Talk talk talk

Henry's started using two- and three-word phrases. The first one I heard was about a week ago. I was showing him that our box of goldfish crackers (which currently account for about 30% of his total food intake) was empty and that we'd have to buy more the next day. He looked at me and said, slowly and deliberately, "Buy feesh NOW!" No big surprise that his first phrase was a command. He really hit the ground running with the whole "Terrible Twos" thingy. He's never been the most laid-back little guy, but the past few weeks have seen a big uptick in tantrums and general stubbornness. But when he's not scaring the neighbours with his screaming fits, he's being very charming and talkative, practicing his new skills.

Did I ever mention that he calls himself "RayRee"? It's cute.

Race racap

I'm happy to report that I met my goal of finishing the half marathon in under two hours. My official/gun time was 1:58:50, chip time was 1:55:12. (It takes a few minutes for the massive pack behind the elite runners to work its way up to the starting line, so most people don't start running when the gun goes off and the official clock starts ticking. But the computer chip you attach to your shoe doesn't start counting until the moment you actually cross the starting line. That explains the different times. And yes, I like the chip time better.)

Anyway, finishing the race in under two hours by both clocks proved to be more of a challenge than I was expecting. It was hot and sunny, which made it difficult to stay hydrated, but the heat kept my sore hamstrings and tight IT band (the tendon that runs from your hip to your knee) nice and loose, so it was beneficial, too. Basically it went down like this: I felt great for the first 9 km, started getting tired after that, and developed a minor stomach cramp and had to walk for a minute around the 13 km mark. That allowed me to recover enough to resume my pace. I felt a brief second wind with about 6 km to go and ran strong for the next 2 km. Then it became a real struggle to keep going. I didn't quite "hit the wall," but I did slow down significantly. Up to this point I had been keeping the 1:50 pace bunny in sight, but after 17 km I couldn't keep up anymore. So I just put my head down and focused on finishing the last few clicks without walking. I was pretty wrecked by the end, and it took everything I had mentally to keep my legs going. I was dizzy with exhaustion by the time I crossed the line, but after chugging water and sitting for a minute I felt fine--no trip to the medical tent necessary! Ya-hoo!

Tom and Henry were on the side of the road to cheer me on at two different points: near the 3 km marker, which was a couple blocks from our house, and at the finish line. Henry enjoyed watching the "runnies," as he called us. It was great to see them the first time, but I didn't even think to scan the crowd for fan support as I was finishing--I was too focused on getting to the end. Tom reports that I looked about as rough as I felt. Awesome--can't wait to see the finish photo. Yikes.

All in all, it was a positive experience. I'm proud of myself for sucking it up and meeting my goal. I think the fact that I was a bit naive about how tough it would be actually helped me, because I went into the race feeling confident and determined rather than intimidated. I'm not sure if I'll do a half marathon again, but I'm glad I did it once. Now I just have to keep up with my running so I can maintain the fitness level I worked hard to get back.

Strangest moments on the race: I saw not one but two people TALKING ON CELL PHONES while the ran! Sheesh.

In other race news, a big screwup led to the disqualification of 14 elite runners, including the winner. I can only imagine how bad everyone involved--runners, race organizers, volunteers-- feels about it. Click here for details.

Party pictures

Better late than never.

My Amazing Race approaches

The Ottawa Half Marathon is this Sunday. Woo-hooo! The forecast calls for sun and a high temperature around 28 C/83 F. Since I have had absolutely no opportunity to train in hot weather (recall that many of my training runs took place in sub-freezing temps), I'm a little concerned about this development. The heat could be a real shock to my system. Also, I'm not quite as fit as I would like to be. Originally my plan was to run like a fiend throughout the month of May as final preparation, but the Cold From Hell pretty much wrecked that idea. In short, I probably won't be breaking the tape ahead of the Kenyans. But overall, I feel good to go. I trained enough to get back into shape, and my knees and hips haven't crumbled into dust yet, so in a way I've already met my goals. And I'm looking forward to my first road race since, um--Grade 7? Ah, the glory days of Bellevue Creek cross country.

Wish me luck!

So much for the holiday

It's the Victoria Day long weekend, Canada's unofficial kickoff to summer. Our neighbours left town in droves on Friday to "open the cottage" ("The Cottage" = so Ontario) and start their seasonal outdoor pursuits in earnest. We celebrated by turning the heat back on in the house. Yep, it's BLOODY COLD here. Seriously, it's miserable: rain, wind, high temps in the low 50s. And the forecast calls for snowfall tonight. S-n-o-w-f-a-l-l. At least we're not stuck at some damn drafty cottage on an ice-cold lake.

Tom's parents are visiting right now. It's remarkable just how unlucky our guests have been in visiting just when a spell of bad weather hits. Oh well--Henry's having a great time with them.

Pimp My House

If you want to see what our house could resemble if we gutted it and shelled out for a six-figure reno, check out this place (scroll all the way down for interior pictures). It's just a couple blocks over, and very similar to ours both architecturally and in age. It listed a few days ago and there's a sold sign up already. I guess this neighbourhood is gentrifying faster than I thought.

The Amazing Race: Surprise ending

Great. Just what the world needs: two more Trustafarians. The surprise was that while the Hippies were using their high-falutin' educashun and brains and stuff to solve the flag puzzle, I found myself hoping the Frats would pull out the win. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Basically my opinion of them had mellowed over the past few episodes, and my patience with the Hippies grew thin weeks ago. I guess I started regarding the Frats' whole "Swingers" womanizer act as more tongue-in-cheek than offensive, and Jeremy made me giggle a few times. Also, they were good racers.

In contrast, the Hippies got on my nerves. I'm sure they're good guys. But the problem with these peace, love and good karma types is that in the course of a competition, they usually become hypocrites, or descend into some kind of self-delusion about themselves and/or their actions (see Survivor: Courtney). Both the Hippies and the Frats pulled some shady maneuvers over the course of the race, but the Frats never represented themselves as anything other than a couple of shady guys, so somehow it seems less distasteful. Maybe that's not fair. Maybe I just bring too much baggage with me after way too many years dealing with hippie Spirit Nazis on the ultimate field (if you don't know what I'm talking about, well, it's a long story. Never mind). Maybe it's because the Hippies managed to win even though they pulled a total Franimal at the snowshoe detour, but it didn't matter because every single task ended with a trip to the airport where all the teams caught up to each other again, so no mistake mattered until Eric messed up the flags. And maybe what's really bugging me is that the Hippies finished last TWICE, and if it wasn't for the lame non-elimination legs they throw into the race, they wouldn't have been in the finals at all.

That said, it was still an exciting, great final. Well, for two of the teams, anyway. I loved how difficult the legs were in all respects, from driving through Tokyo to snowshoeing uphill in Alaska through the combination physical/mental challenge at the very end, when everyone must have been totally spent and in a total panic. The race should be more about that stuff and less about Travelocity gnomes and extended swings through Europe on charter busses.

I wish I'd connected strongly enough with one team along the way to really root for them, but I didn't. And I couldn't bring myself to pull for the underdog, because what a dog it was. The difficulty of the Japan and Alaska legs showed just how weak Rolanda was compared to the boy teams. On previous seasons I don't think they would have lasted very long, since skills like navigating, communicating effectively with foreign strangers, and moving quickly through tasks are usually important on this show. Not so much this season. So there they were, completely out of their league and out of the running. Also, back to the dull bickering. So they had no chance, and they were boring. Not much to cheer for. Anyway, may they enjoy their fancy trip to Australia and live happily ever after (I didn't see it, but Ray proposed to Yolanda on the Early Show this morning).

As for poor Eric and Jeremy, well, I'm hardly heartbroken. The service industry will be waiting for them when they return from the bazillion trips they won along the way.

A funny: The Blogger spellchecker didn't recognize the word "womanizer." The auto-suggested alternative? "Homemaker." Hmmmmm. . .

Happy Birthday Henry, Part II

Tom and I marked an important parenting milestone last weekend when we hosted our first kiddie party. Seven kids came over in the late morning for snacks, playtime and the all-important cake. Their parents drank a lot of coffee. We kept things simple, working from the assumption that organizing activities for toddlers is a futile undertaking. And indeed, the novelty of playing with someone else's toys was enough to keep the kids happy. Henry was very shy at first and not happy about seeing his toy bin raided by outsiders, but he got into the spirit of things soon enough and seemed to enjoy himself. I had a good time, too. All the kids except for two (the children of Tom's colleagues) were from the neighbourhood. We have a nice community of young families right outside our door, so child-centered social activities are easy to plan. Plus, I like this crowd of parents. They're all easygoing people with lifestyles very similar to ours.

I was too busy chatting, eating and herding kids to take many pictures, but I will post one of Henry blowing out the candles once I find the file transfer cable for my digital camera (cleaning up for a party means I can never find the things I usually just leave lying around on the table).

P.S. We pushed our living room couch against the wall to create space for the party, then decided we like it way better that way. It's such a tricky room to furnish. I'd like to get a new couch that suits the space better and is more comfy for watching TV. And we could use some bookshelves to fill the empty wall space. Add it all to the list. . .

Survivor: Now taking bets on when Cirie will be on Oprah

That was a less-than-magnificent end to an enjoyable season. Once Cirie's fire went out, my investment in the outcome of this installment of Survivor plummeted. Since I assumed that whoever went with Danielle to the final would win, the result was hardly a surprise. And the jury trial was pretty tame.

But all that aside, the outcome was good. I believe Aras was a worthy winner. The ew.com site is filled with comments from people booing the outcome because "Terry dominated the game." I strongly disagree. Terry dominated the challenges. That's it. In every other respect he was a marginal player who had little effect on what happened to anyone else. Aras may have lost a lot of challenges to Terry, and but in every other respect, Aras was the stronger player. Pretentious and prone to flakiness when not in the throes of a roid rage, yes, but a strong player and not a bad guy. He deserves credit for holding together his alliance of kooks and winning immunity at a vital moment. True, the key moves he made were Cirie's ideas, but making a smart, under-the-radar player your most loyal ally counts as good gameplay. So I put him above Terry, no question. And Danielle was so clearly unworthy of the Sole Survivor title that it hardly merits analysis.

The only real surprise in the episode was that Danielle got to be the picker rather than the pickee. Who thought she'd win the final immunity challenge? I didn't. But the balance-based endurance test might as well have been designed specifically for her to win. When it comes to staying upright on a sinking, unstable surface, lowest center of gravity wins. The end. (And weighing 93 pounds or whatever doesn't hurt, either). It was dumb for Aras to jump off, thinking they had a pact, but he wasn't going to beat her, either, so no harm done. It was also a little bit dumb for Terry to win the reward challenge, because at that point it was probably more important for him to spend some time shoring up his relationship with Danielle than it was to have a meal. After all, Danielle had burned him twice before, so he should have realized that her word wasn't exactly gold and he needed to keep working her. But what's a million dollars when you can show Aras who's boss yet again! See, poor gameplay. He didn't deserve to win. And with that, I give you my final random observations about this crew:

• Shane: I can't believe he resorted to copying the lame, lame, LAME "pick a number" trick for his vote. And dude, what sort of deranged stylist got a hold of you before the reunion show? Has Angus Young started a men's clothing line?
• Courtney: What the??? Incomprehensible. Except for the hating part. I love it when people say they're "over it" and lecture on how bad it is to carry negative feelings around while they're clearly seething with animosity. But yeah, we totally hear you, Evil Hippie. It's all about the love. Except when it's not.
• Cirie: I wasn't expecting the Reunion Show to be such a Cirie-fest. But I guess everyone else liked her as much as I did. She looked great, too. Slimmed down, made over--all ready for her closeup as short-term Queen of the YouGoGirl media nation.
• Bruce: Who knew he had such a thing for Danielle?
• Tina: God, that poor woman. I wonder if Probst felt cheap milking her grief like that. He should.

Survivor: Cliffhanger!?!!!

Oh MAN! I can't believe they left us hanging like that. What a great episode. Head butts! He-bitch showdowns! Juvenile taunting! Strategy! Suspense! And Terry. Finally. Lost. Immunity. Halle-freakin-lujah.

So I'm a big dork, but I was actually rooting out loud for Aras in the immunity challenge, since a) I figured that him winning immunity in the Final 4 was the only way Cirie would have a path to the Final 2, and b), I wanted Terry to lose, because I think he's a big tool. He's so clueless when it comes to the non-physical aspects of the game. 5-1 in immunity challenges, 0-5 in strategic maneuvers. And he keeps alienating potential jury members with his scolding and "father knows best" condescension. That's not how you win the million. Maybe with a different group of people he wouldn't be coming across as such a pissy jerk, but the fact that this crew has refused to fall into line behind him seems to have taken its toll on his emotions and reduced him from teflon military tough guy to whining soccer dad trying to manage bratty kids. Sure, Aras crossed the line with his taunting comments and rightly apologized, but I think he's gotten to Terry a lot more than Terry's gotten to him, despite what Terry says about "getting into his head." Aras can always spend a few minutes in Downward-facing Dog and get back to his happy place of love and peace, but Terry can't do anything to win respect from the remaining players, and it's driving him bonkers.

Anyway, all the hilarious Toolio vs Fauxhawk action gave me a great idea for a special edition of this show--"Survivor All-Stars: Return of the Alpha Males." Put 16 of the most competitive, athletic, testosterone-fueled former contestants on an island and watch the sparks fly. They could have the most insanely difficult challenges and some funny ones, like, say, who can sustain a phone conversation for the longest time, or who can identify by name the most women's shoe styles, etc. It would probably end up being a giant train wreck of a show, but that's why we watch, correct?

As for the current edition, well, it all depends on who wins the fire challenge, obviously. Danielle seems to have the most negatives with the jury, so if she wins she looks like the best bet to take to the final two, no matter who's doing the choosing. If Cirie pulls it out, things get stickier and I don't see an obvious choice for anyone to take to the finals. I'm not even going to bother thinking about whom Cirie would choose if she wins immunity, because I just don't see that happening. The Alpha Beeotches are going to fight it out one last time. Somehow I suspect Terry would take Cirie over Aras to spite him and because he'd think the argument that he "did more" to win than she did would be compelling, failing to see how she used her smarts and people skills to maneuver through the late stages of the game. Aras might take her just to deny Terry his shot at the million. Or he could take her because they're close and she saved him from Courtney's attempt to oust him. Or because she has the same negatives to confront with jury members like Shane, Courtney and Danielle and doesn't have two votes locked in already, like Terry does with Sally and Auten. But if the guys were paying attention when Cirie started talking about how much she's proved to herself during the game and how sincere and likeable she sounded, they both might think twice about how they'd fare against her at the final tribal council. So who knows what's going to happen. I do know that I eagerly anticipate hearing from Shane and Courtney. Do not call my house Sunday evening. I will not be answering the phone.

The Amazing Race: That's more like it!

Finally we saw some vintage AR form from this lackluster season, leading to an ending that came as a mild surprise to me. I attribute it all to the fact that transportation options were not hand-picked for the teams, which created suspense about the outcome and led to fatal mistakes by MoJo. And let's face it: Bug eating + monkeys + blubbering blondes = good television.

Since MoJo had been hanging with the leaders from the beginning when the race was easy, I thought they looked good for the Final Three, if not the win. But they let themselves get distracted by their hate-on for the Hippies (which was never explained very well), and they were so clueless in the Thai bus station it made me wonder how far they would have made it on previous seasons, when navigating local trains and bus schedules was the norm. As a rule of thumb, you should double-check with someone behind the counter before you take some random dude's word for it that no bus is available for hours. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Oh well-- having MoJo in the finals would have been good for entertainment value, since useless rivalries with other teams, tears and melodramatic declarations that "this [i.e., whatever challenge she happens to be doing at the moment] is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life" are inherently funny. But I'm glad they won't win. Mo would have blown the money on dye jobs, hair extensions and run-proof mascara, leaving Jo with nothing to pay for the anger management classes he needs. So their elimination is for the best.

As for our finalists, I'm not sure what to make of the Hippies' chances now. Finishing last twice isn't a good sign, and if life were fair they wouldn't be in the finals at all, but there they are. Pulling out a win after starting with "no money and no pants" proves they are still a threat.

In contrast to MoJo and the erratic Hippies, Rolanda has really pulled it together both in terms of their decision-making and their chemistry. I am mildly surprised that they made it to the finals, since they never showed much talent for the race before last week. But they're getting better, and now it's anyone's game. I still find them totally dull, but I will give Yolanda credit for the line of the week at the bug-munching fast forward challenge: "We're from the South. We'll eat anything fried." Ah, memories of Virginia. . . .

Second place in the "line of the week" challenge goes to the good people of Darwin for their "Take it off! Put in on!" chant when B.J. was begging for clothes. I've seen enough of that pasty dude's chest, thank you very much.

Finally, I have to admit that I now find the Frats more amusing than repulsive. Jeremy's deadpan comment about how they used to score lots of chicks with their gold-leafing skills made me laugh. The race is still theirs to lose, but anything can happen in the final.

Happy Birthday Henry!

Scenes from our Kelowna trip

Our little guy is officially two, or "teewww," as he would say while trying to figure out how to stick up the right number of fingers. We had a very fun and successful party for him last week in Kelowna with family friends and are throwing a kiddie party here in Ottawa on Saturday, so the occasion is being amply celebrated. What's the birthday boy up to these days? Here are a few highlights:

• He can i.d. all the colours by name but has trouble saying "yellow." Usually he just calls it "red" instead.
• He weighs 27 pounds and is 35 inches tall. I've heard from a variety of people that you can double a child's height at age 2 to get a reliable estimate of his adult height. So Henry's on track to hit 5'10", which will put him eye-to-eye with pretty much every close male relative he has, except tall Grandpa Mike.
• Every day brings new words, and he's starting to string words together.
• His memory skills and awareness of the world around him took a big leap forward recently. On the negative side, that means he's now nervous around a lot of things that never used to frighten him, such as animals. On the plus side, he remembers people very well. When Grandma Eileen came to visit in February, Henry acted very shy and hid in my arms for several minutes when we picked her up at the airport. But when we got off the plane in Kelowna last week, he cried "MaMa!" and ran towards her for a big hug as soon as he spotted her in the crowd. Same thing for BopPop, whom Henry hadn't seen since January. He talks about his grandparents and uncles frequently.
• Favourite hobby is making a mess, whether it's with crayons, sidewalk chalk, dirt, sand, water, food or toys. He's truly a prodigy in this respect.
• He's still a very hesitant and picky eater, but if there's Stilton cheese in the house, he'll demand "blue" until it's all gone.
• He has no interest in sitting on, let alone pedalling, the fancy tricycle we bought him for his birthday. Oh well.
  

And yes, Henry's sandy blonde hair is (finally!) growing in nicely. It will be awhile before we make our first visit to the barber, but he's a baldy no more.

Here, there and everywhere

Just got back from a 10-day trip out west. Many updates to come. . .