Western Holiday

Part two of the winter holiday is well under way.

Flew in on the weekend, had a fantastic time with some paddling friends that hosted me for the first little bit. Sadly no pics but great memories, I'll see them tonight at a canoe club workout I believe.

Chilling here in Calgary at the moment before for we head out for an afternoon at the climbing gym.

Yesterday I finally got back on the slopes for the first time since grade 8 (about 14 yrs!) Needless to say I was a freakin out a little. First time skiing on a mountain too (quite different than the 'hills' in Ontario!). After staying on my feet getting off the chair lift the first time and making it down the hill, it all started coming back to me for the most part. Hit a couple black diamonds (didn't know that's what they were until I was down it already).
But loved it all!
Had a great group of folks with me to share the thrills and laughs with. Made some new friends.

Twas the night before Christmas ....

...and all through the house we sat round the living room. Ranger snoozing on the floor, mom snoozing on the couch, Martini and dad cuddling in the chair ... what a cute scene.

I had a perfect day today. Saw my doc, went to the gym, made lunch, went back out to get one last thing for Christmas, long bath with epson salts, then read myself into a nice nap till dinner ... doesn't get much better than that!

I've had a lot of time to reflect the past couple days. To reflect on how lucky I am to be doing what I'm doing. To think about all the people that have touched my life in the past year. From diabetes, to paddling, to teaching and coaching, so many people have been there to support me, to encourage me and to assist me in my journey back to life.
And what a journey it has been!
Physically, I've got my diabetes pretty much under control. The folks at TRIDEC and ANIMAS have been phenomenal in their assistance with that. I also have reached a point where I'm finally comfortable in my body again. I finally feel strong and confident for the first time in almost 5 years.
Emotionally, I'm happier than I've ever been. My friendships have grown stronger, new ones have flourished and my relationship with my folks is stronger than ever. Makes it easy to go to sleep with a smile knowing that so many people care about you.
Intellectially, excited to start some new courses, loving all the research I'm doing on diabetes and kids, reading for pleasure again, it's great!
Socially, started some new sports, meeting some new people and challenging myself in new ways.

I remember an essay that I wrote back in high school for a scholarship application about the key to happiness in life being the balance between your physical, intellectial, social and emotional self. Wow how words come back around 10 years later!

Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks to all the folks in my life ... I wouldn't be where I am without each and every one of you!

On holidays!!!!

After much anticipation, the holidays are finally here! I put my tree up at home the first week of December. It looks kinda pretty with the fireplace and all. The mantle is now covered in Christmas cards (thanks folks!) so I'll have to take a new pic.

I'm back home with my parents for a little while before I go on another adventure. Mom had the trees up and whole house decorated by the time I got home. I swear it gets more and more extravagant every year ... I love it!

A lot has happened this month. I've started climbing with a coworker and absolutely love it!
I submitted my papers for a Leave of Absence. For those that don't know what that means, it's now official that I WON'T be teaching for TDSB next school year. I'll be embarking on my greatest adventure yet. And to assist me in funding that venture ... well, I recieved confirmation from the BC College of Teachers that I am now qualified to teach there for the next 5 years! And if I want a permanent certificate then I have to take some English courses ... damn you Waterloo and lack of English requirements! Now that I have the BC stuff I'll get the Alberta application ready to go in the new year just to keep as many options open as possible. Who knows, I could end up working at a bar somewhere serving drunks to pay my training/traveling bills!

Also this month, I've continued my training with the Premier Womens National Dragon Boat Team. I haven't been named to the team yet but hope my hard work pays off. It's been about 8 weeks now that I've been on a structured plan for the first time since I left Waterloo four years ago. We held a fundraising raffle and I sold the winning ticket for the pair of Leaf tix vs. Ottawa ... go me :)

Don't know what it is about the holidays but it's so easy to go to bed early! This year ... didn't even bother to bring the school bag out of my office. Don't get me wrong, there's work to be done but experience has told me, no work will get done so why bother!

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Here we are in December now, I've been off the water for four weeks! Time seems to be flying by though as I always seem to have stuff to do. Workouts have been going well for the past 7 weeks. Only last week was an off week for me. Fighting off getting sick and was just crazy tired. I was active everyday but no good hard workouts except Monday. Back on the bandwagon this weekend though with the first group weight session with the Premier Women.

Pool paddling started 3 weeks ago along with climbing 2 weeks ago. Makes for a crazy week with pool paddling 1x/wk, yoga 1x/wk, climbing 2-3x/wk, running 2-3x/wk, ball hockey 1-2x/wk and now weights 3-4x/wk. Somewhere in there theres time for rest!



Got a pic for new motivation the other day from Kathleen of the muscle women in Kona. Seeing what I looked like after just a summer of paddling ... wonder what I'll be like by that time next summer with the added training!

My fun activity these days seems to be the climbing. Samji got me back into it a few weeks ago and I love it. My hands aren't liking me for it at the moment as I climbed yesterday and today but it'll all be worth it.

As the holidays approach I can't help but get excited to hit the skys again and see friends that I made this summer. Also to explore a new city where I may spend more time next fall as my big adventure begins.

But for now, it's time for ball hockey playoffs!
Stanley out!

Best Halloween Ever!

Hit the water with Wendy, Rich, Jarvis and Sheila tonight. Wow! Paddling Oct. 31 in capri tights and tshirt. I've never felt such a warm wind this late in the year. Had some good waves to ride which just topped it all off wonderfully. It's paddles like this that remind me just how lucky I am. To have a sport that I love, people that I love and a job that I love, I'm one lucky gal. All the cares of the world don't seem to exist when I'm out on the water. It's just me and the water, that's all that matters.

What a Summer!

So it's now October and snowing none the less and I'm reflecting back on the past six months.

What an adventure to say the least! Parry Sound, to Vancouver, to Calgary, to Virginia Beach, to Sacramento, to Hawaii, to Kelowna, and to Pickering .... good friends, good racing and lots of memories. After 16 plane rides on the flying trips, I think I've got the airport thing down pat now.

Thanksgiving has come and gone so that meant the beginning of my off-season training. I'm following the workouts from the Premier Womens DB team for the most part. Adding a few things into the weights that I feel I need. Debating joining a real gym and getting them to tailor a program just for me. I know I have the education to do it myself but think I'd be a little biased in my assessments and creation of a program. It's nice having someone else telling me what to do for once. It's been a very long time since I've been on a weight program, Feb 2004 to be exact.

Think I'm going to track my progress as my trek to 2010 and 2012 continues. It's a way to keep me motivated to train as this weather continues to get colder!

Promotions!

Wow, my first film/photo shoot. Kinda cool being the centre of attention but damn nerve wracking too!

Today I did a promotional video for Animas Canada promoting their insulin pump. My goal was to inspire people with diabetes to go after their dreams and that anything is possible. Don't let diabetes stop you from doing anything you love. That diabetes has changed my life for the better.

I can't wait to see how it turns out. It was kind of embarassing when I put my rudder back on my Huki wrong (had been training rudderless). Got out on the water and couldn't steer! So had to come back to the dock, not once but twice to fix it! Finally I got it right and hit the water for the paddling portion.

This was where I felt most comfortable being on camera. So much so that after we had wrapped the paddling portion and were on our way back to the dock, I decided to play with the boat wake a little. Just fooling around you know, they were going just the right speed that I could ride their wave. So, yeah, playing on the wave, decided why not play with popping the ama. It was going well until I lost focus and splash! I huli'd.

Found out shortly after that they got it all on camera too! Thing is ... it works perfectly with what I was saying in the interview portion about the pump being waterproof and that was a huge selling feature for me as I never know when I'm going to swim! They loved it!

This bottom pic is of my rep Cezar (aka, god), and Sandy (aka most energetic, happy person I've ever met) with me and the silver medals that I brought home from the Worlds.

The folks at Animas Canada have been really good to me. When I was in Vancouver in July and had my infusion sets popping out left right and centre (mostly from my own stupidity), and was down to my last one and still had a week till I got home ... they hooked me up in less than 2 hours with more.

They introduced me to DESA (Diabetes Exercise and Sport Association) and the conference that was held in Toronto in July. Plus they are just an organization full of great people that have your best interests at heart. Thanks Animas!

At the end of the Worlds

Wow, completely, Wow!



No one could have convinced me four months ago that I would have ever just experienced what just happened the past couple weeks. The people, the paddling, the comradery and support. Everything is working out and I couldn't be happier.


Home from Sacramento with 3 silvers (Open Womens V6 1500m, V6 500m, V12 500m) and a 4th place finish (Open Womens V1 500m). The 4th was unexpected going into it but once there and seeing what my competition was like, damn ... I want more, I wanted that podium!

I had no idea coming into this whole experience what to expect of myself or of my competition. I knew that I wasn't in my best shape. I knew that I was still only on phase 2 of my 3 year program to get myself back up to snuff. But earlier this year I figured what the heck, why not. And that has now become my new motivation ... Why Not.

Part of me feels that this is only the beginning of things to come. It's like I've started living again. I kinda like it :p

Pumping at the World Championships

So the best thing about this pic is that my pump is clearly visable!
Over the past few days I've answered a lot of "what's that" refering to my insulin pump and me prickin my finger all the time to test. It's kind of obvious that it's there when walking around in sports bra/shorts or bikini. The infusion set is starting to leave tan lines when I change them, looks funny but I think it's kinda cool but hey, that's just me. I've been getting a lot of questions about how can I paddle if I have diabetes, and do I have to watch what I eat really carefully. I love the fact that I get to educate people on what diabetes is and that what they here in the media about diabetes is really all about Type 2 and that what I have is different ... way different! Kinda makes me think that there's a lot of people out there like my teammates that really don't know much about Type 1 Diabetes. I like talking about it, go figure, the teacher likes to educate people about something they don't know much about ... who woulda thunk it!
Anyways, kinda makes me think about how I could reach more people or even help other Type 1s with the management.

Road Trip!

So here I am … in Virginia Beach. Raced an awesome race today, met some really great people, got myself invited down in October to see some big water, dressed up and ready to head out for drinks and dinner on a pier over looking the ocean.

As for paddling wise … Feel a little better about heading to worlds next week after how things went today. I know it’s a small town type of race and that there were no real good paddlers in the field but it was great for my confidence and what I know I can do and how hard I can push myself. I had a good start, before I even really realized it I was out 600m.

It’s me focus time. Me … the one that makes myself happy.