Wabora, crowbars & "Excellent"

The good times are continuing to roll along well. We are now half way through this fall season. Hard to believe, Arlene and I have started a countdown until we’re home, can’t wait for some good home cooked food! [Mum ill email you a list!] And to catch up with everyone! A year is along time to catch up on!

It was Matt’s birthday on Monday and we all went out for Japanease Wabora. It was a great night one of the best meals out I’ve had at the woods. The food and craic was immense and the night was polished off with some karaoke and a trip to Walmart.

Here’s to singing My Girl with John Matthews, golf cart antics with Alice and Arlene, wreaking myself on the tube hill, “Steph Kerr is a fruit!!..” “My mother is right behind you” “its ok we call her that all the time…” “you call our daughter a fruit?!”, Throwing Matt in the lake, “Do any of you play hockey?” “No we’re Pilipino!” chasing deer, getting bitten by a spider that was on Matt’s coat, to Lauren coming to visit this weekend, “Excellent”, the gong show that was capture the flag, a kid running out the forest holding a crow bar shouting “Look what I found” during a game!, Arlene pushing me off of her top bunk and to going up trees.

Pictures: Top Steph, me, Matt [the birthday boy] and John, Bottom: Kate, Katie, Hannah, Nessa, Kenny and Gareth

Bears, singing & Travellers challenge

Thankfully the massive school has left and Muskoka Woods has returned to normal. One very exciting thing that happened today was we saw a baby bear. We [being all the internationals] decided to go look for the mother bear- according to Canadians that’s a bad idea. Fortunately/unfortunately we didn’t find her.

At the weekend some summer people came up to visit which was great. Nice to see people and relive some great memories! On Saturday night we decided to go to Bent River for dinner. There was about 8-10 of us that went. Everyone was looking at the menu when these four guys suddenly drew my attention mainly by the way they were acting and the place they were standing. All of a sudden one of them blows into a harmonica and they start singing!! Barbour shop quartet style!! It was amazing and yet so bizarre as we were sitting in this wee old road side café! The banter between the 2 tables was great in fact within the whole place. They sang us 4/5 songs and we attempted to sing them something emphasis on attempted!

Here’s to Arlene’s mum creeping my blog, “What kind of man sells weapons to bunnies?”, going to the dump with Arlene to look for more bears and scaring the life out of ourselves!, “I feel like I’m eating a person!”, going to Romania, to the travelers IQ Challenge amongst the Rec Staff, getting new neighbors, summer hugs, to our Saturday night dance party, the school stealingt he bear from outside the office [it's pretty big!] and putting it outside Don Hood's house [The general manager!] to how cold it has suddenly gotten and to how amusing Claire is.

Pictures: Top- Sera, myself and Erika. Bottom- Arlene, myself, Erika and Alice with the singing men!! Good times..

Thanksgiving, Celebes & Windsor

Last weekend was thanksgiving. We all pilled out of the woods on Friday afternoon, we decided to stop off in Rosseau (2 mins up the road from camp) were we met none other than… Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn!! Was pretty surreal! They have a holiday home in the next bay from Muskoka Woods and are occasionally spotted in the summer.

Highlights of the weekend apart from a home cooked thanksgiving me include:

- Going to Ontario place for a Chinese Lantern festival

- Andrew taking us on a late night tour of downtown via street cars, bus and the underground.

For the next 8 days we have a group in from Winsdor which is a city 7 hours south of Muskoka Woods. The group size is the same as we would have in the summer, nothing unusually you may think except in the summer we have over 300 staff but in the off season there is only 30!! So this week is going to be bedlum!! Bedlum I tell you!!

Here’s to Charles, regarding a hand stamp- “What does CLF stand for? “eh Chinese lantern festival!! You idiot!”, Arlene’s restless sleeping patterns, chatting overlooking lake Ontario, getting lost downtown, “You never wear socks… are you a hippy?”, Gareth not knowing who Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were, Andrew’s surprise visit, to so far catching a total of 16 mice in Hazelwood, “That tastes like licking a barn”, Teasing John just after he woke up, " You can't squirt that... its toxic, thats why it's in a bottle", spilling my smoothie on the way down the Ferndale, Haze having a wee accident while mountain biking, listening to one cd all weekend, Amanda’s mum always trying to give me directions, to how amusing Claire is, "When your part of a staff delivering sensational days through safety, development, sizzle and detail it can be a long 8 days of straight work, especially when your are also creating a life changing experience where character and potential are developed!", “I like lamb chop she was bad @$$...” uh lamb chop was a sock puppet…” “yeah but a bad @$$ sock puppet!” and to a trip to the dentist.

Pictures: A wee view of the lake at sun set and Myself and Arlene at the lantern festival

The running bug

Today I am in slight pain after running a half marathon yesterday. I ran every inch of it even managed a sprint finish! The race started at 7am the atmosphere was great with over 4,500 runners. We ran through downtown Toronto past the Air Canada centre and the CN Tower and along the water front on Lake Ontario. There was live music along the way including some Ukrainian dancers!!

I would like to thank my sponsors and my 3.5 hour play list.

Here’s to banging my arm in the climbing wall, my work permit running out as of 30th Sept and my extension not arriving on time!, new shoes, Arlene and Steph wrestling, preparation, to the second season of Heroes starting, meeting up with summer people, “I’m half Poland”, it being Thanksgiving this weekend, catching 4 mice in 4 traps in 1 room in 1 night, buying a jumper without a hood!, good times with Joni, Chris and Erika, And to my keys timing out.