Active and fun weekend

This past weekend was one of fun, friends, activities and fresh air! On Friday we met up with Denise and Dimitri to catch a glimpse of the opening of Winterlude. D&D are a Dutch couple that moved to Toronto last year, and we'd met them before in Ottawa a couple of years ago. We decided not to go to the Quebec side to actually participate in the opening activities, but we were able to watch the fireworks from Parliament Hill. And admittedly so, we were are very impressed with the quality and the duration of the fireworks.  It seems like they wanted to make up for not having any for New Year's eve... After the fireworks we went for a stroll through Confederation Park, where the ice carvers were in full swing creating the most beautiful ice sculptures. We'll have to go back soon to admire the results. There were some smaller sculptures ready, and they were truly impressive! Dimitri took several pictures, maybe I can see if I can post some of his pictures.
The next morning we all slept in (so deserved!), and D&D were impressed with how quiet our neighbourhood is. Nice to hear! After some blueberry pancakes (homemade!), we headed to the canal to go skating. The ice was absolutely amazing and the weather could not have been better with temperatures around freezing and lots of sunshine. A real pleasure! By the time we left around 3pm, the canal was over-crowded with people, but it was really nice to see so many people out there enjoying the ice.
Afterwards we went for a bowl of soup at Pub Italia. Next time we'll have to try some of the beers there as well :) Denise and Dimitri left for Kingston at the end of the afternoon, and we took it easy for the rest of the evening and called it an early night, since we'd have to get up early the next day to go running.

It was just the three of us this time, since Ann is still on her cruise... So JoAnn, Nolan and I set off, but unfortunately JoAnn had to cut her run short due to some rib pains. Nolan and I kept running, and did our loop around the Government General office, a favourite, although it's even nicer in the summer when everything is green. But nonetheless we had a great run and I manage to get over 18km in, which gave me a much-needed confidence boost for the half marathon, which is only in three weeks!

That afternoon we had more friends coming, Scott and Bonnie, who are friends from Nolan from university. It was really nice to see them and their two kids and to spend time with them and catch up. So overall it was a great weekend, it just went by so quickly!

Snow!

In a previous post (see here), I showed some pictures of Murphy, showing off his cute self. Since he's really good at that, I decided to add some more. Just one warning, there are a few of them...

But Fertile can look cute as well:

Quite the princess:

Murphy loves the stairs. His favourite place to sleep when we're watching tv.

Yesterday we finally had a bit of a snow storm. Sure, in some place it caused some havoc, especially in the United States, but I guess we got a little bit as well. I think in the end we might have ended with another 20 cm, but it was the blowing snow that really made it feel like we received a 2-foot dump.
A few more photos to get an impression. Next time there will be more text!



The treadmill

First the good news: Nolan and I have both pretty much recovered from our ‘colds’, or whatever it was we suffered from. I’m not sure what it was, perhaps a chest cold? It felt like constant pressure on my lungs and sometimes coughing. It was interesting when I went for a run Wednesday night. It felt quite good and the legs were fine. But I had to walk for half a minute halfway through, just because I couldn’t get enough air in! Luckily I was still able to run about 5 km.

So now the ‘bad’ news: the thought of running that half marathon in February is only slightly worrying me an awful lot… What was I thinking??!! But I decided to get back at it, starting today. So once I’m done writing, and Nolan is done on the treadmill, I’m planning on running an 8k. Sunday I’m supposed to run 16km. We’ll see how that goes, but I am not too worried. A week and a half of taking some time off is not the end of the world, right?

In general I feel more lethargic simply because I have not run or done anything in the last couple of weeks. It’s funny how much of an effect that has on your daily feeling.

Work is going really well, though. It is quite busy, but most of it is fun, and I’m involved with some interesting projects. One of which is the Petawawa Research Forest and the National Research Forests in general. We also have a seminar next week on enhanced forest inventory, which I am also looking forward to. Always so much to learn. So yes, in general it’s all really good!

We passed the cold snap from last week. Sunday morning it was -39 with the windchill, and I didn’t even feel guilty for not going running. For me running is about having fun, and running in -39 weather does not qualify of having fun in my vocabulary.

Nolan is also doing well. He’s enjoying his new position and likes the group and his work. He’s also trying to get back into the running groove, but we both signed up for the half marathon in Ottawa, the last weekend of May, so we have something to train for again.

Well, he’s done on the treadmill, so my turn J

Sick...

It happened. It finally did. I am sick.

It’s the first time that Nolan has seen me sick, so I guess on average I’m not sick very often. I’ve tried to fight it all week, but Thursday night I couldn’t pretend anymore. I was coughing the lunges out of my body, and let me tell you, it did not feel good. At first I thought I would be ok, and could make it to the CIF meeting on Friday, but that was a little too optimistic. I’m feeling better now, although a grocery run this morning tired me out some. But it was worth it, now we have a fridge stocked with fresh veggies and fruit again. And OJ to make sure we quadruple our Vitamin C intake

We’re in the midst of a, somewhat minor, cold snap. It was -23 this morning, and tomorrow we’re supposedly getting a high of -22. Crisp for sure! I’m not sure if I feel like running tomorrow, but if so, I might chicken out and hit the treadmill. Although, it is beautiful right now (or so it looks…), clear blue skies, lots of sun and white snow. But oh so deceiving when you step out of the door.

With my cold, or whatever it is, my running is definitely suffering, unfortunately. But I decided to just take it easy and feel better, before I really get back at it again. The half marathon is in 5 weeks, so I don’t have a lot of time, but as long as I can get some long runs in, I’ll be fine.

Work is definitely picking up as well. We have a lot of activities coming up in the near future, together with (year-end) deadlines, which makes for interesting times! But it’s all fun, so that’s good.

When we were in the Netherlands last year, Anne Mieke and Hugo gave us a painting of Rome, which my mom actually brought to Canada in October. We finally got around to get it framed, and we are vert happy with the result. It looks beautiful, both the painting and the frame. Look for yourself!

Below some photos of Murphy. For some reason he always manages to look cute. Next time I’ll try to snap some photos of Fertile as well, she can be cute as well J

Lucky!

This past week I read a Dutch article, in which they talked about how Canada has changed its immigration laws, and that it has become virtually impossible to emigrate to Canada. I’m not sure if it is really that bad, but I realize darn well that I have been incredibly lucky that I was able to move to Canada when I did. And it didn’t stop there, looking back at how far I’ve come in the past 5 and some what years, it just was a big of a realization how happy I am that I made the decision to move to Canada, but also how lucky I was that I could do it.

In general life is just really good right now. Except perhaps that Nolan came down with a cold, but he is starting to feel better again. Or at least a little bit.

Work is picking up again, which I actually like. Last week was a little too quiet. My computer at work died this week, which was not fun. But now I have a brand-new little laptop, which is about half the size of the beast I used to have, so that is a bonus!

Winter has also returned, and we have snow again! Not a whole lot, but enough to cover the trails but still make them ‘runable’. Running is actually going quite well. I’ve picked it up a bit, and decided to run a half marathon at the end of February in Peterborough, together with Candice. I’ve run this half marathon before. Twice. But only finished it once, so I also see this as an opportunity to finally redeem myself! It also gives me a goal again to train for, especially since we decided not to run the half marathon in Ottawa this year. 

Downhill skiing

Last Friday it winter seemed to have made a comeback. We finally got treated to some fresh snow, and by the time it stopped snowing on Saturday, it had probably accumulated to about 20 cm of fresh snow. Finally! Our friend Kristina had asked earlier in the week if we were interested in going skiing with her on Saturday afternoon/evening. Nolan has saying for many weeks that he is going to take me skiing – something I had never done before. And so it actually happened! On a snowy Saturday afternoon we made our way up to Edelweiss, on the Quebec side. The drive itself was beautiful and helped with my slightly elevated levels of anxiety… When we arrived at Edelweiss, it turned out that we were not the only ones who had thought that going skiing on the first day of acceptable snowfall was a good idea. Deep down, or maybe not that deep at all, I just wanted to turn around after I saw the line up. However, we stuck to it (thanks guys!), and after about 45 minutes we had our passes, and another 10 minutes later I was fitted with skis. My boots were a tad too large, but I didn’t think that would be a problem, and would me keep my toes warm (or, better said: help them warm up again since waiting for 45 minutes with your feet in the snow makes for some very cold toes).

Kris and Nolan helped me getting started and the three of us ventured up the bunny hill. ‘All you do is make sure you slow yourself down and stay in control,’ said Nolan, while Kris demonstrated how you would do that.  Sure, no problem, I though while setting off to go down the hill. But as it turned out, I was unable to slow myself down, or stop for that matter, and it didn’t take long before I had a close-up with the snow. After some struggles to get up, I tried again, and same story. I started to get a little nervous, which is really not helpful and thought that I would never learn! However, during the third attempt something seemed to click, and I was actually able to go down the hill without falling. And I kept going down the hill over and over again, and felt better and better. In the meantime Nolan and Kris decided to tackle the big hill, which was fine. The last thing I wanted was for them to babysit me! Although before he left, Nolan did help me out a lot and had some really good advice. He’s a good skier, but also knows how to pass on words of wisdom. Much appreciated!
I felt quite confident at the end, and would have gone down the bigger hill, but by that time it was dark, and that last thing I wanted to do was lose my confidence.  The only thing I would do differently next time is the boots... They are a little bit on the large size, and to compensate that we tightened them too much, with the result that my lower legs were a little sore at the end and I have swollen ankles. However, they don't hurt and I didn't notice the swelling until after running.
So long story short, I actually really enjoyed it! I have to admit I was a little apprehensive at first, but was glad that they made me do it, and am happy to report that I found a new winter activity that I can see myself doing more often!

I was told I would probably be sore the next day… However, that was not even that bad. My calves were a bit tight, but nothing too crazy and we were able to go running Sunday morning, which felt good. However, today I can really feel my legs and my back is a bit tight as well, so I’ll have to stretch those out tonight. But it was worth it!

Back to Normal

Happy New Year to you all!

And as the title says, life is back to normal. In more than one aspect. First of all, the holidays are over and we’re back to work. Nolan started his new job, and so far so good!
We spent some days over the holidays unpacking the last few boxes and cleaning up the basement. Now it looks even bigger! But it’s nice to have that space for sure. We already had a little work-out area with some mats and our treadmill, but now we’re dreaming of more equipment… Who knows, maybe someday?

Most of the snow melted on New Year’s Day after some heavy rainfall, but we received a new dusting yesterday, so at least it looks white again. We tried to go for a run on the trails Monday afternoon, but that was cut short since all the rain that had fallen on the weekend had frozen over (since it couldn’t be absorbed by the frozen ground), so the trails were better accessible on skates, unfortunately. But we are getting back into the running mode again. We both ran the 10km Resolution Run on New Year’s eve, and although perhaps not our fastest times (it’s a non-timed event), we had fun and it was nice to run in thinner tights and not having to dress up in 7 layers… Afterwards we had a great get-together with some friends to celebrate the New Year. This year we had a Thai theme, i.e. everybody was asked to bring a Thai dish. Huge success!

On New Year’s Day we went to see Legally Blonde, the Musical. Perhaps because our expectations were not super high, the show was actually cute and well done. Time well spent!

We also received some new furniture this week, so our house is looking more and more like a well furnished palace J I should take some pictures again soon. My laptop is about to die and is almost out of memory, but I’ll try to upload some pictures soon.

One last thing: we booked tickets to go to the Netherlands for Easter. This time it will be special, since we’re not the only out-own-town guests…