Sliding at Bristol Pit: Result = Broken Bone

Like Father Like Son.  Yup, Delaney is a chip off the old block, especially when it comes to his ability to put himself in a doctors office or better yet, an Emergency Room.  And that`s exactly where he ended up Sunday afternoon after a very brief but somewhat eventful trip to the local sliding haunt here in Yellowknife, Bristol Pit.

It was about 3:00pm Sunday afternoon, the kids had finished up Squash, and were starting to get on each other`s nerves around the house (not to mention getting on ours too!!).  We decided to take them sliding at Bristol Pit, and they were quite eager to do so.  So I inflated their new double-slide, which Flo had recently picked up at Wal Mart.  After about 10 minutes we were ready to head out.

Upon arriving at Bristol Pit, it was clear there weren`t many others out.  I assumed it was because of the time and being quite late in the afternoon also assumed that most people had left for the day.  And there was plenty of evidence to indicate that others had been out sliding and snowboarding that day.  So the boys gear up, jump on the double slide and off they go.  Not 20 feet down, they both roll over and Cace decides he`s had enough for the day.  He wasn`t pleased at all.  Said we shouldn`t have forced to them go sliding!!  Go figure….

Delaney decided he was going to go down by himself.  So he hopped on, and off he went.  About the same 20 feet down the hill, he started to veer off to the right, and quickly got into `rough` patch.  The slide went out from under him and he went bouncing along the edge of the trail.  Then he started SCREAMING like nothing you`d heard before.  I took off down the hill and looked him over.  He was HOWLING.  After about 5 minutes he calmed down, I got him back to the truck, and then we headed home.  Once there, did a quick triage, and decided to call the neighbour who`s a RN and figured she could settle him down and confirm nothing was broken.  10 minutes later, Flo and Delaney arrive at the door, preparing to head to Hospital on RN neighbour`s advice. 

An hour+ later they both return, with Delaney`s left arm in a cast.  Apparently the bang his hand took was enough to FRACTURE the bone which connects the thumb to the wrist and hand.  Casted up, he`s good for 2.5-3 weeks before having to go back for follow up XRays.

My First Broken Bone

Like I said… LIKE FATHER LIKE SON.  For those of you that knew me when I was young, you`ll find great humor and truthfulness in that statement!

Until next time…

The Olympic Flame arrives in Yellowknife

The Olympic flame made its way across Yellowknife on Thursday, November 5  from N’Dilo to the Samba K’e Civic Plaza in Yellowknife.

66 torchbearers carried the Olympic Flame across the city with the final celebration at 7:00pm at Samba K’e Civic Plaza, next to City Hall.

I was there as a  part of the celebrations as a volunteer with Coke.  I had a great time and was so in awe of the enormous amount of happiness and excitement that was felt by all. I really enjoyed my evening and will remember it forever.

Amanda and Florence

One of the highlights of the evening, was the unveiling of the life-size hand-painted Coke bottle by Yellowknife artist Dawn Orman.  Both David and I love her work!!

Hand Painted by Artist Dawn Oman

I'm 5'2"!!

And of course, it wouldn’t be the Olympic Flame Celebration without a picture of myself with the Olympic Torch.  Big Cheers Out to my 3 other ladies who were volunteering alongside me that night!

Chelsea, Florence, Amanda and Suzanne with the Olympic Torch

Halloween, here and gone!

Wow, I am blown away by the fact that I haven’t written here for almost a full month.  October 5th was the last time I have written any words of wisdom (or boredom!).  How does that happen?  Besides the fact that I ended up down-n-out with the flu (possibly H1N1) for the last 9 days.  That takes a good chunk of time out of picture, but still not enough to account for the last month.  Okay, well the last 28 days anway.

I guess there’s a lot of things taking my time, all of which will be excuses for why I’m writing less.  But none of which I’ll bore you with.  All I can say is that I need a little kick every now and then to get myself motivated.  Sometimes from myself, sometimes from my better half.  Thanks sweety!

Now, to the topic at hand.  HALLOWEEN.  There it was, 2 days ago, like a distant memory.  That is, of course, aside from all the candy wrappers and chip bags kicking around all over the place.  Sorry about that dear…. 

Here’s a couple of photos of the kids, as they prepare to wreak mayhem (nah, just kiddin) on the neighbours.

Spooky boyz!

Who's that with the ugly face?

Let's go spook someone...

Are those 3" heels??

Anyhow, the treats were a plenty and the trot time was not.  All-in-all we were out about 30 minutes in -15 and the boys had enough.  Filled a bag or two and said let’s go home dad.  I didn’t question them and off we went, back to the house for them to gorge on chocolate and sweets.  Oh well, they’re allowed once per year I guess!!

Until next time…

Ol’ Man Winter has arrived

If my memory serves me correctly, I beleive we received our first touch of snow on October 6.  Each day since then, we have received snow flurries.

Day	Forecast	Description
Today        11 Oct	Flurries  High: -2°    Low: -9°	Day: Cloudy with flurries. High -2C, humidity 35%.  Winds  at  10 to 15 mph.
		Night: Clear skies. Low -9C. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

 

We are also finally  catching up with darkness, losing minutes each day of our sun:(  I actually don’t mind the darkness.  The night sky provides the great aurora viewing and the sheer beauty of the moon.

Date                          Oct 1, 2009	Sunrise                  7:46 AM	Sunset                   7:07 PM	Daylight 11h 20m 49s
Oct 2, 2009	7:49 AM	7:04 PM	11h 14m 50s
Oct 3, 2009	7:52 AM	7:01 PM	11h 08m 51s
Oct 4, 2009	7:54 AM	6:57 PM	11h 02m 52s
Oct 5, 2009	7:57 AM	6:54 PM	10h 56m 53s
Oct 6, 2009	8:00 AM	6:51 PM	10h 50m 53s
Oct 7, 2009	8:03 AM	6:47 PM	10h 44m 54s
Oct 8, 2009	8:05 AM	6:44 PM	10h 38m 55s
Oct 9, 2009	8:08 AM	6:41 PM	10h 32m 55s
Oct 10, 2009	8:11 AM	6:38 PM	10h 26m 56s
Oct 11, 2009	8:13 AM	6:34 PM	10h 20m 56s

When is enough, enough?

How many times can one tell oneself that “enough is enough” before the message actually sinks in?  It seems like quite a bit for myself anyway… at least when the topic at hand is weight loss.  3 years ago I was a mere slice of my current self.  8 pant sizes and 3 shirt sizes smaller – in fact, looking back at my passport picture which was taken around the same time, I’d have to say that I was a very different person… both in terms of my weight, and my lifestyle.

Since that time, I’ve promised myself, at least a dozen times, that I will get back on the exercise bandwagon and start improving my health and my diet.  A year and 1/2 ago, we moved from Paradise, Newfoundland to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and at the time I renewed that committment to “change my ways”.  I signed up for the Turbulence Training contest last September but never made it longer than 2 weeks of continuous effort.  I signed up in Broomball and loved the game so much that I finally started to lose some weight – I was dedicated to attending every session.  But it was a struggle to keep up with the younger guys who were in much better shape than I.  However, I held in there and made it trhrough the season.  But again, I committed to change my ways and get in better shape befor the start of next season.

Here we are, 1st week of October, 2 weeks from the start of the 2009-10 Broomball season, and I`m right where I left off, or even worse for that matter.  I keep telling myself that it`s my schedule… and that I don`t have time, etc.. etc… nothing but excuses really.  I need to change my ways now, and I need to do it wholeheartedly.  I really do understand the downfalls of continuing in my current mode of self anihilation.  So when, I ask, is enough enough?

I guess the answer to that question is going to be different for everyone that reads this.  We all have our breaking points and tolerance levels… I just hope that I`ve finally reached mine.

Until next time…

Having fun in winter

Back to school not only means some sense of organization skills are entrusted to the boys again, but it also means a winter of fun and sometimes hectic sport schedule.

Right now, their sport interests are spread out over a weekend, and even a weekday, but Cace and Delaney both want to join something else.

Saturday

10:30 -11:00 Cace swimming
11:00 – 11:30 Delaney swimming

1:00 to 2:00 both in gymnastics

Sunday

12:00 to 1:00 both in squash

Monday

5:30 to 6:30 Cace curling

Delaney says he doesn’t want to do curling.  I think that once he sees his brother, he’ll join.  Cace would also like to join speed skating while Delaney wants to join indoor soccer!

There is also the extra activities I sign them up through the City of Yellowknife such as Little Chefs, Frosty’s Workhop etc, which take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  Plus the Halloween and Santa Skates, Haloween and Christmas Swims, the Olympic Torch Relay (in November), Santa Parade and New Years Eve Family Swim.

Lots of activities call for lots of fun and enjoyment for the boys, but a tired winter for the parents. 

DisneyLand in 2010!

It looks as though my continuous efforts over the last few months have paid off – i.e. getting my darling wife to agree to get on a plane for a mid-winter trip!  We spent a good part of this past weekend figuring out a vacation destination and time, etc…  We finally decided on a trip to DisneyLand in California in March.

The kids were pretty excited to hear  that, as they have been after us for some time now, to return to DisneyWorld.  They really enjoyed it the last time we were there.  We’ve explained that DisneyLand is slightly different than DisneyWorld, but I honestly think they’ll have a great time regardless.

I have to give Flo credit.  When she puts her mind to something, she moves forward with the planning quickly.  She digs into the details and figures out all the options.  Then she moves forward with the plans.  All I needed to do was get the tickets arranged.  Which was a battle in itself… I spent the majority of the day Sunday back and forth on the line with Air Canada trying to arrange our tickets.  But I have to say, Air Canada came through for me, and we ended up with pretty much  what we wanted when we started out.

So, now the approaching winter will have a bright spot that we can all look forward to… not that we hate Winter, but the long winter can weigh heavy you, and with this little trip in our back pockets, it should help ease the cabin fever!

Until next time…

A few more Aurora photos from Yellowknife

Last night about 11:10pm I let the dogs out, and when I looked up the Aurora was in full force out over Great Slave Lake, Yellowknife.  I grabbed the tripod and camera and headed out to Giant Mine once again, to see what luck I would have this time around.

I pull into the Giant Mine museum area, drive down toward the public dock, and realized quickly that I had the place to myself entirely.  Surreal feeling actually… I got out, setup the pod, and started shooting.  About 10 minutes later I hear soft footsteps on the rocky road just up behind me.  I turn around to see this brazen little fox walking toward me.  Spooked me a little…  I kicked the rocks towards him (didn’t hit him!) and he scooted on past me towards the waters edge.  That was that, and I went back to shooting the Aurora again, until I hear the bushes in front of me rattling.  Hmm… curiousity is peaked again, so I threw a rock towards the bushes, and out scurries that little fox again.  I dunno if he was sizing me up for lunch or what? but he would’ve had a great feed had he been strong enough to take me down!! 

Anyhow, here’s one of the shots I captured last night.  The rest can be found on my Facebook profile or on my Picasa Web Album.

Aurora over Giant Mine Public Dock in Yellowknife

Until next time…

Great night for Aurora viewing

Last night the kids were so wound up, we decided to take them for a walk to try and calm them down a little.  While we were walking, we we noticed the Aurora dancing across the out over Great Slave Lake.  It was fairly early and the Aurora were still just faint to the eye.  We decided to take the kids for a ride, out as far as the Public Boat Launch area near Giant Mine in Yellowknife, so they could actually experience the Aurora in full beam and beauty.

When we arrived, the dock was full of other night viewers, revelling in the light show taking place above our heads.  The kids were amazed, as this was really the first time they had gotten to see the Aurora in full swing, so-to-speak.  It truly is a spectacular thing to witness, and for anyone that hasn`t yet experienced it, I highly recommend coming to Yellowknife and making a trip out of it.  It`s worth the trip alone.

I posted a gallery of some of the Aurora photos I captured last night on my Facebook and Picasa albums.  You can check them out at my Aurora Facebook Album or my Aurora Picasa Album.

Here`s a hint of what you`ll get to see…

Dancing Aurora over Back Bay in Yellowknife

Until next time…

Back to normal…

If there is such a thing… what exactly is normal anyway.  After a few months of summer vacation, that begins to feel normal, until it seems the last few weeks.  Then the kids are back to school and settling in to a routine again, which then seems like that is “normal”.  Three months later and they’re off for Christmas vacation which turns into normalcy for a couple of weeks and then they’re back to school again for what again feels normal for a few more months until Spring break….  Normal – I guess the regular disruption to regular routines is what normal is all about.

Whatever normal is, routines are good for the kids and it’s nice to have them back into school again.  They were beginning to get on each other’s nerves as summer was coming to a close, and now that they’re back in school, their normal tendency to terrorize each other has turned into a more subdued annoyance towards one another.  That’s worth a year of Sundays in my book.

Now if I could somehow convince myself to form some sort of normal routine of exercise and eating less, I’d be doing okay… but then that wouldn`t be normal would it?

Until next time…