news brief

Apologies for not posting more lately. Life picked up the pace a little over the last week so it has been hard to find time to post, but not hard to find things to write about.
Bullet point update:

• Mark and Stacie Iwaasa showed up unexpectedly and we had a terrific visit last week. They are about to have their first child so it was really nice to have a visit with the two of them, and Denali, just before their lives change dramatically. They are both super excited about the little Iwaasa, though maybe Stacie is even more excited to have a year off from teaching. Kidding! While they were here we ate, we ate a lot, visited the Science World (saw the Lego presentation of ancient Egypt - very cool), played some bocce ball at the park, and ate some more. It was truly a great time spent together. Thanks for dropping by, guys!

• On the weekend, Rocco, Steven and I all went to the Great Canadian VW Show in Coquitlam. We drove little Beatrice out there (she performed admirably and got us there and back without any problems) Sunday afternoon to see the collection of Volkswagens. What cars! My friends made fun of me later for going to a car show but it was so much fun. There were maybe 7 or 8 Type 3s, some of them in immaculate condition and some being refurbished. More VW vans than you will see in one place, except maybe in the parking lot at a West coast folk music festival, and some very odd, rare cars like the Type 4 and the VW dual-cab truck (who knew?). I'll post some pics from the show soon. We picked up an extra seatbelt for $10 at the part swap so we can replace the rear passenger belt that rusted out of the car a few years ago.

• Some of my friends suggested a beach picnic on Sunday evening so I met up with them and brought lots of dips, crackers, roasted red peppers and cut up endive. There was too much to eat, beer and wine, etc.
  It actually got quite cool out after sunset so the plan shifted to keep the party going at someone's house. I was the only one without a bike, so Miranda (of the Yukon adventure) doubled me the whole way. Thighs of steel, that Miranda. I sat on the rack behind her. Let me tell you about ab workouts! That was Sunday, today is Wednesday and I'm still feeling muscle ache in my abs when I sneeze, run, sit up, or turn a page in my book. I'm going to patent it and sell the process on the Home Shopping Network. Get your wallets ready.

• The reason I didn't have my bike is because Sunday morning found me running with the cult (that's the Running Room to you uninitiated). I'm training for a half-marathon and we have worked up to 16km for the long runs on Sundays. Most of us in the group have 'suddenly' realized that the 10km distance is perfect - just long enough to get a good workout and not so self-punishing that you feel like you're atoning for the sins of 13-year-old Catholic boys everywhere. My feet were sooooo sore, and I'm beginning to question the sanity of this endeavour. Another 16km this coming Sunday, and 18km on next week’s long run. These days we are running about 40 to 50km a week, all told. I'm experiencing a lot of foot pain so am trying out some fancy arch supports. Since they seem fancier than they seem useful, I might be laying down the cash for new shoes sometime this week. Blah. The cult continues to make money off me.

This is a much more personal update than you usually get. I try to to stick to more newsy items than personal anedotes, but this is what's been a happenin' so this is what you get. You don't really want to hear about my cat's current and evolving issues with inappropriate defecation, do you? I didn't think so.