Ottawa Race Weekend

What a wonderful weekend!

I definitely look forward to doing something like that again. Lol

Will travel to run!  Next stop, back to Ottawa for the Canada Army Run, then Detroit for the Detroit International. I can get used to this. I might see Disney in my future. lol

My son came along with us to Ottawa for the ride since he used to go to University out there and had friends that he wanted to visit. When we got to Ottawa we dropped off my son by the Rideau Centre and went on the hunt for the Ottawa Convention Centre, only to find out that it was right around the corner from where we dropped off my son. Smh. Doubled back. Picked up our race kits at the Expo and then we were ready to check into the Marriott. Then....off to do a little sight seeing.

Canadian Parliament Building

    

Naturally, we didn't stay out too late. Nope...we had to make sure we were well rested for the race. So, we cut our sight seeing short and went on the hunt for a local Italian Restaurant where we could carb up. After walking through to the Byward Market with no success, I looked up a place on google. Yup....took us right back to where the hotel was. That means that we walked around for 45 minutes trying to find something to eat when all we had to do was go downstairs and around back. Smh. lol Found Carmello's. Had just what we needed, what we all needed since the city was full of runners. Found this little message in the Menu.
          
Had a great meal then we called it a night. Of course, I had the seafood pasta.

RACE DAY:
Rise and shine and give God the Glory Glory!
Started my day with a Selfie! lol Don't do much of those.
 When we were all set, we headed out to the starting line to meet with the crowd, and that there was. About 14,000 people participated. This picture did nothing to capture the amount of people or the atmosphere.
                                               
And of course, we had to take pre race photos. Here is me and my love:
This is before we ran a HOTT Race. Man, it was hot outside. Race started at 9am and the sun was already up and ready to do some damage and that it did. As we ran, we passed several people that had been passed out or something. Dehydrated. I dunno. They just needed attention so we kept at it and crossed the finish line together. Wasn't happy with my time but happy we finished and vow to do much much better next time. We lost each other in the middle of the race as Furman made a pit stop, but he found me in the crowd as I had expected.
Oh, and we took post race photos too.



After the race, we crashed on the grass and admired our medal. Another Half Marathon conquered for the history books! Legs were cramping up, we were exhausted.....the heat really took a lot out of us. But, September will be much cooler. Next time!
So we went back to the hotel and soaked in an epsom salt bath before hitting the streets for some grub. Back to Byward Market to get some food and that Beaver Tail we had our eye on from the day before. lol
Too tired to do much of anything, we stayed close to the hotel and made sure to find some Shawarma. Did you know that Ottawa actually has a Schwarma place on almost every street corner? lol At least that's what it seemed like.

Sunday morning after we checked out, we went to my cousins house for brunch. Love her! She did it up good. She knows how to do HEALTHY! SHAKLEE Was nice to be able to introduce her to my husband and friend, and learn from her a bit more about being healthy. I hadn't seen her since before we got married. Gheez. Quite a while. We had a great visit and she sent us home with some stuff we will make sure to use for our runs. Shaklee Performance and Shaklee 180 Smoothie Mix. Check it out.
Mind you, I already use Shaklee Energy during my runs. Not exactly sure if they help or not but I will assume they do because I feel like I need all the help I can get to finish the race. lol

Anyways...i'll quit here. But like I said, we had an awesome weekend. Love my running buddies. Not sure how I would accomplish these running goals without them. I even fund raised and raised $210 for the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, almost reaching my goal of $250. Thanks to all those who were able to support. New fundraising page coming soon for the future runs.

Oh, and we got a few free running shirts too, thanks to my husband.
We went to the running office to pick up an extra shirt and medal so my friend Catie can send to her running buddy. WhoIRun4 That's a whole other blog post because I joined up too so stay tuned. While we were getting stuff, my husband was out where they were packing up the many boxes of extra shirts and scored a few from the guy in charge. Don't know how he does it sometimes. lol His natural charm I guess. :)

Back to my regular routine next week - pole classes. Yay!

But today....let me just end on a very high note. TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY! God is greater than great! God answers prayers and that I have no doubt for one was surely answered today. Now, in less than 30 days I have had two very special prayers answered of things that were creating stress in my life. No more!! Now, if only I can get my prayers answered to help me at work. lol But, I am definitely good for now. I know God will get to it in Gods time and not mine.

I will end with a tribute to Maya Angelou who died today. RIP Maya and thank you for all you have done to inspire and make this world a better place while you were in it. Your words will live on forever as you rest in a better place.

Greed Doesn't Pay

As I rest my weary body today in preparation for my Half Marathon on Sunday, I thought I would blog about something that I've been keeping my eye on the last several months - the rental of my old apartment.

I lived in my old apartment for about 7 yrs. It was a 3 bedroom basement which was perfectly fine for me and my children at the time I needed it. When I moved there I was kind of desperate to find something new because the place I had been renting in another part of town had been sold, so I had to move.

I had decided to move further north of the city because I didn't like the people my son was hanging around with. Problem was, they were kids that he grew up with that were just making choices I didn't agree with and didn't want them to drag my son along with them. I figured that I couldn't be successful just telling him that I wanted him to stop being friends with them. lol So, I made it more difficult by moving further away from them. He was pissed, as a teenager would be....but years later he completely understood the benefit. That happens when you grow up. lol

I went with my best friend at the time to look at the place and loved it because it was a good size and was in my budget. Downfall was, it was a basement apartment. The joys of a basement apartment I never really understood until I moved in to this one. I say this because I had lived in a basement apartment once before but the people above me were very quiet. I recognize that now. For Furman, it was a whole new experience. lol

My first basement apartment I also had to leave in a hurry which was kind of my own fault, because I had concerns about the Carbon Monoxide Detector that kept going off of which the landlord wasn't taking care of in a timely fashion. My worry resulted in calling the fire department to get some peace of mind that I wasn't going to die in my sleep or something. Turned out that while the place was ok for Carbon Monoxide, that the basement apartment wasn't legal and had violations that needed to be fixed for me to continue to live there. Go figure. The landlord supposedly decided he wasn't going to fix them so I had to leave. Ugh. Smh.

Living at this place for 7 yrs, I went through hell and back with several different tenants that rented the upstairs unit. A unit that was never offered to me when it became available by the way. Although I probably wouldn't have paid what he was asking for it, but I'm just saying! lol

New Neighbors, New Neighbors-Time To Leave are a few posts that I had written, but I had a whole lot of other interesting neighbour drama before I started blogging. Trust that one! Point is, that I was constant. Despite all the drama, I stayed while upstairs had a revolving door. And hey...don't you think for a second that I was the problem because I can assure you that I wasn't. lol He was probably charging wayyy too much for what he was offering. And, I say that because that has gotten him in his new predicament that has me writing today that Greed Doesn't Pay!

The neighbours that moved in after the last neighbours I wrote about were awesome. Two gentlemen that worked. So, like us, they were gone in the day and home at night. Kids weren't running around upstairs and I am confident that the cost of utilities (although included in rent) had to have dropped for sure since nobody was home all day using them up. Utilities became a sore spot for the landlord because until these guys moved in, everybody he had rented to had been home with children. Especially the last tenant who was running a Home Daycare!! I can imagine the utilities. Well, when they decided to move out for a bigger place since she was pregnant, the landlord must have had a bright idea that wasn't so bright after all.

This leads me to say that Greed Doesn't Pay!!

To recoup some of his losses when the lady with the Home Daycare moved out, the landlord decided to give ME notice to increase my rent another $30 a month. (He was following guidelines though) I mean, he didn't even wait to see how low his utilities would go now that he had new tenants that actually went to work all day. I was pissed! I called him and asked him "What the hell? Is there a number you are trying to get to?" lol He let me know that he had to make his money and give me 60 days notice. So, out of principle, I had enough. I was a long time good tenant. I had to let him know and give him notice - I'm Out!! And while I knew right away that we were leaving, I waited to give him exactly 60 days. I would have stayed there till we bought our first home but man oh man. Furman was frustrated having never lived in a basement apartment before and it was just the two of us in a three bedroom now anyways. I was just frustrated because I felt this man was being unreasonable and not appreciating a good faithful tenant. So I decided to find something more worth our money to hold us over. That, I sure did. Took me 48 hours! Now, we are happy!!

Well....here is where Greed Doesn't Pay. Furman said that this man would have trouble renting the place out once we left. He sure called it. I think the landlord knew he messed up when he last spoke to Furman just prior to our moving out, saying that he wished we weren't leaving. lol Oh well. But, what did he do....he decided to be even more greedy and post his rental ad in Kijiji asking for  $70 more than he was asking me to pay. Yup. He was jacking the rent up $100 more than I paid when I left. As a result, 8 months later my old basement apartment is STILL EMPTY. Shame. That's a lot of money out of his pocket I tell ya. It's been about 8 months empty now. But I know that the upstairs neighbours haven't made it easy for him to rent the place either. lol Whenever they have been home and people came to see the basement, they have made sure to indirectly introduce the people to what exactly they hear from down below. hahaha Giving them a listen. Crazy. Can't say I blame them though. lol

Now don't get me wrong, I am not taking joy in this man's pain. It's just a damn shame. I am sure his wife probably told him once again that he was an idiot...something he confessed to me that she has called him on previous occasion because of how he has dealt with his tenants. lol So, moral of the story in my opinion - GREED DOESN'T PAY. Sometimes you have to appreciate good tenants and that doesn't always mean raising rent because you are allowed to, especially when they don't bother you for anything and take care of your place. Be happy with what you have. Be reasonable. And, if months and months are passing and you are unable to rent at what you are asking, then maybe you should rethink that amount. haha So, out of curiosity, I will keep checking Kijiji just to see how long it takes, because I can. 

If you are a landlord, appreciate your good tenants because when they are gone you never know what you just might get, if anything.

UpRooted

I love long weekends.  

Just wish they weren't so short. Lol

This weekend was a weekend where we never really had anything planned other than to kick around the house. So, that's what we kind of did. Got our hiking done on Saturday morning. Oh, and for the record.... For those who read my previous post... There was a brand new green bin in my neighbors driveway on Saturday too. Lol 

Got a few errands done this weekend which included shopping for some new running shoes for Furman. I already got mine. After all, our Half Marathon is this coming weekend in Ottawa. Woo hoo. Ready or not, we will come!

We ended our long weekend by taking care of something that has been on the TO DO LIST for a while now.  Removing a tree stump from our backyard. It was what was remaining after Furman cut off all the branches several weekends ago. Just had to remove what was left so we can get our yard into summer shape. As you can imagine, it was a task. 

The below collage shows what we were working with, and what it looked like when Furman got it uprooted. The picture of me with the shovel? Well, that was actually filling the hole when Furman was finished. Hahaha 

                       

Yup....it was a very busy and productive day. 

Ready for gardening, even though it's hard on the back. Not sure how some people find it to be therapeutic. hahaha. Guess I just might find out. In the meantime, running is my therapy.

Now, we are turning in as I try to get some extra sleep since I am returning to the battlefield tomorrow. Prayers welcomed as the days to come will be very challenging. 

Hope everyone had an awesome long weekend. 

God Bless

More Than One Mans Garbage

I woke up this morning to find an empty bin had been placed in our neighbours driveway for neighbourhood garbage collection.  Something like this one.

                               

Right away I was like WTH? I knew Furman would NOT be happy although it's in the neighbours driveway and not our own. Just too close to home I would say. I mean, anything can fly out of the bin and hit our car. Not everybody has a good aim. But I'm sure the neighbour must have agreed to have the bin placed there. So, I set off to do some investigation.

Apparently, there are about 6 of these bins placed throughout our neighbourhood to encourage people to clean out their clutter so they don't dump. And let me tell you, people started coming out in droves. Like Zombie's awakened from the grave. It was crazy! I watched from the bedroom window how in only a few hours the bin filled up. Only a few hours I tell ya!! I've never been one of those neighbours to window watch and be in everybody's business but this was hilarious. I was amazed.

                               

One thing I will say is that the driveway they parked the bin in was certainly helpful for my neighbour because he had all kinds of garbage in his garage. All kinds! The stuff on the top of that photo is all from his garage. And, he lives there alone. lol So, I watched the garbage pile up and shook my head as I silently determined which items could possibly have been donated to a good home instead. Why don't people donate? Oh well. In my snooping, I even observed possible hoarders come out to see what they could remove from the bins too. No lie! 

I was concerned about exactly how long this bin was going to be there and my investigation uncovered that it would be there probably for the entire weekend. WHAT?! Furman is not going to be happy!! As I watched the bin fill up I wondered where people were going to put stuff when the bin was full, since it was going to sit there all weekend. Furman was concerned also because he felt people would start leaving their garbage around the bin. Yes, even though there are other bins in the neighbourhood we were concerned. You know as well as I do that some people are just plain lazy. lol

However, around 3pm someone came to remove the bin. I was soo happy. Hope they don't bring another empty one. We'll have to wait and see. How much garbage can the neighbourhood honestly have? lol But looking at the positive, it's nice that people have an opportunity to clean out and have their big garbage removed at no cost to them.

Wait a minute...I wonder if I have anything I need to get rid of? lol Hmmm?


Now, maybe some people can use their garages to actually park their cars.

Well, my husband is almost home from work so I'll stop here so I can get back to finishing dinner before he walks in. It's the long weekend baby!!  Woo Hoo Hopefully the weather is decent enough that we can get in several good runs. After all, next weekend is the Ottawa Half Marathon. Looking forward to taking my husband to our Nation's Capital. Yes, for those who didn't know, Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. lol I have a cousin that lives in Ottawa too, so the plan is to also see her before we head back. You know, give her an opportunity to meet my handsome husband...show him off a bit. lol Will be nice to get away, even if we are going to RUN.

Have an awesome and very safe long weekend my fellow Canadians.
DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!  Hell, DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE EITHER!!

GOD BLESS!!

Hidden Letter?

I just had an emotional moment that was too cute I had to share.

I unexpectedly found a letter that was written on a note pad and hadn't been given directly to me, although it was meant for me. No doubt about that!

Not sure if not giving it to me was an oversight or if the intention was for me to find it like I did. That's not even important. What was expressed in this Mother's Day letter and how it made me feel is what is soo important and will never be forgotten.

My daughter came to spend Mother's Day Weekend with us. Very special since she lives away from home trying to make her mark in the world and getting educated. Was so nice to have her around. Missed her very much. That being said, she sacrificed her sleep time Saturday morning by agreeing to attend my usual Ladies Prayer Breakfast with me. I was shocked. But, it was so nice of her to attend to share in fellowship and meet the ladies who have been consistently keeping her in prayer during her transition from teenager to adult. Following that, she even agreed to go on a hike with Furman and I through the woods. WHAT? lol Yup...we took her through a long walk and introduced her to our local wooded hill and the 99 Steps of Thornton Bales. Bet she might not do that again. haha  To make it even better, she came to church with us on Sunday morning with no fuss like teenagers usually like to give. Nope...not her. She is growing up. Sunday's message taught by Pastor Bryan at Hope For Today was right for my daughter, as well as many others I am sure. "GOD HAS GOT YOUR BACK!!"  Yup...he sure does.

Then, together with Furman, and both my children, we went to visit my mom in the hospital in coordination with my sister and her husband to make the visit for mom extra special. That, it was. Always a thrill to see my mom soo happy. We topped off Mother's Day with a wonderful dinner at my favorite place - Federicks. Man oh man! I'm soo happy they aren't located close to home because I would be too much of a regular. Their food and prices are amazing.


I had to take a photo of this glass of wine that I decided to have. NEVER have I ordered a glass of wine in a restaurant that only cost me $3.75. And, to top it off, they filled the glass damn near the top! WHAT? You know you never get a full glass of wine at a restaurant. lol Unless i've just always been to the wrong places. Not that I usually drink wine when I go out anyways, but I observe and used to waitress.

Well, this evening I was clearing up some clutter that I had left on a table. This included removing a notepad that I had out. When I turned over the notepad I came across a letter that was addressed to me. "Dear Mom,"  Yup, that's me! I kept reading. I wont share the letter but I will definitely share how it started...and how I started to get emotional. Knowing my daughter, this was written when she was up real late. lol

The letter goes on....and I could never describe how it made me feel. My babygirl is growing up. To  my haters - you were wrong....I am a very good mother...Smh. I may not have been perfect, but I was good enough for my children and I am very proud. They will always be a work in progress, just like I am...but God is good and faithful.

So, in case my daughter reads my blog at any time....I want to say again how thankful that I am for this wonderful letter she left for me. I love her and my son very much. I'm very blessed and very proud. Oh....and thanks again for spending the weekend with us. Your company is always welcome.

Ok.....I've had my emotional moment and will now put the letter away for safe keeping along with some other notes I have received in the past. Thank You Son  & Signed: A Friend.

                                       

Disappointed to Elated

I've been writing this post all week...just haven't gotten back to it till today.

The word is out..... (Hey, that makes me think of a classic...let's side track for a minute so I can sing...)

OK....I'm back. lol

My Raptors disappointed me. Disappointed us all. We were sooo hopeful.

I was sooo looking forward to watching the game all day that Friday, which then turned into Sunday after a horrible Game 5 loss. When Game 5 started, it didn't take long to realize the Raptors didn't really show up. The day when they should have been able to take the round. Thank goodness they had a second chance to try with a Home Game. I couldn't wait to get home after church to watch the game. Me! I was wishing I was there, if not at the game, standing in Jurassic Park aka Maple Leaf Square with the rest of the excited fans.....till they lost! lol But now, it's over. I am still devastated. Lol. Ok, maybe devastated is a bit of an overstatement. But you know what I mean.
Now, I get to watch Miami beat Brooklyn. And yes, I am full on cheering for Miami this year because Brooklyn beat the Raptors. lol While Furman cheers on Miami because he is a die hard Miami fan from Miami. At the same time, i've been following some of the other games too. You know, watching Hibbert tank. But, enough of this NBA talk.

This is Mother's Day Weekend and today is a good day. I got to visit my mother in the hospital and had a wonderful visit with her after a rough disappointing week, for which I will skip the details. Before going to the hospital I stopped at my mothers apartment and as I was stopping at a neighbourhood store to buy her a treat, I ran into my father. OMG! I couldn't believe it. He was walking towards the store looking all cool and stuff with his black sunglasses. I will hold onto that image forever if I never see him again.
I say this because for those who don't know, my father has never been a part of my life. Nope. I've known where he was and stuff but he has chosen to live the life of a man without a child. It's been hard to deal with growing up but I have. I've been trying to get him to go to coffee with me for a long time. Just so we could sit down and get to know each other not necessarily as parent and child but as strangers trying to get acquainted. But, he has always denied me. I think I wrote about a time in the past where I ran into him on the street for the first time since I was much much younger and he ignored me because he was unsure of how to react. Well, today, he didn't have much of a choice unless he was going to turn around and run. That would have been hilarious...although hurtful.

So, I approached him as he walked toward me. Not sure if he knew who I was right off the bat but probably. Thank goodness I wasn't looking too shabby. lol Was all dressed up for mom in my linen pants and heels. He commented on how tall I was so I brought his attention to my heels as I asked him if I could give him a hug. He gave me one. I swear time stood still for a moment. We only talked for a few minutes. I was nervous and I don't know if he really wanted to be there. He seemed to forget about whatever he went to the store for though. I say that because after our interaction he just turned around and went back where he came from. lol But, I got a hug!! My only regret, was not getting a photo with him or of him. I couldn't dare ask. Are you kidding me? So I wonder, when he left me what was on his mind? Will he ever agree to coffee with me? Gee....maybe I should have invited him to have a Spirit. lol Who knows?

Between running into my father....a highly unusual and random event, and having an awesome visit with my mother at the hospital....and now my daughter will be coming over to spend the weekend. I have to conclude that today is a damn good day. Yup!
Oh man...that makes me think of another classic by Ice Cube.

So, in case I am wayyy too busy to blog over the weekend, let me say from now to all the Mother's that are reading:
  I am certainly looking forward to mine.

Spending time with the people that I love the most.

NBA Playoff Experience

We just had the most awesome experience - together!
We went to an NBA Playoff Game - Game 5, Toronto Raptors vs Brooklyn Nets.
It was worth every penny spent AND getting in trouble for getting the tickets when I did. Long story.
Unfortunately, I had to miss an awesome pole spinning workshop that I had signed up to attend too. But, again, it was soo worth it.

When we arrived at the Air Canada Center we saw that every seat was covered with a white t-shirt that said WE THE NORTH on it for all the fans to wear.
                                             
Let the excitement begin. Lord knows I needed a great night after having dealt with a lot of stress the last little while. We immediately put the t-shirts on to get into the fan spirit as we waited for the stadium to fill and the game to begin. Took a photo.

 

It was a full house! Not sure there was an empty seat anywhere. A beautiful sight!

                      
Our seats were pretty high up but they were still great seats as far as we were concerned. We were happy. Furman and I are not that hard to please. lol Oh...and so were the fans that surrounded us (happy that is), which were definitely a bunch of characters - especially the ones sitting beside Furman. hahaha Pure jokes. In excitement, Furman was grabbed, punched, hugged, picked up...I don't even know what else. The guy beside him was definitely full of excitement, and the several beers that he drank helped him get that way. lol  During halftime the guy stepped out and came back with this giant red finger....but he let Furman hold onto it because I guess he felt he deserved to for putting up with him..lol I dunno. Gee....I just wonder how much he paid for that thing?

For the night, this Miami Heat fan was a very good Raptor fan. lol

Love him!!

As exciting as the game was, it was almost devastating to watch the Raptors lose a 26 point lead and allow the game to be tied 101 to 101 in the fourth quarter. It was crazy!! But, us fans kept at it. The place was LOUD!! Yup...best fans in the NBA.  Raptors Fans singing National Anthem at Game 5 A proud to be Canadian moment.

Oh, and let me mention one of the highlights for Furman....FREE PIZZA!! lol

When the Raptors reach a 100 points in a home game that they win, the fans can redeem their tickets for a free slice of pizza at  PIZZA PIZZA. After having been to a few games already, Furman was happy to finally get his free slice. The game was definitely a nail biter. But, they pulled it off!!!  RAPTORS WIN!!

.

                                      

Now, if they can only win Game 6 being played tonight in Brooklyn. So exciting. Definitely won't be the same crowd, but they can do it! Stay focused! Brooklyn wanted to face Toronto...so give them what they wanted and finish off the round Raptors. Now, if they win and have to face Miami in the next round....that will be interesting. After all, Furman can root for the Raptors with me, but when Miami is playing....all bets are off...he is a die hard Miami fan. lol I still love him. :)

But, we look forward to watching the North play the South!

On that note, i'll end with this awesome video I have shared once before.

WE THE NORTH

  

TONIGHT.....

LET'S GO RAPTORS!!!

I can hear the chant from the square.