Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon - Youth Run | Halifax, NS

I ventured downtown yesterday with Shelley to keep her company while her niece and nephew ran in the Youth Run of the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon.  The Youth Run is 4.2 kilometres through downtown, starting and finishing near the Halifax Metro Centre.  The kids had a great run; although official times are not kept for the Youth Run, both kids finished in decent times.  

I, on the other hand, didn't appreciate the walk from where we parked the car on Lower Water Street to the starting line on Brunswick - all uphill.  I'm going to blame my slow pace climbing the lovely hilly streets in downtown Halifax on my treatments.

Apparently, there were 3000 or so participants, lots of them sporting blue noses...

Why the blue noses?  People from Nova Scotia are known as Bluenosers - the nickname has been around for a couple hundred years.  One version of the history of the name states we are called bluenosers because of the blue potatoes grown in the province, another tells a story of Nova Scotia fishermen with blue mittens and runny noses.

Wherever the name came from, there were a lot of awesome young Bluenosers running around the city yesterday.

 

 

 

 There are lots more photos on my facebook page if you're interested.

 

 

   

 

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Buzzing through Radiation | Halifax, NS

There was something in the air that night

The stars were bright, Fernando

They were shining there for you and me

For liberty, Fernando

Though I never thought that we could lose

There's no regret

If I had to do the same again

I would, my friend, Fernando.

I lay still, not moving a muscle.  Abba quietly played in the background; I instinctively wanted to dance... There was something in the air that night; the stars were bright, Fernando... but I couldn't.  Besides Fernando, I could also hear the whirring of the radiation machine running, then the buzzing as I received treatment.  I could only lay and listen while I stared at the ceiling, waiting for it to be over.

The treatment doesn't last long, just the length of a few songs.  Luckily, there was only one that made me want to get up and dance.  There's no pain during treatment - the radiation machine never touches me, the only physical contact is that of the technicians setting me up properly on the table.  Once I lay down, they go about checking measurements and lining up my tattoos.  In order to do this, with the lights down low, they gently move me from side to side on the table, placing my arm out of the way, pulling me this way and that way.

Once everything's in place, the technicians leave the room, the lights come up and I await the whirring and the buzzing.  And a little Fernando.

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Radiation Treatments | Halifax, NS

It's that time... back to treatments.  Radiation starts tomorrow.  I've been anxious to get going with this next step.  I had my markings/tattoos done a few weeks ago.  That appointment consisted of a meeting with one of the technicians who gave me the lowdown on the markings and how my actual radiation treatments would go.

The markings are pretty painless.  The technicians get you situated on the radiation bed and then line you up properly.  I felt a little silly, laid out on the table, my breast exposed, and three women leaning over me deep in thought.  I couldn't move so I couldn't tell what it was they were looking at.  I'd glance down occasionally and one of the technicians would gently move my chin back, out of the way.  A light overhead had a little strip of metal that provided a glimpse but the angle wasn't quite correct and I still couldn't see.  So instead I continued to feel silly, wondering what the heck they were doing!

Once I was all lined up, it was time for the tattoos.  I've always wanted a tattoo, I just never imagined having to go through all of this to get one!  While I was all lined up on the table, four tattoos were placed on my chest - two in between my breasts and two along my side.  They were mostly painless, each consisting of a single prick of a needle.  But I'm now over the need to have a tattoo.

One of the kids in my life asked if I minded having the tattoos - nope, I know having them will help make me better so it's okay with me.  The youngest asked if I had used soap on them to make them go away. :-)

So here I am, all ready to go.  I've been given a list of possible side effects along with a list of creams, gels, and soaps to use to combat any skin irritation.  Here's hoping it goes smoothly.

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Two Good Men | Halifax, NS

We sat and talked while the baby slept nearby.  She had just given birth six days earlier and was still feeling the effects.  Until she's feeling 100%, her husband picks up the slack.  He brought snacks to us, carried my gear, and ran for wipes.  She and I talked about how lucky we were, two girls with good guys to take care of us.   Hers with her new baby, mine with my cancer struggle.  We feel the love.  And know how incredibly lucky we are.  Good men are hard to find; I know, it took me a long time to find mine and I'm not letting him go.

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Things I Love - Sweet Potato Fries Halifax, NS

Well, that's not really true.  I don't generally LOVE sweet potato fries.  I like them, but I only order them on occasion.

But I really love the sweet potato fries at Montana's in Bayer's Lake.  Really.  Jason and I tend to end up there on Date Night, that one night every week or so when we can sit across from each other and have a conversation with no distractions.  He has a thing for the Goat Cheese Chicken Something or Other (I don't order it so I don't have to know the specific name).  I'm a picker - he lets me scoop some goat cheese off his plate even though he's not allowed anything from my plate - and the goat cheese is fab.u.lous! 

I get cranky when I'm hungry (you didn't know that?) so we sometimes order an appetizer to keep me happy.  We tried a few different things but hit the jackpot with the sweet potato fries - better than I've had anywhere else, they've now become our go-to app.  Try 'em, you won't be disappointed.  Then, take your receipt when you leave and fill out the customer survey online and get a code for a free app the next time you go back.  Win, win.

Oh, if you're going and want company, give me a buzz.

 

:-)

xoxo

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Perfecting the Stirfry | Halifax, NS

Admittedly, I'm not much of a cook.  I mean, I can cook.  Really, I can.  But since Jason moved in, he's taken over the cooking responsibilities.  When it's my turn, we go out for dinner.  

Lately, though, we've come up with a shared meal:  he barbecues us some delicious steak, while I take on the stirfry in the kitchen.  I throw whatever veggies we have on hand into a frying pan, add some sauce, stir, and I'm done.  Easy peasy.  Except there are two things we have in the house that we love in the stirfry that I regularly forget.  Pineapple and almonds.  I usually remember after the meal is over.  Way too late then!

On the menu tonight:  steak and stirfry.  I better get the almonds and pineapple out.

From the last time we cooked together...

 

 

 

 

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Photo Project: Motion | Halifax, NS

Part of the photography journey is practicing your craft.  I'm lucky enough to be part of wonderful photography community where we share tips, tricks, and encouragement.  In order to better ourselves, we have weekly assignments - someone picks a topic, we all go out and try to capture a photo that embodies that topic, then we critique each photo.  It helps us stretch our muscles to take better pictures, but also helps us to look at someone else's work with a more critical eye.

This week's assignment:  Motion.

My nephew, Nicholas, and I put his dog, Sebastien, to work for this one...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think we did a pretty good job of capturing Sebastien's motion.  Next week's assignment:  Yellow.  

 

Oh dear.

 

 

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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