Happy birthday, Lizza

Lizza and I have been friends since the seventh grade. For her birthday this year, I surprised her by driving to Spokane and spending the weekend with her and Pat, her hubby. I had emailed Pat in April to ask him about gift ideas for Lizza. He replied with “the best gift would be if you and Ed attend her big birthday bash on May 16”. Ed wasn’t free to go that weekend but I was! It helped that it was a long weekend (Victoria Day) in Canada. So on Friday, May 15, I set out for the 7.5-hour drive from Vancouver to Spokane. I had my tunes and great weather and all was good!

Pat met me outside their house when I got there. I asked if he was able to keep my visit a surprise and he said yes. I stood outside their front door and Pat called out, “Lizza, come to the door. Someone’s here and they want to talk to you.” Lizza thought it was the landscaper who had been around the previous day, looking for work. So she came marching to the front door with an “I mean business” look on her face. But it quickly changed to a look of shock as I shouted “surprise!” and gave her a hug. Lizza just looked at me for a few minutes in disbelief. I think Pat and I executed that surprise very well!

The weekend was a lot of fun. We prepared for the party on Saturday and guests started arriving at around 4pm. Deb and Cara, Lizza’s friends, did a fantastic job planning the party and the menu, decorating the house, and getting everything ready. Lizza got to celebrate her birthday surrounded by her good friends and everybody had a great time. On Sunday, we went to their friend’s place by a lake and just hung out. We even went for a boat ride around the lake.

Sadly, Monday came so quickly and it was time to head back to Vancouver. I did stop in Bellevue for a bit of shopping (Nordstrom Rack!) and the border crossing took 90 minutes. Overall, it was an excellent roadtrip.

To my BFF, happy birthday!

Running again, gradually

I’m still doing my physio exercises every night to work on my hip muscles and IT band. In addition, Patrick, my physiotherapist, has given me the green light to start running again. One minute run, one minute walk and I get to start with 7 sets, for a total of 14 minutes. If my knee feels just fine the following day, I do the run/walk again two days later and I add 2 sets every time. I’ve gone twice already and so far, so good. Yay.

Vroom, vroom...

Last Saturday, Ed and I pushed our motorcycles out of our basement and into our garage. Ed's bike is a Ninja ZX-6R and mine is a Suzuki GS500, and they've been parked in the basement for three years. Shame! The goal this past weekend was to get them up and running again. I was nervous that they won't even start after sitting for that long. But after a few tries, the Ninja started up. Ed took it for short ride around the block and the look of joy on his face was priceless. I had to buy a new battery so I couldn't get mine started up until Sunday. It took a few tries and Ed's lucky touch before my bike finally roared to life. Whew!

My riding skills are soooo rusty! I need a parking lot session to get the kinks out but am looking forward to riding Suzy (that's my bike's name) around town again. Maybe even go on a road trip this summer. So exciting!

Weak hips

Apparently, my left hip is weak and my left IT band is tight. This was the physiotherapist’s diagnosis as the causes for the pain in my left knee when I run. He gave me a bunch of exercises to do everyday to strengthen my hip muscles to keep my hip stable when I run. I’ve also had to stretch my IT band by rolling on it. And Patrick, my physio guy, has been massaging it too during our sessions and holy cow, it hurts!!!

But it’s all good. I look forward to the day when I can run and not worry about my knee hurting. Oh, the other assignment Patrick gave me was to replace my running shoes which are now over a year old. Did you know that you’re supposed to replace your running shoes every 600 - 800km? I thought at first that that was a lot but when I calculated that I could run about 18km to 25km a week, that would be 45 weeks max to reach 800km. That’s not even a whole year. Anyway, I decided on the Mizuno Wave Creation 10 which feel sublime on my feet. I’m excited to get them out on the road when Patrick gives me the go-ahead to run again.

A newborn baby

In the evening of April 12, one of my closest friends, Yvette, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Avery. Since Brian, her husband, had to look after Avery’s big bro Joshua, I volunteered to sleep at the hospital on the Monday night and stay with Yvette. The “problem” was I have never carried a newborn baby. I usually wait until the baby is 3 or 4 months old and can hold up their head. But for me to be any help to Yvette that night, I had to carry the baby. I was awkward and nervous but I’m glad to report that I didn’t drop or hurt the baby in any way. Whew!

Congratulations to Yvette, Bri, and Joshie! And thanks for letting me be part of her arrival into this world.