Excitement All Over The Place

So! There's lots going on in the upcoming week, and it's all exciting. Like...

Work
Our AGM/All Staff Meeting are today and tomorrow!  Today should be interesting, but it is tomorrow I'm excited about - we're presenting our Think Tank results! I'll write up a whole thing about them, but basically: they were a great idea, and we learned a lot. Hurray!

Think Tank: Mission Accomplished

 Babies
Still no news on the nearly-nephew front. Can't wait to meet him!!!

Hallowe'en
We don't usually do anything fancy, but kinda on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the Great Pumpkin Charity Ball. Hubbub has a costume, and so do I (but it's a secret), and I'm pretty excited.

My first fancy Hallowe'en party!

Running
So, I'm training for the Resolution Run 10k, and it's going really well. I had an awesome solo run yesterday, and am running with a friend tomorrow and Saturday. Saturday we're going 4 miles - which is farther than I've run since last year. I'm looking forward to it (although boy howdy has it gotten cold out lately! I really need to get some mitts).

Not quite THIS cold though, thank goodness

Ballin'
We're going paintballing on Sunday!!! It will be my first time. I'm stoked.

Whitewater Redux

So, this past weekend was awesome - dinner at the Fraser Cafe with the hubbub (deeelicious - we both had the Chef's Choice. Hurray for surprise meals!) and a lovely classical music concert (the violinist played a violin from 1715 lent to him exclusively by the Austrian National Bank!).

Saturday was a BBQ for the Board of a professional association I'm involved with. It was awesome to get together to hang out without talking about "work"... and I had a very good time. (Also, had tequila shots for the first time in a loooong time.)

I do, however, need to remember not to have such a good time on nights before early morning departures for whitewater rafting! Luckily the hangover dissipated pretty quickly... it was a good trip! Hubub and I brought my sister along too. The water level has dropped since we rafted a couple of weeks ago, so the water was tamer, but it was still a good time. And it didn't stop us from flipping our boat during a boat surf.

We went over sideways, like this.

We also did cliff jumping off of a higher cliff this time - 6m. In case you were wondering, that is more than enough time to really think about the fact that you're falling, and to shriek - twice. What can I say?

Not much to report on the injury front: a pretty contusion on my left forearm (banged it on the first aid kit while getting down for a rough spot; nice bruise & swelling), bumped my chin when we flipped but have nothing to show for it, and some bruises on my right shin which I suspect are rafting-related, but I can't prove anything.

So that was our last rafting trip for the summer, but what's next? I really want to raft the Ottawa next spring/early summer during high water, I'd like to catch the runs on the Magnetawan up in Georgian Bay, and the Petawawa sounds great... I think it's going to be a busy spring!

I'm on the Vibrams Bandwagon

These are my new shoes. I feel like Tony the Tiger when I wear them

So, I've been toying with the idea of picking up some Vibram Fivefingers for pretty much forever. And Friday after work, I finally did! Need for appropriate whitewater rafting footwear + Sports4 Groupon = Vibrams!

I've got the KomodoSports. They have a "more agressive" sole than some of the other models, and a nice cloth upper. I think that will let me wear them longer this season. The bottom looks like this:

I wore them around lots this weekend, and I like 'em. I've had a bit of toe cramping, but other than that, the adjustment has been pretty easy. Maybe because I've been walking around barefoot as much as possible this summer?

Haven't been running in them (not sure I want to, honestly), but I plan on taking them for a test drive at the gym this afternoon. I picked up some socks for them too... and had one of the most hilarious conversations with the hubbub (who is not a fan of the Vibrams) of the course of our marriage. It went something like this:

Me: Would you object to coming to the store with me to get some creepy toe socks for my Vibrams? Would you object to having them in the house?
Him: (Deadpan look) I object to having them in my universe.
Me: But you didn't object to be bringing the shoes into the house.
Him: I think they're really weird. I tolerate them because I love you very much.
Me: Uncontrollable fit of laughter.

I wish all of my footwear brought this much mirth into our household.

Whitewater Rafting - Heck Yes!

This weekend the hubbub and I went whitewater rafting with Esprit Whitewater. It was awesome. We got a great deal with a Groupon they had earlier this summer, and I'm so glad that we went for it. I had been rafting when I was 16 (in northern Quebec, but I don't remember which river), and could remember that I liked it (says the girl who bounced out of the boat on one of the rapids!), but that was pretty much it. Tim had never been.

We headed to basecamp (about a 2 hour drive from Ottawa) on Friday after work, set up our tent, and had dinner.

Basecamp at sunset. From sweetspot.ca

We turned in early because we needed to be up for breakfast at 7 (breakkie was pretty good), and were on a bus to the put-in at 8.30. In our briefing, the lead guide mentioned that anyone who is "thermally fragile" might want to rent a wetsuit, which I did. ("Thermally fragile," by the way, may be my new fave saying.) I'm glad I had it - the water was warm, but it was about 19 degrees out, so I think I would have been too chilly to really enjoy myself without it.

Put in. From Library Playground's Flickr

And enjoy myself I did! Our guide, Dave, was awesome, and we only had 3 other people in our raft - Dave, Tim, and Upalma (yes, two Tims and two Daves!). We made a great team, and had a blast. We only lost someone (not-guide Dave) from the boat in the rapids once, early in the day.

We totally did this.

We did this too...

We rafted two channels of the river, with a delicious lunch in the middle, and then headed back to basecamp for a bbq dinner (which was okay, but not worth the 25$ each) and another night of camping. All in all, a fantastic weekend, but I think we'll make it a day trip next time (oh, there will be a next time. Possibly in about 2 weeks...) Apparently, the Ottawa river is one of the top whitewater rafting spot in North America. I'm looking forward to trying it out in the spring - the rapids are different when the water is higher.

This is not us, but we looked like this at the end of the day. Thanks to Library Playground's Flickr.

Also, I'm mostly uninjured, but not completely unscathed (because it isn't a real adventure if you don't have something to show for it, right?). I've got a wicked bruise on the top of my right foot from where I kicked a bench, and an even more impressive bruise of unknown origin on my left ankle. Also, my right quad is killing me whenever I use it. But all in all, totally worth it.

Focus on the bruise, not the weird angle...

It's more impressive in real life.