My Doctor Is Trying To Kill Me

Last Wednesday, I had a checkup. I also had bloodwork done. Nothing unusual there.

So Tuesday when Wanda texted me to tell me to call my doctor's office, I knew they had the results in.

The thing is, my doctor only calls if something is wrong. If you don't hear from them, everything is fine. I immediately tried to call the office.

The line was busy.

I waited a couple of minutes and tried again.

Still busy.

I waited even longer and tried again. I got the standard greeting and listened until I was told to press 0 to speak to someone.

I pressed 0. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

After a minute or so, I ended up back at the greeting. I pressed 0 again. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Greeting. Press 0. Ringing. Repeat about another three times.

By the time I got to talk to someone, I had come up with about 5 different things that could be wrong. I had mentally rearranged my week to accommodate a doctor's appointment (because they don't give you bad news over the phone).

The results? My iron is a little low (which I told the doctor, hence the blood test in the first place) but within normal range.

My imagination is also fine, apparently.

Goodbye, My Love

I think this will be my last session of boxing.

As anyone who's ever made the mistake of asking me "How's boxing going" knows, I used to love it. It was the event I worked my schedule around. Boxing was the reason I went to the gym the rest of the week. It was the way I dealt with stress and the reason I was in such a good mood the day after class.

I'm in level four. I've been in level four for about a year and a half.

After the May/June session, my coach K offered me a choice - move up to level 5 or stay in level 4 one more time. I chose to stay - I didn't feel ready to move up.

I did the summer session. No one moves up in the summer, so I did level 4 again in September/October. I had a different coach, C, and with him it was a straight "not ready to move up yet, you need more intensity".

Up to that point, I had been going in and working as hard as I could. Once I found out I was not moving up, I stopped. I still showed up, but I just didn't try as hard. Now he says things like "good intensity" when in my mind I'm only working hard enough to stay awake.

Yes, I know I'm sulking. I'm also bored, and I'm not getting a good workout.

It's time for something else.

I'm picky, though. It has to be an intense workout. Classes work better for me than doing something on my own.

Roller derby still appeals to me, so that's a possibility (if you can start in January), but I'm not sure what else is out there.

Any suggestions?

How to Survive a Layoff (Even If You Lose Your Job)

Understand that it can happen to you.

You're not indispensable. If you don't own the company, you could be one of the ones shown the door. Plan accordingly. This means knowing what skills you have that you can apply to other jobs (or at least recognizing that you have skills that would apply to other jobs).

It also means knowing what your monthly expenses are, as well as having an emergency fund that will carry you for several months while you look. (You may not find a job in two weeks - and that's good, if it gives you time to figure out what you want to do.) Knowing what you actually spend also tells you if you can take a pay cut for a new job - and it shows you where you can cut if you need to. Cable? Not essential. Food? Essential.

If it happens to you, it's not personal.

Well, OK, maybe it is, but most likely you are a dedicated, productive employee who was in the wrong place at the right time. (And if it is personal, do you really want to work there anyway?)

If it doesn't happen to you, it's still not personal.
Keep that in mind. Wish the newly unemployed good luck, and help them if you can. Layoffs are not contagious.

If you're employed, understand that your former co-workers don't owe you anything.
Yes, they were the only one who knew how to make widgets. The company obviously decided that widgets weren't important any longer. Wish them well and let them go - their focus needs to be on what comes next.

You don't get to hold a grudge.
Grudges hurt you, not the company.

If you've been laid off, resenting the company that let you go will just hold you back. It's giving your past power over your future.

If you haven't been laid off, resenting your company for letting other people go will poison your work. It's OK to be sad. It's OK to disagree. But when it comes right down to it, it was a business decision, and the people who made it did the best they could with the information they had. There's no guarantee you would have made a better choice.

Open your eyes.
One of the fascinating things about job hunting is finding out what kinds of companies are out there. There are companies in Ottawa that make barcode readers, and interactive voice response systems, and electronic clipboards for doctors' offices, and HR software, and video production equipment. What have you missed while you were doing your job?

Connect with people.
Your neighbour, your former co-worker, a friend of a friend. Linked-In is a great resource for tracking down people you worked with years ago (as well as people you worked with days ago). Find out what they do and what the company they work for does. You're not asking for a job, you're asking for a their perspective. Maybe you'll end up employed, maybe you'll just end up knowing where you want to go.

And if you're still employed, this is one of the ways you can help people who aren't so lucky - "Sure, I know someone at company X, let me put you in touch with them".

Listen to advice (and then do what feels right to you).
Get someone you trust to look over your resume and give you feedback. Obviously, it would be good if that person were someone who has hired people before, but anyone with a good grasp of the English language can at least point out typos.

You don't have any perspective on your own resume, so consider any changes they suggest - but it's your document, so ultimately it's your decision.

Know yourself.
What will make you happy in a job? You can find a lot of information on the company's website before you even apply for the job.

All things being equal, if I have to pick between two jobs to apply to, I'll apply for the job closer to my house. I don't want to spend a couple of hours a day commuting and I would not be happy in a job that was on the other side of town.

Know yourself (part 2).
What are you good at? What have you done that was a huge success?

Now ... what skills did you use? And what jobs use those skills?

Exercise every day.
It's good for you, it helps you cope with stress, and it gives you a reason to shower and put on pants. (Sure, you should be networking and working on getting a job, but that may not be an every day thing.)

Tell people what you need (but understand if they can't provide it).
An introduction to someone who works at the widget factory? Meeting at a coffee shop instead of a restaurant? Proof-reading your resume? Most people want to be helpful, give them a chance.

Be thankful.
Sure, you don't have a job, but lots of other things are going right for you. Potable running water. Safe neighbourhoods. Lights that come on when you flick the switch. Friends. Family. Focus on what you do have instead of what you don't. No one likes to spend time with someone who's constantly telling you how hard life is.

(I'm still employed. How was your day?)

How I Failed Online Shopping

A couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Air Miles Shops. Now, normally I ignore marketing e-mails, but this one offered a 5% -20% discount and bonus Air Miles at Chapters. I had been planning to buy a few things at Chapter, so I figured this was a good opportunity. The discount was available until Monday.

On the weekend, I went through the site and accumulated a shopping cart full of stuff - a Kobo cover, a DVD set, and some kids' books for Christmas gifts. I followed the instructions, put in the promo code, entered a gift card number and a credit card number for the balance, and got the message that the promo code wasn't valid on that order.

I went back to Air Miles Shops and checked the offer. There were no restrictions.

I sent off two e-mails - one to Air Miles Shops and one to Chapters. In both cases, I gave them the promo code and explained what I was trying to do. I asked how I could get the discount.

Both promised a response within 24 hours.

Chapters responded first - on Monday (the last day of the offer). Here's part of their answer: "If you were unable to redeem your coupon at the time you placed your order, we can certainly help. ... we can only adjust your order after it has shipped. Once you receive your shipping confirmation email, please let us know and we will apply the coupon to your order at that time. ... Please note: If the items on your order do not qualify for the discount, we will not be able to process the coupon to your order."

That was nice, but didn't actually help because I still didn't know what items on my order were disqualifying me for the discount. (In fact, I didn't know that it was an item on my order - it could have been the total cost of the order or my mailing address or the zodiac sign I was born under.)

Air Miles Shops took longer to get back to me - five business days, in fact - but they did have the answer. They gave me some Air Miles and blamed the restriction on Chapters, saying that Chapters didn't allow the discount to be applied to electronics and accessories. That's right, it was the Kobo cover that was disqualifying me. However, it was 4 days too late for me to get the discount anyway.

I gave up.

Fast forward to tonight, when I decided to go through the accumulated mail. As is usual for this time of year, I received a Lego catalog. This was on the cover. It was expensive - $79.99 - but I really liked it.

I started checking out that site. I picked a few specific bricks I know my niece will enjoy, then I added that set to my cart.

I wasn't planning to buy today, but before I left the site I decided to see what the price on that set was in US dollars. The answer? $59.99.

I checked out the current exchange rate. $79.99 CDN is $78.58 US.

I walked away.

And that's how I failed at online shopping.

Last week was busy. I had my usual activities, of course, but that wasn't it.

Part of it was Halloween - we had our party at Sparks on Tuesday, then I brought the first load of Halloween stuff to work on Wednesday.

Wednesday was Diwali, and my group covered for our colleagues in India by answering the phones all day. We had been afraid that it would be crazy, but it actually wasn't bad.

Adding to the busy-ness, I went to a career fair on Wednesday night.

Thursday was basically just a chance to catch my breath before Friday.

To start with, Friday was a scheduled fire drill at work. Normally, that wouldn't be a cause for concern, but I had a job interview scheduled that morning. Since I park under the building, I was afraid that if the fire alarm went off at the wrong time, I wouldn't be able to leave.

I worked from home instead.

The interview went well, I think - in the sense that I think they got a good view of what I've done. I didn't get as good a view simply because they have a long screening process, so they aren't really hiring for a specific job so much as a pool to fill jobs from.

Of course, Friday was also our Halloween party at work.


My group was doing Hansel & Gretel. We had a cardboard house that we put up over the door to a conference room, a dog cage in the corner, a fireplace in the corner, and a table full of goodies. I was the witch. (A friendly witch - I got to invite people in to have goodies and check out the cage.) This meant I had to bring my costume, some goodies, and a few other things that didn't make it in on Wednesday - as well as my work bag with my laptop and lunch and my briefcase for the interview.


We didn't win - apparently, we came in second - but the finger cookies got rave reviews.

By the time I got home again, I was exhausted. You know that kind of exhaustion you feel after you've been far too busy (even if you weren't doing anything strenuous)? I was that kind of exhausted.

Even I'm surprised I followed that by shopping for five hours on Saturday. I'm still not sure how that happened.

I haven't taken a single nap all weekend

I've done a lot of baking in the last couple of weeks. It started last weekend, when I made two cakes for a friend's birthday party.

There was one minor mishap when one of the two layers for the black forest cake slid off the counter and landed on the floor. Luckily, the recipe specified cutting the layers in half horizontally and only using three of the four halves.

This weekend, it was time for Halloween baking.

Now, I normally don't do a lot of baking for Halloween, but we're having a party at work on Friday and I said I'd make cookies. My group is decorating a conference room as the witch's house from Hansel & Gretel, so I decided to make two types. Yesterday, I made gingerbread cookies. Today, it was finger cookies. They turned out well. (Wanda shuddered every time she went into the kitchen.)


(Yes, some of the food colouring ended up on the finger part instead of the nail part. The same thing happens when I paint my actual nails - which is one of the reasons why I rarely do.)

I'm supposed to be the witch on Friday. (Co-workers are being Hansel, Gretel, and the woodcutter.) That was a good plan until I scheduled a job interview for Friday morning.

Maybe I'll wait to paint my face green until after the interview.

If you need anything from me, you'll have to wake me up first

For the last month or so, I've been really sleepy. I could sleep 16 hours a day - except, of course, I have other things to do.

My assumption has been that I'm getting a cold - but that usually doesn't take a month.

I'm not sure whether to wish my immune system were weaker (so that I'd get sick & get it over with) or stronger (so that I just could avoid the sick thing altogether).

Tonight, I debated whether I should go to the gym or not. Normally, I'd skip the gym if I were sick, but:
a) I'm more sleepy than sick, and
b) following that rule, I wouldn't have been to the gym in weeks.

I went, and I survived most of the class (although I pretty much just sat there during the ab track).

I feel like I should sum this up somehow, but mostly I just want a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reasons To Cook A Turkey (Even Though You're Feeling Too Anti-Social To Invite Anyone Over):

1. Turkey
2. Just because Grandma's not here doesn't mean we can't have turkey
   
3. Turkey sandwiches (with homemade buns and, if I'm feeling exceptionally ambitions, homemade mayonnaise)
4. Turkey salad (turkey, green onions, grapes, celery, & apples in a mayo/honey mustard/lemon juice dressing)
   
5. Turkey tetrazzini
   
6. Did I mention turkey sandwiches?
7. Turkey soup
8. Let's face it, there's not much that's easier to cook than a turkey.
   

Working from home tomorrow might be tricky if I'm in a turkey-induced coma which I will almost certainly be).

And that's the most I've ever spent on groceries at one time

I mentioned a while ago that I had decided to wait two weeks between trips to the grocery store. It was a success, so I did it again.

(Admittedly, there was a minor incident last weekend where I ended up at the grocery store, but that was due to a clogged sink, not for groceries.)

Overall, it's working well. It takes a bit more planning, but that's not necessarily bad. We're certainly not starving, but impulse meals are a bit more of a problem. And snacks become increasingly scarce the farther we get from grocery day. By last night, there was no snack food left - someone had even eaten all of the chocolate chips.

One of the other side effects is that each time I go shopping costs me much more than usual - which makes sense, because I should theoretically be buying twice as much. This week, though, I hit a new record. I was out of expensive things (flour, dishwasher detergent, cheese) and I was stocking up for Thanksgiving (which is an off week, grocery-wise).

Technically, I've spent more on groceries than I did today, but that was buying food for a large group camping trip, not buying enough groceries so that two people don't starve in the next two weeks.

On the other hand, I've never bought two turkeys for a camping trip.

Woolsey

The Ontario Girl Guides have several camps that groups can use. In the Ottawa area, it's Camp Woolsey.

The camp is an amazing place. It's on the Ottawa River and has 6 separate cabin sites as well as quite a few tenting sites. It's beautiful and peaceful, and it's a fabulous place to camp - not just because of the site itself, but because there are always multiple groups camping, which gives everyone a chance to interact with other levels of Guiding.

A few weeks ago, an e-mail went around asking for help cleaning up from storm damage and preparing for winter. There were three weekends to choose from.

I didn't want to help. I hate giving up my weekends, and I just didn't want to do it.

But ... the camp is wonderful, and the land is probably worth a fortune. If we don't care for it, we'll lose it. I said I'd go up for Saturday morning.

Once I'd committed to going, it wasn't so bad. I didn't have to pack much - I grabbed some tools and threw them in the car, and off I went.

(Usually it takes me about 10 trips to get everything to the car when I'm going to Woolsey, so that was a treat in itself.)

I got there a little before 9 and we got started. I walked down to check out the fire pits on the sites and immediately ran into my neighbour, who was there were her Guides. After I figured out what needed to be done there, I went back to the parking lot and met up with the others ... and promptly ran into someone I used to take Irish Dancing with.

We moved furniture out of one cabin, fixed rails, and moved logs cut to sit on.

Before I knew it, it was noon. I would have considered staying longer, but I had a meeting to get to, so that was it.

I write a lot of blog posts that you never see - and by "write" I mean "compose in my head while nowhere near a computer".

This is probably good as it avoids this blog becoming focused on rants about terrible drivers and construction. (Are Ottawa construction workers paid bonuses if they disrupt traffic longer, in stranger ways, and at weirder hours than ever before? Because I've been caught in traffic jams at 9 p.m. the last two Wednesdays.)

That's not all that hasn't made it to a computer though.

There was the story of the only marginally responsive guy passed out on York St. at 7 in the evening, and the picture of the chair I painted on the weekend that I never quite got around to taking. There's the story of apple picking and the news that my contract at work was extended. I didn't talk about the first meeting for Sparks or the community corn roast.

I didn't even talk about how I spent three evenings last week reading the Hunger Games series (which I loved and highly recommend, by the way, even though the concept sounds terrible).

I didn't even rant about how I don't mind so much when racoons/chipmunks/groundhogs/etc. eat my tomatoes, but it's adding insult to injury when they climb up on the patio furniture and leave the tomato skins there.

Maybe next time.

Going in circles

The more I do, the more I have to do.

It started in July when I noticed some siding on the house needed painting. I spent an evening painting, and noticed that the windows needed to be re-caulked.

I spent the last two weekends re-caulking the windows. While I was doing that, I noticed that the metal posts under the overhang (you can see them in the far right of the picture below) needed to be painted. Yesterday, I sanded them and put on a coat of primer.

While I was doing that, I noticed some siding that needed painting.

Paper or plastic?

I mentioned a while ago that I got a Kobo e-reader, and I thought I'd share some thoughts now that I've had a chance to get used to it. Keep in mind that I have the wireless version that pre-dated the touch, so some of this might be different on the touch.

It's been a few months, and I still have not bought a single ebook. I have bought two paper books. One of them will be passed around a group of friends, but mostly it feels strange to spend money on an ebook. (Yes, I have worked in high tech since 1995. And yes, I do occasionally buy music online. I don't really know why it feels different with a book.)

Having said that, I've never bought many books. I read a lot - if I bought every book I read for $10, I could easily spend $160 - $200 a month on books. And I wouldn't be able to walk in my house. Since I'll read almost anything, I borrow books from the library, friends, and family.

It's definitely not the same experience as a paper book - there are pros and cons to each. Here's what I've found so far.

Paper or plastic?

• Borrowing library books - Plastic. Much easier, faster, and it can be done from the couch.
• Returning library books - Plastic. It took me a while to figure out how to do this, but now I love it - especially since Ottawa Public Library only lets you have 10 ebooks out at once.
• Storage - Plastic. No piles of books around, just one little device. Well, OK, fewer piles of books around.
  
• Killing spiders - Paper. Plastic might work for killing spiders, but I suspect it wouldn't work for anything else afterwards.
• Going back a few pages to reread something - Paper. There's no concept of "It was on the bottom quarter of a left-hand page" with an ereader. And I find turning multiple pages at once really slow.
  
• Skipping ahead to make sure an enjoyable character survives the book - Paper. Um, not that I do that.
• Borrowing books someone else has bought - Paper. If anyone knows how to do this (legally) on an ereader, let me know.

Some books (and again, keep in mind that these are borrowed books, not purchased books) are better formatted than other, and a lot of them are a little too close to the physical book. For example, a lot of ebooks have as their second page an excerpt from the book or some quotes about the author. In a physical book, that gives you some information about whether you'd like the book. In an ebook, it's too late - you already have the book.

I'm really enjoying the Kobo - I'm reading a lot more (even by my standards), but I'm also reading things I might never have come across in a paper book world. I'm also considering figuring out how to make PDFs that work with it so that so that I can move my recipe book onto the Kobo.

Of course, given how splattered some pages in my recipe book are, maybe that's not such a good idea.

Rollin'

Remember when I used to do new things? By the end of the year, I was all "oh, it's so much easier to do new things now".

Then I stopped.

This week (last week? Sometime recently) I heard about a roller derby open house. I've always thought roller derby looked like fun, but I didn't want to buy all the gear, and I was afraid I'd hurt myself.

When I found out I could rent shoes, I was in. After all, I didn't think I'd get terribly badly hurt the first time.

Today I left work, promised I'd be back on Monday if I didn't kill myself at roller derby, and promptly picked the worst possible route home. (Stupid construction.)

When I got home, I just had time to change before Wanda and I were back in the car. It was good to have someone along to keep me from chickening out.

We got there, paid our $15 for the time & the shoes, and started getting ready while the people who knew what they were doing did some sort of loaves and fishes thing with the other gear. ("We're out of knee pads ... oh wait, here's some more.)

I got gear before Wanda and went for a lap around the rink.

Have you ever taken someone who has never seen snow ice skating? You know how they kind of shuffle along as steadily as a boulder balanced on a stack of tea cups? That was me.

I eventually made it around the rink and back to where Wanda was still getting ready. By that time, I was tired and would have happily gone home. That seemed kind of pathetic, though, so I talked myself into staying.

I got a few tips from people and tried it a few more times. I had conversations with other new people about how much harder it was than it looked, and how none of us knew how to stop. Wanda finished getting ready and joined us and we skated around again.

Eventually, we broke up into groups - people who had been there before went off to do something involving exotic skills like stopping while the rest of us learned how to fall, stop, and, eventually, skate.

After a while, the entire group came back together and did some things in groups of five. One of them involved 5 people in a train with only the middle person skating. Another was "pass the gross thing". I'd explain, but I'm sure you can imagine how that worked.

By the end of the night, I wasn't good, but I was a lot better than at the beginning.

It was a lot of fun.

Despite my fears, I never felt like I was in danger of hurting myself. Between the knee pads, the elbow pads, and the wrist guards, I felt pretty secure.

But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

What to eat

I usually go grocery shopping after work on Friday. The sales start on Friday (so they're not usually sold out), plus it gives me one less reason to leave the house on Saturday.

I shop with a list, but when something's a really good deal, I'll buy it even when it's not on the list. This works well - until the cupboards and freezer are full.

Last Friday, I bought two weeks worth of milk. I don't plan to buy groceries again until the first weekend in September. Maybe even later.

It's been three days and we're out of snack-type food. Also, the potatoes that are left are rather more squishy than I'd like, and I fully expect we'll run out of cheese.

I suspect I'll be at the grocery store before the cupboards and freezer are totally empty, but it will b e a good exercise in using up some of the food on hand before it goes bad.

Customer Service?

When I'm at work, I keep my cell phone on my desk. This isn't so much because I want to be instantly accessible as it is because if I lock it up with my purse, it doesn't get any service and the battery goes dead fast.

It hardly ever rings - I'd say in the past 18 months, I've received maybe 8 calls at work. I keep the volume loud (so that I have some hope of hearing it in the car), so when it does ring, I jump out of my skin.

When it rang today, it was a robo-caller from Bell Solo (my cell phone provider) telling me that because they value my business, they're giving me extra minutes every month. I have 100 peak minutes included in my plan, and based on the past 6 months, the most I've ever used was 25. That was much higher than the other months. I don't have long conversations on my cell phone. Extra minutes are of absolutely no value to me.

I signed up for this plan three years ago. It's a three year plan, and when I signed up, I was offered a year of voicemail & caller ID.

I didn't get it.

I called them, they said that wasn't an offer. I called again, they again said I couldn't have been offered that because it didn't exist.

I wrote to Bell executive customer service, who routed me to a supervisor at Solo, who -that's right - had no interest in honouring what I'd been promised. They couldn't possibly do it.

My contract expires on September 12.

Do you think the useless minutes will convince me to stay?

Summer's still here, but it seems to have one foot out the door.

It's still hot during the day, but it cools off at night. It's getting dark earlier - it's not even 8:30 and it's pretty dark out there.

It doesn't feel like fall yet - we haven't had one of those days where the air is crisp and you know summer is over - but we're getting there.

I've enjoyed my summer. I got sunburned more times than is healthy. I went camping (sunburn #2). I wrestled with the half-dead tree. I visited with friends and family. I watched baby rabbits on the lawn. I worked from the patio. I dug out that annoying thorned vine that grows by my compost bin.

I ate ice cream in Old Montreal. I made (and ate) orange-yogurt popsicles. I ate tomatoes still warm from the sun. I BBQed - steak, pork chops, chicken, salmon.

I went to Italian Week on Preston. I canoed on Dows Lake. I went to the Carp Farmer's Market (sunburn #1). I sat in the courtyard at work and read a book in the sun. I figured out how to rid the kitchen of fruit flies (a glass with a little apple cider vinegar and a splash of dish soap). I went to Calypso (sunburn #2). I slept with the fan on and didn't get cold.

School supplies are on sale. (I love school supplies, even though I haven't been in school since 1994).

Soon it will be time to get back into a routine. Boxing's first - I have just over two weeks until the fall session starts. A few weeks later, Sparks will start and I'll be back in my normal routine.

And that's OK.

Some years I don't want fall to start because it doesn't feel like I've had a summer. (2008, I am looking at you.) This year, I'm ready.

Calypso

I've been having lots of fun with my niece - a trip to Montreal on the train, visiting relatives (who have a pool), the Lion King, Mario Kart, etc.

Today, though, we went to Calypso.

There had been some debate as to whether this was a good idea - after all, B has been scared of water slides for years. She's a good swimmer, she just was too scared to go down a slide. In the end, we decided to go (after extracting a promise that she wouldn't try to spend all day in the wave pool).

We got there around noon and the first place we found was the wave pool. Now, I've only been to a wave pool once before, but it was nothing like this. These waves were 2 - 3 feet high. It was easy to end up with a face full of water. (Um, not that I did.)

After a while, though, it was time to get out and try other options. We found the jungle run - a river ride where you let the current carry you along as you float on a flutter board.

Next, we checked out the slides. We agreed that the Canyon Rafting (which allowed 4-6 people to ride together on a raft) looked OK. We started climbing the stairs. We were one flight from the top when my niece started crying. It was too high and she was too scared.

We managed to talk her into the raft.

As we careened down the ride, everyone got wet - even Grandma. We got to the bottom and she wanted to go again.

We did that ride several more times (along with the wave pool and the jungle run), then I wanted to try some other slides.

My niece refused. She liked the blue slide and there was no reason to try another one.

I offered to buy ice cream. She still refused. (At one point, she told me she was cutting me out of her family tree.)

Grandma and I went down the slide (Black Hole, one that is almost totally dark), and while we did, she and Wanda went to Pirate's Aquaplay. Somehow, Wanda talked her into trying those small slides. When they got done one of them, Wanda said, "Did you like the one in the dark?" B said she did, and they were off to the Black Hole.

The first words out of her mouth when she got down was "Can we go again?"

She's not afraid of water slides anymore.

And I'm back in the family tree.

My mom and my niece arrived yesterday. They got in around 1 and I didn't really have much planned for the rest of the day. They had lots of energy, though, so we went to the dinosaur museum - a.k.a. the Museum of Nature. The dinosaurs were popular, as was the wild bird clinic.

Today was a pretty quiet day, but we did go to Dows lake and rent a canoe for an hour. (I wanted a paddleboat, but I was overruled.)

We saw ducks, seagulls, and lots of seaweed. It was a beautiful sunny day - a little too much, after a while. By the time we finished canoeing, we were pretty thirsty. Still, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Warning: I'm about to babble about boxing again

Tonight was week four of the five-week summer boxing schedule.

This is only the second time I've done a full summer session. Normally, a session is 8 weeks long, so for a 5-week session, they just cut out most of the easy weeks.

(The first week, we had 15 people in the class instead of 12, so they had to add three stations. I suggested chair massage, manicure, and pedicure, but they went with shadow boxing and two extra skipping stations instead.)

This week was the boxathon - i.e. 24 stations instead of 12.

For the first couple of years, I'd hit a wall at station 4 of the boxathon. I'd just be tired and wondering if it would ever be over, even though on a regular week I'd still have 8 stations to go.

For the last year, I wouldn't hit that point until station 14 or so.

Tonight, I never got there. I'm not sure whether I did better, or whether I just wasn't working as hard.

It's possible I wasn't working as hard. Over the past 4 weeks, I've bought new gloves, new hand wraps, and knuckle guards. Knuckle guards are basically these heavy foam pads that go under your hand wraps (and hopefully result in a lack of x-rays). Watching me try to wrap over them is ... kind of comical. They move, they bulge out in odd places, and when I finally get them on, my hands are a lot bigger than usual.

That works well on the heavy bag stations (once I struggle into my gloves), but less well on the speed bag.

I have to assume it'll get easier eventually, but I'm sure not there yet.