Curling season 2015-2016

The 2015-2016 curling season is officially over! Technically, my last thrown rock was two weeks ago...  but there was still curling on TV. Now, it's really the end till next September. Sigh.

It's really hard for me to believe that this was my fourth curling season. I feel like I've just started curling yesterday!! Then again, I can't imagine my life without curling now LOL. Yes, it's time-consuming... but the friendships I've made and the fun I've had make it worth it :)

Lots of highlights this season... so I'll try to name a few :)

 1) No injury this year! Woohoo! LOL. This was my first curling season where nothing happened... No concussion, no appendicitis, no shoulder injury. I did spend the whole month of November knocking on wood LOL.

2) My sister joined! After 2 years of being constantly asked when she was going to play/join by all the other members... she finally jumped in and started curling. It was nice for her, because she knew everyone from hanging out at the club so much. This past season, she only played on Friday... but I think she'll play two nights next season :)

3) Supper club. A lot of us have a tendency to buy fast food for supper before a game, simply because it's convenient. Especially when you don't go home because lack of time or it's just out of the way. This year, I happened to curl the same night as D and he likes to cook... and being Asian, he tends to cook wayyyy too much and start feeding everyone. So this year, a few of us band together and started having supper together on Monday and Thursday. We each took turns to cook... or in my case, beg my sister to cook LOL. One of us "crock-potted" it the whole year LOL. Seriously though, it's been a lot of fun and way tastier. I think next year, we'll have a few more joining us in our supper club :)

4) The Briers. The Briers is the Canadian Men's Curling Championship and this year, it took place in Ottawa which is only 2 hours away from me. Ever since curling has become an Olympic Game discipline, the level of curling has been rising everywhere and so in international competitions, Canada is no longer guaranteed to medal... Still, the Briers probably exhibit the best competitive level of curling every year... because many countries only have one great team that represents them... while in Canada, there are soooo many teams that could do it. To win the Briers is probably harder than to win the world championship! Anyway, since the Briers were so close, my sister, curling best friend Jen and I went to watch it live... and it was sooooo great! We made a little trip out of it, staying overnight and went to four draws (3+ hours each). On each draw, there's 4 games going on at the same time. We had great seats and it was just awesome to watch such high level curling live, to hear the players discuss and joke, and so on. Even got a picture with my favorite team, Team Gushue... I thought this year's Briers was great... The only thing that would have made it better is if Team Gushue had won it all instead of being runner-up. Sigh. In December 2017, the curling Olympics trial will take place in Ottawa and so, we're already making plans to go and watch :)

5. Speaking of favorite teams... Team Gushue had an amazing season and so, it was fun to root for them :) I also fell in love with the Japanese women team, Team Fujisawa. They won silver at the world championship and were just so much fun to watch :) Definitively will be rooting for them from now on.

6. I'm very happy with how I played this year. On my league teams, I play lead and I've become quite consistent at it. It's just great when you make your shots LOL. Our open ladder team did really well this year, going from section D to C! The beginning of the season was a bit frustrating... made me and Jen even consider changing team next year... But then, Jen switched position (from 2nd to 3rd) and we started winning more! As a result, we're sticking together next year :) On my mixed ladder team, there were ups and downs as well... but in the end, we're staying in the A section, so we ended on an up :P We'll also be sticking together next year. On TGIF nights, I play 3rd and even skipped a few games. I have to say, it's fun to play other positions... the last tournament of the year, I actually skipped the team and we had a blast.

7. Volunteer of the year! Yep, that was me this year! woohoo :)

Last but not least, the people at the club. Pretty much what the romance community in blogland brought to me, I found at my curling club. I'm so happy I joined this one. Every event is so much fun, so much laughing! I've been very blessed... first with the romance blogland and now, with curling :)

Debutantes tournament

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the silence ^_^; This is definitively not how I wanted to start the year. I'm going to try better, but truthfully, my blogging might only pick up after curling season. I checked the calendar and till the end of February, curling is ruling my  life LOL. Hopefully though, I'll find time to put together my 2014 recaps.

By the way, one of the reasons I was so busy last week-end was the Debutantes tournament. It's a tournament for female curlers with 5 years or less experience (not years old LOL). The past two years, I've been wanting to participate, but always missed it for some reasons. This year though, I made it... and my team won!!

It was really a great experience. I knew we had a good team and the odds were good, but to win it... Yay!! Now, onto the next tournament which is for female curlers, 7 years and less experience!

Anyway, just wanted to share and let you guys know what I've been up to :) What about you all? Anything exciting?

Curling and Olympics!

Hi everyone!! :)

How are you doing? So sorry for the lack of reviews ^_^; I've been quite busy lately and well, if you want to know why, please refer to the title of the post :) I'm reading which is the good news, just not reviewing... I have Monday off so hopefully, I'll be able to put together some reviews!

As you know, I missed most of the curling season before Christmas. I started again in January and I guess I just jumped right back in. I have games usually on Sunday, Thursday and Friday nights, but have been participating to a lot of events and tournaments. There was the McCallum Filly which is a tournament for women with 7 years and less of experience. Then a mixed funspiel at our club, so all the teams were made up of 2 women and 2 men... and this week-end and the next one, it's the Lakeshore bonspiel. Basically, it's 6 curling clubs that get together to host and teams travel from one club to another to play - where and when depending on your results. The tournament is usually over 2 week-ends with three games on the first and at least one game on the second... Lucky us, we're playing four games this week-ends LOL. Although we absolutely need to win our 4th game if we want to play next week-end. At this point though, I'd say either way is good with me LOL.

That's me at the mixed funspiel. I lost my balance on my slide LOL; however, I made my shot... Ish :P 

The week before the Olympics was also quite busy... not playing curling, but watching it :) It was the Scotties Tournament of Hearts which is what we call our women national championship. Guess where it was held? Yes, in Montreal!! Even better, the Quebec representatives were from my curling club! So obviously, we went to cheer for them. I wished we'd have gone more often, sigh. Two of my favorite teams were also there - Stephanie Lawton from Saskatchewan and Chelsea Carey from Manitoba - so I played hooky from work to go see them and get their autographs. I don't have it yet, but me and my sister were able to get a picture with the Manitoban team and we were featured in the tournament newspaper. So cool LOL. But seriously, seeing the games live was an awesome experience. I've watched a lot of curling on TV, but being there, it was just awesome and so exciting! Although it was hard to keep up with everything as there were four games going on at the same time.

Us cheering on our squad :)

Pretty awesome to see it live!

My sister and I with the Saskatchewan team!!

So that was a lot of fun :) And now, there's the Olympics!! You all know how much I enjoy watching the Olympics. This year is a bit of a challenge because of the time difference - I'm either sleeping or at work ^_^; But I've managed to catch as much as possible. Luckily, there are webcasts and replays!! The first few days were really good for Canada, so exciting! Now, it's winding down a little, but I know the last few days will get exciting again. Can't wait :) My sister and I are waiting for the surprise stories. Those are really the best :P

So yeah, that's pretty much what has been going on with me. What about you? :)

Curling Recap IV - Rookie of the Year!!

All right, well the curling season had come to an end on last Saturday. As you've probably figured out from my posts, I have really enjoyed myself this winter. It wasn't only the sport, which I loved LOL, but also the people I met. I mean, as much as I love reading and blogging, it's quite solitary and I needed something more social at this point of my life. So curling came at the perfect time :) And it definitively made winter go by faster! :)

I posted a video of me above :) What do you think? The junior team's coach - the one that got me on my mixed team - said that my form was good. He gave me a few pointers to gain more stability, something that I'll be working on next year. Speaking of my mixed team, we won our section!! So I got another beer mug for my efforts :) It says "2013 Glenmore Curling Mixed Ladder 'B' Champs." At least three of us are staying together for next year and we'll be starting in the 'A' section :) Not bad for a team that was 2 victories/5 losses after the first round LOL.

The last event of the curling season at our club is the Spring Fling. It's a tournament where members are allowed to invite non-members to participate. I had my sister and a friend playing with us :) It was a lot of fun, especially since some of my friends came to cheer us up. And to wrap everything up, there was a banquet and some awards were handed out. Guess what? Yep, I got one... I won Rookie of the Year!! Woohooo!!

It just wrapped up the season so well for me :) To tell the truth, I have heard about the Rookie of the Year award, but didn't pay much attention to it. It wasn't a goal of mine or anything. However, as the season drew to an end and the Spring Fling neared, well I started to hope :P What can I say, yes, I'm quite competitive. And this year, well as the president said, the crop of new curlers was a good one! So to come on top of it, well I'm very happy and proud of myself :)

So this is it for curling for now :) A well deserved break ahead of us, although a lot of us have already started making plans for the next season which starts in October. As I mentioned above, I'm staying with my mixed team... and I'm also going to get onto an open ladder team. The goal of this team is to participate to some tournaments for women curlers of 5 years of experience and less  :) But for now, time to relax :P

Hauling Sunday CVI

Hi everyone!! How are you doing?! It's been a while I haven't shared my life with you LOL. I thought this post would be the perfect time to catch up! The last few weeks have been quite busy work and social-wise and I didn't really know where to start, so I just didn't. While it was busy, it was a good busy though, so I can't complain... at least, not too much :P

So let see... Two week-ends ago, I went tubing with my friends :) I'm not such an outdoor-sy person, but if it's to be with my friends, I'll participate :) It turned out to be a lot more fun than what I remembered! And we ended up being so lucky because the weather was so nice :)

Then, last week-end, I ended up going to sugar shack twice :) Once with work and once with my friends. Got an overload of sugar. Of course, I could have gone only once... but seriously, everything to avoid working is worth for me. Especially since back then, I was still "practicing" and I was running out of material to practice on. The menu is always similar no matter where you go: ham, omelette, potatoes, maple syrup, maple syrup toffee, etc. But some places are better than others and the one where I went with my friends was really yummy! I have a feeling we'll definitively return :) And perhaps even this summer since they have an orchard.

Also, curling has been keeping me very busy :) I've been meaning to post about it, but I thought getting back into a rhythm for reviews was the priority. The season is almost over (3 more weeks), so perhaps I'll recap my experience then ;) I've been playing a lot lately, averaging three games a week. This past week-end, since it was Easter, we had a long week-end... and my curling club usually hosts a tournament. Since I miss a lot of events to which I wanted to participate, I decided to sign up. It's been really fun :) All in all, I'm really happy because I feel I've come a long way in a year and I'm definitively signing up for next year :)

As for work, well it finally picked up. After weeks of practicing, I finally officially started on "good" samples. And of course, to celebrate, I cut myself on the blade ^_^; Sigh, it was such a stupid mistake... a moment of inattention. Once again, I was lucky because the cuts weren't deep. Two of my co-workers had taken a first aid class and decided I did not need band-aid, they could do it...

I'm the one who added the smiley faces LOL. While they tried their best, let just say I wouldn't have been able to work with those bandages... So they had to come off LOL.

Finally, my latest addiction has been the online game, Candy Crush ^_^; I don't know why I keep getting addicted to those games... For a while, it was Bejeweled, then Tetris, Words with Friends... Lately, I've been doing some jigsaws online... and last week, our admin showed me Candy Crush on her iPhone and the next thing you knew, there I was playing it on FB. By the way, a big thank you to those who have helped me unlocked the next stages! The game is very similar to Bejeweled, but what I like about Candy Crush is that you have goals that need to be reached... and there are different stages, so it makes it more challenging. However, there's a few things I don't like about it... such as when your friends send you extra lives, how to you claim them?!

And in the middle of everything, well I'm reading :) I try to read as much as possible and I have to say, so far, 2013 feels like a good year! (Hopefully, I have not just jinxed it ^_^;) Here are the new books I've gotten since my last Hauling Sunday post:

 Not many books, but ones that I really wanted. Still, there's a lot more books that I want to buy, so I hope Chapters has a "Buy 3, get the 4th book free" sale soon! And the list just gets longer since it's the beginning of the month! Check out what Ames and I are looking forward to add to our TBR pile in April over at Breezing Through :)

What about you? How have you been? Read anything good lately? What books are you going to pick up this week?