The Friday Night Knitting Club

Last Night I finished my latest book, THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB. Lately most books I read I have received some sort of reco or hear about it on the radio, in the office or on the television. But this was litteraly a blind pick. I was in the Tampa Airport, on a layover waiting for a flight to Buffalo. I walked into the dinky store which they called a book store and there it was. It was like it looked at me before I even had a chance to poke around. So with no avail, I took it to the counter and it became my latest read. It was thicker then most of the books I had read as of late, which I took as a positive. (I have been going through books like we go through the cases of water in our fridge-FAST!) My initial thoughts were oh this will be a nice, light getting back into the swing of things apres vacay read. And my friends it started out just so. But as I got to the end, I found myself weeping. Yes, I know, crazy, I actually stained the book with tears. I wanted to stop reading but I just could not put it down. The most annoying part of it is, I always read the last page of any book I read just so I know what I am in for, I know I know, Weird...Anyway, the last page of this book never gave any inclination of what I was in for! But I enjoyed it all the same. [While perusing the net to see what they had to say about this book, I noticed that a movie is in production for release in 2008 starring Julia Roberts.]
This is a run down of the story:
As a single mom in her late 30s, Georgia has her hands full juggling the demands of running the Walker & Daughter knitting store with the challenges of raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota. Georgia's regular customers gather once a week to work on their latest projects and chat – and occasionally clash – about love, life, and everything else. The members of the Friday Night Knitting Club are as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a pre-law student turned handbag designer; Anita, a silver-haired uptown matron; Darwin, a somewhat aloof grad student; K.C., an out-of-work editor looking for inspiration, and Lucie, a petite television producer with a few surprises up her sleeve. But soon their quiet Friday nights are shaken up: James, Georgia's ex, wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life – and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former high school friend, uneasily renews her bond with Georgia. And when the unthinkable happens, all of Georgia's customers are forced to realize they've created not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood.
One critic actually called it the Steel Magnolia's of the 21st Century set in a knitting shop ( I know I know that should have been the first hint that I would be weeping by the end...) Definitely worth a spin-you will find yourself thinking of your mom and conjure up the visions of true blue friends.

V.

Into The Wild

While on vacation, I read the true story by Jon Krakauer, INTO THE WILD. I must admit when I started reading I could not decide if I actually liked Chris McCandless or not. It seemed to me he was in a destructive emotional battle with himself and was quite judgemental of society and the people whom loved him most. In his defense, his father hurt him to the point of no return but rather then communicate and hash it out, he fell silent and into himself, leading his life by strange theories and rules. McCandless' arrogance, selfishness and pigheadedness are in my opinion, partly what led to his demise.
It is a powerful story that definitely makes you think.
After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell of his desperate effort to survive, apparently stranded by an injury and slowly starving. They also reflect the posturing of a confused young man, raised in affluent Annandale, Va., who self-consciously adopted a Tolstoyan renunciation of wealth and return to nature. Krakauer, a contributing editor to Outside and Men's Journal, retraces McCandless's ill-fated antagonism toward his father, Walt, an eminent aerospace engineer. Krakauer also draws parallels to his own reckless youthful exploit in 1977 when he climbed Devils Thumb, a mountain on the Alaska-British Columbia border, partly as a symbolic act of rebellion against his autocratic father. In a moving narrative, Krakauer probes the mystery of McCandless's death, which he attributes to logistical blunders and to accidental poisoning from eating toxic seed pods. Maps. 35,000 first printing; author tour.
I am still not sure what I think of Chris McCandless but I do know one thing, he was a courageous son of a gun whom followed through on his word. I am looking forward to viewing the film...[starring Emile Hirsh. Screenplay written and Directed by Sean Penn.]

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Bring on the Drama!

In 25 days, let the drama in LA begin once again! I can hardly contain my excitement for the continuation of Season 3 of The Hills! Yes that is right, on March 25th, the girls are back at it!
Oh how I have missed my old friends of the hills...
And from the preview above, it looks like we are in for some real treats! yessssssssss!

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In a few days...See ya later Feb...HELLO MARCH!

Well, in a few days we are saying goodbye to February. We will be saying goodbye to A LOT of Snow days, Killer Wind Chills and A LOT below 10 degrees celcius temperature days (ok I know I know I cannot really say that since I spent almost half of Feb in Fla but still...) And we will be saying HELLO to March which will *hopefully* hold a sign of Spring. They did say that little groundhog predicted that Spring was around the corner...well I am ready for it. Maybe it was my stint in beautious Florida where most of our time there was in the high 70's/low 80's or perhaps it is my tanned skin...All I know is I am ready for the sunshine to come out and play!
February was an amazing month that held a lot of fun. Sam and I enjoyed dinners with friends, weekends on the slopes, fun and laughter in the sunny south and I enjoyed some long and satisfying runs.
March holds some excitement-my first ever half marathon, some spring skiing (yesssssss), Dinners and get togethers with old friends (*specifically dinner with my camp girls next week*), Easter which means a holiday!! and tons'o fun off the cuff I am most positively sure! So on that note-Please Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, Please shine down on me and bring spring with you...HELLO MARCH!

Ready, Set....

Well my friends the training over the last 5 months is about to meet it's maker. That is right...In 4 sleeps is my Half Marathon race-The Chilly Half in Burlington, which I have been diligently training for. I have put in the training runs-long, short, steady and tempo. I have done the hills training, what they call laying down the second floor of the house. I have also done some fartlet, which they call putting the roof on the house. I am now in what they call "taper time". Just making sure my body remembers how to run (like it would forget at this point-I think I could actually run in my sleep-actually I know could! I have had many a dreams in which I am running and running but just cannot get anywhere...ha!) In all seriousness, I have run this race in my head. I have made my list of what I need to pack, bring etc. and I have checked it twice. I am Ready, I am set...LET'S DO IT!

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250K!

When arriving home from vacay, I plugged in my Ipod. Then a screen popped up, to my lovely surprise, informing me that I had run over 250K!

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Vacay!

I must start off by apologizing for my lack of correspondence. I assure you I have the best excuse. I have been away sunning, laughing and loving in Florida on vacay. It was 10 glorious days away! We begun our trip in Daytona. Surrounded by Race Fans, Sunshine, The Beach, The track and the races! It was energetic and exciting! Gets me fired up just thinking about it. We went to four NASCAR races. The Gatorade duel, the Truck Race, The Busch Race and finally-the best for last-The Daytona 500!
It was amazing in all of it's glory. We tailgated in true Race fan style. We enjoyed fried chicken, light beer in a can (ok I had a few coolers!), peanuts, pretzels and some even smoked some unfiltered cigarettes. At the races we yelled, cheered, continued to drink and eat surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other race fans. It was absolutely awesome. unbelievable. I had some high hopes for my drivers...They even had a chance but unfortunately a caution in the final laps messed that up! Ryan Newman raced in at #1 with my racers not too far behind. There is really nothing like the Daytona 500, my friends.
After Daytona, we all piled into the mini van and hit the road to Fort Meyers Florida where we would be catching a speed ferry to Key West the following morning. It was a long drive but we made it! Our hotel in Fort Meyers was lovely-too bad we only had the chance for a quick dip in the pool and a bite to eat at the restaurant. The next morning was an early one! We were all up and at'em and ready to go by 7:30am and at the ferry dock by 8am.
We arrived in Key West around 1pm...Let me tell you it was great to be back. I rushed off that boat and felt about 100 lbs fall from my shoulders. I was in immediate relaxation mode. There is just something about that place. We waited patiently for cabs and off we went to the Lighthouse Court.
While in Key West, we met up with some old friends: Ely, Kenna, Joe and Steph. It was amazing to see them all and share some laughs again. We began our stay with a sunset cruise organized with care by Ely and Kenna. It was a bit of a gong show with the bottomless pitchers that kept a pouring the Margarita's! We took some killer pictures and enjoyed too many laughs. The next morning we all awoke a bit tired and a tad foggy but jubilant to be where we were. I somehow got it together and hit the road for a 20K run. My final long run before my half marathon race! I ran around the entirety of the Key. With a bathroom and water break in tow. It was brilliant and I felt brilliant afterwards. That afternoon we chartered a boat to go deep sea fishing. We definitely did not catch dinner but we did catch a 200 lb Nurse shark!!?? That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at 9-1-5 (Joe's Restaurant). It was delightful but everyone was still feeling the effects of the night before. The following day we woke to a beautious, most perfect day. We took the morning to take in a little shopping om Duval. That afternoon we got on the killer, fast ass boat where Joe took us to this island that was created during Hurricane Wilma. Some of us swam- I was not too enthused about it after seeing a jelly fish!! We had cocktails, laughed some more (it is surprising that we do not all have 6 pack abs after all of the laughing we did while away!), then toured around the key via water. It was absolutely amazing! That evening we headed to the Randy Roberts Show at La-te-da (a drag show!)

The following day we got back in our cars and hit the road north to Miami then on to Stuart ending our day trip at Sailfish point for our final day of vacay.
Our last day we relaxed to the maxed. By the pool, By the beach, at the club. It was magnificently perfect!
Unfortunately our vacay had come to an end. We departed from West Palm Beach Airport and waved good bye to our sunny fun in the south and headed back to real life in the cold, wet city of Toronto.
We had such an amazing time. I could not have asked for more fun...On that note I will leave you with a line from our theme song: [Sung like a Broadway singer in tap shoes, with hat and cane, dancing backwards while belting out:] WHAT DO YOU SAY, TO TAKING CHANCES...
Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. B, Trav, Al-Bone and Sam for all of the fun and some wonderous memories!

V. xo

This Weekend...

I love the weekend. I love weekends in the city or weekends away. I love the feeling after work on Fridays and the Saturday morning wake up and feel! And for some particular reason, I am really looking forward to this weekend...I don't really have any huge plans or exciting dinners or parties to attend to. I am actually headed to Eville with Sam's Mom, Trav and Al-bone. Though our plans are loosey goosey-we have dinner plans tonight-the usual of course and skiing/boarding plans tmo! And I also have a few runs to fit in. I am excited for the wings and long islands tonight. And perhaps some cocktails at Maddy's. I am excited for a nice steady 6k run, some snowboarding at Holimont and maybe some apres ski action tomorrow. And I am getting pumped for the killer 18K that I am going to run on Sunday (positive thinking leads to positive outcomes, right?)
. And that my friends are the extent of my plans for this coming weekend. I also think that I hold excitement for this weekend because once the weekend has come and gone, there are only 2...that is right...2 more days until Florida. So perhaps the excitement for the weekend is actually lead up excitement...OR maybe I am just plain excited for everything! They do say I am easily exciteable!!?? well whatever the case maybe...TGIF and cannot wait for this weekend!!

V.

Purchase Keys Episodes on Itunes!!

Yep that is right, my friends. Now not only can you catch KEYS TO THE VIP on the COMEDY Network...You can also PURCHASE Episodes of the Show off Itunes! How Fricking cool is that...Well stop reading already and go to Itunes and buy buy buy and watch watch watch on your ipod today!

V.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Ok, I try really hard to keep this blog as positive as possible! But I need to be frank about something...PEOPLE WE LIVE IN CANADA! IN CANADA THERE ARE FOUR SEASONS...WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL. IN THE WINTER IT WILL SNOW! IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SNOW THEN DO YOURSELF A FAVOR... STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT IT AND MOVE TO A WARMER CLIMATE!! I say if you cannot beat it, then join it! So embrace it, my friends...Go skating, go skiing, better yet snowboarding, pull out the tobbogan, go snow shoeing, JUST STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT IT and ENJOY IT! We are Canadian and this is part of what being Canadian is all about!
Find the beauty in it and force yourself to enjoy it. I promise you will not regret it!

V.

Let the Countdown to fun in the Sun begin...

In Seven Sleeps, Sam and I will be boarding a plane and headed to the land of palm trees, fast cars, boat drinks and fun in the sun! We are boarding a plane in Buffalo to FLA, baby! and my friends I can hardly wait.
On Wednesday, February 13th we depart from Buffalo, joined by Mr. & Mrs. B and Trav and Alli, and arrive in Sunny Daytona for the Daytona 500. This year it is the DAYTONA 500'S 50th Anniversary. I have a feeling it will be extra special! After a long weekend of fun cheering on our favorite racers, drinking bud lites and some fun in Daytona, we will get on the road and head to Fort Meyers where we will board a ferry which will takes us to one of Sam and my all time fave spots-Key West. We will stay in our usual hotel, right across the street from Hemingway's humble abode. After 4 days of eating, drinking, touring and lounging Jimmy Buffet styles, we will hop back on the ferry to Miami and hit the road to West Palm Beach to spend a couple of days with Sam's Nanny and Boppy at Sailfish point.
I checked the weather yesterday and we are in store for warm Florida sunshine-with a chance of afternoon showers-I can live with that!!!

Can't the Vacay begin ALREADY!!?? ;)

V.

PS pictures are from last years trip-which only included Sailfish and Daytona.

No words

Today we attended Pepper Bottos' Funeral. There are no words that can explain the sadness that was brought to my heart and soul for all of her family and close friends. She was an incredible woman with the strongest fight within her and so much love for others.

One quote stands out in my head from today. It was from Winnie the Pooh.


"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”


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Bye Bye Jan...Bring on Feb!

Well my friends, as the first month of 2008 comes to a close...I am happily excited about month number 2! Bring on Feb! I usually find January so dreary and boring but Jan 2008 was pretty fun. Some highlights were: Fun in E'ville, our 7 year anniversary, Running like Mad-feeling stronger and more fit, Getting to know new friends, Fun with old friends, Great Books and all around fun times!
Now that we are in February 08-these are the things I have to look forward to: The Superbowl, First Annual Sun Up Ladies Day, Final month of training for the half, The Daytona 500, Key West, West Palm Beach, Seeing Travy, Fun in Eville, Fun with old and new friends....And probably so much more that I have not even planned!
And what better way to ring in Feb with a blast of snow....It is a blizzard out there! As it should be heading into February, in this country we live in!
Have a great weekend...

V.

Every Woman Should Know or Have...

This morning I received this email. I thought it was definitely worth sharing...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE....
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE....
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a feeling of control over her destiny...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
HOW TO QUIT A JOB, BREAK UP WITH A LOVER, AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT
RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...where to go...be it to her best friend's kitchen table...or a charming inn in the woods...when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...a month...and a year...

-Maya Angelou


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