Just say no to crack

After, what seems to be, an impossibly long winter, it's been hot enough this long weekend to head to the beach. I took the kids to the beach on Friday afternoon where we played in the sand and the kids braved the water. They spent most of their time jumping into the water, screaming that it was cold and then jumping out. Considering we had snow only a few weeks ago, it's pretty much a given that the water is still cold! As usual, my youngest had issues with keeping his pants on. That poor kid - his bum issues will never allow him to keep up a pair of pants.

It's been a great long weekend so far. We went to a friends' place on Saturday night and drank and played poker into the wee hours of the morning. The kids stayed there and played with the other kids and crashed with the kids. Just a big giant sleepover for them! We had friends over last night for a bbq and relaxed in front of the new outdoor fire pit that hubby bought for me for Mother's Day. I forgot how nice it was to have friends over, relax and enjoy company. We really have to do it more often.

I ran 10 km Saturday morning in 70 minutes Saturday morning. Finally - I did it! I was quite impressed...next step half marathon?

Our washer woes have began again with a new washer. We have bad appliance karma - doesn't matter what we buy, what kind of research we do, we always get a lemon. We bought a new front load washer and dryer in February. This morning the washer gave us an error code, which, according to my research, is a circuit board issue. I called Sears repair and we have a repair date for 4 days from now between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. I don't think the lady on the other end appreciated the fact I killed myself laughing over that one.

If April Showers bring May flowers...

what do May flowers bring?

Pilgrims! Ha...I do love that joke. Still like it, even after all these years. I think I heard that one when I was in grade four.

May has finally arrived and brought spring with it. Thank god. If it threatened to snow another day I was going to freak. I even thought about cross country skiing this weekend as it's supposed to be amazing on the hill but it was 22 degrees on Sunday - why give that up for snow?

I started working part time as of last week and it's different. I got into the routine of working full time quite easily - the family goes crazy busy for the week and then we play all weekend. Now I have spare time back on my hands again and I have to admit...it's kind of boring. Either that or I was so addicted to the frenzy we were living that actually living something of a normal life feels too slow. I'm starting to look for things to do in the evening just to fill up my time again. Given I've been working part-time only for 3 days, I should probably give myself a break.

The family has been hit with the stomach flu and so far only one of the kids have been hit hard. I'm trying to dodge the puke bullet - I hate the stomach flu with a passion. I'll change crappy diapers in a heartbeat over cleaning puke up. I don't think that will win me the mother of the year award but I really don't care! :)

I went for another long run this weekend and attempted to increase my distance but thankfully ran out of time. I ran the same distance as the weekend before (5.8 miles!) and want to run 6.2 miles but will when I think I'm ready.

Oh, and the big news for me? I got my belly button pierced on Friday. :) Took me many years to get the courage but here it is!

Blah...

I'm in a blah mood today. It started off by having a disturbing dream (not scary, just thought provoking) and instead of getting an opportunity to have peace and quiet first thing in the morning, the house decided to wake up at the same time as me. No chance to think about my dream.

Then, work was boring and uneventful, and I can honestly say that the highlight of the day was being able to go to the gym at lunch. How's that for exciting?

The great thing is I don't have to cook tonight. It's the wrap up dinner for the judo club so at least I get to eat other people's potluck meals and sushi.

So, not that I have a day to complain about, it just wasn't a great day. Just blah.

What? Sun??

It's been a gloriously warm day today - I think spring has truly arrived. I went for a long run this morning and it was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky, no wind and it was warm. It's been such a long winter! My long run was the best run I've ever done - 5.8 miles in 60 minutes. 9.33 km! I have to admit I was hoping for 10 km but I wasn't too sure how long the route I was running was. I've mapped out an additional bit so that the next time I go for a long run (next weekend!) I'll run 10 km. Maybe in less than an hour?

Today was soccer mom hell - soccer for Monkey Boy this morning, soccer pictures for Drama Queen at 1 and then soccer game for Mr. Bossy Pants at 3 p.m. We tagged teamed it today - I was done with soccer by the time pictures were done today.

Heading out for a surprise party tonight - looking forward to it. Haven't been out in ages!

As for knitting - which is one of the main reasons why I post...haven't done it. Haven't picked it up in ages. But, I'm moving down to part time work next month, so maybe I'll have time then?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

This is the image we woke up to yesterday morning. Yes...to snow. Forget that it was April 19th yesterday and it's been officially spring for almost a month. For some crazy reason, it decided to snow almost 3" yesterday. Thankfully it didn't stick but it sure was disappointing.

So, due to the snow, I had to make new plans with the kids. Soccer and snow don't seem to go hand in hand. We ended up going to the rec centre for the public swim. Oh, how I love the public swim. Not. Hordes of people, mass quantities of little children peeing in the pool...fun. Although, I do have to admit my favourite part is watching the teeny boppers do their parade around the pool. Little Johnny is checking out Little Suzy, while Little Suzy is giggling to her friends about Little Bobby across the pool. Young love...so cute but I'm so glad to have that have been long gone in my life! LOL

Thankfully today is a sunny day and there's only remnants of snow left on the ground. Even though it's cold, I'm going to take the kids for a hike. There is only so much time I can spend cooped up in the house listening to the fights before I go crazy!

Yawn...

It's 5;30 in the morning...woke up after having a dream about spiders in my bed. Who can sleep after thinking you're sleeping with big, fat spiders? *shudder*

It's been crazy busy lately and haven't done much, if any, knitting. Then again, if I keep waking up at 5:10 then I'll have much more time to myself to be doing those kind of things! Between soccer, judo, work and the kids, I'm pretty much collapsing in bed at the end of the night.

Work has changed, again, and my role is evolving into something different. I'm quite excited about the whole prospect. I'm moving away from managing the day to day programs and strictly doing new program development. A part of me is a bit sad - I love dealing with students (even the hard ones) but I'm very excited at the prospect that I get to develop programs and that it's my only focus. It's like being able to start up a new business, everyday. Hopefully I'll have enough creativity to think up new things on a regular basis!

I'm going to test for my orange belt next week. I have to laugh to think that I have to study for it (what's left in Japanese?). I'll be all anxious and over study for it.

Just another day getting my butt kicked

I competed for the first time in a judo competition yesterday. It was the BC Open, hosted by our club and another club in a city close by. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't sleep the night before (too nervous!) and the closer it got to my fight, the more nervous I was. The first fight was easy for her - I stepped out and she threw me with a foot sweep. The second fight was more equal. I was far more focused and ready to go. But, I pulled one way, she pushed another and she threw me with, yet another, foot sweep. I'm so going to practice counteracting that move. I had the time of my life - the rush was amazing. The judge that was officiating my matches asked me, afterwards, if I had fun. I gushed on about how great it was and she said that you could tell - "had a look in my eyes". It's too bad that hubby is going to Las Vegas next week or I would be going to the competitions in Prince George next weekend!

It's been a long week - had a conference in Naramata, helped set up for the competition, dinner with a really good old high school friend of mine (not that she's old... LOL ) and today I finally get some time to relax. Sort of - have to buy groceries, clean house, go for a run, maybe go to practice tonight....hmmm......I think I need to go to work to relax!

Despite us slotting in our Drama Queen's birthday, she had a wonderful birthday. Hubby had to leave for Spokane to pick up his truck this weekend so the kids hung out with my parents on Friday night. They took them out for chinese food and ice cream to celebrate her birthday. Of course, the Drama Queen sucked it all up - a night all for her!!

Happy Birthday, honey!

Today is my little Drama Queen's 7th birthday. Happy Birthday, honey! I feel bad as we somewhat slotted her birthday in this year. I had a meeting 2 1/2 hours from here and hubby had to leave at 7 p.m. to a regional meeting in another city. I got back into town at 5 p.m., picked up sushi, we raced home, ate, sang happy birthday, ate cake, hubby left and the kids went to bed. We bought the Drama Queen a bike and we didn't even put a bow on it. :( My sister did come over for sushi and cake so it was a bit of a party. I have out of town meetings for the rest of this week, hubby is out of town as well and we can't even get it together with all of our family to celebrate. I think we might have her kids' party at the end of the month when we're home for a weekend. Oh well!

I guess the main thing was we were at home to celebrate her birthday, albeit a brief one. :)

It's the BC Open Judio competition in town on Saturday and the kids have been entered. I've entered but only to see if there is someone else that I would compete with. If not, I'm withdrawing my entry. I'm a bit nervous about it but have told another "senior" that if he signs up, that I'll sign up. He's the same age as me and just started judo so if he has the courage to do it, I guess I should!

Hubby bought a new truck on the weekend so he's all excited about it. He needs to pick it up from the states so once we get things figured out, I think he'll head back down to the states to get it. Now we just have to find a way to get rid of the beast (aka our 92 Dodge Caravan)

Anyways, it's been a long day of meetings and travelling and I have to do it all over again tomorrow. Time to wrap up the day and get ready for the next.

April 6, 2008

It's been a quiet weekend. Hubby is out of town for a boys' weekend golfing so it's just the kids and I. It's been an unexpectedly great weekend - it's funny how how and what you think and actuality very often are different things. Despite being alone with the kids, I've been able to have "me" time and it's been very, very nice!

Back to work tomorrow and it's a short work week. I'm heading to a conference on Continuing Education. The networking opportunities will outweigh the course material...maybe. I always feel uncomfortable meeting new people and never knowing if what I'm there to learn is really worth my time. But, the great thing is I get a hotel room to myself on Thursday night...I'm looking forward to uninterrupted sleep, a long run when I want to and a hot bath! Small things keep me entertained.

It's my daughter's birthday on Wednesday. Not sure what to get the Drama Queen but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Probably a bike...she's outgrown her old one but she'll be disappointed that it's not clothing, bling or money, I'm sure.

March 24, 2008

It's my last day of holidays. *sigh* I have to admit that now I'm working full time, I appreciate my holidays so much more. There's something about knowing I'm going back to work full time again in a week that allows me to enjoy the time off that much more! It's been such a quick week - where did it go?

I went for a run this morning and it was so hard and cold. I ran 3 miles in 35 minutes...slow but steady. I think it was hard as I was sore from yesterday but also because I didn't eat any breakfast first. I'll have to change that for next time!

There's a Golden Retriever down the road that's just nasty. When I run by with our dog, this dog comes out of his driveway snarling and snapping. I'm surprised, considering that Golden Retrievers are generally nice dogs. However, this dog confirms my belief that your pets reflect their owners' personalities. The woman that lives there is absolutely nasty. I've had dealings with her (not personally, professionally) and she is the type of person that there's nothing wrong with her...it's the world around her. Maybe I just dealt with her during a tough time, but I didn't find her all that appealing! Anyways, her dog absolutely freaks me out and I always end up crossing the road before getting to her place until I run past her yard. I know that we have large acreages around here but I don't understand why people let their mean dogs run free.


I've had a chance to do a lot of knitting this week and ended up finishing up my shawl. I bought the yarn a year ago and decided to knit it up this week It's the a kit from Handmaiden, the Bias shawl. It's absolutely beautiful and so easy to do. It's wonderful that the most simplest things can be the prettiest.