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I originally planned to do separate posts on all of these topics but now I’m sitting here in YVR airport about to leave for 2.5 weeks thinking I’d better just write a big post to catch up instead.

Scott and I are on our way to Melbourne for #jornapalooza via Guangzhou, China. Apparently we are allowed to leave the airport in China (thanks 72 hour transit visa) so we may explore a bit there too which I am pretty excited about. The subway goes right to the airport so it should be pretty easy. Unfortunately they speak mainly Cantonese there so I won’t be able to dazzle everyone with my sweet Mandarin skills though. But it would be fun to get some street food and look around a bit.

Australia is going to be fun too. The whole family has rented a big house on Phillip Island for the first few days, then Jessie comes to Melbourne for Easter and a baby shower, and then I go to Adelaide for a few days to visit Cassia! I am iksidid.

Anyway that’s pretty much all the updates about what’s coming up. And now to catch up on the last month…

Calgary was super good this year. We spent a week at COP training in the icehouse and on the skeleton track and then competed in an Alberta Cup race on the last day. I had a lot more success sliding there compared to last year. I have learned SO MUCH this season and understood the track and sliding so much more. My starts were very very slow compared to everyone else and I would start each run in last place, but I must be ok at driving because I ended up gaining spots every run. I ended up coming 4th in the race (out of 7 competitors). My goal was not to come in last place and I definitely succeeded in that so I was happy.

This year I stayed at Ally’s house the whole time and that was awesome. It’s always great to catch up with old friends and her and Scott are very fun. I was busy a lot of the time I was there but we still squeezed in going to a nice oyster restaurant, going out to the barn for a ride on her horse, and going to watch some of the Brier curling. BTW curling is really fun to watch live!

Sliding in Whistler was going pretty well too. Sliding from the top was getting less and less scary every day. Every session I would try and push just a tiny bit faster. We ended up having quite a big turnout for our last race of the season, BC Champs, including OTHER GIRL SKELETON SLIDERS!! I came in 4th, aka last place, but I was competing against World Cup/ICC level sliders so that was to be expected. I was still pretty happy because I got a huge PB time on the first day of the race, and then another PB on the second day.

BCBSA ended up giving out medals to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, and then a separate medal for the #1 BC slider. Originally they gave the BC medal to Jane, because she is from North Van (although she hadn’t even been in Whistler all season). But after the awards she came over and put the medal around my neck. She said I should have it because of my two PBs. :’) It meant a lot to me, that was really nice of her. So I now have my first skeleton medal.

I took a pretty big hit on my last run of the race so I decided that was a pretty good time to end the season. It has been nice to have spare time again, tbh. It was such a good season, with our new coach and new friends and new teammates. I learned SO MUCH. And now I have 6ish months to try and get stronger and faster on land before next season and tryouts. My goal for next year: an international race… which should be possible because I should be able to at least do the Whistler NAC race. Fingers crossed.

What else?..

We’ve been going to trivia every couple of weeks. Our team is called Patty O’Lanterns and we rule. We plan on doing a lot of trivia over the summer so let me know if you want to come sometime. We also plan on doing a lot of patio time at our house too.

Once I get back from Australia I am starting weightlifting lessons two times a week (instead of once a week) so next time you see me I’m going to be ripped.

All joking aside, this was actually a really tough week. Wednesday morning at work we all found out that our boss had unexpectedly passed away the day before. It was a huge shock and a huge loss for us all. He and some of my coworkers had worked together for more than 20 years, and his partner also works in our department. So so so sad. He was such a great guy and definitely a lot more than just a boss to us. Our work family lost a good friend. I will miss him.

Well we are getting pretty close to boarding time so I’m going to post this and get ready to go. Until next time (hopefully not for so long).

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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 week we went out to The Oakwood Canadian Bistro to try their Dine Out Vancouver menu. It’s in the $28 category.

The restaurant is in Kitsilano and definitely has a hipster vibe. The cocktails were kind of expensive and small, but they did have cheaper wine and beer pairings available.

Bacon and kombu dusted albacore tuna, miso eggplant puree, lime grapefruit gel, kimchi spiced kohlrabi, sesame snow.

Loved this. The miso eggplant puree was really interesting, the tuna was lovely and the kohlrabi was simply delicious. Everything tasted really nice in combination as well.

Smoked confit chicken, endive, celery and apple ribbons, pickled raisins, bacon vinaigrette.

This one was less exciting. Everything tasted good, and the apple ribbons were pretty, but it was just not as interesting as the tuna appy.

24 hour pork neck, bacon apple bbq sauce, popcorn grits, creamed spinach and smoked paprika scallion.

Very tender pork, buttery grits, and indulgent vegetables. Really nice dish.

Olive oil poached sable fish, smoked ham hock broth, confit leek, celeriac, potato croquette, creme fraiche, bacon crumb.

The vegetables and croquettes were good, but the star of the dish was the perfectly cooked fish.

Foreground: roasted apple, butterscotch, rhubarb grenadine gel, brown sugar oat flake. Background: pistachio cake, dark chocolate ganache, cranberry meringue, brown butter whipped cream.

I don’t like cooked fruit so I preferred the pistachio dessert more, although to be honest I couldn’t taste pistachio at all. It definitely tasted like almond extract instead. Scott says the apple one was “very nice” but could not come up with any other comments, haha.

All in all, a nice meal. I would return to the restaurant for their regular menu for sure, except I have to say… that KitchenAid mixer with a plant in it BETTER BE BROKEN. Otherwise they will have lost all of my respect. Ha!

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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After 9ish months of waiting, Scott was granted Canadian citizenship.

The ceremony was okay, as ceremonies go. Quite organized and efficient. But the way the room was set up it was very difficult to get nice pictures. Scott was actually as far away as possible from where I was forced to sit. Ah well.

They all had to say their names, repeat the oath (I did as well) and sing the national anthem before receiving their citizenship certificates. Then a quick photo with the judge, and then done!

After work we had a party at our house. We had butter tarts, maple cookies, ketchup chips, Canadian chocolate bars, poutine, tourtiere, pâté chinois, Canada Dry, and a whole lot of Canadian Club and Molson Canadian. We had a maple leaf cutting out competition and a citizenship test leaderboard, and an epic Canadian music playlist. Scott and I enjoyed ourselves immensely, and I hope everyone else did as well.

Next step: passport! And then an effortless trip across the border, just because we can.

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The view from the top of the track in Whistler.

I spent the weekend helping out with the ICC and NAC skeleton races. They had me wiping runners, measuring temperatures, timing the ice box, folding clothes and more. It was actually more work than I expected, especially the first day, but it was a good way to learn FIBT rules so I don’t accidentally disqualify myself in the future. Plus I got to watch dozens of athletes push off the block, which was super motivating.

I especially liked how supportive everyone was to the Korean slider who was still very new to sliding and especially the (challenging) Whistler track. Everyone still cheered her on to slide smart and slide her best even though she only tentatively ran off the block. It was the same when I was in Calgary last year, and it’s so helpful. There are some great people in skeleton.

I had an awesome sliding session on Friday night. My coach and I are now actively in the process of getting me ready to slide from the top. He told me a new thing to try in corner 7 and I got it right in my second run and went right through the straightaway (corner 8) without tapping and right into corner 9 cleanly. It was the first time EVER I have gone through 8 without hitting and it felt amazing. I cheered to myself as I went through corner 9. So good. Hopefully I can replicate it next week.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Today is Scott’s last day as only an Australian. We are going to his citizenship ceremony tomorrow morning!!! So exciting!!! Then we’re having a little party at our house in the evening.

And dad is arriving on Wednesday!!!