First Test Day of 2010

Last Thursday was the first Skating Test Day of 2010, for my skaters and I, anyway.

It was hosted by Quinte FSC and I had three skaters trying tests, one from Quinte FSC and two from Tweed & District FSC. Elise tried her Dutch Waltz and passed; Kate tried her Fiesta and passed and Leah tried her Fiesta and Preliminary FreeSkate and passed both! It was a great day for the skaters, and for me as a coach.

The girls didn't seem to be nervous, but I was! This was the first time I partnered the Fiesta for a test day, and I was scared about the mohawk...turning backwards with the skater, yikes! During the warm-up I did the dance with each of the girls, and both times, the first mohawk was scratchy and slow. So, I did another round with each of them, and the mohawk was better...and by the third mohawk they were fine! During the actual tests everything went fine, and of course, I realized it wasn't work stressing about. Hopefully the girls couldn't tell I was nervous.

I had planned on taking pictures that night, so I would be able to post some here, but I had a music emergency and was totally distracted! I forgot to bring a copy of Leah's solo music from the Tweed arena, so I called Curt in a panic and he raced to the arena in Belleville with our laptop and a blank CD and I had to burn a new copy in the lobby while other tests were happening. It all worked out, but I would have felt terrible if we hadn't been able to get her music in time. I'm sure that I've learned my lesson now though and I won't be forgetting music for test days or competitions!

Here is a picture I took a few days later during practice in Tweed.



(L-R) Leah, myself and Kate

Our first competition of the season is on Saturday, I'm sure I'll be back with some stories (and hopefully pictures) from that event!

December '09 - Part 3

So, Christmas with the family was great! But, on December 27th it was time to hit the road, again. This time, Curt and I were on our way to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for what has become an annual golf trip!

We hit the road at 4am, and after 18 hours of driving, we arrived at our destination. Leaving from my hometown meant we took a different route this year; we went through New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and then into South Carolina. The drive went really smooth, that is until we got to Virginia. I don't know what it is about that state, but we have had HORRIBLE luck driving through it...in fact, I don't think I should say we drive through it, it's more like crawling. Then, it was getting late, and we got a little turned around in North Carolina...and of course, at this point, it was my turn to drive. And, I get a lot more frustrated in that kind of situation then Curt does, so that wasn't good. By the time we arrived at our hotel, I had decided that I was never driving back again...of course that changed after a great week of golfing, shopping and relaxing.

We played five courses while we were there: Waterway Hills, River Club, Wachesaw East, Willbrook Plantation and King's North at Myrtle Beach National. Curt had done his research early, so we played these courses as part of a package that meant we payed a fraction of what the normal price would have been.



This is why we chose to play at Waterway Hills, to get from the parking lot to the clubhouse, you have to take a gondola across the Intracoastal Waterway! Fun! It was the least impressive of the courses we played, but that's why we played it the first day, we figured we would be a little rusty anyway.

River Club and Wachesaw East were both really nice, and we enjoyed playing both. But, Willbrook Plantation and King's North were even better, and worth more time here.

Willbrook Plantation was beautiful; we've played a plantation course before, in Florida, and the history of the land is always so evident. Adding to the experience were the ladies we ended up playing with, Georgina and Sue. These ladies were great and we had a lot of fun together; Sue is actually from Ontario and is a member at one of the golf courses I used to work at! We also had our nicest weather while playing here, it warmed up to about 15. Yeah, you don't go to Myrtle Beach for the sunshine at this time of year, you go for the golf (and, the shopping)!



King's North is an Arnold Palmer design, and a challenge! I took time throughout the round to remind myself how lucky I was to have a chance to play a course like this. The course is known for the par-5 sixth hole, known as 'The Gambler'. The Gambler features an island fairway which gives golfers a 'risk reward' short cut to the green for a chance at eagle. So of course I had to try it, and although I hit the island, I couldn't get to the green in two so I had to lay up...but I got to the green in three, experienced 'the gamble' and was more then happy to walk away with par!



Other notable holes on this course include the par 3 12th hole, which has a true island green and the par 4 18th hole (nicknamed 'The Bull's-Eye') which has over 40 sandtraps guarding either side of the fairway.

When not playing golf, we could be found SHOPPING! This year we made sure to check out 'Broadway on the Beach', but it's definitely more of a summer attraction. We're more into the outlet malls anyway, mostly because of the prices!

As it got closer to the end of the week, Curt and I decided to break up the drive home, so we drove home Saturday/Sunday. We feel like we finally found a good route, and have decided that leaving at 4am is NOT worth it! Now we know for next year.

December '09 - Part 2

After the cruise, I got to spend a full week with family in my hometown. Curt had to come home to work for a few days, but he returned in time to spend Christmas with all of us.

Whenever we go back to my hometown, we stay with my brother and sister-in-law. This was originally because they had a bigger bed for us to sleep in (we're used to a king) and we get our own bathroom. Now, we also stay there so I get as much quality time as possible with this guy...



This is my nephew Nolan; you'll have to excuse the horrible picture, but, he's two so it's hard to get him to stay still! I LOVE this little guy, and was so happy to have a whole week with him (and the rest of the family ;)).

I think my brother and SIL were glad to have me around too; they were painting and arranging his big-boy room while I was there (they have to get his nursery ready for his little sister, due in May!), so I kept Nolan busy and out of the way. His new room turned out great; he's a HUGE fan of the movie 'Cars' so they used that as a theme. His room is complete with a hand-painted checkerboard boarder and a race car bed! I hadn't started my blog yet, so I didn't think about taking any pictures.

A few random stories from the week...

- On the way to church on Christmas Eve, out of the blue, Nolan started singing 'Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus'....awww, it brought a tear to this aunt's eye

- While in church on Christmas Eve, Nolan sang 'Jingle Bells' repeatedly, no matter what song the congregation was singing! He even added his little voice when my two cousins were singing a duet during the service. Then, at the end of what turned out to be a longer service, he turned to my parents and said 'Time to PARTY!' with a lot of 2 year old enthusiasm! (he was right, my parents always have friends and family over following the service)

- On Christmas Day, we were at a family brunch and my brother got a little excited when my SIL gave him permission to buy a PS3 when they went Boxing Day shopping...it was a misunderstanding, my SIL thought he was talking about buying something that would have been a fraction of the price...anyway, Tom was hooting and hollering, pumping his fist in the air, and Nolan calmly states 'You're a piece of work, dad'

There's so much more I could write about, but I know I have to stop somewhere!

The week was great though, and it was great to have all that time with everyone. Usually our time there is a lot shorter, and often involves commitments away from the family.

December '09 - Part 1

So, like I said, I started this blog to document some of the more exciting parts of our lives. And, I think our recent cruise fits into that category!

For a week in December, Curt and I got to call the Carnival Glory our home. The trip was a gift from my boss, well, sort of...I always get a bonus at the end of the season, and somehow it has always been in the form of a trip (Las Vegas twice, and now the cruise). We chose a Western Caribbean cruise, so we sailed from Miami and had stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Isla Roatan, Honduras and Georgetown, Grand Cayman, as well as two full days at sea.


So, we took it easy in Cozumel and just did some shopping. We shopped right at the port and then walked all the way to 'downtown' Cozumel...which ended up being a lot longer then expected, and although it was a beautiful day for a walk, we ended up taking a taxi back to the ship!

The only scheduled shore excursion we did was Cave Tubing in Belize. I don't remember when or where I heard about this, but I knew as soon as we booked the cruise that I wanted to do this, and Curt was up for it too! We had to book through an online operator though, Carnival no longer offers this excursion, but that ended up working out great.


I was a little nervous about doing this, I pictured the caves being pitch black and the water having rushing rapids! Well, not so much. There were multiple groups in the cave at the same time, and we all wore head lamps, so there was plenty of light. And although there were some parts of the river that moved fast, it didn't really make for real rapids. It wasn't exactly what I pictured either, we didn't just hop on a tube and float down the river, we actually formed a chain with other tubers and went down as a group. This allowed our guide to control the line, and keep us safe. Overall, it was a lot of fun and the hardest part was getting used to the cold water :)

Although we didn't do an excursion, I think Isla Roatan ended up being our favourite stop. Carnival has just built a new port here, and there is a great beach within walking distance, so we had planned on just having a beach day here, and we ended up with perfect weather for it! We were able to rent a clear-bottom kayak here and do our own little excursion...something we decided to do as a little extra because it was actually my birthday that day!


When we got back on the ship, Curt actually had a little surprise waiting for me in our room....


Grand Cayman wasn't really too special. We just walked around the city and did a little shopping; it was actually a bit rainy, so we didn't even stay on land too long. We did get one picture worth sharing though...


It's a little hard to see in the picture, but, there is some type of bird right by the KFC sign...and, it looks a lot like a chicken! ha! Needless to say, we didn't have lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Unfortunately our last day at sea was pretty rough and my body didn't handle it to well; I spent the whole morning in bed, it didn't seem as bad laying down. Curt wasn't too bothered by it though, so he was able to get out and about, and he picked up some medication that seemed to ease my motion sickness by mid-afternoon. It was also a little cloudy on our final day, so even when I was able to get out of our room, we weren't able to do much on the outer decks.

This was Curt's first cruise, and my second. And although I totally enjoyed it, I don't think it stood up to my first one, which was with Royal Caribbean. But, I'm not complaining...it was essentially a free cruise after all! I think that no matter what cruise line you are with, you are guaranteed to receive excellent service and amazing food, as we did while on the 'Glory'! And although I have never been to an all-inclusive resort, I think cruising may be more my thing because you get to see multiple countries in one vacation.

Time to Join the FUN!

So here I am, making my first post on my own blog!

I should probably start with a confession...I have been a 'blog stalker' for about a year now. I don't remember how, but I came across a blog I really liked about this time last year, and I've been a regular reader ever since. Following one blog eventually turned into two blogs, then three, then four...and, well, you get the picture. Although I have enjoyed reading various blogs, I never really thought of starting my own until recently. Most of the blogs I read are written by young mothers, and a lot of the content is about their children....and, since I don't have kids, I guess I figured I would never have anything to write about. But, I've decided that even though I won't have a lot of cute kid stories/pictures to use, I may have some other stuff worth writing about. People may not find it worth reading, but I'll probably enjoy looking back over posts from time to time.

So here I am, blogging!