It was NOT an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny yellow, polka-dot bikini

I underwent a cruel and unusual form of self-inflicted punishment last night.

I went bathing suit shopping.

Hubby and I are going on our fabulous Galapagos Island vacation soon and, therefore, I need a new suit. So, off I went last night - self-esteem still in order - to find some sort of suit that would cover my flabby bits and hopefully accentuate my perky bits.

First stop: Old Navy. I heard from a friend that they don't make suits only meant for size zero girls. So I thought I'd check them out. Things were going okay as I perused the suits on the racks... I didn't even begin doubting myself when I heard some woman near me exclaim "Don't they have any extra-small sizes??"

Anyway, so I headed into the change room with my several suits, daring to try the barely-there-bikini. The result...

...complete disaster! Even their smock/cover-up looked horrid on me. However, I consoled myself with the belief that it was all bad lighting in the change room.

On to the next stop. Sport Check. You know... where athletic women shop. Women with muscles who aren't all teeny-tiny. They MUST have a suit that looks good on me.

I picked out several "tankinis" from the rack (no longer willing to bare my entire stomach) and headed to the change room. This time - it was as if the bottoms were all made for non-existent booties. Not a cool look for my caboose.

I decided on one more stop before I gave up and ran home to curl into the fetal position and cry.

Bikini Village. This time - I found the longest tankini top and paired it with some board shorts. Nothing showing. All my bits covered. Perfect. Sure - it looks like I'm swimming in a tank top and a pair of shorts. But that's just the way it's gotta be.

And, thankfully, it saved me from wanting to jump off a building. Hurrah!! Success!!

So that was my evening. And despite the momentary damaged self-esteem, I feel pretty good knowing I've got a suit that'll look pretty good on me. I may never be the type of young woman who can wear itty-bitty bikinis and look good... but that's just fine by me.

For Momsie

It's much later right now than I would normally write my blog. (It's about 4pm on Monday). I really prefer to blog in the morning - that's when I'm more eloquent with the way of the words.

But anyway - here it is. In all its glory. My post about how proud I am of my Mom.

Yesterday, my Mom ran a half marathon. That's 21 kms. Yes... 21. We ran it together in preparation for the half marathon race I'll be running in 2 weeks (Mom will be on vacation - unfortunate scheduling conflict).

Anyway, since she can't be there for the run - this was her half. It was my 60 year-old mother's half marathon day. And she did amazing.

To tell you the truth - she did better than me! (I'm suffering from some leg issues which cause major pain). But that's no excuse. I don't want to take away at all from what my Ma accomplished yesterday or how amazing she did.

It just goes to show that when you put your mind to something - you can really do it. It doesn't matter how old you are. Or how much experience you have. Or what you've done before. Or what you'll do after. All that matters is that you set a goal and achieve it.

That's definitely what my Mom did. And I couldn't be prouder of her.

When I'm running the race in two weeks, it won't be the same without her, but I'll keep her in my head (and my heart). And I'll make it through with flying colours.

Just like she did yesterday.

Fabulous Franny

Last night, I was out with a real mover and a shaker.

Yep. My friend M. invited me to a screening of the documentary "Forgotten Woman" showing during the Hot Docs film festival. I was extremely excited to go - I love documentaries. LOVE them. And, even though there was no popcorn to be had, I really enjoyed myself.

The documentary was well-done. But it was my company for the evening that I enjoyed the most. I had the chance to spend time with someone I highly respect as a writer and as a human being. Someone I find to be one of the funniest humans on the face of this earth. Someone who always has a good story to tell and a good book to recommend. And someone who makes you feel like she's genuinely interested in you and your life. Always.

When I first met her, I thought there was no way she was THAT nice. Then she poked some good-natured fun at me, we had a laugh and I realized that I must make her my friend.

We were joking last night about how we're the same person only with a 10 year age difference (we both love mornings, musicals, really good books that you can't put down and documentaries - to name a few things). So maybe that's why I like her so much.

Or maybe it's because she's simply just a fantastic, genuine, warm, fun, friendly, caring person. Yep - my mover and shaker friend really restores my faith in humanity. Every, single time I get to see her.

Shed a little tear for a ho

I discovered something slightly horrifying last night about myself.

You see, (I need a little build-up to the story), I came home last night to an empty house - hubby had plans for the evening - and I put on my comfy clothes, heated up some leftovers in the microwave for dinner and poured myself a glass of wine before I plopped down in front of the boob tube for the night. It was shaping up to be quite a nice night.

And then... I put on the TV show "The Pussycat Dolls present: Girlicious". It was the finale - and I didn't want to miss it. (The fact that I didn't want to miss it is not the only horrifying part.) As I was watching the show with growing interest and emotion, I learned that I really enjoy trash like Girlicious. Not only that - Girlicious made me cry!!!!!! I was welling up as the skinny, young, self-absorbed girls learned they would be part of a formulated girl-group that was all about wearing as little clothing and as much makeup as possible. As these girls began their futures of whoring themselves for fame and fortune, I was touched.

When the show was done, I wiped away my tears, finished off my second glass of wine and went to bed.

Part of me thinks it's quite pathetic that I got so emotional. On the other hand, even girls who think of "being sexy" as their ultimate life goal deserve to be cried over, too.

Sprint, fat boy, sprint!

I'm back!

It's only been 1 day since I wrote in my blog... but I've had several "no blog today??" comments (which made me feel all warm and fuzzy... thank you, you lovely humans). So here it is. Another blog entry for your reading enjoyment.

Last night I went with my running group to a local high school to run the track. Now - when I read that sentence back, I realize that it doesn't sound like fun. But let me tell you, friend - it was F-U-N!!!

We were doing drills, sprinting, running the entire track, you name it. And then, we finished off with a relay race. We were in 4 groups and each person ran about a quarter of the track as fast as they could to the next runner waiting their turn to run.

So of course (being slightly competitive and stuck in a group of notoriously fast runners) I decided that I must sprint like I have never sprinted before.

And so I did.

I sprinted as if I were running away from a rabies-infested pack of dogs. (Or running TO a giant mound of cookies, Dairy Queen Blizzards and chocolate). I ran like the bloody wind! I could feel the wind on my face as I pushed myself as hard as I possibly could.

Afterwards, when I was standing there waiting for the next turn to run (I initially thought I only had to do it once... oopsie!) I felt my legs actually shaking. My muscles were shaking! But it was incredible.

So today, I'm quite sore. But in a good way. And now, I've discovered something else to love about running. Seeing how fast your body can actually take you when you push it.

Just call me "Sprinty" from now on.

Weekend

It's Monday. Sigh.

Actually, I usually don't mind Mondays too much. But I had a lovely weekend and wasn't quite ready for it to be over yet.

On Saturday, I started my day with a 12k run outside in the glorious, glorious weather. There's nothing like getting outside and running in the sun when the air is at the perfect temp (nice and sunny, but NO humidity whatsoever). I was in shorts and loving it!!

And even though the weather was glorious again on Sunday, I decided to do something else. I curled up on the basement couch in front of the TV with a blanket and a marathon of movies. I watched movie after movie after movie. So lovely.

It really was a restful, rejuvinating type of weekend. Absolutely perfect.

(PS: I realize my title of this blog is incredibly unimaginative. But I just couldn't think of anything witty to describe this particular post. I think it's the early morning Monday thing...)

Write on

Sometimes I start these posts and I just don't know what to write about. Today is another one of those days. I'm not sure what to say yet. But, as my good friend Frannyglass told me last night (I met up with her and a few other former co-workers for a good ol' karaoke session) - this writing is purely for me. Not for work. Or clients. So I can write about absolutely anything I want! Ahh... the power... the complete and total power I hold in the tips of my fingers!!!

I digress.

Anyway, as I'm delighted to learn each day, this writing is for my readers, too.

Yes - that's right. My readership is growing. And thusly, I can feel my ego growing... I'm becoming "all-mighty-writer-girl" as more and more people admit that they actually take time out of their day to read what I have to say. (Insert menacing laugh here... something to the effect of: MWA HA HA HA HA!!!) That's right... read on, people. Listen to what I have to say. HEAR ME... DO MY BIDDING!!

Okay, okay. I'm getting a little carried away. But I'm quite excited. It's rather cool to know people are reading, and more importantly, liking, my writing.

So, once again, to my readers: thank you. I hope my future blogs don't disappoint. Enjoy!