Year in review - January to June 2009

I realize the last time I attempted to do this was over 2 years ago and I got as far as the first week. What a feeble attempt! It's 2010 and I'm going in with gusto in an effort to summarize the highs, lows and in-betweens of 2009. Complete with photos for your viewing pleasure! So here goes...
January 2009
Winter is always a busy time for me with work so anything fun and social that I can get in is a bonus. My girls from camp visited (Devon, Alison and Jess) and we were treated to private in-house zumba instruction from Ingrid at the Y. For those that don't know, Zumba is a form of various latin dance styles performed in a cardio/exercise class. It's fun, it's funny and it's a workout! Bonus! Ingrid is the perfect instructor for such a class, as she shimmy's and shakes and hoots and hollers. The picture below is taken from the basement with the furniture moved aside.
Even Pingu got into the dancing action!

Later that night we ended up at the village, completing a nightlife hat trick after visiting/drinking/dancing at Gel, Rusty's and Windy O'Neills. Pretty good considering that was my one and only visit to the Village in 2009. A photo from the night documents the good times.

January also brought along an amazing opportunity to sit first row (behind courtside seats) behind the net at a Raptors game. Ken was given the tickets through work and we couldn't pass up the offer! Even though the Raps lost due to some questionable calls by the half-asleep refs, it was exciting to be so close! We even got a glimpse of David Suzuki as he walked by from his courtside seats and an actor from Y & R! Basically, we felt like celebs (joke!).

Chris Bosh attempts to lead his team to a victory.

As with every winter, we try to take advantage of rare powder days by either snowboarding or snowshoeing. Below is a photo after a nice dump of pow! Ken and I went snowshoeing with Jess and Shannon.


Jumping photos are always fun but they're especially fun in knee-deep powder!

February and March rolled in and out in a flash with nothing to notable to report. Work consumes most of my time during these months and when it doesn't, I have the habit of hibernating down to an art!

April was an interesting month. The snow just wouldn't stop and we were well on our way to having a record season in terms of length.

Here's a glimpse of one of a few snowfalls in April.

In April I convinced Ken, Steph and Ty to go on a day trip to Midland for the Sweetwater Festival at the Wye Marsh. It's a bit of a trek but I sold it to them with the promise of free, freshly tapped syrup on snow (something I had read in their advertising that instantly enticed me!). Never mind the fact that you can get maple taffy on snow for 2 bucks at the Village - this stuff was the real deal....or so I thought. After trudging around in the rain and riding on a dodgy horse-drawn wagon in the freezing cold, I was getting some doubtful stares from my friends. I however, kept the faith and made the best of a damp and soggy situation. While the Wye Marsh is an interesting and educational place full of taxidermied local wildlife, aquariums with water dwelling creatures and a network of woodchipped trails, my real motivation for visiting was the maple syrup and did I ever have my hopes up real high. We even learned about the process from tree to syrup and how to tap maple trees yourself - something Tyler and Ken swore they would do at the time however 9 months later and still no sign of a tree-tapping set up in sight!!!? In anticipation of the end and eager to get back home, we were all salivating over the sweet smell of fire roasting maple syrup and made our way to the sampling area where the "maple taffy on snow" was being distributed. I almost elbowed a baby and stepped on a small child to get in line but was confused when I got to the front. What they were handing out was a popsicle stick with no more than a q-tip sized amount of maple syrup on the end. My facial expression must have clearly communicated the message "are you f'ing kidding me!?!" because I didn't even have to say anything before the volunteer manning the station said "We're saving it for the kids." I don't even think Tyler and Ken took samples, they were so pitiful. The thing tasted more like the stick it came on than like actual maple syrup! I mean, cripes, we had stuck it out in the rain, paid our $10 admission or whatever ridiculous overpriced fee it was and drove an hour for THIS!? Be forewarned people, the Sweetwater Festival ain't for adults. We were spent and piled our soaking wet selves back into our car for the long trip back to Collingwood. But not before a few photo-ops...
We're smiling because we don't know what's up

"You know what really grinds my gears?"

I was so close to stealing this entire pot of syrup.

Moving onto May, it was bound to be a better month than the last. Seriously, that syrup experience really soured my month! May was going to be sweet and syrupy. It was around this time that I began running. I don't know what got into me but the form of exercise that I previously dreaded suddenly became almost an addiction. It started off slow, real slow, as I gradually worked my way up to running 30+ minutes! I was loving it and the results I was seeing in my body was a nice motivation too. I began to use the Y more, ran indoors at the gym at work and on occasion, ran outside as well. I'm not as motivated to run outside to this day nor am I comfortable running with other people, but somehow a passion was ignited in me and I still continue with running on a smaller scale. My goal is to sign up for a 5k this spring and potentially a 10k next fall.
May also meant the annual slobberfest (or Lobsterfest for the sober few) in Thornbury! This was my first time attending and while the lobster was indeed delicious, the rest of it was a bit of a letdown. I am already in talks with a few renegade folks who want to ban together to have our own backyard lobsterfest this May! Me with the remains of my lobster below...


June was here before we knew it and with it, our impending 2nd wedding anniversary! A couple of months prior, Ken and I were discussing our plans for our anniversary when I learned about an event the very same day that ranked almost as high as our anniversary on the importance scale! No Doubt was making their return with a summer tour and June 16, 2009 was the date of the Toronto concert. Fortunately Ken understands my marriage-like committment to this band (I've loved/followed them since I was 15) and when I scored 2 tickets in the second row centre at the ACC, he was more than happy to see me go. I of course offered him the second ticket along with my undying gratitude but he declined saying he wouldn't be able to appreciate it like he should and that I would be better taking someone who would. Who was that someone? None other than my travel companion and partner at a previous No Doubt show in 2004 in New Jersey - my mom! She was thrilled to go and sang along to many of the words to their more popular songs. It was a great night and the rush of seeing them that close after so many years was euphoric. They performed a seamless set of mainly hits as well as some oldies for the die-hard fans. The crowd was an interesting mix of young and old, parents, etc. It was a true reflection of the evolution of this band and how they've brought about new fans with each record. I should also mention that I had a ticket for the show on June 19th in Darien Lake. A bit of an impulse buy but I couldn't get enough when I found out they were going on tour after such a long hiatus! I travelled to the states with Annie and met up with George where we got a great standing position in the second row. It is incredible how tame the crowds were and the strange looks we received when we were dancing and jumping around to the music of our favourite band. Another impeccable set was delivered and we even caught a few glances from Tom and Gwen who (we convinced ourselves) might have recognized us from the Toronto show!? One can always dream.
Following that show, Annie dangled a big fat carrot in front of my face; an extra ticket to their recently added London show on June 30th. Had I known they were going to play London, I probably wouldn't have gone to Darien Lake as well. But being that London was close and the carrot was there, I had to take the bait. It was worth all the jeers I got from friends, coworkers and my mom. None of them really understand my passion for this band and all think that it's the same show over and over. I see it differently and would've been so disappointed if I passed up the ticket. So down to London we went on June 30th and coincidentally ran into Adrian the drummer at a nearby market. After an awkward convo and interaction, we went on our seperate ways. Our lovely friends John and George saved us spots against the barricades so that we could take it all in from the front row. Wow! What a way to go out. Did I mention it was front row centre!!? Again, the crowd was pretty tame except for when Gwen came near us. She was super involved with the crowd, coming into it to sing a couple of lines and bringing a fan on stage. They are a band that has a true appreciation for their fame and fans. It is so obvious they love what they do and the pull it off so well. There aren't many bands around from my era that you can say that about. I cannot wait to hear some new material in 2010 (hopefuly!). Afterwards, we waited by the buses and were lucky to meet and greet with Tom, the guitarist. He said he recognized us from the past few shows which was awesome! I am still kicking myself that we chose to go eat pizza when if we had've stayed, we would've met Gwen who came out to meet the crowd (something she apparently rarely does)
Here are a few favourite snaps from the 3 shows...hard to pick out of the hundreds I took.
Gwen Stefani rockin' a serious 8-pack!

Hey Baby Hey Baby Hey

My favourite band in the entire universe

Die hards stand front row centre! Annie, George, John and ME!

It is also worth mentioning my anniversary with Ken since we didn't celebrate on the actual day. 2 years of marriage have flown by and this year we dined at Azzurra to mark the occasion while enjoying a nice bottle of wine we brought home from South Africa which they allowed us to drink at the restaurant! mmmm...deeelish!

Another thing worth noting was our attempt at sandboarding near Roz's parents house in Tiny Beach Township. Across from their beachfront house is a huge sand dune that we always said we'd sand board on and boy did we make dreams reality! Hilarity ensued and sand went errrverywhere as Ty would say. Here's some photographic evidence of the action.
Safety first Roz!

Welcome to Dodgetown

Shreddin' the slopes

Enjoying some apres!

Soaking in some rays