Seriously amazing....

Might have to do longer distance tri again one day just to knock this race off the bucket list...and hope that the water isn't crazy freezing that year!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3cr5lgXRn8

Heather's Rollin' Along...

I can die happy...I finally learned to ride the rollers :)  Andrew is thrilled that I'm now giggling and not crying...

Lucy is thrilled that Andrew arrived home today, only to be sad when I take off to Florida tomorrow for my next doggie rehab training...

Olympic Reflections

I think that I always feel blessed to be a Canadian...we live in a country of plenty, opportunity, and freedom.  But I'm not sure that I feel PROUD to be a Canadian as often as I should!  There was plenty of that emotion going through me over the past 2 weeks of Olympic watching (don't think I've watched that much coverage since 1994!)  Proud because of so many incredible performances by Canadian athletes; proud because of the reception and support given to all of the athletes by the crowds in Vancouver, and proud because we got to host the world.

At times it feels like the negative among us get the most press.  Those complaining about us hosting the Olympics; those complaining about the Olympic movement in general; those complaining about our medal standings and the Own the Podium program prior to the medal haul of this past week.  It feels like those voices have been silenced, at least temporarily, by the giant celebration of the past few days across the entire country; by the joy and unity of athletes and fans from all over the world; and by the passion for excellence and determination of the athletes themselves as they strove to do their best.

I've always loved watching the Olympics...the ideals that drive these athletes day in and day out, through hours of tough training, fatigue, racing around the world often apart from their loved ones, inspire me.  To be given a gift, be it in athletics or other areas, is an amazing thing....especially amazing is to watch what happens when that gift is sculpted into something great.  That we would all use our gifts :)

So many moments over the past 2 weeks left me a bit choked up...okay, more than a bit :)  A Slovenian x-country skier winning bronze after breaking 4 ribs and puncturing a lung in a training crash (and being carried away after finishing); an alpine skier from Ghana striving not just to participate but to be as competitive as possible and inspire a nation; the Canadian men's x-country team with a string of phenomenal finishes which wouldn't have been dreamed of even 8 years ago; Virtue and Moir making history in an unforgettable free dance; the Canadian hockey men carrying the weight of a country on their shoulders and doing it when it counted (anyone who says the NHLers shouldn't be allowed to play or that they don't care about the Olys should just watch the faces of the ecstatic Canadian and devastated American players post-game...).  Clara Hughes...phenomenal sportswoman in her swansong.  And of course the courage of Joannie Rochette...not just a bit choked up but more like sobbing while watching her short program.  To those who have inspired the world and given their best with all eyes upon them...thank you for the ride!

They're showing the crowds on Yonge Street post-hockey game right now...incredible!  

May the joy, emotion, excellence, unity, and excitement that our country has experienced in the past two weeks not just be a passing thing, but inspire us in the years to come :)  And may we remember always that the world is a small place, that we are all neighbors, and that we can all inspire each other in so many ways.

Life is Greyt!

As I write, Pumpkin is curled up in my lap and Goosey is sawing some logs upstairs :)  I spent last week learning the basics of my new "trade" at the Canine Rehabilitation Institute in Florida.  The course was awesome...it was amazing to meet other people who have similar thoughts on and approaches to treating sore/stiff/injured/neurologic dogs than the traditional "rest and medication" theory.  One of the girls who has a greyhound was sporting a "Life is Greyt" T-shirt with a greyhound asking for belly rubs...definitely made me smile :)

Life is rolling along well for both of us.  We're out running a lot more these days, which Lucy is appreciative of!  Lots of "squintervals" on the Wednesday morning run this week.  This weekend is "biking boot camp" as we're aiming to do the 260 km long citizen's race at the Tour of Flanders on April 3rd (my b-day!  It'll be epic...especially if the weather in Belgium lives up to its reputation in early April!)  How better to spend Valentines...on a trainer with the love of your life, watching the Oly's with the lure of a nice glass of wine at the end (great recovery drink, I know!)

So many blessings to be thankful for....awesome critters, friends, and family in our lives (in no particular order!), being able to run/bike/swim and love it, and for me, some Florida sunshine in the middle of winter!  Whee!  No plans to become snowbirds, though...unless snowbirds start to head to Spain :)

Change is in the Air

Hello to anyone still reading out there :)  Sorry for the radio silence lately...I'm working on updating the blog more frequently :)

A new year brings change, or something like that!  One thing that we can be certain of is that things will change throughout the course of our lives.  In my little corner of the universe, some changes have been wonderful and easy (meet Lucy, take Lucy home; meet Andrew, marry Andrew!)  Others have been a little less clear-cut and a little more scary.  Like the decision to quit my job....countdown begins...26 more days of work....whee!!!

When I started working as a starry-eyed new vet grad four years ago, I was lucky to find a fantastic boss to work for and even luckier that he has become a good friend.  Long hours weren't great but I could deal with them, and emergencies were "cool," even though they often meant 1 am arrivals at Friday night travel destinations rather than the expected 9 pm.  But over time things change.  Emergencies aren't cool anymore.  The cat who has been vomiting for 5 days and looks like death that comes in at 6:15 pm because the owner finally decides it should perhaps, maybe, finally be seen is just plain frustrating.  And vaccine appointments, even with 9 adorable golden retriever puppies, become really annoying when everyone you'd hoped to meet for a bike ride left while you're still in the exam room.  And helping clients you care about say goodbye to their beloved pets is something you're glad you can help with, but the emotional toll becomes hard to deal with. 

So, time for a change!  Of course no job is "perfect"....well, maybe living on an island in Australia and promoting tourism would be pretty close...but it's time to find something to do that is a bit less all-consuming for me.  I miss triathlon!  I miss bike rides with friends!  I miss having as much energy as I'd like for my family!

Enter "doggie physio."  My new dream in the work aspect of life is to open a rehab (can't call it "physio" in the animal world) and fitness center for dogs in London.  Lots of work, yes, but being able to set the schedule and work closer to home would be amazing.  Other mini-dreams could be realized along with it...becoming a 1 car family (which means extra savings and garage space for a chest freezer in which to store all of our own hand-picked and then frozen strawberries, blueberries, and other stuffs); a bit more mental energy for this swim-bike-run thing that Andrew and I love but haven't had much gas to do lately; and applying natural health care and exercise to help doggies out there!

Change is afoot...we'll keep you posted :)

A New Year's Winter Wonderland!

 An old post that was stuck in draft...  I figure I'll post it right now...


Happy winter and new year to everyone!  We hope that 2010 is off to a great start for everyone :) 

This year will defintely be an interesting one in the Kennedy house...Heather is making some job changes which are exciting, but a bit scary too as change always is!  No huge details yet, but it involves leaving her current clinic and opening a rehab/wellness center for dogs (and the occasional "special" kitty).  If it is meant to be, it will be....if not, we'll see what happens!  A bit of much-needed perspective for both of us lately has been to realize the place of work in our lives....we always have said that we work to live, not the other way around, but have been struggling a bit with that concept on and off.  Our jobs are important, sure, but don't define us :)  We're pretty excited to put a bit more focus onto other things including friends, family, and more training and racing than we've done in the past couple years...woo hoo!

Our holiday was a good one, full of lots of fun adventures and visits with good friends....the photos will tell the story!

Farewell Ferguson!!!!

A few last cuddles for Heather....


A few last cuddles for Andrew (with a concerned look from Lucy)....


Before packing up and heading to his new home, and his new ferret friends...


Thanks for a fun week Ferguson. There may be a ferret in our future... though not too soon!!!!

More adventures with Ferguson

Heather was making apple sauce today. Here's Ferguson's contribution. :) The regular furry residents are getting desperate for life to return to normal!

Another new addition

Okay, so this one is only a temporary guest. One of Heather's clients is adopting this guy, so while he's awaiting the result of his aleutian disease virus test to indicate its safe for him to go home and meet his new housemates, we're the quarantine site.

This is a chance for Andrew to get a look at what living with a ferret is like since he's always thought they were cool. He sleeps a lot, but when he's out of his cage, he's very curious, busy, and potentially destructive. He's already figured out how to open the kitchen cupboards, dig in the house plants, and get up under our sofa. We've named this one Ferguson, although his adopter will name him Nero.


Apparently he likes the cookbook shelf as well.


The regular furry residents will be very glad to see him head to his new, permanent home and for life to return to normal.

We're on Google Street View

View Larger Map

Here's the link.

I know, you can't really tell definitively that it is us, but I assure you it is. That's Heather at the back, and Andrew on the front. No prizes for guessing which one of us saw the Google Street View car driving past us on that ride, and I've have been checking for months to see when Street View appeared for this area. Its finally there!

We're out on our epic 10 hour, 200 km ride in Spain. We will (eventually) post the route and report about that ride from our honeymoon one of these days!

Word of the Day

Squintervals.

definition
Running intervals for Heather, chasing after a squirrel with Lucy attached to her waist.

example
We had a great session of squintervals today!

Hallowe'en Pumpkins

We were tipped off by Heather's boss about a house in the London area on Glenora Drive where they put out a hundred or so cool pumpkins for people to view as part of a food bank drive. The owner of the house carves several of the cooler pumpkins, but local school students are also involved. Enjoy some pretty amazing jack-o-lanterns.





































































































Hey! What is this, two blog posts in one day! Don't worry, it won't keep up at this pace!

A New Family Member

The week before Thanksgiving (Canadian that is), we welcomed the newest member of our family!
Our nice shiney new red Nespresso Citiz machine. This was something we discovered in Paris as the apartment we rented had one that we enjoyed using a great deal in our time there.


No, its not a "true" espresso machine, what with being pod based and all that, but its a lot cheaper than Starbucks! So far, we've been enjoying the opportunity to pull a shot whenever the urge strikes.

Mmmm.... Watermelon

Nothing satisfies this dog like watermelon after a long Sunday run (okay, so maybe this was a couple of weeks ago, a dog's got important business to attend to).

A Funny Thing...

Yesterday was one of those magic days...no real schedule and lots of time for fun! Gooser dragged us over to the s-c-h-o-o-l to play with the f-r-i-s-b-e-e for a while (we have to spell. She even knows if we're typing the words and gets excited, I swear!) We followed that excursion up with a "seasonal" breakfast of apples, old sharp cheddar, honey, and walnuts on yummy Montreal bagels that Andrew brought back with him from his trip. Delish!

Then off to Stratford for a bit of poking around, coffee at Balzack's...


...and to watch "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," one of the tragedies (kidding...most definitely a comedy!) in the Stratford Festival this year. It was SO well done! We spent 2.5 hours laughing and would definitely suggest to anyone in the area that they go see it. As a sample, the main character Pseudolus, a Roman slave in 200 BC, delivers this line..."My uncle Simo, the noted Carthaginian elephant breeder, came to an untimely end. He was crushed to death on the last day of the mating season." Tee hee. Everyone in Stratford is in festival spirit right now...even the stuffed bear at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!

We found some cute little shops that we'd not seen before including an artisan who makes prints from wood blocks (and has a cute little dog named Smudge) and a great natural food shop called "A Gentle Rain" where we discovered some black beluga lentils that we can't wait to cook up. There was, of course, a chocolate stop at Rheo Thompson. Mint smoothies...mmmm...those should help to fuel a few runs this week :)


Home for a swim and dinner...and a very strange dream about elephant reproduction...

Choosing Joy...and Barefoot Running!

A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to see our friend David (the pastor who married us!) give a dramatic presentation of Paul's letter to the Phillipians. It was incredible to watch...he had that entire book of the Bible memorized, and presented it in period costume. He titled his presentation "Choose Joy," which fits the nature of Paul's message perfectly. Paul lived at the time of Christ and has a pretty amazing story...going from persecuting the early Christians to becoming one of the most important figures in early teaching and spreading of the gospel...and in sharing that gospel for all time throug the bible. His life was full of challenge and reasons NOT to "choose joy"...he suffered from a "thorn in his flesh" (though we aren't told what exactly this was), was shipwrecked, and spent considerable time in prison for his beliefs to name a few. But in his writing, the joy that he feels in his mission for Christ is evident. In the past few months, too, we have witnessed Dave "choosing joy" as he has faced a recurring battle with cancer but remained always cheerful, always positive.

It's been a bit of a rough week for me (H) in the professional area of my life (fortunately the personal is awesome!) I work with wonderful people and for the most part like my job, but in the past several weeks the number of sad cases I've seen has been almost overwhelming, and some personal conflict that is out of my control has reared its head (which it does periodically). My initial reaction is almost always to be upset, worry, and dwell on the issue to the point where I feel almost physically unwell. It took a while for me to put the pieces together and understand how much my brain controls well being! The cool thing about this week is that by focussing on the right things....which for me means prayer, reflecting on the truths of the Bible, and choosing to "choose joy," I've been able to turn the negative around and truly feel peace and joy. That feeling is so cool. Now if only I can get to the point where my initial reactions of worry and upset wouldn't even happen! Work in progress :)

I often find that running in nature helps me to reflect, pray, and be joyful...I guess being out in creation can do that :) Lucy and I had a great week of barefoot running up at Pinery (Andrew was in Montreal so he missed out. Next week!) 1:15 on Tuesday and 2 hours this morning left us both grinning, Lucy panting, and me with sore but happy feet. This morning was incredible! There were thousands of ladybugs clustered along driftwood and the higher shoreline (mating? dying? just hanging out? Must consult Wikipedia for that one!) One very saucy seagull kept pace with us but just ahead, causing lots of flat out chasing by Goosey. Tee hee :) It's pretty hard to not be inspired to choose joy watching Lucy and her love of life and the simple things!

Happy weekend, all :)

A Long Weekend Lucy-Style!

I always get super-woofy excited for long weekends...it means an extra day with Dad and Mom home! They know that a tired doggie is a happy doggie, so they spend lots of weekend time attempting to tire me out :) I pretend that they have somtimes, just to make them feel good! Actually, they did a pretty good job of keeping me busy this weekend...

Friday: Pack the car; head off for canoe shopping and camping. Turns out they found the canoe of their dreams in Toronto and nixed the camping in Huntsville as they didn't need to go up there to canoe shop anyway. Road trips always make me sleepy, especially when we get back home late...

Saturday: Early morning frisbee session! Ran into my buddy Goliath at the school and chased the spinny thing around the field for 45 minutes. Yay! Breakfast followed by a morning nap. Just a day "off" today, so I could catch up on my beauty rest for the next couple days. A visit from Rosie (Mike and Andrea's 12 week old chocolate lab...all the humans keep saying how cute she is, but she always jumps on my head and tries to steal all my toys...) in the afternoon. Country walk in the evening. Not tired yet....come on people!

Sunday: Okay, getting a bit more tired :) 23.5 km run with Mom and Dad in the morning, including a mid-run swim. Sent the humans off to church while I had a dance party with Pumpkin and Gooberette (the stuffed bear comes alive when no one is home!). The humans thought I was sleeping the whole time they were away...yeah, right! Off to try out the new canoe in the afternoon, followed by more swimming. I look like such a dork in my life jacket...

Mom and Dad had another 8.5 km of running to do in the evening...I really wanted to go, but my fur coat doesn't work so well in the heat. Maybe if I had an ice vest? Dragged the humans around the neighborhood for a walk later in the evening.

Monday: A bit of long-run tiredness, but still up for frisbee at 7:15 am! 45 minutes of frisbee to take the edge off, then sent the humans for a 3.5 hour bike ride. Dance party #2 of the weekend while they were away :) Then...oh boy oh boy...a walk up to the apple orchard to pick the first apples of the fall! A 2 hour round trip...with something REALLY yummy to roll in at the orchard!



Another hour walk in the country with Rosie to end the day....officially tired doggle :) Life is sooo tough...

Wedding Photos!

Hi all! Some fun news...our wedding photo gallery is online! The photographers (HRM Photography) were an absolute pleasure to work with (right down to putting doggie treats on the camera lens to get Lucy's attention)...we'd definitely recommend them to anyone!

You can look through the gallery (all 500 photos! Yikes!) by going to http://clients.hrmphotography.com/ and scrolling through the wedding galleries to "Heather and Andrew." It's all alphabetical. Actually, our engagement gallery is still there too, further down the page. The username is your e-mail address; the password is "Hanik."

Hope all is well with everyone! Happy Wednesday to all :)

Seriously Amazing Salad

Mmmm...we're in the middle of cooking up our take on a salad that we discovered one lunch in Paris. We read about "Relais Gascon," a restaurant in Montmartre that was known for its big salads...a great find! Here's our take on their recipie...amounts of each ingredient are whatever is on hand or desired on the day :)

-mixed greens
-corn kernels (ideally, fresh off a cooked cob)
-beets (roast at 450 F for 60 minutes, then remove skins and chop)
-shredded carrot
-fried potatoes (mmmm...do up with olive oil and salt)
-fried egg(s)
-shredded hard cheese (currently using asiago)

For dressing:

-olive oil
-balsamic vinegar
-salt and pepper

One of the many fun things about being in Spain and some parts of France was eating amazingly good salads which weren't "disguised" by flavoured dressings. Often, the waiter would bring cruets of olive oil and balsamic to the table for us to make our own dressings (along with salt and pepper)...yummy :)

Happy cooking to all!

Running Doggle...

Forget "running man"....our little running doggle Lucy is quite the star these days. My (H's) parents whipped her into shape for us while we were in Europe, with multiple frisbee sessions each day and lots of walks. Frisbee sessions are, to adapt a quote from our friend Andrea, "intervals on crack." [editor's note...the original quote, "Kentucky Fried Chicken on crack" was used by Andrea to describe the yummiest duck dinner EVER on our last night in Paris! More to follow when we actually get back on track with the trip blog!!!] Anyhoo, thanks to her frisbee sessions, Lucy is running like the wind these days. It sure helps my leg turnover when I've got her attached to the other end of the leash :)

Andrew and I are aiming for a fall marathon...it has been a while since his last marathon, and I've only ever run one and have some seriously unfinished business :) The great meltdown (time and heat wise) in Chicago 2007 left me feeling pretty unsatisfied, so I'd like to erase that with a good run. Miss Lucy is a star training buddy for us!

So, life right now is consisting of running, some riding for fun (and to try and keep the great fitness we got riding the big mountains across the pond), normal day to day stuff, and some extra work for me (our other vet is on holiday for the month of August...back next week. Yay!) We're loving the remaining days of summer...it is gorgeous here right now, though there is a slight chill in the air at 6 am now. On a random personal note...being married to Andrew rocks :)

Trip blogging to resume next week...no, really :)