My favourite running partner

Being part Husky, Odin loves to run and jump and frolic. And he also needs to do it often. So running together satisfies two needs - his for exercise and mine for fitting in another run. But it is also more than that. As I gather up my running gear, I glance over and see Odin sitting in his bed, staring out the window at the world outside. And then he sighs and lies down, as if giving up on ever leaving the condo again.

Finally dressed and ready to go, I grab the leash, open the door, and he is barging out ahead of me, free at last. His pure enthusiasm for anything athletic is so inspiring that it lifts my spirits at the beginning of the run, instead of the feelings of dread that I usually have when starting a solo run. Other than the occasional bathroom break and doggy sniff, we run as a team, gathering focus, until on the last leg of the run when we have the same stride, both looking straight ahead, caught in the moment. Odin is my pet and companion. But he is also my running coach, urging me to go further and faster, growling when I let up on my pace. And I couldn't ask for a better friend to run with.

Wedding dress shopping for non-fashionistas

As you may know, I am getting married (cue dramatic music). After many, many years together, we are finally going to tie the knot.

We toyed with the idea of a quickie Vegas affair, complete with Johnny Cash as the official, and dreamed about a warm Hawaiian beach affair, but finally decided to go back to Acadia University, in Nova Scotia, where we first met. Close to both our families, it made the most sense.

My sister got married this past fall, so I already have some idea of the craziness ahead of us. The planning and guest lists and budgets and attempts to retain sanity. And I know that I somehow want this whole thing to be simple and fun and have it just feel like us.

So in November, my Mom and one of my sisters made the trip out to Vancouver to help me look for "the dress". I've watched a bunch of those wedding dress shows (sometimes there's just nothing on TV, ok?) so I had a general idea of what would happen. What I didn't expect was how out of place I would feel. I've never been a huge shopper or fashion-type person. And now that I live in Whistler and spend most of my days either skiing, hiking or working from home, clothes are pretty far down on my list of priorities. As my cousin Kaitlyn put it, "Left to my own devices, I’d be a hoodie habitating jeans wearing hiking boot rockin’ [31] year old."

So back to the dress shopping. You know that scene in the Sex and the City episode where Miranda thinks it would be fun to have she and Carrie dress up in ridiculously-awful wedding dresses and Carrie ends up having a panic attack and breaking out in hives? That was basically how I felt. Things were tight where they shouldn't be, I couldn't breathe (one shop assistant told me that you're not supposed to feel comfortable in a wedding dress), and my Mom and sister were pretty alarmed to hear loud banging coming from the dressing room (I ended up kicking the walls trying to find my feet under all those fucking layers of crinoline and taffeta and whatever else people hide inside dresses).

Finally I found this really simple dress with one shoulder (so eighties cool!) that just flows all the way down. I can breathe and walk and dance and it finally felt like me. And maybe this wedding will be alright after all. I hope...