Canada Day 2005

One year old that is! Yup, just over a week ago we celebrated Helena Murielle Hill Meyer’s first birthday. The actual birthday fell on Friday the 13th, make what you will of that fateful day. However, to celebrate, Jody and I actually joined Andrea, Patrick, and a group of their friends at Patty Bolands in the market. They had decided that rather than drag everyone to a baby’s first birthday, which admittedly isn’t usually all that much fun for the adults, they opted to have a ‘surviving one year of parenthood’ party. The actual birthday girl was being babysat by her grandparents who made the trip up from Prince Edward County to help celebrate. I had been in Toronto for most of the week on business, so I showed up a bit late for the fun, but still managed to see some of the friends and the Godmother. The mother and father seemed to be having a good time, so we left them at the bar and headed home around 10pm after having a bite to eat. Read on to hear about the rest of Helena’s birthday weekend.

When it’s a friggin incredible deal!! Take this tri-suit pictured to the left here. I got an incredible deal on it. Now, I may seem to go a little overboard sometimes on my gear purchases, but that’s because I look around for bargains. Most of my gear was bought either used or on clearance of some sort. This tri suit is no exception. This one in particular is the Ti3 Elite Tri Suit by Orca, arguably the best tri-suit in the world. Last year, I wanted one of these, but there was no way I could afford it. They run $180+tax new! Enter great local shops and their great service. I bought this baby at one of the best local stores for triathletes, Cyclelogik. I can’t recommend them enough. Guess what I paid for this? Give up? $20!!!!! Yeah, that’s right, less than what I’d have to pay for a pair of shorts or a T-shirt. Heck, 10 minutes later I paid $17 for a pair of underwear!

Alrighty then, second bar update in under an hour. How’s that for service! Lucky for me tonight is a slow training night. Just working out on the ole Bowflex, which gives me time to type between sets. That’s basically the reason I’ve been a slacker on updates as well as the bar building itself. I’m basically putting in lots of training time. Evenings and weekends. Running, swimming, spinning, wave-running, working out… Not to mention the snowshoe races, Winterlude duathlon, and upcoming winter adventure race! When I’m done, I’m usually pooped, and just feel like veggin’. Oh yeah, and add to that the intense Olympic fever I’ve got, forcing me to watch extra TV! Looks like I’m getting a bit off topic, doesn’t it? Sorry. Just felt I should explain myself. That and tonight I seem to have a little extra time to type away here. It’s nice for a change. Anyway, on with my story…

I ask you this; Is there anything better than a nice relaxing weekend camping along a river in the summer? Well, although we only managed to get out for a single night of camping over the past weekend (and entire summer so far!), it was really nice. Jody and I headed out to Calabogie to camp on Jim’s property along the Madawaska river last weekend, with Jonah in tow. The idea was just to get away from the city for a quiet night on the river, with a nice campfire, some camp chow, and watery fun in the river. Mission accomplished. Although I had grander plans, which included night biking trips, maybe trail running, and hiking, we really didn’t move too far from our campsite. The only trips we made were up the hill to the cabin to visit our ‘neighbours’, Jim, Allie and Xavier. They were up for the weekend getting some additional work done on the homestead and just generally enjoying their property. Who can blame them? After his recent trip to Utah for Primal Quest, I would imagine Jim thoroughly enjoyed his beer, cigar and scotch under a starry sky by the campfire. I know I did 😉