Yesterday we had our first dragon boat competition of the season. After all the training all winter long, we'd finally arrived at the moment where we'd see the results of our effort.
We competed in the sport mixed category, against 8 other teams (other categories were men, women and community mixed). One sport team pulled out sometime between Friday night and Saturday because we were only 8 sport teams in the end. This meant there would be two sport divisions, A and B. Of course we wanted to place in division A and we did!
It was a rough start to the day. We had to be at the site by 8:30am. It was cold, raining and windy. I was frozen and wet before our first race. Our first race was 1000m. We were in the second heat (not against any of our real competition) and we won! Off to a good start. Funnily enough, by the time we were getting out of the boat after that first race, it stopped raining and the sun came out. A few hours later we had our 500m race. Again in the second heat (this time against THE best in Montreal.) We lost by 0.08 seconds. So we placed second but were thrilled that we'd done so well. Our competition was rather surprised to see us so hard on their tails. Apparently they had quite the debriefing after that race. Our combined times from the first two races gave us our position for the third race, a 250m. We had placed in division A. Still don't know how we finished in this final race, but either third or fourth. It was a bad race. We had a bad lane (yes, there are bad lanes), we had to contend with the wind (lanes 1 and 2 are protected from the wind by the grand stands) and we also don't train for sprints. Anyway - as bad as felt, we knew that we'd either place third or fourth in the final results so there was still a chance for a medal at the end of the day.
About half an hour later, after a change of clothes and lots of chocolate milk, we found out. We listened to the placings and winners of all the other categories before ours. Even though we didn't have any more races ahead of us, I was still nervous. Finally they got to calling the fourth place winners - it wasn't us! Some of us were surprised (me). They called the third place winners - it wasn't us! Now all of us were surprised because that meant ... we'd placed second! And a moment later it was confirmed - we had indeed come in second place. I was so surprised! Really shocked! Never, ever expected us to do so well against those teams. The team that came in third was not happy with us - at all.
In the end, we were 4 seconds off the first team, and still 2 seconds ahead of the third team. Quite a big gap.
To celebrate our (unexpected) victory, we went out for great Chinese food in China Town. A long day (left at 7:30am, got home at 7pm), but an eventful, surprising and GREAT one!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
26 Days Left
Today I remembered to buy more packing tape. What a relief. Tomorrow night I can tape a bunch of stuff together. Like bookshelves, skis, boxes and stuff.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Last month
Down to the last month until I move. 67 boxes packed. Think there are 12 empty ones left from my stash. Hoping that'll be enough. Panic not so bad these last few days.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Five weeks
I've looked quickly on the calendar and it seems I'm moving in five weeks. This freaks me out. Especially when I start to think that next Saturday is really my last "free" Saturday (even though half of that day will be spent at practice).
There will be a few evenings I can use to pack but I know I won't get too much accomplished then. I'm usually too tired to do much more than sit and read.
So what I suppose I'm trying to say is ... time to get off my ass and get cracking!
There will be a few evenings I can use to pack but I know I won't get too much accomplished then. I'm usually too tired to do much more than sit and read.
So what I suppose I'm trying to say is ... time to get off my ass and get cracking!
Saturday, May 09, 2009
The things you find
Going through my textbooks last night, I found Word Perfect 5.0. The first computer course I ever took. Think that was from about 1990. Have put it in the recycling pile and agree that I probably should've thrown that classic away before I moved into this place, before I moved to the old apartment in NDG, before I moved to the Bahamas, before I moved to Mexico before I moved to England/Ireland.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Me and my OCD
Being a touch on the OCD side of organized, I've started a spreadsheet for my move. You know, numbering the boxes, indicating the room they belong in and briefly listing the contents. This way I'll be able to track which boxes get on/off the truck. But then last night I had a stroke of genius! Genius, I tell you!
I decided to get some coloured stickers. What I'll do is put a coloured sticker on the box and then a post-it with the same coloured sticker on that, stuck on each door/area where the boxes belong. So everything will be colour coded, identified and numbered. You're thrilled, aren't you? I can tell!
I decided to get some coloured stickers. What I'll do is put a coloured sticker on the box and then a post-it with the same coloured sticker on that, stuck on each door/area where the boxes belong. So everything will be colour coded, identified and numbered. You're thrilled, aren't you? I can tell!
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Stuff
Where exactly did all this stuff come from? Did I have it when I moved in? Seriously going to have to get rid of a whole lot of stuff.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Appliances for sale
Still haven't heard if the people buying my place want the appliance so am going to start advertising their sale.
Amana fridge ($300), white, bottom mount freezer, with ice maker
Frigidaire range ($200), white, ceramic cook top
Frigidaire washer ($200) and dryer ($100), white, front load, stackable
Can be sold together or separately.
Pictures provided on request.
In the meantime, I've started buying new appliances for my new condo. Bought a fridge today and am going to sort out a bed, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer tomorrow. All this money flying about worries me not a little.
Amana fridge ($300), white, bottom mount freezer, with ice maker
Frigidaire range ($200), white, ceramic cook top
Frigidaire washer ($200) and dryer ($100), white, front load, stackable
Can be sold together or separately.
Pictures provided on request.
In the meantime, I've started buying new appliances for my new condo. Bought a fridge today and am going to sort out a bed, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer tomorrow. All this money flying about worries me not a little.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Lists
With all the lists I write, I could write a book. Has anybody already done that? Mine would be called "My Book of Lists". Original, no?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
All mine!
Got the final bank approval yesterday (minutes before presenting a French webcast to two offices).
Just in time too. Apparently the other people whose offer expired because they couldn't get the financing, suddenly reappeared with their pre-approval, a completed home inspection and were threatening to pull rank or something (you know, some legal jargon term) on my offer by saying that they would have the final approval from the bank any day now. Don't know what would've happened in that case but luckily I don't have to worry about it.
Precisely two months from yesterday I'll be signing for my new home. Yeah me!!!
Just in time too. Apparently the other people whose offer expired because they couldn't get the financing, suddenly reappeared with their pre-approval, a completed home inspection and were threatening to pull rank or something (you know, some legal jargon term) on my offer by saying that they would have the final approval from the bank any day now. Don't know what would've happened in that case but luckily I don't have to worry about it.
Precisely two months from yesterday I'll be signing for my new home. Yeah me!!!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
One more step done!
My financing came through this afternoon so my agent was able to stop by tonight and have me remove all the conditions of my offer!
Yeah for me!
Yeah for me!
Home inspection
Had the home inspection yesterday. Talk about moving things along quickly. It went well and the inspector only had a couple of negative comments. On the whole she was very impressed and was happy to see that the condo has great windows (keep the cold and the noise out!) and no sign of moisture in the walls.
The paper work with the bank is on it's way and should all be finalized by next Monday or Tuesday due to the Easter holiday.
My heart isn't racing quite so fast now and I don't feel nearly as stressed out but I can't really say that I'm stress-free. Soon though.
The paper work with the bank is on it's way and should all be finalized by next Monday or Tuesday due to the Easter holiday.
My heart isn't racing quite so fast now and I don't feel nearly as stressed out but I can't really say that I'm stress-free. Soon though.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
It's mine!
They accepted my offer! Building inspection tomorrow afternoon and then it's just to get the financing finalized. PHEW!!!
Offer is in
Put in an offer for the condo yesterday afternoon. Ever since then I've been having shortness of breath, a racing heart and my neck has been tensing up so bad that my shoulders have found a new home around my ears. My good old friend insomnia is back in town so I'm up at 2:30am writing on my blog.
Calling this stressful right now would be an understatement. It's so far above stressful for me, I don't even know what to call it. Logically I know that everything will probably end up fine. There's no reason my financing shouldn't go through but I'm still freaked out about suddenly having a nearly $200K debt over my head. I was probably like this when I bought my current condo 5 years ago but apparently my little brain has forgotten what that was like.
It will be so worth it though. I must keep telling myself this. Meanwhile I need to find new ways to relax and I can't find my meditation CD. Better check what's on the Weather Network then ;)
Calling this stressful right now would be an understatement. It's so far above stressful for me, I don't even know what to call it. Logically I know that everything will probably end up fine. There's no reason my financing shouldn't go through but I'm still freaked out about suddenly having a nearly $200K debt over my head. I was probably like this when I bought my current condo 5 years ago but apparently my little brain has forgotten what that was like.
It will be so worth it though. I must keep telling myself this. Meanwhile I need to find new ways to relax and I can't find my meditation CD. Better check what's on the Weather Network then ;)
Friday, April 03, 2009
Found it!
Visited a condo last night that I immediately fell in love with. I swear, I walked in and could see my furniture there already.
Pros:
Wood floors
FABULOUS kitchen (!)
2 balconies (!)
Above ground level
2 bedrooms
Walk-in closet (!!)
Separate shower (!)
Gas fireplace (!)
Gas line out to BBQ on balcony (which I'm told is a feature, but it's not like I'm grilling up huge whacks of meat every night)
Storage room in the unit
Proper dining room space for my dining room set
Low condo fees
Close to the bike path
Walking distance to metro, groceries, fruit/veg shop, SAQ
Close to the bus
Bigger than what I have now, but not so big that I would be paying for wasted space
Building is 4 years old, only 1 owner before me
Cons:
At the very top of my budget
Bigger of the two balconies faces north, onto the parking lot and other balconies
Doesn't really have a view
Would have to take the metro to work
Might take 10 minutes longer to get to work (by metro)
Probably 15 minutes longer to get to work on my bike
No parking spot (but I don't have a car anyway, this is just for resale purposes, 10 years down the road)
I'm nit-picking, I know. But I've been up since 4am thinking about this and trying to find all the bad things that could throw things out of balance for me. After work tonight I'm going to take the metro there (see how long it takes) and walk around the neighbourhood to see how long it would really take to do things. But as you can probably tell, I'm pretty much sold on the place!
Pros:
Wood floors
FABULOUS kitchen (!)
2 balconies (!)
Above ground level
2 bedrooms
Walk-in closet (!!)
Separate shower (!)
Gas fireplace (!)
Gas line out to BBQ on balcony (which I'm told is a feature, but it's not like I'm grilling up huge whacks of meat every night)
Storage room in the unit
Proper dining room space for my dining room set
Low condo fees
Close to the bike path
Walking distance to metro, groceries, fruit/veg shop, SAQ
Close to the bus
Bigger than what I have now, but not so big that I would be paying for wasted space
Building is 4 years old, only 1 owner before me
Cons:
At the very top of my budget
Bigger of the two balconies faces north, onto the parking lot and other balconies
Doesn't really have a view
Would have to take the metro to work
Might take 10 minutes longer to get to work (by metro)
Probably 15 minutes longer to get to work on my bike
No parking spot (but I don't have a car anyway, this is just for resale purposes, 10 years down the road)
I'm nit-picking, I know. But I've been up since 4am thinking about this and trying to find all the bad things that could throw things out of balance for me. After work tonight I'm going to take the metro there (see how long it takes) and walk around the neighbourhood to see how long it would really take to do things. But as you can probably tell, I'm pretty much sold on the place!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Fitness Test
After our last fitness test in January, I gave myself some goals to reach before the next test. More than my usual, just get to practice and see how much I improve. This time I really did push myself, sometimes a little bit too much.
Bench press max weight: goal - break 100lbs (stuck at 95lbs since last August); realised: 105! I might have been able to do 110lbs if one of my spotters wasn't a such a complete idiot - I had to try it 3 times because of her and finally stopped because I could see I was tiring out. Argh.
Bench press reps: goal 70 reps; realised: 74!
Bench row reps: goal 80 reps; realised: 88!
Back extension: goal 6:30; realised: 3:40 (got a cramp in my left leg from my calf all the way up the back of my thigh, v. disappointed)
Sprinter run reps: goal 200; realised: 229!
Sit ups: goal 70; realised: 73!
Push ups: goal 20; realised: 20!
Chin ups: goal 1; realised: 0 (despite all my visualizing, positive thinking and really "seeing" my goal - argh!)
Anywhere where we have to do our maximum reps, we have 90 seconds to go full out.
So proud of myself. Granted, I still can't do a single chin up but I will.
Bench press max weight: goal - break 100lbs (stuck at 95lbs since last August); realised: 105! I might have been able to do 110lbs if one of my spotters wasn't a such a complete idiot - I had to try it 3 times because of her and finally stopped because I could see I was tiring out. Argh.
Bench press reps: goal 70 reps; realised: 74!
Bench row reps: goal 80 reps; realised: 88!
Back extension: goal 6:30; realised: 3:40 (got a cramp in my left leg from my calf all the way up the back of my thigh, v. disappointed)
Sprinter run reps: goal 200; realised: 229!
Sit ups: goal 70; realised: 73!
Push ups: goal 20; realised: 20!
Chin ups: goal 1; realised: 0 (despite all my visualizing, positive thinking and really "seeing" my goal - argh!)
Anywhere where we have to do our maximum reps, we have 90 seconds to go full out.
So proud of myself. Granted, I still can't do a single chin up but I will.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Visits
Visited another condo this afternoon and have one to visit tomorrow. I gotta say, I really did not expect to be looking at so many places. So far nothing has really impressed me.
And really, the only fun part about visiting all these places is that mostly I can be all judgmental in my head and nobody will think I'm a bad person. Also - I must be some kind of neat freak because some of these places are so filthy and crammed with stuff and ugh, I want to bring extra socks in my purse so I can change after walking on their nasty dog/cat hair balled floors (today). Does this make me a bad person? Maybe. Maybe not. But really, people at least make your damn bed (last week)!
And really, the only fun part about visiting all these places is that mostly I can be all judgmental in my head and nobody will think I'm a bad person. Also - I must be some kind of neat freak because some of these places are so filthy and crammed with stuff and ugh, I want to bring extra socks in my purse so I can change after walking on their nasty dog/cat hair balled floors (today). Does this make me a bad person? Maybe. Maybe not. But really, people at least make your damn bed (last week)!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Who wants chocolate?!
Montreal Mix is selling chocolate again to raise funds for various competitions this summer. I have lovely Belgian (though of course, not nearly as good as Swiss ;) chocolate - caramel filled, coffee flavour and dark, as well as dark chocolate squares with caramel filling. I'll tell you now - it's ALL good!
Please buy some so I don't eat it all. Heh.
Please buy some so I don't eat it all. Heh.
Friday, March 20, 2009
More visits
Stopped by two more condos last night. Both were good sizes but the oddest layouts! In one, the bedrooms were larger than the living room and in the other, all the rooms were these small squares exactly the same size. Very weird.
Have another place lined up to visit early next week and am also going to expand my search area into Côte St-Paul/Ville Émard area to see if I can get more for my money there. The one thing I have noticed so far is that the further west you go, the higher the municipal taxes are - ouch.
Have another place lined up to visit early next week and am also going to expand my search area into Côte St-Paul/Ville Émard area to see if I can get more for my money there. The one thing I have noticed so far is that the further west you go, the higher the municipal taxes are - ouch.
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