Another Year Gone By...

Dear Ottawa Senators:

I love you...you know that I do. You know that I will always be a fan and I will always be willing to sit in a room full of Leaf fans so that I can cheer you on however, you and I need to have a little chat! I would have written this sooner however, it has taken me a little while to accept the defeat that we encountered on Saturday night. You know that you are a terrific team but, you really have to get over this whole "curse of round two" thing...it's really starting to frustrate me!!!

I'm starting to notice a pattern in which if you lose the first game of the round, you end up losing the best of four. For a team that performs so strongly during the regular season, I'm always so puzzled as to how your confidence is so easily rattled when it comes to the playoffs. Now, I'll admit...I'm certainly not one to give any advice on how to play hockey...God knows that you guys play it a lot better than I ever could but, ultimately, this obviously comes down to a matter of consistency and confidence when it really matters.

I certainly don't think that you should listen to anyone that tells you that this has been another "playoff disaster" because really, every team but one is going to lose when it comes to the end so the word disaster might be a bit of a stretch. I will say though that when it came to round two, nothing upsets me more than watching an important (aka. overtime) goal coming for five seconds (especially a short-handed one at that!). There are errors and then there is the error of forgetting to play defence for five games in a row. What's that about?!?!

All this to say that I am a little disappointed right now. I don't mind losing as long as you've played your heart out and made it anyone's game. It's much harder to accept though when you've been eaten alive!

Fear not though my Senators...I still believe! I will wear black for the next week and pout around town as we no longer have games to look forward to but, I will be there come the start of next season ready to cheer you on yet again. Your day will come but, for now, I think that we should just take the baby steps of trying to get past round two.

Till next season!

Dear Toronto Maple Leaf Fans:
(especially those who live in the Chatham-Kent District!)

Before all of you starting ranting about the fact that we lost the series (which I know you are all anxiously sitting there waiting to do!), please allow me to remind you that the Ottawa Senators beat you seven out of the eight times that you played this past year and that you didn't even make the playoffs. I'm also fairly certain that I haven't seen you guys holding the Stanley Cup any time recently so really, your track record isn't a whole heck of a lot better. Hence, I do believe that means that your right to lecture us on our weaknesses has officially been revoked until you make the playoffs once again! Once that happens, then we can talk, but until then, I believe all bragging rights of any kind will have to be repressed until further notice!!

Sincerely,
Gen

Brighter Days...

MEMORANDUM

To: The Universe at Large
From: Gen & Steve
Date: Thursday, May 11th, 2006
Re: The Oh So Famous "Light"!

Dear Universe,

Due to recent emotional restraints, the light at the end of the tunnel has been temporarily turned off until further notice.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!

Sincerely,
G&S Management

The Vice or the Versa...??

With the beautiful and inspiring summer months upon us...I've decided to use all of this natural energy for good and not evil! I've decided to challenge myself to overcome by biggest vice...!

The same way that we all have our little secrets, we all have our vices that more times than not, tend to get the better of us every now and then. For many people it's the obvious ones...smoking...eating...drinking... shopping ..boys...you name it!! I, however, have always had a rather tumultuous relationship with...numbers!

It doesn't really seem to matter what it is but, the numbers always appear to be out to get me! It's the numbers that don't add up on my math test, the number on the scale, the numbers on the clock, the numbers in the bank, the numbers we owe the bank (!!!), the number that you come to be at the end of a race, the number of kilometres it took to get there...whatever it is, somehow "X" plus "Y" never seems to add up to "enough".

All of this is a challenge at the best of times but, unfortunately for me, I also have a passion that is less than conducive to a dislike of numbers! For three years now I have been "on the run", training for 10kms., half marathons and marathons. As great as running is, like most sports, numbers are often the measuring stick by which you judge your successes; the number of kilometres you run, the speed at which you run them, the number of minutes it takes you to get to the finish like, the number of times that you run in a week...and so on and so on. One's obsession with numbers (namely mine!) sometimes has a habit of taking on a life of it's own and taking away from the pure joy of being in motion.

So, this is where my summer challenge comes up! I have decided that for the next four months I am not allowed to associate any numbers to the activities that I do. I am not allowed to take our GPS out with me when I run (so I can't keep track of my distance) and I'm not permitted to keep track of the number of times that I run or the time in which I run. This summer...running will be done solely for fun!

I guess the idea is to give my body the opportunity to find its own balance and see what happens when it's active for different motives. Although this challenge somewhat intimidates me (because I write EVERYTHING down...aka. I ran 673.28 kilometres in 2005!), I am looking forward to spending some time listening to what my body needs as opposed to listening to what the training schedual needs. Though I'm sure that it takes far more than just four months to change of lifetime of "vices"...I do have faith that four months is atleast enough to put the "versa" in motion!

-Gen

Best Deal EVER...

Well folks...it's likely that I have just come across one of the very best deals that ever was. Better than surprise sales at the GAP...better than shoe sales and dare I say it...better than the big summer sale at IKEA. We were doing our weekly grocery shopping yesterday afternoon at Loblaws when low and behold...we found a sale on the best ice cream ever made.

I feel fairly comfortable calling myself an ice cream expert...I've worked with ice cream...I eat ice cream...and frankly, I just down right love ice cream and in my professional opinion, Haagen-Dazs beats all other ice creams.

On any given day, this guilty pleasure would cost you about $6.79 for a container of 500ml (and about 250 calories a spoonful!) or $11.00 a scoop in the U.S. but, not on this day! On this special day, God bestowed on us the gift of $2.99 a container OR (that's right...it does get even better!) a box of three ice cream bars.

Now tell me, how can anyone walk through this life not completely full of joy when unexpected surprises like this come along?? Of course, such sales is also cause for caution as yumminess of this nature is also like playing with fire (especially for women!). Really, let's be honest, once it's in the house, all sense of self-control goes right out the window! In light of this, we managed to contain ourselves somewhat and settled for a container of Vanilla Swiss Almond and a box of the Milk Chocolate Vanilla bars (let me just say that choosing a flavour was a challenge enough for a Sunday afternoon!).

So, for those of you who can't make it down to the Rideau Street Loblaws and enjoy gluttony at a reasonable price...just go the Haagen-Daaz site and browse through their flavour selector...it's a very passionate love affair just waiting to happen!