Riverton's Biggest Loser

Well, after getting on the weight loss bandwagon, then falling off temporarily, I am getting myself back on the horse so to speak, beginning with tonight's weigh-in of Riverton's Biggest Loser. It started as a question on Facebook and has spiraled into a weight loss competition which should have around 20 people participating (by my guestimating, anyway).

There is a pretty big carrot at the end of the road with this challenge. Each participant pays $40 which goes into a prize pool, and at the end the winner gets the pot and I think second place gets their money back. So if we have 20 people participate we're looking at a potential winnings of almost $800!

The money would be nice, but really I'll be glad to be doing this with other people. I don't think I'll ever get south of 200 pounds again due to my build, but if I can get down to around 220 I'd be pretty happy with that.

My plan is to adjust my diet, play badminton once a week, run on the elliptical 3 times a week, and curl once a week. I already do the curling and badminton, so I just need to add that elliptical time on the physical activity front.

New Dad Stuff

Sarah keeps laughing at me about how involved I am in planning things for the baby. I was the one who found the crib, I've been looking at bedding and strollers online, I even made a 3-D mock-up of the nursery on the computer yesterday so we could look at different paint colour options. Sarah loves that I am so involved but as I say, I think she finds it a little funny too. And based on the online research I've been doing on strollers, crib safety, etc, everything out there is targeted at the moms, not the dads, so I guess maybe I'm not the norm.

I guess I just want to contribute somehow. Sarah is doing all the hard work carrying the baby. She's right in the middle of being a parent already. It just feels to me like the only fatherly thing I can be doing right now is things like constructing furniture and installing new carpets. It's how I feel involved, even though I prefer the design process to the time when I finally lug all of my office stuff down to the basement.

A friend asked me yesterday if I was freaking out yet about being a dad. I haven't freaked out yet, but when I actually allow myself to start thinking about all the little things I easily could freak out. I'm pretty good with kids, they usually tend to like me (especially Westman children for some reason), but that's when they are a little bit older. I'm not as good with infants, so that will be a whole new experience for me.

But for now, the construction side is all I can do.

Why I Love Mennville

Mennville really is a great place to live. Even though many of us are not within easy walking distance of each other, there is a true sense of community that I absolutely love.

I thought I'd share a few experiences of mine to highlight just why Mennville is so darn awesome.

The other day my car started making a nasty noise as I was driving through town. Del happened to be on the street as I drove by, and he offered that I could bring the car over to his place and he'd take a look. So over to Del's I went, and after picking up some parts I went back the next day and we worked on the car. I have pretty much zero skills when it comes to fixing a car (I know where the gas and washer fluid go, does that count?), but Del took the time to actually show me how to do things, even when he was probably so frustrated with my lack of skill he wanted to punch me (which I said he could do if he needed to). Del never lost patience with me though, he just helped me when I needed help and let me work away when I didn't. I pretty much cemented my "least manly man in Mennville" post while working on the car!

At the same time as my car problems were going on, I posted a request on Facebook to see if anyone was going to be in Arborg with a truck, since I needed to get my now-fixed lawnmower home. I quickly had three replies offering to help me out, and Corey brought it home for me in the back of his van.

My car is still in Del's shop, so a phone call later and Lindsey said she'd drive me to work!

I don't know how I'd survive living in the country without such great friends and neighbors all around.

Another act of kindness that struck me as being awesome was again a result of Facebook. Jared had put up on his status that he could really go for a cold Pepsi, as he was out combining in a field. Shortly thereafter, Anita offers to bring him one and from what I could see on Facebook she did just that.

So for all of my fellow bloggers that live or lived in Mennville, I put this challenge out to you; why do you love Mennville? Let us know!

Anniversary

So today is our 2 year wedding anniversary. To celebrate this year, we spent 3 days camping in the Whiteshell. I would say it was a good anniversary.

We stayed at the Otter Falls provincial campground. It's a fairly small campground, at least in comparison to Hecla or St. Malo. The sites aren't as private as the aforementioned campgrounds, but we had chosen a site that only had a neighbouring site on one side. When we picked the site we didn't realize we were right next to the road either.

Would we go back to Otter Falls? Maybe. What the campground has going for it is the fact it is literally right on Margaret Lake. You can actually book a site that is directly on the water. So if you like to fish you can fish from your campsite. If you're a boater, you can pull your boat right up to your tent! And some of those sites actually had a small sand beach right off of them; if you are there with kids you can watch them swim while making dinner!

One highlight for me was our canoe trip. We rented a canoe and tooled around on the lake, and I really enjoyed it. Unlike Lake Winnipeg, the lakes in the Whiteshell are a little...calmer, and less unpredictable. I was a little surprised that I could rent a canoe without even giving my name; the Otter Falls Resort (next to the campground) rents out the canoes, and seriously, they took my money and rented us the canoe without taking a name, phone number, or credit card. We could have just loaded it on top of our car and drove away (but we didn't, just to be clear!). Had we rented a powerboat they would have taken our name (since they were going to record my Pleasure Craft Operator's license info)

We played games, had naps, ate some good camping food, and spent the whole time together. It was a great anniversary. I love you babe!

Most Beloved

One of my hobbies is writing, and this week-end I threw this together. I've been a contributor at the Tales of the Parodyverse message board for many years now, and one of the regulars posted this picture of one of his characters. It's such a beautiful piece I had to write something to go with it. I don't know how hard this will be to follow for those not "in the know", but I figured what the heck, I'd post it here anyway just for fun.

Most Beloved

It was not clear what awoke Magweed that clear fall morning, the gulls circling her lighthouse home or the sunlight tickling her face through the open window. Irregardless of the source, the young girl awoke and sat up in her bed, arms stretched high and wide to stir her muscles back to activity.

With her stronger right leg she kicked the down comforter away and, bracing herself with her good arm, swung herself so her bare feet dangled over the side of the bed. She rea ched out to grasp for her cane before sliding down to the floor.

She quietly made her way to the wash basin in her bathroom. A splash of water across her pale green face helped to chase the last of the sandman's influence away. She found an elastic band and pulled her long brown hair away from her face, a few stray wisps escaping confinement.

With her hair secure, she padded back into her bedroom. She began to go through her closet, looking for something to wear. She quickly decided on a pair of comfortable dark jeans and a pair of white and pink socks. After a few more minutes of perusal, she settled on a tan t urtleneck.

The young girl then pulled on her favourite sweater vest, made special for her by her auntie Kerry's friend Samantha. It was green and yellow, modeled after her father's penchant for a green sweater and yellow overcoat. When she wore it she felt like her father was always with her, protecting her.

While she was dressed, Magweed was still far from ready to leave her room. She was born with a frail arm and leg, and they were not strong enough to support her without help. Friends of her father's had designed for her a set of special braces that would not only help her get around, but also build up her strength so that one day she would have no need of them.

She started with the arm brace; without it she lacked the strength to properly fasten the one for her leg. It had taken her weeks before she was able to don the braces without help, but now that she had mastered them she was determined to never need help to use them ever again.

Maggie fastened the last strap of her leg brace and stood up, this time without the aid of the cane. She took a moment to get used to the padded metal embracing her limbs, then stepped through her bedroom door.

It was still very early, and she did not want to wake any of the other occupants in the house. Her brother's room was next to hers, the door wide open. She imagined that the wind must have blown it open through the night, as the young boy inside usually slept with the door partially shut. Griffin was tangled in his covers again, his bare feet sticking out from the mass of fabric. He often dreamed of fantastic battles as a mythical griffin and more than once had actually thrashed his way out of his bed onto the hardwood floor below, and Maggie reasoned he had had such a dream again. She smiled at that; Griffin loved dreaming of flying, so he had told her.

The room with the biohazard symbol on the door belonged to her auntie Kerry, who was the legal ward of her father and also his sister by adoption. While Kerry would never hurt Maggie, the young girl had learned quickly that if she wished to enter the room, she was to knock, then hide around the corner to be sure no stray explosions made their way out of the room when the door opened. After that it was safe. Mostly.

The last door before the stairs belonged to her father, Visionary. To many his name seemed odd, even peculiar with his lack of a surname, but to the fairy princess who was born t o two mothers, one of extraterrestrial origin and the other a sophisticated computer system, the peculiar was rather ordinary. Most of her family had no last name, though she herself had two. While she went by Magweed, her birth name was actually Naari, which in the Caphan language of her mother translated to “most beloved in all the world”.

Taking special care not to wake her father, Maggie crept down the stairs of the lighthouse. She lacked the stealth of her brother Griffin, but she still did her best. One day she would n ot have the leg brace weighing her down, clacking against the wooden steps.

Once Maggie reached the ground level she made her way outside. She loved the outdoors, especially early in the morning. Her home on Parody Island allowed her to feel like she was away from the technological bustle of the city and one with nature. Having grown up in Faerie, modern technology was something she was still adjusting to.

As she made her way down the cobblestone path to the island's shore, animals began to gather around her. A robin perched itself on her shoulder, and field mice frolicked at her feet. As she approached the water several fish signaled their greeting by leaping above the waves, the morning sun gleaming on their scales.

When her friends were around the animals were not as open with her, as they were frightened by those who did not understand them. But in the early morning, with a salty breeze w histling through her hair and the human and humanoid occupants of the island tucked into their beds, she could get out and spend time with her feathered, furred, and finned friends in peace.

And thus Princess Magweed, Naari of the House of Visionary, most beloved in all the world, gave that love back, one tiny friend at a time.

Speaking Greek in English

While attending the BCBC 40th Anniversary celebration this past week-end, I got to spend some time with my good buddy Riker. Riker is turning 8 years old this year (I hope I've got that right; I can barely keep my own age straight), and is growing up fast! He is quickly becoming schooled in the art of trash talking; he challenged me to a game of torpedo ball and then promptly called me "old man". My former name of "JayBoaz" (as the Westman kids usually call me) has been replaced with "old man". I perhaps made the mistake of asking Riker if that meant Sarah is the old lady...

Anyway, while sharing lunch together, Riker and I were quizzing each other on Transformers. I have fond memories of the Transformers cartoon from my childhood, and actually have it on DVD. Riker has borrowed my Beast Wars DVDs before, and now he and his dad are working through their own set of the Transformers cartoon. Riker also spends time reading about the Transformers on-line.

So Riker would ask me "Who do you think my favourite Predacon is?" I would proceed to rattle off several Predacons from the Beast Wars series. Waspinator. Inferno. Rampage. Finally I guessed Quickstrike and was right.

So we went back and forth, me guessing Riker's favourites, then Riker guessing mine. At one point, when discussing Decepticons, Sarah tried to participate in the Decepticon debate by suggesting Optimus Prime. Riker and I looked at each other, partially amused and partially shocked. We informed Sarah that Optimus Prime is an Autobot, not a Decepticon.

I then thought about it for a moment, and asked her, "It sounds like we're speaking another language, doesn't it?" She confirmed that yes, the nuances of Cybertronian lifeforms were an alien language to her.

Clearly our schools need to spend more time on the important things in life, like the difference between an Autobot Headmaster and a Predacon Transmetal.

The Deep End

Today I rode my bike to work.

Not the biggest accomplishment in human history, but I'm pretty darn proud of this addition to my personal history. I would guesstimate that it is around 20 km from my house to Riverton. I've been telling myself that I would try it out one day, biking to work, but thought maybe I'd first to a trial run on a week-end.

I don't think I ever would have done that trial run. I would have come up with other things to do, or made excuses, and I doubt I ever would have gone.

This morning, I got up and decided the heck with it, I'm going to jump on my bike and just do it. It's not like I have any choice but to keep on going once I've started. I also have no choice but to bike home today as well, because Sarah will be working at Spruce Sands tonight and won't be able to pick me up and drive me home. And that's where the title of this post comes from.

Sometimes we have to "jump into the deep end" to push ourselves to achieve new things. We can analyze things, think through the pros and cons, but sometimes we spend too much time on analysis and not enough time on action.

And just to finish up, here is what I learned about biking to work in the country:
- Fresh gravel is the enemy of the cyclist
- My shoulder bag is not as suited to cycling as I thought it was
- Head winds suck (well, technically they blow I suppose)
- People don't always slow down when they pass you on a gravel road
- Nature is loud

- What a great way to start the morning!! (in all seriousness, no sarcasm here, it was a great way to start the morning)

Making Progress

I hit a milestone in my weight-loss journey today; I tried on my high school volleyball jersey and it fits again! It's not as loose as it was, but just the fact I can wear it again makes me pretty happy (I'm actually wearing it right now!).

Sarah has really helped me re-focus on losing weight, using a website called www.sparkpeople.com. There is a calorie counter that really helps with your own awareness of how many calories you take in. It also has a fitness tracker, with goals you can set for time spent on physical activity and roughly how many calories you burn doing your activity.

My goal is to get some solid physical activity at least 3 times a week, though I'm really trying to get do it at least 4 times a week. Getting back into badminton helps, and soccer starts in a couple of weeks. Otherwise I've been riding my bike again (I'm thinking of trying to bike to work pretty soon, though I'm not really in bike shape so it might take awhile), going for walks with Sarah, stuff like that.

I'm at 273 right now; 2 months before my wedding I weighed 314. So I'm pretty pumped about how I've been doing, and I need to maintain that momentum going into the summer. My end goal is to get myself down to 220 pounds, but right now I'm just taking it one day at a time, celebrating the small victories.

Moustache March

Losing What Is So Easy To Gain

Man, I wish my title was talking about money. ;)

I've been working at losing weight lately, but I want to make sure I keep my motivation up, so I thought maybe I'd start blogging about my weight loss adventure, kind of as an accountability/support thing.

I'm ashamed to admit it, at one point I weighed 314 pounds. That's what happens when you don't exercise and eat too much of the wrong things. I think I was operating under the impression at that time that exercise had to be running on a treadmill or an exercise bike, when really that isn't necessarily the case.

When I was in high school, I liked to get my exercise through sports, and while I lived in Winnipeg I stopped doing that because I wasn't really sure how to go about getting into sports in the city. Or more likely that was just my excuse. I'm getting back to sports now, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm curling 2-3 days a week (not counting a couple of bonspiels coming up), which isn't the most intense form of exercise but it's certainly better than sitting on the couch. I'm also playing indoor soccer in Winnipeg Beach once a week, and man do I wish it was more than once a week! Just last year I got back into soccer and hadn't realized how much I'd missed it. I've also been using the in-laws treadmill whenever we are in the city, and soon I'll be getting an elliptical machine that my parents are no longer using.

Anyway, at this point I'm sitting at about 282 pounds. Still way too much, but I'm plugging away at it. I'm down a belt loop on my pants since about a month ago and I've got clothes that are starting to fit better or just plain fit again. I don't think I'll ever get below 200 pounds, even though the Body Mass Index says 180 is my ideal weight (don't be fooled, BMI doesn't consider body build; all of the U of M Bisons men's volleyball team are actually above their "ideal" BMI, and I guarantee those guys are in shape!). I'm thinking that with my fairly broad build if I can get to 220 I'll be good. I admit, part of me wants to try get down to 199, just to say I broke 200, but I don't know if that's actually feasible without getting deathly ill.

So from time to time I'll post updates on how my weight loss is doing. I'm hoping that by talking about it on the blog I can keep my motivation going.

My first bald spot

Well, I guess I'm getting older. I found my first bald spot the other day. This isn't that momentous an occasion really, I'm just confused that it's not on top of my head, it's on my face!

(Note: Yes, that is Michael "Pinball" Clemens in the picture with me!)

Check out that smooth spot in my beard on the left side of my face (right along the "goatee line" were I to only have a goatee). I shaved my beard down to a goatee later to see if I'd just trimmed my beard to low in that spot, but nope, that patch is smooth.

I really hope that patch eventually grows again because I hate shaving every day, that's why I grow a beard!

Old Friends, Good Times

I'm in Winnipeg for a conference right now, and while I was in I thought it would be a good time to reconnect with some of my old Olive Garden friends. While I don't miss serving tables, I really did work with some great people.

I started a tradition at the Olive Garden (it lasted a few years, don't know if it still happens now) of a karaoke party to celebrate the ending of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion. After that a group of us started going karaoke somewhat regularly, and we kept at it until the karaoke bar we frequented (which was really close to work) closed.

So, I thought doing a karaoke party as a way to catch up would be fun, and man was I right! We went to a place called Muz Karaoke; unlike a bar, you rent a private room so it's just you and your friends. If you want to talk, you can talk, and if you want to karaoke, you don't have to wait through 2 hours of people you don't know before you get your turn! The facility definitely caters to Asian customers, since English was the second language in the song books (and there was about 1/3 English songs to whatever the Asian language was), but it was a lot of fun.

We thought there were going to be about 10 of us, but in the end there was only 4 of us. Still, we took turns singing individually, doing some duets; sometimes someone would grab up the second microphone and join you on the chorus or harmony, it was a ton of fun. We booked the room for 3 hours, but were having so much fun we stayed for an extra hour and a half. The room rates were very reasonable as well; on a weekday, you can get a room for an hour and a half for $25 (including taxes).

I really loved getting together with my old friends again, and hope to do so again too. Thanks Colleen, Pasith, and Penni!

Reading at REMS

Today I got a phone call from the Riverton Early Middle School; they are looking for different people to come in to read to the students as part of "I Love To Read" month, and lucky me, I got asked to be one of the readers!

I really love to read, and kids are awesome, so I'm looking forward to combining the two. The school gave me the option of choosing my own material or they would get some books ready for me; while I was tempted to choose my own books, I thought I'd let the school handle it just to make sure everything is age appropriate (and therefore more enjoyable for the kids).

There is part of me that is really tempted to bring along a comic book to read to them too...

Manitoba Winter Games

There are some definite perks to working in the Recreation field. Recently I was asked to be a part of the Mission Staff for Team Interlake at the Manitoba Winter Games, being held in March in Portage la Prairie. Basically, as Mission Staff, I am support staff for the coach(es), allowing them to deal solely with the coaching aspect. So if a kid hurts them self and we need to get the medical people over to have a look, I deal with that so the coach can concentrate on the games. I'd say it's like being the team manager except there is a team manager too!

I'm looking forward to going to the Games. I'd like to go sometime as a coach (I had signed up to be an assistant coach for the volleyball team but, long story short, I ended up choosing not to do so), but having that experience as Mission Staff will be great. My board has agreed (unofficially, it'll be official in February) to my suggestion that I go to the Games, but I would not claim overtime after my 8 hour day is up (because I'm sure I'll be 'on' more than 8 hours a day). If I could afford to take the time off I'd happily go as a volunteer, but getting my regular pay cheque while attending is pretty nice.

The Games is job related, and as one of my board members put it, it's a great professional development opportunity for me that will cost no money aside from my time. I get to see how such a large event is run, and will actively be troubleshooting some of the problems/situations that arise during such an event. I'm also glad that I'm going to be a part of the badminton team; I was asked before if I'd consider being Mission Staff for cross country skiing, but I would rather work with a sport I'm actually familiar with.

I'm looking forward to a fun few days at the Games, though I will miss the wife while I'm away. I also learned my plan to sleep at my parents won't work; I'll be on an air mattress in a school classroom (or something like that).

Still, being a part of an event like this is a pretty sweet part of my job!

Arizona Weather

I think this'll be my last post about Arizona, but I had to share about the weather in Arizona.

It is winter in Arizona, so it is cooler right now than in the summer. I'd say the warmest the mercury climbed to was about 22 degrees Celsius (for all intents and purposes the rest of this post will be in Celsius unless I say otherwise), and it would cool down in the evenings to about 8 degrees or so.

To me, coming from Manitoba, this is warm. Not hot, but warm. I wore shorts and sandals pretty much every day, and even Sarah (who gets cold infinitely sooner than I do) wore a skirt for a day or two. I definitely stood out as a tourist, because to natives of Arizona, it was cold.

For example, while golfing (in shorts and a t-shirt, though admittedly I probably could have worn a long-sleeve shirt or a windbreaker) I saw the beverage cart girl drive up to us. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt (with the hood up), mitts, and a scarf over her face.

While at the Coyotes game, two guys behind me were talking about the possibility of Phoenix playing some games in Saskatchewan, and about how cold it is there. One of the guys commented that it was cold enough in Phoenix that day that he pulled out his parka. I couldn't help but turn around and talk the weather with them.

Some businesses actually have outdoor heaters set up. The Hilton had four heaters outside their entrance so you'd be warmed up on your way in the door. When we were last in Arizona for Joel and Ashley's wedding, the venue set up heaters at our outdoor dinner table (which I thought were mosquito zappers until someone told me they don't have mosquitoes in Arizona).

Our server at the restaurant in the Hilton had a great point though; while residents of Arizona probably couldn't handle the cold in Manitoba, we Manitobans wouldn't be able to handle their heat in the summer (the average summer high is about 40 degrees Celsius, which means it gets hotter than that!). I think it was a good point, and I for one hope to not visit Arizona in the summertime!

My First Coyotes Game

While in Arizona, I really wanted to go see a Phoenix Coyotes game. The nearest NHL city to me is Minneapolis, at 10 hours away, so a 45 minute drive down the interstate was much more appealing. A few people I talked to beforehand in Arizona thought driving 45 minutes was too far for a hockey game...I drive almost 2 hours just to go to a Moose game, let alone an NHL game, so the drive time didn't really phase me.

The Coyotes have been pretty shaky financially since, well, probably since the team moved to Phoenix. The organization offers a lot of perks to get people to games. For example, I did not have to pay for parking, and there was a pile of staff out directing traffic so parking was an absolute breeze.

When I approached the ticket booth for tickets (Sarah was worried they'd be sold out; I told her not to worry, it's a Coyotes game), I was promptly informed that there were no more $15 seats left. I said that was fine, I didn't want $15 seats. I think they just expect that people want the cheapest seats possible.

One promotion the team offers runs from Monday-Thursday, where a $30 ticket gets you an upper deck seat and all the pop, hot dogs, and popcorn you can consume. While tempting, I didn't want to sit in the nosebleeds, I wanted a good seat. So, I chose the $60 seats, which got us a seat on the corner near the top of the lower bowl. Honestly, the seats were amazing. We could see everything on the ice; if you're too close to the glass, or in the middle of the arena, you can't see into the close corners. From our seats, that wasn't a problem.

The arena is a very nice facility (it reminded me of the MTS Centre, actually). I really liked seeing the numbers of the only retired numbers in the franchises history, because they were all Winnipeg Jets, not Coyotes. The names and numbers were displayed in Jets colours too, which was a nice touch.

Speaking of Jets colours, I took my Jets jersey with me to wear to the game. I had a few people ask if I was from Winnipeg (to which I said yes, it's easier than explaining where Riverton is when you're out of the country) only to find out they were from Winnipeg too.

There was a pretty good size crowd at the game, which surprised me. However, when the national anthems began I was struck by how many people were singing O Canada. Turns out the game was packed with Canadians on vacation like us who chose to go to the game against the Vancouver Canucks. There were a LOT of Canucks jerseys in the crowd.

The Coyotes scored the first goal, and half of the crowd got up and cheered. A minute later the Canucks scored, and the OTHER half of the crowd got up and cheered! The game was very enjoyable because both teams had a strong presence in the crowd; "Go Coyotes Go" was often met with "Go Canucks Go". Sarah was cheering for the Canucks, but I couldn't bring myself to cheer against the Coyotes while wearing my Jets jersey.

I was talking with some guys in the crowd during the game, and they told me that this was the second largest crowd the Coyotes had had all season. The biggest crowd was the home opener, when all the seats were free. From what I understood, the best crowds throughout the year are the ones when western Canadian teams (and the Leafs) are playing the Coyotes, as those are the ones the snowbirds go to I guess.

The game was a tight one that went all the way to a shoot-out (which I was hoping for). I have to admit, the Coyotes have really turned things around this year. Come play-off time, they'll be the Western Conference team I'll be rooting for all the way, until/unless they meet the Penguins, then I have to go with my boys.

I have some pictures from the game, but they're not on this computer, so I'll include some later if I post some pictures on the blog (those of you who have me on Facebook can see the pictures I have up so far there).

Christmas in Arizona - Travel

I think I'm going to break up our trip into a couple of small posts based on theme, rather than try to recount the entire trip. So, to start things off, let's talk about travel!

Getting down to Arizona was pretty easy; the only hiccup along the way was Sarah feeling a little faint in the Denver airport, but after we got some food in her she was fine. The fun began upon landing in Phoenix.

While waiting at the baggage carousel, a voice came over the PA system to announce that our bags would not be unloaded from the plane because it was raining. Nobody was very impressed with this; it's just rain! There was some brief lightning strikes for a few minutes, but I don't know that that warranted waiting over an hour for our luggage.

Once we finally got our luggage, we discovered my golf clubs hadn't made the trip. We eventually discovered they were coming in on another flight, and I was given the option to have them delivered free of charge. Rather than hang around the airport for a few more hours I chose the delivery option. I was told they would be delivered between 5:30 and 9:00 that evening.

After 9:00 I called to ask where my clubs where; I was told they'd be delivered now between 7:30 and 11:30. I also found out at this point they had the wrong phone number listed for the condo, so I corrected it with them. Martin and I waited until 1:00 AM before giving up and going to bed. Long story shorter the clubs were finally delivered the next day around 5:00 PM.

Coming home was more of an adventure. Firstly, our luggage was overweight (we had 2 large suitcases and my golf clubs). If we were underweight, it would cost $70 to check our bags. With the 2 suitcases over, it was going to cost over $300! The lady at the counter suggested we go around the corner, buy another bag, and then it would just be an extra $30 to check the fourth bag (bringing our total to $100 instead of over $300). Sarah went and grabbed a bag small enough that we could use it as carry on and we didn't check it at all, so the extra cost was just the new bag. However, the lady at the counter forgot to actually take our payment for the bags (and we forgot until we were going through security), so in the end we paid $30 for a carry on bag and nothing to check the rest!

After getting held up in security for a bit because Sarah's heat bag was showing up as something suspicious in the carry on bag, we were on our way. We were concerned about making our next connection though; we had 40 minutes to change terminals in Chicago's O'Hare airport. If you've never been to O'Hare, the place is huge!

While waiting to board the flight from Phoenix to Chicago an announcement was made asking people with larger carry-on bags to check them, free of charge, to make room in the overhead compartments of the plane. I gladly did so, since I was dreading having to run through O'Hare with a 30 pound bag strapped to my back. They checked it all the way through to Winnipeg, so we didn't have to worry about picking it up in Chicago.

On the flight to Chicago, our pilot announced that he was going to have us on the ground about 10 minutes early, so we were happy about that. In the end, for whatever reason, we ended up landing almost 20 minutes late. We now had 20 minutes to run to the shuttle that would take us to the next terminal and board our plane.

I managed to get us off the plane quickly (by walking briskly down the aisle of the airplane saying "We have 20 minutes to make our connection, excuse me!"). Everyone let us go through, even the people in First Class. We then ran through O'Hare to the shuttle, got on it, and then quickly made our way to the gate we needed. The plane was just starting to board as we got there!

When I got to the gate, I asked (to nobody in particular) "Is this the line for the Winnipeg flight?". This bald guy turns around to let me know it was the right line. I then realized the bald guy was Mike Kelly, the ex-coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I was a little surprised he was allowed to leave the country (he was arrested not long ago on assault charges), to be honest, but he may have had special permission since he was probably going back to clean out his desk and home (and, I'd later learn, to smooch with that blonde in the Winnipeg airport).

I was then amused to discover that sitting one row behind us was Lyle Bauer, the ex-CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (he resigned his position, he wasn't fired like Kelly). I wondered if the two had been visiting together, but Bauer and Kelly had nothing to do with each other in the airport at all, so I doubt they were traveling together.

This time all our luggage made it (we actually saw our bright pink and blue suitcases being loaded onto the connecting flight while we were boarding), which made me very happy. There was some stress on the trip home, but the important thing is we made it!

Back in the Red, White, and Snow

We're back from our trip. After an interesting flight home (that involved a baggage error in our favour, a sprint through O'Hare airport, and sharing a plane with two ex-Blue Bombers) we made it safe and sound. I'll probably do a few posts on our trip over the next week, since it's too much to cram into one post. We're in Winnipeg at the moment, but I think the plan is to be truly home later today.

Merry Christmas from Arizona!

Closed for Christmas?

Tomorrow morning I board a place for Mesa, Arizona, so I'm not sure how often I'll be updating the blog while I'm away. And if anyone wants to try any funny business at my house you'll have rabid Guard Bear to deal with.

We've actually exchanged all of our Christmas presents already since we didn't want to haul our stuff to Arizona and back, so I'm listening to my "Across the Universe" soundtrack that Sarah got me as I type this (how I wish I could get it on my iPod for the plane ride, but I'd have to drive back to my iMac in Riverton to do it). If you haven't seen the movie it's pretty good, and the highlight for me is that almost the entire movie is done in Beatles songs, redone and sung by the cast; I'm a big Beatles fan, and some of the updated versions of their songs are awesome. I recommend checking it out!

Have a Merry Christmas!