Christmas and New Years 2012/2013

I seem to say it every time I post a new post here that I haven't done it in a while and I will try to write more, so here I am saying it again with a new post full of a lot of information.

So where do I begin, December was a busy month with the typical work/personal Christmas parties throughout the month, I was also able to score myself a new phone the much hyped and difficult to get, Google Nexus 4. I was able to get a order placed on Google through much F5ing to get the page to work properly. I think Google will need to get their act together the next time they decide to do a product launch. After waiting two weeks after the order was placed I received my shiny new +Google phone and I must say it rocks and it is quite speedy. I hope* to do a full review of this in the near future but in the mean time do a quick Google Search to find more information on it. 

Christmas & Traveling

Santa has arrived

This Christmas we decided to do a bit of traveling and a short trip to my sisters in Bowmanville. We left on Christmas Eve after leaving work at 11 and made the short trip of three hours. We spent two nights and one day there since we had to be back for work on the 27th. Christmas day was fun to spend time not only with my own family but with my sister, her boyfriend Ken and her kids (my niece and nephew), Hope and Ryan. Christmas is so much more fun where there are kids involved and now that Paige is stating to get to the age where she was having fun opening gifts and playing with all her new toys and did she ever get a lot of toys. As for Jodi and I we mainly got clothes but we also purchased a new Kitchen Aid Mixer, which is awesome.

Paige excited opening her gifts

Boxing day we arose early to hit the road back to Ottawa early. A storm was coming and we didn't want to get stuck or to be driving through it on the 401. We got on the road at about 10 am hoping to make a stop in Trenton and Sterling to visit friends and family. After making the first stop in Trenton and getting back on the 401 we decided to truck on through since the traffic was getting heavy. We made it back to Ottawa safe and sound at 3 pm.

New Years and Resolutions

Now its that time of year again, you know, day 365 the end of our calendar year, time to reflect on what we have all done in 2012 and what we would like to achieve and accomplish in 2013. Every so often at work we will watch a few different Ted Talks and a multitude to topics which are often very interesting and informative. The one below I watched in December and got me thinking about something that I do all too often, but that will change this year, take a look at the video, its only 3-4 minuets long and it may change your outlook on resolutions.


Oh and its also time to party and celebrate with friends and family to enjoy all we have and love around us. It is different this year for us, we have yet to make plans due to the lack of a babysitter and wanting to spend time with the family, so this year may be a quiet one where we will sit home order in some Chinese or Indian, and watch a few movies together.

Since I have been slow in actually finishing up this post, New Years has now passed and we managed to get out for a few hours and to see some friends, Paige was all dressed up for the occasion and here she is below ready to party.

New Years day was spent relaxing and taking down the Christmas decoration and preparing a Turkey with all the fixings and having a few friends over for a nice supper. After taking down the tree and seeing a neat idea on the internet, I have decided to start a new tradition for us. To cut a small 1 cm piece from the bottom of our tree each year and make an ornament for the tree the following year with the date burned into it. I'll post pictures in another blog when this is done.

QSSDJMRME

My Christmas Rant

So this will kind of be my re-released version of the Rick Mercer Rant, about Christmas. Every year rolls around to the Christmas time and I'm always feeling discussed about the same few things each year. Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and I'm sure I will always, maybe its the way I was raised, the time period I was raised in, the location or some other outside factor. But there are three main things each and every year lately (last 5 to 10 years) that annoys me, read them below and let me know if you feel the same way:

1. Politically correctness during Christmas: Its Christmas people, not the festive season, the holidays or anything else. This time of year was made a holiday for a reason...... that reason is its Jesus's Birthday, its Christmas. Don't be giving me a "Happy Holidays" Mr. Wal-Mart greeter, say Merry Christmas. I don't want to see a winter scene on my Tim Horton's mug, I want to see a jolly ol' Saint Nick kissing mommy under a Christmas Tree. More and more we are giving in to all things to make them politically correct, but guess what Christmas should not be one of those times. So I think I am only going to shop at stores that support Christmas for what it is. Unfortunately for my wife the only store I have seen so far this Christmas that says Merry Christmas in their ad's and in store is Canadian Tire.
   
2. Kids want it all: Now this just may be me, but Christmas is a time for spending time with family, friends and loved ones. Yes, a gift is nice to receive and I love giving them more than I love receiving them. I donate to the food bank each year and also give toys to needy families so they have something. I hear some kids asking for more and more each year, costing hundreds and even thousands of dollars, and I shake my head, than shake it more when their parents give in. Teach your kids about how many more unfortunate people are out there with nothing, teach them the meaning of Christmas, spend time with family and friends and the people you love. These are this things that matter the most in life, not the material things. To this day I do not know of one Christmas where I have wanted something and was mad that I did not get it or ask for so many things that would make Mackey Cram poor (I think that was his name. Some rich old fart I heard dad talk about many times), and I'm sure my parents would agree with me on this one and so would my wife since my answer each year to that question of "What do you want for Christmas?" my answer is simply nothing. I have all I need.
   
3. Christmas ad's running earlier and earlier: Each and every year the TV ad's, Sears Wish book, and decorations in the stores come out earlier. It seems every year you now see decorations popping up before Halloween is even over. Why can't retailers wait until at least mid-November before bomb-barding us with everything. By the time Christmas day actually arrives your sick of it all. We received our Sears Wish Book this year in August, yes, August, five months before Christmas and just seven month after the last. When I was I kid that thing would not arrive till the end of November unless my parents were hiding it away from me.

Please feel free to add comments below or add to the list of stores that will still say Merry Christmas during this time of year and think about all of this and do some reflection, or soon Christmas will be forgotten for what its meant to be. I know, I for one, will not forget and I will have a happy and joyful Christmas as always. So Merry Christmas to all!

One week complete

Just over one week complete in my change of habits and lifestyle on the path to run in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers. It has been a tough week and I have been making progress each and every day to get my stamina back. Each time I go for a run now it seem I am able to go further or faster to achieve another goal. I have been trying to get out at least three or four times each week to do some kind of activity, be it running, biking or hockey. It has only been just over a week and I am now noticing a difference when I play hockey on how much better I feel.

I did learn a few lessons in this first week though:

FuelBand water belt

• Don't run just after eating. I done this on my first run and nearly got sick multiple times while running;
• Bring water. This is a must, I didn't do this the first time and it made it a hard go, so I went out and got a FuelBand as seen to the right;
• I need a new pair of sneakers;
• Make sure the GPS is turned on. I lost half of one because of this;
• Stretch before and after the run. I got leg cramps half way into a run and had to walk back because of this;

Next will be go out and get a new pair of sneakers to be using solely for running. As I write this post I just got another email for a donation to my run of $200. Thanks so far to anyone who has donated and anyone who plans on doing so, you have been a great support and your donation is going to a great cause.

After playing hockey tonight I have noticed in just over a week on how much easier hockey is and how much I am not out of breath in pain after a shift of after the game.

Remember I am doing this to raise money for kids cancer research and you can always donate. The more donations the better to keep me motivated. Read more about the run and visit the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers page to sponsor me! You can also view my training status at any time by viewing the training stats on the right side of this page.

First training run complete

Tonight I went out for a run. The start of many over the next few months to gain the stamina and strength to compete in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers on October 13, 2012.

What I looked like not long into my first run

Since knowing my area where I live, I had a good idea of the route that I would take and a semi-rough estimate of the distance. I thought this would be a good start to see how I can do. I have done this same type of route many times before but only walking with the dog. The route works out to be 2.65KM's, I know this does not sound like much, but for someone who has never done this before, it feels like death.

After this first run though, I have quickly learned a few different things:

1. Do not go for a run shortly after eating dinner. It causes food bouncing around your stomach and causing you to nearly barf multiple times;
2. Bring water. I did not and I really could have used some shortly into the run. It felt like I was breathing fire;
3. I will need to get a new good pair of running sneakers sometime soon, my older daily use ones are not the greatest.

I am using an Android app called Endomondo to track my training to give me route stats, time among other things. It seems to work fine and I love how it talks to you during your run to give you updates. On the right side of this page you can see my past runs and how I have been doing in my training. Click on any of the runs to see a map and more details of the run.

Remember I am doing this to raise money for kids cancer research and you can always donate. The more donations the better to keep me motivated. Read more about the run and visit the Sears page to sponsor me!

My new motto

Sears Great Canadian Run

So I have decided to run in the Great Canadian Run this year. It is a 100KM run from Ottawa to Montebello, QC in support to end kids cancer on October 13, 2012. This is something that I have never thought of doing before, since I find it hard enough to gather energy each day to take the dog for a walk. So not only is it a great cause, hopefully it will get me off of my ass to get back in shape and not a round shape. As a participant, my goal is to raise $500.00 for local pediatric oncology research initiatives at CHEO and hopefully break that small goal.

Andy

Team Smile's for Andy is running again on behalf of a brave little boy named Andy. Andy is my neighbor and has been battling T-call ALL (leukemia) for over a year now.  He has 2.5 years left in his treatment. Every single night Andy takes chemotherapy drugs, every 3 weeks Andy takes mood altering steroids, every 3 months Andy has chemotherapy injected into his spinal cord, and every single day Andy smiles.  He is beating this disease but it is not easy.  There are many physical and psychological side effects from chemotherapy/radiation treatment that will be with Andy for the rest of his life because just having cancer is not bad enough. And yet he is a fortunate boy because many pediatric cancer patients don't continue smiling and many others don't continue living. Help us end this ugly disease. Sponsor team Smiles for Andy as we run 100km in support of all the little hero's fighting cancer

This Run will not only benefit thousands of kids that are diagnosed with cancer every year, but kids cancer research also helps adult cancers. Your dollars, your support, and all our efforts are making a world of difference for so many. Please help me change the lives of children who are fighting for theirs everyday. Your generous contribution will help me raise money for an incredibly important cause. Every dollar counts. You can donate right to my personal page here: Sponsor Me.

I have also made the pledge that that from now until the start of the race on October 13, anyone who opens a ING Direct bank account with my Orange Key (14477247S1), I will donate the $25 bonus that I receive to this cause. I have sent ING Direct an email to see if I can find out who signs up than I will donate the $25 in their name. Read more about ING Direct from my review.


You can follow along on this blog all summer long to track my progress, read more about Andy: http://www.smilesforandy.com and please remember to sponsor me. :-)

Pool Tournament

Wednesday nights through the year I am on a pool team. The four of us play each Wednesday night as a way to get out and socialize and have a good time.

So after a long year of playing pool on Wednesday nights we descended on Tailgators last Friday evening for the start of our year end Pool Tournament. We have been doing this now for a few years and have come away with money each time, though every team receives some money. I wouldn't say we are the best or the worst players in the league but we can have our on days and off days like any team. The tournament is played in a double elimination format, meaning that once you loose two games you are eliminated. Here is our year stats.

Friday Night

We were going into the tournament sitting in sixth place out of eighteen teams and our first opponent was Honk on Bobo who were placed in eleventh but their players had an overall better handicap than us. All 16 games were very close and it was down to the last four games. On my last game, on my first shot just as the game started, I made a risky shot that even the opponent stated they would not take. I was making a long shot at the one in the corner right next to where the eight laid. I took the shot, missed and hit the eight sending it towards towards the corner pocket where it bounced around a bit and came to a stop on the edge of the pocket before dropping in. Wow that was a close one and I now have to watch out for that pocket for the rest of the game. My opponent stepped up to make his first shot, which he made, but the cue ball continued to bounce around the table striking the eight and dropping it giving me the win in that game 10-3. The rest of the final games continued and we beat Honk on Bobo by just 4 points overall. I don't want to take credit for those four points, but if I didn't take that risky shot we would have lost. By the end of the weekend this was known as the TSN turning point of the weekend and Honk on Bobo would be our most difficult matches of the weekend outside of the finals.

Saturday

Saturday morning we were back at Tailgators at ten am to take on the third place team 3 Sticks and a Rack on the "A" side of the tournament. Everyone on both teams were a little hungover from the play the night before holding their Tim Horton coffee's, wondering how the day would unfold. On our side we were expecting our first defeat of the weekend and being relegated to the "B" side of the pool knowing this team has beaten us all times through the year even EROing (10-0 wins) most of us (I've only had one against me and it was from this team). All this while scenes of candy canes danced in their heads knowing it was going to be a easy win for them like my guarantee of getting a apple and orange in my stocking at Christmas. But has we know now they got nothing but a big lump of coal, at the beginning of the fourth set they conceded to a lost since their was no way for them to gain back the points in 3 games to beat us. Well holy crap the Chalk Rings are 2-0 and still in the "A" pool. We were now off for a few hours and were not due back to the pool hall until 7 pm for our next match.   

Our match at 7pm on Saturday we were taking on FELT. FELT finished on seventh place just below us in the standings. FELT is a father and son duo with two others. They have been coming up the ranks for the past couple of years and seem to have different extra players on the team each year. We felt going into these matches that we were capable of beating them but we would have to be on our game. Through the 16 games we were called multiple times by them accusing us of not calling shots or making fouls. But if they don't call a ref prior to the shot being made than no foul can be committed. Again we stayed to our main game plan to sink balls first, win the game second and it proved to work. Heading into the 13 game they admitted defeat since we were up too many balls for them to come back to win.

Having won 3 of our matches and still being on the "A" side of the tournament we were starting to wonder what was in store for our 10pm match up. Clearly there can only be a mighty team left for us to compete against knowing the winner would be in the finals on Sunday and the loser would be dropped to the "B" pool. Lo and behold the next team for us to compete against was Rack and Roll a team that finished in first place over with some very mighty stats. This also the same team who should not even be competing in this league. The max handicap for a team in the league is 28 and with their players they stood at 30. This was going to be the David vs. Goliath match up of the weekend and maybe the year. Going into the 16 games they were giving us a mammoth 28 points before we even started due to the handicap difference. These 16 games we would play on two tables and it was great to watch and play next to each other. After the first four games, we had won 3 of 4 and were up about 40 points on them. By the start of the third game in the third round we had won 8 or 11 and were up over 65 points on them, at that point they folded, we had defeated the top league team and were headed to the finals on Sunday. For the next hour we had drinks and were in awe of how we made it this far. Now tomorrow we would be back for the finals and what made it better was knowing that who ever we took on, had to beat us twice but we only had to beat them once because of the double elimination.

Tournament ladder showing us in the finals

Sunday

Here we are again, back at Tailgators on Sunday. We showed up at 3 today, with our finals starting at 4pm. There is still no decided winner in the "B" pool, so we don't know yet who we will be facing but there is a good chance that it will be Rack and Roll the first place team from last night. Sure enough Rack and Roll would be moved back into the "A" pool and we would have to play them again but not once but twice. We got started our first matches at about 5pm and they came to the table a different team, with their foot on the gas and not letting off. They took the first set of 16 handily so we would now have to play in the second set for all the gusto, who ever wins this wins it all. We went back to our game plan of sink balls first and try to win second. This ended up not helping, we were not on our game and they were having awesome games. It came down to the second last game before they won it so I think we gave them a run for their $4000, but we just couldn't do it. We came in second overall for the weekend and won $2000, so not to shabby for the team that could. Pool is now done for the year except for the end of year banquet where we will receive our trophies. It was a great year and tournament overall and I did not expect to make it that far. A wonderful showing by the Chalk Rings: Andrew Boyle, Danielle Boyle*, Justin Clouthier and myself. *Richard Steeves subbed in for Danielle from February till the end including the tournament since Danielle had a baby. Take a look at the pictures below. 

Justin, Andrew, Me and Richard

Me, Richard, Andrew and Justin