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wwjd - what would julie do? read my stream of consciousness to find out....

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Year in review - July to December 2009

It's about time I finished this Year In Review I've tasked myself with given we're already into February 2010. Leave it any longer and I won't remember half the things I did from July to December! So here goes...

July 2009


After the whirlwind tour following my favourite band around in June, you'd think July would be hard to top. Lucky for me, it started off with a bang. And by bang, I mean a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Ken's 30th! We planned it so that we'd arrive in Sin City the night of July 8th so that we could celebrate at midnight (technically being the 9th) and then have a double-header with another blowout the following day and night! Clever.
Ryan and Karl joined us for the trip making me the lone female among 2 brothers and a friend. Yikes!
As expected, it was an incredible - albeit smelly (100+ degrees makes for stinky boys) - 4 days of UFC 100 (Ryan and Ken made it into the weigh-ins), driving/hiking Red Rock Canyon, shooting shot guns & hand guns (I shot a glock 9, BRAP BRAP!), sunbathing at the Luxor pool, dining at Shibuya on amazing Tepenyaki and Sake (same place Ken and I had been 2 years prior), Carrot Top, binge drinking and gorging on all-you-can-eat buffets, learning how to play craps, sneaking into the Luxor hot tub and patron shots from strangers. It was pretty epic. The photos below summarize our time and trouble in Vegas..
4 hand grenade shots = $80 USD

happy birthday Ken!

Ken made it his mission to play every giant slot he could find.

Blue Diamond, Nevada. A bizarre community we stumbled upon.

The strip by night

We arrived home hungover and tired on Sunday which left me with few precious days to plan and finalize details for my mom's surprise 65th birthday the following Wednesday. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping it secret and coming up with a decoy plan but when she showed up at the door to "go swimming" in a nice top, makeup and earrings, I wondered whether she knew. Regardless, she seemed completely floored when she entered the backyard which was full of friends and family from near and afar. For a very rare moment, my mom was speechless. I was elated. We enjoyed good food catered by moi, wine, conversation and a little roasting courtesy of my Uncle Nut and me! For weeks she was beaming about how wonderful the day was ("The best day of my life!") and could not thank me enough. It was indeed a wonderful day for a wonderful person.
no words

The guests wait for the big moment!

Lookin' great at 65 mom!

Just when you'd think July couldn't get any better, we had our annual Elvis party to round out the month. It turned out this year that Ty's birthday was the same day so naturally, we (or he) had to step up our game a bit. Beer baseball has become a staple at this event and we hosted about 20 people in the driveway. Before you cast judgement at how ghetto that sounds, it was the best solution with the torrential downpour we had for the early part of the afternoon. We pitched a couple of 10x10's in the drive way and used the garage as a dumping ground. Once the rain settled down it actually worked out perfectly. Almost as perfect as Ty's beer "staff" - his bright idea of drinking his height in beer to celebrate his 26th. Genius, right?! Well he did it before dark and I'm impressed that he was still standing (and drinking) well into the night. Hand grenades just before we went downtown were a bad idea for him however and he and Steph called it a night. The rest of us rocked out with all the Elvii and Alison and I chased each impersonator to pose for a picture with us. It seemed hilarious at the time! The movie tradition also carried on this year but it was obviously another box office flop because I can't remember what it was!
beer baseball in action

Mother Nature rains on our Elvis Party Parade


August 2009

Since July went out like a lion, it was necessary (for our livers sake) that August come in like a lamb. And that it did. Besides our usual summer activities consisting of hiking, caving, swimming in the bay and bbq's, the only exciting thing we did this month was take a couple of weekend trips to Toronto to play tourist. The first was with Steph, Ty, Ken, Jess and myself for the Jason Mraz concert. I didn't have huge hopes for the show at the Molson Ampitheatre figuring it would be similar to other mellow artists I've seen in large venues (it doesn't really work). Wow - could I be more wrong! He put on an incredible, engaging, high-energy 2 hour set! He became my new obsession. I have so much respect for Jason Mraz and everything he stands for (he has strong environmental principles that he sticks to while on tour), he is such an incredibly talented, funny, creative person who seems like the real deal. Could be an act but the naive girl in me likes to believe that what you see is what you get. I have since discovered he has a huge online presence with funny sketches and audio to match each page of his website. Check it out here www.jasonmraz.com Jess and I went on a little adventure after the concert trying desperately to sneak backstage. We nearly made it until another fan trying to copy us blew our cover. Brutal. We ran our little tails off as fast as we could outta there!
Our next trip to Toronto was just Ken and I. A little rekindling if you will. We attended a Jays game in box seats that his work kindly gave us! Following that I introduced Ken to Fresh for dinner and he was in veggie heaven! All the menu was his for the eating. It's not often (or ever) that he has that choice so it was a great meal. We headed down to the Second City after that for a packed performance of "Shut up and show us your Tweets". As always it was a hilarious show of sketch comedy and improv. That place never disappoints.

September 2009


Before we knew it, summer was almost over and another labour day weekend at Red Pine was upon us. We arrived late Friday to the masses of drunken folk reuniting at the place they all grew up at and worked together. It was great to see Ryan who had some surprising news for us. He and Katie had gotten back together after a 3 month split and even further, were living together. Wow! No words! The rest of the weekend went as usual - drink late, up early, nap, wakeboard, nap, repeat. Good times!
Following that weekend I was participating in my third Weekend to End Breast Cancer 60km walk throughout Toronto. I was feeling a little unprepared this year having fallen while wakeboarding at Red Pine pretty badly and feeling a little sore. I naively also thought that each year the walk would get easier and was quickly reminded at the end of Day 1 and 33km behind me that I was dead wrong. Steph and I both had blisters that needed to be drained and wrapped at the medical tent, something I have never experienced (the first two years I finished mostly blister free!). Let me tell you, blisters are debilitating. I can't believe something so little on your foot can impact the rest of your body (if you let it). I mistakenly favoured my blisters and altered the way I walked so avoid rubbing in my shoes. BAD IDEA! My whole body was out of whack by the start of Day 2 which was equally as painful. Steph's blisters were far worse than mine but somehow, we leaned on each other and were able to finish! We were welcomed at the finish by Steph's family, Ty and Ken. Even Ryan and Katie came to congratulate us! It was a fine finish to an epic event I had taken part in for 3 years in a row and I felt good about my accomplishments. I had also decided (prior to walking and the ensuing blisters) that this would be my last year taking place in the WEBC. I may do it again one day but I need a year or two off. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever taken part in and I am so lucky to say I participated in something so epic. Over the course of my 3 years, I am proud to say I was able to raise close to $8000 for breast cancer research at the Princess Margaret Hospital! This has been a huge accomplishment for me.
Steph and I at the start of the walk

ain't that the truth!

one of the neighbourhood houses cheering on the walkers!



approaching the Princess Margaret Hospital. Let the floodgates open!

Steph and I at the end of the walk

The WEBC left me with a little more than great memories and blistered feet. I managed to completely tax my already tired body (read: faceplant with Golden Lake while wakeboarding) and got sick right after the walk. Bad timing seeing as how the following Friday we were embarking on our first trip to Europe - first with a stopover in Munich during Oktoberfest and then a 2 week tour of Turkey. As excited as I was, I was also exhausted and wanted to sleep for the next month. No such luck. Back to work Monday and by Tuesday my cold was full fledged. I was really hoping it would clear up by Friday in time for our trip. Somehow in my delerium I allowed Ken to convince me to hop on my bike for a "light workout" while he ran alongside me throughout the neighbourhood. I really didn't want to do it but let him talk me into it. I didn't want to disappoint him and be lazy, sitting on the couch at home! Towards the end of our ride/run he insisted we go just a few more blocks instead of turn around like I was pleading and I complied. This is about when I pledged to myself that I was forever from this point onward, going to listen to my body and not push myself! While trying to keep my ears warm (after all with this cold, they were full of fluid), I tilted my head so my shoulder met my ear and somehow my equilibrium went off kilter and before I knew it, my face was making out with the pavement. Not cool. I panicked, thinking I had smashed my teeth (my very expensive, veneered teeth) but luckily I hadn't. What I did have was an instant fat-lip, dirt so far up my nose I couldn't breathe and blood everywhere. EEK! Ken was freaking trying to logically make sense of the situation and how it possibly could've happened while I was freaking on the ground also trying to fathom what had just happened. Did I actually just fall off my bike and faceplant into the ground? Yes, I had. Needless to say the next few days were hell walking around with a mangled face and bruised ego. Not to mention my cold which seemed to worsen ten-fold overnight. I was in fine shape for my trip which at this point was only a few days away! Here is a mugshot of the damage right after the incident and a few days later...
OUCH!


I still have slight scars from the incident and the mental scar is enough to make me terrified of hopping on a bike again anytime soon. Ken felt horrible that he had persuaded me to go on the bike ride when I insisted I didn't want to and spent the next while nursing me and my face back to normal.

By the time we boarded the plane to Munich my body had pretty much given up on me. To make things worse (or better depending on how you look at the situation), I was planning to spend the next 48 hours in a drunken stupor, embracing Oktoberfest to the fullest. Ein Prossit!
Arrived in Munich early Saturday morning, aka, the first day of Oktoberfest and instantly knew we were in for some fun. Got lost in the Marienplatz trying to find our hotel but didn't really mind as we wandered aimlessly in our jet lagged state. Found our hotel, settled in, power napped and headed out for some much needed litre biers! Devoured a plate of sauerkraut and sausage - something I would never normally eat but it felt appropriate and tasted GREAT! You can't really go wrong with salt, grease and beer. The rest of the day/night is slightly foggy but I'm sure it involved consuming a lot more BIER! Day 2 (and sadly our last - had to make this visit brief to spare our livers!) started bright and early (read: jet lag) with more bier. Convinced at this point liquor laws are temporarily suspended during the 2 weeks of Oktoberfest. Fine by me! Made our way to the Theresienweisse grounds where all the giant bier halls are and to our surprise, a massive carnival with dozens of spinny rides! I can't think of a more terrible combo than litre biers and spinny rides but people were lovin' it. An interesting observation I made during our brief jaunt was that the more people drink, the more love drunk they get! Not once did I see tempers flare or fists thrown. It was so refreshing to be in a place where everyone was there to simply eat, drink and be merry. And that we did my friends. We also quickly learned that the best base to coat your stomach before consuming a few litre biers was, naturally, salty carbs! Pretzels are a staple at Oktoberfest and again, are something I would never eat here in Canada. When in Rome....
We had doubts that we would make it into any of the bier halls being that we didn't arrive extra early and stake out a spot in line. From the research I had done prior, I understood that we wouldn't have a hope in hell of getting in anywhere. So needless to say we were pleasantly surprised when we just strolled into the Hofbrau Haus and insanely thrilled when we were able to order BIER! The rule is that in order to get a bier, you must have a seat or a table. People guard these with their lives and seeking 2 seats was going to be a challenge. Luckily, we made some new friends (or mates rather) from England who let us sidle up to their stand-up table to order a few pints of liquid gold. Once you have your coveted beverage, you're free to wander around the bier hall at your leisure. And let me tell you, this place is massive! It is loud, rowdy and glorious!!! Not something I could handle on a typical Friday night but definitely an experience I will remember forever. The chanting and cheers'ing creates a cult-ish vibe that is hard to ignore. It's contagious.


Rationale kicked in after a few giant mugs of bier and the fact that we had to board a plane that night to Turkey. We collected ourselves, smuggled a Hofbrau Haus stein (shhh!) and stumbled over to the English Gartens. Perhaps it was the beer goggles and my love-drunk state but this park was one of the most beautiful city parks I've seen. People were sprawled out on the grass, drinking, napping, making out... and not a speck of trash was to be seen on the ground. Torontonians, you could learn a thing or two about this! And the bicycles! Oh, the bikes. They are everywhere. Cruisers, speed bikes, mountain bikes, small bikes, trikes, you name it, it had wheels and someone was riding it. I wish we had more time to experience this beautiful city by bike.
Just beyond the park we found the Eisbach River. This is the river that locals have rigged up a structure under the water to make the fast flowing current create a wave for surfing. I thought it might've been too cool to be out on the river surfing but we were delighted to see the banks on either side lined up with riders decked in wet suits waiting to drop in. One by one they systematically straddled their board and rode the wave back and forth until they succumbed to its current and floated downstream, only to do it all over again. It was incredible and the locals swelled with pride each time someone threw down a sick trick. As an interesting aside, this was where part of the "Make it Mine" video by Jason Mraz was filmed.


From there it was time to hustle back to the hotel, collect our things and go to the airport. Our whirlwind trip to Munich was sadly over but I can confidently say this is one place I will most definitely return to someday. And magically, I felt healthy for 2 days! Go figure that one out cause I can't.
On we went, destination: Istanbul. We arrived close to midnight, checked into our hotel and dined on the most heavenly hummus I have tasted at a small family-run restaurant across from our hotel. I knew I was in for 2 more weeks of delicious delights! Met our guide the next morning and began our 2 week GAP adventure; Absolute Turkey. I will take this moment to say that despite their best efforts, GAP adventures contracted this tour to a local tour company and our guide was el terriblay. Despite that, we did our best to enjoy this trip - our first organized tour ever. Unfortunately, part of organized travel means being with the same group of people the entire time. And being that Turkey is a large country geographically, we covered a lot of ground and saw most of the country from a bus window. This resulted in a lot of time listening to people whine about how awful our guide was and how he was ruining their vacation. Unfortunate that people can't suck it up and make the best of an experience in a country that has so much to offer. Turkey was wild and wonderful and weird. Its landscapes varied from crowded dirty urban streets to mountainous lush forests to barren, rocky spanses formed by volcanic rock centuries ago. It tells the story of its ever-evolving politics and religious influence in a way that makes you marvel. Its history goes so far back that you sometimes can't remember if the ruins you're looking at or the churches carved into caves are from BC or AD. They have it all. Its richness consumes your senses and overwhelms your being. The food, the language, the architecture, the markets - Turkey's culture is truly a reflection of its people. The two weeks took us into the interior (Cappaodocia region and Konya), then south to the mediterranean sea (Antalya), along the coast (Kas, Pammukale, Ephesus) and finally up to Troy and Galipoli, ending up in Istanbul. It's too long to go through our itinerary day by day but here are some highlights: The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, sneaking into a swank hotel in Istanbul to get a panoramic rooftop view of the city, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice daily (just pennies a glass!), typical Turkish breakfast which we learned to love (hard boiled egg, olives, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, deep fried cheese rolls, bread and jam), the Grand Bazaar, spending a night on a boat in the mediterranean, swimming in the mediterranean, Turkish pide, Efes beer, walking on the salt lake, Derinkuyu the underground city, hiking through chimaera, the eternal flames, driving along sketchy winding mountainside roads, visiting Ephesus, Pammukkale ....the list goes on. It was indeed incredible!

Returning home was bittersweet. We were ready to be back and away from the rest of the travellers in our group but wished we could've spent more time in the places we loved most in Turkey. Which brings us to October....

October 2009
The day after we arrived back home happened to be my birthday. One of the great perks at Blue Mountain is having your birthday day off! Sweet, one more day to recover. It was slow going and I've got nothing special to report from my birthday. I guess anything would've been anticlimactic compared to the experience we just had in Germany and Turkey. I was expecting to start a night course for Adobe InDesign at our local Georgian College campus that evening so Ken and I hadn't even made dinner plans. As it turns out, my course had been cancelled and dinner plans went by the wayside. I made nachos (something I was craving our entire time away!). Happy 29th to me...sigh. Ken vowed he would have something extra special planned for my 30th. I'll tell you right now that I don't plan on making nachos to ring in the dirty thirty.
Back to work on Tuesday and it was full speed ahead for the next month. October is our seasons pass campaign at work and it requires all hands on deck. Several trips to Toronto for work (Ski show, Breakfast Television) later and the month was over. But not before we hosted Ken's family for Thanksgiving. No turkey this year though!

November 2009
November calmed down slightly and I was able to regain some much needed sleep! Thankfully, October's hard work paid off with a successful seasons pass campaign. It was only a matter of time until the hectic winter pace at work picked up again so I was enjoying some down time during November. At the start of the month I joined Jess Synnott on her yearly shopping bonanza in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Non-stop shopping for 2 straight days wore on my wallet and my feet! Some great finds were found (including my first Coach purse!) at bargain basement prices ($39!). 12 hours on a bus there and back and bags full of goodies made me a happy girl! Retail therapy definitely did the trick and after a busy month prior, I felt like I earned it.
Towards the end of the month, the camp girls all headed down to the city for a night on the town and a sleepover at Trish's. It was great to catch up with everyone that could make it (Jess, Alison M., Lisa, Trish and myself) and to see Alison Cross at the bar. Unfortunately Devon couldn't make it and man, do I miss that girl! We went to El Convento Rico for the night which is a latin dance bar that features a drag show at midnight. Hilarious! It was a great evening spent with some wonderful women, friends I don't see nearly often enough. Miss you girls!

post script: major oversight! At the end of October Ken was browsing on MLS (an old past time) and "accidentally" stumbled upon a house that was love at first sight for us both. It was an old 40s home that had been completely renovated inside and out, updated with super sleek finishes and style. It screamed Kaden! So, somewhat on an impulse at the start of November, we listed our house and put a conditional offer on this house. Eek! We had everyone guessing as to why we made this snap decision when we weren't even planning to move. We were somewhat puzzled ourselves but went with it anyway. A couple of months passed with only a handful of showings on our place and it was beginning to sink in that maybe this wasn't the house for us. At the start of the whole thing, we said that if it didn't work out with our "dream home" that we would take our house off the market and stay here. Well...some sense sunk in as the time passed and there were indications that perhaps this wasn't the house for us. We allowed the conditional period to lapse and chose not to extend the offer on said dream home. As it stands today, our house is still for sale and where we end up next remains to be seen.

December
December started off kind of crappy to be honest. For years I've been suffering from off and on stomach cramps ranging in severity. Starting around August I was having them daily; crippling pain that caused me to lose concentration and focus. I had been to all kinds of medical professionals in the past trying to diagnose the source of pain to no avail. And then it would go away for a while, giving me temporary relief. Frustrated, in pain and at the end of my rope, I sought relief in a local Naturopathic Doctor that came highly recommended. Her plan of attack was to run a food allergy test that would conclusively tell me which foods I was allergic to and to what degree. Her suspicion was dairy. However, having recorded a detailed food diary in an effort to single out the source, I didn't agree with her assumptions. It was probably denial. Ice cream is my favourite comfort food and cheese is an old faithful. I refused to believe it could be dairy. But sure enough, at the start of December I went in for my results and the culprit? Whey protein and casein. Two of the major proteins found in cow's milk and goat's milk. And what was I eating everyday at lunch? Cottage cheese! Super high in protein! It's no wonder I was in dire straits but it didn't make the result any easier to handle. Beyond the major dairy allergy, I was also forbidden to eat almonds, peanuts, carrots, eggs and grapes (red or white). So with just weeks left before the holidays, I was told no cheese, no baked goodies, no wine...UGH! It was a harsh realization and has been a huge adaptation in my diet and lifestyle. I'm finally starting to get used to the regimen and have found some decent cheese alternatives made of soy but nothing will ever match a wheel of brie or a tub of hagen daazs. On the bright side? I've lost weight, feel healthier and am so thrilled to not be in pain anymore.
Christmas day was spent waking up alone in our house. We really needed to spend some alone time and with Ryan in Nigeria for Christmas, we decided to celebrate with everyone just after Christmas. On the 25th we went to my mom's house for a lovely dinner and then came back home to our cozy, empty house. It was a refreshing change to have that for the first time ever. Boxing day was an early start off to Ottawa to spend 2 days with R&K. Short but sweet, they spoiled us with yummy food and plenty of gifts. Pingu was in her element with doggy Christmas treats! Back in the car on the 28th with a stopover in Uxbridge for my extended family Christmas dinner followed by the most harrowing winter drive I have ever experienced (literally could not see 2ft in front of you) and we made it home in one piece in time for the Olympic Torch Relay which went through the resort in the early morning of the 29th. It was the coldest day of winter (minus 30 with wind chill!) but so worth it. I even got to hold the torch! Who cares if my nose almost fell off and I was practically throwing up from being so cold!? It was an incredible Canadian experience.

Lastly, we ended 2009 on a high note for another celebration at Steph and Ty's. This years' theme was Olympics and along with Alana, Roz and Steph, we dressed as the Jamaican bobsled team! Everyone embraced the theme wholeheartedly and there were some sweet get-ups; team Canada hockey, figure skating pairs, Germany, English cricket. A solid effort was put forth by all. Consumed far too much alcohol of all different varieties which resulted in an entirely wasted first day of 2010 but it was worth it.

There was much to celebrate and be happy about in 2009. I can only hope 2010 brings just as many highs!

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1 Comments:

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7:55 AM  

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