3:04 ... 3:49 ... 4:20 ... 4:43 ... 5:15 ... 5:35 ...
Might as well get up, hit the gym, go to work.
When do I get to sleep?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Saturday, July 07, 2007
International Flora
On my fourth and final day of my extended long-weekend, I visited the Montreal International Flora Festival at the Old Port, believing the weather report that told me there was no chance of precipitation that afternoon. Silly me.
However, despite having to wait out one light rain shower and one long downpour, I did spend a couple of very enjoyable and relaxing hours there, taking pictures of the various gardens and of many of the flowers. The colours were so vibrant and each garden so original and creative; I loved it. I’ve posted a new set of pictures on flickr for your viewing pleasure.
Once I was done there, I biked back to the market for a little lemon sorbet and an amazing loaf of baguette for my dinner.
Finally, finally, finally – my long anticipated massage finished off the weekend on the perfect note. Thanks, Sina!
However, despite having to wait out one light rain shower and one long downpour, I did spend a couple of very enjoyable and relaxing hours there, taking pictures of the various gardens and of many of the flowers. The colours were so vibrant and each garden so original and creative; I loved it. I’ve posted a new set of pictures on flickr for your viewing pleasure.
Once I was done there, I biked back to the market for a little lemon sorbet and an amazing loaf of baguette for my dinner.
Finally, finally, finally – my long anticipated massage finished off the weekend on the perfect note. Thanks, Sina!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Mont Orford PSA
If you’re ever in the Mont Orford area and think to yourself "Hey, I should walk up there!", stop yourself. You’ll thank me later.
My mother had the bright idea that we’d go for a nice hike at this provincial park today. No problem. I’m always ready for a nice day of hiking. What neither of us had thought of or were expecting was to arrive at a completely closed ski station where we ended up hiking up the ski slope. At times it felt like we were going straight up a 90° incline. It wasn’t a long hike, only 4 kilometres but man … was it ever hard. We made a number of short stops on the way up to have a sandwich and catch our breath. Although it was quite a windy and cool day, this managed to keep us from overheating and probably, in part, how we did make it all the way up. As we climbed, the view got better and better all time. It was a great feeling to finally reach the top. By that time my calves were shaking from the exertion (and I like to think that I’m in reasonably good shape.) Honestly, if there had been one more switch-back, I may have had to finish the hike on my hands and knees. The view from the top was wonderful though and certainly made up for the climb. I’ve posted a few pictures here. The way down was certainly easier on the heart but no less hard on the body. By the time we reached the bottom, neither of us could feel our knees anymore.
A couple of times it looked as if it was going to rain, and we did get a few drops on the way up but the real rain managed to hold off until the minute we got back to the car. Talk about timing.
After that we went for a short drive into Magog for a relaxing stroll along the main drag and a rewarding pastry and cup of tea in a little local café.
My plans for a long bike ride tomorrow evaporated somewhere up the hill today. I’m going to take thing a little bit easier and stick close to home. I will probably head into Old Montreal to spend some time at The International Flora Festival. And then to end my lovely 4-day long weekend off on the perfect note, I will get my massage and then melt into bed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Note: just did a little online investigating and found this site. Just so you know, this is not what is there now. Maybe they did have this at one time but certainly not in 2007.
My mother had the bright idea that we’d go for a nice hike at this provincial park today. No problem. I’m always ready for a nice day of hiking. What neither of us had thought of or were expecting was to arrive at a completely closed ski station where we ended up hiking up the ski slope. At times it felt like we were going straight up a 90° incline. It wasn’t a long hike, only 4 kilometres but man … was it ever hard. We made a number of short stops on the way up to have a sandwich and catch our breath. Although it was quite a windy and cool day, this managed to keep us from overheating and probably, in part, how we did make it all the way up. As we climbed, the view got better and better all time. It was a great feeling to finally reach the top. By that time my calves were shaking from the exertion (and I like to think that I’m in reasonably good shape.) Honestly, if there had been one more switch-back, I may have had to finish the hike on my hands and knees. The view from the top was wonderful though and certainly made up for the climb. I’ve posted a few pictures here. The way down was certainly easier on the heart but no less hard on the body. By the time we reached the bottom, neither of us could feel our knees anymore.
A couple of times it looked as if it was going to rain, and we did get a few drops on the way up but the real rain managed to hold off until the minute we got back to the car. Talk about timing.
After that we went for a short drive into Magog for a relaxing stroll along the main drag and a rewarding pastry and cup of tea in a little local café.
My plans for a long bike ride tomorrow evaporated somewhere up the hill today. I’m going to take thing a little bit easier and stick close to home. I will probably head into Old Montreal to spend some time at The International Flora Festival. And then to end my lovely 4-day long weekend off on the perfect note, I will get my massage and then melt into bed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Note: just did a little online investigating and found this site. Just so you know, this is not what is there now. Maybe they did have this at one time but certainly not in 2007.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Summer Splash
Here's my report on my first Dragon Boat competition from Saturday.
Saturday, June 30
Today was my first race day. All in all, I had a pretty fun time of it. Our team was there at 8am to make sandwiches for our food stand (to raise funds for the next competition). It was pretty cold and no coffee or even hot chocolate to keep our motivation up!
10am – first race 400m. I was anxious to see how it was going to play out. I had a fair idea that it would be a lot different than our weekly practice and boy, was I right. For example, during practice I find that I don’t really get wet at all. Not so on race day. We were all paddling so strong and moving so fast that each and every one of us basically got soaked from head to toe on one half of our body, depending which side of the boat we were seated on. Think we came in 3rd or 4th (of 4 teams).
11:40 – second race 200m. Obviously was much faster than the first and because it was so much shorter, we didn’t have the long stretch of just going at 85% of our force. It was pretty much a start, immediately up to 100%, then a short burst at 85% and then the final 50m at 100% again. This time I’m pretty sure we placed 3rd.
1pm – 3rd race, 100m. This was a rush. Our standard hard 5 strokes to get the boat out of the water and then 100% push for the finish. It was over in less than 30 seconds. Apparently we had a great start; really getting the boat out fast. Think there were only 3 boats in this race and we came 2nd. Not too shabby! Shortly before this race started, my friend Super C showed up to see what this whole thing was all about and to cheer me on. Thanks a bunch and especially for the pictures!
2:45pm – 4th and final race, another 400m. Despite it now being the end of our day and although I was starting to feel a bit tight in my back, we had an amazing race. We were really pushing hard and by the time we hit our last 100% push to the finish, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it – that’s how much we were putting into it. Luckily it’s all over in less than 3 minutes though and we all survived. For this race there were 3 other boats and we came in 2nd again. I was so pleased with how it all turned out. Considering we don’t have a full team yet, and had about 6 people (who have never trained with us) sitting in to fill the empty spots, I think we did incredibly well.
Some hours later I am feeling exhausted from the huge energy output but also rather proud of myself. I had a good time today and now that I know how a race works, I’m looking forward to the next competition at the end of July.
Saturday, June 30
Today was my first race day. All in all, I had a pretty fun time of it. Our team was there at 8am to make sandwiches for our food stand (to raise funds for the next competition). It was pretty cold and no coffee or even hot chocolate to keep our motivation up!
10am – first race 400m. I was anxious to see how it was going to play out. I had a fair idea that it would be a lot different than our weekly practice and boy, was I right. For example, during practice I find that I don’t really get wet at all. Not so on race day. We were all paddling so strong and moving so fast that each and every one of us basically got soaked from head to toe on one half of our body, depending which side of the boat we were seated on. Think we came in 3rd or 4th (of 4 teams).
11:40 – second race 200m. Obviously was much faster than the first and because it was so much shorter, we didn’t have the long stretch of just going at 85% of our force. It was pretty much a start, immediately up to 100%, then a short burst at 85% and then the final 50m at 100% again. This time I’m pretty sure we placed 3rd.
1pm – 3rd race, 100m. This was a rush. Our standard hard 5 strokes to get the boat out of the water and then 100% push for the finish. It was over in less than 30 seconds. Apparently we had a great start; really getting the boat out fast. Think there were only 3 boats in this race and we came 2nd. Not too shabby! Shortly before this race started, my friend Super C showed up to see what this whole thing was all about and to cheer me on. Thanks a bunch and especially for the pictures!
2:45pm – 4th and final race, another 400m. Despite it now being the end of our day and although I was starting to feel a bit tight in my back, we had an amazing race. We were really pushing hard and by the time we hit our last 100% push to the finish, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it – that’s how much we were putting into it. Luckily it’s all over in less than 3 minutes though and we all survived. For this race there were 3 other boats and we came in 2nd again. I was so pleased with how it all turned out. Considering we don’t have a full team yet, and had about 6 people (who have never trained with us) sitting in to fill the empty spots, I think we did incredibly well.
Some hours later I am feeling exhausted from the huge energy output but also rather proud of myself. I had a good time today and now that I know how a race works, I’m looking forward to the next competition at the end of July.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Meal Substitutions
Call me crazy but you’re fooling nobody saying you don’t like butter. Please, asking to substitute the vegetables on your plate with salad, dressing on the side and then using it all? Asking for your clam chowder not to have any potatoes in it? And if you think the chef used skim milk in that soup, you are seriously deluded. You’re watching your weight. I get it. Really, I do. And that's OK.
But don’t then go and order a crème brulée for dessert! Give me a break.
But don’t then go and order a crème brulée for dessert! Give me a break.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Summer Splash
Tomorrow is my first Dragon Boat competition.
If you're in the area, come and cheer us on at Summer Splash.
If you're in the area, come and cheer us on at Summer Splash.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
New Source of Protein?
Sunday morning I did 40k bike ride. It was a nice morning, not too hot, not too humid, not too windy. What I didn't realise was that at some points during the ride the bike path would be thick with bugs and flies and gross things that would get stuck in my hair, eyebrows, on my shirt, shorts, in my mouth, up my nose ...
This was one of those times that suddenly a stationary bike at home or in a gym really made sense.
Trying to spit out teeny weeny bugs from my mouth while at the same time trying not to breathe in any new sources of protein was quite a challenge. In the end it was a great ride and I felt virtuous enough after that do laze around for the rest of the day without feeling guilty.
This was one of those times that suddenly a stationary bike at home or in a gym really made sense.
Trying to spit out teeny weeny bugs from my mouth while at the same time trying not to breathe in any new sources of protein was quite a challenge. In the end it was a great ride and I felt virtuous enough after that do laze around for the rest of the day without feeling guilty.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Baby Shower Preparations
One of my closest friends, Super C, is expecting a baby in September. Because I'm nice and bossy, I offered to host a baby shower for her. No problem. I like to organise. I like to make lists.
What I wasn't counting on was the sheer stupidity of so many of these baby shower web sites. What I wasn't counting on was the total "mom"-ness of these sites. Have these people lost their minds in having children? Why is it all so cutesy and cuddly and cringe-worthy?
Things that I will not be doing in organising this shower: buy hula-hoops, crayons and construction paper, draw a hopscotch board on the driveway (they don't even mention why any sane person would do this for a baby shower!). Nor will I buy 15 flavours of baby food, peel off the labels and test everyone's taste buds. (First prize more baby food?! Are they mad!?!) Ask guest to bring pink or blue note cards with their favourite mom secrets? I'm sorry, I can't go on. It just gets worse.
Cecilia - be prepared. This will be a grown-up "shower" for grown-up women. Apart from the fact that you are having a baby, I refuse to insult your intelligence and my own any longer, and the theme will be "no stupid baby stuff". Actually, you know what? I think I will rename this shower to a "pre-baby party". We will eat grown-up portions. No "baby-sized" food as so helpfully recommended to keep the theme going. We will not be serving pink or blue food, unless it just so happens to happen that way. No pastel coloured candies either.
The only thing that I will succumb to is a non-alcoholic drink. How about ... ?
Virgin Strawberry Margaritas
Juice of 1/2 lime, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1/2 tsp sugar
One strawberry (for garnish)
Whipped cream (mandatory)
Add lime juice, 1/2 cup strawberries and sugar to blender. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with remaining strawberry, and top with a dollop of whipped cream.
Serves 1 (me!)
What I wasn't counting on was the sheer stupidity of so many of these baby shower web sites. What I wasn't counting on was the total "mom"-ness of these sites. Have these people lost their minds in having children? Why is it all so cutesy and cuddly and cringe-worthy?
Things that I will not be doing in organising this shower: buy hula-hoops, crayons and construction paper, draw a hopscotch board on the driveway (they don't even mention why any sane person would do this for a baby shower!). Nor will I buy 15 flavours of baby food, peel off the labels and test everyone's taste buds. (First prize more baby food?! Are they mad!?!) Ask guest to bring pink or blue note cards with their favourite mom secrets? I'm sorry, I can't go on. It just gets worse.
Cecilia - be prepared. This will be a grown-up "shower" for grown-up women. Apart from the fact that you are having a baby, I refuse to insult your intelligence and my own any longer, and the theme will be "no stupid baby stuff". Actually, you know what? I think I will rename this shower to a "pre-baby party". We will eat grown-up portions. No "baby-sized" food as so helpfully recommended to keep the theme going. We will not be serving pink or blue food, unless it just so happens to happen that way. No pastel coloured candies either.
The only thing that I will succumb to is a non-alcoholic drink. How about ... ?
Virgin Strawberry Margaritas
Juice of 1/2 lime, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1/2 tsp sugar
One strawberry (for garnish)
Whipped cream (mandatory)
Add lime juice, 1/2 cup strawberries and sugar to blender. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with remaining strawberry, and top with a dollop of whipped cream.
Serves 1 (me!)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wall Plugs
Would you look at that? I managed to drill some larger holes, get the wall plugs in, the curtain rod holders screwed in and the curtains back up - all by myself! And - get this, the curtains didn't fall down last night. So there.
Flight of the Conchords
There's this new show on The Movie Network called Flight of the Conchords.
Kinda reminds me of a young New Zealand version of Montreal's own Bowser & Blue. Also kinda reminded me of Best in Show and A Mighty Wind sorta style.
Pretty funny stuff.
Kinda reminds me of a young New Zealand version of Montreal's own Bowser & Blue. Also kinda reminded me of Best in Show and A Mighty Wind sorta style.
Pretty funny stuff.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Really Broken
Some months ago the old plastic wheels on my bed frame finally died of dehydration. They cracked, split and fell apart. I had never been too happy with these wheels, let me tell you. They wouldn't lock, stuck out too far - in short, they were a real pain in the wazoo.
So, being the independant and clever woman I am, I managed to pick up some new legs for the bed in a nice cherry wood. Great. Except that I couldn't get them to fit in the metal bed frame (too wobbly). Nor could I screw them into the under side of the bed (well, I could but not straight). In the end I broke down and called my mechanic brother to help me out. Where it took me about 20 minutes to use the wrench on one nut (or is it bolt?), Marc had it done in the blink of an eye - literally!
Anyway ... at that time we managed to get my bed put back together even if it was a little higher than I had expected. Still slightly wobbly but much, MUCH better than before.
Until last night. When I was standing (ok, so some of this is my fault I suppose) on the bottom left corner of my bed reaching over to fix the curtains and that's when the bed, the 3 curtains, curtain rod, 2 curtain rod holders, 4 screws and me all crashed to the floor. Not a terribly relaxing way to get into bed.
I had to get out my toolbox (yes, the nice shiny red one!), screwdriver, wrench and then pull my freshly made bed apart. Cursing all the way, as you can well imagine. Oh, and after leaving a rather curt message on Marc's voicemail.
As it turns out, that bottom left bed leg? The big long screw thing broke off. Now I have this leg that has a bit of a broken screw sticking out of it and no way to get the rest of the screw out of the bedframe! Nice, eh?! I ended up taking the frame apart, killing 2 spiders (1 with my bare hand because that's how mad I was) and having to put the bed on the floor for the night. I did manage to get the curtains back up before going to bed but they didn't stay up for long. At 1:00 a.m. I pushed my duvet to the end of my bed but didn't realise that the weight of the duvet pulling on my curtains would pull the whole frigging thing down again! Yes, that's right, the whole kit and kaboodle came crashing down on my feet.
Looks like tonight I'll have to put some wall plugs into those holes to secure the screws and also fix the curtain rod holders (because they're bent now). Yeesh.
Marc - you better have some idea how to fix my bed because now I'm pissed.
So, being the independant and clever woman I am, I managed to pick up some new legs for the bed in a nice cherry wood. Great. Except that I couldn't get them to fit in the metal bed frame (too wobbly). Nor could I screw them into the under side of the bed (well, I could but not straight). In the end I broke down and called my mechanic brother to help me out. Where it took me about 20 minutes to use the wrench on one nut (or is it bolt?), Marc had it done in the blink of an eye - literally!
Anyway ... at that time we managed to get my bed put back together even if it was a little higher than I had expected. Still slightly wobbly but much, MUCH better than before.
Until last night. When I was standing (ok, so some of this is my fault I suppose) on the bottom left corner of my bed reaching over to fix the curtains and that's when the bed, the 3 curtains, curtain rod, 2 curtain rod holders, 4 screws and me all crashed to the floor. Not a terribly relaxing way to get into bed.
I had to get out my toolbox (yes, the nice shiny red one!), screwdriver, wrench and then pull my freshly made bed apart. Cursing all the way, as you can well imagine. Oh, and after leaving a rather curt message on Marc's voicemail.
As it turns out, that bottom left bed leg? The big long screw thing broke off. Now I have this leg that has a bit of a broken screw sticking out of it and no way to get the rest of the screw out of the bedframe! Nice, eh?! I ended up taking the frame apart, killing 2 spiders (1 with my bare hand because that's how mad I was) and having to put the bed on the floor for the night. I did manage to get the curtains back up before going to bed but they didn't stay up for long. At 1:00 a.m. I pushed my duvet to the end of my bed but didn't realise that the weight of the duvet pulling on my curtains would pull the whole frigging thing down again! Yes, that's right, the whole kit and kaboodle came crashing down on my feet.
Looks like tonight I'll have to put some wall plugs into those holes to secure the screws and also fix the curtain rod holders (because they're bent now). Yeesh.
Marc - you better have some idea how to fix my bed because now I'm pissed.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Much better
Ahhh ... finally a Dragon Boat practice that ended without feeling like my back was going to jump off me in spasms.
We had a great practice last night practicing our starts and stops and going at full throttle. Mostly that part made me feel like barfing. Kinda like when you're biking up a hill and it takes every last bit of energy to get there and then you make it, you stop and you keel over and puke. But in a fun way, you know?!
We had a great practice last night practicing our starts and stops and going at full throttle. Mostly that part made me feel like barfing. Kinda like when you're biking up a hill and it takes every last bit of energy to get there and then you make it, you stop and you keel over and puke. But in a fun way, you know?!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Bubble Wrap
How will I resist the urge to jump on huge the roll of bubble wrap? It is altogether too inviting.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
F1
Had a fantastic day at the Grand Prix on Saturday. It was hot, sunny, crowded, noisy and I can honestly say I loved every minute. Here is a very small sample of the 187 pictures I took.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Happy 3rd Birthday Darcy! Happy 30th Birthday Marc!
Happy 30th Birthday to my baby brother ... guess this means I can't be 29 anymore. Hmph.
Had a great time celebrating Darcy's 3rd Birthday with her yesterday. Here are the rest of the pictures.
The best was Darcy waiting at the window for her uncles to show up ... for over an hour!
No - the best was her expression when we brought out the birthday cake!
No - the best was when she suddenly said "Thank you everybody for a nice cake."
No - the best was ... as you can tell, it was a day full of "best" moments.
Had a great time celebrating Darcy's 3rd Birthday with her yesterday. Here are the rest of the pictures.
The best was Darcy waiting at the window for her uncles to show up ... for over an hour!
No - the best was her expression when we brought out the birthday cake!
No - the best was when she suddenly said "Thank you everybody for a nice cake."
No - the best was ... as you can tell, it was a day full of "best" moments.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Anniversary/Birthday Party Menu
Bruti ma buoni cookies
Lemon cookies (from this book)
Chocolate chip cookies
Date-nut bread
Apricot spice bars (from this cookbook)
Butter pecan tarts (from Grandma's old cookbook, can't find a link)
Fruit smoothie cheesecake
Cheddar cheese coins (oh no, that's right, I ate those already!)
Orange & Mandarine cake (adapted from this recipe)
Fruit plate
Cheese & crackers
Oh, and if you're interested, here are some picture from the party. Somehow I missed a few (about half the people actually) guests - including the guests of honour! But hopefully we'll be able to take a few more pictures later this week.
Better not forget - here are a few pictures from our trip to the park with Darcy on Saturday.
Lemon cookies (from this book)
Chocolate chip cookies
Date-nut bread
Apricot spice bars (from this cookbook)
Butter pecan tarts (from Grandma's old cookbook, can't find a link)
Fruit smoothie cheesecake
Cheddar cheese coins (oh no, that's right, I ate those already!)
Orange & Mandarine cake (adapted from this recipe)
Fruit plate
Cheese & crackers
Oh, and if you're interested, here are some picture from the party. Somehow I missed a few (about half the people actually) guests - including the guests of honour! But hopefully we'll be able to take a few more pictures later this week.
Better not forget - here are a few pictures from our trip to the park with Darcy on Saturday.
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