Ice Ninjas Curling Funspiel

Yesterday on behalf of our rec-hockey team I hosted the first ever Ice Ninjas Curling Tournament. We had a grand total of 8 teams show up for the inaugural event with skills ranging from Schmirler to first timer curler.

My team, "Stu's Sirens" was comprised of myself, Dana "The Ringer", Andrea "Rookie of the Year", and the "Polish Assassin" Okinczyc.

We started strong with a big win over Top Gear after scoring 5 points in the 3rd end (to keep the day moving, each game was 4 ends). Andrea & Dayna split our player of the game honours.

Andrea was dialed in.

 Even with all the eye candy around.

Our second game we lost quite soundly to the eventual "A"side winner; Hewson's Heroes. Dayna was our player of the game in the tough loss.

My co-worker Craig with the great delivery.

With the loss we ended up in the "C" Final versus the Blazing Kilts. The Blazing Kilts ladies were riding high and played us tough. But there was no answer for our player of the game as Christina was absolutely killing it.

The championship lunge bringing us home as C Finals Champs.

There was a lot of good curling going down that afternoon and I tried to capture some of the moments and teams in the building.

On behalf of my hockey team I would like to thank everyone that came out and helped us raise a couple hundred bucks for our annual tournament. I hope you all had fun.

Bonus - Cute child picture - Parker chilling out in the lounge. Big curling fan.

The Best Burger Joint In Edmonton

So, I have been sick for about 2 weeks, and before that Chrissy was sick for a week, so I haven't been doing too much worthwhile to post. One of the benefits of being sick is not eating and dropping a few pounds. But, then when you do get hungry, you get really hungry.

On one such occasion Chrissy and I decided it was time to cash in my groupon and check out the newish Soda Jerks Edmonton.  We went in pretty much completely blind in expectations and I was pleasantly greeted with the sight of Pop Shoppe sodas.

I of course love Pop Shoppe as we used to have the distribution rights at our Gas Station in Humboldt. At this point I was already over the moon. The menu also had some cool other soda options like Jones Soda and Dad's Rootbeer.

Looking through the menu there was some great sounding burgers and dogs but my eye got drawn to the big momma of their burgers: "The Doris".

Doris is not a lightweight woman. She contains: 4 pieces of sourdough, 8 strips of bacon, 4 pieces of cheddar cheese, 2 beef patties, 1 fried egg, mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion.

The shot from above looks ok...

But now check that out...

That's right. Two full grill cheese and bacon sandwiches as the bun of the burger. Outstanding!
Christina was slightly disgusted at the sight of me eating the burger - I don't recommend it for a first date.

Christina got the Traditional and thought it was pretty awesome. She really liked the fries too.

I can say with certainty that this is the best burger joint in Edmonton. Do yourself a favor and go check it out.

Things I have seen the last few weeks

Babysitting

I ended up babysitting last night for my sisters kids. The Patriots vs. Broncos game was on so I wasn't a very good uncle - I just watched TV while the kids played on their own.  As the game got completely out of reach I interacted a bit more with the kids and eventually bribed them into entertaining me to earn cupcakes.
Here is their first attempt.

Their eventual successful attempt. 

I told them no at the end, but they wore me down....

So yeah, I expect the babysitter of the year award in the mail soon.

New Years Eve

Christina and I celebrated New Years Eve in Edmonton together for 2011.

We started with a nice home cooked meal of lobster tails and shrimp pasta.

After eating we got all dressed up for a big night out at a masquerade ball at the Matrix Hotel a few blocks away.  We arrived pretty early - 9ish - to mix and mingle with the other revellers for the night. We had high hopes for the event and were dressed to the nines.

We were greeted by some lovely ticket takers and led to the side area to select a mask. 

 There was some pretty cool ones available and I think Chrissy and I got the best of the bunch.

The Cat that Wore the Canary and the Rosebush Phantom out on the town.

Unfortunately, the masks were the only highpoint of the event. They ran out of appetizers around 10pm before we could get any, the line-ups for booze were way too long, the staff was indifferent to doing their jobs and the crowd wasn't really very sociable. We were genuinely disappointed but couldn't complain too loudly as the whole purpose of the event was to fundraise for Oxfam. We donned our caps and jackets and headed back to my place to change and hit the downtown.

After a quick change and some bundling up we headed out once again. This time towards City Hall and the first night of Metropolis. Churchill Square was really hopping (the Edm Journal said 25,000 people) and we entered the crowds to hit the temporary pavilions set up.

 We were excited to discover what was inside of each of the covered buildings and we queued up politely with the rest of the citizenry. Eventually we reached the entry to the first large tent and found....local artists showing their paintings. Now, I am a fan of local art and local painters but it was severely underwhelming. Most people that were lined up simply walked through the middle of the tent and out the other side. We walked through and looked at everyones wares, but it didn't seem like the best place or time. As we walked out by the lineups of people waiting to get in I heard them speculating on what was inside: A live band, dancers, beer. Boy where they going to be disappointed.  Eventually, we did find a band and where treated to the groan worthy question "Who rode public transit here?....Did you take the #5? The #12? The #3? The LRT?" They then broke into Fool In The Rain by Led Zeppelin. I winced and led Chrissy away from the area to City Hall.

City Hall looked fantastic, unfortunately we just missed the in-house band and by the time we reached the 3rd floor to enjoy the view we were told to vacate it.

We headed outside to find a spot for the fireworks but the pavilions set up for Metropolis obscured a lot of site lines. We were lucky enough to find a spot near the beer tent (which was not set-up for the night...Boo!) and get an ok view - or at least a lot better than most other people. 

Seemingly from reading this blog I had a horrible time. Although each event held nothing but disappointment I had a great time. 

We had a nice meal, the weather was nice, I got to gawk at Chrissy in her fancy dress, and everybody around us was in a positive mood. New Years Eve never match's expectations, but it didn't matter as my company for the night exceeded it.

Christmas 2011 - Saskatoon

On Boxing Day Chrissy and I got in her mighty Corolla and hit the Yellowhead east to Saskatoon. We settled in at Mom's place and gathered with the family Kehrig for Pizza on the 27th.

That night I finally got to see Rob and the Berk family again. I can't be 100% sure but I am pretty sure that this was the longest time between actually talking to Rob face to face since I met him about 15 years ago. His kids are fricking tall - they made me feel old. Unfortunately, no pictures.

There were many other highlights from the trip home.

Mom took me and Chrissy out for lunch at the new Concordia Club (German Club) and apple turnover.

Chrissy, Steph, Sonia, Liam and I went for a skate at a local rink and a hockey game broke out.

We went to a Christmas display at the Mendel Art Gallery.

Bryce raced home through treacherous conditions to grab a drink with Kelly B, Chrissy and Me.

With the exception of some unfortunate news regarding winter driving it was a great visit and I look forward to getting back home soon.