Well, exam is over!  Today was definitely the most stressful of the three days.  Psycho/social stuff and some of the stations were pretty bazaar!  I know Kelli is just glad it's over with and I'm sure her fellow residents are all feeling the same way.  They are off to whoop it up tonight!  The end of a long road.... I must say my mamma bear pride is shining.  This past year has been stressful in every way and I know there were moments along the way when the challenges were huge for Kelli.  The BC program was very compassionate and allowed her to do many of her residency rotations in Calgary but it was up to her to arrange them.  There was travel back and forth between Calgary and Vancouver.  She and Mike packed up and moved to Calgary and Mike took on a job position in Calgary.  Then Kelli decided to apply for the R3 program for another year of residency in Emergency Medicine which is a highly competitive program to which she snagged a position out of many applicants.  Add my "little bother" into the mix and wham.....I'm sure if she ever completed one of those stress assessment profiles where you amass points for things happening your life she would probably have scored through the roof!  To say Bill and I are proud of her is the understatement of the year.  Proud doesn't even begin to describe it!  I honestly do not believe most people could have gone through a year like Kelli has  Hats off to her!  She's one strong girl and I'm proud to be her Mom.

It is a glorious, sunny day in Vancouver.  I did not go bike riding today as the seawall was closed this morning to accomodate the Vancouver Marathon!  I must confess, I always had hoped to come out here to run in either the Victoria or Vancouver Marathon!  Always thought I might have one more marathon in me but guess it is not to be.  Running as I used to run is probably a thing of the past, however, cycling is certainly proving to be something I can do!!!  Kelli left early this morning and I spent some time tidying and cleaning up the condo.  I want to leave it spic and span for Maureen and Duane's return in a couple of weeks to see the Fleetwood Mac concert.  Kelli got home around 10:30 or so and caught me lounging around in my PJ's reading my book, something I never do!!  We decided a little retail therapy was in order so headed downtown to scout out the shops and have some lunch. I simply love lattes from Artegianos so we headed over there, bought our coffees and sat in the sunshine and visited and watched the crowds wander by.  We did make some impulse purchases as we always do when we shop here but what the heck!!!!  It's probably goofy to shop here with the sales tax and all but here we have time to do it and it's fun!

The Honey Badgers had their first training ride, riding from Max Bell Arena out to Chestermere and back along the irrigation ditch.  They had a great turn out....almost half the team were there and all survived the 55 km ride!  A good start for what's to come!

Honey Badgers on their first group ride.....

Looks like they even had ambulances out for the event!!!  This is probably the safest group you will ever ride with.....paramedics, doctors, police and firefighters!!!   All basis covered.

  Definitely a scenic ride!!!  Reminds me of the seawall....NOT!!  The only thing the two rides have in common is the yellow line down the middle and H20!!!

I gotta say....Vancouver is a beautiful city when the sun shines and shine it did today!  Kelli headed off to her exam this morning and I pulled on my bike shorts to head out for a ride. Yesterday I had posted that I would be riding the Seawall, while my fellow Honey Badgers would be riding the irrigation ditch out to Chestermere.   I checked my email and had one from a friend (and former student) that read....."Oh man....take your phone...or at least money for a cab! Good luck!" and a second from my dear daughter-in-law..."Wow...you make our ride sound exciting!  Riding a ditch!"  A little sour grapes girls!   I guess I deserved it though!   I actually did heed Danielles' advice and had both my phone and my wallet in my backpack! And Lindsey.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder!  I know I have directional issues and I would be lying if I said today was just a straight forward ride.  I did take a couple of wrong turns along the way, I did crash and fall off my bike at one point.....in front of a whole group of people, I did go further than I intended due to missing a turn, however,  I had a wonderful day and rode for about 3.5 hours which I was pretty pleased with.  I'm impressed with my new bike shorts.  I have had little or no issues with a sore bum at this point!

My hat is off to the people who live in this city.  They certainly do get out en mass to enjoy a great day.  The paths along the ocean were teaming with people riding bikes, walking, rollerblading, skateboarding, dog walking etc.  The beaches were full of people playing frisbee, building sand castles and just enjoying a great day!  Each time I have been to Vancouver I have noticed that people in this city do appreciate the outdoors and do take advantage of the beautiful place they live in.

I took my camera along with me today to take a couple of pictures along the way.  There is such a sense of springtime here......and believe me when you have been deprived for as long as we Calgarians have, you just want to soak it all in!

There are baby geese everywhere.  I couldn't resist stopping to take some pictures of this little guys family.

There were 15 goslings in this group!  Busy Mom and Dad and they sure had their eye on me as I tried to get as close as possible to take a photo.  When Dad flapped his wings and hissed at me I made a hasty retreat!  Not the friendliest birds!

Kelli still not back from her exam and I am anxious to hear how it went.  They are told to come with no computers, no phones etc.  Yesterday one of the girls writing the exam forgot her phone in her pocket and it rang during the exam.  If this happens you have to be reported to the College of Physicians.  Guess who was calling.....her Mom to see how she had done!  Sounds like something I would do!

A pretty laid back day today.  Maureen headed back to Calgary and hubby!  She and Duane have been so good to me....well, Maureen has been good to me for the past 45 years!  Staying in their place here in Vancouver has been such a treat and getting to spend some time together over the past couple of days has also been wonderful!

This is the view from Maureen and Duane's condo!!!  Absolutely drop dead gorgeous!!!

 Kelli wrote the first part of her exam today.  She left the house at 6:45 AM and still isn't back and it's 4:30.  I just got a text, however...."I survived!  Will be home for supper!"  Survival's a good thing!  Anxious to hear how it went though!

It is absolutely gorgeous here today.  I spent my day wandering up and down Granville Ave.   Did a little shopping....only looking today and lots of people watching.  It is a great place for that let me tell you!  It was just lovely to sit out in the sunshine and enjoy the day.

I decided that I would skip the bike riding today but may venture out on my own tomorrow.  Hopefully  I won't get lost but I won't hold my breath on that one, that's for sure.  My track record speaks for itself!    I finished my book today, 419.  My friend Judy recommended it.  It is quite a good read!  Enjoyed it.  If you are looking for something a little different give this one a go.  The interesting part is that some of the book takes place in Calgary. It's weird to be reading a book and seeing referrals to Ogden Road, or Crowchild Trail, or North Hill Mall....In any case a page turner that seems to have about 3 different story lines happening and you are constantly wondering how it's all going to tie together.  After I finished the book I decided to buy a new book for my Kindle.  Ordered it and got the confirmation that it had been sent but then it didn't show up on my Kindle.  Decided to call Amazon so looked them up on the internet.  Under contact it had two choices.....1.  contact me in five minutes
2.  Contact me now.  I clicked on call me now and almost instantly my phone rang.  Amazing service.  Got the issue sorted out.....I'll tell you Amazon should be the poster child for customer service!

Just had a text from Kelli   "Exam went well!"  Yahoo!  We will go out and celebrate part 1 being over!  one down, two to go!!!

Have been chatting back and forth with my pal Kathy today.  She adopted a three year old lab a couple of weeks ago.  He seems to have "separation anxiety."  Howls and barks whenever left alone.  If anyone out there has experienced this with their dog, tips would be most appreciated on how to help.  I did read up on it on the internet this morning and there were some very good suggestions there which I forwarded on to Kath but know she is at her wits end as to what to do for this guy who doesn't want to be left home alone!

Another busy day in Vancouver.  We were all up around 8 AM.  Again, Maureen made Kelli and I our morning lattes!  This is usually Duane's job but being as he is not here she has stepped up to the plate and is spoiling us rotten!  Kelli's focus today was to study, study, study!  Stuff and flush is her saying....Tomorrow is the first of three days of exams!

Maureen and I headed over to her son, Pauls place and we went out for breakfast with Paul and his girlfriend Megan.  They took us to a cute little place called the Edge.  Maureen and I opted for the oatmeal with berry compote!  I consider myself a bit of an oatmeal connoisseur, having consumed it all over the world.  When we were in Peru a few years back I remember we had oatmeal before beginning our trek up to Machu Pichu.  It was the most amazing bowl of oatmeal.  Then when we were in Nepal, oatmeal was a rather standard breakfast, often topped with fresh apple or banana.  I would have to say that todays' bowl was probably one of the tastiest bowls of oatmeal I have ever had! It was absolutely delicious.  We finished breakfast and headed off to the Whole Foods store to pick up some ingredients for tonights dinner.  What an amazing grocery store.  Lots of organic stuff and things you would never find in a Coop or Safeways.  I found myself wandering marvelling at the choices.  Still on my kick of trying to eat stuff that will "fix" me!  I know that sounds crazy but if you have ever been in my position you don't discount anything.  I have read so many books on cancer cures, cancer diets, cancer theories......and although much of it is, in my opinion, hocus pocus, some of it sticks with you.  One of the books I read highly recommends a diet rich in seaweed.  I have had seaweed salad at Japanese Restaurants and quite like it but today I came across a bag of "seaweed chips".....on the bag it said...."strangely addictive!"  What a bunch of BS.  I bought it and brought it home.  Maureen had a tiny nibble, I had a bigger piece and it was probably one of the nastiest things I have ever eaten!  If I had to describe what it tasted like I would say it would be akin to eating a dead goldfish!  It honestly tasted like bad fish!  We both gagged and promptly stuffed the bag into the garbage!  Won't be trying that again.

  

Maureen and Paul Carb Loading at the French Bakery!!!   

We headed out for another bike ride this afternoon.  Not sure how far we went but took a different route from yesterday, heading first to Jericho Beach and then up a huge hill to UBC.  Maureen and I chugged up that hill behind Paul but we both made it to the top non-stop and were pretty darn pleased with ourselves! The only issue for Maureen was that she was burping up Seaweed Chip favour!  Gag! A ride up a hill like that definitely deserves a treat so we found a French Bakery, had a latte and scones and croissants.  Yummy......Nothing like rewarding yourself with a treat like this!
From here we headed home and Maureen and Paul got busy in the kitchen.  They recently completed a 8 week cooking course and wanted to try out one of their favourite recipes on us.  We had Seafood Chioppino.  Oh my goodess.....it was to die for!  We are all now pleasantly stuffed and are watching some of the hockey playoff games, content to put our feet up and relax.  Kelli on the other hand has gone out for some fresh air....she has been pretty much couped up for most of the day studying.  I know she is going to be so happy when the next three days are over!

DINNER!!

Tomorrow, Maureen heads back to Calgary.  I think I may take the day off from cycling tomorrow and just enjoy a relaxing day.  The forecast is steadily improving over the next few days.

As I confessed yesterday, last month I forgot my White Rabbits.....this month, now such chance!  In fact I think I said it about four times from midnight on last night.

Today was an excellent, outstanding, wonderful, very good day!  We were all up around 8 AM.  Maureen stepped in for Duane and made Kelli and I delicious lattes.  One can get so spoiled staying with these guys!!   We had breakfast and then Maureen and I headed out for a little retail therapy, leaving Kelli to study in peace.  We met up with Paul (Maureen's son) and Kelli for lunch.  The sun was shining and we sat on the outdoor patio!  Hard to believe that those of you in Calgary are probably still walking about in your winter coats.

We finished our lunch and decided to go for a ride around the sea wall.  As you know, I have been doing my time on the stationary bike but have been quite antsy to see if that would translate over to actual real bike riding!  Of course the first part of the ride was pretty easy....flat and at sea level but we did opt to go up the Stanley Park Hill.  This of course has been my biggest concern because when I exert myself I have breathing issues.  Well, I chugged up that hill like a machine....perhaps not a well oiled machine.....you could definitely hear me coming and it crossed my mind that on the actual Ride To Conquer Cancer, my fellow riders might be concerned when they hear me.  The good news, however, was I made it up that hill non-stop and Maureen, Kelli and Paul were all very impressed!  Made me feel soooo good and has definitely made me more confident about being able to do the ride.
We rode close to 25 km today which is certainly a far cry from the 100 we will have to do but it is a start and I am confident I will be ready when the time comes.  As we came to the end of our route, Kelli opted to go meet up with friends at the beach and Paul, Maureen and I went to Granville Island for coffee and a muffin.  Again, lovely to sit outside and watch the geese and their goslings as we enjoyed our treat. While we were there Maureen got a text from Duane back in Calgary.  He too was doing a training ride out to Bragg Creek!  It was cold and windy and he had a flat tire!  Quite the contrast to the ride we had just completed.

                                                Three Honey Badgers on a training ride!

                             Two Mamma Honey Badgers with their baby badgers.....

We headed home, changed and headed out for a delicious meal of Thai food.  What a day!  A day to remember!  If you had told me a year ago I would be doing this I would not have believed you!  These little accomplishments are moments to treasure and believe me I will never again take them for granted!

Todays saying....."Life is a shipwreck.....don't forget to sing in the lifeboat!"
I plan to just keep on belting out those tunes!!!