'Tis the Christmas season.....

Well, if this makes sense....a week sure takes a long time to pass but before you know it, it's already in the books.......that's how Christmas felt this season.

I had to arrive 2 days earlier back home because of the weather and airport conditions so I ended up spending a full week....7 days away from the Oval, instead of simply just 4 or 5 days. Of course, it was great to see my family, especially my girls, but I will be the first one to admit that I wasn't quite 100% into the Christmas spirit and that bothered me a bit. My head was back in Calgary....I went through Christmas with a little bit of emotional, mental, and physical turmoil. I have 3 months to complete the task at hand and I am finally feeling the pressure and although I enjoy that type of pressure....I am worried about other things like my skates hurting me so much that my feet are destroyed and how that is affecting me, also getting my strength back up to par as I felt extremely tired near the end of training, etc.....these things are on my mind and of course, now, to get rid of that Christmas "diet" I was on for a week and we all know what that is about!!

We spent Christmas Eve at my Bro's place in Montreal as we do every year as he hosts a huge family seafood gala....I am talking oysters, clams, smoked salmon,crab legs 3-5lbs lobsters, shrimp, scampi.....I am hungry all over again.....and we don't waste a thing.....I am usually the last one at the table and the kids don't like that cause they need to open their presents you see......that's them in the pic about to dig in under the tree.

On Christmas Day, it's breakfast with my parents and lunch with the in-laws which is always delicious, and then we do the customary roll ourselves into the car and hike it back home to Ottawa for Christmas Night as that is when the real Santa comes a knockin'. My daughter prepares her little table with her note and some snacks like cookies and a beer...bless her heart....she has learned that milk might spoil by the time Santa rolls around...heh heh. Then, she prepares the reindeer food outside of our door so the reindeer have a snack whilst Santa packs the tree....see pics.

The next morning, the tree suddenly has gifts, a note is left back to my daughter from Santa, the snacks have been nibbled on, and the beer, well that's long gone....

My daughter and I also dug out the fire pit and we had a family fire....it's amazing....amidst all the white deep snow.....we had fire.....it was good for me as it added a sense of normalcy to my visit. My wife and I enjoyed a great bottle of wine by the fire while I taught my daughter how to make a snow bed and she did it herself.....dug out a bed in the snow and layed some pine branches, like a matress, for comfort....she got a kick out of that and then I had to convince her that her real bed was much cozier as she wanted to try it for the night.....

And of course we had some friends over and some unexpected stop-overs but that is what Christmas is all about....drinking beer....I mean, spending time with the ones you love and understanding how fortunate we really are....

Now, I will use this week to get back in skating shape cause next weekend is my first big race....Canada Cup #1.....

Happy New Year to all.

Peace.

I can't believe it.....

December.....come and gone....just like that!! Good thing too cause I was just beat....I felt I was dragging my ass all month. I am really looking forward to a good break and like I tell the girls on the hockey team, the 2nd half of the season is a brand new season so I tell myself, the New Year is definately going to be a New Year.

I raced this past weekend....the first time with my new boots...and....my new blades and new speed suit thanks to my good Danish friend Anders. He sold me his blades, used one season, for a very generous price and he also sold me an extra speed suit he had which I wore during the races. He is going back to Denmark and I will miss him cause we skated together often and have the same dreams.....I wish him all the best and I hope to see him again on the ice, preferably in 2010....

The races went okay, considering new equipment and all....500m and 1,000m....nothing spectacular to report as I am always learning.....let me explain. When the Chinook is here, the pressure drops and for some reason, this makes the ice faster as there is less air friction....now, since it has been -30 for the past week, the air pressure rises, more than usual, and this makes the ice slower....this was explained to me before the races which was a good thing cause then I wouldn't be wondering what was going on. The normal tendency is that everyone's times would be slower and that they were......

The pic shows my new skates, which still hurt somewhat, and the new blades which are 17.5 inches instead of 17 but they are the top of the line Maple blades....Thanks Anders.

Well, hopefully everyone will get a chance to spend Christmas with their loved ones. This is a time of year where we can reflect and be thankful for how fortunate we are. I wish everyone health, happiness, and of course.....Peace.

Merry Christmas to all and a great New Year.....

Another quick weekend......

Well, I managed to get home for a couple of days, primarily so that I can put up our Christmas lights, the girls love having the house lit up, and to buy and decorate our Christmas tree, something we do as a family every year....but that's not all.....

The gingerbread house was an extra but may end up becoming an annual tradition. I managed to shovel the back deck and build Mount Meli 2 for her to slide on with her friends, along with that, I built the Meli Pile also where I can throw her off the deck into a pile of snow.....look at the fear in her eyes...I love it!! She also found my old balaklava and thought she can rap in it....wrong use but cute at least....heh heh. Shoveled the front driveway too and built Mount Meli 1.....forgot how long it was....poor wife....and then.....caught my daughter's hockey game, where she was player of the game...yes I am proud, and we also managed to attend the team's Christmas party.....so, needless to say, the weekend came and went.

Now, I need to get back to reality....another 8 solid days of skating and figuring out my new boots and final adjustments so when the new year starts.....I am good to go!! I am planning 5 races for the new year, 2 of which will be in the new Oval in Richmond if my budget holds out.....that would give me 5 opportunities only to make my times but with my base training complete and my new boots.....I am really looking forward to establishing newer and better PBs than ever before!!

No doubt what my resolutions will be next year....besides health, happiness, and peace.....

Lots of Action.........

Well, lots of action happening this past week and weekend with two major highlights....one being the visit from my wife and daughter with another friend, Tina and her daughter and the other being that I got my new Van Horne custom moulded boots.

No races over the last 2 weeks but lots of technical training. I have skated twice on my new boots and I feel I have adjusted to them already although I have some sore spots on both outer ankles which Scott (Van Horne) tried to fix immediately after Friday's session as they hurt that much....hopefully Monday will be better.

I also traded blades with my Danish friend Anders so I could try his steel ones compared to my aluminum ones....everything feels just right so far.

My family came down for a visit from Friday to Sunday......great to see everyone!!
After I picked them up from the airport, I brought them to my place and made lunch for them so they could see where I live....of course, I showed off my new Greece Lightnings as my wife and Tina posed with them.....Price is Right anyone? Then we went to the hotel, the Sheraton Four Points, where we enjoyed a double Queen Suite(a friend took good care of me there) and there was a huge waterslide for the girls and they enjoyed that to the max. We ended the day with a night ski/snowboard session at the COP (Canada Olympic Park) It was a beautiful night, +5, and the girls did amazing.....needless to say....they slept well.....the plan worked...heh heh.

On Saturday, Danielle Goyette came over and brought some of her Bling Bling....Olympic medals and rings with signed cards.....the girls were definately excited.....as a matter of fact, so was I!! Seeing those medals and rings gave me a stirring deep in my belly.....they were beautiful....Salt Lake, Nagano, Torino....WOW!!

Then off to the Oval for a quick tour where we bumped into my good friend Cindy Klassen and also one of the girls I coach, Nicole, whom I call Kugs....

Then to the hotel downtown, the Marriott, where the girls got their own King French Parlour Suite (another friend took very good care of me there) with a connecting room......the girls wanted their own room to feel special and it still makes us laugh that my daughter calls them double jointed rooms instead of adjoining rooms...heh heh.

I had a surprise for everyone too as we all went to see A Christmas Carol matinee at the theatre next door.......what a great show....the ladies were balling and the girls were cozied up to me. We finished that day with lots of swimming of course and a good supper.....the girls were zonked.

An early morning departure on Sunday cut their trip short but it was fun nonetheless and back to reality for me.....Sunday wash, sushi, sharpening, shopping, etc....

Back to training tomorrow morning bright and early.....can't wait to get back on the skates!!

Peace.