Decisions, Decisions

Last night was a stressful night at our house...there were so many good shows on TV, it was hard to decide what to watch. Ha!

First of all, Battle of the Blades - Season 2 was starting on CBC!


The figure skaters and hockey players had all been announced, but only as individuals, not as pairs, so I was looking forward to finding out who would skate with who. Last nights episode was more of a behind the scenes, and the teams weren't announced until the very end. So, we didn't get to see the actual pairs skate together, but I'm excited about a few of the match ups.

- Ekaterina "Katia" Gordeeva and Valeri Bure seem to be well matched, and I love Ekaterina.
- Theo Fleury and Jamie Salé have a good chance; Theo is intense, and he's going to work hard for the win, and Jamie won last season, so she'll be looking for a repeat.
- Georges Laraque and Anabelle Langlois were a surprising match up, he's huge and could easily lift any of the girls, and yet they give him the smallest girl...I think it will make for some amazing lifts. I like that Georges is a Christian, and very open about it, and Anabelle is such a cutey.
- Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock are a surprise favourite, I didn't even recognize Violetta's name, I don't know a thing about her or her skating, but I decided last night that P.J. Stock is going to bring a lot to the show...he has a great sense of humour!
- And then there is Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, I love Shae-Lynn and thought she should have won last season...so hopefully she will be just as enjoyable to watch with her new partner.

And then over on CBS, a new season of The Amazing Race was starting.


Without a doubt, this is my favourite show, so I couldn't miss it. The last few seasons of this show, we've kind of had an open door policy at our house, and invited friends over to watch with us. We've had 8 or 10 people here watching, which is always extra fun. Last night only Kevin and Susannah (and Stella) were able to join us though. It's early, but as of right now I'm liking the doctors, Nat & Kat; it seems like they'll pay attention to detail, and given their profession, they should be able to stay calm in stressful situations. Jill & Thomas seem like the strongest couple, they didn't have a lot of drama surrounding them last night...but again, it's early. And then there is Nick & Vicki, wow, they were brutal last night. I'm sure if they were at home watching the episode, they would have been totally embarrassed! And, I can't post about the show and not mention the watermelon in the face! OUCH! That girl was incredible for finishing the challenge...even if she did say 'I can't feel my face' one too many times!

In case you missed it...


And the last show I wanted to watch, Undercover Boss. Not as important as the other ones I've talked about, but still a good one. I focused on Battle of the Blades and The Amazing Race, and switched to Undercover Boss during commercials, seemed to work well.

So, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in awhile, and then when I do, it's all about reality TV. Things are obviously pretty boring around here right now! Oh well, sometimes boring is OK.

Finding a New Routine

Well, I think it's safe to say that fall is here. I know the calendar says the first official day of autumn is September 23rd, but I think it came early this year! The weather has really cooled down, especially at night, and the leaves are definitely starting to change. It's cool, dark and rainy today...so, I have a beef casserole in the slow cooker, a mug of hot chocolate in hand, a spiced orange candle lit and I'm working on skating music...not a bad way to spend a day off.

Last weekend was our final wedding of the season; another one of Curt's cousin, this time on his mom's side, was getting married. And just like the last wedding I posted about, this couple had also been dating (off and on) for 10 years! So, congratulations to Rachel and Andrew!

The next 'big thing' on our calendar, well this one is probably only on my calendar, is Skate Canada International! This is a major skating competition and it's being held in Kingston this year, so it's nice and close, which doesn't happen often. I bought my 'All Event Ticket Package' months ago, so from October 28th to October 31st I'll be taking in as much of the competition as possible.

Until then, we'll be settling into our new fall routine. I'm working more hours at my new job; the shifts change from week to week, and are a lot more random then my shifts in the Pro Shop. But, I'm not complaining, I'm still glad I made the change.

And skating, well...I had another job related blow earlier this week, and this time it was skating related. I had been in touch with the parents of one of my skaters from last year, and it seemed like she was all set to register and we would pick up where we left off last year. Well, when she wasn't at the rink for the first two sessions, I started to get nervous...and after a few emails, my worst fear was confirmed, she has decided not to skate this year. VERY DISAPPOINTING news :( First of all, she was a great little girl and she really seemed to be enjoying skating (and was doing well); second of all, this leaves me with only one private skater in Belleville, this time last year I had six private skaters. I've had three decide not to return, and I lost two skaters because the board made a last minute decision to switch the ice schedule (moving one of the programs from Friday to Thursday, affecting two of my skaters because I can't be in Belleville to coach on Thursday - I'm in Tweed - so they had to go with another coach).

And, I have my share of frustrations in Tweed, too! The troubles there are all schedule related as well. Together with the two other coaches, and two board members, we developed a new ice schedule to ensure the best use of our ice time. Unfortunately, one of the other coaches continues to make little changes to the schedule...all of which benefit her and her skaters, and make life difficult for the rest of us! UGH, it's frustrating when it was supposed to be a group effort, and now it feels like it's all being dictated to me.

I know I don't have blog 'followers', but, for those of you who do read regularly, I'm sorry for all the complaining lately. I didn't really start this blog with these type of posts in mind, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Visitors

As I mentioned in my last post, we had some special visitors last week. My brother, Tom, his wife, Krystle, and their kids, Nolan and Abby, were here for a few days! I always love when people come to visit, especially these guys and my parents; they are always so hospitable when we go to Acton, so it's nice to be able to host them every so often.

They arrived on Monday afternoon, hung out with us until Wednesday morning and then went to spend a few days in Ottawa. They returned on Friday afternoon, spent the night with us and then left for home on Saturday morning. So we had lots of time to visit.

During the first few days of their visit, we were at the mall doing some shopping, and we made an exciting purchase for Nolan :) I had heard that he received some hand-me-down skates from a friend - however, the type of skates he received are every skating coaches nightmare! Plastic and buckles do not make good skates.


They probably looked something like these.

So, while we were in the mall, and Tom and Krystle were busy looking for kids clothes, Nolan and I went off to Sportchek to look at 'real' skates. Together with a sales guy, we tried a few pairs on. We found a great little pair that fit Nolan well, and he was able to stand up and walk around in them. When Tom and Krystle arrived at Sportchek, and Nolan had them on his feet, I thought I might have been in trouble :) But, Nolan's birthday is coming up, so when I told them that Curt and I would split the cost - as a birthday present - I redeemed myself ;)


And, these are the awesome little skates we left the store with!

Now, I probably would have rather picked out skates like this for him...


But, I knew not to push my luck! This kid is ALL boy, and already a huge hockey fan...I'm just glad that he's going to learn how to skate properly before trying to play hockey.

When the Robertson's were back in town on Friday night, I actually had the chance to take Nolan on the ice! For sure a highlight for me...I was so glad that I was the first one to have him on the ice. Is that weird?

He was great on the ice! Not 'great' as in he could stand up and skate all by himself or anything, actually, it was the exact opposite...but, he had the right attitude about it and just had fun.

We stepped on the ice, I grabbed hold of him under his armpits to keep him on his feet, and pretty much pushed him ahead 10 or 12 feet. Then I picked him up (so we could get to the other side of the ice, closer to Tom, Krystle and Curt), and when I picked him up, he said 'I'm a good skater, Auntie Boo' Ha! I had done all the work...but he was proud of himself, and that made me happy.

After being on the ice with him for about 20 minutes, I can say that it is a good thing I am not going to be his coach! Probably the most obvious reason for this, I would totally favor him if he were in my group. But also because I don't think he would listen very well, he often just laughed at me when I tried to give him instructions! Oh well, that's understandable.

The following Monday, Nolan actually started the Learn-to-Skate Program with the Acton Figure Skating Club...my home club! And, from what I've heard, his little private lesson with me, gave him an advantage over the other kids ;)

Anyway, the skating portion of the visit was obviously a highlight...but, the whole visit was great, and I'm really thankful that Tom and Krystle chose to spend some of their vacation time with us!

*Note: I'm still waiting for Tom to send me some pictures of us skating, so I'll have to add those later (hint, hint)*

Labour Day Weekend

So, now we're all caught up on my work situation, time to move on to the long weekend. It was a busy one!

We actually got a head start on the weekend because we had a wedding to go to on Friday; and, the wedding was three hours away, in Orillia, so Curt and I both had the day off. We left around 11am and planned on getting to Orillia early so we could do some sight seeing; however, we drove through a crazy rain storm that seriously slowed us down, so we weren't as early as we thought. We're talking torrential rains, the kind where you can't really see that far in front of you, so people end up pulling off the road! We didn't actually have to pull over, but I think there were times where Curt was only going about 30 km/hr. Not the kind of weather you want when you're on your way to an outdoor wedding :) But, having said that, when we pulled up to the wedding site, the sun came out and people went to work setting things up for the ceremony.

The groom, Frank, is Curt's cousin...and our dentist. He married Tracy, his girlfriend of 10 years! Yes, she's patient, and yes, that was an ongoing joke throughout the day!

We don't see a lot of Frank and Tracy, actually, we really only see Frank when we have a dentist appointment. But, they are a great couple, and it was great to be part of their special day...their long awaited, perfect, special day.


Frank and Tracy being introduced as Dr. and Mrs. Vreugdenhil for the first time!

The reception was at a golf course, and I know I'm a little biased, but it was beautiful! It made me think about our reception at the Blue Springs Golf Course, and I realized how thankful I am that we were able to have it there! The meal was great, and we were seated at a table with Curt's cousins and their spouses, so we had a great time throughout dinner, too. To get Frank and Tracy to kiss, people were invited to share some marriage advice or to give a little story about Frank and/or Tracy...so, all the cousins were busy reminiscing, and it was fun to hear new stories from Curt's childhood!

We left the reception somewhat early, around 10pm, to make the drive home. It would have been nice to stay in the area, but we had booked a campsite months ago, and we wanted to fit camping in too. We had the site Friday to Sunday night, and we weren't able to be there Friday obviously, so we had to be there by 8am on Saturday morning so the park wouldn't give our site away.

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning, made it to our site, set up the trailer and immediately took a nap :) It actually wasn't a very nice day - it was cloudy, windy and rained off and on. So, it's not like we missed out on any beach time by taking a nap.

The weather the whole weekend was pretty brutal, so we spent a good part of our time in the trailer playing cards. Luckily, on Sunday afternoon some friends came out to visit, so that forced us to leave the trailer (it's not big enough for more then two people!).

Kevin, Susannah and their daughter, Stella were our first visitors, and Maria also joined us later in the afternoon. Despite the WINDY/COLD day, Kevin, Maria and Curt were all brave enough to go for a swim. Susannah (and I) had to look after Stella, so we couldn't go in...darn ;) There were not a lot of people in the water, in fact, other then a few kids, I think the only people 'in the water' were kite surfing (note - they wear wet suits). I suppose it was a perfect day for that.


Maria heading in the water, Curt and Kevin looking cold and a kite surfer, the only one that belongs in the water!


Susannah making sure Stella doesn't get too far into the water.


Stella, waiting patiently for dinner...


...and, Stella enjoying her corn on the cob!

Stella was a great during the visit - she played away happily, enjoyed our walk around the park, and fell asleep in her stroller so her parents could enjoy a few hours of card games before heading home!

Monday morning was cold and rainy again, so we pretty much just packed up and came home. We were home just long enough to unpack and get organized at home, and then the Robertson's arrived! Tom, Krystle, Nolan and Abby are on holidays, so they came east for a visit. More on that in the next post!

Work - Moving On

So, I have been MIA (Missing in Action) from the blog world for two weeks! I've tried to post a few times, but it have just been too busy! The last two weeks have been consumed with work, skating/coaching, a wedding, camping, family visiting, and meetings.

The whole work part has probably been the most eventful part of the last two weeks. After a long and trying season at the golf course, I finally realized it wasn't worth it...and I QUIT!

I had an incident with a co-worker, he lost his temper and flipped out on me, and no one in management saw a problem with the way he acted. Now, I don't want to go on and on about it, but a brief little explanation...this guy has 5 months experience working at a golf course, and prior to that he probably didn't even know the difference between a putter and a driver. I have 8 YEARS experience working at a golf course, 5 YEARS at the course I'm at now. And, the guy is a starter and I'm a Pro Shop Assistant. So, you'd think he would realize that I have some authority over him, but, he thinks he should tell me what to do?!? Sorry, maybe this sounds horrible, but I'm not going to let this guy tell me how to do my job. Anyway, I wasn't going to go on and on about it.

So, after the incident, I had a meeting with the GM and he informed me about some decisions they have made for next year...mainly, that all the current management would be returning for another season. Well, the current management has been brutal and I was just trying to get through the season because back in June, I was told that they would be making some changes. So, when I realized they had changed their minds, and next season will probably be a repeat of this brutal season, I realized I should get out now.

So, I met with the GM on a Monday afternoon, when we finished I left the course and went straight to another course in the area...I met with one of the managers at that course, and was hired on the spot! I started at the new course yesterday, and the first day went well. It looks like I'll be working in Food & Beverage for the rest of the season (which is really only about 2 more months), and I think it will be a great change. I don't think Food & Beverage is the right fit for me for anything long term, but it will be nice for a few months.

I think one of the best parts of the new job is that even though it's a new environment, I know a lot of the golfers, so there are still some familiar faces. Bay of Quinte (the course I just left) has lost a number of members to Trillium Wood (the course I just started at) over the last few years, and I saw some of those guys yesterday. They were all really chatty, asking why I had made the switch, and then very encouraging when I told them that I just felt like it was time for a change. And, Bay of Quinte had public play as well, and some of those people play at Trillium, so I'll get to see them, too. It kinda makes the whole transition easier.

So, I'm hoping the next two months will be enjoyable, but ultimately, I'm ready for the golf season to be OVER for another year!