Friday, May 1, 2009

Schnell Girls are Fast!

Whenever I fill out paperwork in Newfoundland, the person on the other side of the desk asks where I'm from. Rast is a German name and I grew up on a farm in southern Alberta. I moved to Newfoundland in 1996. My mom was a "Schnell" from Saskatchewan -- Schnell in German means "fast" while Rast means "to rest". I think most people who know me can see that the Rast side won. In the past few years my dad has discovered a new nap between breakfast and lunch that I'm looking forward to inheriting one day.

The Tely10 Road Race takes place on July 26th this year and I'm hoping that I'll be in St. John's to participate. In this Sunday's edition of the Telegram (May 3rd) they are publishing a training schedule leading up to the race that I'm going to try to follow. I have some Schnell cousins in Saskatchewan who are very fast. Shelan and Renee Schnell have been running and winning marathons and half-marathons for the past several years. I'm just hoping to finish.

My mom (in green) wasn't a road racer, but she was fast in her own way. Dad told me a story a couple years ago from when they were courting. At the time dad was living in Alberta and mom was in Saskatchewan and dad would drive out to visit her on weekends. On one trip, mom was quiet and moody and eventually she confessed to what was troubling her; "We've been dating almost six weeks now and I don't even have an engagement ring yet." So dad had to bring a ring the next time he came out.

In a completely unrelated topic - yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of Lori and I getting our house on Craigmillar. We are celebrating with a final trip to the lawyers today (hopefully) to sign off on our new 5 year mortgage!

Photo Credits:
Top, Bottom: good question
Middle: Audio Visual Services, University of Regina

Photo Captions:
Top: Dad demonstrating how to remain a bachelor into your 40s
Middle: Renee winning a 10k race in 2005
Bottom: Color coded Schnells, Regina, Christmas 1969; Uncle Gary (blue), Aunt Janet (orange), Mom (green), Aunt Phyllis (yellow), Aunt Karen (black), Grandma Schnell (brown)

2 comments:

  1. Cool! John and I will be running that, too. Are you going to try the Harbourfront 10k on May 17 for a warm-up?

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  2. hmm... I didn't know about that. I think I probably could do 10k 2 weeks from now. btw, for those who don't know -- John Taylor-Hood is our lawyer and I've been meaning to give him a plug every time I've mentioned our mortgage re-financing. Its great having someone working with you who "gets" what its like to be a craft producer.

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