Off Again...

Well, we had a doctor's appointment yesterday that went very well (and quickly!). No new news, but we are both a little nervous as I am off to Saskatoon with the football team. I have all the flights home mapped out...

I am sure all will be well...

MS Bike Tour

Well, this weekend was an eventful one for me, as I successfully completed the MS Society's 'Biking to the Viking', which consists of a 2 Day trip, from Stonewall to Gimli and then return. As for my training regimen, I have to admit I was a bit more lax than I expected to be, having not gone for more than ~25 km in one trip before August. I did though ramp it up, and on Wednesday I went out for a hellish 75 km ride where the wind killed me and I noted the importance of food & liquid. I hit the wall, and was worried about the weekend

Cara saw me off from Stonewall early that day (8:20) in rain. I rolled into Gimli (which I had never visited before) at 11:40, 82.2 km in 3:20, 3:07 of ride time, with two rest breaks on route (they had 6 total) for an average speed of 26.5 km/hr. I was happy with my pace, but if I do it next year I hope to do it in less than that in the same conditions, especially because I was getting stronger at the end and started very slow. There was little wind & the day warmed up nicely. I sat around until 1:15 for the rest of the team to show up and then we went off to Colleen's (Phil's sister) cottage 20 minutes North. We cleaned up and then went to Gimli for dinner which consisted of pork & beef roast along with a social organized by the MS Society's people. We left early to go to sleep as we had to be off around 8:00 the next morning.

The next day was the day I was really worried about, as I figured I would be sore (and I was a bit). We started a few minutes late (8:10), and I went out and started passing people like crazy. In the end I took 2 stops (at one stop the had Sport Jelly Bellies which tasted like Gatorade - Crazy!), and did the 82.6 km's in 3:30, 3:17 (25.0 km/hr) of ride time which I was ecstatic with. There was a touch of a breeze in our faces, but it was the slight uphills that slowed me. Never once did I truly entertain the thought of dropping out, although I did use the cell en route to call Cara to confirm she wasn't in labour! In the end it was a positive experience, which I may just do again. Of course when I got home I collapsed for a 2 hour nap...

I would like to thank everyone who supported me. Initially I hoped to make the $250 in donations I needed to ride (above the $35 registration fee) without me throwing in all of it. After going around work, I had amassed more than that and realized that $1000 was within my grasp which qualified me for prizes donated by sponsors and seemed like a heady goal. In the end I got $1550!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. It means a lot to me as I would never have done this 'For Fun' but because my best friend who was a cyclist can't do this anymore because of MS.

As for the pics, I have two from the start & end taken by Cara. Notice the spiffy jersey I received for raising over $1000 donated by Sugoi.


Me & My Dog waiting to go amongst the craziness of Stonewall's Quarry Park


More of us getting ready!


This picture was taken as I was rolling toward the finish line (Cara made me slow down as the camera took a few seconds to get ready).


In front of the Finish line after checking in.

Baby Update

We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and the heartbeat was around 140.  The more interesting news was that the doctor checked and it appears as though Cara wasn't right about the baby having dropped. as the head is not engaged in the birth canal.  Needless to say this makes me less nervous about the MS Bike Tour & going away to Saskatoon for 2 days for football next week.

Also, we got the switchplate covers in the mail yesterday so the nursery is 100% ready.  Now we play the waiting game (which is not nearly as fun as Hungry Hungry Hippos!).  We went to get the stroller yesterday at WalMart and they were sold out.  That is pretty much all we need in order to bring home Little Yostie.  Ah well.

Baby Has Dropped!

BTW I forgot to mention, but Cara believes that the baby dropped a few days ago. Apparently it is always much lower pushing on her bladder more instead of her lungs. What does this mean? For a first pregnancy not much, the baby will likely stay there for a while. Of course this could be a false alarm, as this is only the first time we are going through this...

The baby is obvious now, no matter where it is I can find the firm body in Cara's belly. And when it stretches you see the belly do the Alien thing.

Oh the things you buy...

I wonder what people did for kids before big companies got involved. We have been buying everything that we need, diapers, wipes, unscented stuff, clothes, nail clippers... We are soon to get a baby seat (and install it in the car - just in case) along with a breast pump and God only knows what else.

We went down to Grand Forks over the last couple of days and had a nice time. The impetus was the Football Team had lots of stuff that I imported. We went shopping and we found a couple of cute baby things, US food stuffs (Archer Farms is awesome!), a cheap tie, and the baby's mobile - Pooh and plays Brahms lullaby.

We also did something BAD. We bought a baby walker, you know the ones that people flung themselves down stairs in as infants. In the government's infinite wisdom they banned them, thus saving MILLIONS of children's lives a year! Anyhow the US (land of the dead kids) still sells them and I got a Winnie the Pooh themed one for $40 at KMart. We buried it under a bunch of stuff and had no problem at the border.
THE DEATH MOBILE!!!!

In other news, I am getting nervous as after this weekend I am away from Cara for the next two. The first one being the MS Bike Tour (170 kms from Stonewall to Gimli & back - if I haven't harassed you for a pledge, email me for info if you want, for those that have pledged, THANKS :) and the next weekend (Thurs morning - Fri LATE/Sat early) the football team is traveling to Saskatoon for an exhibition game against Aden Bowman.

Baby's Room

The kid's room is *ALMOST* done! Yay! About the only thing left to do is switch the lightswitch covers when they are shipped. As you can tell the theme is "Pooh". The walls are green, accents are in white & yellow.

Here are the pictures.


The entrance has a large piglet cutout.


The crib is in the corner. The border goes around the room. We have a neat cross hanging over it too.


This pic shows the change table, found to the left of the crib. We have a clock over on the wall beside it too.


I had to paint this shelf & hook to match.


We replaced the door with a drape and there is a set of drawers in the closet


This pic shows the light hanging which I got through eBay b/c there are no decent Pooh lights out there.

Beach Stuff

I hope to post 3 things in the near future. Here is the first, random stuff from the beach.

It was a great time with my parents out. For a welcome change of pace, the good weather stayed when they arrived! Sarah was also out for a week. The beach was generally packed and we had a few days of good waves, and a big storm or 2 came through. Rowdy also loves the beach.

Cara may not be as positive about the beach though, as she stayed in the cottage most of the time due to the humidity & heat. One of the few irritating things that happened was the stairs at the front of the cottage rotted through so we ended up doing some major work on them.

Now for some pictures:

My folks as we left


Sarah & Rowdy


Cara & I Napping




Rowdy Looking Cute

Down & Out

For those wondering why the darkness here, we have been at the lake with Sarah & my folks. We are in for prenatal classes and returning for a few more days out there. A longer update with pictures will ensue.

For those wondering, the twister was no where near the beach but we had quite the storm that almost washed the spetic tank loose. For those wondering where it was, find a map of MB and look for the intersection of 12 & 59. It went from Patricia Beach through there and then onto the North side of Gull Lake where it hit the trailer park.