This was the best London weekend ever! My sisters Karin and Claire were here this weekend with adorable Erik along as well, and we had such a great time together; how amazing it would be to all live in the same city (or town or province or locale)?! They've set up shop in Denver, so it's a bit of a major trip, and we're so glad they made the trek up here to see us, our new place, and get the cousins together. Erik wasn't keen on leaving this afternoon and we weren't either - but hopefully we can plan a visit to Colorado in the near future. This means that we need to start making plans! There are just so many places to visit; we would love to be out west on Thetis and visit family in Calgary and check out all things dinosaur in Alberta - le planning phase must begin (and our summers will be booked for the next 5 years).
Alana and Erik were two peas in a pod - we are all wishing they lived around the corner!
sibs!
cousins :)
Unfortunately it rained all weekend, and the horrible weather kept our options somewhat limited. That being said, we did get in good afternoon at Gibbons Park on Friday - and then it was mostly indoor time at the YMCA and our place, but a trip to the Goodwill bookstore (where we scored some stellar finds) and Winners (we were desperate for new glasses) and Farm Boy (ingredients for tortilla soup and quesadillas, prepped by Karin and Claire) and Bulk Barn (candy!) had us out and about.
We are now attempting to be organized and make some plans for the next few weeks here in London before we take a mini-trip to Bowmanville and beyond. The sunny-day-list includes: mini-golfing, visiting Storybook Gardens, going for bike rides, visiting new parks, visiting a farm or stable, going berry picking, flying Hendrik's new super duper turbo airplane launcher, and playing baseball. The indoor activity list is: visit the children's museum, go to the YMCA, go to the library... and that's about all we came up with.
I have three books upstairs and another on hold at the library, so I'd better get reading. Oh! And I have a paper to finish. Hopefully I can get to that this week and hand it in - but in all likelihood, it won't be the end of it, as I could keep working on my project (and my website) and possibly take it to another conference. For now - I'll see if I can get to the zillion other things on my list...
they like each other! today on a walk in Fanshawe Park Conservation Area
Today, I love my kids the most when they are sleeping - which is right now. There were more than a few meltdowns today, so I am ready for some no-kid time; five hours of sleep (my fault - I went out last night) and kids up and ready to go go go (go go go go) at 7:00 am and the aforementioned meltdowns mean that I am one tired/drained maman. What's been going on this week? Bullets:
I turned 37! Crazy. I have said this more than a few times in the last two weeks, but I still feel like a 16 year old volleyball player at heart. Maybe 18 - but not 37! I had an awesome day full of good food, my amazing family and some friends.
I went out last night - and I was kind of shocked to see so many people my age and older at the bar; drinking, dancing, crowds, late nights and early mornings - how do people do it? Getting together with my friends was amazing, but the early morning and long day was less so - this isn't something I think I could do on a regular basis.
We set up the trampoline! The kids LOVE IT - and Steve and I have become referees. We laid down the law pretty clearly on day one (yesterday), and so far so good. We had a similar sized tramp when I was little (it might be six feet in diameter - Canadian Tire special), and then graduated to the standard big big size. As kids we were out there all the time, and I have two questions: how did people have trampolines without the safety netting - how was this allowed?! Secondly, do parents get trampolines for their children so they will sleep at night? We are going on two record early bedtimes here, and it might just have something to do with all of the jumping...
My best friend's sister and good friend Alexis came down from Toronto to visit for a few days last week and it was so so good to have her here. We ate lots (and lots) of good food (on my birthday we had baklava and cupcakes and fancy cakes - there was NO shortage of sugar!). Alexis visited us when we lived in Tenerife and we reminded each other of leche leches, a delicious coffee drink with sweetened condensed milk, espresso and regular milk - so we had that too. YUM! Yay for good friends and good food.
making bougatsa
I've been thinking about finding a dress for upcoming summer weddings, and lo and behold I found one... IN MY CLOSET. I bought it at The Bay a few years ago for $30 - it was ridiculously marked down - and have maybe worn it once. Hurray! New-ish dress, no shopping required.
On the horizon:
My sisters come on Thursday for a few days and I can't wait to see them! I also can't wait to show them our neighbourhood, have the kids meet each other again, and to do some fun summer activities (of which there are no shortage here - love it!).
This is the last week of school for Hendrik, so we have a small to-do list to get ready for goodbyes. We also have to start some planning for the next few weeks - day trips, camping (maybe), berry picking, festivals; like I said, we have options!
I am getting back to business with my schoolwork tomorrow, and hope to be close to finishing my course by the time my sisters get here. (If not, I need to need to need to get back to evening work time.) In any case, I need to work away and get it done - and then I can hand the summer over to family and coaching!
Cleaning. Tidying. Purging toys. Sewing! Reading. Working out. Signing up for a race. Sleeping.
I have just spent the last four days totally immersed in the topic of women and sport in Canada, and it's been amazing. Mostly. There are some serious humdrum doldrum statistics on girls and physical activity, women in coaching, women in positions of leadership and decision-making and more, but this conference (The 2015 Conversation on Women in Sport) was so innovative - at least to me! - in it's structure and format that every delegate left with at least one thing that he or she has promised to take action on.
Day one (or night one I suppose) began with a big welcome and speeches from Hayley Wickenheiser, and Chantal Petticlerc, both of which were riveting and inspirational. Day two was presentation day, and after a brief meeting with our group we were ready to go; my 8 minute portion of the presentation on Girls' participation in sport went well, though I'd make a few changes now with that 20/20 hindsight thing that I have going on. I moved over to the women in coaching stream in the afternoon, and that's where I stayed for the remainder of the conference. Thursday saw some brainstorming and problem solving, and on Friday delegates made commitments to make change happen! Hurray. My two resolutions are to 1) join a board and 2) write a plan to get more elite athletes into coaching.
I met some fabulous people from all over the country and was lucky enough to collaborate with some real experts in the field - and I'm teaming up with women from other sports (rowing, beach volleyball) to get some mini projects off the ground (I hope). We were reminded a few times by Marion Lay of Margaret Mead's words: "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Yes!
And now I'm on my way home - mega yes! I'm so excited to see the kids, and I have to say that train travel is really quite lovely. It's been a planes, trains and automobiles kind of journey from Quebec City to Toronto to London. As we (airplane passengers) were shuttled off on a Porter bus from the airport to the city centre, streams of naked riders rolled on by, prompting laughter and photos aplenty; apparently the World Naked Bike Ride ("put the fun between your legs" and "more ass less gas" are among the slogans of choice - !!!) is an annual thing, and there just might be an event in your city... you'll just have to (or not!) wait another year to partake.
On a completely different note, there was a Canadian Sport Film festival last weekend in Toronto that had some interesting films - one of which is about a master's basketball tourney held annually somewhere south of the border. Wouldn't it be fun to play forever? I hope I can and I hope I do.
To cap things off here I just want to say a big thanks to Steve for supporting me in going to this amazing conference, and to my mom and dad for giving me the ideas - of equity for girls in sport, of the equal abilities and the need for equal opportunities for girls in anything and everything they may choose to do - by living them.
So, this past Friday was National Donut Day (read about it - it's interesting!), and I didn't even eat a donut. Not one! Okay, so Canada may not have the official donut day permanently etched into it's list of national holidays, but in my world this is one special event not to be missed. Any way I can make up for it? I think so - but I haven't heard of a genuine, real-deal donut shop here in Forest City, so I might just have to open up my donut cookbook and make some of my own. It's been a while since I've had a good donut - think there are any winners in Quebec City? I am on my way there on Tuesday to attend the 2015 Conversation on Women in Sport conference, and though I'll miss the kids (and Steve)it should be a good trip. Hopefully I'll manage to get some schoolwork done while I'm there, and if I could fit in a bit of shopping, find a donut shop, get a few workouts in and meet some new people, I will be happy!
Alana Professor Inkling
We've had a great weekend so far with Steve's mom and dad here visiting - the kids love having them here. And of course we do too - good company, help with the kids, sharing great meals... it's all good! We had a few friends over last night for fajitas and volleyball (watching); World League was on, and everyone had fun eating dinner in front of the TV. I fit in a bike ride with a friend this morning (it was aaaawesome), got together with some library friends last night (also awesome) and feel like going to be in the next hour (it's 7:59). I know - with how well I stick to the "going to bed early" resolve - that it won't happen, but at least there's nothing planned for tonight. With Marg here, I might pull out my new sewing machine (early birthday present) - to get a pro's take on things.
today, picking maple keys out of the gutter
I was going to list all of the tabs I have open, but there are way too many, and the couch calls. Hope everyone is enjoying June!
Steve and former teammate Chris Wolfenden - reunited in Strathroy. It was great seeing him - we miss our friends from volleyball, who are now all over the place...
