Preparation for the Alzheimer's Walk

I've often considered taking part in the Alzheimer's Marathon in the past.  The trouble is that I really don't like running.  Like really a lot!

However, they have a 5km walk option, so this was an easy item to add to my list.

A couple of days ago, I signed up for the walk and started a team with my two friends, Kristi & Jenn.  Both girls have participated in the past and I'm really looking forward to the day with them.

I am very lucky to have the grandparents that I do!  They've all passed, but I have amazing memories of all of them, who were very active in my life.
My grandpa was an incredible man.  I had a lot of cousins on that side and he always made every one of us feel special.
Sadly, he was affected by Alzheimer's and eventually died of complications to it.  I was young and missed out on so many great years that we could have had together, if it weren't for this awful disease. It continued to affect our family in so many ways after his passing.


Alzheimer's is often passed down through genetics and I'm worried about the future.

Luckily, scientists have made some great discoveries about Alzheimer's in the past few years.  They're not there yet, but it's possible that a cure could be found in our lifetimes.  This is so exciting!

So, the long and the short of it is this: please help me by supporting to this cause. 

http://thanksgivingmemorywalkrun.kintera.org/alzheimercalgary/lindsaysmallwood

Thanks!

Donate Blood 2 of 5

29.B. Donate blood 5 more times
Donation number 2 of 5
May 22, 2013

My blood is always pretty slow.  Last time I was there they had a new system, which slowed down the donation time even more.  I think it was about 17 minutes.

They told me that if I double my water intake, that will help.  So, I did.  I drink a lot of water to begin with, so this was kind of overdoing it.  I drink roughly one 500ml glass of water per hour.  I doubled this for the 2 days before my donation.  I almost floated away!

My new time was still pretty long at about 12 minutes, but cutting it by 5 minutes seems pretty good to me.

I guess we'll see what happens next time. 

Go to the National Music Centre

5. Go to the National Music Centre
Done!
May 15, 2013

So, this is a bit odd.  I had never been to the National Music Centre before (such a shame) and I figured that I really needed to go on one of their tours.  While on their website, I saw that they were looking for volunteers.  So, I decided to do that instead!

On May 15th, I went the NMC for a volunteer orientation and got to check out the gallery area of their building as well.

I'll be helping run events, which should be pretty fun.  I am trained on a sound board and I work with musicians, so I'll fit in there, but I will likely be doing things like ticket taking, etc.  Very cool to be a part of this!

If you haven't been to the NMC, do it.  Go on their website at www.nmc.ca and book a tour.  There are incredible instruments there.  They have pianos from the 1500's with murals painted on the backs!

I'm serious, book that tour.  Maybe I'll see you there. 

Walk With Wolfdogs

4. Walk with Wolfdogs at Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary
Done!
May 11, 2013


It's been a while since I last posted.  April started out with such hope and excitement for this list, but it just didn't go very far.  I'm trying to do a few extra in May, but that's been a little slow as well...

In any case: 

On May 11, 2013 my beautiful friend, Kristi, and I went to visit wolfdogs at The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary.  I had the idea in my mind that we would be going on a walk with the dogs at our sides.  We would snuggle and pet them and it would be lovely.  It was lovely, but that's not what happened. 

A few weeks in advance, I contacted the sanctuary and was told that it would be more of an information session, which is still really cool.  I picked up Kristi in the morning (our appointment was at 12:00pm) and after a couple of wrong turns, we were on our way.  The sanctuary was approximately 40 minutes from Calgary, just at the turn off to Exshaw along the Number 1 highway.

Our malamute friend

When we got there we were immediately greeted by Georgina, the young woman who lives in the home at the sanctuary.  We introduced ourselves and she lead us around the house to the caged in area, which was huge.  The dogs heard us coming and were all howling like wolves in the night.  It was entrancing!

As we approached the pen, they calmed down right away.  We went through the gates and sat down in some lawn chairs.  A couple of the dogs came over to sniff at us, but only one got within arms reach.  He is a malamute/wolf mix and was a real snuggler!  He was more dog than wolf.  Looking at him vs the others, it's obvious.

The dogs walked around a bit, but quickly found a place to sit in the shade.  It was pretty warm that afternoon, so they were very lazy.

Georgina told us all about the pack, which dogs are the leaders and what their days are like.  She explained about the traits of wolfdogs vs. regular dogs and other characteristics.  Contrary to popular belief, full wolves are a lot less confrontational than expected.  She told us that in the past 100 years there have only been two human deaths by wolf!

Wolfdogs care about humans and human reward a lot less than normal dogs.  Georgina explained about how they don't really care if a human disciplines them for something that they want to do; they'll keep doing it anyways.  She lives onsite and told us about a time that she forgot to lock the back gate properly.  When she got home, most of her bedding was out in the yard and there was a lot of destruction in the house.  She explained that if one of the dogs comes into the house when she's eating, it will jump on the table or counters.  Not just the front legs, but the full dog.  Can you imagine a full sized dog on your kitchen table?!

They had a 9 week old wolf-pup at the sanctuary.  She was so sweet!  Near the end of our talk, Georgina brought her over and put her in our laps, which was really cool.  First she sat in my lap and Kristi took photos of me.  Then she sat in Kristi's lap and I took photos of her.  She was pretty warm, so she scrambled back to the shade quickly.

After the visit, Kristi and I both discovered that our photos of that part were missing.  It was so weird!  We used two very different kinds of cameras (hers was a cell and mine was a handheld) and we had all of the other photos that we had taken.  Maybe there's a little magic to that pup and she didn't want her picture taken!

The visit was about 30 minutes long and very informative.  The dogs are incredible and a lot of them looked just like full wolves.  I couldn't believe how long some of their legs are!

It was nice to leave the city for a couple of hours and to experience something that I wouldn't have otherwise known about.  Thanks to my friends, Dan & Marianne, for suggesting this!  And thanks to Kristi for coming along!  It was great to spend the day with you.

Afterwards we went for an excellent mani-pedi.  Because that's the natural thing to do after visiting with wolves.

Take a class at Williams Sonoma

3. Take a class at Williams Sonoma
Done!

April 14, 2013

I'm not a very good cook.  It's not that I make bad food, it's that I don't really like to cook and I don't know my way around the kitchen very well, so I just avoid it.  I make a great shepherd's pie, but that's about all.
 
Williams Sonoma offers free classes every Sunday morning at 10:00am, before the store opens.  A few weeks ago, I went to the store to select a class and chose to attend the Pan Roasting class.

My husband and I arrived a couple of minutes before 10:00am and there were 6 other people standing outside of the store, waiting for it to open.  They were friendly with each other and we found out that there is a group of regulars who go almost every week, which is kind of neat.  Mostly they were welcoming, but there were a couple of them who didn't seem to like having outsiders join in.

The instructor was very casual with the group, since she knew everyone but us.  She made roast chicken breasts and roasted cauliflower.  Neither of us are big fans of cauliflower (is anyone?), but it was good to watch and learn.  She had some great tips.

I love chicken and would eat it for every meal, so I was pretty happy that that's what was being made.  She started by cooking the chicken, skin side down, on the stove top and then put it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

At the end, we all got a sample and it was amazing!

The class was more of a demonstration and wasn't hands on at all.  I enjoyed it, but probably won't be cooking because of it.  Good thing I married a man who loves to cook!


    

Sherm's Ultimate Gripper

2. Eat Sherm's Ultimate Gripper from Tubby Dog
March 29, 2013 - Done!

If you haven't been to Tubby Dog, you're missing out.

When it comes to food, I'm really picky.  I don't like spicy food (at all) and I have a hard time branching out.  I need to get over this, but I know what I like.

When I was making this list, my husband suggested I try Sherm's Ultimate Gripper from Tubby Dog because it's not something I would normally try on my own.  He's tried just about all of the hot dogs there, but he hadn't tried Sherm's either.

It's a very large hot dog that is almost like a man vs. food challenge all on its own.  It has: chili, bacon, onions, a slab of ham, a fried egg & cheese (it normally also has hot peppers and mustard, but I nixed those).  The hot dog is wrapped in bacon and deep fried.  I took a lot of natural stomach supplements in preparation!

Going into this, I figured that I wouldn't really like the hot dog, but that it would be an interesting thing to accomplish.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was absolutely delicious!  The first bite that broke the egg yoke was incredible!

I expected to get food all over the place, but it wasn't as messy as my normal hot dog of choice at Tubby Dog.  Some people eat the hot dogs with a knife & fork, but I wanted to just dive right in and do it right.    

It was greasy and tasty and I was full for about 24 hours afterwards.  I'm so glad I tried it!

 

Donate Blood 1 of 5

29.A. Donate Blood 5 More Times
Donation Number 1 of 5
March 27, 2013

I donate blood regularly.  My blood type is common, but also very vital (I can donate to most types).  This donation brought me up to 16 in total.

I often feel pretty gross after donating.  I become feel faint and very weak, but it's worth it.  One donation could save up to three people's lives and that's pretty cool.

Also, the donation staff are always really nice and they give me cookies afterwards.  Sometimes they have cupcakes.  Those are my favorite donation days!