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The past month of skeleton has been really fun and exciting for me. While many people are really hurting from the unseasonably warm temperatures in Whistler, it has been great for me because I finally moved up to the top of the track a few weeks ago! (My goal for the year!) The warmer weather means the track has been a little soft, and soft and frosty equals slow. Bad for PBs, but excellent for scaredy cats like me. (BTW we are still going 115-120 km/hr on slow days.)

We had our BC Cup races #3 and #4 a couple weeks ago (when I had only done 6 runs from the top before race day). The ice in our OT session was soooooooooooooooooo slow, then the next day the track crew worked their butts off and made the ice 15 km/hr FASTER than the night before. I was TERRIFIED. I dragged my toes (to slow down) so hard. I ended up coming something like +16 seconds behind the leader in a two heat race, which is quite ridiculous in a sport that usually comes down to hundredths of a second, but I figured it was better to challenge myself and get more experience from the top than go back down to corner 3 and have an easy race.

BUT, I’m getting more and more comfortable every day. I’ve even started doing little jogging starts this week, and this weekend it actually was quite fast, and I was nervous, but I forced myself to not drag my toes… and I was fine! 128.6 km/hr!  So I think from here on I can pretty much run as fast as I can.

Tomorrow I am driving to Calgary with a few teammates for a week of training. Similar to last year, but this time for an Alberta Cup race and not for Can-Am week (there was no Can-Am week this year). We will do 3 days of Official Training, 2+ Icehouse sessions, and 2 days of racing. Exciting!! I’m hoping to improve my pushing skills x92398723937823. It will be very interesting to see how I do compared to last year because I understand SO MUCH MORE now. Plus my new sled works way better than my old one. I am very much looking forward to it.

All for now, I have to finish packing.

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Dad came to visit us here in Vancouver at the end of January. We planned the whole trip around what was supposed to be an epic family weekend ski trip to Whistler. And then… it rained… A LOT.

Since everything was all prepaid we still tried to ski. The first day we were drenched by the time we got to the top of the mountain. And not just wet… I mean mittens saturated, puddles in elbows, hair dripping. It was gross. Plus it was hard to see because of the fog and the snow was super heavy and sticky. We only lasted until like 1PM and then we went back to the condo for lunch and showers and dry clothes. Poor Scott had chosen this day to pay for a full day snowboarding lesson, but somehow didn’t have as miserable time as we did. He said he learned lots and even took a few extra runs after the lesson was over. Go Scott!!

The next day we just decided to screw it and not ski. It was still pouring rain and all of our gear was still wet despite laying everything out on the heated bathroom floor and in front of the fireplace. Instead we hung around and played games and watched TV and I went to skeleton practice.

Thankfully the last day was a bit better. We were able to stay above the clouds most of the day and got to ski a bit more of the mountain. Dad helped Lauren with his skiing a bit and Scott showed off his sweet new moves. Rosemarie and I went off to ski a bit alone, and then Rosemarie and dad did a few runs alone too while I hung out with the noobs.

Dad and I ended up driving back on Tuesday to use up his last lift ticket since I had the day off work. It wasn’t raining, but it still wasn’t great because the snow was so heavy and the visibility was really bad. Dad fell on a green run and then we pretty much called it a day.

All in all, not the greatest ski vacation, but we still did manage to have lots of fun times. And at least he didn’t come this past weekend… because it’s way worse now. Man all the BC hills are having a terrible season.

Other things we did:

  • teach dad to play Settlers and Carcassonne
  • play lots of Wizard
  • trivia night at Falconetti’s (we dominated)
  • a tour of TRIUMF (dad nerded out!!! I think he should get a job there… so many employees in sweaters)
  • brought dad to watch me skeleton
  • eat sushi

It was nice hanging out with dad so much. Can’t wait until next time!

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Last weekend was AWESOME!!

On Friday I worked a short easy shift (while watching the Lake Placid World Cup race… so cool to see my friends racing!!) and then we all headed to Mahony’s for Christmas Lunch. Thank you doctors for covering the bill. We opened our secret santa gifts and I got an awesome tea tumbler. It’s so nice! Now I need to get some loose tea to put in it.

A photo posted by Rosemarie Perkin (@reirameso) on


Scott, Rosemarie and Lauren picked me up and then we headed straight to Whistler. Half way there we realized that Scott didn’t put my skeleton backpack in the car so I was missing a speedsuit, shoes, mouthguard and gloves. But my coach helped me scrounge up a pair of shoes and a speedsuit (that was actually way nicer than the suits I have) and I borrowed gloves from Matt. Thankfully I did have my helmet. I had a bit of a rough session but it’s all about gaining time on my sled. Then we checked into our hotel and went straight to the outdoor hottub. Ultimate relax. We got upgraded to a big penthouse room so everyone had a real bed, which was much better than we expected.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for SANTA SKI DAY!! There were around 200 santas this year. And one Christmas tree. Rosemarie got TONS of attention and fifty million pictures of her taken. I tried to stick close to her so I could be in pictures too. If your eyes are sharp you can see me a few times in this video.

A photo posted by Rosemarie Perkin (@reirameso) on


There still aren’t that many runs open, but the ones that were open were good. It was my most successful ski day in a while… I even went on a couple black diamonds. Scott, Lauren and Liz did quite well as well.

I have been here for 4 years and I somehow managed to never go the peak of Whistler??!! I always wondered where that inukshuk was that people always post pictures of. I’m not quite sure how that happened. We chickened out on skiing down the bowl though…. it had a scary entrance and there were SO many people around. Someone was even video taping!! But we skied down the saddle instead and it was lovely. So pretty up there.

My snazzy santa suit was actually one of those skin suits that covers your face too. No I didn’t ski like that. But I put it on at lunch and creeped everyone out, hehe. Man oh man that suit was a big upgrade from the felt dollar store special. So comfy and I had lots of mobility. It’s still in perfect shape so I can use it again in the years to come.

After skiing a FULL day, we drove straight back to downtown Vancouver to go to Scott’s work Christmas party at the convention centre. Rosemarie took the car home and Scott and I checked into the Pan Pacific. We got dressed up fancy super quick and only made it to dinner with a few minutes to spare. Scott didn’t even have time to shave, which he later regretted…

Dinner was good, same as the other years. Then they started the speeches. We couldn’t hear anything at all because the table behind us was super rude and loud. So then they were giving out the Award of Excellence… I could barely hear but then I heard the words “telephone” and “sense of humour” and “he” and was like….. wait…… and then “SCOTT JORNA”!! Scott won the award this year!! He got a sweet trophy and a sweet cheque! I’m so happy for him, he has worked really really hard this year and it’s so good that he got recognized for it. He had no idea!


PS Saturday was also Scott’s birthday. Earlier in the evening his friend had given him one of those pointy kid birthday hats and he almost went up with it on, haha. He got some pictures taken with important work people and lots of handshakes.

THEN, to cap off a really great day, we found out the hot tub at the Pan Pacific was open until midnight (and outdoors!) and we still had time to go for a soothing post-ski dip. It was the perfect way to end a really high adrenaline day.

Next morning we slept in super late and then went out for a nice southern-style brunch at Chewies, which I will review later.

Anyway yeah, so that was our Super Fun Skeleton Santa Birthday Party Hotel Brunch Weekend!!

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Fancy lunch at the restaurant at Burrowing Owl Winery. We got there a little early so we could look around and taste some wines in the tasting room. I guess they also have a hotel there too? It definitely had a beautiful view.

We ordered the breads and spreads appetizer which ended up being this enormous platter with roasted carrot hummus, shrimp salad, and olive tapenade, with three different types of bread. The mini herb loaf was delicious and the soft baguette was so good. I really loved the shrimp salad and the salty olive tapenade. The carrot hummus was ok too, nice and sweet. We must have tried every combination of bread and spread several times. This platter is definitely big enough for several people to share!

I ordered the duck leg confit, which comes with basil gnocchi, a random piece of chorizo, with some vegetables and aioli. It was all very nice, the duck was nice and tender and the vegetables and sauce were prepared nicely. I didn’t understand the inclusion of chorizo at all, I actually thought they had put it on the plate by accident.

Scott ordered the lamb sausage sandwich which ended up being like a fancy hotdog. Which is funny because Scott doesn’t like hotdogs. It had aioli and cheese on it and came with a nice salad. I think he enjoyed it alright, but it wasn’t as nice as my duck.

All in all, a nice meal. Be sure to make a reservation ahead of time as we saw people without being turned away.

The Sonora Room Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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We had such a nice time in Osoyoos last year we decided to rent Julie’s trailer for a whole week this summer. Rosemarie, Scott and I spent the whole week relaxing, and Lauren joined us for a few days as well. IT WAS GREAT.

The week started off HOT, but it cools down so much at night I didn’t find it uncomfortable. Plus whenever we got hot we just walked across the street and swam.

One day we drove up to Penticton to go tubing down a river. The scenery wasn’t as nice as Cowichan River tubing, but the current was a lot quicker so it was easier. Plus instead of shivering we were basking in the sun. I even bailed off my tube on purpose at one point! We brought wine in Rosemarie’s camel pack, which managed to make a $16 bottle of wine taste like a $3 bottle of wine. BLECH. Wine should be enjoyed from a glass, not a tube.

Now that we’ve done the river once we know how to do it better next time. First step: acquire a PARTY ISLAND. Second step: park at the bottom of the river and get a taxi to drive you up the river at the beginning. Third step: bring better drinks and snacks.

On the way back we stopped at Tickleberry’s for ice cream. I asked for a single cone in Nanaimo bar flavour and the guy said “Well our single cones have THREE scoops so you have to pick THREE flavours!”. WAT!! That’s too much ice cream. So we got child size, which still has two scoops and two flavours. (I had Nanaimo Bar and pralines & cream.) We couldn’t even finish our cones. Do they have infant size??

If I went back I would split a waffle bowl with someone else to avoid death by ice cream.

Tickleberry's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

After an afternoon of wine tastings we stopped at a U-Pick farm. We went in thinking we would just pick a few peaches since it’s cheaper than buying them. But then we found out they had tons of types of fruits and vegetables!! Most of the vegetables were in this massive overgrown patch. We picked a peaches, nectarines, peppers, and zucchini. Since it was already the end of August there wasn’t a whole lot of good stuff left, but it was still awesome. We kept yelling to each other whenever we found something. “JALAPEÑOS!!” And 99 cent/lb heirloom tomatoes?? That’s crazy! I bought all of them.

Side note: haven’t the tomatoes been amazing this summer? I don’t know I can eat winter tomatoes anymore after this incredible summer of cheap and flavourful tomatoes.

Scott hates corn, but we forced him to eat it several times. But that is corn at its best… fresh cob, tender kernels, covered in butter and salt. Om nom nom. I think he secretly enjoyed it…

We have figured out that you can cook corn on the BBQ (in the husk) anywhere from 5-45 minutes and it comes out the same, FYI.

Other stuff we did in Osoyoos:

  • tons and tons of games, especially Carcassonne
  • tons and tons of cross stitch
  • tons and tons of reading
  • tons and tons of wine and margaritas

Julie and Steve came up for the last couple days we were there too so we got to hang out with them a bit too. Julie made Osoyoos bellinis and Calvin took Rosemarie and Lauren out on the boat. We had a nice family dinner outside their cabin.

It was so nice to unwind and just hang out. We had very little things to stress about and it was awesome. SO nice after a summer filled with work.