We came, we biked, we conquered; they come, they bike, they conquer

This past weekend, M and I went to Cobourg with friends to have a relaxing cottage weekend – sort of.  We actually did a bit of “work” too because we all biked out the triathlon course just to get and idea of what we had in store.  It was a super windy day on Saturday, which made the ride really frustrating, but overall we did pretty well I’ve gotta say.  It only made sense that I did my leg of the journey by myself, seeing as M and the rest of the crew have to do 40 km and only have to do 20 km.  All the same I really pushed myself because in total I ended up doing 28 km – the longest bike ride I have consciously done to date.  Sweet!  It was especially good to know that I could conquer the hills on the course, seeing as the end of my first 10 km and the beginning of my last 10 km is the same GIANT hill!

As good as my effort was, I’ve gotta say it pales in comparison to catching the totally amazing Tour de France that is happening right now.  M and I started watching some of the race last night, and it is truly outstanding to watch these guys ride.  Can you imagine averaging about 50 km/hr on a bike?  Seriously.  That’s insane.  That’s faster than an old lady driving to church on a Sunday morning.  It was especially exciting to watch last night because we were watching the team time trial, and Lance Armstrong and the Astana crew won the stage!  We’ll just have to keep watching for the next couple of weeks to see if they continue to stay on top!  (Or we can keep watching the results here).  Ride on, boys!

Triath-wha?

M and a few of our friends have set up a goal for ourselves at the end of the summer – we’re taking on a triathlon weekend in August.  He is taking on an Olympic length, and I’ll be taking on a sprint version with some nursing friends the next day.  I can’t believe I took on such a challenge.  I was so afraid at first – what the heck have I signed up for? – but now that I’ve been working on some of my “training” I’m feeling really good about it.

I’ve been cycling and swimming for a while now, and within the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on my running.  It’s my weakest point by far, but apparently I can do it!  A couple of weeks ago I decided to just do it – and I ended up running 4 km!  I only have to do 5 for the race, and I’ve since managed to do that distance with M and it’s been really fun.  Who knew that the girl who hates running might actually enjoy the challenge?  Now I just need to run after doing a 20 km bike!

Being sick blows (literally)

Today I’m home, missing clinical, because I’m sick.

It’s a funny thing being sick as a nursing student.  Unlike other jobs I’ve had where I would push myself to do as much work as possible – even work from home to not let people down – I’ve got a position where I am actually doing more good work for my clientelle by not going in to work.  Can you imagine having a nurse who is snotting all over you provide your wound care?  Ugh.  That’s just not cool!

So, today, I did a good thing, and called in sick.  Too bad that good thing doesn’t take away my runny nose, headache and the feeling like my head will explode!

One year ago today…

M and I got married.

I almost can’t believe it’s been a year, but in some other ways, I totally do.  We’ve had the traditional ups and downs of first year and we’re totally ready to make it to year two and mellow out a little bit.  At least we hope so!  🙂

Tonight, to celebrate, M and I took our gift cards for Kelsey’s that we got over Christmas and headed to the Queensway for dinner and a movie.  It worked out perfectly because in the end we got dinner and the movie tickets for only 5 dollars.  Sweet. Plus I managed to find an old 5 dollar gift certificate for the movie theatre so we got a treat before heading in (Nibs, the usual).  We watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire,  which is so totally amazing.  Everyone should see it. 

Oh – and the best part of the evening?  Walking in to the theatre  and suddenly getting an overwelming smell of nothing else but pot.  Wow! We were kinda wondering what to think, but then we get in to the theatre and realize we’re second only to one older man sitting at the very back all by himself…hmmm….Very conspicuous indeed! 

Overall, a very pleasant evening.

Happy Anniversary, baby.  I love you.

I’m different and that’s ok

I’ve been pondering about something in the last little while. It’s not a new topic – it’s something I’ve been aware of my whole life, but it’s been brought into focus lately because of a few interactions that have seemed to cause a bad reaction in me.

Let me explain.

I’m different. I don’t mean different in a negative context or that I have some sort of problem or issue. I just simply mean I have been brought up differently than many of the people that I know. Although it’s not 100% obvious – I’m an immigrant to this country. I moved her from Zimbabwe when I was 6 months old, and my parents did not grow up in this country. They are Rhodesians with British/Scottish heritage. That makes them (and me) different because we don’t necessarily have the same traditions as many of the people I hang out with on a regular basis. I use/understand different words and expressions at times. I may be more reserved when it comes to table manners. I may feel obligated to have a clean house before I invite you over. There are many other examples – but I am unique when it comes to my experience. And that’s a good thing because it makes me unique.

It’s just that in the last few months, I’ve been feeling more and more self-conscience about it. And sometimes I feel downright persecuted for it – prompting me to make sterner comments than I like because I feel like people are laughing at me. And I’m frustrated by it. If I had an English accent, no one would question why I use the word “slippy” when describing ice on the ground and not “slippery”. People would not make fun my description of the squirrels scrabbling in my ceiling. But yet these things are pointed out to me and I feel totally made fun of.

It’s like a bad flashback to grade 4 when I wrote a heartfelt description of my trip to Africa when I met my family in person for the first time in my life – I talked about meeting my Granny “O” (which stands for Osler) – and I had every person in my class laugh. One particular girl, Cheryl, purposely used it to torment me for weeks on end because it pointed out that I was not a Newfie, I was was weird and stupid. GAH!

I know we’re all thinking kids can be mean – and they can – but kids can also point out the obvious. And in this situation, the obvious became a means of ripping a strip off my back instead of being something to learn about. I guess that’s why lately I’ve been feeling like I need to stand up a little more when I feel like I’m being pigeon-holed with the label of different. I fly right back to being the misunderstood freak that would never fit in. I couldn’t stand up for myself then, but I can now so I do.

Maybe it’s a weird sense of pride. Something I have to defend. I don’t know. I think I need to ponder it more. But I do want to say that in some ways, I’m very glad to be aware of this internal struggle, or whatever you want to call it. It places the power in my hands to change my actions so that I don’t persecute other people for being different than me, at the very least to the best of my ability at the time.

I’ll figure it out, and I’m sure the Big Guy will point me in the right direction.

Happy Birthday to me!

So, my birthday has come and gone for another year.  It was good – despite Jack Frost opening up a can of whoop ass!  I got two cakes to celebrate with and I got a fantastic new Burton hoodie from Marty.

It’s funny that everyone asks you what you’re doing for your birthday, and I’ve got to say I don’t usually think about it very often because in the past my Birthday plans have never worked out.  I developed the philosophy that no matter what happens, it will be a good things and it totally works out!

This year, though, Marty and I decided to take advantage of the fact that our birthdays are really close, so we’re having a combined birthday party.  I’ll keep you posted on that!

A dilemma of girlish proportions

This weekend I’m really looking forward to heading up to Kingston for my five year homecoming experience at Queen’s.  I’m heading up with the girls and it should be really fun.  But I’ve hit a small snag of sorts when it comes to being prepared.  Well, at least in my opinion.

You see, when I head out with the girls, we inevitably end up doing some sort of fun thing together, like going dancing.  While this is a quite fun thing, I always feel totally unprepared when it comes to wardrobe.  Now, I know what many of you who know me are thinking…Felicity missing anything in a wardrobe?  I don’t think so!  And it’s very true – I don’t have a problem with own clothes, I just don’t own the kind of clothes that I view as “dancing” or “clubbing” clothes.

I’m a fairly eclectic dresser.  I wear a variety of styles ranging from business casual, to slight hipster, to skater/boarder, to tattoo/rocker pieces.  When I head out dancing it’s usually to a hipster type venue where Chuck Taylors, vests and scarves rule the floor.  This doesn’t quite translate to the clubbing scene where people where nice to kinda trashy outfits.  So, I always get a complex about it.  I don’t own cute dress pants, or sexy tops.  This leaves me stumped as to what to pack for this weekend.

Can anyone help me out?  Please?  Shopping is not an option for this issue.

The good bad feeling

I’ve been trying to be really good about this whole working out business.  I hit the gym twice last week, and biked to class three out of five days.  So far this week I’ve biked once and I’ve done the gym once. 

Yesterday I had a good work out.  I worked my arms (gotta get some sick pythons) and I also worked my legs.  Today I biked, so that’s more excercise, and tomorrow is our first floor hockey game.  I’m trying to figure out when I’ll hit the gym again – maybe Monday.

Either way, it’s a good thing – today my arms have that nice sore/tired feeling that lets you know you put them to work.  It’s good and bad, but I like it!

Getting prepared

Tomorrow I’ve got school for the first time in about 4 years. It’s crazy. I’m trying to be as prepared as possible. I’ve got paper, pens, a shoulder bag, new sneakers. Seriously, it’s like I’m starting grade school again (without as much shopping).

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty chill weekend. I slept in yesterday, picked up my super heavy books from campus, and then enjoyed eating dairy and bread for the first time in what seems like ages.

I really hope that all this stress and work will pay off when it comes to school. It feels like my life has gone through some serious changes in the last year. Some changes have been easy, others really hard. I just really hope I can throw myself into this course and excel at it! 🙂

WOAH! Seriously behind.

Ok, ok – my blog writing has been in a serious funk lately – but I am on vacation, that’s gotta count for something. Right?

Either way, sorry dudes.

I tried to write last week, but wordpress was down for a little while, and then I got to do other stuff, so I didn’t come back to it.

So, what’s new with me?

I’ve been enjoying my vacation, but finding it really hard to be on the diet. M is being a trooper and doing it too, though sometimes it’s makes us a little tense because it’s so limiting. We can’t eat out and have to plan ahead all the time. For instance, today we really wanted to get a fruit smoothie when we were checking out Vaughn Mills, but we couldn’t even have the non-dairy option of the smoothie because it contained soy products. Ugh. (I think we kind of annoyed the salesperson). And last week, we went out with a few people for drinks. M and I drank water – but that wasn’t the hard part – everyone ordered food and we had to get out of there. Can imagine being tempted by nachos, jalapeno poppers, cheesy bread, etc when you can’t eat any of it! Ugh.  Raw nuts and fruit just aren’t the same.

We have, however, discovered a few fun new things.  Like making sweet potato frites – you chop up sweet potatoes very thinly and coat them in olive oil and spices and bake them.  Yum.  And just a few days ago I made a really kick ass curry with chicken, sweet potato, zucchini and celery.  Yum.

Truthfully, you should all the kind of glad that I haven’t been posting every day.  This diet is basically the centre element of my life right now –  seriously, I barely talk about anything else.  Oh well – it’s only two more weeks.