Warm, Dry, Fed . . .

. . . and ready for bed.

I like to slow down slowly. Once it gets dark and I am feeding or fed, the body systems start to slow down. It's almost a ceremonious activity, slowing down.

Preparing food and eating well are definitely ceremonious. A small cup of tea, some yoga, composing thoughts, playing good music, these things are all ceremonious. It's a subtle routine, a quite celebration, congratulating yourself, and thanking the Universe for a great day.

Today we had another great cyclocross ride. You never know where you'll end up on the cyclocross bike. Today there were steep hills to go down, stairs to climb up, and rivers to cross.

As soon as I remember my login name and password for the NTC blog, I will post a few pictures from the ride.

This evening I experimented in the kitchen with some prawns, flambe style. Something about cooking with fire releases the prehistoric animal. Maybe that's why I feel so ready for bed. The animal knows it's time to sleep.

Goodness.

unspoken

One of my favourite part of holiday / regeneration periods is waking up. This morning I woke up and shortly realized I had a couple hours before our run. Sweet. I lay back down and returned to the story I was mesmerized by the night before. It was a great well rested way to start the day.

Our run was around a chilly Elk lake. Frozen puddles are tempting. They all shout out, "Stomp in the centre and break the ice!" I couldn't resist. 25' warm up, 30 minutes steady state, 10 minute cool down. Good run to keep the fire burning during regen.

Back home for some yoga of the Hatha variety. I am back on this routine I was doing earlier in the year. I like to switch core routines about every 6 weeks, otherwise the exercises become too easy.

All different types of Yoga have their benefits. I think a functional Hatha program can be adapted to benefit core strength.

Today's swim was with Randy's group. It's great that we can hop in and do a workout with that group. Thanks for the accommodation. We finished the workout with 24 x 50 dive starts from the blocks. Randy took the quote of the day with the following request: "... And guys, get out of the pool like athletes; use both hands and push up on the deck. Don't just crawl up and out, or use the ladder."

nice.

Part way through the 50s I asked Scotty to watch my dive and give me a pointer, or at least something to think about. When we arrived at the other end I looked over, eagerly awaiting my homework. Scotty smiled and said, "Just give me a minute." We both laughed, silently.

Sleep well.

Cheeta

This morning my alarm went off at 6:00am. I decided on a couple more minutes. I woke up again at 6:30 and ran out the door. Breakfast consisted of a cup of water and some Vitamin C. Breakfast of champions, no doubt about it.

It was great to meet up with a couple other guys and join in Neil's Island Swimming TAG group. I felt a little sluggish to begin, but as the practice continued things started to wake up. After mastering the couch groove, it takes a couple 1000m to wash out the webs.

At the beginning of our kick set, it was all I could do to make it across the pool and back. By the end of the set I was back to my efforts trying to master the Coates method of kick. No problemo. Now my left shoulder is doing that twitchy thing, so it must have been a good swim. My diagnosis: new neural highways are presently being routed.

The apres swim Sauna felt great. I am of the Sauna breed, instead of the hot tub. The hot tub is great for talk and such, but for me nothing beats the Sauna followed by a cold shower.

We're still on a little regeneration, so the rest of the day was fairly light. I am trying to maintain the couch groove for as long as possible.

I hopped on the Rollers this afternoon for a great ride. I really feel the difference riding on Rollers. In order to ride single leg drills the core needs to be connected. In order to make sure it's connected, I like to ride with one leg and only the opposite hand. The process goal is no hands, playing catch, single leg. . . (standing). . .

Today's play list: shuffle of U2 Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, K'naan, and a little Counting Crows. Sweet.

Pins and Needles

It's a funny feeling when we allow ourselves scheduled rest time. I find it so easy to find other things to do, and projects to start.

Today as I was putting away some laundry, I thought for a second. "I don't have to be doing this. I could just toss it all on the floor, and pick up clothes as I need them. Will the world be any different if I decide to take a nap, or read a book instead?"

The same question applies to everything we do, even the bigger things. In 100 years, will the world really care whether or not I put away my laundry on Thursday morning? What about in a week when it's all dirty, and needs to be washed again.

I can remember sitting in the office at Oak Bay High when one of my teachers told me, "Stephen, you don't have to do anything." I thought, "Really?... You're right!"

The thing is that we always have a choice. We can choose to do it now, or choose to do it later, or choose to do something entirely different. Another big choice we also have is how to feel, always. Any situation, any job, any task; We choose how to feel. Talk about a privileged life.

I choose to throw down the laundry and patch up some spare inner tubes for Papaya. I finished the laundry later.

Todays pictures are from Ogden Pt.

Great day. Let's go for a swim!

three for one

Christmas Eve, Winter Solstice (22nd), and a Full Moon.

We had a crisp and clear morning today in the Capital City. The moon was shining, lighting the streets before the sun was ready to rise. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. When I opened them the gift of light had arrived.

Beliefs and backgrounds aside, this time of year is about celebrating light and life. What better reason to celebrate?

Dec 24th is not only Christmas Eve, it's also the day this year I reserved a couple hours for buying things.

I have three secrets for Christmas shopping, but unfortunately I am unable to share them with you. They are highly top secret, bearing the burden of much sanity at this time of year.

I visited some nice shops with the G-man and he took some photos:














Enjoy the Eve.

Cheeto's

This weekend has been forced recovery.

So far it has been a great opportunity to work on my couch groove. Every couch, chair, bed, or cushion has one. When you go to someone else's house, try and notice the different grooves in different chairs. Everyone generally has a certain chair or place on the couch where they feel most comfortable.

After couple days of hard work my couch groove is almost back into shape. One more day of effort and it will be perfect, just in time for Christmas.

Here's a Christmas memory:

It's about 1:30pm on the last day of school. I rise from my desk and make my way to the back of the dark TV screen lit classroom.

My mission: Reload on Cheeto's.

I trod carefully, trying not to make a sound. Actually there is a sound, but I cant help it. It's the peeling sound of my sneakers sticking to the dried Orange Crush spilled all over the floor. I wouldn't want to disturb the movie.

If our teacher was on the ball that year, we would be watching one of Blockbuster's twelve copies of "Mr. Grinch" eagerly sought after by every class K - 12 in the city. Mr. Grinch or a Chevy Chase Classic, we were all happy to be watching a movie in school!

Ahhhh..... Willows Elementary.

I'm going to go have some ice cream.

When you train with a group of people there are certain moments, comments, quotes that stick with the group. Neil is especially good with words in the early morning swim hours. Yesterday's quote of the day came from Neil.

"Stuff that feels hard now, makes stuff that is hard in the future possible." - Neil the swim master Harvey

The above comment put a positive attitude in my head before a challenging swim set yesterday morning. It's about creating the future.

Today I was starting to fatigue towards the 2nd half of our swim. The volume adds up. Patrick noticed the change in energy levels and put a quote up on the board.

The quote itself doesn't matter. The change in attitude, thought, and energy it brings about is what counts.

Lots to think about over the upcoming recovery week. I'm looking forward to shifting gears for a couple days. In the mean time . . . rest and recover for a great day tomorrow.

Rain Woopels

One of my favourite parts of this season is meeting with people you haven't seen for a while; Spending time with good friends and family. This evening I enjoyed dinner with some of my oldest friends.

I've known Killian and the Millers since I was in grade 2. That's going back aways. All the way back to the days of Mtn. Climbers on the Musgrave Field and Rain Woopels with Mrs. Dorworth.

Talk about childhood, Killian and I did it all; Camping, Sailing, Baseball, School, basically everything from K -12. I'll spare you the extensive list and inside jokes. Every reunion includes good memories and a little bit of reminiscing.

Killian's Dad Danny, is always there with exciting stories, words of wisdom, and encouragement. Nice evening. Thanks to the Millers for being there, solid, #1.

I had lots of pull swimming today. I remember when anything over 10K was epic for the day. I also remember when 1000m nearly left me drowning in the shallow end of Oak Bay Rec. 10K is still lots of swimming, but it's no big deal. It's a Change in Attitude, Change in Thought, Change in Energy.

I will wake up tomorrow with a fully healed knee. Time for cellular rejuvenation.

fire

Another day for the books. I love adventure.

I woke up this morning and spent some time finding just the right size kindling, some larger pieces, and a good protected area.

As I stepped out the garage door this morning I felt a couple rain drops. Something about loading up the car in the dark with supplies for the day starts a bright spark for the day. It reminded me of adventure trips, camping, sailing, climbing, skiing, anything out in the living world.

By the time we were in the middle of the main swim set the fire was well on it's way to burn strong through the day. No amount of rain could change that. It was one of those fires you could throw a waterlogged piece of driftwood on and it would still burn, eventually becoming the ambers for fires to come.

Nice swim. The standards have changed. New possibilities. New expectations.

Cyclocross was absolute wickedness, as usual. Andrew showed me a new route through Francis King park. That was a sweet part of the ride man. With warm fingers and toes that hill is definitely climbable.

It was great to give Munn a little bit of Fartlek. I can't wait to try that out on the F-1 this spring.

One of the things about cyclocross is you are guaranteed to be extremely muddy from tip to tail. With consecutive rides this means putting on muddy clothes the next day. Today I found a way around this. It's simple. After the ride, walk straight into the showers with all your bike clothes on and do the wash. For even more efficiency and enjoyment, bring a chocolate milk in there with you. Hang up the clothes at home and your ready for the next one, clean as can be.

Today's run was at Cedar Hill. My heart rate started HIGH, and found it's way back to base within the first lap. Next 2 laps were a slight build, and on the 4th Andrew and I brought it up to Steady State. I was happy to finish off the day with some comfortable running and a little bit of effort.

This evening Tepi rocked and rolled on the rower for 2:18:04, a total of 20318m. Nice one Tepi.

Now I let the fire burn down. Todays coals will start a good one tomorrow morning.

Rest Day

Today I have been resting the body. It is really easy to put yourself in the "go mode" and just stay there, even during rest days.

Sometimes it's a good thing to sleep in, wake up, have breakfast, and decide to go back to bed for a couple more hours. After waking up for the second time you feel a little groggy, but well rested. Now you do what you need to, work, etc, then go back to bed for a few more hours. When you wake up for the third time that day there is a real rested feeling. Finally, eat well and go back to sleep for the night. This time around rest day = sleep day.

I am looking forward to our final build week before a rest week over the holidays. There will be an emphasis on cyclocross and swimming.

Here's a training recap from the few days leading up to our run/walk event:
Friday - good swim with a PB on the 200m Free. Next we swam a 2000m straight set where I swam about 4 minutes faster than 3 weeks ago. Drafting helps. Friday evening I set off to swim and run at the Crystal Pool. It was nice to run into other athletes finishing off their weeks training on a Friday evening.

We began the weekend with a standard Saturday swim including some long sets and basic aerobic swim training. This is where we boost mitochondrial density in the shoulders. I have to say, Saturday's water felt a little bit like molasses. The upside of swimming through molasses is that you can catch lots of of it. That's a good feeling.

On Saturday afternoon we did a group cyclocross ride which was not incredibly long, but definitely epic. On the way back we decided to blast through a couple farm roads / lakes. I have to be honest, I wasn't really expecting the group to follow through that massive pond. When I looked back to see the rooster tails flying on either side of everyones bikes as they pedaled through the water, I smiled. Way to go guys, that was fun. Climbing up through that random farm field / mountain was a blast too.

The quote of the day came from Patrick. Looking across a field we saw what looked like a fire road under some power lines. Patrick commented, "That would be sweet if we could ride up there." After scanning the field for rabid dogs and pitch fork baring farmers I replied, "We could bomb across that field, bushwack through that patch of trees and make it up there." A moment of consideration and silence followed. With quiet and somewhat excited confidence Patrick replied with a simple, "Go."

Now it's time to give Papaya a bath.

(ps. if you know why the header picture is all squished at the top of the blog, please send me a note)

Successful Event ... Thanks!

Today our NTC Development group hosted a successful 2nd annual Run/Walk for the Homeless. Great work everyone! The whole group worked together well and solid teamwork came through.

Thanks to our many sponsors for the event: Running Room, Old Victoria Water Company, Hayak Air, Kook FM, Cobs Bakery, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Oak Bay Bikes, Prairie Inn Harriers, Pacific Sport Victoria, the CRD, and of course our many Volunteers who braved the wind.

It was great to be able to sit back a little bit and watch the event unfold this morning. Everyone knew exactly what to do and took care of business with a smile.

Food was taken care of by Patty Davidson, and Andrea Kent. Nice work on that one. Food is always of primary importance at this sort of event.

Richard Thomas had the coffee and hot chocolate situation under control from way before early this morning to the conclusion around noon. I've heard good things about the coffee and some day I may be converted. Until then, keep brewing up the delisciousness for everyone to enjoy.

Barb Sharpe knew exactly what needed to be done. It was like she had done this all before. Barb teamed up with the highly devoted scholarly skills of Alex and Kyla Coates to register all of our participants.

Gaby, Kyla, Alex, and Kerry made an awesome team organizing draw prizes. You guys came up with some great ideas this morning. Keep the inner genius flowing.

Our course layout managers, JP, Sharpie, and Aaron cotrolled the flour technician positions with superior skill. They also managed to fit in some extra workouts by rabbiting each race.

Andrew Russell brought our sound system but later he disappeared. In his place, Santa returned with friendly greetings for everyone.

Jasper Blake was our muscle for the day. He cleared the path of any fallen trees, set up the finishing chute, and I saw him single handedly pick up a car and carry it to a different parking spot.

Our Cool Aid Volunteers managed the money side of things. Thanks for your support of the event.

Bob Reid from PIH brought an epic amount of race set up experience, timing equipment, and a megaphone that provided much entertainment while everyone was running.

Ron Phillips took care of anything requiring tarps, rope, a jeep, or produced power. When I arrived there were flood lights in the picnic shelter. I thought, "This event is pro style."

St. John's Ambulance provided a nice piece of mind. How many times have I gone to the St. John's tent after an event to pick up some blister patching supplies? Thanks for being there.

Scotty ran around all morning making sure things went smoothly and everyone was happy. Nice work on the megaphone. Good work buddy.

Patrick was there as our grand master. ". . . PK will know what to do."

I'm sure I must have forgotten a number different things. That's because whoever took care of them did such a great job, it went completely unnoticed. There must have been a hundred little things where everyone silently pitched in to make things run smoothly. All those little things were much appreciated.

Finally, Congratulations to all those who donated, participated, and congregated at the lower parking lot of Beaver Lk this morning. You were part of a great event, supporting a worthwhile cause.

Training is great....updates tomorrow.

recapitulation

The last few days have been JSA including some solid base training sessions.

Swim recap:
Tuesday's highlight was the 400s set: 4 x (3 x 100 kick on 2:00 + 1 x 100 drill/swim on 2:00 + 400 swim on 6:00 dec 1 - 4). Improvement. 5:24, 5:21, 5:14, 5:10. Now change the standard and go faster.

Wednesday am swim: breakpoint. main set was: 24 x 50 as 3 on, one ez. 34-35 seconds, 37 strokes. Next week stroke count will be 36. pm swim was all about the camera with 6 x 800.

Thursday swim: lighter volume at 4.5 for the day.

Bike recap:
My work schedule now accommodates the 10:00 ride so I have been able to rock the cross world with Andrew and his new steed, black magic. Sweet riding this week mano.

Tuesday's destination was Mt. Doug. We set up a good loop there. I find riding loops is the best way to hone in on skills. It allows you to practice the same maneuver time and time again until you have it down. It's just like sailing practice, tight courses make you fast. Each time you round a corner you can push it a little further.

On Wednesday we rode the dump. Cool and crisp day with some sun. Perfect.

Today we ventured out to the park at Stelly's and Wallace Drive. Here is where we will really learn to ride the corners. It's not too technical, so you can just carve your way with some smooth speed.

Run Recap:
On Tuesday I was absolutely famished by the end of our run. Running in the dark reminds me of fall roller-ski training back in Guelph. Awesome.
Today's run was at Elk Lk. completed.

Run/Walk this weekend.

time to sleep

Today I woke up and decided how the day would be great, and great it was. I'll describe it later because now it's time to sleep.

Here's a picture from one of my favorite places:


guess where...

JSA

Today can be described by an all new acronym. JSA stands for Just Simply Awesome.

Our swim was a typical Monday swim, redesigned to meet the entertainment quotient by Mike The Iron Man Neil. We rolled through it quickly and two winks of one eye later, I was chowing down on a Cliff bar with apple sauce for dipping. This better than gourmet feast was courtesy of the Athlete's Resource Room in PacSport.

The early morning's sunshine was a perfect start to the day for which I am thankful. Remember, if you love the sun, you need to be equally thankful for the rain.

Driving home I belted out the lyrics to Big Eyed Fish and Bartender by Dave Matthews. Everyone's a rock star in the safety of their own car. Belting it out feels good.

Back at the Rec things are busy with the upcoming resolutioners. Good for you guys. Stick with it because anything worth anything takes time.

This afternoon was my final bike TT up at UVIC. The conditions were 31.5 degrees, 70% humidity (my heavy breathing cranked this one up), pre-cooling vest, and 20K. I felt pretty good the whole way through, even having enough to kick it up for the final couple kilometers. I tried the sprint from 18K and sat back down at 18.67 . . . too early. I was back out of the saddle at 19 K to take 'er home. Now Monday's are officially back to being a recovery day.

There will be some useful numbers to come from all this work. Numbers are interesting, somewhat irrelevant, but still interesting. They are a little like the picture on the lego box. Here is what you can build if you follow the directions. For me that final product would last until about December 25 at 6pm when it was time to take it apart and build something else, not found on the box.

Only you decide what the pieces will look like when they come together.

Rest well.

west

Good fun and good miles this weekend; swimming, biking, and running.

Saturday's ride was nice one. There are so many trails in to explore in Victoria. We found our way up to Christmas hill, appropriately named for this time of year. It was a great place to bring Papaya for some biking and hiking. Some of the trails are a little too technical to ride up, but I found a really comfortable way to throw the bike over my shoulder, perfect for running up stairs. I have a good feeling we will find some awesome routes through the burbs this week.

Saturday's swim was c. o. l. d. Fortunately there was a hot tub waiting.

I cruised along the rocks and sand along Dallas road for my run this morning. I felt pretty west coast running over piles of seaweed and drift wood, so to continue the feeling I came home and made a pot of organic green tea. Granola, organic free range bananas, and non-GMO yogurt hit the spot for breakfast.

This afternoon I enjoyed a picturesque picnic up at Goldstream.

Trainer time. See you tomorrow.

good night

Perfectly Perfect.

Nice day of training on a paradise island in the South Pacific. An early morning wake up found me in good spirits for a smooth early morning 4K. I am starting to feel some changes from the added swim volume. I must be convinced that's a good way to swim faster.

There are a couple benefits from swimming early: Number one, the muffins from Waveside Cafe are fresh out of the oven; Number two, mid morning naps.

Today was the first time in a couple months where I have been able to enjoy both of these two treats. It could have been the nap, or the blueberry cranberry muffin, but either way I felt awesome all day.

After work I hopped on the road bike for a spin of the waterfront. Black Lightning feels like a Formula One race car after riding through the mud with Papaya. My confidence going into corners has improved too. Ohhh cyclocross, you continue to impress me.

Swim practice #2 was better than awesome. We did an eye opener set and I made the following conclusion. If you are going to swim faster, it is going to feel different. This may seem obvious, but it's finally sunk in with me.

During the first few 75's I was holding 53-54 seconds on 60. That's ok, but you may as well go faster. So I swam faster, 52-53 seconds. Again, that's ok, but here you are swimming so you may as well swim faster, 51 seconds. This feels different that swimming 53-54 seconds. Go figure. I was content at this pace, a couple seconds faster than last time we did the set.
Eye opener.

Today's run included a couple drills and strides with a short waterfront loop. Running in the dark makes me feel fast and cool.

Tonight's dinner was the beginning of Christmas eating.

TisbaHu 'ala kher

Beautiful

Beauty day of training.

Swim - 5.2 K as 1500 WU, 15 x 100, 2 x 1000, 200 Cool Down. Just roll, and before you know it we're on to the next set. To be honest, sometimes I used to dread swim practice. (Of course Now I love every moment of it) Swimming meant lots of really hard work, even on the easy stuff. Just try to keep up and hang on for dear life right from the splash.

I like to remember these practices. Some technical things have changed with my stroke, but the foundation of why carries on and grows stronger. Reflection on where we have come from offers a neat perspective.

Here I am. Love the set, the moment, the opportunity, the gift.

Work, Lunch, Run/Walk phone calls and e-mails, insurance is in, permit is in the mail, upcoming interview with CBC in the works, good deal.

When I arrived at Elk I spent a couple minutes enjoying just the sun and air. Nice crisp day. I hopped on Papaya and began to enjoy the earth and wind as I rode. What a perfect riding day along farm roads behind the lake. Towards the end of my ride the game turned a little physical between myself and a tree. Most would say the tree won, but I held my own.

Nice run with 5K building to Tempo II. I am staying out of the danger zone unless the race or Grand Master PK dictates it. I kept it in control for the Tempo and focussed on maintaining posture. Smooth. Nice run today by Scotty. Good work buddy.

Swim practice tomorrow is coached by Mike the ironman Neil. I am predicting some underwater swimming and breath holding.

Breath deeply, Think thoughtfully, Sleep soundly.

Entertainment.

I have a new way to entertain myself at work in the gym. Not only does it keep me occupied, it will also help me achieve my goal of cracking the 6 foot mark this year.

The chin up bar is the perfect hight for me. If I jump up and grab the bar I can hang with my feet just off the ground. Gradually as I relax the shoulder and spinal muscles my toes touch the ground. Eventually, after hanging there for about 3 minutes I can touch my heels to the ground also. Repeat this 5 or 10 times with some recovery and there goes almost an hour.

Another entertaining toy is the scale. I spent a good amount of time weighing my legs, feet, and arms. I didn't go as far as putting my head down on the scale.

The sphygmomanometers along with the stethoscopes have also provided much entertainment. They are about 100 years old and require a lot of athletic tape to plug the holes before they become operational. Definitely a two person job. It's important to make sure this equipment is ready for use at any time. I am taking responsibility to make sure it doesn't go rusty.

I also found some workout tapes that look like they are from the late 80s. I'm not sure if the Rec Centre has a tape deck, but if it does I'm impressed.

Balloon animals made from surgical gloves are pretty good too, but they are a little obvious.

Good training today and a very thought provoking conversation with Milton.

Thank you world. Rest well.

today

I am in the midst of reorganizing the work schedule to allow for increases in bike and run volume. Creating time is a real art.

I was first introduced to running by a wise old friend. We ran together for my first couple weeks. A couple months later he checked up on me and asked how the running was coming along. I reluctantly replied, "Well, I just haven't been able to find the time what with school, music, sailing, and work." He responded, "Stephen, time is all about priorities. You have time for what are priorities in your life." He told me to routinely check to make sure that I am spending my time on the high priority aspects of my life. It's just that simple.

So here it is, recognizing the priorities, and creating time.

Today's swim was fairly straight forward. I brought the stroke count to a new low of 34 strokes. There's the new standard for our up and coming breakpoint work. Cross the bridge, throw down some dynamite, and never look back.

This afternoon we had a little fun with the media rattling off some dates for the NTC Run/Walk for the Homeless on A-Channel News and CFAX 1070. More importantly we were down at StreetLink where once again, more than just my eyes were opened.

Our run was a mostly aerobic 65ish minute effort. I only spent a couple minutes on one or two hills with the HR slightly above steady state.

Fall Foundation Fills the Fountain For summer Fire.

Life, The Adventure

I love Adventure.

Driving home from the pool in the pouring rain this morning I was tired and hungry. It reminded me of so many tired and hungry adventures. I love the feeling. The feeling of a pack, hiking boots, poncho, rain, hungry, tired is like any other great feeling. Remember the cold salt water splashing, the wind blowing. It's just like the feeling of running, swimming, biking in the sun, wind, hot, or cold; the feeling of living.

I can think of experiences that were total "adventures." Just take a little bit of the unknown, add something new, and let the pot simmer. Times shared I will remember forever.

Every moment is a new adventure. Every moment offers a new opportunity to experience. We create new thoughts, make new connections, feel new emotions. Add the earth, and here we are, living the adventure.

It has a while for me to let this weekend sink in. It will be a little while before I know just where it all fits in. One thing is for certain, the same positive affirmations keep showing up. No words to explain it, just a feeling. Carry on the mission.

I was able to put in some good snow time and had a few hard efforts. All it takes is one or two extended strong efforts to crack open the ski race zone. Here's to the next chance we have to pop the cork on a new bottle of zone.

Big shout out to the group this weekend. You guys are the definition of coolio. Special thanks to those who shared the ride back. Your absolute chillness is sweetness.

Driving home after supper I was again convinced that although I do enjoy good food, there is way more to the energy than ATP. This evening I enjoyed dinner with my Gran and Dad. After an eventful weekend it's great to be grounded. Thanks for a nice dinner, conversation, and ongoing support.

Great week ahead.