I Rock (Climber)

Yesterday Garth and I went climbing together. It was Garth's first time and he liked it! I had another milestone night. Yaayyy! I climbed to the top of the 5.6 (same one as last time) but this time I didn't use any pirate ploys to get to the top. I only used actual grips (AND only the ones set for my course) - no cheating!!!

Darren (Bodhi emerging?) was there and he helped Garth and I all night. He is such a sprite. Love that guy. Garth and I decided we achieved much more with him around because we would too easily give up in front of each other, but in front of Bodhi there is some temptation to be like 'Yes I AM cool enough to be in your bad ass bank robbin' surfer posse.' Yup.

So I

• Made it to the top without cheating
• Rallied and made it to the top of ANOTHER easier climb after that - I was freakin' exhausted!
• Worked on looking cool (ie better climbing form/techniques) after Darren did an impression of what I look like! This means straighter arms, hangin' low, hip shiftin and trusting my legs. (Hard to trust those two - especially the sketchy left one!)
• Explored balance - there is some kind of zen karate kid thing you actually start to do where you stick one leg out where there is no hold to balance yourself.
• Switched footing.
• Let myself reach and fall off a few times (a BIG deal for me).
• Did a pull-up and a chin-up where Darren did most of the work spotting me
• Did ...of course... push-ups. Did such a good job on women's that he thought I could for sure do a man's. Not last night.
• Exerted myself further than ever before ESPECIALLY in front of another human. This is really hard for me.

So stay tuned for my blog about SF and the wedding. I'm going to upload photos and write my entry on the weekend.

If you aren't interested in my climbing progress then you can avoid blog entries with this label. There will be a lot of them. Climbing is a lot more fun than dating. AND there are more hot, shirtless men.

xo

D

Just like in Point Break

Mary and I went climbing at Rock Oasis again last night and it was the best yet. I actually made it to the top of higher, more difficult (for me) climb and it rocked.

Pirate sidebar: I'm at the point where I pretty much do whatever I have to do (graceless, desperate, unscrupulous) to get to the top. If it means using a grip from the climb beside me or holding onto these rope holder thingys for lead climbing - I'll do it. I asked Daniel (guy who works there) if it is unsafe or a problem and he said, not really, but it's 'cheating'. I said (so I says to him...) 'listen Daniel, it's a bit of a pirate's game for me at this point!!!' I included this conversation because I think pirate code applied to any situation is funny. I love pirates lately.


After we had our fill, we walked toward the back of the gym and I saw this woman doing chin ups! (A guy was steadying her legs but it still counts) Omigosh I was so impressed that I had to high five her after (seriously I did high five her). Then Mary and I got talking with her (Amy) and her friends (Darren and "Hoops"). They were so nice and helpful. AND turns out she too used to be over 200 lbs too! Can you believe it? What a perfect mentor. She is cut. She is hot. She is surrounded three nights a week in hot shirtless men. By the end of it, Darren said, well come climb with us anytime. We're here Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

...

This reminds me of Point Break when Keanu detective guy is trying to infiltrate the coolio surfer group. At first he toils and gets roughed up by mean people and finally the leader (aka Bodhi sexy Patrick Swayze) takes him under his wing. Yay he is happy. Then he becomes all bad ass surfer too and shags that hot woman. Anyway I'm having trouble fully assigning roles at this point. Is Darren the leader or Hoops? Or Amy?? Will I shag one of this posse? This was not something I anticipated as a byproduct of climbing.

Lettin' it unfold... :)

I do this every day!

So every morning I wake up before my alarm. Like way before. I freakin' love waking up early. Then I get all into whatever I'm up to and the time flies flies flies by...

6:48 am
7:04 am
7:25 am my alarm actually goes off at this point
7:41 am
7:55 am k gotta stop typing/reading/trying on outfits/whatever now
8:01 am k pull away!!! PULL AWAY...
8:09 am now uggghhh rush rush rush shower run dress mismatched ahhhh change no time subway

arrive 9:09 am late by a hair

I always push it just a little too far, y'know?

Wholeness

I had a great evening tonight - got my TCard (U of T student card) yay September, then did a wellness check-in at Daniel's place and finally had dinner at Fresh with Lisa and some of her pals (love them). The nugget of wisdom from the wellness check-in today came originally from Daniel's mom:

"Focus on your wholeness, as well as your holiness."

Now this may at first scare you off because of the word holiness. Stay with me.

Holiness = The perfect person you want to be. The level of 'goodness' you are trying to attain.

Wholeness = Who you really are, as a whole human. Wholeness = Kind, generous, vulnerable, funny, loving...but also angry, jealous, vindictive, petty, greedy, selfish... you get it? We are all whole people with many sides to us and these are human. To push down or deprive, rather than honouring some of the not so holy elements fails to honour our wholeness.

I like this. Thanks Jinx.

I open at the close

After prolonging as long as I could...finding no way to avoid it...I finished the last pages of the last ever Harry Potter book!

Now I feel empty.

Wearing pants. Winter coming. Dog limping. People being unmagical. There is an official street term for this feeling - already described on urbandictionary.com: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=post-Potter+depression

Look Sunny - You can see forever!

This weekend I headed to Waterloo. It turned out to be a hard visit. Our dog Winston is not doing well now. He is 12 and recently started limping a lot. Turns out he has a bad knee in one of his back legs. The vet gave two options a few weeks ago: 1) Limit his activity - no jumping, running, playing etc. and maybe it will heal itself since he is a small guy or 2) an expensive knee surgery with a painful 4 month recovery.

Well we tried option 1 and it is not working. Given his age and the seriousness of the surgery, we have ruled out 2. Argh. So we are having a sad time. Crying in the living room. Crying at brunch. Crying on poor Hop Along himself...


Sitting outside in Sunny's backyard with her and Garth this afternoon, I heard the leaves rustling in the cooled autumn sunshine. Many of you know that my favourite season is approaching. There is such a depth and wisdom to the beauty of autumn. I always experience the excitement of it, but there is also a sadness, and this year I feel it acutely.

We talked about seasons and about getting older. We talked about how older people live in a memories of happy times and we wondered in what space and time we would place ourselves when we were senile seniors. Sunny said she would likely be back in the time when Garth and Gillian were young. She remembered a summer in P.E.I. when Garth was 4... They climbed to the top of a high sand dune. Garth, on his belly, looked over the edge and said 'Look Sunny! You can see forever!'

Why I Love John Fluevog

So tonight I had a date! I decided to go all out and doll up since it is Friday night and I do have it in me to look fabulous. I wore a tres cute little black dress and these hot hot sexaaay shoes:

The date was not very good. It became clear that we were incompatible within a few minutes. On everything from movies to Harry Potter to pets, plants...we were polar opposites. (Just thought of polar bears... too bad we weren't polar bears on a date drinking coca cola and saying maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)

Funniest part of the date:

D's Date: Those are great shoes.

D: Really, you like them, huh?

D's Date: Yes! ..........They're the best part of this date so far.

D: ........They really are, aren't they?

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

Monkey Princess

Yesterday Mary and I went climbing for the second time at Rock Oasis. Now Heather, Heather's parents, Shawna and Melanie can attest to my timid athleticism:

Sidebar to Heather's dad, watching me gracelessly try to get on/off the Seadoo at the cottage: "Is every day like this for you Denise?"

Yes pretty much Mr. McA.

Annnyyywayyyyy... the story is this: While there, I noticed an asian woman totally kickin' butt - climbing really well way up up up in the rafters and...get this... wearing a tiara!!!

I get that. I get her. I freakin' love climbing.

Meet Jack Quarter

I was recently accepted to OISE U of T's M.Ed. in Adult Education and Community Development. Yaaaay! Lemme tell ya, when I look at some of the courses I get to take, my heart speeds up like too much coffay. This did not happen with Business. Bleh.

My excitement at being accepted (I love validation!) had only one small grey cloud, the faculty advisor I was assigned was not the one I had my academic heart set upon. I soul-searched a bit, thinking - Is this an example of the universe unfolding? Do I need to just let go and trust that I have the right advisor for some purpose that I have not yet identified? (See Reason, Season, Unicorn blog...)

Well yesterday I emailed Jack Quarter, the advisor I fancied, and within twenty minutes he replied back YES and requested the change himself! Woo hoo! This is an example of the universe needing a slight tweak or nudge once in a while!

Fun links: (Yes, my idea of fun is off...)

• My Master of Education program.
• Courses offered through this program.
• A page on my faculty advisor, Jack Quarter.
• The Social Economy Centre.
• Some stuff I have to get set up to become a real live U of T student. (This link is really just for me since I lost the piece of paper...)

Stay Tuned...

I Love You You Slutty Little Leprechaun!

So a few months back I met a crazy character named Zack at a subway sandwich shop. He is a Jewish freelance journalist from Montreal. Sort of sweet and edgy (swedgy) and verrrry good at the banter. Bantertasmic. Perfectly timed with the uprising, I was able to learn more about this near stranger a la Facebook.

Turns out Zack is in this long time tumultuous relationship (ie "It's Complicated" to "Open Relationship With" to "Single" back to "It's Complicated"...you get it) with a rockstar writer performer person from Toronto called Elayne. (They also have a little pet named Marzipan le doggie who is a female dog with a humping problem... yes this is what I do instead of keeping up on current events)

Well they were traveling to exciting places together, and at one point while in Ireland he wrote to her "I love you, you slutty little leprechaun!" Now this silly flirtism got hold of me and won't let go. How so, you ask? (A friend said if anyone called her that she would hit him in the mouth! I feel differently.) My gosh do I feel some serious longing for a big bright love... and for an edgy, hot dynamic where I really am a slutty little leprechaun... a slutty little leprechaun with someone in love with me! Is this insanity or do you get the appeal???

A Reason, A Season or A Fairy Pullin' A Unicorn

Have you ever heard this one? Everyone enters your life for either a reason, a season or a lifetime. This is nice. Now you are yourself thinking of people who fall into whatever category la la la blah blah blah.

This link leads to an explanation of the whole concept AND has a nice picture of a fairy pulling around a unicorn:
http://www.steeldog.com/reasonseasonlifetime.htm