Happy Hallowe'en!

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble!

                                              ~ William Shakespear, Macbeth

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Hallowe'en!

The Results Are IN!

The results from the RHAC swim meet were posted on the WEST website this week!

Connor's official times were:

Sykes, Connor (9) M

Men 10 & Under 100 Freestyle:  1:36.29S
Men 10 & Under 50 Backstroke  52.09S

I'm proud to announce that he came in 14th out of 61 in the Freestyle swim and 15th out of 57 in the Backstroke!  Considering this is his first meet, he did remarkably well!  His goal is to beat the WEST club record for 10 & Under of 1:19.26S for the 100 Freestyle by the end of this year, before he enters the 11 age group!  He's pumped!
 
Gary edited the video from Connor's 50m Backstroke race - of course, he added Connor's "in the zone" song as the soundtrack! :)
 

Connor's winning heat in the Boys 10 and under 50m Backstroke.
 
Thanks for reading/watching! :)

For the record....

I had a few people email me about the photos of Connor at the RHAC swim meet this past weekend.

This one, in particular:

It seems that some were wondering if I had let my NINE YEAR OLD get a tattoo...?

Can you take the HEAT??

Exciting weekend in the Sykes' household this weekend - Connor competed in his very first swim meet, hosted by the Richmond Hill Aquatic Centre!

Since it was his first, we chose to limit the events to two: the 100m Freestyle and the 50m Backstroke, two of his strongest events at this stage.  Since Connor has never been officially "timed" in his events, his coaches decided to put a standard time in with his registration, which put him in the 7th heat in both of his events.

We drove up to Erin on Friday night, arriving later than we had hoped, due to a few delays relating to laundry and packing (ladies, please tell me you can relate...!)  Gary anticipated leaving work a bit earlier since we wanted to arrive in time for Connor to get a good night's rest.  Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans....

We arrived at Gary's parents' place at around 9:30pm and immediately put both kids to bed.  Connor had been coughing and sniffling for most of the trip so I was concerned that he'd wake up too sick to participate.

Well, he did wake up sick, but not from his cold - he came into our bedroom around 4am, complaining of nausea!  I think it was more a case of nerves, rather than a virus, but he crawled into bed with me anyways, while Gary retreated up to his bed for a few more hours of sleep.

Connor was in his glory the next morning - Gary made the mistake of telling him that he had to rest and take it easy... I've never seen a bigger smile on him!  He, of course, milked it for the WHOLE morning... :D

During the ride into Richmond Hill, about 1h15min from Erin, Connor was quiet and reserved.  Knowing that he was nervous, Gary pulled up Connor's favourite song, New Divide by Linkin Park and pumped up the volume - OVER and OVER...

It worked, though.  After belting out that song at the top of our lungs, we all felt better! :D

Once we arrived, not having participated in a swim meet, we were unsure of the process, but I flagged down one of the officials and she advised us to find our coach and go from there.  Gary took Connor into the change rooms and Aili and I went in search of seats in the viewing gallery.

As they practiced, I watched Connor - he seemed quiet and not as animated so I wondered what was going through his mind.  He also seemed to be putting very little into his practice so I fretted that he was not quite ready for this meet.  As the heats progressed, through first the girls, then the boys, I watched a few stragglers in several heats - children who clearly struggled through the event but valiantly finished, to a resounding cheer from the bleachers for their efforts!  At least, I consoled myself, that if he didn't do well, at least he would hear support from the crowd (his mother, loudest of all!)

Then the time came for Connor's 100m freestyle swim.  I was so nervous that I wasn't sure if I wanted to hide my eyes or puke over the balcony!  He walked up to the platform and looked our way for encouragement.

The whistle blew and the official called the swimmers to their marks.

The whistle blew again and the swimmers were asked to step down.

"Would all spectators please refrain from taking flash photos during the start?  All spectators, refrain from taking flash photos during the start."

Apparently some crazy mom was using her Speedlight to snap photos of her son, who was competing in his first swim meet... not that I know anything about that, of course...

*grins sheepishly*

The whistle blew AGAIN and the swimmers were called to the mark.  My stomach roiled and gurgled and threated to share its' contents with everyone within a projectile vicinity of at least 4 feet...

And they were off!!

Connor had a great start and came up clean, with a nice strong stroke.  He was a length ahead for the first lap (25m).

He did slow his kicking down for a length and he was neck in neck with another swimmer until his coach shouted at him from the sidelines, "KICK!"  That propeled him forward and after a clean turn, he pulled away and came in FIRST in his heat, with a(n unofficial) time of 1:36.05!!! 

WOOO HOOOO!!!

The same crazy mom was jumping up and down and shouting so loudly that she forgot to take a picture of him touching the wall. *rolls eyes*

Who let that woman out of the house??

Official results will be posted on the Swimming Canada website shortly after the meet, but we used Taunia's IPod to time him so we had an idea of where he'd place. 

Here's a quick video that Gary edited together of Connor's 100m Freestyle.

Anyhow, with his confidence boosted, Connor cheered on his WEST teammates until it was time for his second event, the 50m backstroke. 

I called him over as he waited for his heat to congratulate him on his first swim and to remind him that his next heat was only 50m (2 lengths) so he needed to pour it on hard and fast.  My heart melted when I saw that as I was talking, he couldn't stop smiling! :)  What a wonderful confidence booster that race was!

As the heat before him came to a close, he centred himself (probably singing the Linkin Park song, which was running through ALL of our heads after hearing it seven or eight times...) ...

He had another great start and pulled ahead quickly in this race.

We were so happy to see him come in first again in this heat - I think his time was 0:56.01, but that is unofficial as well until we hear the results.

Sigh.

I'm so very proud of Connor!!  This meet was exactly what he needed to remind him that he excels at swimming and that although his swim practices (now up to four nights a week) take up alot of his free time, they're paying off!

I did learned several things this weekend, though:

1) Remember to bring a blanket or pillow to sit on... concrete bleachers can wreak havoc on your nether regions after 4 hours.

2) Wear light, layered clothing.  It's hot and humid in a pool setting for that long!

3) On that same note, don't bother spending 30 minutes with a flat iron, trying to tame curly hair.  It really was a waste of time.

4) Bring a pencil/pen/crayon/lipstick so you can cross off the heats as they progress towards your child's event, so you're not constantly asking the poor woman next to you, "What heat is this again?"

5) If you're going to travel 4 hours to a swim meet, register your child in more than two events so there is less time waiting in between events!

6) If you have your five year old with you, remember to bring more that just a colouring book and pencil crayons to fill a four hour period.  And snacks, too!

7) Remember to test your camera settings and bump your ISO up BEFORE you get your panties in a knot and forget even the most basic photography lessons.  Embrace the grain in your current photos and remember to bring a monopod next time!!

8)  Don't use your flash during the starts, lest you offend the official... ;)

Congratulations to Connor!!  Love you, buddy!! And a special thanks to my nephew, Cory, and his girlfriend, Taunia, for driving to Richmond Hill from Toronto to cheer Connor on - I'm sorry that our dinner plans were foiled! Wendy's is not my idea of fine dining!! Next time!!

And speaking of congratulations, I used my trusty site, http://www.random.org/, and chose a winner for my RAK last week:

The lucky winner is:

Angela said...
I love Calvin and Hobbes too. I am going to print the one off that you posted for my desk at work. I'm a graphic designer and I swear that is my life!
I love your layouts and I'm so glad you've found time for yourself.
October 21, 2009 7:20 PM

Angela, please email me your info and your preference of RAK (in-stock Just Cre8 standard stamp set, Tim Horton's or Shoppers Drug Mart gift card).  Thanks to all who participated - keep visiting as this was so much fun that I think I will do it more often! :D

Thanks for reading!

Hands On!

I consider myself so very fortunate to have "met" Jackie Ludlage on a forum several years ago.  From our online friendship came a wonderful opportunity to work with her on her publication, Canadian Scrapbooker.  I started with CS when they first launched their Winter 2005 issue (goodness, was it that long ago??) with my first article, Photographing Your Layout, in the Let's Get Technical section.  I've had so much fun working with Jackie, Katharina and the CS crew in the ensuing years.

I am now excited to have started a new column for the magazine!

In the current Fall 2009 issue, we revealed the new Hands On! Photography section - a 7 part series in which I discuss various topics of photography in each issue.  The exciting news is that I will be posting a tutorial each month on related aspects, pertaining to the current article, on the new Canadian Scrapbooker Hands On! blog!!

I'm having alot of fun (and it's a great kick-in-the-pants to get me to blog more often on my personal blog, too!) and love seeing everyone's submissions for the tutorial each month.

In September, I talked about using fast shutter speeds to capture action and motion.  Sierra Heggie was randomly chosen as our September winner - you can see her submission HERE.  This month, we're offering a great Pink Paislee prize pack:

It's easy to win - all you have to do is read the tutorial, practice some of the tips and submit your photos to be showcased on the blog!  A winner will be randomly chosen within a week of the deadline and posted on our blog!

Have you read the October tutorial yet? :)

Show & Tell

Another subject-appropriate Calvin & Hobbes comic and more layouts to share...

don't forget to leave your comments  on the previous post by 11:59pm, Sat. Oct 26th for your chance to win!

A fairly simple one - not sure I care for this one?  I like some parts of it:  the satin bow; the handcut flourish, dotted with rhinestones; the adorable expression on the photo...  But the sum of its' parts?  The jury's out on that one!

A rarity on two counts - a two-pager AND multi-photo!  I found these photos when sifting through some photo boxes - back in the day of film, when I had actual 4x6 photos printed!

I tried so hard to capture the two little chiclets that were coming in on our baby girl... but she didn't sit still for long at that moment in time!  Quick and easy - that's what this layout was!

This layout was scraplifted for a Scraplift Tag Challenge on Just Cre8 - based on this fabulous layout by Amanda Muirhead, our May'09 Guest Designer.  I found these adorable tulle & jeweled butterflies at our local dollar store, of all places!

More old fabulous film photos found (try saying that five times fast!) while rifling through one of the ten photo boxes of pictures that I have to catch up on!!  I managed to convince my parents to buy this little sporty convertible for me during my first year away at university - I loved this thing!! Even though it was an older car (almost 9 years old when we bought it!), it really gave me the love of the top down and the wind in my hair!  Not to mention the awesome emerald green colour!

Oh, how I love this photo of Connor, face down on his little snake toy, sound asleep in his swing - and the layout places very high on my list of favourites!  Makes me smile every time...

And probably my favourite design at this time - with another film photo, taken in our backyard at the first hint of spring after we had moved in.

I'm heading to bed early (well, relatively, for me!) - still fighting this chest cold but I suspect it's turned into a lingering infection... :(  I may have to bribe Aili to walk the few blocks to the local clinic tomorrow with me!

Thanks for reading!

Creative Time!

Since making the decision to stop selling the Just Cre8 kits, I have had much more spare time.  While I miss mixing and matching papers, designing stamps and sifting through all the goodies out there to create an inspiring kit for my customers, I am enjoying this new-found freedom in a multitude of ways.

Giving Thanks

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.

~Theodore Roosevelt

 
Another year, and I have so much to be thankful for...

 
I am thankful for the love of a man who is like no other.  He is sweet and kind, patient and giving.  He loves me through all of my moods and is a wonderful father to our children.  He is supportive through all of my endeavours, regardless of their outcomes and is my biggest champion.  After 12 years, my heart still flutters when he kisses me and my knees go weak.  I will love you forever and always.
 
I am thankful for a son who is always loving and kind, despite his bouts of willfulness.  His creativity and artistic talent is only outshined by his exuberance and enthusiasm.  He is handsome, funny and smart - and one heck of a swimmer, to boot!

I am thankful for a daughter who is strong and independent, although I may not appreciate it all the time!  Her girly-girl tendencies and contrasting tomboyish actions at times allow me to enjoy the best of both worlds with her.  She is beautiful, funny and smart - and loves shoes!!

I am thankful for my extended family.  We have an incredibly close relationship and their support means the world to me.  I know that not everyone shares a relationship with their siblings as I do with my sisters and I thank my lucky stars everyday.

I am thankful for my scrapbooking.  It started as a hobby almost ten years ago and has developed into a slight obsession.  I am so very thankful for the wonderful friends and incredible opportunities this passion has brought into my life. 

I am thankful for the gift of Life, so that I may enjoy all for which I am so very thankful...

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!