Sports

Will & I signed up to do sports games once a week, until December. Every week it's a rotation of 5 different sports. The different ones are dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, floor hockey and indoor soccer. Last night we played volleyball and it was so much fun! It was even more fun when we won, but this is a non-competitive league. I must say we did much better than last week when we played dodgeball, but it's a different sport, and some people are better are one over the other. Next week, I believe, is floor hockey, which is pretty intense with all the flying, whacking sticks going around, so hopefully I don't get too beat up.

Hiccups

I find myself encountering several situations where I am caught in a hiccup and it ceases to stop. I try multiple methods, but I always manage to hiccup between each one causing me to start all over again. After several minutes, it manages to hurt my stomach with all the jumping of air. I've learned some techniques given to me by the people around me at the time:

1. Drink while plugging your nose.

2. Hold your breath.

3. Count backwards from 100.

4. Swallow a tsp. of sugar.

5. Eat an ice cube.

6. Have your right hand push on your left arm.

I know there are so many more remedies that I could try, but I guess willing them away doesn't help too much, nor does getting angry at them help. My new desire is to learn how to prevent from getting them.

Ottawa International Animation Festival

I had the pleasure of being invited by my sister and her husband to see some screenings from the Ottawa International Animation Festival for the short film competition.

Their motivation for going was a film called Madame Tutli-Putli that was mentioned in my aunt's blog about a friend of hers being involved in the process of the film.

We also got to see several other films and they were quite amusing. One of my favourites is Lapsus (seen above) about a nun discovering the danger of the dark side. It was created by Juan Pablo Zaramella from Argentina.

It was very interesting to see all these artistic talents of animation in several different genres.

Caption from: Lapsus [2007] Juan Pablo Zaramella JPZtudio Argentina 3:30 Canadian Premiere

Richmond Fair

Last night we headed to the Richmond Fair that is pretty much in my sister's backyard. I went with my sisters, brother-in-law and Wills. By the time we all got off work and drove over it was around 6:30pm. We decided to get some dinner at the chip wagon down the street and head into the fair afterwards.

We arrived just in time to see Celebrity Pig Racing (which also included ducks, a goose and goats). I think our team got gypped by managing to get the larger, slower animals of the groups racing.

While some people shopped, some went on rides where I squished my sister to the edge of the seat and I felt really bad about it. She was laughing the whole time while I was screaming my head off, so we balanced each other out.

We played a few games, and some prizes were won and then went on the ferris wheel where it was moving faster than I had wanted it to. I was really brave and went on this tall ride that just goes in circles like a clock, and even managed to convince Wills to come too!! He didn't open his eyes during the whole ride, and I was mostly alright with it.

We rewarded ourselves with some good ol' fashioned BeaverTails and decided to call it a night.

The Lovely Bones

I recently finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It is such a tragic story of a girl who is already in heaven as she follows her killer's next moves. She watches her family grow up and they learn to live without her. It is a story of breaking a family apart and bringing it back together with the common bond of the girl that died.

Next book: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Frisbee Update

So, the first day of frisbee did not go as well as I had planned. I hadn't a clue what I was doing, and I was afraid they were going to kick me off the team. I always felt like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I even managed to strain my knee. Our team lost 15-4.

Luckily, they kept me on their team and I went back for game #2 last night. The field wasn't as nice and we were short a few girls, which meant only one of us was off at a time. I found this team liked to run more (longer passes) which tired us out. We had a great first half but then I don't know what happened afterwards, but we just couldn't pull it out. We ended up losing 15-6.

I'm still a little sore today, but that's probably from the lack of exercise that I've been procrastinating. I'm still glad that I joined the team, and hopefully over the next few weeks I'll learn to maneuver and throw so fast and get us lots of points!!!

Frisbee

Today's the day I start a new adventure...

I'm not sure if it's the thing for me, but I am giving it a try. I have joined an ultimate frisbee team with my sister for the fall (Sept/Oct) outdoors and we are playing twice a week!!! I haven't been in any sports, I think, since high school, so it should be pretty trivial and sore the first few games! Luckily, I'll have my trusty water bottle and my inhaler, just in case. The temperature is only going up to 23 degrees today so it should be perfect weather for a game like this.

It's fun to be able to meet new people at events like these and hopefully they won't mind that I'm not too good of a player. I became a spectator for Will's sports this past summer, and I met some really nice people that I hope we can stay in contact with.

Will & I have both signed up for an "All Sorts of Sports" team for the fall as well, taking my athleticism to 3 days a week!! Crazy!! The sports included, I think, are volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, indoor soccer and dodgeball. This is an indoor event but it lasts until December.

I'll keep you updated whether or not I survived the first game today in good spirits. I'm excited about it, so I'm sure I will survive!

Renoir

Yesterday, being the Labour Day holiday, or the final holiday weekend for the summer - we decided to head off downtown for the day. I had really wanted to see the Renoir exhibition at the National Art Gallery and it was finishing up the following weekend. We figured that Labour Day would be perfect.

Little did I know, that everyone else thought it was a good idea too. The exhibition was focused on Renoir's landscape paintings and how he was one of the most preferred Impressionist artists. I am always in awe as to the length of time one painting gets completed and the precision inside the artwork.

The Nanny Diaries

This past weekend, I had the privilege of heading to the movies with my sister to see the Nanny Diaries - which was pretty fitting. as she is currently a nanny! It takes place in NYC and the whole story is about newly college graduate Annie (the nanny) working for an Upper East Side family. She ends up using this part of her life as a case study (which is shown in her narration) and inputs it into an application to graduate school in anthropology.

It's a really good movie and is very comical, yet heart-warming.

Tri-Athletes

I woke up very early this morning to accompany my sister to a 5km race. This was a race that I had brought to her attention several months ago, but I forgot to sign up. The whole event was based around triathlons and duathlons and she was participating in the 5km fun run. I am amazed by anyone who can put enough self-control and athleticism to endure these types of competitions. I was just standing in awe while watching the participants begin their race in the water, and then watch them come in to grab their bicycles, and even just to watch people cross the finish line - to know that they've completed something pretty challenging to themselves. My sister did very well in her race. There were only a few people ahead of her. It was such a nice day for an event of this sort.

Vanishing Acts

I have just finished reading Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. It is a traumatic story of a girl who finds out she was kidnapped by her father 28 years before. She tries to put together her past and any memories that she had forgotten of her mother and her past life. I love how the author puts the chapters in the perspective of each of the characters as it helps to understand how everyone is feeling and dealing with each situation.

Next book: The Lovely Bones