And we're back here....

Happy belated new year!  I hope everyone was sufficiently festive.

I have been absent from the blogosphere (I have never ever used that term before) as I have become reacquainted with Ontario winter in Vancouver.  A missed flight resulting in a great night with Sonja's parents in Toronto, a few hours of shoveling the car out from under wet snow, the abruptness of the end of the semester of teaching and one submission later, I am back.  Phew.

Our flight home from Barbados was delayed for 90 minutes as we waited on the tarmac for airspace to open up to allow us to leave.  This was just enough time for us to miss our connection back to Vancouver that night, but that was actually perfect as we were able to spend the night and the next day with Sonja's parents.  It was great to catch up with them and family friends before boarding another flight to come home to a snow storm.  

I thought shoveling snow was cute until my back was sore the next day.  And I was using my legs!  I swear!  But the amount of snow that awaited us was unreal.  It has been raining for three days straight which has taken the edge off the city, but all I can think about is what this city would like if the temperature had not recently warmed.  Three days of straight snow would have suffocated Vancouver.

About the submission.  The Marathon of Hope 2009 submission deadline is today and I have finished the video portion this evening.  Nothing like leaving it to the last minute.  In my defense, I had an epiphany as to what I could do and that necessitated some changes which took longer than anticipated.  I have been in contact with the organizers of the event and they have been warm and understanding, the kind of people you would want to have around if you were going to run 143 marathons in a row.  I have checked out some of the videos on youtube (search Marathon of Hope 2009) and they are GOOD!  Wow.  Canada has some incredible runners/video producers.   I am currently waiting for my video to finish uploading to youtube and will post it here as well once it is done.  

Other than that, a quiet week.  

Oh yeah.  One more thing.  Sonja and I became, as she likes to joke, enfianced, which I am told is a real word.  She agreed to marry me while in Barbados.  We are both excited about this and look forward to a long engagement - no rush for the wedding, especially if the Marathon of Hope were to happen.  I usually only mention Sonja in passing on the blog as I try to keep it running related, but this is a pretty special moment and I wanted to share it with my friends that may not have heard.  

Now, come on youtube upload!  Please get done (it has been 90 minutes so far!).