Remembrance Day 11/11/11

Never Forget

{via}

In Flanders Fields

by: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

      Between the crosses, row on row,

   That mark our place; and in the sky

   The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

   The torch; be yours to hold it high.

   If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

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In other completely unrelated news, I'm leaving Sunday morning for a week-long vacation to St. Lucia. I've prepared some posts to go up next week though. I'll miss reading my blog roll while I'm gone, but I sure won't miss the weather! Have a great weekend!

Toronto Zoo

On Saturday, I went to the zoo with Kevin, Michelle and Deric. We bought a few group deal coupons a few weeks ago so the admission price was $10 each instead of $23, plus parking was free! A word to the wise, I'm posting almost entirely pictures of cute animals in this post

My family loves all of the BBC animal documentaries - Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Life of Birds, Life of Mammals, etc - and we've been watching them non-stop over the past month or so. As we were about to enter the zoo, Deric said, "I feel like Planet Earth was the trailer and now we're about to go see the movie!" So true!


This poor guy fell out of the nest as a baby and broke his wing in three places so he can no longer fly :( They made his living area all low and close together so he can jump from branch to branch

Rhino! When this guy turned around and we saw his saggy skinned bum, Kevin said to me, "That's what your bum is gonna look like when you're old" to which I replied, "Joke's on you! My bum already looks like that!"

 This orangutan mother was hiding from her son in this tarp. Very cute. 

We saw lots of animals lounging in the sun...

These animals that were looking right at me! And I just have to say this jaguar is beautiful. Stunning.

Parents and babies...

I grew up loving elephants. They're so majestic! And when you're learning your letters, they always say, "E is for Elephant" and obviously E, being the first letter of my name, is my favourite letter....

 My sis and Deric looking very celebrity-like with those glasses. And me and Kevin next

 I had to chase this peacock down for this shot. I love the colours!

 This cheetah was in the middle of dinner. He's the fastest runner in the world, but over long distances the pronghorn (from the prairies in Canada!!) can run faster. 

As soon as the zoo staffer pulled out the fish to feed the penguins, this seagull swooped down and stole a couple of fish right out of the penguins mouths!

We all loved watching this polar bear. I think he was the most playful animal we saw. He went nuts over that blue ball. 

Group shot! I got to use my tripod for this one :) And we got the tiger in the background!

 I'm smiling in this shot, but I'm thinking, "Please, please, please don't bite my fingers off...."

And finally, Kevin posing strategically so it looks like he's balancing the world on his finger. Yes, we're geeks like that!

Have you been to the zoo lately? I have to say, going in the late fall is the best! We lucked out with some really great weather, not a cloud in the sky. It's less busy when it's cooler and I think it probably smells a lot less when compared to coming in the height of summer when it's 30+ degrees Celsius (86F)! 

Photography Challenge - Day 2: What You Wore Today

This is what I wore to work today - a gray short sleeved cowl neck sweater dress with a thick belt around my waist. My coworker Shannon has a very similar dress and we usually end up wearing it on the same day. My clothes are so generic so I'm sure I always look like someone.


I don't accessorize and most of my clothes are gray, so I've been told I'm a bit of a boring dresser lol My sister works in a library and jokes that if my wardrobe is any indication, people would think I'm  the librarian in the family. Michelle dresses in all kinds of bright dresses and crazy high heels when she goes to work!


Here are the photo stats if you're interested:

Exposure 1/45

Aperture 4.81

F Number f/5.3

(I sharpened and slightly brightened in Picasa)


P.S. You might be thinking this is too short for work...I sometimes think that too, but my work is so casual! This is quite dressy next to a lot of other people there. I once saw a guy wearing a t-shirt with a picture of an empty pack of beer that said, "I used to have a 6-pack"!! No joke


P.P.S What I didn't wear to work today was makeup! I'm the kind of girl who wears makeup every. single. day. (powder, blush, mascara at the very least) and on a whim this week I thought I'd see how it would feel to go without. The verdict: It's kinda nice! I only felt bare faced for the first 2 days. I actually had 2 people tell me I look different, but in the general "Did you do something different...?" kind of way, not the "You look tired today" kind of way.


Are you an everyday makeup wearer? Or do you prefer to go au natural?

Toronto Women's Run

On Saturday, Michelle and I participated in the 8 km/5 mile Toronto Women's Run in Sunnybrook Park and it was AWESOME!! It was the first running race for both of us.

I would say I'm generally an athletic-ish person, but a runner I am not. My cardiovascular fitness level has been shot to $hit once I started this desk job a few years ago. I've been saying for the last 10 years that I would love to participate in a race, so I finally signed up for one in August. I asked Michelle if she would want to do it with me...you know, sister bonding time and all that... and she agreed :-) Yay!

I ran about 2x/week in August, then 3x/week in September once I moved back to Richmond Hill. Running outdoors after work is hard. I've always been a morning person - I voluntarily start work at 7am! - so trying to run at 4pm literally takes everything I have. It's so tempting to just get home and be lazy.

I started off with 2min walking, 1 minute running, then gradually decreased the walking time and increased the running time. And most of my runs were 5km/3miles with the occasional longer run thrown in.

I talked with 2 of my coworkers who have done half marathons/marathons and they gave me some great advice:

• Running is a mind game - you have to be mentally prepared (for me, this meant running with my focus only about 5 feet in front of me so I couldn't see how much further I had to go lol)
• Run on the outside of the pack
• Don't run too fast at the start of the race
• Always save a bit of energy for the end so you can sprint to the finish line
• Bring a complete change of clothes

Race day came up fast. I was excited, but felt prepared. Michelle and I got to the park an hour early to secure close-ish parking and to pick-up our race kits.

Kevin was nice enough to hold our change of clothes for after the race. Deric, Michelle's boyfriend, held our jackets for us once Michelle and I got in the Start corral.

 

We didn't plan on running the race together so we each got into the corral at our respective anticipated finish times - me and 40-50min, Michelle at 60min. There were runners with some pretty awesome costumes! My favourite was the chef (no pics, sorry!)- she had a chef jacket, apron and hat, and completed the run with a frying pan in her hand!

The route was down and up the same path so after we took off, I knew I'd see Michelle again once I passed the halfway mark. That was one of my favourite parts of the run :-) When I saw her I yelled out "Wooohooo!!! GO Michelle!" Then we high-fived lol All the women running around us laughed but, I was very proud that she was still running because she twisted her ankle a few weeks back and I knew it was probably uncomfortable.

There were photographers scattered throughout the course. Every time I saw one I picked up speed and smiled lol..regardless of how tired I was. I would just think, "Smile and look fresh!" And apparently I like giving the thumbs up?... I did it in both of my photos

There was a really sharp turn at the 7km mark and I couldn't see past it. All I could hear was clapping and cheering, so I started sprinting thinking it was the end. You know what it was, a group of about 10 people cheering on the runners, which was nice, but such a let down! I completely tired myself out and walked for about 100 metres, then kept on trekking knowing the end was coming soon.

I looked up at one point and saw that there were 200ish metres of the run left and I JUST. TOOK. OFF! I full-on sprinted with everything I had in me and it was amazing. About 50 metres from the end Kevin yelled out my name. I was so excited to see him in the crowd and waved. You can see me waving to him behind the lady in pink

I heard a couple of people yell things like, "Strong finish!" "You go, girl!" and it was so motivating. I ran straight through the finish line, picked up my metal...

..then walked straight to the water station. Kevin came around and gave me a huge hug then we went back to finish line to watch Michelle run through the finish line. She finished strong as well!

After the run, we each took a food bag. I stuffed down a banana then changed. Having dry clothes to change into was a good idea (thanks Shannon!). And I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the volunteers. They were absolutely amazing. There were volunteers each few hundred metres to cheer us on and they were at the water stations. It was so uplifting to have people cheer me on while running! 

I definitely ended the race feeling great, which was my goal. Here's a picture of us from Deric's phone straight after Michelle completed the course:

Once we got back home, I was very stiff around my hips, but it was nothing a little stretching couldn't cure. I'm now on the hunt for my next race! Michelle ended the run feeling okay, but was very very sore over the next couple of days. She's doing better now :-)

She actually went out with Deric that night for a Halloween party. His costume is pure awesomeness and he made it himself - Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

For those who are interested, here are my stats from the run:

OVERALL:

Female Finishers: 507  

Average Time: 50:51.20 

ME:

Place: 164

Time: 47:250

Chip:  47:14.1 

Pace: 5:55

Category: Women 25-29

Category Place: 31/84

Gender Place: 164/507 

Tying Up Loose Ends

In the month leading up to my and Kevin's move, I contacted everyone (re: magazine, bill and bank people) to let them know of my change of address. I didn't realize how many companies I'd have to contact to change my address - it was actually pretty ridiculous. I made a list of company names as they came to mind and checked them off my list once I gave them the new address. I checked the Canada Post to do the mail forwarding thing. Silly me, I thought it was free LOL. It's like $40! 

Yeahhh....I'm cheap and figured I wouldn't lose any money by not forwarding the mail, so I didn't do it.

Then a few weeks ago my camera charger broke (hence my lack of posts - lack of photos!) so I bought a new one off EBay from an e-store in Hong Kong. Once I checked out, I realized I still had my old address in the EBay system...Drats!!!!! I emailed the seller immediately to let them know my address had changed but I never heard back from them. 

I texted my old landlord a couple times asking him if we had any mail at the house. I got no response. So Kevin texted him and he replied saying he was backpacking around Asia for a few weeks! Kevin got another text from him today saying there was some mail and he'd put it in the porch for us to pick up. I went down today and found TWO MORE companies with whom I still hadn't changed my address. They've been added to the list now so I'll remember them next time. 

Anyway, I was wondering if my charger was gonna get sent to our old house or new house. The distance between the two isn't super far (about 25 km), but it's a hassle to drive down there just to do one thing. Lo and behold, it arrived today in the mail!! :-D

So I've been busy today starting and photographing my next few projects! And I can finally continue doing my 30-Day Photography Challenge. I only did one photo before my charger broke lol. 

Lots of things to share coming soon!