Wednesday November 29th was a good day in sports…

The Toronto Maple Leafs won their game against my 2nd favourite team – the NJ Devils, 6-5 in a <yawn> a shootout.

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76′ers in their first game of the season.  I like the Raps, and really dislike the 76′ers back from Allen Iverson days… More tattoos, Allen???  I really dislike Dallembert after being a putz on Team Canada and being tossed.  No place for attitudes in Canada, dude.

The Philadelphia Phillies won just their second World Series championship in their team’s history which I believe started in, like 1883… Geez.  I am really happy for GM (and former Jays GM) Pat Gillick, and for former Jay – and Canadian – Matt Stairs!  Yay Matt!!!

What brings tears into our household…

1) Taking away the broom from 2 year old Stewie

2) Taking away the mini-vacuum cleaner from Stewie (Dust Buster)

3) Not letting Stewie brush his teeth with our electric toothbrush

See a trend here…

4) Pinching and pulling hair

5) Splashing water

All of this before 8am…

Stewie and the toddler bed

To say that Stewie turned 2 and then no longer felt a need to sleep would be an understatement.  He stopped napping, sleeping through the night and would yell “NO” upon mention of the word sleep.  So we bought him a toddler bed and that made matters worse.  The only good thing was that he didn’t know that he could simply step down from the bed and wander around the house… until this morning.  You see this morning while sitting in our bed around 6:30am with Linus, we heard the pitter-patter of little feet in the hall.  We invited Stewie into our room… He did not come.  We asked if he was outside our room… He did not reply.  And why would he?  He was in the kids bathroom putting the empty dental floss containers into the garbage can… After emptying them all over the floor.  Grrrrrrrr.  Foot after foot of floss from one end of that bathroom to the other.

Sigh.

And to think I actually couldn’t wait until he was able to get out of his room.

I did it!!!

I did it!  This morning I ran the 5k run in the Toronto Marathon and I completed the course in a personal best 34 minutes and 7 seconds.   I set a goal and I achieved it.  It went something like this;

Just under 2 years ago I herniated a disc in my back and I remember asking my physiotherapist if I would one day be able to tie my shoes on my own.  She said I would be able to do that and more.  It was at that time when I decided to try something I had never done but always thought about doing – jogging.  I remember those days when a 15 “run” was problematic – I was overheated after, my muscles tight, but I remember feeling great the next day.  After increasing my run to 20 minutes I decided to set a goal and run in the Toronto Marathon, and I remember the saleswoman at the Running Room telling me that if I out my mind to it, I could run a half marathon.  Well at that time, I was brutally unhappy in my job and trying to find cosistancy in my life – specifally with my kids, my running and my marriage.  I figured having completed my MBA, I could make this happen.  I got up to 3 times a week and one day, feeling great, I ran for 50 minutes and that was it.  30 minute runs became the norm and every now and then I would shoot up around the 50-55 minute mark, once or twice eclipsing one hour.  For the month leading up to the race, I changed jobs, got sick and had a ton of Jewish holidays which required me to do anything but running.  I started playing ball-hockey and found the sprinting done there, messes up my running – but I would figure that out.

So this morning I dragged my family up and out of the house at 7:30am in 1 degree celcius weather to drive down to the starting of the race.  I had eaten a nutrition bar and a bottle of OJ.  I stretched, pee’d and took in the sites as the just over 2500 participants started to get into position to race.  I was surprised at home many of them were in shape – skinny – with their trendy racing gear… Me?  dry-fit running shirt and shorts with my dry-fit underwear hanging below my shorts.  To keep warm, I had attached my running bib to a long-sleeved cotton shirt that my Dad liked because it had a penguin on it and he loved penguins.  My Dad passed away 6 years ago before myy kids we born.  I saw a ton of people running for loved ones who were ill or had passed away, and I felt this I needed to do this in my Dad’s honour.

The race started – the announcer called us all “athletes” and off we went.  I was towards the end of the pack when we left and got off to a decent start but as we left Queen’s Park Circle and started heading down towards the Lake I started getting passed left right and centre by all kinds of runners – young (5yrs old), old, fat, thin… I started to think that I was going to finish last, even at my faster than normal pace.  As I approached the 1/4 point I noticed a running blazing his way back on the other side, clearly on his way to complete the race (he did, in around 20 minutes).  I kept my pace downhill, looking at all the people ahead of me and the runners already on their way up, but I knew I was going to finish this race.  Once we turned and headed back towards the finish I realized that if the first half of the course was downhill, that meant the rest of the course was uphill.  As I have been pushing myself for the past few months to run harder, faster and smarter, I had no problems with the second half of the course, actually made better time, and passed a whole bunch of people who were going slowly or had stopped as a result of the incline. 

I entered Queen’s Park Circle and the race to the finish seemed to last forever.  It wasn’t until I passed the halfway mark of the circle when my overdrive kicked in and I began to boot it.  I got into the stretch run, took off my Ipod and then saw my wife, then kids cheering me on.  I smiled and waved, then put my head down and zoomed past the finish line.  34 minutes and 7 seconds, unofficially.  That is a good 10 minutes better than my best time – not that I have ever timed myself but if it took me one hour to run 7.25K and half an hour gets me around 4K, then it only makes sense that 5K would take me around 45 minutes… but not today.

After the race I met up with UrbanMummy and the kids and I got free bagels, gatorade, a medal for finishing (woo hoo) chapstick, oranges, bananas, there was coffee, chocolate milk and so much more.

We came home, I took the kids to the park, then off to swimming.  We met my in-laws for dinner, picked up our nanny from her weekend abode, then home to shower and bed.

What a difference 6 months makes…

6 Months ago, a crappy run for me would have been 15 minutes tops.  Tonight?  A crappy run – one where I can’t concentrate, get my rythem, find a good tune on my ipod, or get that good feeling – is 45 minutes. 

No running tomorrow, then I get to run for the first time in the morning without my ipod… gulp.  Wish me luck.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen news events that caught my eye this week

 

13. Madonna and Guy Ritchie to divorce… and why do we care?!?  Oh, because less than 24 hours after confirming the divorce, Madonna confirms her relationship with Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez, She’s like 50, and he’s like 28.  I wonder if he calls her “Mom”.

 

12.  Embattled Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion after leading the Liberals to their worst showing since Confederation in 1867 has refused to step down as Liberal leader saying he is not a “quitter”.  So less than 24 hours after saying he is not a quitter… he decides to quit. Hello Canadians!!! This is why to never elect a Liberal party!!! Remember Jean Cretien getting elected on his red book campaign to remove the GST… It’s still here. Yet most Liberal voters were stupid enough to vote him in twice…

 

11. Elizabeth May – Green Party leader loses her seat and her party loses their only seat after a disastrous election. Why, can anyone tell me, would she decided to run in the same riding as Conservative Deputy Minister (and next Conservative Prime Minister) Peter MacKay??? She should have taken the Liberal (chicken) way out and parachuted herself into a safe riding. She didn’t and she has no seat.

 

10. Male Pattern baldness gene discovered. So when can I expect my hair back? And maybe they can find and remove the hair on my ear gene soon…

 

9. Former Beatle Ringo Starr will never again sign anything for any fans… I was surprised to find out that people still send him stuff to sign. In my opinion, he’s the forgotten Beatle. It was always Paul, John and George… and the guy with the funny name that rhymes with “dingo”. So I have never wanted him to sign anything before but now I do… I want to send him a ton of shit to sign… For kicks.

 

8. Josh Brolin has said he felt insulted when he was first tapped to play George W Bush by Oliver Stone… My thoughts; “Hey actor… shut up and act” No body wants to hear your fucking opinion.

 

7. A barrel of crude oil has slipped to below $75/barrel… So should I hold my breath waiting for the price to come back down to $0.60 a litre? Didn’t think so… ?  The damn thing went up 3 cents a litre, before finally dropping under a dollar a litre last night… Grrrr.

 

6.  Tia Lioni cheats on her sex addict husband for… get this… Billy Bob Thornton. UGH. The coolest thing about him was when he was married to – and banging – Angelina Jolie. Otherwise, he’s all UGH, all the time.

 

5. Vancouver, British Columbia – Canada’s 70-year-old law to control the release of voting results on election night has again stumbled in the age of the Internet. With in minutes of polls closing on the Atlantic Coast on Tuesday bloggers were making the results known in parts of the country were voting was still going on. “I believe the polls have just closed in Newfoundland so gentlemen, to your mark, ready, go,” read a posting from a blogger writing under the moniker The Surly Beaver.  The results showing the Liberals were losing seats in that region hinted at the final outcome that saw Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper win a stronger minority government.

That would violate a 1938 law aimed at preventing knowledge of results in Eastern Canada from influencing voting in a later time zone, a spokeswoman for Elections Canada said on Wednesday.

 

4. Every store in Toronto with a floor area of 3,230 square feet or more should have to provide washrooms for their customers, says the city’s licensing and standards committee. Councilor Howard Moscoe (Ward 15 Eglinton-Lawrence) discovered that since 1976, the Ontario Building Code has required stores to provide washrooms - but was silent about whether they were open to customers as well as staff.

 

3.  Reason I hate the Liberal Party of Canada, part 417.  Our MP, Joe Volpe who in 8 years I have seen around the neighbourhood – even at election time – yet appears in all his campaign literature at all these events smiling and shaking hands, has actually done something other than taking donations from 14 year old boys.  He asked for Stephane Dion to step down.  Way to go Joe!   Toronto MP Joe Volpe said Thursday Dion must resign so the Liberal party can rebuild after being reduced to 76 seats in Tuesday’s federal election, one of the party’s worst-ever showings.  “Clearly, it appears that nobody’s going to give him the chance to do that rebuilding and I’d like him to go out with some dignity,” Volpe told CTV’s Mike Duffy Live.

 

2.  Why I like Wal-Mart…Union leaders are denouncing Wal-Mart’s decision to close a Gatineau tire-and-lube shop just two months after workers there won a precedent-setting collective agreement, the first for any Wal-Mart anywhere.

In August, an arbitrator imposed a contract at the shop on Maloney Boulevard, just across the river from Ottawa.  On Thursday, Wal-Mart said it would close the garage, where five mechanics work, rather than raise the prices it charges customers.  Wal-Mart said the contract imposed in August increased the mechanics’ wages by more than 30 per cent.

“Our wages were competitive prior to the collective agreement. And this collective agreement makes the situation unworkable,” said Yanick Deschênes, a director of Wal-Mart in Quebec.

Good for them!  Wal-Mart also yanked a store out of Quebec in 2005 after the staff had formed a union.  They were warned if they did that the store would close.  They ignored and the store closed.  Why wont they ever learn.  It’s like the Auto unions.  More money, more money, better conditions, more time off, less work, and now all the big 3 automakers are going to have to file for bankruptcy.  Wont they ever realize that when a $16000 car is made via $1

 

1. This is fantastic news!

 

Alberta women will be able to deliver their baby with the assistance of a midwife for free starting next spring after the province pledged to publicly fund the service that formerly came with a steep price tag.

Previously, midwifery services were not covered by the public health system, making Alberta the only province to regulate midwives without paying for the service. Couples who hired midwives had to pay a $3,500 fee.

 

 

A little about me…

Doing some inner reflection…

 I hate to lose, more than I like to win…

So little time…

So much to do, so little time, and even less energy…

I’m still trying to get used to WordPress, and have been having a ton of trouble logging in, so I just waste time somewhere else, hence, no posts.

I’m also having trouble on the home front.  Stewie turned 2 a few days ago and we got him a big-boy bed (toddler bed) but he wont sleep in it.  He didn’t want to sleep in his crib and now he doesn’t want his bed, so that leaves our bed and his brother’s bed. 

The Canadian Federal election is right around the corner and I am so utterly dismayed how it is that the Conservatives are not running away with this election.  Their main competitors, the Liberals have a bumbling idiot for a leader that cannot answer a question directed towards him, and make his parties platform seem stupid.  The guy is a joke and so is the party.  To think their biggest achievement to date in this election has been to find 3 lines of a speech that the Prime Minister read 5 years ago and accuse him of plagiarism.  It’s not like the Libs lifted their “Green Shift” plan from the Green party… heaven forbid.  I hate the Liberals and cringe every time I see that in Ontario – especially in Toronto – that the Liberals are expected to take the majority of the seats.  Argh.  What’s wrong withpeople?!?    This election should be a Conservative majority – end of story.  I suspect if it’s not, Harper might be replaced with someone capable of getting that majority over weak competition, and Peter MacKay might be the guy.  Until then, I have my fingers crossed.

Today is the 13th of October – 6 days until my first ever 5K run.  I have run 3 times in the past 3 weeks (ball hockey games aside) and I have never run in the morning – race is at 8am – and I have really never run without my headphones on.  This race discourages the use of headphones… OY.  I’m getting nervous already.  Also on that day is a 20th wedding anniversary party for my first cousin.  I was in their wedding party, well, 20 years ago.  They are having their party at the Liberty Grand here in Toronto, ironically where we were supposed to be their first wedding but they were not ready in time and as a result, we would up getting married at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  Anyways, they are having this party because my cousin won it online.  She is the youngest of my first cousins on my Dad’s side and all she does with her time is enter contests.  She is awake at night and sleeps during the day.  Odd.  Well, most of the girls on my Dad’s side are odd.  No judgement call here… To each, their own.  It just makes me wonder why the boys get married and have kids and the girls… 

So it seems to me that every time the stock market bombs, gold goes up a lot.  I suggested to UrbanMummy that we put a ton of cash on gold next time the market bottoms out, but that day the market bottomed out, as did gold.  This is why I stay FAR away from the market…

So I’ve been driving to and from work for a month now and I have decided what I hate about other drivers… I hate the drivers who – in traffic – jump out to the right exit lane, zoom by the line of traffic only to jump back into the line where the lane ends.  HATE that!!!  Want there to be a cop there to ticket them all. They hold up the right lane and quite frankly make me wish that the rocket launcher plastic switch that every car had in the 80′s worked.  I’d blowed them all up.  lol.  I also hate drives who are on the phone.  They don’t signal when they change lanes, they are too distracted to move up and they drift from one side of the lane to the other. 

Yesterday we ventured west nearMilton Ontario and went apple picking at a gold mine called Chudleigh’s.   Bumped into a couple old acquaintances, picked the biggest Northern Spy apples I have ever seen, some Macs and Courtlands (My Dad’s favourite apple).  Grabbed a couple small pumpkins on the way out.  The line-up at 10am when it opened was unbelievable, as was the line up of cars trying to get in to the place at 2pm when we were leaving.  It’s went almost all the way to the 401.  That place must be raking in the cash hand over fist.  Hmmm.  Sounds like time for an audit.  LOL.  Cash business, you know.  Tons of employees.  lol.

On a lighter side… For those of you poor souls who have followed this blog since 2006 would know that I was pretty pissed off way back then when I was booted off my own ball-hockey team by a guy I thought was my friend.  Well fast forward almost 3 years and with all my running, I no longer get tired playing ball-hockey and as a result, my game has improved ten-fold.  I’m one of the top players on my team in terms of stamina and hockey sense and I no longer panic when I have the ball.  So boy was I surprised when my “friend” asked me to play back on my old team this winter.  I was actually quite proud to say no, because the games are Sunday and the kids have SportBall, Karate, and swimming on Sundays.  What made me feels good was when he said, “We really need you!  We are counting on you”.  I smiled, politely declined, before agreeing to maybe fill in on any late games (9, 10 or 11pm).  The team I’m on now asked me back too.  YAY.

Monday, Monday…

Hmph.  Some Monday this was.

I had a 9am meeting downtown with my manager and, of course, got there super early so I had time to have a coffee and read more of the book she gave all the managers on teamwork.  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.  It’s a pretty good book so far – I’m half-way through it.  Anyways… So we met for 3 hours and I had to cut it short because I had a 1pm training session way up North of the City at my office.  Needless to say, I raced up to the office – stopped and grabbed a coffee, small chicken salad sandwich and flew into the office only to find out that the training session was cancelled just past 11.  Grrr.  I could have stayed downtown and worked there. 

Managed a great run tonight – it was a little cool and I had a great pace going.  Managed to cover 7 1/4km in 1 hour.  Going to finish up this blog and head into bed – I have a super busy day tomorrow organizing, planning and kicking Corporate Ass!

Hoping Stewie stays in his bed tonight.  He awoke a couple times last night and I managed to get him into bed, but he was up at 4:30am and he was not going back to bed so I brought him into our bed and there he stayed until my alarm woke him up at 6:30.  Oy.

Sports Snorts… And so much more…

I just saw the 2 most incredible football catches – not in NFL games – but in the CFL game last night between the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Montreal Allouettes.  If I can find them on YouTube, I’ll post them here… They were great.  I’m not even a football fan.

The NHL season began last night in Stockholm and Prague… Errr… Yup.  How about another team in Southern Ontario… Actually one back in Winnipeg and maybe another in Quebec.  Put the teams where the fans are!  Nashville… PLEASE!   Bring back the Whalers!!!

We picked up a toddler bed from Craigslist this afternoon.  $65.00.  In ok condition.  For Stewie who turns 2 on Wednesday… Kol Nidre night… UGH.  Poor kid.  So we tried to get him to nap in it this afternoon and he really liked the bed – kept saying, “Stewie’s Big Boy bed”, but when push came to shove he kept getting up and walking around and after the 1 1/2 I had expected him to be napping him and his older brother we seen hanging out together in his room – neither napped.

How did I know neither napped?  I asked them… They both lied and said they did nap.  We hopped in the car 45 minutes later to go to swimming and 5 minutes into the ride, both were out cold in their car-seats… Nice.

Right now it’s 10:45pm and all is quiet… I’m positive it wont stay like this.

Too bad about the Chicago Cubs being swept by the LA Dodgers.  100 years since their last World Series Championship… Looks like it’ll be 101 years.

Did I mention that UrbanMummywon free passes to see the new DVD of Abby Cadaby and Elmo and we all went Saturday morning to the movie theatre to meet Elmo and Abby in person and take Linus and Stewie to see their first movie.  They ate popcorn, sat on my lap, her lap, their own seat, stood in the aisle… It was a lot of fun.  Stewie loves Elmo – say him and almost cried… from fear.  Linus was actually excited.  Saw him, hugged him, posed for a picture with him… They’re buds.