I Seeked and Peaked!

Yesterday I took part in a breast cancer fundraiser called Seek the Peak! It's a 16km race from Ambleside Beach (oceanside) up the mountain side to the very Peak of Grouse Mountain. Most people do the race individually and most people run the race. I on the other hand chose to do the race as a relay (4-person team and each does one leg of the race) and no, we didn't run. We walked. Our team was called "3 Girls & A Guy". Me, Jen, Christie and Mike. Mike's the guy just in case you weren't sure. haha. Mike (a guy I work with) was also our ringer, as one leg of the race is a gruelling almost vertical 3km mountainside stair after stair hike. Not fun in my books but Mike does 'The Grind" all the time, so he was our Grinder. Us 3 girls....we were the 'elite' walkers. No, we didn't win any podium prizes but we had a great time. Turns out us 3 girls decided to do 3 of the 4 legs of the race, minus The Grind portion, and we had a great time! We walked 13kms in total and rode the skyride for the 3kms of the grind portion and all 4 of us completed the race together after doing the final leg all together. It was so fun! Next year we hope to do the entire 16kms, yes, including the Grind portion, so we'll have to get training asap! It felt really good to be outdoors, getting some fresh air, exercise, having good conversation with friends, seeing some grizzly bears along the way (yes they were in a fenced habitat -see photo below) and, most importantly, knowing we were doing a good thing: raising money for the fight against breast cancer! I thought of my sister a lot during the event and it made every step easier and easier. I'm happy to say I seeked and successfully peaked!

Thank you to everyone who supported me with this adventure both emotionally and also with your donation to Rethink Breast Cancer. If you'd like to make a donation or find out more about this charity click here.

I love my dog!

I love my dog! I don't know what I'd do without him. He's my boy Ted. And oddly enough I still love him even when he forces me to clean up things no person should ever have to do. Yeah, last night was interesting but I still love him today. Ok, how do I go about this in a decent way. Ummm, I don't think I can so here's the scoop...on the poop!

So last night my brother stayed over on my couch and in the middle of the night my hubby could smell this awful stink coming from the living room. We both get up and tip toe in the dark and realize it's a really awful smell and there was no doubt, that was a doggie poo smell. Ugh! Now our boy Ted is trained to go outside but in this case he obviously couldn't hold it. Why? Well, it wasn't a regular poo. This was the diarrhea sort. Yeah, gross!! He must have been embarrassed about it because he let loose at the far end of the room, right behind the couch where my brother was sleeping and here's Mike and I tippy toeing around in the dark with flashlights trying to find it but not wake my brother. Oh and boy did we find it....all over the floor in a big puddle. GROSS!

A few weeks back Teddy was sick from the other end of the doggie body and Mike spent an hour in the middle of the night cleaning that mess, so, sadly it was my turn. Luckily we'd replenished the paper towel from that last yucky situation and ended up using an entire roll of paper towel to clean up this mess. And the whole time Mike is whispering "Oh!" "Aw!" "Ew!" "Gross!" and I'm like "Shut up! Hearing you grunt and groan doesn't make the clean up process for me any easier!" Yeah, talk about disgusting. Ok, I won't go into detail as I'm sure you can imagine. But, through all the noise and the flashlights and the odd carpet cleaning mechanism's buzzing sound, my brother didn't wake up. Probably a good thing. But the weirdest part is that he didn't wake up from the smell, which was truly disgusting! I was dry-heaving the whole time. Luckily I have a box of Lush bath bombs and anyone who knows that smell, knows it's strong, and so now, that box is sitting near 'the spot' to try to mask the smell. Fortunately the carpet cleaner removed the stain but the smell is still lingering. So now my house smells like a rancid bath bomb. I love my dog. Aren't you glad you read my blog today? Isn't life interesting sometimes!?

And hey, if you have a dog I'm sure you've been there. If you have any home remedies for getting rid of that stench I'd love to hear them!!

Procrastinator Extraordinaire

I am a procrastinator extraordinaire! Hence the lack of blog posts in the past month and a half. Oops. Life got in the way. Didn't really feel like it. Wasn't sure what to talk about. Oh and I blame my hubby for the procrastinator'ness. He's the king of procrastination and he knows it. But anyways, I'm here now, thanks to my friend Gregg (he's a blogger too) for kicking my behind and getting my butt onto the couch to do this. Wouldn't one normally want to kick their pal's butt OFF the couch? But it's for a good cause. Ok so I'm rambling....procrastinating again perhaps? haha. Ok what to write about.

I asked my brother and he said write about how you're hanging with your brother. Well, it's true. I'm hanging with my brother. He's visiting from Victoria cause our sister is starting her second bout of chemo tomorrow on his birthday so we thought it would be a good time to all get together in the cancer ward for a celebration. Odd, I know. But, it's in times like these that you want your family to be together, so cancer or no cancer we're going to have a birthday party at the hospital. We might even give him the royal bumps! Now that would put a smile on the patients I'm sure.

Neither my brother nor I have attended one of our sister's chemo appointments as of yet. She had 2 months worth earlier this year so we didn't think we'd ever have to attend once that round was over, but unfortunately the chemo didn't work so the doctors are on to plan B. Kinda scary when you have to go to plan B when fighting cancer. So now, attending the chemo appointment with her seems all that much more important. I have to admit, selfishly, I'm not looking forward to it. But such is life. For her though, I will put a smile on my face and do my best to be strong and there for her. Meanwhile, I'm hanging with my brother and discussing life. A life we hope to share with our sister for many years to come.

Fire & Snow - a good mix?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a full supporter of the Olympic Games and as a child once dreamed of being an Olympic athlete. I was a competitive figure skater and so the drive of competition and sportsmanship and pride in one's country drives me to watch the Olympics on TV every 4 years. I love it and can't wait to attend the Winter Olympics in my hometown of Vancouver when they're here in 2010.

However, sometimes I think some things to do with the Olympics should be reconsidered. For example, the women ski jumpers who are still not allowed to compete. In this day and age? Come on! If the sport allows men to compete then the women should be competing too. That's a no brainer. But then there's also the issue of the cost of the games. I know the two week event itself is a huge cost but I support that. I think the Games is a great way to bring the world together in a positive way but I do think the money spent on some aspects of the Olympics could be better spent elsewhere.

I saw on the news today that the Olympic flame en route to Beijing made it all the way up to the top of Mount Everest. What? Why does this fire need to be mixed with snow? Climbing Mount Everest (albeit very cool!) involves a lot of cost and I really don't think a random flame needs to make this trek....especially when the money used to pay for that expedition could be used towards much needed social services in the host City of the games. I know there's the traditionalist view that the flame travels from Greece around the world to the host city, and I support that tradition, but wouldn't a direct flight from Greece to Beijing suffice? And it would be cheaper! Just think of how expensive it is for that flame and all of it's caretakers and PR people etc to travel the world from city to city and protest to protest. I would never attend one of those protests but I do think the money spent on this could be better spent. Here's my suggestion: I think that every time a City is awarded an upcoming Olympics, that the 'flame' budget should go to the Host City for social services or some sort of betterment of the Host City leading up to the games. That way, the flame travels to the City and creates a legacy for years to come. The flame could live beyond the two week event and be shared with people from around the world! Now that's a good mix of Fire and Snow!

I was like a kid meeting a mascot!

I don't recall meeting that many mascots in my life, or maybe I just wasn't all that interested but last week I had the opportunity to meet Quatchi, Sumi and Miga - the mascots for the 2010 Olympics and wow, was I like a kid in a candy store! I was so thrilled to have my camera on hand and I snapped photos of me with each of them. It was really fun! Not sure why, but seeing the cute mascots just brought out the wee kid in me and I wanted to play...it was kinda like I turned 6 years old all of a sudden. Now clowns on the other hand have the complete opposite effect. I don't like clowns. They're scary....they always were as a kid and even more so now as an adult. But the Olympic Mascots....they're the best and made me so happy!

An Extra Ray of Sunshine at the Sun Run

It was the coldest Sun Run on record and the largest but also a beautiful sunny day! Yesterday over 59,000 people ran and walked the 10km Vancouver Sun Run and I was one of them. I've run it a few times before and walked it a handful of times as well and it's always a great time. So many people and such great energy with such a huge crowd.

Yesterday's event was particularly touching though as one participant was wheeled past me about half way through. I didn't think I'd end up being teary eyed at all while participating in this 10km event, but I got teary eyed. You might remember a few years ago in the news there was a young Korean girl who was living in Vancouver and learning english as a second language. Her name was Ji-Won Park. Back in 2002 she was jogging around Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park and her life completely changed when she was attacked, strangled and beaten and left for dead. She survived but suffers from brain damage, she can't speak and she's confined to a wheelchair. At the Sun Run, the Sun really was shining, a ray of hope, and many rays of inspiration as friends of Ji-Won Park were pushing her wheelchair through the 10 kilometer route all wearing huge smiles on their faces and helping her to experience something she likely would have run herself if she hadn't been attacked 6 years ago. It really was an amazing moment to see her fly past me beaming a ray of light from ear to ear and outward to everyone whom she passed. What a wonderful and teary eyed moment. Awesome.

Blog Block!

When I first started this blog I thought I'd easily have topics to write about every day but I was wrong. You might have noticed that I haven't blogged over this past week....it's not that I've been really busy or anything grand like that. I think I actually have had Blog Block. You know, like writer's block, well I've got blog block. Maybe it's the weather....when will it get sunny and warm? Seriously! When? And what's with the weather these days. Last Saturday it was sunny and 21 - which was a dramatic change from the 10 degree cloudy/rainy weather the week and months before....and now, one week later we're expecting snow flurries this Saturday. What is up with the world??!! This weekend is the Sun Run and in year's past it's been a spring-like day and this weekend we're expecting snow? I'm participating albeit a Sun Walk, but who wants to walk or run in the snow? Craziness!! Ha, kinda funny that when one has nothing to talk about we resort to talking about the weather....and here, I had nothing to write about yet it turns into writing about the weather. I imagine it'll happen again. Oh and I suppose we could blame the snow on my hubby as a month or so ago he commented "I guess winter is over" and it snowed again. Then last Saturday in the gorgeous 21 degree sunshine he said "Well I guess winter really is over now" and alas it's supposed to snow!!