Wish This Was A Summer Vacation Report

Yesterday, a friend posted "It smells like autumn."  NOoooo! It can't be!  I'm not ready for the summer to be over yet.  Where did it go?

My friends and family already know the answer.  Yes, once again, I spent too much time at work.  Once I am able to talk about the project I'm working on, that statement won't seem so sad.  It's an important project, so the effort is worth it and the results are good so far.

In my free time I did manage to enjoy the summer somewhat.  So far, I've kept my promise to myself and visited my favorite place in the city once a month: Montreal Botanical Gardens.  I am particularly delighted with my July visit when I decided to photograph lilies in the evening.  I had never visited during lily season and the flowering brook garden was in full blooming glory.  Below are a few of my favorite shots.

A couple week later, I bought my new toy: a Canon S100.  I've been frustrated with my old point-and-shoot camera for quite awhile and I don't always want to carry my DSLR with me.  So, as a reward for successfully passing an important milestone on my project at work, I invested in my photo habit.  I'm carrying that camera with me everywhere and I'm gradually figuring out all the features.  It's almost as good as my DSLR but WAY more compact.  It can also do HDR, but I haven't had an appropriate subject to try it out yet.  Of all the creative modes, I'm enjoying the toy camera and the spot color modes the most.  

The major festivals came and went.  Now that I no longer work beside Place des Arts, I didn't even walk through the festival area and take in the free concerts/activities.  At least D and I went to see one of the fireworks shows from La Ronde.  It was our anniversary, so we got the gold seats and it was worth it!  We also had a great afternoon at La Ronde... it didn't (really) rain! 

Finally, just this weekend, I got out on my bike!  I hosted a MEETin event to cycle along the Lachine Canal.  It turned out to be a bigger adventure, resulting in a tour of Verdun.  The weather was amazing! Since I was the only person with a camera, I did not take any scenic pictures along the way.  Still, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Every time I go cycling, I wonder why I don't do it more often.  Montreal is a great city for cycling, especially when the weather is like it was yesterday.  

Hmmmm... maybe I should start a photo blog instead?  I would probably post more often!

Hula Hoop!

Shortly after starting a series of yoga classes at Studios Vert Prana back in November,  I wanted to try a hula hoop class.  How could I not be tempted?  Seeing the colorful hoops on the walls around the studio, I figured it would be a fun sport to try.  As soon as the Introduction to Hula Hoop class was announced, I signed up for what became my big Adventure in Montreal for February 2012.

First, this is not the hula hooping you remember as a kid.  It's more like what you would see a gymnast or an acrobat do... once we learn how to do those moves.  The hoops are weighted -- the heavier ones being better for beginners because the hoop turns slower.  Also, we aren't just hooping around our waists.  Already in the first class, we were hooping around our necks and hands!

I must confess - I loved to hula hoop when I was a little kid.  I remember participating in a "rodeo" event in gym class in Grade 1 or 2.  One of the events was hula hooping, but it had some "rodeo" name instead.  I practiced for weeks in advance of the big event and, if I remember correctly, it paid off.  I won a ribbon!  Still, I was a bit nervous at the start of the first class.  It's been over 30 years, would I still remember how to hula hoop?  My body is quite a bit curvier than when I was six or seven and it certainly doesn't move the same way. 

With the first spin of the hoop, it all came back.  I was happily hooping at my first attempt.  The weight on the hoop does help... and work the abs.  After a couple of minutes, I understood why it's a great workout for the mid-section.  In less than five minutes, our instructor started to challenge us:  do a 360 turn in the same direction as the hoop, do a 360 turn in the opposite direction, walk across the room while hooping, walk backwards across the room while hooping.  Fortunately, it's hard not to have fun, so everyone was smiling and laughing as we were trying to figure it all out.  We then progressed to spinning the hoop around our necks (that takes getting used to!), vertically around our hand, horizontally around our hand above our heads, and switching hands in both situations.  Finally, we wrapped up with a move I still haven't figured out completely: moving the hoop from spinning around my hand above my head to spinning around my neck (all while the hoop keeps spinning). 

Unfortunately, I missed the 2nd class due to a 24-hour bug and I certainly felt the missing week on my 3rd class.  By the end of the 4th class, I can spin the hoop around my knees, switch hands behind my back and raise the hoop from my waist to above my head and back to my waist all while keeping it spinning.  The last move is called the Corkscrew.  Didn't quite get good enough to do the Vortex, though.  We even learned how to step through a hoop vertically spinning on our hands, but I definitely need more practice with that move.

Oh, yeah, and all the instruction was in French :)

Some friends have been bugging me for a video of my hula hooping adventure.  Yeah, right.  Instead, I'll share this video I found on YouTube that shows what the Corkscrew is.  She makes it look easy.  It took me two classes to really figure it out.

Winterlude!

Winterlude wasn't the only reason I needed to escape my boxes in my tiny apartment to go to Ottawa and hang out with friends... but it was a great one! Montreal has a similar winter festival, but for the first time in 25 years it was canceled due to a labour dispute. So, last Saturday morning I hopped on a bus to Ottawa. By the time I arrived, the sun was shining and the city was digging out of a major overnight snowfall. It was winter at it's finest - fresh, fluffy white snow, sunshine and it wasn't freezing cold. What better way to spend the day than having brunch with a friend followed by baking the best brownies ever. The evening was sort of a reunion of former coworkers and friends I haven't seen in years. Good food, good wine, and the sweetest little kids you've ever met running around.

Sunday morning started out snowy and cloudy as we headed to the canal. I haven't skated since, oh, 1998 or 1999, so at first I was taking tips from 4-year-old James. After awhile I found my skating legs... and James was skating piggy-back with his dad. By the time we stopped for Beaver Tails, the sun was shining and it was an absolutely perfect day. For my friends out west, Beaver Tails are an Ottawa must. It's a whole wheat, deep fried pastry roughly shaped like a beaver's tail - kind of like a crispy flat donut. My favorite is the Killaloe - cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice on the top. As we passed under the Banks street bridge, we stopped to look at the paintings on display - and laugh at a portrait of Wayne Gretzky from 1983. At the 5th street rest stop, we had a nutritious lunch of hot dogs and had to call it a day. I had totally forgotten how uncomfortable ice skate can be!


James and I spent the afternoon playing "spaceship" with the couch pillows, imagining we were flying around Pluto and capturing aliens who were plotting to destroy all the planets. For the record, that was completely James' imagination. I was just along for the ride. Playing with kids is a great way to feel 20 years younger :) By the time I got back into Montreal Sunday night I had made a new friend and I was both completely revitalized and completely exhausted. All in all, a perfect weekend!

Welcome 2008!

Goodbye 2007! Welcome 2008!

The friends I spent Christmas with arrived in Montreal Saturday night. It was cozy in my "cute" little "junior suite" so it was bit like having a 3-night sleep-over. We spent Sunday shopping, mostly at Atwater Market. If you're the least bit a foodie, you must visit Atwater. We bought fabulous tourtieres, cheese, pate, teas, strawberries that were actually red inside and croissants that are supposedly the best in the world. We even sampled ice cider -- similar to ice wine, but made from frozen apples. One friend got addicted to wild Madgascar black pepper and proceeded to add it to everything (tea, red wine, you name it!) all weekend. Going to the market will now become a weekend ritual for me. At some point, I'll have to try Jean Talon market and compare.

New Year's Eve was spent at Les Trois Minots bar on St. Laurent. We knew one of the bands - Schomberg Fair (pictured above). The bar is a tiny alternative music hang out, reminding me a bit of Clark Hall Pub but the floors were not as sticky. All the bands were young and ranged from punk to alternative to rock-a-billy. It was a cool way to welcome 2008.

My friends had to drive back to Toronto on New Year's Day in yet another snowstorm, unfortunately. I had tickets to the Salute to Vienna concert at Place des Arts. The best way to describe it is that it's a Viennese classical variety show -- a bit of symphony, a bit light opera, a bit of dancing. Of course, one of the encores was the Blue Danube waltz with the dancers waltzing. It was also a trilingual event, confirming that my German is definitely better than my French.

All in all, a delicious and musical way to start the new year.

The funny thing about Christmas...

As my life turned upside down, my only thoughts about Christmas were about how to avoid it while not being totally alone. In the past few years, the weeks leading up to Christmas were often stressful for a variety of reasons, some of it self-imposed. This year I certainly didn't feel like having anything to do with Christmas. The funny thing is, though, that it managed to find me anyway.

I took the train to Toronto to spend the long weekend with friends - just hang out, talk, relax. That's pretty much what we did, but Christmas was still there with us. Instead of a tree, we had a Christmas ivy on the fire place mantel, surrounded with candles. Instead of children, we had three little black kittens running around the apartment and chewing on the ribbons. On Christmas Eve, we had guests, gifts were exchanged, followed by a couple of rounds of Cranium (even more fun with a couple of drinks). We spent Christmas day in our pajamas, watching Ratatouille, part of a Crossing Jordan marathon, and Horton Hears a Who. During a brief internet fix, I found the Santa Claus blog. It's wonderful and hilarious, so I put the link on this blog. It will be interesting to read what happens at North Pole, Inc. in 2008. We even had a Christmas ham, technically, though that dinner was the night before Christmas Eve. As with all Christmas hams, it was enjoyed in various forms throughout the weekend (sandwiches, snack platter, quiche... there will be a ham and pea/bean soup at some point in the future).

All in all, it was the best way to spend Christmas. I feel really blessed to have such good friends here and around the world. Everyone has been so supportive. I really appreciate it.