Day 312 – August 31st

Today is a day to chill, no exercise, no work, just a day of chilling and a movie called Pineapple Express………..it is a funny movie and has one of the funniest scenes (Leg stuck through windshield) that I have seen in a long, long time………….

 

It is also the last day of summer today…….it’s incredibly sad, incredibly sad.

 

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.

Day 311 – August 30th

Today is one of those days that arrive all too infrequently in that virtually everything you do proves enjoyable and even those times you do take a wrong turn it leads you down a path to something equally exhilarating.

 

I wanted to swim in the lake having not done so this season and as opposed to the traditional beeches headed out to Toronto Island for some fun in the sun.  After what seemed like a 3 hour hike around the island, I eventually found the secluded beach I was looking for and proceeded in for a dip……….fantastic………not too warm, not too cold just right but argh………the current.

 

Whilst there is not a tide in a lake the wind can certainly play havoc and cause you to often battle just in order to stay afloat. If swimming in a pool was difficult well this is at least twice as hard although I am spurred on by the scenery that is littered all other the beach……it is a beautiful thing.

 

Back to the mainland for a little comedy, Barack to the Future……..by the Second City folks………whilst the title is an excellent play on words it is certainly a little deceiving and in reality the play is more a series of small skits with no real political slant at all.  It is good none the less although for the final few minutes am distracted by the curious happenings to my left.

 

A pair of gentlemen who have been drinking double shots all night appear surprised when the bill arrives that something called liquor tax would have been applied…(they are clearly Eastern European, where the price advertised is the price you pay) they argue the bill but eventually agree to pay and slap down a $100 bill………..the server looks at them confused and says we only take up to $50’s the patron hands a different $100 bill and proceeds to have a full blown argument about why his money is being rejected.

 

The concept of it not being the actual bill itself but that all $100 bills would be rejected appears wasted on them but sadly I have to leave prior to finding out if this one came to a bloody conclusion.

 

Mood for the day 9 out of 10.

Day 310 – August 29th

Today is one of those rare days when I am sent home early from work, not overly early 4:30ish but early non the less, it is more than enough time for a quick nip to the pool and so in I go splash, splash through the water.  The day is going relatively well and then I make the foolish mistake of going to see the movie Death Race…….it is every bit as bad as the trailer had suggested and I leave with a disappointed expression on my face.

 

I am also in a mini state of shock at the state of US Open on the TV or lack thereof.  A new sports channel has launched not so much with a bang but more like a whimper as the biggest broadcasting partners don’t appear to be carrying it.  Apparently talks are ongoing behind the scenes……………but here is the question, why do we need the scenes surely if you are launching a brand new channel you would have negotiated with the broadcast partners months and not days in advance to ensure your big launch went off without a hitch………very strange, very strange indeed.

 

Mood for the day 6 out of 10.

Day 309 – August 28th

I am now addicted to swimming and was back in the pool today for a few more laps, I am not sure why it has taken me so long to dive back and even now it is only really injury that has forced me into the pool.

 

A one mile swim and it is a beautiful thing…………what else has happened today not much to be honest, not much at all.

 

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.

Day 308 – August 27th

Today is the final day of volleyball and as a result a relatively sad day……..here’s the match report.

And so the end is nigh it’s time to draw the final curtain………..with a tear in the eye, last night marked the final occasion that this edition of “Shades in the Sand” will take to the beach for 2008.   

The team has grown considerably since taking its first nervous steps some 17 weeks ago, we have had our ups……….we have had our downs, we have weathered injuries, vacations, integrated new players and despite this have improved week by week……fostered new friendships and above all else laughed along the way. 

And so to the playoffs……….usually playoffs are defined by heroics, by an athlete or team raising it’s game to a level that was previously hidden in the regular season……on this particular occasion however whilst the playoffs were certainly defined it was not by the players but by the wind. 

To the backdrop of a lake that had waves more suited to an ocean, every play became treacherous, every ball danced through the air like a knuckleball………every time you thought you were stood in perfect position you were wickedly deceived.  The wind toyed with us, the wind mocked us and yes occasionally the wind made fools of us but on this particular night…………..the house was not blown down, it stood tall to spit in the face of adversity and proceeded to compile a winning record. 

To be honest I can’t remember all the game scores as I was frozen on the sidelines, but if I remember correctly we were closer to ending 5-0 than 2-3 and in the end settled for 3-2 record including at least one close fought heartbreaking defeat.  Three and Two a 60% winning percentage and hovering just above the .500 mark is in my opinion a pretty fair result and overall reflection of the season. 

We are clearly not an “elite” level team…………..but we are clearly not a bottom feeder either………..in terms of the food chain we are probably around stingray easily able to finish off lesser creatures but always wary of the sharks and other predators circling around.  We have nothing to be disappointed about and carry both pride and momentum into spring 2009……….with a regular rotation this team is skilled, passionate and above all else fun to be around………I will miss it now it’s gone. 

And so to the purely subjective end of season awards………. 

Most Improved Player – Ryan (Where did the demon serving suddenly arrive from)

Honorable Mention – Renee (Only with us few weeks but improved every week) 

Most vocal (In Game) – Sandy (The Sandy serve and its vocal accompaniment remains a thing of legend) 

Steadiest Players – James, Jayson, Alan (Consistency personified from all 3) 

Tallest Player – Brian (It’s an absolute landside) 

Feistiest Player – Isabelle, Mary, Sandy (Feisty women, always welcome, always welcome) 

Best Accent – Paul (It’s English so was bound to win) 

Best Looking Player (Tie) – Sandy, Melissa, Mary, Renee, Isabelle 

And most importantly of all……………. 

Most Valuable Player – Melissa (For running the whole thing, organizing the team, the scorecards, nets for practice………..awesome).

Mood for the day 8 out 10

Day 307 – August 26th

My workout the day before has come back to haunt me with a vegence and today I ache all over and can barely even keep myself awake…….I stumble through the work day and pray for it end and the heaven known as my couch.  The couch does not dissapoint and within seconds I am asleep, I wake up groggy to the sound of the phone and speak with the girl I am not allowed to mention for about an hour………I am not on top form though so the call does not go as well as I would hope and I am temporarily plagued by self doubt.

I stagger back to the couch and proceed to fall asleep once again before eventually hauling myself to the bedroom for some of the best sleep in weeks.

Mood for the day 5 out of 10

Day 306 – August 25th

My leg is feeling considerably better today, so much so that I ventured to the gym for a workout for the first time in an age……..some very light cardio and then given the realisation that I am becoming an FB I changed my weight workout to be more speed based (In an attempt to burn fat)……15 sets in around 25 minutes with obviously limited rest in between………I will know the extent of the workout on Wednesday but at the moment I feel exhausted.

The Raps also announced the pre-season schedule today although there is nothing exciting on tap……no Boston, no Cleveland at home………no big guns whatsoever really.

Mood for the day 8 out of 10 (It’s great to be back in the gym)

Day 305 – August 24th

Stick a fork in it for it is done……………..the Olympics that is that have now drawn to a close until Vancouver and then London take up the baton.  My perception of the Olympics has changed dramatically as I have got older, in my youth I was always under the impression it was a month long spectacle as opposed to a two week dash.

Maybe it has always been two weeks and my perception of time has now changed, or maybe the games are actually a little shorter in duration than before either way they have provided a much needed boost as the summer winds down………the soccer world cup remains “The Greatest Tournament on Earth”.

 

A little local success in the games today as well, as the leader of my beloved Toronto Raptors, Chris Bosh claims a gold medal with team USA in a surprisingly competitive gold medal match up with Spain.

 

It is a beautiful day in Toronto and looking at the skies above the rains of the last few days/weeks are just a memory, hopefully we will have a few more such days prior to us all having to bunker down for the winter.

 

Mood for the day 8 out of 10.

Day 304 – August 23rd

I feel as if the pain is somewhat now under control, I can hobble from one place to the next relatively freely although obviously all kinds of exercise are out of the question.  Given my inability to go to the gym, I wandered out to the beaches although didn’t step on court and in an attempt to get out of the raging heat went to see Batman in the afternoon………..and yes the movie is just as good the second time around.

 

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.

Day 303 – August 22nd

My leg continues to give me all kinds of pain, however on the positive side I now have some more mobility and it certainly feels a little better than just 24hours ago….I am now taking Tylenol Arthritis like candy so maybe this is helping things along. 

 

Met up with Olivier for lunch and as always he remains good value, although to be honest each time sends a pain shooting down my left leg, so for the time being I very much consigned to being a miserable bastard.

 

In the evening I went to see a performance or Romeo and Juliet at a park in the West End………I say see but in reality it was more listen, whilst I should have been sat up watching I spent half of the time attempting to stretch my left leg and avoiding the cramps that appear to have overcome it.  Fortunately my companion for the evening chose to console as opposed to mock me and whilst I didn’t get to see very much, the music was superb and given the company I was with it was an all round great evening that concluded with getting home around 1am and then watching the Olympics for, I’m not entirely sure how long………as the next thing I knew I was waking up on my couch and it was 5am in the morning and so I staggered off to bed.

 

If it wasn’t for the leg, things would be going pretty well at the moment.

 

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.