Let Me Set You Straight

There are apparently some people out there who if you asked them to their face if they were superstitious they would say No...and then in the next breath they do one of my pet peeves of all time...forward chainletters onto people's Facebook walls.

So let me help clarify a few things for those of you who feel the need to forward on those things:

1) No, you do not have to forward on that post so you don't get seven years bad luck
2) No, your crushes name will not appear if you forward that 10 times and press F7 while picking your nose
3) No, you do not need to forward on that post if you love Jesus
4) No, Jesus will not stop loving you if you don't forward it on to 77 other people
5) No, Facebook is not overpopulated and you won't get kicked off if you don't forward it to all your friends

So please save us all the pain of having to delete the chain letters off our walls and just post the funny videos and pictures. I promise you...nothing bad will happen!

(Forward this on to 17 people if you don't believe me..come on, I dare ya!)

Almost Famous

This may be the most famous I ever get. My sister phoned me today to tell me that my picture is on the webpage advertising the 10K run for the 2008 Saskatchewan Marathon! It might be hard to tell it's me due to the blue sunglasses and headphones along with my red Hbc Run for Canada shirt, but trust me...the exhaustion I felt at that point was very real and it is me!

I think I'll sign up again this year! Anyone want to join me?

An Early Sunday Morning

Every once in a while I do something that makes absolutely no sense. This past Sunday was one of them. Normally on Sunday morning my routine is the same. I go to bed late Saturday night and set my alarm for around 9:15am or so. Then when it starts beeping I scramble in the dark trying to find it and after elbowing my wife in the face and knocking over my glass of water on the bedside table I finally feel my fingers grasp it, just to have it fall off the table and get lost in the pile of clothes lying on the floor. After a minute or so of this battle I finally slam my head back against the pillow and wish I could sleep for another hour or so. But I soon realize that although Pillow Creek Community Church has extremely comfortable seats, I just dont' seem to learn much and I force myself into the shower.

But this Sunday was different. The alarm clock battle still happened at what felt like the dawn of time which was in reality around 7:30am (I didn't even know there was a 7:30am on Sunday). Unfortunately I lost the battle with the alarm clock and bolted from bed at 8:00am when I realized I had slept in...I had decided to go to Sunday school. I used to always go to Sunday School at my old church, but since attending this new church I was still in the feeling out stages...which has gone on about 3 years now! So it was time to get involved and today was the day.

I looked in the bulletin ahead of time to see what the topic was..."Living the LIFE at West Portal)". LIFE is an acronym for something (I'm not sure what) and relates to our small groups. They used to be CARE groups, but I guess they figured those groups weren't about caring anymore so they got rid of that :-) I at first thought that maybe only small group leaders could attend, but I figured I'd crash the party if that was the case...wouldn't be the first time! At church I ran into a few people who attended the 1st service and the shock on their faces to see me up at this hour was priceless. I explained to them I was going to Sunday School and they gave me this weird look like I was some kind of pedofile. Realizing what they were thinking I quickly added that I was attending ADULT Sunday School, not stalking the kids at kids Sunday School. The relief on their face was quite evident and I secretly saw them hang up their cell phones from dialing 911.

The class was in Room 112 and being the smart guy I am with a Bachelor of Commerce I knew that in order to find this room I just had to find Rooms 111 and 113 and then enter the room in between. I walked down a hallway and found Room 111...the Library. I then looked to the right and found Room 113...the Men's bathroom. In between those two was about 6" of wall and no door. I was stumped at first, but luckily I had read Harry Potter and knew how they got to the hidden train station. So I took a running start and slammed into that 6" of wall thinking I would magically appear in Room 112. Apparently the designers of the church had not read Harry Potter when they built the place back in the mid 1900's and all I got was a sore forehead and arm as I lay on the floor dazed. A passerby graciously helped me up (what loving people at this church) and directed me to where Room 112 was...clear across the church down a completely different hallway. I sauntered on over there thinking to myself that I should mention to one of the pastors that they might want to try renumbering the rooms.

I walked into the class and immediately sat down at a table. I didn't want to do the typical thing of playing shy because it was my first time there and be all timid. I figured I wanted to get right into things and I sat down right next to this other lady. The pastor there was quite surprised to see a new person in the room and I noticed a few other people frozen in time as they stared at this new person who dared to venture into their Sunday School class. I signed the attendance sheet and watched as the lady beside me signed her name...and one more. I suddenly realized I had sat in her husbands chair but she was too nice to tell me! So I scooted over one and graciously apologized. Now I was facing the complete opposite direction from the front and realized that I was not in a good spot. So off I went to my own table...all alone...so much for getting to know people! Luckily by the time it started two other people who I semi know joined my table and the class began.

I was excited for the topic of "Living the LIFE at West Portal" and couldn't wait to get started. However, as the class began I realized that wasn't today's topic...that had been last weeks topic! Arrgg! I think they should put next weeks Sunday School class into this week's bulletin because by the time anyone reads the bulletin the class is over! Anyways, I digress. The topic was "Let's talk about any of the past topics we've talked about so far." Hmmmm...not such a great topic for someone who is here for the first time! But I wasn't about to let that stop me and at our table I asked what this previous topic on Barbarian Christanity was all about. We had some great discussion on that and we eventually went on to a new topic for that week which was "If God knows everything, why should we pray?" It was a great topic, however all the discussion questions following that just talked about the Lords prayer. So although I didn't feel like we really talked about that topic, I did learn some good stuff about the Lords prayer.

The class ended and we all walked out. The pastor had been talking about this book called "Surprised by Jesus" that a lot of the previous topics had been from and he was putting it back into the library. So I quickly grabbed him after the class and asked to borrow it. So far it's a great book and I'm looking forward to my holidays to start to read it. And in regards to this class, just like the Terminator, "I'll be back!" and I encourage anyone else to also come join me...I'll save you a spot at my table.

The Princess Shop

This really has nothing to do with me and I can't even relate to it, but I just came across it and I think it is a great idea so I wanted to write about it here. Some people in Saskatoon have started an organization called The Princess Shop. Here is what they say they do:

The Princess Shop is a nonprofit organization based in Saskatoon SK and established in 2007. The project's mission is to provide less-fortunate female students with a beautiful gown for their Grade 12 graduation.The founders of the The Princess Shop hope to build confidence in Saskatoon's female youth and create a memorable graduation experience for all girls.The Princess Shop... where princesses prepare for the Royal Ball.

I think this is a great idea. Like I said, I can't really relate because I don't have any old dresses or anything but Grade 12 graduation is such a big day for students and to be able to help those who are a bit less fortunate is such a great idea. If anyone wants to donate no longer worn dresses, bridal dresses, gowns, makeup, jewellery and now they are even taking wedding dresses! They are opening up a drop off spot on 21sts street soon, but for now you can email them at the.princess.shop@shaw.ca to tell them you have a dress or other items for them. They also have a group on Facebook so if you like this idea join the group to show your support.

I sometimes (maybe often depending on who you talk to) wish I was better off than I am. But man, when I really think about it I am so blessed it is unreal. I have a house, a good job, a car, a lovely wife whom I love, a great family and a relationship with my loving God! What could I possibly complain about...the fact that I don't have a larger TV, don't have cable, or don't go on three vacations per year to some hot island? Sometimes I wonder if God looks at me and wonders why I keep asking for blessings as if I've got nothing. Shiela reminds me often that I sometimes get materialistic and I tell her I don't, but when a person looks at what he has compared to so many others and yet still wants more...how can that not be materialistic. I need to be more thankful!

Want To Play Some Sports Over Christmas

There is a tournament on over the Christmas holidays called the Best Athletic Team Challenge. It looks like a lot of fun and if you want to join the team let me know as I have to enter our team by Friday.

The way it works is that you play a variety of different sports including a minimum of one game of volleyball, soccer, floor hockey and then your choice of either Dodgeball or Ultimate Disc. The team will consist of 8-12 players and it is over three days which are Dec 28, 29, 30. Cost would be around $35 if we had 12 people. All games are held at the old Saskatoon Soccer Centre.

So let me know if you want to play! It looks like a ton of fun and a great way to stay in shape over the holidays!

This Says It All

Rant #2 - Don't Stop Me From Celebrating Holidays

I'm tired of hearing about all the people out there who complain about certain holidays and how we can't celebrate them like we want. For example, most stores and restaurants won't say "Merry Christmas" anymore and instead say "Happy Holidays" because not everyone believes in Christmas. For all you people out there who get offended at certain holidays I've got three words for you..."GET OVER IT!"

Yeah, that's right....Get Over It! If you don't believe in Christmas, whatever, but don't make a big stink about it and tell everyone to stop celebrating. If you don't like the fact that airports put up Christmas trees, don't make a stink about it and tell them to take it down (which some people of a certain religion did). Just ignore it and live your life. Nobody is forcing you to look at its beauty.

Obviously we aren't all going to agree with everything, but just let things go sometimes. It's time people stopped fighting for all their "religious rights" and just let everyone live. If it's not normal to wear a scarf when you play soccer, then don't. If you can't show your legs because of your religion, then don't play soccer, don't complain and say you have to be able to wear pants when you play. When people are getting killed in the streets all the time, don't complain when the police tell you not to wear your ceremonially (yet extremely sharp) dagger down the street or into a bar. It really comes down to a safety issue a lot of the time and that needs to trump your religious rights.

I mean seriously, how far is it going to go. Maybe I find it offensive that people wear turbans. Maybe I should make a big stink about it and start knocking off people's turbans because I find it offensive (I won't, but you get the point). Actually, did you hear about the religion that has started in southern Arizona? The religion is based on the fact that God wants you to be healthy by eating right, exercising and not being overweight. The followers of this religion are very strict on what they eat and they exercise daily. That's all fine, but wait until you hear how they witness. These people witness by going out in groups of 4-5 people and walk around until they find someone who is overweight. Then they surround the person and verbally abuse them about their weight and tell them how God won't let them into heaven unless they start eating right, exercising and lose weight. And the police there can't stop it or charge them for this abuse because it is within their religious rights.

Ok, that last bit on the healthy religious group was made up, but you see where I'm going with this. Complaining about your rights all the time because of religion is stupid. If you don't agree with certain holidays, please keep your mouth shut and ignore it. Let the rest of us enjoy our holidays and celebrate it the way we want. Oh, and by the way, "Merry Christmas!"

Rant #1 - CUPE Workers Get Back To Work!

For the last 5 or so weeks the CUPE workers have been on strike in Saskatoon. These are the employees that work at the University such as the janitors, food services, etc. They went on strike because they didn't like what the University was offering them. Keep in mind that these workers already are paid extremely well for the type of work they do. I tried to find an exact number but couldn't, but I've heard through the grapevine that these workers are making around $12-$15 per hour...and that includes those who just make pizza or run the till in the bookstore.

Now I don't know all the details but this is a rant and I'll focus on the aspects that I want. The University offered them a 17% increase in wages and benefits over 3 years. However, 6% of that raise is based on acceptable performance. In other words, if they get a poor performance review they won't get all of that 6%, although they still get the other 11% which works out to 3.67% per year. The union thought this was terrible because they did not think any of it should be based on performance. One of the union reps even said and I loosely quote "tying wage increase to performance is an archaic way of thinking!"

WHAT!! I have never heard such lazy words in my life. So basically, these workers just want to show up to work, do their job (they don't even have to do it well, just show up and pretend to work) and they want a 17% increase. Meanwhile, the rest of us who work for companies have basically all our wage increases tied to performance...if we don't perform they won't be giving us a raise and will probably fire us.

These CUPE workers are some of the laziest people I know of. All they have to do is actually do their job well and they will get their total wage increase. And besides, it's a union, so if they feel the performance review is unfair they can just grieve it and the union will have to prove why they got a low review. It's a perfect system and actually makes these CUPE workers care about their jobs, the university, and the students they are serving. Kudos to President Peter McKinnon for not backing down on that issue as I feel he strongly believes that these workers need to be doing an excellent job in serving the students.

So to any CUPE workers out there....GET BACK TO WORK AND STOP BEING LAZY!!!

Lifehouse's Everything Skit

This skit is really great. I love how it shows that God is always there for us. We can get so distracted with other things and the further we focus on them the harder it appears to get back to Jesus. Yet Jesus is still only a prayer away and although Satan wants us to think he is long gone, He isn't and He is right there waiting for us to come back to Him...and that is when He can step in and fight for us. It's up to us to choose. What a great, powerful and loving Saviour!

Your Favourite Worship Songs

So I'm trying to make a worship CD of all the best worship songs out there right now. And by make I just mean compile the songs on my computer for my own personal listening enjoyment. But I want to know which songs I should include on it. I have a few current favourites, but I'd like some help from anyone who reads this blog. I'd like to know not only what your top 3-5 worship songs are, but also who sings them. There are lots of versions of these worship songs out there and I want to know which ones you like best.

I'll start things off with five of my current favourites:

• You are holy (Prince of Peace) - by Newsong (although the Michael W. Smith version is also really good)
• Beautiful One - Jeremy Camp (I love the intro)
• Till I See You - Hillsong United
• Only One - Hillsong United
• How Great is our God - Chris Tomlin

So let me know in the comments what your favourite ones are! I'd sure love to hear from ya!

When Will Your TV Shows Go Dark

Due to the writers strike our favourite tv shows will soon run out of episodes. If you want to know exactly when your favourite show will be finished, you should probably check it out here.

Party Weekend

I haven't posted much lately because I've been too busy partying! I was in Toronto last weekend for a fun time with some of our Marketing Coordinators from the Hbc Run for Canada. Any Marketing Coordinator that reached their goals of participants, fundraising and volunteers got a trip to Toronto...and I got to be their host (sort of like the blind leading the blind since I don't know Toronto well either! Luckily we had a Toronto person from work help us out)

We had a great time and had a lot of fun. I won't go into all the details but as you can tell by the pictures we:

Did some touring around Kensington Market and Queens Street West

Went to a Toronto Maple Leafs game which was awesome, especially since Toronto beat the Senators!

And then went to a birthday party later on.

It was a great weekend all around and fun to finally meet these people in person. We had the Marketing Coordinators from Victoria, Halifax and St. John's so pretty basically we had people there from coast to coast.

I said goodbye to them all Sunday morning and then I kept on partying...by going to the Eastern Final football game at the Rogers Centre with the owner of TrojanOne, his kids and another guy from work. That was also a great time. I cheered for the Argos just because I couldn't bring myself to cheer for our arch rivals the Bombers. The Argos didn't play all that well which was too bad, but at a couple points in the game the dome got so loud I couldn't hear a thing. That was awesome!

This is the view from my seat at the game.

So now I'm back at home and back at work.

I've Been Inspired...the Full Story (Uncensored!)

A little while ago I wrote a brief little post about being inspired. That was all that was said. Well, after receiving hundreds of comments on it (ok, actually just one, but you know what they say about comments...for every person that comments 99 other people were thinking the same thing!) I decided to post what I was inspired about.

I want to be a humourist.

There. It's out. I've come out of the closet (not in that way though..not that I'm in the closet...ah, forget it)

The person who inspired me was Phil Callaway. I've been a fan of Phil for quite a few years now although I had never read one of his books. And by fan I mean I heard him once at Breakforth a number of years ago, attended his session on learning how to tell a good story, and then completely forgot about him until about 2 weeks ago. That was when I heard that our church, West Portal, was bringing Phil in to speak at our annual Christmas banquet. I immediately got excited to hear him speak again, but like Microsoft Vista every 47 minutes, it eventually crashed on me when I realized I was going to be in BC at that time and wasn't coming back until the day after he spoke. Regardless, I was inspired to do something similar to him...get people all excited and then crush their dreams. No, I'm just kidding. I realized that if there is one thing I think I am good at it is telling and writing stories.

Now many of you who read this blog are probably thinking to yourself, "You? A humourist? The only time I found you funny was when I saw you demonstrating how to do the breakdance move The Worm and it looked more like a beached whale trying to get back to water!" Well, that may be true and you are very much entitled to your opinion. Ironically, the other night Shiela and I were over at some friends and I decided to share this new ambition in my life. And what did they do...they laughed. I mean, I guess that's what I wanted, but I didn't realize I had told a joke yet :-)

For a long time now I've been struggling with what I am good at. I look at all the people around me and wonder why I can't play music or do construction or draw or be a handyman or know things about cars or be creative enough to come up with the concept of The Wiggles and have every kid in the world loving me. Now I'm not wanting to be envious of any of you and I am glad God has gifted all of you with those talents. I've just been wanting to find out what God has gifted me with and use it for Him. I really feel that this is an area I can be good at and feel that God has given me a talent to do this.

So there it is. I'm writing a book and I hope I can make you all laugh by sharing my life experiences. Since I'm sure you'll all want to buy about 10 copies each I'll let you know that it should be out sometime in...oh...let's say sometime in 2008. Oh, and if anyone knows any publishers that want to sign me on already tell them to give me a call (no really, I'm serious).

Why Do Christians Support War?

I'm sure the first thought many of you had after reading that headline was "What ya talkin' bout fool! I don't support war!" And for all I know you are telling the truth. The interesting part though is there are many Christians and others who say war is wrong but we have to protect ourselves so we don't have a choice.

Now I don't have the answers and don't pretend to either. But lucky for you, my friend John Campea has made his first documentary about this very thing entitled Prince of Peace - God of War. The DVD has just come out and you can buy it on his website over here. It has also been shown at two different film festivals in the United States and received great reviews.

I've already ordered my copy and I would encourage all of you to get one too! You can also check out the first 5 minutes of the documentary right here.

A Spooky House

As you can see from the pictures we had one of the most decorated houses around this Halloween. Shiela and I had the largest number of Halloween decorations we've ever had on our house before. But having that many decorations obviously comes with a price...wait a minute, no it doesn't! That's right, because every single decoration on our house was actually borrowed to us (and decorated by) our neighbour. She had so many Halloween decorations that she decorated our house too! So although we had the most decorations ever, it was nothing compared to her house.

I thought is was pretty cool...it almost makes me want to go out and buy decorations for next year. But then again, why do that if our neighbor has enough for both of us! So thank you neighbor for lending us the decorations and getting our house into the "mood".

The kids of course loved all the decorations! As I watched through the peephole on our door like a stalker, I even saw one kid not want to come up the stairs of our house because he was too scared (but his mom helped him overcome). Another boy had to be carried up to the door by his dad as he was too scared as well. Ah, what fun...scaring kids so much that they'll probably have nightmares for weeks! Gotta love Halloween.
(pictures are a little blurry as I was trying a different setting on my camera that didn't work too well)

The Future

I think I have been inspired.

My Fear Is Gone

This video has been both hard and amazing for me to watch. I have always been scared of what would happen if we have a baby that was not healthy. Would I still love it as much? Would I become bitter? After watching this video I realized that no matter what our child is like I am going to love him/her a lot! It has completely taken away this fear. Praise God! After seeing the strength and trust my friends have put in God during the loss of their baby girl I know that God will also be there for me no matter what situation we are in when it comes to a child.

Words Can't Express

I usually write on this blog exactly what I'm thinking, but today I am just filled with sorrow for some good friends of mine. I believe these two people are some of the most godly people I know and are a true testament to what it means to trust in God.

I could not write anything that would do this justice, so I ask you to just go here and read their words during this extremely sad time.

The Devil In Saskatoon?

Did you know the devil was in Saskatoon a couple weeks ago?

I missed out on seeing that devil, but I shouldn't be worried because I'll be getting another chance to see the real devil soon...on Halloween! Yep, Halloween is coming along with all the bad that goes with it. Since I've probably offended some people with my previous post I figured I'd put up one more controversial one before getting back to the lighter side of things. Besides, this is just my opinion and I'd love to hear yours in the comments section.


Why is it that some Christians (and others) don't like to celebrate let alone participate in Halloween? They go to work and spend the day explaining to people why they aren't dressed up (yet still take the free candy). Then they rush home, turn off all the lights and hide out in their basement watching TV all night, going deaf with the constant ringing of the doorbell, and periodically peeking through the blinds to see if it's actually darker than normal due to all the evil out there.


The reason I don't see a problem with participating in Halloween is that the day is purely for fun. Yeah, I'm sure the history of Halloween is pure evil and you can read about it here, but the majority of people who celebrate the holiday in Canada are doing it purely for the fun of it (and the fact that us marketers told them they had to do it by dressing up, decorating their houses and buying lots of candy). Now if 80% of the people celebrated the day by actually sacrificing animals and humans to foreign gods, then yes, I could see why we would not want to participate in it. But in Canada, it's a fun day for kids to dress up and get a whole lot of free candy and hopefully a little scared in a fun way.


It's the same thing with some other holidays, only the other way around. We had Christmas and Easter celebrations and the non-Christians took those and turned them into fun holidays. I don't see any of them concerned that they might actually be celebrating Jesus birth by taking the day off. Actually, we seemed to enjoy the new holiday so much that we joined in with the non-Christian celebrations of giving presents and hunting for easter eggs along with celebrating the birth and death of Jesus.


I guess my point is that if you truly think Halloween is so evil that we shouldn't be participating, then shouldn't we also be ignoring the pagan way of celebrating Christmas and Easter too? You've heard my opinion, now let's hear yours in the comments section.

Did You Hear Something?

For those who have heard me rant before, you probably know that when it comes to people "hearing God", I am very skeptical. In the Christian circles I hear it all the time..."God told me it was time to change churches" or "I took this job because God told me to" or "God told me I should date her." I usually just roll my eyes (internally because the person is often looking right at me) and smile and nod.

All that to lead into this ...I decided to try something new at church (this will eventually tie in to the above statement). I am a person who does not like "Greeters". These are the official people who stand at the entrance to the door and shake your hand as you come in. They are official because this is actually their volunteer job and different people do it every week. I dislike it so much that I usually go in the "exit" door (our church has two services so when I go to the second service I just go in the door that most people who attended the first service are going out of). That way I walk in behind the greeters and don't have to shake their hand. Now I'm not against hand shaking, but I just feel it is so insincere. Do these "greeters" really care about me at all? Are they actually happy to see me or are they just doing their job? I've thought that I should try to stop and talk to them sometime as I walk in. I'm sure they would get completely flustered as I'd be in the doorway trying to talk to them and they would be trying to get around me to shake the hands of the other people coming in. I feel like it's an assembly line and there is no real care involved. And don't tell me they are there to help the new people...not once have they asked if I was new or if I attended regularly. Besides, that's what an Information Desk is for.

I feel that we should not have greeters because everyone who attends the church should be doing that all the time. I feel that the regular attenders of the church should be always looking around to see if there are new people there and go and talk to them. To me, that shows true caring because you are seeking me out and actually want to talk to me. Now our church also has "secret greeters" who do just that...their job is to "secretly" be watching out for people and then go and talk to them. That's a step forward, but to me it's still a job and all regular attenders should have that mindset all the time.

So, back to the "hearing God" bit. In order to put my money where my mouth is so to speak, I decided that I was going to try and get to know someone new each time I attend church. Today was the first day to try it. Due to a golf tee time at 11:45am I ended up going to the early service where I practically know no one and Shiela was also out of town so I was on my own. As I was walking up to the church this one guy glanced my way a few times as he walked into the church. I thought maybe I had cut him off on the road as I drove to church and so he was mad at me, but I didn't think I had done that. Then it happened...I thought I should go talk to this guy. This was the guy that God wanted me to talk to. God was telling me to talk to him.

I entered the church and figured maybe if it worked out I'd talk to him. After hanging up my jacket I had to spit out my gum so I walked into the bathroom. Low and behold, right by the door was this guy again, just standing there. I figured he was waiting for his wife or something from the girls bathroom. I walked right past him and didn't say a word. I pretended to get a drink of water and then figured I should really talk to him. So I headed towards him again and at the last minute chickened out again and went the other way down the hallway. The bad part was that this hallway went no where except to one Sunday school room which I obviously wasn't going into. I then had to turn around and walk by him again. Finally I gave in and walked up to him and introduced myself. He didn't say a word but just looked at me. I asked if he usually attended church and he said sometimes. I was at a complete loss as to what to say when suddenly the women's washroom opened up and his wife came out. They immediately walked off but being the stalker I am I rushed after them and introduced myself to the woman. She then told me her name and informed me that she was hearing impaired and that her brother (not husband as I had thought) was with her and she was teaching him sign language (she was very nice about this all). Then they walked into the sanctuary to the front where the church has someone who does sign language for the hearing impaired.

I stood there in the hallway thinking about what just happened. Did God really tell me to go talk to that guy and his sister or did I just think that? Was that my own mind that just made up those coincidences where I kept running into that guy. I mean, he never even really said much to me at all.

So here I am now still skeptical of how God talks to people. Will he really tell me each week who I should go meet? When people say God told them something, did He really or do they just think he did? Am I just hearing impaired when it comes to God's voice? Has God ever told you something? I'd love to hear about it (and no, I won't make fun of it).

Soccer Season is Approaching

Some people have been asking what I've been doing with all my spare time right now. I think this video pretty much explains it (except pretend it's soccer and not hockey!) as the soccer season starts again in a few days.

Celebrity Coach in Saskatchewan?

Ever since Kent Austin came to coach our Saskatchewan Roughriders something has been bothering me. No, it's not that he's white. No, it's not that he's producing a winning team (I like that a lot!) The problem is that every time I saw him on TV in an interview he reminded me of someone. I could never focus on what he was saying because all I could do was try to figure out who he looked like. I've finally narrowed it down to 2 different people and I need your help in figuring out who he looks like.

Is it this guy...Mark Cuban...owner of the Dallas Mavericks and worth about $5 billion or something like that.









Or this guy...Mel Gibson...famous movie actor who can help you claim your "FREEDOM!!"













Let me know in the comments who you think it is....maybe there is some sort of long lost connection here!

Can't Get Enough

Although it seems I barely have time to update this blog, I've decided to start another blog more focused on something I really enjoy. No, not soccer. No, not golf. No, not Coke. Give up? It's going to be The All Things About Marketing Blog!

I love marketing and everything about it. I like contests, commercials, activations, sponsorships, etc....and what I really like about them is offering my own opinion on them!

So come on and check it out. It doesn't look amazing yet as I just put it together, but you'll definately want to bookmark it to keep on top of all the fun and crazy things going on out there in the marketing world!

Go there...right now....right here!! Why are you still reading? Click the link already!

News Flash

The national Tim Hortons office just phoned me and confirmed my worst fears...Tim Hortons is switching to Pepsi. Now I'm just wondering if Wendys will switch as well since they are owned by the same company.

Let the boycott begin!

Halifax Here I Come

It is actually quite a ways away yet, but I found out on the weekend that our company is putting on next year's Canadian Sponsorship Forum in Halifax. Every year we put on this forum and we partner with a major event which makes the forum very exciting...although with the amazing speakers we have the forum is amazing on its own (little plug there!). So can anyone guess what major event is happening in Halifax next year in May? (hint: look at the picture)

That's right! It's the IIHF World Championship. Our company is partnering with them and I will most likely be in Halifax for this great event. The best part is that we also get to go to one of the games. Any guesses which one? (long pause) It's the Canada vs USA game! Now truthfully I'm not even that big of a hockey fan, but it will still be cool to be able to be there for this game. I'm just hoping that some of the big name hockey players don't make the playoffs so they will be there to play.

So if you want to join me, sign up for the forum here (once the new website is up) and I'll save you a seat at the game!

One Big Party

I made it back from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and it felt good to be back in my own bed again. There were so many celebrities there like Brad Pitt, Angelina, Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon...and I didn't see any of them! Actually I think they all left earlier in the week, except for Kevin Bacon who actually was downstairs in the theatre while we were watching George Clooney's Michael Clayton movie on Friday night. I had an amazing time in Toronto and really the entire trip can be summed up in separate phrases: NO SLEEP; FREE; COLD

NO SLEEP

In case you forgot I was at TIFF because our company was putting on the Canadian Sponsorship Forum and were partnering with TIFF for it. So during the day I spent all my time attending sessions, helping out where needed, meeting delegates, etc. Then in the evening it was just party, party, party! I was out partying every night until somewhere between 2:00am - 3:00am. That wouldn't be so bad except that I had to be back down at the forum and working again by 6:30am -7:00am. This basically meant no sleep, but it was worth it.

The first night we went to a party with just our delegates to Casa Loma. This was an old historic castle and was pretty cool. ET Canada was using the castle to do some filming so there was a lot of ET stuff around. When we left I even saw Cheryl Hickey up on the outdoor stage doing her show.

After that party was over around 9:00pm we went back to the hotel, hopped onto another bus and went to the after party of the movie premiere New York City Serenade. It was sponsored by Audi and Hello Magazine and it was packed in there. It was a great party and after leaving I also got a gift bag, but it mostly had girl things in it like shampoo, a hair straightener, a book, etc. Not too much I wanted. (Yes, the picture below is of a co-ed bathroom with a glass wall with water running down it!)

On Saturday night we watched the closing night movie Emotional Arithmetic and I was so tired I dozed off for a bit. After that it was off to the Official Closing Night Gala party at the Harbourfront. I finally made it back to the hotel around 3:00am and back to my room by 3:45am as we all just hung out in the lobby for a while. Needless to say, there was very little sleep.

FREE

The coolest part about all the parties was that everything was free. Every party we went to had free food and drinks and some people took full advantage of it. Not being much of a drinker I stuck mostly to Coke, Sprite and Red Rain (similar to Red Bull). The problem with the food was that it is mostly appetizer type food and so although you are eating all the time you don't really feel full. There was some larger type food around. At the Cosa Loma party there was curry chicken which was really good. At the closing night gala there was a lot more including mini burgers, spicy chicken, crepes, lamb stew, cornbread, etc. It was really good but the lineups were really long and so Ididn't eat much until much later in the evening.

COLD

Somewhere along the line someone forgot to tell all of us that the closing night gala party was going to be outside...right along the harbourfront! This meant all the cold air from off the lake was blowing right into the party area and it was COLD. Most of the girls were wearing cocktail dresses and were instantly freezing. But after people started drinking they started to forget about it. Also, most of the guys instantly lost their suit jackets and the girls were wearing them to keep warm!

Later on in the night I decided it was time to warm up and wanted to sneak into the VIP lounge which was indoors. Another guy and I went over there and noticed that security wasn't really checking people for wristbands so I walked right on by them and nobody stopped me. There was practically no one in there so I ate some food (no lineups in there!) and then the other guy came in too. I noticed a back entrance leading out of the area and asked one of the server girls what was back there. She told me the kitchen. That's odd I thought as I saw people coming and going from near there. Then she told me that I should go upstairs to the VIP lounge which was much nicer, which was also through that back entrance. I glanced down the hallway towards the staircase that led up to the next floor where the VIP lounge was. There were two big security guards blocking the stairs and checking people for blue bracelets before they were allowed up there. I put my thinking cap on and decided that I had to get by them either with a distraction or by pretending I belonged there.

Then it hit me. We grabbed a drink each and when the server girls went from the kitchen to the upstairs we followed right behind them. We walked right past the security guards and they never stopped us as they figured we were with the girls. It worked like a charm and we were up in the VIP lounge. It was much warmer in there with nice white couches, etc. I went out to the deck and they had a table with marshmallows on skeweres. Then the girls roasts the marshmallow for you over a flame and you can then dip it in either dark or white chocolate with some sort of alcohol in it. It was really good! We didn't see any real famous people up there, but then again I wouldn't recognize them anyway so there could have been.

Finally we left and went back to where everyone else was. The party ended shortly after and we all went back to the hotel. It was great to get back into my bed again!

Overall it was an awesome time there. Too bad I didn't see more celebrities, but maybe next time!

Wanna Go to the Grey Cup?

Anyone out there want to go the Grey Cup? And I don't just mean get tickets to the Grey Cup as that is really just a small part of it. Going to the Grey Cup means going to experience the whole thing!

Chunky Soup is giving away a Grey Cup experience to some CFL fans and I think Saskatchewan fans have the edge. Maybe you'll see when you read the contest details from Marketing Magazine:

The contest was inspired by the tradition of pre-game “tailgate parties,” and focuses on Campbell’s Chunky Soup brand. To enter the contest, consumers must submit a video or photograph, along with a description, of their own tailgating activities to the contest microsite, cbcsports.ca/tailgate.

The submissions will be judged by a panel comprised of representatives from the CFL, the CBC’s football broadcast team and Campbell’s. Some submissions may also be aired on CFL on CBC pre-game shows, which are sponsored by Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

So there you go Saskatchewan Roughrider fans! It's time to show Canada what a real tailgate party looks like! Of course, I've never actually been to a tailgate party, but if you want me to appear in your video let me know and I'd love to make a cameo. All I ask is that if you win...take me with you!

Michael Clayton Trailer

So why am I posting this movie trailer? Well, it just so happens that this is the movie I will be going to see at the Toronto International Film Festival. Our company is hosting the Canadian Sponsorship Forum and we are partnering with TIFF to put it on. It should be a fun time and hopefully I get to go to a few fun parties...maybe George and I will even sit together at this screening! I'll let you know how it all went when I get back.

Something Has To Change

For the last few years I have seen our University of Saskatchewan Huskie soccer program say the exact same thing over and over. "We need to get more fans in the stands," says Bryce Chapman. "We need to tie our team into the community and get the young soccer kids out to the game," he keeps saying. Now that Tom Lapointe has become the new women's head coach it has turned from a solo into a duet with both of them singing the same song. It would be music to your ears...if anyone actually listened.

Which of course they don't. And the reason I know they don't listen is that although the same song is sung over and over I never see any changes made....and by they I mean the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and Huskie Athletics. I totally agree with the lyrics to Bryce and Tom's song, it's the system that has to change. Now I don't know for sure who makes up the schedule for the season, but whoever it is, they are part of the big problem.

The problem is that they schedule the games at a terrible time: Friday at 12:00pm for the women's game and then 2:00pm for the Men's game. Now I don't know about you, but I have to work on Friday afternoon until 5:00pm. I think the majority of the people in Saskatoon, including all the kids that play soccer, are busy Friday afternoon and cannot make a game at 12:00pm.

You don't see this with any other sport. Football always plays their games Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm (with the odd exception of a Friday night game under the lights). Volleyball and Basketball is always played on Friday and Saturday evening starting at 6:00pm. All ideal times to go watch the game with your family.


Now I realize soccer is a little different. Basketball and Volleyball always play double headers against the same teams...one game Friday and one Saturday. Soccer plays one game on Friday and then that team travels to another university nearby and plays them the next day. This travel time may affect the scheduling, but it can still be worked around.

Here's what I suggest the schedule should look like:

Saturday afternoon 12:00pm - Women's game
Saturday afternoon 2:00pm - Men's game (remember, we have lights at Griffiths so this is fine)

Sunday afternoon: 12:00pm Women's game
Sunday afternoon: 2:00pm Men's game
Teams then travel home after the game.

This schedule change would allow local kids and families a chance to actually see the team in action. This would not only inspire the players as the stands would be more full, but it might help the soccer coffers through the small $5.00 admission charge to get in and maybe one day we could actually offer some scholarship money to the players.

I'm tired of all the talk and no change happening. The truth is that until those Friday afternoon games are rid of the soccer program will never truly be able to engage the community and attract the large soccer crowd this city has.

Boston Pizza Going Downhill

Reading in a current Marketing Daily email I receive I found out that Boston Pizza is looking at getting rid of its agency DDB Canada. Now I have nothing against DDB Canada (except for those fat yellow and blue guys), but those ads they have been coming up with are terrible. I didn't like the one with the gigantic hands family because I kept thinking that if I ate there my hands would look like that. Then they pulled out the Louie the Sasquatch ads. Right from the start I thought that was a terrible idea. I mean seriously, do you want to eat in a restaurant with a sasquatch that sneezes everywhere because he smells pepper? They were trying to appeal to families with those ads but clearly missed the mark. The only time I think that ad could have worked was back in the 80's when Harry and the Hendersons came out.

Now I haven't eaten at Boston Pizza in a while and with terrible marketing like that I'm not sure I will any time soon...but I think I'm also a little biased. Boston Pizza used to be good back in the day and I loved it...then they turned to Pepsi and everything went down hill. You do the math...I have!

When the Going Gets Tough...

Last week I was at my younger cousin's wedding down in Swift Current and the pastor talked about how it used to be that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And how now it seems like when the going gets tough, we just walk away. The proof is in the pudding when you read this article on how more couples are getting divorced after 30 years of marriage (linked via this guy's website).

Now this post isn't about marriage or divorce and no, Shiela and I are not having marriage problems. It just got me thinking about this saying and how I hadn't heard it for a long time and yet it is so true. It reminds me of another saying, that nothing worth doing is easy to do (or something like that).

I like it when things are easy. It's great when someone walks up and hands you something for free. I like it when I am good at something and don't have to work to be good at it. I like it when things are done for me and I don't have to do them. Reading this as I type it makes me sound really lazy, but that's not true. I'm sure everyone else would agree that they feel the same way a lot of the time...who wouldn't? I often look around at the people I know and are amazed at how good they are at things...whether it be carpentry, wood working, real estate deals, financial planning, website building, music playing, etc. I look at myself and wonder what I can do. I'd love to start my own business and people tell me to just do it, but it's tough to start a business when you don't have a skill people want or need.

I think that saying also stems further for me. I'd love to lose some weight and get back in shape like I was in high school (or at least close to it). I'd like to be wealthy. I'd also love to have a closer relationship with God than I do. The thing is that none of these things will come true without putting some work into it.

I had a great time listening to an old Delirious album on the way back from Swift Current as I drove home alone and the two songs I played many times were All I Want Is You and Obsession. Spending that time with God was great as I was able to just sing the lyrics to the song Obsession.

So I'm not sure what this all means, but I guess I'm just doing some soul searching and writing as I think. And there is never a better time than the present to get going on all this stuff. So as the lyrics to All I Want Is You say, I think it's time to put on my God shoes/ And do what I'm here for/ Raise the flag again.

C95 Really Big Wedding

If anyone listens to C95 in Saskatoon you have probably heard about their new big thing...the C95 Really Big Wedding. I think this idea is wrong and feel sorry for the couple involved.

I was listening to the radio when it all happened. C95 had a big surprise coming up and it ended up being this guy proposing to his girlfriend on the radio! Ah, that's a neat idea I thought to myself. Then, Shauna said there was another surprise for the couple...C95 was going to pay for the whole wedding, or at least a lot of it. They were going to play little contests each week and if the couple won the contest then C95 would pay for more of the wedding. As it turns out, I think C95 is now paying for all of it.

At this point in listening I was not impressed. The poor couple is on the spot asking if they want C95 to pay for the wedding. Well, of course they did, who wouldn't? And I'm glad C95 is doing it. The problem I'm finding is that C95 is doing it all just for them and according to their plans. For instance, the wedding is taking place at 8:00am on Sept 21! Yes, that is 8:00am in the morning! They want it at 8:00am just so it can be on the morning show. Now I've been married before and I know that it takes a while to get ready in the morning with all the hair do's, etc. and so if the wedding takes place at 8:00am in the morning I doubt any of them are going to sleep the night before. C95 was also a part of everything else involved in the wedding. They planned the wedding dress shopping, the stag, the stagette, etc. What ever happened to having the best man and maid of honour plan those things? They also only had about 1.5 months to plan it all , send out the invites, etc!

In my opinion, I think C95 is butting in the way of this whole thing and this poor couple is having to abide by all of the C95 rules to get it paid for. I think some things are just not worth it.

What do you think?

Great Windup and DVD

When I tell people I coach soccer at the Under 12 age, I usually get the "awe, that's cute" look. I don't think people really understand how good these kids are, especially at the Premier level which I coach. But I'm ok with that...unless you are involved with it you don't truly understand.

Just came back from my soccer windup and it was great. At the end of last season I was telling some of the parents how I wanted to create a DVD of the team on the progress through the season, etc. One of the parents told me he had a friend that does that type of thing and was really good. So he spoke to him and the guy said he would do it. The parents did the video taping and picture taking and this guy put it all together.

Tonight I saw the finished product on a huge projection TV with a great stereo system. I was expecting a really good 5-7 minute DVD with videos and pictures to a song, but this DVD was long (probably about 20 minutes!) and it was awesome. I loved it a lot and the parents gave me a copy as a year end gift.

I tried to post it online here for you to view, but unfortunately I don't know how. So you just have to read me talk about it...if you come over to my house I'll gladly show it to you.

*If anyone can tell me how to do it I would love to show it to you online

So Many Things...So Little Time

I'm a big fan of summer. I could honestly do away with winter completely. The problem is that with such a short summer there is so much to do and not enough time. And the problem I have now is that I like to be good at the things I do. I never expect to be the best, but I want to be good. I'm finding this very hard to do with so little time.

There are so many fun things to do in summer like soccer, tennis, slowpitch, camping, hiking, running events, triathlons and of course golf! And that is just to name the sporting things. I want to do all these things all the time and yet I don't have the time to get good at everything. In order for me to get my soccer skill back I need to be practicing a lot more. I finally got back into tennis this year, but in order for me to get that hard top spin return going I need a lot of practice. I LOVE golfing, but in order for me to consistently shoot below 100 (yeah, I'm not that good) I need to be out there a lot more.

I'm struggling with this because winter is coming upon us and I am trying to decide what to devote my time to this winter. I want to do a mini triathlon and that would mean getting a leisure card and training all winter. I also want to get my soccer skill back as I feel I've lost it, and so I'm planning on playing men's league and co-ed. I also want to get better at tennis and was debating getting a tennis membership for the winter at the tennis dome.

What do you think? Any ideas on how to be good at everything? Is it possible?

Funny Ramblings

This is a hilarious little video so thank you to my sister in law for sending it to me. I was watching it alone and still laughing out loud and almost crying (I think a tear may have even fallen). It's not "football in the groin" type funny. Rather it's more like Jerry Seinfeld type funny...sort of. You'd better just watch it right now!

WARNING: This video is rated PG due to some uses of vulgar/swear words

Going...Going...Gone!

I'm sure most people that read this blog (which is basically me, my wife and some guy from Norway) have all been to an auction. They can be a lot of fun. Bidding on items you really don't want just to increase the price all the while watching the other guy glare at you because he knows exactly what you're doing. Actually, I think I've only been to one auction before and that was a livestock auction as a little kid. I didn't dare move a muscle because I was afraid I'd be bringing home Betsy.

But now there is a whole new type of auction you can go to....a house auction! That's right. Forget Sask Houses or any realtors. All you have to do is hire an auctioneer and hold an auction right in front of your house. With today's market the way it is, this is a great way to get the maximum amount for the house. Here are some great reasons to sell your house via an auction:

1) Don't have to wade through all the offers you receive

2) Get maximum value for your house because people will keep on bidding if they really want it

3) Sell your house in less than an hour

4) It's risk free: If you don't get the price you want, you just don't sell it!

Buying a house via a house auction would also be great. Putting in your bid and finding out later you lost the house by $1000 can be really annoying. At an auction, you would know right away and be able to bid a little bit higher if you knew that was all it would take to get the house.

So if anyone is interested in it I know a great auctioneer in Saskatoon who does exactly this. He's a great guy, very experienced and extremely nice so go check out his website at Bodnarus Auctioneering.

Want a Job with Facebook?

Being on Facebook now has made me be on that website a fair bit keeping up with everyone. And always one to keep my eyes open for opportunities, I happened upon a small word at the bottom of the Facebook login page that said jobs. So of course I clicked it and what came up was amazing...it was like a fairy tale job with so many perks it was unreal.

Here's what they list under their Benefits:

Facebook rewards its employees with great salaries and options packages, plus numerous benefits and perks:

• Medical, dental and vision plans with no premium for employees
• 401(k) plan
• 21 vacation days per year, plus 8 company holidays and 2 floating holidays
• Complimentary catered breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
• Complimentary beverages and snacks
• Dry cleaning and laundry service onsite
• Free downtown parking permit
• Subsidized gym membership
• Catered Friday Happy Hours at the office
• $600/month housing subsidy if you live within one mile of the office
• Standard-issue 24" LCD monitors and your option of 15" Apple MacBook Pro or IBM ThinkPad
• Worldwide notoriety by having your face on sample Facebook Flyers

Wow! Excuse me now while I quickly go email them my resume!

Too Hot to Play Soccer? Never!

On Monday something happened that was absolutely ridiculous. The Saskatoon District Soccer Association decided to cancel all 7:00pm games because they said it was too hot. What's with that! The temperature was about 35 degrees Celsius outside in the afternoon. Of course there is humidity and all that too but according to the weather network, with all that it was still only 39 degrees.

Now I'll admit, that is a hot day compared to what we normally have. But seriously, why would we cancel soccer games just because of that? The only reason to cancel a soccer game is 1) too much rain because the fields get wrecked or 2) a natural disaster. The SDSA cited "players health" as the reason to cancel the games. Give me a break! We are all adults that play in this league. If it is hot outside, then you need to be sure you take care of yourself so you can play soccer. This means drinking lots of water beforehand and also during the game. The league doesn't have the right to cancel games because they think I don't know how to take care of my body and prepare for playing in the heat. There are a lot of places further south that have these temperatures all the time and they don't shut down their leagues all the time because of it.

I'd like to find out which other leagues cancelled their games due to the heat. Did the slowpitch leagues? Did the Ultimate Disc league? I highly doubt it! I'm obviously not the only one to complain about it because they now have a poll on the SDSA site asking if they should cancel games when it is really hot and humid out.

Heat is a part of life and we have to be able to deal with it. Just take care of yourself and you won't have to worry.

What do you think? Should the games have been cancelled? (They let the 9:00pm game be played, just not the 7:00pm game)

Hbc Run for Canada

If you are wondering where I've been for the last few months I'll tell you...in the hospital recovering from that 10K run back in May!! Just kidding (I've been out for at least a week already!) Actually things got so busy for me with the Hbc Run for Canada that I just never felt I had the time to come online and post things. I preferred to spend my time surfing everyone else's blogs and seeing what was up.

The Hbc Run for Canada was great! I was the Event Manager this year which meant it was up to me to make sure everything went well. Although stressful at times the run was an amazing success! Tarra, the person I hired to be our Marketing Coordinator in Saskatoon for the event, did a great job and really worked hard to make sure the event was a success. I don't think she slept at all in June because she seemed to be working day and night. Overall we had more people than we had last year, better medals for everyone this year and even more entertainment than last year. We also had a lot of food and Coca Cola beverages for everyone which was really good. If you haven't participated in an Hbc Run for Canada yet, you should set aside July 1st, 2008 and be a part of it as it is arguably the best running event around.

After the run was over I ended up going to the U20 World Cup soccer games in Edmonton and saw Mexico play New Zealand and then Canada play Congo. There were 22 of us there and I had bought all the tickets almost a year in advance. It was a great experience to be there and we really enjoyed it!

As for the rest of July I have been coaching my U12 soccer boys (which is almost done now) and we lost in extra time in the semi final and didn't advance to the City Finals for the first time since I've coached them. That was too bad as the boys played their hearts out, but that's life. We have one more tournament on Aug long weekend and then it's over and they all move up to the U14 age group and I will no longer be their coach (sniffle, sniffle...I'll miss them a lot). I've also just joined Facebook and am figuring out how it works...I've found a lot of old high school friends on there which is fun!

So I'm going to try to keep this blog going with more regular entries. I may write a few more detailed posts about the things mentioned above but I'm sure more will happen in my life adventures over the next few weeks...there always seems to be something to talk about!

The Run

The alarm clocks sounded and I was awake in an instant. To be sure I woke up on time I had set 3 different alarm clocks 2 minutes apart...I don't think I needed any of them. I was so anxious about my first 10K run I could hardly sleep...well ok I slept awesome but I wasn't going to sleep in!

After a great breakfast of oatmeal (a little hint from Jason Warick who is Canada's 2nd place ranked athlete in the Marathon) I was out the door and ready to roll. I arrived at the Start line early...actually very early. So early that when I got there they hadn't even put up the Start/Finish arch yet! I wandered around thinking there must be something to do, but there wasn't. I just kept walking around because I was feeling pretty stupid just standing in one spot.

As the people started filling into the formation area I noticed people doing something and it seemed to be popular. I finally had to stop one of them and I asked them what they were doing. "Warming up," she said. "Yeah, I hope the sun comes out too" I answered back as she scantered off apparently trying to find the sun to "get warm". Why is she wasting her energy before the run I pondered to myself as I slowly walked around.

Finally what seemed like hours later I was finally among all the people waiting for the gun to go off. I had managed to find a few people to run with during this race...or at least run with them until the last km or so and then it was every man for himself...at least that was what my competitive nature was saying. I actually managed to find a bunny and was going to follow her right through to the end. This "bunny" was going to hop her way along the course and she guaranteed me that if I stuck with her we'd get to the finish line in 58 minutes. That was perfect because I was bound and determined to finish this race in less than 60 minutes. The bunny told me her strategy was to stick hard to the right hand side so that when we hit the curve we'd be running less distance. I couldn't believe this...strategy for a running event!! This was awesome!

'Bang' - the gun went off and....we all just stood there. Apparently it's not possible for 1700 people to all get through a 10ft wide Starting arch at the same time. But it wasn't long and the crowd started to move and off we went. I was whipping along following my bunny down the track...I was running a bit faster than I was used to but I couldn't lose sight of the bunny as she was my ticket to reaching my goal. I slowed down a bit and let my dad catch up to me. With my eyes still closely on the bunny I chatted with him for a bit. His heel had been hurting him and so he wasn't sure how he would do in this race. He then told me not to worry about him and to run my own race. Very well then, and I picked it up to catch up to that bunny...man could she hop fast!

The adrenaline and the crowd made the first 3km go by in a breeze. Coming up to the first water station I was super pumped...I had always wanted to run through one of these! As I ran through the volunteers held out the cups and cries of "Water!" and "Gatorade" filled my ears. I grabbed three of them and I have no idea why. I just wanted to grab as many as I could. I put the first one to my lips and nearly choked to death! Drinking water on the run is hard! I then threw the second on over my head just for fun. The third one I didn't need and just chucked it on the ground as hard as I could...so much fun!

As I kept moving on I realized that I didn't really get much water at that station...I'd have to be a bit more careful at the next one. I was still doing well and I was right on pace for finishing within 60 minutes as I was running about 5:50 per km. But then there it was...the wall.

I knew the wall would be out there on the course somewhere and at about the 5.5km marker I was about to run right smack into it. The other runners I was running with were further ahead now including the bunny. I thought I caught a few glimpses of those pink ears but she was too far gone. My dream of finishing within the hour was dimming but not gone. I finally kicked myself and burst through the wall and into the 6km water station! I know had no one to run with as they were all ahead of me...or were they. Suddenly out of nowhere I passed one of the girls that was originally in the bunny group with me! We teamed up and pushed each other on as we both wanted to finish within the hour.

The run up Victoria was long. We came up to the intersection and the cops had the streets blocked off. Ah, 8th street I thought. As I ran on by I glanced up at the sign...TAYLOR!! Oh no!!! That means 8th street is still like 10 blocks away! Nothing like discouraging yourself when you already can't breathe anymore and yet you continue to torture yourself. I pushed on and finally made it to Victoria bridge...or should I say falls. The road we ran down towards the bridge was practically a 90 degree angle! I thought picking up speed on the downhill would be a good idea but before I knew it I was like a runaway train. I was barreling down the hill and I couldn't stop or I'd wipe out. I flew down the hill and as I tried to make the sharp left hand turn I couldn't quite make the corner. My foot hit the curb and I tripped and fell onto the grassy hill. People started yelling and one lady screamed. I rolled a few times and then just got back up and kept on going! Thank goodness it was grass! After that every time someone passed me they said "How's it going trainwreck!"

It was almost over and I could almost taste the finish line...wait...no that's just grass from that hill before. I was exhausted by this time but still on pace for the finish of 60 minutes. And then heartbreak hill loomed before me. I thought nothing of it at first but my legs weren't fooled...this was not easy. The girl Iwas running with couldn't go on and so I was on my own. My pace slowed down and I started hallucinating. People passing me were riding this escalator up the hill...I tried to jump on but then it would disappear and everyone would start yelling at me. I would step off and it would reappear and everyone was happy again. I was the only one who had to run up this hill!!

As people sailed by on the escalator I thought it was over...and then there he was. My dad was just ahead of me...I had caught up to him!! I surged on and managed to catch him at the top of the hill. That last surge was all I had left for energy and I could now barely move my legs...and then my dad started to pick up the pace. "What are doing?!?!" I yelled. "If you want to finish in 60 minutes we have to pick it up!" he replied. "I can't anymore I said, I can barely move. Why did you slow down at the end here?" I asked him. "I wanted you to catch up so I could run the last bit with you," he said. That really meant a lot to me and I kept pushing on. My dad could have easily finished the race in under 60 minutes but he decided to not worry about his time and just help me reach mine.

My dad kept urging me on and somehow I managed to put one foot in front of the other. I'd get to the point where I just couldn't do it and I would start to speed walk for 2 seconds...but then my dad kept encouraging me and so I started running again.

And then there it was. It was like the entire area was aglow with a bright white light at the end of a tunnel. I shook my head quick and was back to reality...whoa, I really am close to dying! As I looked out again into the distance I finally saw it...the finish line. Up until this point I had never run farther than 6km and I was about to finish 10km. I glanced at my watch and saw I only had 30 seconds to go before I missed my goal of 60 minutes. My mind said yes but my body said no...my body won. I gave it everything I had for that last km and at the very end my dad told me to go ahead and finish first. Then from out of nowhere with the crowds cheering and chanting my name I managed to find the energy to "sprint" (or run a bit faster) across the finish line. As they announced my name over the sound system the dream of finishing had come true and I had clocked a time of 61 minutes and 56 seconds.

The only thing I wanted to do at that point was drink a Coke and lay down and die. I grabbed a Coke, went to the grass and proceeded to pass out from sheer exhaustion. As I lay there nearly dieing, the hallucinations started coming back. I glanced to the side and there was my bunny, sitting on the grass, her big pink ears still on with the words 58 minutes written on them...and she had finished the race in exactly 58 minutes. I rolled onto my back again and fell asleep...next time you silly rabbit!!