A Glorious Weekend with Glorious Weather
30 May2010
This weekend we’ve been enjoying some spectacular weather, glorious sunshine, blue skies, a breeze and heat. Yesterday was a high of 26C which was wonderful. It was one of those perfect days where it wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was a Goldilocks day, just right. I started off the morning with a good game of tennis (doubles) with some friends at the tennis club. It was fun until I sprained my ankle. *sigh* Now I’ve always had weak ankles, which is why now I wear tensor bandages on both of them when I play any sport. I actually had to quite playing Ultimate Frisbee because they couldn’t take all the starting & stopping & spinning. They’ve usually been okay playing tennis though, but not this year. I already sprained one a few weeks ago (ironically at my last tennis lesson, but whatever), and had waited two weeks before getting back on the court. Yesterday was the first day back on the court, and will be my last for another while as I sprained the same ankle again. *ugh*
I’m actually thinking of going to a physiotherapist to see if there’s anything they could help me with because it’s quite frustrating. What’s strange is that it’s not the “usual” way I tend to sprain my ankles, but a new “way” that doesn’t lead to a nice obviously swollen ankle. It’s a deep ligament/tendon sprain which is hurts a lot when I push off (usually I’m doing that when I’m running up to a short ball on the court).
I spent the afternoon yesterday relaxing on my friend Eric’s back deck, with a few bevvies, which was a nice way to “ice” my ankle. haha. Here’s me with Smokey the cat relaxing on the chaise lounger:
Or rather, there’s my ankle relaxing with Smokey. 
It was a wonderful day to spend it out on the back deck, and since it was Eric’s birthday yesterday, I was more than happy to oblige him and hang out with him.
Today the weatherman’s calling for another 26C day, but with a lot more humidity so that it’ll feel well over 30. And I have to stay inside and study for a mid-term, which is annoying. But if I can do the studying this morning, perhaps I can head out this afternoon and enjoy some of the day. Hopefully. I hope you’re enjoying your day wherever you are too.
Enjoying Victoria Day
24 May2010
Today is Victoria Day in Canada, the unofficial start to summer, and the weekend where we celebrate Queen Victoria‘s birthday. It’s also unofficially known as the May two-four, said exactly like that because that’s also the number of beers in a case of beer.
This year I went back to my hometown for my high school’s 75th anniversary, which turned out to be a lot of fun. I wasn’t originally sure if I wanted to go, but was convinced by an old friend, so off I went. There were a whole bunch of events going on over the weekend, from a golf tournament to touch football to dinners and displays and more. It was a little strange to go back into the school as an adult, since the last time I was inside was almost 20 years ago (eep!), but it was interesting to see how it had changed as well. The committee had set up a number of displays with photos and clothing (old uniforms, prom dresses and such) which were a hoot to see. There were all sorts of yearbooks all over the place too, so not only did I get to see my old ones, I saw the ones of a few parents of friends of mine, as well as my sister‘s Grade 9 photo (haha Carol, I giggled at that one, you & that Pat Benetar hair cut!)
The Decade Pub Night was the main event I went to, and I had a blast! Essentially I just did laps around the bar, as each time I did I saw new/old faces. There were even a number of teachers there, which was great to see. I’d imagine they made the tour of all the pubs in town to make sure to catch everyone they could, but it was sure nice to see them. I even discovered that my music teacher (who was also my sister’s music teacher) is now a big knitter, has her own blog (Hi Geri!), and has been reading my sister’s blog for a while now! She just didn’t know that that was my sister. Such a small world.
Another highlight was the bridge fries. If you’ve ever been to Sarnia, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Here’s a photo of the fries in question:
The fries were tasty, and were definitely needed after the super-late night I’d had the night before (I got home at 3am! I NEVER get home that late! Sheesh) But it was definitely fun to see everyone and sorta catch up. I wouldn’t normally go back for a class reunion as I already keep in touch with the people that I still want to keep in touch with, however I thought I’d make an exception for the school’s anniversary. And I’d heard that they may be closing down the school too due to decreased enrollment, which is a shame, considering it’s been around for 75 years now. Oh well, guess the times are a-changing.
One of my Victoria Day weekend traditions is to watch some French Open coverage on tv, so I decided to celebrate my changing the colours on the site a little to show off the terre battue of Roland-Garros.
How Superstitious Are You
20 May2010
In an effort to encourage my beloved Montreal Canadiens to play better, I decided not to watch tonight’s game. I watched the first two and saw them get spanked by the Flyers, so I thought I’d try some reverse psychology.
And it worked!
The Habs won 5-2, which is awesome and makes me a little more hopeful for the rest of the series. Come on Habs!
Searching High & Low for Sun Protection
1 May2010
How ridiculous is this? I went out this morning to look for some new sun screen as my current bottles had expired, and I was quite perplexed at what I found. Out of all the companies that make sunscreen, only 2, count’em, 2 make a product with an SPF of less than 30. I was quite surprised at this. I mean, I know it’s important to wear sun screen if you’re spending any time outside these days, but come on, you actually sell SPFs of 60 and 70 now? Come on. If I remember correctly, the higher SPFs don’t protect you for a longer time, but rather protect you better for the same amount of time you’re outside.
Now I’ve been blessed with an olive complexion so I don’t need to put on the 60, but I do like to put on a 15 when I’m out as I’m not as used to the sun anymore since I work in an office nowadays. Only Ombrelle and Coppertone made a 15, can you believe that? I was quite surprised. Even Banana Boat, which I consider to be more for the “I want to tan” type of person doesn’t even make a 15 anymore (or at least I could find it, and I looked at 2 different stores). You can buy an SPF 4 tanning lotion, but then it hops up to 30 for protection. Talk about annoying.
At the second store at least the Coppertone was on sale, but wow, if you’re ever looking for a 15, beware that it’s starting to be a vanishing breed.
- In: Life
And the Playoffs are On
18 Apr2010
It’s one of my favourite times of year, NHL playoff time. It’s made especially nice this year because my Montreal Canadiens are in the playoffs, having placed 8th in the Eastern Conference to qualify. This means that they’ll be playing the number 1 seed Washington Capitals in the first round, which will be rough. But I’m hopeful that they’ll at least stretch the series beyond the 4 game sweep that I know a lot of people are predicting.
Edit:
The series is now tied 1-1 after both games went to overtime. Tomas Plekanec scored for the Habs in the first game to take it, Nicklas Backstrom for the Caps in Game 2. What crazy games though, back and forth, back and forth. Lots of fun and lots of stress to watch though. Sheesh. The series now shifts to Montreal, so let’s see if the Habs can give the Caps a little more trouble and take another game from them.