Long Weekend

Canadian Thanksgiving never really meant that much to me until I moved to the US. There it became one of my favorite holidays. I always tried to have a nice meal or something on the Sunday before Canadian Thanksgiving Nothing traditional (can't remember the last time I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving) but something nice. Then I moved back to Canada and... not so much.

This year my father is visiting. I hadn't seen him in 3 years so I was very excited. He's been given projects including the storage space downstairs and fixing the lack of closet space in my room and I must say, my place does look pretty good (he's in the storage area downstairs now, I check on him once in awhile). I have spent way too much time at Ikea over the past couple of months but the place is beginning to look pulled together.

And this morning, my father ran his first 5 KM race.

There's a story here. When I was young(er) I was a bookish child. I didn't really play sports (although I loved skating in the winter) and I really wanted to win something. With the annual school track and field day coming up, my father decided he was going to teach me to run. So, we'd go over at nights to the school field and we'd run. I won the blue ribbon for the 50 m dash that year.

I've run throughout the years, I did track and cross country in high school but hadn't really run that much in recent years. Until I moved to Montreal and took it up seriously. Now it's a lifestyle and something I can't imagine not doing for the rest of my life. It's wonderful going to races and seeing people I've gotten to know over the past couple of years, they always feel like a bit of a homecoming.

Dad was coming to town and I thought hmm... Fall Colours Marathon is going on this weekend, maybe we should do a 5? He said yes, Mom said no- I registered him and the rest, as they say, is history. We ran and- well, he's not a runner but the man's a racer. We finished the race holding hands and our names were called together over the loud speaker. I thought it was touching. Anyway-- he finished in the top of his age category! I saw the rankings and started screaming-- pushing Dad into the awards tent just as his name was called and up he went to get his gold! I was so proud!

A picture of us with our bib numbers and medals (I got a "participant" medal- baah!). Please note the all black outfit: my father, the man in black ;)

He rows competitively and is ranked quite highly in the World rankings for his gender and age (in the heavy weight category) you can look up Frank Wilmot on this sight http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/rankings.asp And, I may have started something because I believe I heard him say (over beer later in the day) that maybe he could get Mom into this? Ahahahhahaha! I may never go home for Xmas again.





Also, Jeffrey May- awesome musician and father to my friend Simone- has a new website!
I first heard him play on a lovely Saint Jean Baptiste Day at a street party on St Urbain. It was lovely and perfect-- jazzy, soulful and captured the mood. His site is http://www.jeffmaymusic.com/ If you are in Montreal or headed there and want to hear some great live music, I think you should check him out.