More pictures

Sorry ! The last pictures were not the best! Hopefully these will be better!

Bye!

Weekend and new kitchen counter top

Hi,

Yes, still working! During the week in Penticton working on the apartment. Then on our own house on the weekends.

Today we tackled the counter tops. The island in huge! We love it! The pictures show me spraying the contact glue, filing the edge to make it smooth and finished. The laminate looks like real granite! WE really like it!

We are going to my dads tomorrow to cut his lawn and cut the hedge. My brother and I are doing that. We are both doing well but miss our dad! Other than that maybe have a day off and play with the kids!

Enjoy the pictures!

Bye for now!

Doug

Saturday's work

Hi!

First of all Congratulations to Okumura San and Arigi! I wish you both the best for your life together!!

Second, yes, still working on our house. The lights are in and all the cabinets, installed shelves and some of the drawers. The Drawer slides are soft close. Very classy! We can install the hard wood floor now. My brother Rick will help me with that. Maybe next weekend.

Oh, And Happy Fathers Day! Tomorrow in North America it is a Day to Celebrate being a dad!

Install new kitchen in our house

Hi all!

Well, I have finished building all cabinets for our house. We are still waiting for the doors to arrive though. Also have to build a few roll outs for our pantry cabinets. It is looking good!

I am working a lot now so it is difficult to find time to work on our own house. Only weekends of course.

I hope you are all working hard to improve you body strength! Whole body! Legs, stomach back, and legs. All are vital to perform at your personal best.

Bye for now.

Doug

Apartment kitchen installing

Hi !

The kitchen company I work for in Kelowna put me on a big project in Penticton. It is an apartment building. So far I must do all the work by myself. Chrissy has been helping me though and has been very helpful.

We are still working on our house on weekends. We are getting closer to finishing. I have most of the new cabinetry installed. We are waiting the the cabinet doors to come in. I ordered those.

Bye for now.

Doug

Making cabinets!

Hi!

I am on to the stage of making the kitchen cabinetry. I am using Chrissy's dad's shop. It has been fun to make on my own, but lots of work. I have so busy between work and working on this project with the house. not much time for any thing else. Well, I have made time to play with Makaiya after dinner. We have been playing catch with a tennis ball. Of course reading to her in her bed before she sleeps. Here are some pictures from today at the shop, and my truck and trailer.

Bye for now.

Doug

Preparation takes time and patience

Hi !

We are doing well with our house renewal. It is amazing how similar preparation is with our house renewal and ski racing. The better the preparation the better the finished product and better the finish in racing. I spent a lot of time leveling the floor, preparing the ceiling for the finish spray and so on. The preparation needed time, patience, planning, timing, and plan old hard work.

Now ski racing needs the same preparation! Endurance, Strength and power from our body's. That takes time, and effort. I have still been working out at home. Lifting weights. Full body work outs. legs , core (stomach and back), and upper body. My vision is that more of you do the same! If you can do that the better chance for even better results. As well as a better chance for a longer, healthier life! My work outs take 45 to 30 minutes. As I said I do them all at home. I did have to buy dumb bell weights.

http://www.bowflexselecttech.ca/bst_microsite_ca/products.jsp

This site has very compact system. They may be found on auctions and I did see them at Costco in Kelowna. They may have them at the Costco in Japan?

http://www.beachbody.com/category/video.do?bclid=6614435001

http://www.beachbody.com/category/video.do?bclid=6615759001

These sites are DVD sets that are very good. I use the Chalean Extreme DVD set.

Bye for now. Please check them out! And do your best to prepare!

Doug

Ceiling repair

Hi every one,

Another step toward our house renewal was achieved today. We had to put new dry wall up on the ceiling where we took the old parts out. The old ceiling had a textured spray on it. The Challenge was to add to the new one , but at the same time match to the old! That was a concern for me since the original ceiling was done 30 years ago. Today we did our best and matched it!!!!! I am thrilled! Chrissy will will paint the walls next. I will start building the kitchen cabinets.

The last time I played golf I shot 77. The time before that 80. I feel like I have a better understanding of how to play and swing. My handy cap is 8 now. My goal is to be 0 though.

House renewal update

Hi!

It has been very busy here in Kelowna. I have been leveling our floor in the Kitchen, dinning , and living room. It was very out of level. We are putting hard wood flooring in so the sub floor must be very level.

The weather is finally warming up. We have officially temperatures in the 20's. I have not golfed much. I am playing tomorrow though. And maybe Ssaturday. I will let you know how I shoot.

I am still working out in the mornings. Hard to do while I am working. I get up early and do it before Chrissy or Makaiya wake up. I do feel strong and my lower back is also pain free. Anyway, Do your best to improve your body strength.

Bye for now.

Doug

Back Yard

Hi all!

We have been busy working on our house inside and out. Here are some pictures of the back yard. We have been pulling weeds and working on greening up the lawn. Nice blossoms on one of the trees.

I played golf on Saturday. Shot 90. Not very good but I did enjoy myself. PLayed with some of my dad's friends.

Bye for now.

Doug

Last wall tear down!

Well we packed away all of our things in the last walls cabinets. As well as teared it down. Also took another load of wood to the city dump. For the same cost as yesterday. $6! We have My trailer filled again with the dry wall from the old walls. We will have to dump that tomorrow.

I am helping Chriss'y dad with a kitchen he is working on in Oyama. Oyama is a town name North of Kelowna. 30 minutes from my house.

Another update is that I have continued weight training around 5 times per week. I am feeling very good. I am working out before I start work. Around 6 to 7 am is when I start. It is hard to do sometimes, but I feel good after I finish. My back is still feeling good. The weight training has helped it a lot.

Bye for now.

Doug

Wall tear down!

Hi,

We did more tear down work today. The wall closest to our dinning room. The dinning , kitchen area is looking so big now. We plan to do the last wall tomorrow. We have to pack many things from the old cabinets.

Also took the old carpet to the city dump. It did cost only $6. I hope to take a few pictures there next time.

More later.

Doug

Picture

Upper floor renewal

Hi all!

I arrived home from the coaching seminar and Chrissy gave me a surprise. Her dad and her took the first wall down of 3. We are in a house that as built in 1980. The design then was to have the kitchen closed off from the rest of the house. We are taking the 3 walls down to open the kitchen completely up to the living room and dinning room. They call that a "Great room" concept. I bought new hard wood flooring 2 years ago and this year Chrissy's dad will build our kitchen cabinets.

Today we took the old carpet out. It was so disgusting! We looked at the back of the carpet after we removed it and saw many , many old stains, mold, and dirt! Vacuuming did not pick up the deep down dirt. We removed the old staples , nails and cleaned the plywood thoroughly!

I loaded my truck and trailer with all of the all carpet and underlay. When I take it to Kelowna's city dump it will only cost me $6 to dump it. I wonder how much it would be in Japan?

Bye for now.

More later.

Doug

More Pictures

Last Day of the Coaching Summit

Hello Everyone,

I am back in Kelowna now. My trip to Nakiska was a good one. On the Last Day I was in the GS group. The things the National team coaches were teaching us was the same as we have been working on. The Basics! A solid and quick balance change, separation between the upper and lower body, and moving towards the next turn with our energy. They did not really talk about looking ahead, but that is a must to be able to see the line ahead of us.

We also talked about knee injuries. ACL tears. The worst case about the ACL tears is that they are missed sometimes. It is very important to fix the Ligament before cartilage damage is done. The injury happens usually while trying to recover from sitting back, or from a very, quick twisting movement inside. Both are recovery moves. The twisting move inside is from a late hit of pressure after the fall line. The best injury prevention seems to be if we can stay balanced in the middle and to stay on line. Look ahead. If you tear the ACL you usually hear or feel a pop. There is little swelling, and difficult to straighten the leg. The outside back of the knee is the sore point.

Mark Sharpe , and other Coaches from the World DVD's were there. They are in some of the pictures.

They stressed that all should work of course on ski technique and body power, but also on being simply athletic. Able to move and adapt on demand and to any condition.

I am very passionate about mental training as well. I have been working on a Mental imagery audio session. I hope to share it with more of you next season.

Bye for now.

Doug

Nakiska coaching Summit

Hello!

I am at Nakiska now. Most of the Head coaches from all of Canada are here, along with the National Head coaches. From Both Men and Women sides.

This is the first year we have had it on snow. It has been great to see many of my old friends from when I ski raced. Yes, Many are coaches now.

Every day we go to a different Discipline. My first day was SL and today we Super G and DH. The main topic has been stick to the basics. When training the different events, break the training runs up into specific focus areas. For example in SL combination's( Hair pins and Flushes only ) Corridors with different off sets and distances. The way we are training now. Same for DH. Jumping station, open turns, gilding on a flat ski, starts and so on.

We also have afternoon meetings talking about safety and injury prevention. Today I am not sure.

We have had great sunny hot days and great spring skiing.

I will update again soon.

Bye for now.

Doug

Coaching Summit at Nakiska Ski Resort

Hello!

Life here is back to the norm. It has finally started to warm up. We finally hit 20 degrees C last week.

I did do some skiing with My family before it warmed up. The local ski hill closed last weekend.

I will leave tomorrow for the annual coaching Summit put on by the CSCF. I will go with some friends from Kelowna. Both are coaches for the Kelowna Ski Club. It will be a fun trip. It lasts for 3 days. We will make groups. Each group will have one day in SL, GS, and Speed. The Canadian National ski team coaches will lead it, along with the CSCF. This is the first time on snow. We usually just have meetings inside. I will update my Blog during the Summit.

Enjoy your spring season! Relax and have some refresh time after your ski season. BUT I really hope more of you will push your selves to increase your Body strength and power over the off season. In all areas Legs, core and upper body. Why? Lets go it more detail when I return from Nakiska.

Have a great weekend!

Doug

Nato?

Hello everyone!

I have settled back here in Canada.

It is still cool here. Fresh snow today in the hills. In fact Makaiya and I are going skiing on Saturday. Still too cold for golf. I have been practicing. Feels good!

I was in a Oriental store the other day and found my favorite breakfast food. Nato! It tasted good! It is frozen but the taste was fine. Yeah! Nato all year. Chrissy Thinks I'm crazy.

Bye for now.

Doug