The Joys of the Suit

Humph... no luck meeting the 500 km mark by April 30th - unless I leave the house right now to ride 40 km in the dark at something like 3 degrees. No thanks. Schedule and weather did not permit me to reach that target. Ah well. I'll find time tomorrow. I'm not sure what the weatherman is up to, but again, the weather is changing on a daily basis for the weekend. Humph again. I've decided to take Friday off and if it rains it'll be good anyway since my place is a total sty and it's bad enough that it's getting on my nerves - that means it's embarrassingly bad. I have spring-cleaning-type chores to get done.

I got home from work tonight earlier than expected and now I'm blogging because I still need some time to unwind. So, funny story for you...

Tonight one of my co-workers and I were sharing embarrassing suit-ripping stories. You see, in our job we are obliged to wear nice suits, and yet at the same time we often have to do physical labour, like lifting big boxes and what-not. My embarrassing suit-ripping story occurred a couple of years ago in the winter when I was carrying a very heavy box into an office and my arms were finally feeling like they would give out and I could not put that box down fast enough. Of course, arms full, I had no third hand available to pull up the fronts of my pant legs before crouching down to free myself of said cargo... R-I-I-I-I-I-I-P! Oh no! I ripped the seat of my pants open. Luckily, it being winter and all, I had a long wool coat on and nobody was the wiser. Even more fortunate, I was still in town and could go home to change. And just to make me feel extra stupid, the tailor laughed at me days later when I took my pants in to be mended. Yes, cycling and adding a few pounds to the skinny body of my youth has actually endowed me with a butt (something I didn't have before), but it's not that big! Proper and expensive suit pants require pulling up in the front of the leg before bending down. Unfortunately that's not possible when your arms are full. I also have several nice suit jackets in which the inner lining is ripped from reaching into my trunk for things. Oh the trials and tribulations. ;)

April Goal

I've been a little neglectful this week, so posting a quick one for your Monday morning coffee break in the cube farm.

It's time for epsom salts and stretching. OK. I admit it: I've already fallen off the wagon when it comes to the weekly Sunday afternoon yoga/tai chi/pilates class... doh! Didn't get in the door from riding til 2-something though. I'm bad at making new habits I guess.

This weekend was another treat. The weatherman predicted rain Saturday, then changed it twice back and forth between rain and shine... this lead me to reschedule my massage appointment for Saturday morning twice (luckily on-line), leaving my massage therapist a little confused as to my state of mind. In the end I went early Saturday morning and then rode my bike in the afternoon. I wouldn't necessarily suggest a massage in the morning before riding your bike, but I at least had time for a nap before I headed out on the road. Today was another great day on the bike. Only problem with the last two days: it was really windy. Although, I guess the good thing is that it's pushing me to get stronger faster. I gave my new baby its first bath today. :) It's all shiny and lubed up - ready for more riding this week. I need a name for it, btw. It's not yet the end of April and I'm already closing in on 500 km!! I'll have to achieve it before the 30th. For tomorrow: recovery.

Velo Love

Wow. OK. This weekend was epic. Skiing is but a distant memory - funny how that works. Started the odometer again... of the nearly 300 km I have on it, 180 km were spent on the new bike this weekend!!!!!!!!!!! What a sweet ride. OMG! May I say that again? What a sweet ride!!!! OMG!!! I'm in love.

I'm hoping to start a new habit too: yoga on Sunday evenings (well it's a class at the gym called bodyflow where you do yoga, tai chi, and pilates). Perfect for me to move and stretch and do a little bit of core strength to balance out the cycling. So this is the second weekend. Apparently it takes one month to form a habit. Wish me luck. I need to do this one.

I finally uploaded my garmin software to the computer as well as the data I've got in it now. Uh-oh. That thing is dangerous. You wouldn't believe the cool s#%t you can do with that thing. I'm screwed.

Tan lines already solidly in place (well, the ones on the legs never really go away) - the cycling season has started off really strong. Let's see where I go with it...

Sunday evening musings

Funny story from Chicago...

I was in a session at the congress. It was on severe acute hypertension. Yes, it was very interesting. He, he. When I was leaving the session my colleague, Bernard, text messaged me asking where I was. I texted him back saying I was heading to room S501a (or something like that) and that after that I was meeting a group of our colleagues at the front door to head out to the hotel for our debrief meeting at 4 PM. I figured he'd meet me at the front door at the pre-specified time.

So I head to the room for the next session that I wanted to attend. I get to the room, find a spot, and settle in. Not 10 minutes later, who walks in, but Bernard, all smiles. I thought he knew what the session was about. I said to him, "I can't believe you came to this session". He looked kind of confused. At the front door of the room a woman was greeting those coming in and handing them a book - written by the speaker. Bernard had one in his hand. He looked down at the title of the book: Into the Labyrinth: How Women Become Leaders. I started to laugh. He had no idea. He ended up being one of 3 men in the room. The session was really interesting, an audience mostly consisting of female cardiologists and related specialties. Bernard was a trooper. He stayed to the end, and even kept the book to give to his wife. He's one of three of us who now cover the territory I used to do alone: it's now myself, Bernard, and Janette. Poor him, Janette and I really gave him a hard time the whole time we were at the conference. I think he kinda likes it in a way though. lol!

So... this week looks like it's going to be really gorgeous (weather-wise). I'm working my butt off Monday and Tuesday, but as the week comes to a close I hope to get out on the NEW bike for the first time!!! So maybe my next post will be about that!

Oh, and I spent a little time this weekend changing things up here. Those of you who know me well will laugh when you see the colour scheme. I think I've captured a lot of the places I've been thru the photos. And yes, they were all taken by yours truly. I think my fave is the Eiffel Tower shot at night. Man, that thing is huge!

Fried

Wow. I'm so fried. My brain is mushy tonight. I can't remember things and spelling is difficult. Don't know why I'm even writing here. Maybe you all need some Friday distraction and me writing about nothing will help. ;)

It's been a crazy week. I've been working like a dog. Tonight I have plans to go for "adventures in dining" courtesy of Stef. I am looking forward to seeing how big she's gotten. Hopefully the girlz will be able to keep this kind of outing going. Stef wanted to organize something where we could go out and at the same time, expose ourselves to a little 'culture'. So tonight it's Ethiopian. I've had Ethiopian food before in T.O and it was great. I just hope I can hold a conversation. At this point I'm not sure.

I'm not going to train tonight and Jess canceled - phew! Not a bad thing. I probably would, and could have fallen asleep during squats or lunges. Last weekend I got to ride outside both days! I was going to head out alone on Saturday - not thinking about inviting anyone along, and also wanting some down time. My experience is that after being in meetings and conferences for a week I need time alone. However, Ruth phoned and asked if I wanted to head out with her. And frankly, I love riding with Ruth. So out we went. By the end we were in such bliss we were making plans for another ride on Sunday. Funny... just writing that made me perk up a little. :) I was hoping to get out this weekend but the weather keeps changing. I guess I'll have to play it by ear. I LOVE cycling!!! Ok. I know you know that, but I just had to write it anyway. The new bike has not been out yet. I'm going to wait til they sweep the roads a lot more and I feel that I won't get any road salt on it. You probably can't help but notice all the snow still there in our photos. Well, it's melting - I'm starting to see grass on my front lawn!! Spring is here - woo-hoo!

Chi-Town Low Down

OK. I'm starting to recover from a week's worth of work and travel. I am not exaggerating when I say, I believe I actually got a half hour to myself one day - and even that half hour was rushed. The rest of the time I was working my butt off like you wouldn't believe. My average morning wake up time from Sat thru Thurs was around 6 AM - starting with a 4:45 AM wake-up time on Saturday to get off to my flight. I am not a morning person, so you can imagine what those mornings did to me. And I worked all day at the conference Sat to Mon evening, with dinners out every night, ending with a symposium dinner on Monday. Tuesday we started our meetings when the rest of our colleagues joined us in the windy city. The conference, while exhausting, was fun and educational for sure. I was able to take 2 hours to myself on Sunday afternoon between seminars and dinner meetings and met up with a friend and colleague who stayed with me there (although she never saw me apart from that afternoon). We took a quick boat trip up the river and out to Lake Michigan. It was raining a bit and foggy, so we didn't get the view of the city that you would normally, but it was nice to do it regardless.

I found Chicago to be friendly and clean. I was told that the downtown core, where we were staying, is the nicest part of the city, so it leaves a bit of a biased point of view for me - particularly when I wasn't able to see much of the city, save for cab rides between the hotel and convention centre. However, what I saw makes me want to go back some day and experience it more. The architecture is definitely cool. The way the city was developed is really neat. Apparently it burned down and they had to rebuild at one time. They had been dumping all their sewage and other waste into the river and it caught on fire. That's when they built a lock at the entrance to the lake and forced the river in the opposite direction so as to move waste out and treat it properly. So I guess that's where "second city" gets its name. Due to the fog on the day that I took that boat trip I wasn't able to see the top of the Sears Tower, but it's still the tallest building in the city. And they've done a lot of neat things to move traffic, like Wacker St, which has 'upper' and 'lower' parts so that trucks can unload downstairs and not impede the flow.


(it's the one in the middle there)

Spring had arrived in Chicago already - there was no snow left and I saw LOTS of cyclists! I actually forgot how much snow we had here, so was surprised when I looked out the airplane window before we landed. Eek! One day I noticed the view from my hotel room window and saw I had a great view! And it was beautiful outside.

One of the final things I did in Chi-Town was the original House of Blues. The company had rented the entire place out for us on Wednesday night. That was a lot of fun! They had a Blues Brothers cover band play for us, and some Canadian comedian (I can't remember who - but I think he was pretty big because everyone else knew who he was - I'm hopeless with those things).

On the way home I got to thinking that Chicago is a lot like NYC, but smaller, cleaner, friendlier... and maybe even better shopping! So, next time you are thinking of going to NY for a shopping weekend, I'd reconsider and think about the windy city. Which, by the way, wasn't very windy. ;)

On the road again - metaphorically speaking

Well folks... you finally get some of what this blog's about again - ramblings on traveling instead of my ramblings on skiing or riding my bike on the indoor trainer watching Tom. This picture has nothing to do with the main content of the post - it's purely gratuitous on my part! lol!! Although I realize now that my post title could have easily referred to getting back outside on the bike. Alas, not yet. So, travel...

This has been the longest stretch in quite a few years that I've gone without traveling - 3 whole months! And you know what? It's been a nice reprieve. I've been focusing on my health and fitness, and working on ramping up to this period at my job that commences this weekend with a conference in the Windy City.

So my travel season begins and you get to visit some interesting places with me over the next few months. I decided to look up some info on Chicago's epithet (a word I learned in my search) to give you an idea on its origin since I'd heard that, in fact, the city was not given that name because it's windy. So here you go... the windiest US city seems to be (according to this weather expert) Dodge City, Kansas at 22.5 km/h (yearly average). Chicago is around middle of the pack, coming in at 16.7 km/h - not overly windy. So in fact, the name "Windy City" does not refer to how windy the city is. That sounded utterly redundant. Keep reading that weather site, or this one to find out more about the possible origin of the nickname - which is actually somewhat controversial. If I get a chance I'll post more when I'm there. And I'll let you know how windy it is too. ;)

The Easter Bunny

Good long weekend. Too bad it's over. :( Training, babysitting my sister's pooch, training some more. Sigh.

Anyway, tonight I remembered a funny story from when we were kids. It goes something like this...

My sister and I entered an Easter colouring contest at the neighbourhood pharmacy in Edmonton. I helped her colour it. She's 3.5 years younger than me. We entered in her name. We won. I don't know if that qualifies as cheating, but if it does I guess we're guilty and it's one of the handful of times I could think that I've cheated at something. I take solace in the fact that I had an accomplice. It's also one of the handful of times I've actually won something! We won an enormous stuffed bunny. We had that thing for years and years. It just sat in the basement - even when we were teenagers. I don't know what you're supposed to do with a giant stuffed bunny, but the dog seemed to like dominating it. And I won't go into any more details. I don't know what my folks did with that thing when they moved. ??

I'm quickly going to mention chocolate so that I can tag it as a post label since it's Easter and all. Yum. Chocolate. I ate a bunch of it this weekend.

It's the weekend already!

For those of you not connected with me on facebook, check this out. It's fun.
Oh, and happy long weekend - YES! :)

Just Checkin' In

Life is pretty busy these days. Work, for one, is really ramping up. I can feel the momentum of the next month starting now. It's kinda fun, but at the same time I am a little apprehensive about work eating into personal time too much. So I'll have to stay cognisant of that to try not to let it happen.

I've been training lots on the bike and off the bike. I hope to take my cycling up a notch this year. The new bike will help. I rode it on the trainer tonight. Wow. It's so nice. :)

I'm learning a lot lately too. I'm reading some good books. I'm expanding my ideas on spirituality and how the mind works.

I'm also in the midst of trying to make life plans. Future plans, travel plans... all very exciting and interesting things.

Like I said, life is pretty darn busy. And that's a nice thing.

Wired

Today my calf muscles are quite sore. Sore enough, in fact, that I decided it would be better not to ski. So I did an hour recovery ride on the trainer - even though it was sunny outside. Kinda sucked not being able to exercise outdoors when it was sunny today, but I did go walking around in the market area with my sister later, and that made up for it. The reason why I'm sore is that I've done quite the training the past few days... interval ride Tuesday, skate skiing Wednesday, strength with Jess on Thursday (where I could feel all of the leg work from skiing kicking in as she kicked my butt with a hard leg workout), and a 90 minute trainer ride on Friday. Then the kicker - Saturday morning I got up and did this class at the gym called skip circuit. I was really excited to do it because it's a circuit training class where you do 1.5 mins of skipping, then head to a station for 1.5 mins to do things like: squats, push-ups, crunches, tricep dips, etc. Then back to 1.5 mins of skipping, over and over for an hour. I used to do this workout every week about 2 years ago when I was still just on the cusp of getting seriously into cycling. I wasn't training on the bike the way I do today, and I used to vary my workouts a lot more. While my body wasn't maybe as fit as it is today, it was used to doing a wider range of activities. This time, 2 years later, with a body that is quite well-adapted to its sport of choice, that skip circuit class kicked my butt, and kicked it hard! I LOVED IT! Yes, slightly masochistic I guess - but I'm learning that taking pleasure in such pain is part of sport. This is something that I need to learn when I'm actually on the road in the summer if I want to be faster and stronger. And it's particularly true when climbing hills because that's usually when you really feel pain. I guess that's why the vast majority of road races are won in the mountains - not only do you have to push through the pain physically, but I think mentally pushing through it is the hardest part. I have a long way to go when it comes to developing my 'mental fitness' on the bike, so that I don't give in when I feel that way. I went to see an Imax movie last night called Wired to Win, which addressed just that topic. The crew followed a team during a recent Tour de France and they showed how your brain learns new skills, overcomes pain, and how (or rather where) to find the motivation to keep going. This was doubly cool for me as I love cycling so much, and I just recently finished studying the brain and the nervous system for an exam so it was all fresh in my mind.

Inspire

Came across this on one of the blogs I read - one of the blogs that inspires me. Sharing something like this is one of the reasons why it does so.

Just click on the music playlist there on the right and then pause it so you can turn the music off to watch the video. :)

Old Man Winter

Last week we had 2 major snow storms within about 48-36 hours of each other. In total we received a dumping of 80 cm! They still haven't been by to plow the sidewalks on my street - and I live on a bit of a busy one in a nice downtown neighbourhood. It's gonna take a while I think. Hmm. Funny. As I sit here and write this I hear a horn honking over and over outside - it's a city bus. It can't get down the street right now because somebody parked on the street. There is seriously no room to be doing that right now. Anyway... the reason I bring this up is that I think a good majority of the people who live in our fair city are a little tired of all the snow. We are a mere 40 cm away from breaking the all time record snow fall (which occurred in 1970/71). As a result of said attitudes prevailing, I noticed some people quite vehemently protesting winter today as I drove the rural highways for my job.

I had to do a double take when I passed a small country gas station and saw a guy filling up his motorcycle. I kid you not. And not ten minutes later did I pass someone with their sunroof open. OK. It was sunny and maybe minus one Celsius or something - but not sunroof and motorcycle weather. Certainly not with 2-3 meter snowbanks all around the roads. So, these people gave me a little amusement and a smile today. Good for them for sticking it to old man winter. I, on the other hand, am still wearing my warm scarf, mittens, and toque. I'll be ready for spring when she's ready to arrive. Until then, I guess I'll have to go skiing and train on the trainer. It's not all bad.

Welcoming a new addition...

Well, here we are on Friday, March 7, 2008. The eve before the second major snowstorm of the week. And I came home tonight with my new bike! Not that I'll be able to ride it any time soon - lol! We're going to get another 30 cm. Wow. It's quite the bike though. I feel a little nervous about having to live up to its reputation. And I was able to get it in blue! It's so, so, so nice!!!! So this summer I guess I'm going to be stepping up my riding a bit - try out some new things, learn some new skills, put my training to good use.

I hadn't posted all week due to a situation of having to cram like mad for the Neurology exam I wrote today - went well (phew!), as well as being really busy at work. Next month we will essentially re-launch my core product and I'll be up to my eyeballs. Hopefully after that though, things will just roll along smoothly. There has been a lot of prep to get to this point, so it should pay off (fingers crossed). I could also have an interesting trip come up for work in the next few months too.

So, happy Friday! And happy skiing! Looks like I'll be x-training this weekend. :)

Mmmm Pasta

Whenever I think of pasta - just think of it - I think of MizB. When the girls go out for dinner we most frequently go for pasta because it's her fave. I've been craving it for the last 3 days. On my way home from training with Jess tonight I decided to stop at the grocery store near my house and pick up the fixins. When I picked up a jar of organic 'garlic and herbs' pasta sauce and read the nutritional facts (something that's second nature to me at this point) I was completely horrified at the amount of salt in a serving: 530 mg!!!! WTF?? I checked some of the other 'varieties' (plainer ones) - same thing. I checked the non-organic ones... again, same, same. Hmm. I just got back from working out. The last thing I want to do is bloat up with salt. And I've been trying to watch how much salt is in my food these days, because it just seems to sneak right in there. Pasta also isn't the ideal post-workout meal anyway, so I couldn't compromise on making it as healthy as possible. So I went over to the canned veggie aisle and checked the nutritional facts on the cans of tomatoes. They have this 'blue menu' line and I found diced tomatoes with only 5 mg of salt in a large can. Score. OK. So, this means I'm making my own pasta sauce. I don't think I've ever done that before. Not that I can't, I'm just lazy. I make all kinds of things from scratch without looking at a recipe, and with throwing things together just because. This will work. But with lower salt I need more herbs and onions and garlic and stuff. So I picked up all of that, including fresh basil (unfortunately not organic, but I think the fresh stuff was important for this venture). So I made it, and ate far later than I should as a result. It was fantastic! And now I have tons of it to freeze too. Score. And a total of 10 mg of salt. Double score. So of course, I ate two helpings. Doh!

The Single Life

This weekend was epic (not a new word, but a bit of a joke - although the person for whom the joke would ring true does not read this blog, funny for me alone I guess). I spent my time skate skiing both days. The weather was the best of the whole season, with the snow conditions being really great - perhaps not the best snow conditions, but combine them with the amazing sunny days and the total package was, well - EPIC. :) Beyond that I did very little else. I did some laundry. I made chili and took it over to my sister's and bother-in-law's for dinner tonight. I did no studying for the exam that's coming up (Neurology), I did not clean the bathrooms, I did not vacuum (something I've been meaning to do for at least 2 weeks now - yeah, I know - gross). I completely flaked out on the couch last night and it took most of today for me to remember what it was on the TV that I was barely half paying attention to for hours (it was Forrest Gump). I did finally do the dishes this afternoon. I waxed my skis twice because I had to change the wax for the different conditions. On Friday I ate peanut butter and jam on toast - 2 pieces - for dinner. Oh. I've even started getting creative with putting together weird combinations of food I want to eat when I'm too lazy to make a real meal. This afternoon, after skiing, it consisted of 2 potato pancake things (these frozen kosher things from the health food store that I wanted to get out of my freezer once and for all) with hummus and salsa on them. Actually, I seem to be putting hummus and salsa combo on lots of things these days. Hmm. Maybe it's not so creative afterall. Oh well. It tastes good. Yes, this is what you call the single life people. The best part about it is that I'm still reveling in it after a few years. I love eating weird stuff and doing whatever I want whenever I want to and not vacuuming and leaving my unfolded laundry all over the couch. It's fun. It's totally liberating. One of the best stages in my life. I'm happy that for once I'm aware - conscious - of what I have today so that I can appreciate it now and not look back later when things have all changed and wish I'd known how great it was at the time. I guess I'm learning that lesson and practicing living in the moment more and more now. So here's to today - and being single and messy and silly. :)

Friendship Amitié Amicizia Amistad Vänskap

Tonight I talked on the phone with my oldest friend for about 112 minutes. At least that's what it was when I checked the phone and told her that we'd been talking that long. Give or take a few to say goodbye afterward. It kind of amazes me that after nearly 20 years of knowing each other that we still have that much to talk about. But we do! Isn't that great? Tonight we were gabbing as if we were in high school. I don't think I've run out of things I can talk to Mir about. And we've come to a point in our relationship that it seems there is no taboo subject. I feel a bit bad for any guys I date - because she gets the full scoop: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh well. They don't have to know.

I've made some really amazing friends over the years, and there is a core group of them who are truly sisters to me. If you include the great friendship I have with my sister of actual blood-relation, I currently have 5 amazing women in my life whom I feel I have developed that close a relationship with. I'm a pretty lucky chick. Thanks girls! Mwah!!!

Procrastination

Who would have thought that a little procrastination tonight would keep me up this late, fooling around with the music you are probably listening to now, and looking up quotes on gratitude? Hmm. Interesting. Well, I will have to stop putting off the studying I have to do for that Neurology exam tomorrow, that's for sure. Before I head off to sleep though, I'll leave you with the chosen quote from my little search tonight.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. ~Denis Waitley

Red Dot Campaign

As usual, I was hooked on CBC radio today while driving around town and caught an interview with one of the conspirators behind this campaign. When the host of the radio show, Rita Celli, said to her guest, "Why did I not know about this before?" I almost said out loud, "YEAH! Me too - why didn't I know about this????"

All of the flyers and pamphlets and crap that we get in our mailbox EVERY SINGLE DAY go straight into the recycling bin (beside the mailbox on our verranda). Such a waste. I'd love to put an end to it. So, as the logo up there says: Spread the Word. If you don't read your flyers and junk mail - ask them not to send it to you anymore.

Here are some links to help you out:

http://www.reddotcampaign.ca/

http://blog.reddotcampaign.ca/

CSI Potato

It kept bothering me - when did Mr. Potato sprout to life? He's always been around during my lifetime. We used to go to the vegetable stand every single time we visited my grandparents in Fredericton, and last October I stopped in and snapped the photo of him that I posted below. Actually, I have many photos of him from various visits. Maybe I have a problem.

Mystery Solved...
Mr. Potato was born in 1969. Quite an auspicious year.
He's 19 feet tall. I like tall men - likely part of my attraction to him.
And he's got a nice smile. He's very photogenic.
So, next time you're in Fredericton, take a short jaunt down old highway 105 and say hi to my man.

Skin Care & Water Bottles

A while ago I added the Labour Environmental Alliance to my list of sites on the right there. I read a copy of their Cancer Smart Guide a couple of years ago and subsequently bought several copies and gave them out to my family. Actually, I put them in their stockings. I think they thought I was on crack that Christmas. All joking aside, it's very useful and I've changed a lot of my consumer habits when it comes to beauty/skincare products and household cleaning products as a result. I thought I'd share something I just saw on the news regarding baby care products tonight. I'm a moisturizing addict, so I am really careful about what I put on my body now that I'm better informed. I read all the labels and I generally buy most of my products at the health food store now. Some of the brands I use I've listed there under my health section too. There are some great small businesses from around our local/rural area and in Canada that you can support and be smarter about beautifying yourself at the same time.

And then another topic that came up with a friend of mine recently regarding the plastic water bottles. It says a lot when a large Canadian company pulls them off the shelf.

Forced Rest Days

The snow in the Gats was bountiful
And the weather could not be more fanciful
But the boots didn’t fit
Becks soon lost all wit
Now her ankles are raw and painful

OK, pretend the last word has 3 syllables.

A valiant effort for a Science-geek, wouldn't you say?

Mr Potato

Mr Potato, originally uploaded by Becks' Albums.

Another childhood memory. He's still there. I wonder when he first planted his little feet in the ground?

Lilacs

On the ripple blog they have a question of the week and it got me thinking to blog on it tonight...
"What is your favourite childhood memory?"

Off the top of my head/my first thought:

For the two summers that we lived in Manitoba, my sister and I used to ride our bikes every single day to this wading pool run by the city. I think I was around 8 years old at the time. We spent the better part of the day there in the pool, playing games with the other kids, and doing crafts - there was a girl from the university who ran the activities there all summer and I guess was kind of a lifeguard for the pool - although it was a wading pool, so I'm not sure an official lifeguard was necessary. It was the 80's though, I think there was more money for stuff like that back then. And I don't think you had to pay for any of these things either - you were a kid in the neighbourhood and you just showed up. It was so fun. We would bike there through a bunch of different streets, passing some of our friends' houses, sometimes stopping at their houses on the way home, or going to their houses for lunch and back to the pool again. Sometimes we'd ride all around for hours just riding - to the train tracks, to the park, etc. Back then (OMG I'm about to sound old) we were allowed to hop on our bikes and not return home til dinner. Our parents didn't worry at all about where we were. When we lived there I got my first ten-speed. That was a big deal. I never really knew how to work the gears very well. The most vivid part of this memory is the pathway that took us from a residential street into the park where the wading pool resided - it was lined with lilacs. Whenever I pass lilacs/smell lilacs today it brings me back to age 8-9 and biking in Manitoba to the pool with my sister and our friends.

Change Management

Interesting how lessons seem to come around in life like a theme. At least sometimes they do. And if you are open to seeing it, you notice, and you think - how funny (not funny - haha) how that works... Or maybe it's just the universe hitting you over the head with the message to be sure you don't miss it. Of course, some people miss it anyway. I'm glad that sometimes I catch on...

So, I found out that I'm likely going to make a big change in my life in the next few months: I will have to move. Like where I live, is what I mean. It's not ideal timing as I have other ideas for my 'short-term life plans'. I had no short term life plans a while ago, but now I see some forming and I'm excited about that. As a result I thought those plans would come about in the next year or so and then I would start to look at moving. But life doesn't always work on my schedule and according to my detailed plan of attack. My landlord wants to take over living in my apartment himself and it's about a year earlier than I'd hoped we'd have to think about stuff like this. So, this is one big change that I'm sorting out on every level.

Then today I had my performance appraisal at work. It went really well. :) And in the process we talked about me being a leader in change orientation for the other people on my team. Which is cool, because for the most part I welcome change, and even when I'm not welcoming it with open arms, my usual approach to it is: OK, I may not like this, but let's figure out how to make the best of it (kinda like the situation I just described in the previous paragraph). So I'm going to look for a course to take on how to be a change agent - or whatever the catch-phrase/buzz word of the times is for that.

It's nice how you can work on personal and work stuff at the same time. Figuring it all out. Growing and maturing in both areas at the same time and using the same tools and skills for work and life outside of work. Hmmm. OK. Way too cerebral. What happened to posting on bikes and bike gear and cycling and trips and, and... ;)

Some quotes on change for inspiration:

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett

Hungry

I'm hungry. All the time these days. I know I've been working out a LOT, but it's more than that. Maybe it's the weather or something. It's cold. So I feel like I need to eat all the time. And nothing satisfies me. And the only reason why I'm not actually giving in to the hunger and eating more than normal is because I'm lazy. I've got celery in the fridge waiting to be washed and cut so I can eat it with my hummus for snacks and I'm too lazy to wash and cut the freakin' stuff! So then I just don't bother eating. When that happens I just sleep instead. Cuz I'm also tired. I defrosted some of that tuna casserole that I made last week and ate it for dinner because I'm even too tired and lazy to make anything. Or do the dishes. You should see the kitchen. Ugh. :(

I hope I ate enough. Seriously. I'm heading out shortly to my rescheduled xc-ski lessons. And since they are later than my originally scheduled lessons, and it's colder when it's later, and it's the first lesson... I'm not sure how much skiing we're actually going to do. On the first lesson they like to teach you how to wax and talk and stuff - and they do more talking if it's cold so you don't have to be outside in the cold too long. Because you're not going to move a lot on the first lesson - they will start easy drills and make you learn your balance and weight transfer. And I just finished waxing my skis. I already know how to do that too. So why the hell am I in beginner skate lessons again? I already know what we're going to do. If I were the instructor I could write the lesson plan. But the thing is - I need to start from the beginning. So anyway, I hope I ate enough - in case I get to be more active than I think. And I hope I didn't eat too much in case we aren't too active. It's torture, I tell you!

K, I think it's time for some chocolate.

b-early

What's up with the word 'belated'? What's the antonym for that? You know like - over-early? Because you know, late is late - how can it be 'belated'? Anyway... happy be-earlied birthday to me:



Oh Becks - you shouldn't have! ;)

Tuna Casserole

So my weekend had a theme of an "attempt at self care". I think I did not too badly. After a very hectic week and low spirits I tried my best to do things that would just make me happy. I had an amazing dinner with some friends on Friday night at a restaurant I would highly recommend. I skied - a lot. Since I wasn't doing so well at learning skate up in the park Saturday morning (1/2 an hour spent battling hills when I should have been working on my gliding technique), I went home, had a nice lunch (pictured above) and rested. Then I headed over to the TF complex once I figured the xc lessons would have wrapped up, and I practiced loops and loops of gliding without my poles. Before I left though, I had phoned up one of my friends and when she joined me later I switched over to my classic gear and did a loop of that park with her. Enough exercise for me? ;) I should hope so. After that I had dinner with she and her hubby where they had a special dessert for me (in celebration of the upcoming date of my birth). Today I slept in and then bummed around most of the morning. I finally got my butt out the door - brrrrr, it's a cold one today! And headed to the gym to do my strength training. Once home I cleaned a bit, studied for my exam, road the bike for 40 mins and then dinner, laundry and now this. Not bad. Today might not have been as relaxing as it could have been for a self care initiative, however, the total lack of doing anything until 1 PM likely made up for it!

As for the picture I posted... my new little treating myself thing - which I just started this weekend with that meal. My sister made me that little tray for Christmas - cute eh?! Talented little sister I've got. And it's my favourite colours and all. Makes me happy. So now I'm going to take all my meals to the living room on that tray - like a weird old lady. lol.

My Week

Yep. This is how I've been feeling this week. Since my last post really.

And Sunday wasn't really as nice as it usually is. Certainly not as fun as it looks for Snoopy.

What I'm thinking: 'this too shall pass'. Hope to have more fun stuff to blog on soon.

Skate Skiing

Did I write yet about how I got out on the weekend for my first skate ski? I kinda learned all on my own. My lessons are supposed to be this weekend, but now that it rained and got all warm this week the conditions are all screwed and my lessons are postponed for two weeks.

So anyway, as I said, I went to the park and did my first real skate ski - AND I LOVED IT! I found it came more naturally to me than classic - but it's also quite a bit harder cardio-wise. However, that gets me pretty excited too because if I can skate a couple times per week for the rest of the season (may the snow-gods shine on our city!), then my cardio will be so wicked for cycling season!! Yay! I love it!

Year in Review

Yesterday I wrote this, but now I've changed a few things after playing around some more. Now you can just click and go to a set of photos. I tried to get it to go to a slideshow, but I was having difficulty with the code. I'm not that adept - yet.

As you can clearly see, I am very easily finding my way back into the work groove.
Since it's working out so well for me, I've decided to take tomorrow off to go skiing.
And in the meantime, share my favourite images from 2007...

www.flickr.com

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 boys and girls! Another year has passed. Hard to believe.

I hope everyone had a safe but fun holiday! I spent New Years in Montreal. I had a really fun time there for the past few days! We're in the middle of yet another snow storm though and I drove home in it. It was a pretty slow drive back - the roads were a bit dicey. Maybe not the best thing to do, but I managed ok and didn't take any chances on the road. Just slow and steady. I'm bagged though. Last night the people living below my friend, Lisa, stayed up til about 5 AM I think and they were screaming and laughing and pounding around. Needless to say - I think I'm ready for bed now. Yikes!

Well, I'm ready for 2008. I'm ready for my skate ski lessons next weekend - yipee! I've already started teaching myself because I'm too excited to wait. I had a totally wicked ski last Friday with a group of friends up in the park. Super-fun. I'm ready for more cycling, and I'm ready to be even stronger this year than last. I'm ready for new challenges at work (I think). I'm ready for a boyfriend, however I don't really blog about that stuff so you won't hear much about that unless you are one of my girlfriends. If you are one of them - rest assured, I hope not to disappoint with more dating stories for you. I'm ready for more traveling - although my travel plans keep changing in my head on a semi-regular basis. Regardless of changes, I should have more wander to lust about this year on the blog. And I definitely plan to travel and bike this year - maybe even more than last! Yipee!!

I wish you all health, happiness, success, love, and friendship for this year... 2008 - here we come!

And here's an interesting tidbit for you:
Happy 150th Anniversary Ottawa!















Couple of photos I took in February 2002!
Can you believe the difference in snow to this year?

MEMO from Messy Desk Woman

This is so telling...

My sister gave me the notepad pictured above one year in my stocking. Interesting timing eh?

While cleaning up my desk/office/filing system today; getting rid of a lot of unnecessary papers, shredding, recycling, etc; and putting all of the remaining stuff into my new cabinet system I found that notepad. Somehow, because my desk had been so messy, it got lost in amongst all of the other papers and got filed away somewhere only to be found again one day (today) when I got around to trying to get organized - yet again.

Note to everyone: a notepad that states it's coming from the messy desk woman will likely have a short lifespan before it finds itself lost in the abyss.

Organization?

Uh-oh! I've been shopping at Ikea again...

Yes, I spent the better part of - hmm, I lost track of how many hours - yesterday building yet another piece of Ikea furniture for my little place.

Yes, it was yet another attempt at better organizing myself and my office space. PLEASE if there is a power greater than me in the universe let this be the last piece of Ikea furniture I build for my office!!! I don't mind building Ikea furniture - I've become quite adept at it. :) And I find it kinda fun! This time I even had to measure and drill holes. It's the staying somewhat organized that seems to keep escaping me and toying with my precarious level of sanity.

I'm willing to pimp out my Ikea furniture building skills at a reasonable price. Inquire within. ;)

Move on down Nutcracker

Now that Christmas is over I need to push that post down...

...and bore you with my past few days' activities. I actually kept up with the biking. It was hard to get back into it after being sick, but I pushed myself to get into it. I tried something different...

(this is what I look like lately except I've been watching the 2006 Tour of Flanders - I don't have a computrainer)

I'm not supposed to do intervals til near the end of January according to my own periodized plan (and I double checked to see what the professional scheduled for me last year and it was the same). But I'm really itching to drop some poundage and I needed something to shock my legs and my body and my brain. So not only did I do intervals, but I did "Pukervals". And no, I'm not referring to overconsumption of special Christmas drinks in the last few days. And I'm quite sure I didn't make that word up myself. I think someone else who trains told me it once upon a time. The afternoon of Christmas Eve I decided to do intervals that are suggested by Chris Carmichael in one of the articles he wrote in Bicycling mag recently. It's a quick workout - only an hour. And you do 2 sets of intervals: 2 mins as hard as you can (the pukerval part), 2 mins recovery - 5 times, then do it all over again after a 6 min recovery spin. Since it was my first interval ride of the season and thus far I have only stepped into zone 3 briefly in a couple of rides (and this ride would mean maxing out) I tried not to push too hard, so I only felt like puking on one of the intervals (HR>190) but I pushed it hard enough to really need the 2 minutes to recover my breathing and my heart rate (only back into zone 3 ~150). I may be pushing it too soon, but I don't care. After doing that ride I felt awesome and I really realized how I will never improve and never shed poundage if I don't push myself like I did that afternoon. So I'm thinking of changing my program a little based on how I felt Monday. I'm going to start adding in pukervals about once per week (maybe twice - only because I can't seem to resist) and increase to twice per week for sure by end of January.

I spent Christmas Eve dinner with one of my close friends and her family having something called raclette. It was fun and delicious! Then we all played Taboo and couldn't stop laughing. There were far too many swear words coming out of people's mouths in the presence of Grandma. Poor Grandma was a good sport about it. Maybe grandparents are getting used to profanities these days.

Christmas Day was spent having more laughs with my sister, her hubby and the dog. With silly fleece pants and my brother-in-law wearing a new hoodie like a goofball and maybe a little too much hot chocolate, maple syrup, and Ferraro Rochers - we got the giggles. I got some really great presents - including (but not limited to) a bunch of stuff for the bike! :)

Then on to dinner with another close friend of mine and her family. I was starting to get tired by that point and instead of having a nap when I stopped home to finish making sweet potato casserole to take to dinner and change, I decided to do a 45 min recovery ride. (I'm hopelessly addicted) After eating far too much food, doing a book-stealing exchange, and being entertained by her second cousins' fiddling and step dancing, I was ready for a long sleep.

Which brings me to today where the only real accomplishment I've made is to wax my skis. I was hoping to get out skiing today (and teach myself how to skate ski). However, the conditions were only so-so after the rain we got on the weekend and the teaching facility will not be grooming til tomorrow (and I didn't want to hit the park for fear that there would be far too many people who might get annoyed with me not knowing what I'm doing). So tomorrow I plan to either 1) ski with my friends in the park (classic) or 2) go to the complex where they teach and learn to skate ski. I'm going to decide what I feel like doing when I wake up. Hopefully I wake up earlier than I did today.

Merry Christmas

I found this a couple of years ago and went looking for it today again so I could post it. :) Voila!
The last day of work before the holidays is now behind me. I look forward to some R&R and some good training!!

Carbon Offsetting

OK. Since my little fevered (quite literally) rant last Friday I have learned about a few resources for offsetting the carbon footprint we leave on the earth when flying. And now I'm sharing them. Thanks to those who shared with me.

Offsetters (can be used with various airlines from what I gather)
Aeroplan (just learned about this today via their newsletter)
Carbon Reduction Fund

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I came back from the Big Smoke last week with someone else's virus in tow. Thank you to one of the many ill colleagues of mine for that special gift. I spent the whole weekend, starting Friday afternoon literally the minute I landed in my living room, on the couch or in bed. Fever, aching, coughing, and a sore throat so swollen that I actually put an ice pack on it a few times. Go figure that someone who has gotten used to icing sore shoulders and calf muscles would think to put an ice pack on their throat.

Today is my first day back in the real world - and man! the real world is a bit of a mess! I knew that I'd avoided dealing with a major snowstorm while I was in convalescence, but wow - manoeuvring out there is slightly nuts! And it just keeps snowing! Now, I should confess that I'm not all that sad that it's snowing. I'm really looking forward to being in full form by Friday (that's the goal anyway) so I can learn skate skiing!!! :) However, I do have a few things I need to get done - like buy a printer cartridge so I can print my final expense report and send it to my manager - but I ran out of time today since it was so difficult and took so much extra time to get everywhere. And then tonight... well, frankly there were like 20 vehicular accidents listed on the news as I drove home (which, BTW, took me 50 minutes to get home from somewhere that was only 10 mins away!), so I'm not driving out there again tonight. There is an office supply store about 5-6 blocks away, so I could walk there, but the sidewalks aren't plowed and people are resorting to walking on the street... no thanks. Especially not in the dark. Hopefully things will start sorting out overnight and I'll be able to get the many errands I need to do done tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

A Heady Post to End the Week

In keeping with my latest theme (see yesterday's post) I have to say that I've been feeling very disappointed... No. Wait. Maybe that's not the right choice of words to describe it, although it's not totally off...

I have to say that I've been feeling - for the first time - a little ashamed of my country. Wow. That's definitely a first. But no. No. That's not totally accurate either. I'm not ashamed of my country - of the people who comprise it. No. I love this country - a lot.

I have to say that I'm ashamed of the government that is representing this country right now. Yep. That's pretty much it.

It's an extremely rare occurrence for me to get 'political' about anything. I'm not stupid. I know politics are a part of life - of almost every aspect of it. Work, school, even within groups of friends there are politics. But I try to avoid getting into it. Politics are very frustrating. Maybe because there's just no one way to please everyone. However, after a week of listening and reading and watching news about how our country - or rather the political leaders of our country - are still refusing to take any leadership on changing the way we live, produce, and consume (see the video in my last post... likely that didn't help my attitude on the topic this week - although maybe that's not a bad thing), I'm feeling really disappointed and ashamed. I know I can do more - personally - and I'm endeavouring to do so. But this thing is bigger than me. And while I also realize that the sum of our individual efforts is much more powerful than any one of us taking something on alone (not unlike voting... i.e. I won't NOT participate because I feel like I'm too small to make a difference), there still must be leadership.

As I sat down to write this, wondering if I'd even bother publishing it to the blog since it's just a bit of a barf-up of my thoughts into a little rant to end my exhaustive week, I realized that I have learned several lessons this week about leadership. I've been learning more and more about being a good leader over the past few years, actually. Anyway... the company I work for decided recently to make a tough decision and lead on an ethical issue. When this change was announced to us this week lots of people were upset because the decision might put us at a competitive disadvantage. Now, I'm not saying the people I work for make all the right decisions - they certainly don't, and I haven't always agreed with decisions that are made. But this decision has come at an interesting time for me personally as I think even more about leadership and making tough choices. Are all decisions these days based on 'preserving the economy' and selling and consuming and, and, and... me, me, me... ? Yeah. Exactly. Taking the high road is rarely the easy, smooth, comfy ride we might prefer, but it's usually a short-term commitment to endure hardship for an important long-term goal that gets easier later on - you know... no pain no gain. Any big change I've made in my life was hard at the beginning, and then it got easier as it became more routine - like changing dietary habits. If I didn't spend some time doing intervals on the bike (where you do hard, intense minutes over and over) I wouldn't get stronger or faster... short term pain, long term gain. Anyway... I'm sure you get this point. I know you're not stupid either.

The point I wanted to make, or come back to is this... leaders don't wait for their neighbours to make changes. Leaders do what they know to be a good, fair, perhaps difficult, but right decision and don't worry about what other people think. And they do it with confidence even when they are afraid that it might prove to make things more difficult for a time, while they figure out how to do things differently. Leaders don't bury their heads in the sand and hope that things will miraculously change - they take action. Leaders find solutions. Leaders make change happen. And when leaders do this, others follow.

"Stuff"

Mir sent me this video last night and I had to share it...

The Story of Stuff
(it's about 20 minutes in length, so sit back and relax)

It's interesting. I made a comment last week when I was skiing with my friend, Ruth, about wondering whether things are changing, or whether I seem to just be surrounding myself with like-minded people more and more... not sure since I've known Mir since I was fourteen. ;) Perhaps with us it's just a case of growing up together. At any rate, I've definitely been changing my way of life in terms of chemical pollutants, how I eat, a little bit of what I buy (although this gives me even more pause for thought). Something else I've thought about recently (after listening to David Suzuki on CBC a few weeks back) is the impact that air travel has on the environment. It also makes me think more seriously about making my trips more meaningful by contributing something to the places I visit so that perhaps my footprint on the earth when I fly isn't in vain - or at least not just all about me and my pleasure. Hmmm. Anyway... I'm a bit too tired right now from meetings to get overly philosophical about it. Perhaps another time. Just to say though, it gives me pause for thought - and the fact of the matter is, I've already been thinking about this stuff. So in actual fact it gives me more reasons to act. Which I will continue to do. I've already started simplifying my life and consuming less. I know I can do more though.

Work, Travel and other fun stuff

Well folks... here I am again - in the Big Smoke. Trapped inside all day today in a ballroom enduring meetings, feeling claustrophobic with no fresh air. Granted, the meeting was actually really good this morning. I just can't get used to breathing recycled air for more than a few hours at a time. So after the meeting concluded this evening and we had a couple of hours to ourselves before heading down to an organized dinner in the same ballroom where we spent the entire day (sigh), Janette and I figured we'd go buy our manager a Christmas card so the group of us could sign it while we're together and get some fresh air. So much for that idea: it's raining and neither of us had an umbrella, and we still have to look good for dinner (otherwise, frankly I'd have gone out there and gotten soaked). They have this underground tunnel system here in T-dot and we were able to find a card store. We were starving for air though, so we went outside and stood at the doorway like a couple of smokers on a smoke-break just to get some oxygen.

I have to give another airline-other-than-AC endorsement today... I flew Porter Airlines yesterday for the second time and it's very enjoyable. I actually feel like the seat in front of me is a little far away... my knees don't bang into it and I had to reach for my Bicycling mag that I had inserted into the leather seat pocket. The staff was so nice and accommodating too. There was a comedian at our meeting this morning (a real one - seriously) and he made the funniest joke: "On Air Canada we're not happy until you're unhappy". LOL!!!! So true. When you fly with another airline you really realize how surly the majority of the staff are at AC (even though I should acknowledge that due to the sheer number of times I've flown with AC I have encountered some very nice staff). I think it's part of their recruitment strategy.

I've been reading like it's going out of style lately. So I finished yet another book and I think I'm about 5 books in arrears posting on the book blog. But if you didn't already notice, I did post recently there. I'm onto another book that I brought with me for the week. I'll get some time in the next few weeks I think to get some updates because I've read some really awesome ones lately!

And I've been out xc-skiing again since my last post. Wow. The conditions are absolutely FANTASTIC!!! Every time it snows I am giggly like a child. I love it! When I get back from this trip I plan to learn the skate technique. So I'll be practicing both disciplines this winter. Don't worry - the bike hasn't been missing me at all. I've been getting on it about 4x/week right now. Next week marks the start of "Early Base" phase. I will have 8 weeks of that - heavy weight time with Jessica. :) I'm already seeing some major differences since I stepped it up in the last month. Wicked!!! (I don't think I've said that since I was a student)

Winter Wonderland

Wow!!! I can't express how excited I've been the last week with all the snow we've been getting. Last winter I remember blogging about not skiing in January and it being so warm I seriously considered getting out on my bike - outside - first week of that month. Well, old man winter has arrived early this year and it looks like he's setting up house. Tonight we're going to have a big snowstorm. And guess what I did today??? Well, I almost titled this post "hip flexors", because man, they are tight tonight. Yes, I went for my first xc ski of the season today. Even though the wind chill was minus 20 or something, it was actually quite nice out. There was light snow most of the time, and I only felt the wind a few times really. I'm conquering my fear of going downhill this season. Starting today. With a nice wipe-out due to my hesitation and attempt at slowing down. Got back up and continued down, reminding myself the whole time to relax and not hesitate (the hill was quite long - funny how I'm willing to climb it far more than descend... exactly the opposite of being on a bike!). It was super fun!! I absolutely love being outside in the fresh air. With so much cycling in the summer, I'm so accustomed to fresh air on a daily basis. Being couped up inside really gets to you. Breathing recycled air. Spending a few hours outside, being active - you can't imagine what it does for the soul. Now it's time to stretch I think, because you also can't imagine what it does to the shoulders and hip flexors! ;)

Hamstrings

Holy hamstrings batman!!! They are TI-I-IGHT!

November 3rd marked the beginning of off-season, base training. I'm hoping to really gain a lot this year in strength and speed on the bike. I'm not bad on speed now, actually. I made some really good progress last year on my average speed. I guess now it's maintaining that speed for longer durations, and climbing faster. The climbing faster thing comes down to something that's called power to weight ratio, and frankly in the last 2 years mine has been shit! Can I say that on the blog? Well, it has. Now that I've got some health stuff sorted out I think I might actually be losing some weight. But I haven't dared step on the scale yet. I promised myself and Jess that I wouldn't for 2-3 more weeks. Just stick to the program and wait for it to happen.

So, base training... right now I'm in the middle of a six-week period which is called 'pre-base'. I'm not allowed to push hard on the bike or any other cardio activity I decided to pursue - zones one and two only (estimated HR zones for me since I haven't done any fancy-shmancy blood work to know exactly what my zones should be). It's actually really hard to sit on the bike for an hour and not push yourself. You know - it's fun to crank up the resistance and push hard - get into the music and such. However lazy I feel for the super-easy workout, it's supposed to work - burn fat now, and prepare my muscles to use fat more and conserve carbs a little more when I'm on the bike in the summer. You want to conserve some of the carbs in your muscles for when you have to push harder or faster quickly because carbs are quick energy. The low burn is the sitting and climbing kind of stuff. If I can use more fat for energy then, I'll be working more efficiently. Anyway... I don't want to bore you with all of that.

At the gym I've started to really do a lot more strength training. My legs aren't used to maintaining a contraction for extended periods of time - hence hamstring hell tonight! Ahh! So right now I'm preparing them for heavy weights which I will start in 3 weeks' time. This year I plan to really push myself when it comes to the weights. I know Jess is a bit skeptical (although still on board with the plan) - not of my ability (god knows she had me doing some crazy weight last winter) - but I kind of bulk up quick, so you know... I don't want to look like this:

i removed the image...

Hahaha! Funny picture (never knew 'muscles' was spelled with an 'a'). ;) I want to be really, really strong. I want to climb those mountains in Vermont next year. So, here goes nothing...

And I apologize in advance to my poor hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calf muscles. No pain no gain, as they say.

Wings

Back for a whole month now before having to travel again! The last 2.5 months have been exhausting with travel every two weeks... be careful what you ask for, eh?

It's a bit rough leaving plus 30 degree weather to be greeted by true Canadian autumn in full-swing (minus 2 this morning). Still, it really is good to be back.

Last night I got to fly direct and it was a great flight. First I want to tell you all that my experience with WestJet was really nice. I know, we all love to bash the airlines (particularly our favourite monopoly - Air Canada). WestJet seems to be getting a lot more flights started up to various places (including Hawaii and Bahamas - for all you snow birds). The staff is ultra-friendly and easy going. Geez... I sound like an advertisement, but I wanted to just put that out there. I guess I fly AC too much so common courtesy seems like a novel experience today!

We flew at 42,000 feet (I watched the map on my personal satellite TV when I wasn't reading my book which I will blog about soon), and we had clear skies the whole way (the likely cause of our 25 minute early arrival - sweet!). It was phenomenal to look out the window and correlate which state I was seeing form my bird's-eye-view. Not often can you see the world from that height. And I also saw 3 different planes flying below us at different points during the flight. Wow!! The only other time I've seen planes around me while in the sky was at LAX when we took off - then they are much closer to you and you are silently thanking the women and men who are working in the control tower that day. Flying these days is usually more of a pain than anything else, but yesterday it was a nice experience. It reminded me of the novelty of the experience when I got to fly as a child.

So now it's time to get re-organized, do the laundry, clean the house - all of the little things that never get done when you are gone every other week for weeks on end. And this morning I got all caught up on my emails, blogs, and podcasts. Speaking of podcasts... check out this video: Ben Harper. The way he so quickly and so assuredly turns thought into words reminds me of how lacking I am in the ability to truly articulate my own ideas and feelings.

Orange County - East

Here I am, putting my post-conference day achy feet up (smelly, achy feet - ick! no socks worn today), writing for whomever it is that reads here. I got a pedometer in my conference package and so far I've walked 6.5 km. Far less than I should have - as I was intending on walking to the congress centre, but realized it's at least 1.5 km's to the end of the drive of our hotel/resort. Then maybe 2-3 km's to the facility. So instead I take the shuttle with everyone else. What's new today? Well, second conference in two weeks - I'm just about lectured and exhibited out. The US conferences are so different from those at home. Firstly, they are 100x larger - everything is bigger... booths, congress centres (this one is one million square feet and that's no exaggeration - obviously the conference doesn't occupy the whole space), lectures, numbers of delegates, etc. All the rules are different here too. My time spent at the booth is quite useless because I'm not allowed to dispense my ever growing knowledge. Not here. That's not allowed. So I just look cute and speak French with all of the people here from Marseilles, Lyon, Paris, and Switzerland (today's list of French-speaking foreign delegates). The US reps think it's great that myself and the Quebec rep can do this so, even when the person can speak English, they send them our way. It's funny how I seem to be speaking French so much more these days. And in places I wouldn't have normally thought it would happen - US conferences and Panama (last spring) for example. It's great! I've also been speaking French with my Quebec counterpart most of the time here - it's really fun to talk and know that 98% of the people around us cannot understand. He, he! So many things I could write tonight, but I'm fading fast and need my sleep. Perhaps I'll have more to put down at another time.

Vive le Quebec!

Bonjour tout le monde! Comment ca va? I don't know how to put the accents on here in the blog. I'd probably have to change the template to French. I know a lot of you don't speak the language and I don't intend on practicing here, so I'll spare you. I'm in Quebec this week. Arrived yesterday. I have an amazing view of the city from my hotel room window, which I'm looking at as I write this. The fall colours are spectacular - still! There's a little river that I can see with a little bridge. I was kinda wanting to stay home this weekend, what with the good weather (hello - get in as many more km's as I can on the bike before it gets put up on the trainer for a few months), and with so much traveling right now. When you think about it all together it's a bit overwhelming. So I guess I have to remind myself of that old saying that never fails: one day at a time. Mm-hmm. That's right. I'm feeling so much better these days (that fatigue thing is finally sorting out). I went out last night with a group of people and got in late. Forgot to change my ringer from "silence" on my cell phone (aka alarm clock) and it didn't wake me up this morning for the 7 AM symposium... I did however, wake up at 6:06 AM on my own, felt the need to check the time and promptly hopped out of bed. OK - who are you? If you told this to my parents they might faint. This is not normal first-child-of-theirs behaviour. It's great though. Maybe I'm easing into morning person territory. I'd love that. You know why? It would mean I would be spry for early morning bike rides. Yes, it's all about the bike. I think my mind was totally not on packing when I did it Friday... forgot one of my suit jackets for a pair of pants I brought, forgot gym socks, forgot my keyfob. I decided, for the first time, to pack my shoes and some of my food in a separate, small bag and check it as well (I always bring snacks and stuff with me so I don't get tempted by the crap they serve at these things). That way I'd have more room to bring stuff back from the congress, as well as not wind up with a bag that's overweight. Well the small bag didn't show up with me. I saw it go on the plane (a prop) in the 'wa. I think it stayed behind in MTL. It arrived a few hours later, but I almost had to wear my sketchers with my suit to the first night at the exhibit (a small embarrassment). Things that make life un-dull. I wasn't panicked though. I figured I'd get the bag. I actually would have been surprised if I hadn't. Where did I find blind faith in Air Canada?

Beauty - how do you see it?

Hope this actually works. I had to paste code - that's a first for me. Am I turning into a science/techno geek? lol! I LOVE these videos. Believe me, I'm not immune to these pressures myself. Perhaps that's why they resonate so. You can go to the website and spread the word if you feel moved to.

Just Stuff

Well I'm finally starting to recover. I really got hit hard with that virus last week. Still coughing, but from what I've heard that will last a while. My weekend, while very nice, was low-key. Just what the doctor ordered. Trained with Jess yesterday and even though she took it easy on me due to the illness, she still kicked my butt! Man! I'm sore today. And then I did a spin class later in the day. Maybe not the best thing to do, I thought during the class, but I made it. I really prefer training on my own bike though. Those spin bikes are really uncomfortable. Then today I got a lot done! I went for a very short ride. Nice just to get out. It was cooooold though. I was bundled up good! I actually cleaned my office up!!! That's something I've been procrastinating on for a while. I go through this cycle every month or so. My friend, Lisa, teases me about it. I get all stressed out because I've let my office turn into a minefield of papers and files and crap all over the desk and floor. I downgraded my desk last year to prevent it from getting piled up with crap and force myself to be on top of putting papers away in the filing cabinet. No such luck. They just end up on the floor. So, this is what I was thinking - I'm just terrible at cleaning. I mean, when I clean I do a really good job. But I hate it so much that I don't do it often. The two things I always stay on top of are the kitchen and bathroom since, being a Science major and all, I did my fair share of Microbiology labs and know all about wet environments being the worst. So I'm a clean freak about those rooms (other than letting the dishes pile up for a few days first). Otherwise though, I kinda live like the stereotypical single guy. Which I'm not. It's kinda funny, really. Maybe I need to put an ad out... WANTED: cute, tall guy who is insane about cycling and doesn't mind cleaning up after his hopelessly messy gf. Keep me posted if you find one. I'm sure they're hard to come by. Oh, and I've got books to blog about eventually. I know Mir has posted on that blog recently. She's the bookworm in my circle of friends. And before I left for the east coast I downloaded some new music. My current fave is KT Tunstall's new album. I loved Eye to the Telescope, but the I think I love the new one even more! SHE ROCKS! (see below)

KT Sampler

Not from the new album, but worth sharing. Yep, she rocks!

Sniffle, Cough, Achoo!

I'm sick. While it was fun (and much appreciated) to stay with my friends and their kids, I generally avoid small humans for just this reason. I go in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices every day and rarely do I get sick. Put me in close proximity to people under the age of 10 and WHAM! Becks has a head cold. Bummer. One minor consolation: I don't think my buddies will be riding on Saturday (calling for lots of rain). Maybe I'll be well enough by Sunday, and if the weather forecast is correct, it should be a reasonably good day for cycling.

Last week was a great week of vacation and travel. I closed out with Thanksgiving weekend in NB with a lot of family and new friends celebrating my sister's wedding. She and her now hubby had a blast and so did the rest of us. It was a very informal wedding which made the atmosphere relaxed and fun. The weather couldn't have been better - Friday was so warm I felt too hot in my jeans. We had a 'bon fire' that night (there was a fire ban so the actual fire didn't exist) and while I got to bed at 1 AM, the vast majority of those out that night stayed up til somewhere in the vicinity of 6 AM. We (the bridal party) on the other hand, had lots of important things to do the next morning and 1 AM was plenty late. A 7:30 AM wake-up to head downtown for hair and make-up was a little unsettling, but damn did we look good! ;) The wedding went off without a hitch and again, the majority of the guests stayed up into the wee hours of the morning. I woke up the next day with my illness in full force - I had felt it coming since I had left the Island. And I was supposed to drive only as far as MTL on Sunday to visit with a close friend, but wound up driving straight home that day so I could get to my own bed and some R&R. Funny, the 10.5 hours of driving doesn't seem as long when your head is all a mush with a cold. Monday I stayed in all day, not even getting out of my PJs.

So, here are some select photos of my week... Enjoy!

(if you look closely you'll see that I never did make any effort to get rid of my cycling tan lines)

Feels Like Home

Driving, driving, driving...

It's too bad the east coast is so far away from the 'wa. If it were closer I'd get out here far more often. Particularly to Spud Island - aka home. My visit to the island this week was far too short. I arrived there Monday after two days of driving and a pretty stiff neck. My audio books were great and all the new iTunes helped too. Lots of car singing. ;) I mapped out a few rides before I left to ensure I knew distances before I head out and get myself into a situation where I need to be back in town still and have 50 more km to go. On Tuesday I did the main ride I really wanted to do. Even though my roots are on the east side of the island, I don't think I've been up to the far north east point since my childhood. The goal for the ride was to loop the tip. And I did. 63 km's later, quiet roads, extraordinary weather, courteous drivers who (get this) move out to pass AND wave at you when they do so!!! Mind you, tourist season is almost over - I saw a few, but it's not like in the summer, so roads are much less traveled right now. Nevertheless, the locals are in no big rush, happy to slow down for you, actually care for the safety of others on the road (well, what would I expect from this place that is my heart's home anyway - there is a reason I love it so much). Unbeknownst to me the ride was full of hills. Some small, some slightly steep, some long, some short, but there was not shortage of climbing on Tuesday. It was a phenomenal ride and I was totally blissed out at the end. On Wednesday I rode around the north coast - an area I am very familiar with. The National Park is open now - no fees to enter. And the road was deserted but for a couple of other cyclists, a couple of tourists, and some road workers. Oh - and the fishermen at the wharf at Covehead Harbour. I stopped there and took a whack of photos and fed their dog, a friendly golden retriever who tried to hop into the car of the tourists that came by. Unfortunately today, as it is every time I leave the red rock, I was sad and cranky. I know the island is somewhere I will never live, but I love it so much and I wish I could visit more often. I feel like it is so much of who I am. This time I also did not have much alone time in my place. OK, so I had a couple multi-hour bike rides. I guess I needed a bit more. Just not enough time. My time got split quite a bit, visiting my family and with a university friend, since I was staying with her and her family. I usually stay with my grandmother, but she had a full house with my folks visiting too and even though she probably wanted me to come stay on the couch, I kind of wanted a real bed and some space. Staying with my friend, Dal, was fun too because I got to take her kids out on their bikes and show them how the bike works and stuff. And they thought that was pretty cool. I think Dal and her hubby are afraid of one day having to shell out several grand for a bike if they keep having me come around. ;) One of my goals in life: get all my friends kids into cycling. Mwahahaha (the evil laugh if you didn't know).
More cycling tomorrow and more updates to come if I can find another computer. Luckily my aunt doesn't mind me hogging hers tonight.