Skating at 36 weeks

On Friday night we walked over to the Civic Centre to watch the 67's beat the division leading Barrie Colts. I love attending games in this old-school arena, as it reminds me alot of the atmosphere back in the Winnipeg Arena. Some of the seats are so obscured, that they hang dust-laden TV's from the rafters just so that you can see the scoreboard. There's a massive cage that runs around the entire upper deck to keep the fans from climbing around in the piping that runs underneath the football stadium. And for $14, the place sells close to 10 000 seats, and OHL fans can get really rowdy ensuring lots of noise. It's all a good deal, and honestly, I can't bring myself to support the overpaid NHL players at the Sens games - nevermind the concessions, the parking, and the 1 hour drive to Kanata.
Sophie and I decided to take advantage of the -5 degree weather, and go for a skate on the canal this morning. The cold weather over the last 2 weeks has made for perfect ice, and it was glass smooth for the entire skateway (except for under the bridges). With no wind, it was downright awesome, and so we did the length of the canal twice - 15.6 km's! At first, we were a little cautious, and wondered if the belly would throw off Sophie's balance, but after a few strides we actually found ourselves passing by most of the other skaters. (except the Gaetan Boucher wannabee's and their 2 foot long speed-skates)












The pregnancy has been going very well, and we are relaxed and enjoying the stability of being in Ottawa for longer than a month at a time. We feel very lucky to have secured a spot with the Midwifery Group of Ottawa, and have connected very well with our team. When we first contacted them from Perth, we were told that they had an 8-month wait list, which is a good testament to their growing support in the community. Our only concerns at present are that it appears that bubs is now posterior (sunnyside up), and so we are hoping the little one will spin around, and bake on the other side for a bit (we hear that back labour sucks!). In the meantime, we'll continue to take advantage of the "expectant mother" parking spots wherever we find them.

Winterlude Dinner

My company has decided that the best way to hold it's yearly banquet, is to have it coincide with the start of Ottawa's biggest winter carnival - Winterlude. It makes sense, because having the company party a full month after Christmas generally means that most people can attend, and that everyone is in a little more of a chilled out headspace.



















After having the gala event at the Chateau Laurier hotel for the last few years, it was changed up a bit this time, and we moved over to Quebec to have it in the Grand Hall at the Museum of Civilization. The venue was surreal, with one entire wall full of 50 foot high windows looking down onto the Ottawa River, and across to the Parliament Hill. On the interior, our meal was watched over closely by the towering totem poles of the West Coast Aboriginal peoples display.

I wasn't sure that I was going to make this event, and only flew into Ottawa 2 hours before it started. I had been stuck in Pearson airport after a lengthy day of flight delays, and interactions with full grown businessmen throwing tantrums. Worst job ever - Customer service clerk for Air Canada in Toronto anytime is snows more than a few centimetres.

Maybe its the large French component of the company, or the fact that the bar was open for a solid hour before the night began, but the dance floor always fills up immediately. It's a nice change from my history with Manitoba socials, and that the only way to fill the dance floor was to throw on "so, take those old records off the shelf....", followed by the flourescent lights coming on immediately for 50/50 draw.