Audrey Hayes Art - Canadian Artist

AIM at the Empress

My art group is hard at work preparing for our first art show together.  We are just two weeks away from the ARTISTS IN MOTION at the EMPRESS. Join us Sunday, May 29th in the Empress Crystal Ballroom for our Art Show and Sale. Each artist will be donating 20% percent of all art sold to the Canadian Red Cross Japanese Relief Fund, as well as, 50% of all proceeds from a silent auction.

With 30 artists, each displaying 10 to 20 pieces, there will be hundreds of pieces for sale.  Something for everyone's tastes.  Should be a fun evening. Come join us at this beautiful venue and bid on some great items from the silent auction as well. Maybe take home a piece of original art from one of these talented artists.  

 ************************************

We have been so busy around here lately.  These are just a few of the events of the past week:  Mother's Day, we went to Vancouver for my sister-in-law's wedding, Macy turned 7 (which we celebrated twice), had my car fixed after its bumper was smashed a few months ago (not by me), worked several days, went on a field trip with Emmy's class, and lots more...  All of these things deserve their own posts and perhaps I will get to it later in the week.  But for now, this will have to do.

Thanks for reading.

ten k

About 6 months ago my dad and I decided we'd "run" the TC10K in May.  I promptly put the thought out of my head.  Then in January after Sean signed me up for the 10K I thought it was time to get training.  I was off and running. I started slow.  Really slow.  Too slow.  And then I kind of stopped.  By mid March I knew there was no hope of actually "running" the race, but having walked it twice before I knew I would finish just not as a runner.

Race day was Sunday morning.  It was a beautiful Victoria spring morning. There were 14 000 runners/walkers.  It was a really nice course to run. Everyone I know who ran did better than they had hoped.  My dad came in just over an hour but could have easily done sub 60.  Not bad for an old guy.  Sean was sub 50...49.03 to be exact.  But he has decided next year he WILL be sub 45.  My friend Tanya thought she'd be about 70 minutes, finished at 54 minutes.  Pretty fabulous for a 40 year old chick.  

Something I know about myself is that I am a slow runner.  I can brisk walk faster than I can run.  I am not kidding.  Although I was jogging about half the course, this didn't help my time.  However, I am happy that this was my fastest time walk/jogging a 10K.  I did it in 86 minutes.  Yes, pretty pathetic, I know. Especially when, you will see below, larger and older people finishing ahead of me.  I am okay with that.

I actually really enjoyed the race.  I can't believe I just said that.  But it was fun.  The weather was perfect.  I felt really good, despite the fact that I have had a horrible chest cold the past week and haven't slept well in weeks.  I also had a bruised toenail which didn't cause me any discomfort until after the run. Now I have a pretty gnarly looking toe, all bruised and swollen and my body is aching all over.

After the 10K we met up with my mom who had brought the girls downtown to run the Family Fun Run.  This was Macy's second time and Emmy's first.  There was a bouncy obstacle course, face painting, and live music.  

It was a nice way to start the month.  Welcome, May!