Dog sledding and the aftermath

Last week my department at work went dog sledding as a team building event.  I was very, very nervous about it.  I was worried I would have to drive the dogs and that I would fall off the sled and have the dogs go running wild. I was concerned about the dogs and the fact they would have to haul me and my excess weight around.  I felt very sorry for them.  I was also nervous about the cold.  I don't like the cold and it's been such a harsh winter.

To ensure that I didn't feel any cold I spent a small fortune at Mountain Equipment Co-op.  I bought my three layers to keep my body warm as well as fleece pants and snow pants.  My supervisor lent me the best, warmest socks ever.  I made myself a gaiter neck tube, something like this. I bought industrial mitts so my fingers wouldn't freeze.  With my toque and boots that I already had I was set to go.

So off we went to the dog sledding location in the mountains.  We got our orientation and it really didn't make me feel any better or any more confident.  The guide kept telling us what we shouldn't do or else we'd fall off, spook the dogs, etc. My colleague and I were assigned our sled and I opted to go along for the ride for the first half rather than drive (I don't want to drive a car, never mind a pack of dogs who all think their the alpha).  The dogs, I might add, were quite cute.  

Being the passenger wasn't too bad, except for the parts when we hit some bumps.  You felt every jolt and bump on that thing.  The shocks weren't very good.  We reached our halfway point and stepped on the brake so my co-worker could go and pet the dogs.  Then our guide told us to get ready, we were heading off and I was going to be driving.  Did I mention we were on a frozen lake at this point?  Yeah, extra reason to panic.  I was so nervous.  I gripped on to that sled for all I was worth.  Thankfully my colleague was very encouraging and never made me feel like I was doing something wrong.  Our pack was amazing and listened really well, mostly.  

Before I knew it, the ride was over and we survived, I didn't kill my colleague and the pack never got away from me.  I realized afterwards I really did have a good time, especially petting the puppies. It truly was a wonderful experience and we got to experience it in one of the most beautiful areas in our area.

Saturday though was another story.  I woke up with a sore back and sore arms.  I was so sore I could barely lift my arms above my head.  My back ached if I stood up for too long.  Bending was very, very difficult.  I went for a massage but the masseuse didn't hit the areas that I needed hit.  I did manage to heal in time to go to work on Monday.

Proof that I did it and didn't kill anyone, me driving and my colleague enjoying the ride. I loved our pack.  They were amazing.

Some Pictures

Since I don't have a lot going on and not a lot on my mind, here are some pictures from last summer.

Mt. Rundle

Banff Springs Hotel

Bow River Falls

More mountains 

Balls

Jinx is a dog that loves playing with balls.  She loves chewing on them and chasing after them.  She will sit there and wait and wait for you to throw a ball so she can chase it and bring it back.  Sometimes she gets that  if she gives you the ball you will throw it again, other times she will want you to chase her while she has the ball in her mouth.

Today Shawn decided to do a thorough vacuum and here is what he found (these were taken with his Blackberry so the quality isn't the best).

 Under the ottoman, including my notebook.

Under the couch.

I didn't realize she had that many.  At least nobody will ever be able to say my dog doesn't have balls.

Not this time

In my last post I wrote how I wanted to try my hand at writing.  When I was a kid I loved to write stories.  This love helped me improve my English skills as well.  My family emigrated when I was 2.5 but at home we only spoke Spanish so even though we had been in Canada for a few years, I was still treated as an ESL student.  As I grew older, writing took a back burner to life.

This year I decided to try my hand at writing again.  I was using NaNoWriMo as a challenge to write.  Basically the idea is during the month of November, you write a new story and write 50,000 words during the 30 days.  That's about 1,667 words a day.

Well, I had to stop.  The reason is I just don't have time and it breaks my heart.  It takes me almost 3 hours a day to write that much, basically my entire evening.  After spending the entire day at work all I want to do is relax and not think too much.  So I have thrown in the towel.  I did manage to write almost 14,000 words in 8 days so I am proud of what I accomplished.  I will probably try it again one day.  Maybe when work does not consume so much of my day and I have more time.  In the meantime, I'll just continue dreaming of fantastic worlds and amazing creatures.

For the love of stretchy pants

Okay, no more brooding or heaviness.  From now on it's good times (well I'll try at least).

If you had asked me 5 years ago, heck if you had asked me a year ago how I feel about stretchy pants (i.e. yoga pants or  jogging pants) I would've said they should only be worn at the gym or at home. Never, ever, ever should they be worn out in public.  However, if you ask me now, I have a very different opinion.

Here is my history with stretchy pants.  When we were going through fertility treatments, I became very bloated.  That's when I started wearing stretchy pants but only at home.  I suffered when I was public squeezing myself into my dress pants and jeans.  I refused to wear them in public.

Last year I bought a pair of yoga pants and I just love them!  I started wearing them more often around the house but would change before we went out.  Then one day, I didn't feel like changing so I wore them in public.  You know what happened?  Nothing!  The fashion police didn't give me a ticket for wearing them in public. 

So now I wear my stretchy pants whenever I can, out in public, on a plane, on long car rides, everywhere and anywhere. Plus, I'm getting to the age where I just don't care anymore.  So long as I'm comfortable, that's all that matters.

Bad Dog

What evil could this face do?

Take a look...

This was a brand new container I bought to take to work. We don't have bottled water anymore and the container they gave us doesn't work for me.  The opening is too big, I've almost drowned a couple of times taking a drink. I didn't even get a chance to take it in before Jinx got her paws on it.  I guess it's my own fault for leaving it lying around.