Rooting and roos

Went for a good run this morning. Yay me! I ran around the Herrisson Island reserve again to see if I could spot the family of kangaroos. Come to think of it, they may not be a family but, instead, the roo equivalent of a biker gang.

At any rate, they surprised me as I made a right turn on the East side of the reserve to finish my first lap. There they were, just lounging by a grove of trees. One was sitting on his hind legs washing his tiny front paws, another was lying on his side looking like he was reading the Saturday morning paper. I swear!! A couple more were just hanging out chatting and wondering who the lumbering, sweating, heavy-footed, uber-slow moving fella was. Well, it was me, cutting a wide path around the group so as not to disturb them.

They took notice of me, perking up a wee bit to make sure I wasn't gonna head their way and disturb their hanging-out time. And I noticed that in the bright sunlight of a Saturday morning that these roos are definitely reddish-brown in colour, not grey as I previously thought.

All this after sitting in front of the TV rooting for Canada as it won two more silvers at the World Swimming Championships. Yay Mike Brown and yay Men's 4 x 200m free relay!

Rooting and roos. That's one fantastic morning.

Tee hee. Rooting. Do North Americans know what that means Down Under? Well, I wasn't doing that.

Chilling, chatting and chugging

Yesterday I went for a run (yay me! another run!) and ventured into this cool nature reserve on Herrisson Island, hoping to see kangaroos. I did : ) It's not every day that you see kangaroos while you're running directly adjacent to the city.

Last night I got lost in Lost. As per usual, it was wicked. Only a few more episodes to go until the end of the first season, but I fear that I may miss the very last episode because (I think) it airs the day I leave for Vancouver. What the hell kind of karma is that?!

Also last night, a new friend of mine watched the show with me. Yay me -- I have a new friend!! It was cool, cuz San Diego Gal brought a bottle of wine and we just hung out while watching Lost (followed by The Amazing Race). She's very cool, and it's just nice having someone to hang with. But we also invited The Gringo, and he brought wine too!! The three of us chilled, chatted and chugged wine until we realized it was 1:00AM.

Tonight: more chilling, chatting and chugging (beer this time) with the cool newlywed couple, Diver Boy and Tape Girl. I brought some beer, while they made a homemade Japanese feast. Fair trade, I'd say!! Very cool cathing up with them after a few weeks.

What an awesome couple of days! It kinda makes up for some of the crap that's been floating around this week.

The opposite effect

Ironic: purposely taking the time and effort to clear up rumours, address misconceptions and allay fears in an effort to improve communication, but instead (somehow) creating mistrust and opportunities for outsiders to question my motives.

Oh, I'm sorry. It's not actually ironic as much as it is utterly demoralizing.

Fuck. I'm not even sure that I trust my judgment any more. And I have to wonder why these outsiders even care, to be honest. It's not like I care about what they're up to.

Someone who's recently become a very valued ally told me the other day that sometimes there seems to be an overriding philosophy of not showing your vulnerabilities, or being too honest. I'm not sure I agree with that -- in fact, I've worked hard to get to the point where I'm finally able to honestly admit my weaknesses and ask for help. Isn't recognizing our weaknesses one of the things that makes us stronger?

Who keeps changing the freakin' rules on me?!

But on a completely unrelated topic, last night was great. I was invited to a wine and cheese at The Boxer's place, and it was lovely. Before I knew it, my clock said 3AM and no M&M's cheese in sight. But what a nice change of pace after a frustrating week!

The woman I love to slow dance with

I have this friend who lives in New York. She is one of the most amazing people I've ever meet. Ever. And I stupidly forgot her birthday.

I met P. on Halloween weekend in 1998 in NYC. I was there to watch our mutual friend Scary Red Wine Girl run her first-ever marathon. Scary was cool enough to invite me along to meet several of her MBA friends, and I mixed with that coolest of groups all weekend long. They took care of me, they made me feel welcome, and one of them even housed me (as I had arrived in Manhattan on a Friday night without any accommodation organized, planning to either stay out all night or sleep in my car).

From that first weekend, I thought P. was pretty damn cool. And when she was next visiting Vancouver, Scary invited me out to dinner to join them with a few other friends. It just kept happening from there: P. moved to Vancouver, I moved into the apartment directly underneath hers, every so often she'd tap dance over my head, we had a great limbo/housewarming party at her pad, and a slightly less-refined housewarming at mine.

The first time I introduced her to my circle of friends, it was at a lounge-type place on Georgia Street, where there was music playing and couples slow dancing. She and I did a brief spin on the dancefloor and several of my friends were convinced that I was turning to the dark side -- the straight side : ) That is how freakin' good we looked together! For months afterward, my friend Willy would ask me why we didn't get married: "You guys just looked so great dancing out there. I think you should marry her," he'd advise me with a smile and a fake air of resignation in his voice.

Several months after she moved to Vancouver, P. started having thoughts about heading back to the big city. While she made an honest go of it in Vancouver, I think she recognized that the business opportunities that she needed to pursue just weren't prevalent in the West Coast city. While she was still wavering on whether to go or stay, she returned to NYC for a Labour Day weekend visit, and I thought I might just be able to do something. I realized that this trip back would probably convince her to move back, so I thought I'd at least give her some reason to consider staying in Vancouver; to remind her of the people who loved her and wanted her to stay there.

I remember surreptitiously finding out when she was flying back to Vancouver, and hauling my ass out of bed to surprise her. I met her at the airport at 12:50AM so she wouldn't have to take a cab home, and would have someone there to meet her, hug her, and take her home (because not having someone to do that for me is always a tad depressing). I loved seeing P's expression as she caught sight of me in the arrivals area, but the thoughtful person she was, all she was worried about was the fact that I had gotten up late at night just to pick her up. What she didn't know was that I was totally giddy at the opportunity to surprise her by doing something nice just for her. I get off on that kind of thing, so it was totally cool for me.

In the end, P. moved back to the big city to relaunch her career, even managing to keep the faith during times with some very dodgy companies. I remember the relief in realizing she was out of town on business when 9/11 hit, and I heard the stories of the Great Blackout of 2003. But I always knew she was available if I needed to talk, or if I wanted to hear about the latest adventures of her two nephews.

In late Summer 2003, at the same time I was readying to move to Australia, P. was in the starting blocks of an amazing round-the-world backpacking trip. We had both found ourselves at crossroads in our lives, and I'm glad to say that we each had the guts to take a huge leap of faith/hope/desperation/confidence in search of something enlightening. During her odyssey, P. saw some amazing things, met some amazing people, and underwent some amazing experiences. I marveled as I read her online travel journal and tried to comprehend everything that she was doing. Heck, she even had the good sense to meet the Australian half of my family while she was in Brisbane! But, in the end, I was most struck by her realization that there's a bigger purpose in this life, and how she strived to help those who needed her help the most.

P. is starting a brand new opportunity in a field that she was born for, taking her ace marketing skills to a non-profit company. And I'm so stoked for her! Her willingness to seek out new and interesting things -- things that I don't think I'd ever consider -- amazes me. I marvel at her ability to continually seek growth and improvement, to help others, to find a productive and meaningful path in this world.

She and I will have visits again in the future. We'll keep in touch (when I smarten up and get my priorities in place), and we'll be friends for a long time to come. She'll always figure prominently in my thoughts. Most importantly, though, P. will always be the woman I love to slow dance with.

Love ya, P. Thanks for your wonderful e-mail the other day. I love the fact that you're involved in putting smiles on children's faces, because I smile like a kid every time I think of you!

Grey

Yesterday I went for a run. Yup, that's 4 runs in the past couple of weeks. Yay me! I think I may have finally licked my injury once and for all for the time being. It first hit last November, when I won my GOLD MEDAL in high jump at the Pan Pacific Masters Games. I felt a strain in the achilles heel of my right leg (my take off leg) after the competiton was over -- after receiving my GOLD MEDAL -- and it just never seemed to get better. I became a sloth stopped running for six months, and it still didn't seem to heal.

But I think maybe the worst is finally over and I may have licked my achilles heel injury. These past few runs I've done something that has helped; something very foreign to me. I've started at a moderate, conservative pace, easing into the run before gradually building up to a more suitable tempo. Maybe the key is letting the achilles warm up sufficiently before putting so much pressure on it. I'll keep doing my runs that way and hopefully I'll find my way back on the path to fitness.

Having said that, however, I'm a bit surprised. No running at all in the past eight months (except for twice in Melbourne) and yet I haven't ballooned into a blimp. I weighed myself the other day and I'm at 181.5 lbs. Yet I'm eating like there's no tomorrow. I think it shows just how much good it does being busy at work and always on the move. Plus, the Tear Down and Set Up Fitness Plans are clearly working wonders!

And now a shock horror that I've noticed since starting this job: I'm starting to grey at the temples. Not all of a sudden or anything, but slowly, gradually. Well, I suppose 40 is only 17 months away now. Just as long as I look distinguished when it's all over and done with : )

And speaking of grey, I saw a pod of dolphins on my run. Couldn't believe it -- there, swimming along in the Swan River, a pod of seven or so grey dolphins. Yippee!!

How big is it, Alex?

Mining for more gold: mission accomplished

This guy is phenomenal, winning another world title in his third-best event! Too bad a back injury kept him from his specialty event, the tower, cuz I'm pretty confident he would have swept all three boards.

Congrats to Alex in conquering the world amid the pressure and expectations of a hometown crowd.

And I bet it's even bigger than that.

My Canada includes Brackendale

July 21: a great day cuz it was a day off. I relaxed and did everything I wanted to, except going for a run. But watching a story summary of Lost just made me even more eager to see the last few episodes of the season. They showed a sneak preview: could it be possible that they shoot/kill John Locke?! I'm all acquiver!

July 22: jeepers, it's all happening today! Birthdays and celebrations galore. Yippee!!

Let's see:

• Cindy's birthday (39). Cindy is, quite simply, one of my best friends and the one person I talk regularly about track and field with. Other than me, nobody else could be as thrilled as Cindy at hearing me on my mobile phone in Edmonton, calling the action live to Cindy in Vancouver as Diane Cummins made her unbelievable breakthrough to finish 5th at the 2001 World Championships. Other than me, nobody else could be as devastated as Cindy when Perdita crashed into the first hurdle in Athens. I love sharing that special bond with Cindy. And she has way more grey hair than I do : )
• Tri Guy's birthday (also 39). Coincidentally, Tri Guy is the other person to whom I can talk track and not get blank stares. Tri Guy shares the same birthday as Cindy, they both competed in track in Alberta at the same time in the '80's, and I'm convinced they they knew each other and competed on occasion. That theory is yet to be proven, however. Regardless, Tri Guy is someone for whom I traveled to New Zealand to watch him finish his first-ever Ironman Triathlon, just because I really wanted to support him in that triumph. He's the fittest person I've ever known personally, and I marvel at his commitment. The fact that he's a bit crazy doesn't hurt, either : ) Who else would cycle from Calgary to the Arctic Circle just because they had a few days to kill?! I've known Tri Guy since we were 4 or 5 years old and taking organ lessons together. Can that mean it's been 35 years? Oh dear. I may need a cocktail now.
• The Brackendale Couple's anniversary (can it really be 10 years already?!). Even though they no longer live in Brackendale, my Canada will always include Brackendale and my circle of friends will always include this warped Pole and his beautiful Cinnamon Girl. They're such great people, such dedicated parents, and just overall fun. A couple of minutes with these two and we're automatically transported back to those crazy days at Wildwood Lodge (vomit episodes intentionally left out).
• My anniversary (16 years). Yup, you read it right. It was on July 22, 1989 that I skied on the Blackcomb Glacier in Summer and had the time of my life, the most amazing experience ever in my 22 years to that point. It was the impetus for my move to Whistler 2+ years later, a decision that taught me more about myself than anything else ever could. It set me on a career path, it hooked me up with a company that I loved for 11+ years, and it made me the person I am today -- warts and all : ) You look at those monumental events in your life and wonder what would have happened if they never happened? In this case, I shudder to think.

Wow, how can so much happiness be derived from one simple day? Happy 39th Birthdays Cindy and Tri Guy. Happy 10th Anniversary Brackendale Couple! Happy 16th Anniversary me!

Day off

Nurse Girl is back from holidays, so I've taken today off. I plan on going for a run, doing some surfing on the net, doing some planning for Vancouver, heading to Subiaco for some window shopping, and watching Lost (only a few more episodes to go!).

I booked an appointment for a dental check up and cleaning when I'm back in Vancouver. Maybe I'll see Header there like last time. Very bizarre!

Life is good today.

A new world record....and a cool new scruffy beard

Alexandre: award-winner for "Best Transformation from skinny-13-year-old-phenom to Uber-Hunk Dive God"

Alex has just won World Champs gold, in the process becoming the first man ever to break 800 points in 3m springboard. And 3m isn't even traditionally his best event!

All this after winning his first world title on tower in 2003, winning Athens Olympic silver in 3m, and finishing fourth in the Athens Olympic tower (in an amazingly high-level competition). Oh ya, and he won 3 golds and a bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games, swept all three boards at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, won tower silver at the 2001 Worlds, finished fourth in the the tower at the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a 15-year-old, and won two golds at the 1998 Commonwealth Games as a teeny-tiny 13-year-old. I'm not sure that anyone but an elite level diver understands how monumental these results are. This guy is certainly a star!

Absolutely amazing, and yet I'm not sure whether I'm more mesmerized by his results, or by his new scruffy look : ) Or his abs, or his flexibility, or his strength, or or or. Hmmmm, I bet he could be a circus acrobat when he retires from diving!

After Blythe Hartley's gold yesterday, that's gold medals on successive days for Canada at the World Championships. Throw in a bronze from the day before, and it's already been a great diving competition. And there's plenty more to come, like defending world champion Emilie Heymans!

I think...

...it's all coming together!

I booked my flight home to Vancouver, finding a possibly-too-good-to-be-true great deal* with China Airlines from Hong Kong to Vancouver and back. As suspected, I had to forfeit my HK --> YVR flight on Cathay because there was just no room and I only have a finite set of dates with which I can play.

I'll use the first half of my Cathay ticket to get from Sydney to HK, then fly with China to Vancouver and back. And I still need to book my ticket from HK to Singapore to get there in time for Set Up.

But for all of you in the Vancouver area who are reading (all 3 of you), I'll be in your neck of the woods August 18-29. Meet me at the Fountainhead Pub!

* The great deal might honestly be too good to be true, at $864CAD for a return ticket from HK --> YVR. With a price like that, I'm expecting horrible food, terrible service, and a potential nightmarish flight. But it'll be cheap. And it'll get me home. And that's all that matters!

Double dark

My sister J is in town for a visit. We went to watch the Brisbane Lions play the West Coast Eagles (the Eagles won), we're gonna head to Freo to look around tomorrow, and we'll just see what else manages to keep us busy.

I worked Friday and today (Sunday), but we got to hang out Saturday and will also do so on the upcoming double dark (Monday and Tuesday). I just wish I wasn't so freakin' exhausted from working so much.

I had a management workshop the other day -- a follow-up day to a Day One workshop we had in Adelaide. It's always interesting getting exposure to things like this, but you do wonder (well, I do, anyway) if the things I think I'm doing as a manager/leader are really what I am doing. Today, I had my doubts...but that's another post.

I sometimes think that, in the right circumstances, I can be a very effective manager/leader. In the past, however, I've gotten frustrated with a lack of buy-in from team members, and I've let that affect me too much. Oh well, it's all about trying to grow, develop skills, and learn patience. I still have so much to learn, but I think hope I'm on the right track. Jeepers, at 38 I should hope so :)

I can't believe they killed Boone!!

That's it! I QUIT.

Last night, they killed Boone! Sure, the guy had his problems, but that's no reason to kill him!

I'm really pissed right now, and I totally refuse to keep watching. But thank you for letting me vent.

(OK, I'll probably keep watching. But I'll wear a black armband in memory of Boone.)

Stupid Girl Friday

To borrow a favourite phrase from Luscious Lorna, it's clearly Stupid Girl Friday for me today.

I was sitting there doing some online banking, switching money from account to account in order to evade collection agencies, and saw that my bank has added some enhanced security features to their site. No worries.

I had to choose a security question that will help the bank verify my identity in the event that I've forgotten my password. You know the drill: you choose from a drop-down list of questions like "What's your mother's maiden name?" or "What was the name of your first pet?"

You choose whichever question you want, and then type in the answer that supposedly proves that you -- and absolutely nobody else in the entire world -- know that your first pet was "Whiskers" the gerbil. No worries.

Well, except that one of the questions in the list was: "What was the street you threw up on?"

"Hmmmpphh," I thought indignantly. "Fu-uhhhhck. That could be Oxford Street in Sydney, the parking lot of the TraveLodge in downtown Seattle, Christopher Street in NYC, the Blackcomb Admin Building Parking Lot in Whistler, or so many others. How am I supposed to choose and remember just one?!"

Then this Stupid Girl squinted her eyes a bit, took a long, hard look at the question again, and immediately got up for a much-needed a shot of caffeine.

Grew. Not threw. Grew.

Two of my favourite things in life

The number two is very much in evidence this week. We have two-show days once during the week, and then every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And these two-show days are nearly killing me right now.

If I want to get any kind of office work done, I need to get in early to tackle it. And then the grind of two shows follows until late into the evening. For instance, yesterday -- much like Wednesday -- I worked from noon to 12:15AM. Tuesday and Thursday (mere one-show days) still saw me come onto site around 12:30 and leave around 11:30PM. Good thing I happen to love what I'm doing : ) And -- fear not -- it should all ease off once Nurse Girl is back from her holidays. How many days until that happens? Another 11? I can last that long.

Yesterday: 2 shows

Today: 2 shows

Sunday: 2 shows.

Monday: a glorious day off!

Forget the return of Nurse Girl; can I even last until Monday?! Damn, I hope so, cuz I gotta try and book my Vancouver trip for late-August. Ahhhh, Vancouver in Summer: it ain't gonna get much better!

Got an e-mail from Suzie that totally made my day. I forgot that I have a honkin' big tax refund owing, and suddenly a cheque showed up at Suzie's doorstep with my name on it.

Two-show days: not among my favourite things in life

Vancouver and Money: definitely two of my favourite things in life

"They're bombing London..."

From the amazing high of celebrating the London 2012 bid win. The father of one of our circus freaks is an Olympic-medal-winning, Commonwealth Games champion, multi-decorated former athlete and sports promoter/administrator. He's very highly placed in the London bid team that beat the odds and pipped Paris for the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympics on Wednesday night (Perth time). So naturally....several of us had celebratory cocktails late that night after the win. Boy, it was fun for me to have the chance to talk Olympics with some folks who actually knew something about it!

To one of those do-you-remember-where-you-were-when-you-heard-the-news moments. I was at my desk and one of my team members walked in to tell me, "Have you heard the latest news? They're bombing London...."

And you wonder how lives could change so dramatically for those poor commuters caught the wreckage of a post-jubilant Thursday morning.

How can people can inflict this pain upon others?

Stay tuned

I'm in a dither. My return ticket SYD --> YVR is paid for, and I really want to use it because the thought of letting it go to waste makes the cheap-ass in me cringe I really want to enjoy a quick Vancouver vacation.

Unfortunately, there's no availability on flights from Hong Kong to Vancouver. Sure, I can get from Sydney to Hong Kong on the day I want, but I'm waitlisted on the last leg. I could sit at Hong Kong International Airport for days, cuz it doesn't look very good.

Now, there are worse airports. I could be stuck in Adelaide "International" Airport, for instance. Or even that crazy wee airport on the Cook Islands I passed through in 1996. Ya, I suppose hanging out at Hong Kong International would be bearable. It's just that I'd just prefer to be in YVR instead, going to the Fountainhead Pub, hanging out with friends, enjoying the Seawall...

Arrgghh. Stay tuned!

Tuesday

Back to work today. God, it's been such a circus lately.

The first weekend over

The first weekend of shows is over. I'm tired, but satisfied. And now I need to rest and relax.

Premiere night on Friday went well, with plenty of pseudo-celebrities (apparently, cuz I didn't recognize any of 'em) in my lounge. We were ready for 'em, and didn't disappoint. The post-Premiere party was fun, too. I wore my big Canadian flag as a cape, prompting much favourable response from the gathered masses, both circus freaks and special invitees alike.

Diver Boy and Tape Girl came to the party with me, and it was great having them there to celebrate Canada Day, particularly after the raucous time Diver Boy and I had on Canada Day last year in North Sydney. Yup, Canada Day two years in a row in Australia with Diver Boy -- who wouldda thunk?!

My right-hand gal at work, Nurse Girl, heads out on holidays tomorrow. That means I'll be working solo for the next 2+ weeks. That's why I'm reallllly looking forward to having tomorrow off! Sales are going extremely well here in Perth, so we're pretty stoked about that. But it's sure gonna be busy without Nurse Girl. Oh well, no worries, mate.