I work for celebrated her birthday and because it was such a big thing the Dad decided to go all out. They hired a caterer Shaz, he is a very interesting man. They had a huge tent put up out in the backyard in case of rain, which did happen over and over again. There were about 100 people and I was to that I knew some of them and met a lot of nice people. Including a fire fighter who will be letting me know his work schedule so that the kids get a great tour of the fire station.The kids were very well behaved and had some other children to play with too. One special thing that I really enjoyed was the mariachi band. They played most of the night. I did get a chance to talk to them too. 2 of them are from Mexico and one is from Argentina. They were so tiny and cute. I left at about 11pm and the kids were still up looking like zombies but at least they will have a nice quiet day today to get things back to normal.

Happy Birthday!!

Harry Potter

2007-07-14T06:58:00.001-05:00

I was so excited to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I even went out in the afternoon just so that I could get tickets before they ran out. The movie was amazing. Harry is growing up so fast and is learning more and more about himself every time. I really did like this new character not sure of her name but she is very different from the others. She is very blond and looks at things in a different way. I can't believe that there is only going to be 2 more and that they "final" book will be out in stores next week.

Biking

2007-07-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

So I have made it my duty this summer to teach Nugley to ride with two wheels. Dad tried last year but was unsuccessful. This is a new year, he is a little older and there is a reward of a kickstand to entice him with. As we got started we put on his helmet, elbow pads and knee pads and had a few words together on where to put each foot and why (he is a very technical boy and absorbs everything). Fortunately he lives on a court so there is little to no traffic and he has this great little circle which is just long enough for this occasion. So off we go down the driveway and around the bend, corners are always hard to do so I held on a little tighter at that time. By the time we made it around once he wanted to try again. I let go a little more and didn't say so until we got back again. He did have a crash into the garage but I pointed out that it does happen, he will fall, that he is still learning and that maybe he should just take a rest for a while and try again in a little while. 10 minutes later he was ready to go. In the afternoon we all got in the car and headed over to Walmart to get him his kickstand. When Daddy got home he was ready to surprise him with his "new" bike. Daddy was so excited and proud of him. Then Mommy got home and was shown the same. Now he has been riding two wheels since Thursday and can go down the street and back on his own. He is also looking forward to taking his bike to Nantucket this summer as it is a "biking island". I am so proud of him and happy that I was able to be here to see him grow.

Canada Day

2007-07-02T11:06:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Canada's 140th Birthday. I started off the day with a 10k race which started along the Alexandra Bridge on the Gatineau side and as we ran we passed the National Art Gallery, then across the front of the Chateau Laurier around towards the National Arts Centre. Now we approach the locks along the Rideau Canal and head downhill behind the Parliament Buildings. We go west along the river to the Parkway and pass the Canadian War Museum then we turn around on the Parkway and head over the Portage Bridge which will take us back to Gatineau and we head down Laurier passing by the Museum of Civilization and ending at Jacques Cartier Park. I managed to finish 6 seconds faster than my last 10k race in May. Woo Hoo!!!

After a lot of resting, Cheryl, Will and I went out to Kanata for some food and to watch the World Cup game (Canada lost). Then we headed across the street for some fireworks. I was quite pleased with both the turn out and the show. There was a fair like party going on so we went on a few rides and bought some yummy cotton candy.

Happy Birthday Canada!!!

Reading

2007-07-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

So I have given up on reading Keeping Faith for a while I've read 137 pages and I still can't quite get into it. I am setting it aside for now and I may pick it up again soon. For the meantime I will be reading Vanishing Acts. My sister brought it back for me when she went to Montreal for a week. It is about a woman who is raising young daughter and is engaged when parts of her past is coming back to the surface, parts that she had forgotten about and is now presented as a threat. Hopefully after this book I will be able to go back to the other book.

Thursday

2007-06-23T17:17:00.000-05:00

So Thursday was my last day to have Nugley in the morning so I thought we would go mini putt. I thought it opened at 10 am so we went to the mall first to look around and picked up a bird cottage to paint and build. When we got to the mini putt place I found out it wouldn't be opened until noon and I had to pick up Choo Choo by that time. So Nugley and I went back home and painted his bird cottage. Mom and Dad were both home getting ready for a camping trip and suggested that I take the 2 kids mini putting in the afternoon. During their QT (quiet time) I was thinking about it but was unsure about 2 kids with putters in a small proximity to each other so I thought bowling was a better idea. They loved it and it was even Choo Choo's first time playing. She jumped for joy every time she knocked over any pin. I definitely think I will do this again especially when it is a dreary day. Now my summer has officially started both kids all day all week. It is nice though because this is what I really like doing.

Jack Pine Trail

2007-06-20T19:08:00.001-05:00

So today is Wednesday, I've had 3 full days with Nugley and I think we are still getting adjusted to being around each other again. He is testing his limits and I am setting them for him. I decided he needed some more exercise and fresh air and since it was a beautiful day we went on a nature walk in the Greenbelt this specific walk was named Jack Pine Trail. It has a lot of boardwalks over the swamp/marshland and usually chickadees but we didn't find any even though we brought some food for them. We did however, see lots of frogs, some were on the path we were walking others in the swamp but then we couldn't only hear some bullfrogs chanting to each other. Nugley was searching for which one was making that sound and then he heard it from another area and had to look for it there too. We didn't see any deer this time which disappointed me. Oh well maybe next time.

China

2007-06-19T17:06:00.001-05:00

So today I took Nugley to the Museum of Civilization we were going there to see Dinosaurs in the Imax theatre. We were there along with a bunch of different schools, luckily for us we were allowed in the theatre first and got some good seats. Nugley really liked the movie but was "a bit scared", not from the actual film but from how loud everything was. He does have tender ears considering how he has been through 3 sets of tubes in both of his ears. Before going to see Dinosaurs we had about an hour so we went to see this new exhibit about China. They had a lot of artifacts and material This exhibition arrived here on May 11 and will stay until October 28 when it will be shipped back to the Museum in Beijing. I have posted some of my favourite pieces.

The first one is a classical poem in cursive script written by Wang Wen.

The next one is a Red Lacquer Case with flower and bird designs.

This one is a stone slab with 12 small seal characters.

And finally this one on the right is a part of a painting Spring Snow 1997 by Wu Guangzhong (1919-). Guangzhong comes from Yixing Jiangsu Province. Following his studies in France, he taught at Qinghua University and the Central Art College. Wu specialized in oils and ink-and-wash landscapes, and has become known for creating a new form of contemporary Chinese painting, which not only integrates Chinese and Western techniques and concepts, but also blends abstract ideas with realistic representations.

First Day of Summer

2007-06-18T17:30:00.000-05:00

Now I know it isn't officially the first day of summer but it is for Nugley. He graduated from JK last Friday and is now enjoying his summer. Since Choo Choo still has one more week of school before her holidays, I have taken it upon me to do some fun one on one things with Nugley (mainly because this will be my last summer with them). So today was a great day for STRAWBERRY picking. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get to the farm. There were already a few other people there too. I bought one small basket and one big one. He chose the big one to fill up but asked if I would help him. It took him a while to get started because after he picked each strawberry he had to ask me if it was a good one. I went along with it for a while then eventually mentioned to him that all the red ones were good ones. So away he went. I filled my "little" basket and started helping him. He did get to try one (and told on me for it to Dad because I didn't wash it first).I took us a good hour mainly because there weren't a lot of ripe ones out yet but they will come within the next few days. Here is Nugley showing off one of his prized picks. We ate some after lunch and for snack after "quiet time" plus they were requesting some for dessert after supper when I was leaving. I think I may have to make another trip to the Strawberry Patch.
I am using my strawberries for dipping in chocolate and making daiquiris.

Today

2007-06-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

So today has been quite an interesting day of me doing NOTHING!!!!! I arrive at my usual time of 7:30 and get the kids their breakfast, dress them and hurry them out of the house to get them to 2 different schools. Normal so far. I get to the parents office as usually but it doesn't officially open until 10 today, I stay until about 11:30 so I can go and pick Choo Choo up from school and bring her home from lunch. As soon as we walk in the door the phone rings, it's Mom saying that she needs to take her at 12:30 for an assessment for a new school next year (no notice). OK....I guess I will quickly feed her and get her changed in about 10 min. Mom says that I should still pick up Nugley from his school at 3:20. No problem. Well at about 2:30 Dad calls and says he will pick up Nugley from school and he would see me after. So I have been sitting around their house with no kids and nothing to do (it makes the day go by really slow). Why wouldn't they just let me go home at this time, I really hope (because they didn't asked me before hand) that they are not expecting me to stay later because I know that they both have a department meeting tonight at the hospital. hmmmm......

A Sunny Weekend

2007-06-10T17:33:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I went downtown Ottawa to the Byward Market. It was a very sunny day but luckily the humidity didn't return and we had a nice breeze. Our main reason for going downtown was so that Will could get a tattoo (Cheryl's pick). So after a few price quotes they decided on a dragon on the right shoulder blade. We had about 3 hours to wait so we went towards the market and took some pics of summer. We saw a few buskers doing their thing. This one was neat to watch with his "hula hoop". We also saw lots of flower stalls with all sorts of different types of flowers and plants. We picked up a few fresh veggies and fruits, some we ate while we were there, well some I ate. We even had to make a stop at the candy store for a few treats. In the market we also saw some artists creating some pieces using on chalk along the sidewalk. The picture I have is of a Picasso art not sure which one but looked nice and colourful. They have a lot of time on their hands and patience. I'm sure it'll look good when it is finished and all it takes is one rain fall to have it go and allow them to start again. Before heading back to the tattoo place we stopped to get an ice cream and while walking back we came across a "parade" if you could call it that. It was mainly a bunch of people (males and females) on bicycles riding through the city NAKED! I was a little unsure of the point of it but hey it's not me so it was interesting to see. They did have police escorts as well which was funny to see.

Finally we get back for his tattoo and it only took about 45 min. He was in a lot of pain, at least it looked that way. It turned out really good but to me it looked really big nothing I would ever get but he liked it and was very happy with it.

Stanley Cup Goes to Anaheim

2007-06-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

WIN 2007 STANLEY CUP IN 5 GAMES!!!!!!

New York City

2007-06-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

So this summer I am pleased to say that I am finally going to New York. I will be driving there from Ottawa with my two sisters and staying with my Aunt in New Jersey. I bought a book on what to see and do while there but I am still not sure what the one thing to do is. We are planning to go to Central Park, I didn't realize how big it is. We want to see Shakespeare in the Park, my sisters want to visit a store in SOHO called Anthropologie, and I did say they could choose one museum. So if any of you have a spot that is a "have to see" spot please let me know.

Nineteen Minutes

2007-06-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

I have just finished reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It is about a trial of a 17 year old boy, Peter Houghton, who was involved in a high school shooting. It makes reference to other school shootings which have happened, like Columbine. The Judge, Alex Cormier, on the trial has mixed feelings on whether she should sit in for the trial because her daughter was a student at the school. The book jumps around a lot from the day of the shooting and the past to know why this might have happened. The title Nineteen Minutes means that is how long it took before the shooter was found by the police. A good read and a surprise ending.

My next book on the list is Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult.

52:26

2007-05-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend, well actually it was yesterday, I ran 10k along with 7538 other people which was part of the National Capital Race weekend. There was a 2k, 5k, 10k, half Marathon and full Marathon. My sister Cheryl ran the 5k with Scott, where Scott took off right at the end to beat her. I ran the 10k with Will. He was ahead of me during the first few kilometres and then I lost sight of him so I just focused on my race. My goal time was 50 min. and in the 10k they provide pace bunnies so when the 50 min bunny ran past me I decided to stay with him. It wasn't as easy as I thought because there were so many people in this race that I had to try and weave through the people and avoid the people who decided to stop and walk suddenly. So basically, I lost my friend the pace bunny. But I did feel good through the race not too sore or too tired. I finished the race at 52 min and 26 seconds which beat my time last year by 4 min. I was the 267th female to finish out of 3661, and the 47th in my age category out of 574. I had a pace of 5:20. Oh, and I ended up beating Will as well. Unfortunately me and everyone else who came to watch forgot a camera so we don't have any pics of us on that day. Next year I plan to run a half marathon.

NHL Playoffs 2007 (Stanley Cup Final)

2007-05-23T18:19:00.000-05:00

I am choosing Anaheim Ducks to win the Stanley Cup after 7 full games maybe some might even go to overtime. Maybe I think this way because yes I am a Leafs fan and no there is no way I could ever cheer for the Sens. But the same would it be if the Leafs were in the playoffs, you wouldn't see the Sens fans cheer on the Leafs. If you see all the hype here in Ottawa and to be real in all of Canada everyone wants the Cup to come to Canada, well, I do too. It will be in Canada a lot more if Anaheim wins because Anaheim has 20 CANADIAN players including their captain and Ottawa has only 14 Canadian players. Good luck to both teams but I guess Ottawa needs the most luck since they are going to lose this round.

A Long Weekend

2007-05-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

I went to Ingleside today to visit my grandmother. She has not been feeling well lately so I think the visit helped her spirits a bit. Also my Aunt was visiting from Toronto. So it was nice to catch up with her as well. We had a nice lunch in Cornwall. We started to go to the Marina which is on the St. Lawrence Seaway but when we got there we realized that they are closed on Mondays, so we headed over to Don Cherry's. It was a nice way to spend the end of a long weekend.

On our way home we saw these signs and had to stop and get some pictures taken. We even got Scott in one of them.

My Sister's Keeper

2007-05-19T13:55:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I had to take a bit of a detour since the nurse from the office lent me one of her books and I felt I had to finish hers before I am done working at the office. Anyways, I did finish and I was quite a good book, it was controversial and touching dealing with how a family can make some big decisions about life and death situations for their children. In the end I was a little disappointed with the way things worked out. But it did keep me wondering what was going to happen and when I got about half way through the book, I could barely put it down until the end.

My next book is another Jodi Picoult book (I seem to be into her books lately) this next one is her most recent one and is titled Nineteen Minutes.

NHL Playoffs 2007 (Conference Finals)

2007-05-08T18:01:00.000-05:00

So here we are near the end of the hockey season. We are down to the Conference finals, also known as Semifinals. So as always here are my picks for this round.

In the East we have have the President trophy team aka Buffalo Sabres then we have my home team aka Ottawa Senators. I am going with Buffalo to win it in 6 games. Miller is solid in nets and his team can score.

And finally in the West we have Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks.

I believe that Anaheim will pull through and win it in the final of the 7 games. Giguere is solid in nets where Hasek is on again off again with his playing. But I guess we won't know until it all happens.

How Sweet It Is

2007-04-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

You know that the summertime is on it's way when all you smell during the week is everyone's BBQ cooking hamburgers and steaks. I run Wednesday nights and this is all I can smell it doesn't help me with my running but it sure is mmmmm yummy. I walked up to the grocery store today and saw that there was a sale for corn on the cob, another of my summer favourites. So I picked some up for dinner tonight and I was so happy to have summer again. I look forward to all the special treats this season will bring and I hope to enjoy them as much as I can. What kind of summer treats are your favourites?

NHL Playoffs Round 2

2007-04-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

So Round 1 finished and now we are on to Round 2. Here are my opinions on the up-coming series. Again this is both what I think and hope will happen for how I think the teams are stacked up against each other.

In this series I definitely think that Buffalo will take it in 6 games. Even though the Rangers are ranked at 6 I think they will put some pressure on Buffalo especially since they swept their last opponent away 4-0.

In this series I am going to go with New Jersey winning it in 7 games. I think that both teams have great skaters and scorers but when it comes down to it Jersey has the goaltender, where Ottawa has a rookie.

For this series I think that Detroit will be able to win it in 6 games. San Jose has some great forwards but are lacking the goal tending they need to take it all.

Finally in this final series of this round I think that Vancouver could take it in 7 but Anaheim won't let them win it easily.

Which One?

2007-04-24T12:13:00.000-05:00

I have written on here before about what type of a job I will be looking for in September. Well, I have sent out my resume and I am meeting with a Montessori school this week for an interview. Actually, it is the same Montessori that Choo Choo goes to and the teachers there all know me for about 3 years now. They have already told me that they would love to have me work for them. Yeah!

However before I got all this feedback from the school, the Docs I work for told me about the anesthetic guy who works in the hospital with them. His wife is due in June with their first child. She is not sure how long she will take off for maternity but I did meet with them and they are a lovely couple and I would love to work with them too. They also told me that it wouldn't be just a 4 year thing because they are planning on having at least 3 children. She is doing her residency for becoming a doctor, so maternity time is limited if she doesn't want to go back and redo some elements of that.

I have no idea what to do. I know that the nanny job would pay really well, but then if I want to be a teacher after than I will be that much older. The teaching job won't pay much but then I would have my foot in the door to maybe some other options after a few years. I would really appreciate some feedback or some pointers on how I should decide my next step.

The Tenth Circle

2007-04-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

The Tenth Circle is about how much a parent will do for their child under very difficult circumstances and where they will go to protect her when she was hurt in a most terrifying way. It gave me a look at how the Natives from Alaska deal with the same kind of circumstances. Again a good read by Jodi Picoult and I am now ready to read My Sister's Keeper also by Jodi Picoult.

NHL Playoffs 2007

2007-04-14T17:43:00.000-05:00

So the NHL has started the final quest for that main goal "The Stanley Cup". I have made my picks for which teams I think will advance in this first round.

I will start with the Eastern Conference since that is where I am situated and even though I would have loved to see my Toronto Maple Leafs make it, I will have to wait another year.

In this series I think that Buffalo will sweep the Islanders 4-0

In this series I think that Tampa will win 4-3 , New Jersey will make it hard for them though

This series is another difficult one, although I think that the Rangers will win 4-3 over Atlanta

This one I will have to go with Pittsburgh 4-2 over Ottawa

Now for the Western Conference. This Conference, I find, is a tougher group of teams, but only one team can win the Cup.

In this series I will have to go with Detroit to win 4-2 mainly because Calgary had a weak last few games of the regular season

This is going to be a good battle but I think that Anaheim will take it 4-2 over Minnesota

This one I definetly think that Vancouver will take it and it will be a quick one 4-1 over Dallas

This series will be a long one but I think that San Jose will overpower Nasville and win 4-3

ABC Tag

2007-04-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tagged by Cheryl

A - Available or Single: Single

B - Best Friends: Laurie, Cheyanne, Jen

C - Cake or Pie: ice cream cake

D - Drink of Choice: strawberry daiquiri

E - Essential Item: my car

F - Favourite Colour: red/orange

G - Gummi Bears or Worms: gummi bears

H - Hometown: Ottawa

I - Indulgence: shopping/chocolate

J - January or February: February

K - Kids: work with them maybe one day will have my own

L - Life is incomplete without: hockey (Go Leafs Go!)

M - Marriage Date: not married.... yet

N - Number of Siblings: 3 - 2 sisters, 1 brother

O - Oranges or Apples: clementines (do they count?)

P - Phobias/Fears: spiders

Q - Favourite Quote: I'll get back to you

R - Reasons to smile: kids/sunshine

S - Season: Autumn especially in Ottawa

T - Tag 3 People: whoever wants to

U - Unknown Fact About Me: I make bad coffee

V - Vegetable You Hate: Squash

W - Worst Habit: nail biting

X - X-rays You've Had: teeth and my knee

Y - Your Favourite Foods: chicken and steamed veggies

Z - Zodiac: Leo

Ultimate Update

2007-04-06T17:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my team won their first game with a score of 11-10. Hey we'll take it a win is a win. Plus I played my best game yet which made me feel really good. I stopped the other team a few times by blocking the frisbee from getting to them (although I hurt my thumb one time from doing that). I even caught the frisbee once in the end zone, unfortunately it didn't count towards a point because the guy who threw it wasn't half way yet so we had to give up the frisbee to the other team. I am having a lot of fun with this new sport, and I signed up for a summer league although it is a female team and it will be played outside but we are going to be getting together a few times before the league starts to go over some drills. I am quite excited about it and I hope that I can play with some of these people again.

Blades of Glory

2007-04-04T18:05:00.000-05:00

I went to see this movie last week. I recommend it but only if you are there for a good time and not for some serious drama. It is a classic Will Ferrell movie. I did laugh at lot.

Running Running Running

2007-03-31T18:48:00.000-05:00

Now that it is Spring, the weather is nicer, the birds are singing and the sun shines so much more. Plus, I have signed up at the Running Room and joined a 10km clinic which should help me learn to run the right way and finish (hopefully with a better time) in the Nordion Race weekend. I did the race last year and was able to finish in under an hour. I started last Saturday and was given a schedule of which days to run and how much on those certain days. So far I have followed it to a tee but I can't say I will for the whole 2 months that are left. I run with the Running Room on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays plus a few days on my own which I have been doing on the treadmill when Choo Choo sleeps in the afternoon.
In a few weeks we will be doing some hill training (not so fun). The nice part about the Running Room is that there are always lots of people there that motivate and keep you going, and they have different routes each time we go so we don't get bored looking at the same houses over and over again. I could even just stop by the store at anytime and ask for a map to go out on my own. They know to look out for us if we don't return the map in a long while and watch out for us too. So if you are around the Ottawa area at the end of May you should come out and cheer me on and the other runners too.

The Volcano

2007-03-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

So Nugley and I have made the volcano. It was a good experience for us both. He taught me a few things also.

The first day we started off by mixing the plaster in a bowl and pouring it into a mould. We had to let it dry for about 30 minutes then take off the mold and let it dry for the rest of the day. So I took him to Chapters and let him pick some books. I was hoping to pick him up some chapter books now that he's getting older and can handle it more. We were looking at The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osbourne. I picked the first book in the series for him "Dinosaurs Before Dark". He saw a "cool" book, it was part of the Magic Treehouse but it was a Research Guide on Tsunamis and other Natural Disasters which included volcanoes, earthquakes, avalanches and land slides. He was very excited about that one so I could I say no? Then I thought maybe getting an early readers book would be nice for him to keep him practicing with his reading. Plus we can't forget Choo Choo.

Then the next day for the volcano was a painting day. That was all up to Nugley, he didn't need any help with that. I let him go free, he mixed colours (which he learned about at school) he knew which colours were on a volcano before, during and after an eruption. He didn't even want me to look until his masterpiece was finished. Then we had to let the volcano dry for the rest of the day.

On the third and final day of the volcano we finally let it erupt. First we went to the Museum of Nature and looked at the dinosaurs, we also watched a little film on how the dinos became extinct. Well it was a volcano type of effect. Then in the afternoon when Choo Choo was home from school we let the volcano erupt. Nugley added the baking soda and I added the drop of food colour (for effect) some soap and finally some vinegar. And we watched as it slowly came up the funnel of the volcano and dribbled down the sides bubbling as it rose. It was very cool and had some great effects.

All in all, it was a great experience for us both.

March Break

2007-03-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

So March Break is over for another year. Well almost, Choo Choo has to go back to her school but Nugley has another week. We had a pretty good time once they got used to be around me all day long. Routine changes are hard on them and they like to test their limits. Fun for me! So I tried to keep them busy for the most part.

Monday we went to a library for story time and songs then to another library in the afternoon for a puppet show (the three little pigs).

Tuesday we went to the Sugar Bush/Log Farm. We saw lots of animals chickens, sheep, a donkey, a horse and a humongous pig. Then we took a very bumpy wagon ride out into the sugar bush. We were told how the sap gets out of the maple trees and what to do when it's time to make it into syrup. Before taking the bumpy ride back we were allowed to taste some taffy on the snow. The kids loved it, however I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I passed on the offer.

Wednesday was a very raining day so we couldn't really do anything outside. I heard that the local Mall was providing child friendly activities all week so I decided that this was the perfect day for that. There were gluing crafts, candy crafts, and face painting. The candy crafts were a neat idea, they used little candies and wrapped in saran wrap with twist ties to separate them for bodies, Choo Choo made a caterpillar and Nugley made a ladybug. The face painting was amazing done by a clown company Choo Choo asked for a butterfly over her full face they painted a lot of details into it and also added some glitter. Nugley chose a dalmatian very cute also, they even added a dog tongue hanging out of the mouth. Dad took pictures when he got home I'll have to see if I can get some from him.

Thursday was a cold day and we were invited to 2 different play dates. The kids had a good time and everyone played nicely with each other which gave me a nice quiet day with my coffee.

Friday we stayed home all morning so I could do all the kids laundry and vacuum around a bit then I took them to McDonald's for lunch and I registered them for a day camp at a Build a Bear kind of place. They were there for over 3 hours and were able to make an animal dress it and do some crafts. They had a great time. Nugley chose a pink unicorn with a pink bathrobe and slippers (I know he's a boy but he seemed to want it) and Choo Choo also chose a pink unicorn with a soccer outfit.

Now I have a week left to entertain Nugley before he goes back to school. I am planning to do some more mature things with him while Choo Choo is at school. We are starting off by making a volcano that really erupts. We borrowed some books from the library that talks about volcanoes. I'll let you know how it goes next week.