Women Can’t Build

Should there be a law against letting a woman lose with a hammer and a nail gun? Are there some things a woman should just not be allowed to do? Habitat for Humanity Toronto is Hostessing a Women’s Build. Will it ever be successful?! Gosh, I just don’t know, deary. Are women possibly qualified and up to the task? Are we all just good homemakers with dreams of sub-flooring, or is there any potential for Rosie the Riveters amongst us?

Let’s take a realistic look at this: I HAVE volunteered with Habitat for over two and a half years. I DO KNOW that there are Fashionista groups out there. But there are also dedicated groups of women (and co-ed groups) where there are women who are at least intelligent, if not also competent, and hardworking. I also know that even professional tradeswomen bring something men don’t to a jobsite. Some say that is common sense; some say that is good housekeepingp; some say that is good organizational skills. They are all right. I will now attempt give an example of the range of different types of women who may be at this build:

Just this past August, I Crew Led a group of women from the Head Office of a fairly reputable fashion company in Toronto. They could hardly bloody well put up ONE bloody section of party wall ALL DAY, and most of them “just weren’t getting it” in terms of crowning studs … ummm, I could comment there, but I won’t … There are crews like that. I am not even sure if they really wanted to be there. One of those corporate Fashionistas even had the “brains” to say, and I quote; “Oh my God, I’m sweating like a man!” as if this was the worst thing that could possibly happen to her. I was speechless. I was floored. After all my years as a girl and a woman playing hockey, for example, and I had no idea I was in fact “sweating like a man” out there. I never knew what it was like to be “sweating like a man”. What is it like, then to “sweat like a woman”? I couldn’t bloody well believe that stupidity, and the unproductiveness that was that day.

There are also well-intentioned women who have just never used a hammer before, but who are actively willing to learn; to not just giggle about their nails, but drive in 10d common nails instead. I have helped some of them, too. They may have their mind in the right place, and be determined, but it takes them over 60 swings to sink a nail flush to the wood. It takes me between 10-18 hits, depending on how awkward the angle and position of the nail is, and whether or not I am toe-nailing, too! So these women will take longer to get the work done, but they are still going to get the work done.

And THEN there are women like those in the TPS who will be gracing the Build with their presence. They have also been doing their own fundraising for the event. There are women who are damn serious about learning to read blueprints, and contributing to carpentry (even if they would rather do finish carpentry, and politely would rather refuse to have a hand in rough carpentry). There are women who I am intimidated by before I even walk onto the site; because I know that the teams they make will be so solid they will kick everyone’s ass out there, and this Build isn’t even about that. They will just do it without even trying, because when they focus on something, they WILL get it done. I have seen groups like that as well. Their power, strength and energy are dangerously wonderful to witness, and they have my respect and admiration!

I believe that there will be some Crews who will need “extra help” as it were, but I think we are enough up to the task to make some progress on building these 6 homes. After all, women aren’t called Home Makers for nothing, and we are capable of doing a little more around the house than washing dishes.

Hip Flasks and Shinny Nets

Wowee! After doing personal research, I found that my involvement in TWOW Shinny Tournament 2009 began back on August 16th, with a message from a past (and future!) teammate of mine. It's interesting how long even the "simplest" of things can take to come to fruition sometimes. Just getting into a women's hockey tournament took, in a way, 6 months. My God you could be 2/3s of the way to having a CHILD in that same time! But that is not what this blog post is about ... because I want hockey, not children!

I am here to introduce you to The Women of Winter (TWOW). This group seems to be based around an annual hockey tournament, which started four years ago. I am not sure exactly what defined the parameters of TWOW back in 2006, but the tournament has grown to encompass more than just two days in winter. TWOW's Matriarch runs skating lessons, shinny hockey, a shinny hockey tournament (what the TWOW is known for) and fundraising for women's hockey at a more professional level.

I have not availed myself of very much that is involved in this organization, as it's a little too far south for me, although it's good that if I went, I wouldn't have to lug all my hockey stuff, because everything she does is shinny. However, I did participate in one skating lesson, the 2009 Tournament, and I went to THE Game, and brought a friend of mine and her family with me. She also encouraged people to buy an extra ticket in to allow inner city hockey kids to go see the game, and I did that. So I brought in a modest $30 for the event.

I will, now that I have participated in different activities this year, be on the watch for her stuff next year, and see how many people I can drag out with me, especially for the skating lessons. There are some people I know who could use skating lessons, and as the lessons are comfortably within my range (I was a little bored on the ice, so I had to make up extra things from the drills, and it may have looked like I was Showboating. Really I wasn't, I was just trying to keep myself occupied) BUT if I occupied myself teaching someone else how to skate there, then I could still be there, and be challenged.

The tournament itself was a little out of my comfort range; I am not used to playing such raw hockey ... which says that I am DEFINITELY NOT as good as I rated myself. That too, was humbling. Next year I put myself even below the lowest level, if at all possible, so I know I won't get creamed so badly on the ice, or drag my team down to a score of 29 to 2! Wow! Shinny hockey really is a very different game!

One thing is for sure though; the venue was gorgeous! A pot-bellied, wood burning stove stood proudly in the corner of the "dressing room" hardly a room, but a community space separated by a curtain. Under almost all the benches, cut wood was piled, ready to burn when necessary. The "snack bar" there was a constant blur of new, different kinds of homemade soup and cookies being carried from the little kitchen on the other side of the way. They used cutlery, and plastic cups and bowls, too, so there was hardly any garbage from their venture. Even the women's washroom had an article above the hand-dryer from 1938, about the women's hockey team (I don't know where from though) challenging the men's hockey team (maybe they were both from UofT) to a match. I didn't get to find out who won though, because my hands were dry before I finished reading the article! The whole place radiated a feeling of small, close-knit community. It was wonderful. It's something I am glad exists, and I wish I could partake in. It's good to come across these venues, and know that people have carved out these little alcoves of neighbourhood within our bustling city.

Onto the tournament, on Friday night it was good and cold, and the ice was good and hard. After the game Saturday night, I had been sitting beside a teammate of mine, and THW Woman of Winter herself came around with a hip flask. My word! That was not the last hip flask I saw at the tournament, but hers was the only one I drank from. And no wonder no-one batted an eye about drinking from that communal watering hole - whatever was in that flask was tough enough stuff to kill germs from anyone's lips that touched the rim of the flask" Holy fcuk was that stuff strong. Although many a participant in that tournament would probably have thought that was the soft stuff I'd wager!

Saturday morning; the ice was noticeably softer, and Saturday afternoon was another story altogether! For 2009, the headlines should be something like "Women's Shinny in +8 temperature, girl wears water wings to final match!" And she did, too! the skating surface was a swimming pool! Just the other day, (March 6th) a newscaster on CityTV News commented on the state of the ice that day at Nathan Phillips Square, asking "have you ever seen an ice surface like this?" To which I turned around from making dinner and replied "YES!! I have played hockey on one!!" And that was a month prior!

After the last game, we were all wringing out our socks out and soaking wet ... and as one woman said -- thank God that happened, or else we would have nothing else to talk about. We would be dropping cutlery just to hear the echo. Really, do you think so? I wondered what else she and her ilk thought about that particular tournament, but I didn't dwell on it for too long.

I have taken many interesting moments from this tournament, as well as a few bitterly cold ones. One woman (who plays at Chesswood, apparently) and started on our team, caught some airtime RIGHT OVER my teammate (my, she has quite the name of Tie Domi on the ice!) although that one was unintentional. I have only ever seen that happen in a fully padded NHL Game. So that woman from our team hit the hard cold ice, HARD, and with no padding but what she was born with, to boot! Ouch! She didn't come back for the rest of the tournament, and I don't blame her. But she DID finish that game.

I also enjoyed playing against these two inseparable women; wingers I guess, #11 and #61 - wearing a Sunohara jersey. They would come down the ice, over and over again, the exact same way, and I had a chance to make that a truly learning experience; one that I have carried through my playing since that game. #11 would come down the left side of the ice (my right) and #61 would be coming down the centre. #11 would always get off ... either a shot, or a pass to #61. (almost) Every time. Grumble grumble. I tried all sorts of strategies, and none of them worked, until something finally clicked, and I got the puck away from them once or twice. Hot damn I felt mighty FINE after pullin' that one off! Fcukin' Sweet! Although I didn't really know what to do with that little black thing after I had finally gotten it off of #11. Ooops! You can only learn one thing at a time, I guess.

I also tried something this tournament that I had never tried in any hockey game before, Ever, in my entire life. I tried to skate into a hornet's nest of hockey players, sticks and stingers ready, all by my lonesome. No-one to pass to, KNOWING that I would get creamed and that it was just a matter of time ... seconds maybe, before the puck was taken from me. Well, I did score a few goals that game, but that attempt was not one of them! However, I learned that I am capable of doing that. I skated full-tilt towards that fear, and although I didn't make it through, I skated into it anyway. It was one of those moments you remember with absolute clarity: 4 girls in box formation. Me skating with the puck towards the centre of the box. The girl in their lower right corner took it off me, and then things blur. But it was that decision I had made, that I have since had the opportunity to do again in a fully padded game, and I learned there that I could actually survive an actual break-away ... just me and their goalie. But I was unsuccessful in that venture as well. All that proves is that I AM a good skater; it's just my shots that need work. If I could perfect my shot, than I may actually be able to contribute something successful to a team on a regular basis!

Here is a quick run-down of previous tournaments:
2008 = "that meant shoveling snow and skating in the rain"
2007 = "January 12 and 13" and was apparently uneventful
2006 = "...and a light snow falling. (not so light later on) ... each team had to dig a little deeper (and I'm not talking the snow)"

With that being said, I am not sure if next year the time should be moved to a weekend in January, or if it should stay in February, with the hopes that next February global warming does not descend on Toronto for the week of our Tournament.

Happy Birthday to my Blog!

Next year will be its fifth anniversary, and it will mark exactly one week before the 2010 Games start as well.

So I will definitely have to write a celebratory Olympic Post on my Blog's fifth anniversary. Four years, and I think that deserves a year full of blog posts to really make my Blog's fifth year worth the fireworks!