For Grandpa

The Boy’s Grandpa passed away this past week. He was 91. He lived a long and full life, but as the minister said at the funeral service, some might be feeling – a long full life yes, but at the same time – we weren’t quite done with him yet. It was amazing how she was able to articulate how the Boy and I were feeling.

Since I’ve been designated “the writer” in the family, with the help of the whole family, I wrote a few words to say goodbye from the Grandchildren. Since I may be able to write, but can’t speak at sad occassions (or happy ones for that matter) without crying, the Boy and I nominated sister E to speak. She did an AMAZING job, no surprise… she’s pretty amazing.

Since this little blog is supposed where I keep track of the events big and small in my life – it seemed like a no brainer to save/share it here. Grandpa was pretty awesome, he will be fondly remembered and dearly missed.

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People say that grandchildren are the best kind of children. At least that’s what Mom and Dad keep reminding us. You get to spoil them, have unwavering faith and enthusiasm in their ideas, and your responsible for none of the discipline and only a fraction the worry. Grandpa certainly took full advantage of his role. 

A working farm may be no place for your own little girl, but there is no better place to babysit your granddaughters than spending hours together on a combine. And small treasures that don’t seem like much mean the world to your grandchildren, like seashells or garage sale finds. And stray dogs bring smiles to everyone’s faces – especially their parents.

As we got older, Grandpas face would still light up whenever one of us would walk in the door. He was always thrilled to see us, and if we hadn’t seen him in a while he’d call to hear what we were up to and get an update on the topics he was most concerned about: Are you working everyday? How’s the car running? And found any good deals lately? Of course, we all knew the answers he was looking for: Everyday. Great it’s got 315 000 km on it. And yes grandpa of course I took the new battery out of the old car before sending it to the junk yard, you’re right it will fit in our Camry. 

He was supportive of all of our decisions, whether they took us back to school, across the country or across the ocean. And when best-laid plans didn’t quite work out, as they tend to do, there was never a judgmental word – because he never expected us to be perfect all the time. He did expect we’d figure it out and try again. Move back. Change programs. That’s okay, this plan seems like a good one too.

We were spoiled to have him with us for so long. And it will take some time to get use to not visiting as often as we could. We’ll miss his rote memory, his stubborn resolve to fight his failing body, that refused to work the way it did when he was 30, and endless games of Eucre.

But we find comfort in the knowledge that his memory keeps him with us, and he’ll be there quietly supportive of all our future endeavors. We’ll hear him in our hearts reminding us to work hard, be polite, don’t pay the government more than you have to, take care of the car, there’s no need to drive faster than 50, no harm in being 2 hours early, there’s no deal in an extended warranty and most important you are loved. You are loved. You are loved. 

Less Worry. More Faith.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments, Facebook messages and emails checking in to see how the Boy and I were doing in the wake of my Plan Me blog post a couple weeks ago.

A few things we learned:

1. We have some really wonderful friends.
2. We’re by no means alone – lots of people we know know EXACTLY how we’ve been feeling
3. Most of those people agree with us, Facebook is a great place to check in if you want to think that everyone you have ever known (as a general rule) is super happy, healthy and fertile. If only first baby bump pictures told the whole story – I think we’d all be more than a little surprised.

So here’s my update. We saw the fertility specialist and drumroll please… everything is fine.

We are both healthy and all little person making parts are in full working order. In fact, we are a little too healthy. If we choose to pursue fertility support, we would have a very high likelihood of multiple littles. “Twins or triplets would be a very real possibility”

Picture the Boy making BIG eyes.

Ummm…. did you just say triplets?!?  So with that wonderful news, the plan is – no plan. Patience. Less worry, more faith.

I’ve been asked if anyone has said that stress could be a factor. The western medical answer is no – unless of course you’ve stressed yourself right out of menstruating. But hindsight is 20/20 and I think it’s fair to say evolution has made us smart enough to not let us make more things to take care of while you are under threat of being chased by a tiger. So yes, I think stress has been a factor.

In the meantime, I’ve found a new naturopath (btw – I seriously love her already, finally a suitable replacement for the Bizios), and Dr. Meg (see – how could I not love her?) very much agrees that stress could be a factor. She’s glad to hear that everything tested in the normal range, but since normal is not necessarily optimal she’s got some thoughts on getting us there.

So that’s it! We’ll continue to try, and I can’t say we won’t be disappointed if our little doesn’t come right away – but knowing there’s no reason to worry that it’s not an option for us, is really reassuring. In the meantime, plan me includes wine, sushi, soft cheese, Dairy Queen and cupcakes – until Dr. Meg has something to say about it… which I’m pretty sure is next week.

Plan Me

A friend of mine has told me repeatedly based on her current experience as a mother of 2 teenage girls, Plan A – don’t have children. Plan B – if you choose to disregard the sound advice of Plan A, make sure they have some sort of skill they can exchange for money in their teenage years. Pretty good advice.

 

The alternate title to this post is “The Elephant in the Room: Let’s talk about why I stopped blogging.”  While it goes a while back, to post wedding writers block and new job writing overload, the most recent reason I haven’t been blogging is I’ve come off about 10 months of lethargy. I  have been hibernating.  Lazy.  Exhausted.  Those words would work too.

 

I new it was happening, but in the weeks following the completion of Mom’s chemo, I have really  realized how much of my time and brain power was going to pretending that everything was normal.  This makes sense, your brain won’t let you live in a constant state of panic – well, mine won’t anyway. When people would ask me how she’s doing, I would answer with “Great! She’s doing really really well.” Because it was true, she did do really really well.  But doing well with Cancer, doing well with the complete loss of your stomach, and doing well with a slow drip of “Drano” being constantly pumped into you is not the same as “Everything is completely normal, nothing to worry about or preoccupy ourselves with here.” It’s doing really really well compared to the really really bad alternative.  And given the choice, I think we all could have done without it, which is not something you would say under normal “really really great” situtions.

 

The other thing that’s been preoccupying me is, and I’m sure this comes as no surprise, The Boy and I decided shortly before this whole mess started that we were ready to try and make a little person. When Mom got sick, the Boy said (probably wisely) “So… should we just put this whole idea on the backburner for a while?” to which I emphatically answered “NO! Are you crazy?!”

 

Turns out, Mother Nature seems to have agreed with the Boy.  We have spent the last year feeling pretty friggin’ frustrated that two healthy people in the prime of their baby making years can’t seem to get it together.  Since I’m putting all cards on the table with this post – it never even occurred to me we would have any challenge in this area.  Not once. If not right away, then DEFINITELY within 3 months.  The thought that it would be a year later and still nothing, didn’t even cross my mind. Frustrating.

 

And when I’m frustrated, or upset, or generally need to work things out – I write.  But when I thought of writing it down I immediately thought – if I write it down it will make things true, and that seemed far too confrontational for this little introvert – better to pretend everything is just fine. Besides, what good would it do? It wouldn’t change anything, and at worst it may garner 10 comments with the sound advice of “just relax” (which FYI is pretty much the most frustrating thing anyone can say to me ever regardless of the circumstances), or “just stop trying” (which from where I’m sitting right now, seems like an option that’s available to people that are either undergoing some kind of hormone support, or already have littles, or were on the fence about the whole idea to begin with, or are going to start pursuing other options for increasing the size of their family – and at this point we’re not in any of those categories).

 

So instead, I hibernated.  The combination of acting like my mom being as sick and that try as we might things don’t seem to be going our way in our other life plans, throw a crazy hectic job with insane deadline after insane deadline… well, overwhelming would be a good place to start.

 

But the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to exhale.  At work, my temporary secondment is coming to an end, and while I would love to stay, there are exciting changes happening in my old job, and I have recently decided that I have time to wait for the right opportunity to come up for my next move, besides I’m good with giving up doing 2 jobs and working overtime on Friday night.  Mom is doing incredible – and that’s not just relatively speaking.  There’s a huge difference in her energy and her ability to manage this new life without a stomach in the last couple of weeks.  And as for Project Little Person, we’re seeing a fertility specialist who is running the appropriate tests to make sure everything is fine, but has assured us that on paper – things look good.  We are in fact otherwise healthy, and there is nothing that jumps out to say “this couple can’t do this”

 

So I made a decision this weekend.  As an alternative to trying to “just relax” I have decided to instead take on a new project.  I’m calling it Plan Me. We can all agree the winter has been brutal, and I’m really noticing the itch to get outside and enjoy any hint at spring weather I can get.  So I’m focusing my attention on all the things that the Boy and I will find harder to do when we (hopefully) become 3 (well, 4 with Gordon). The Boy and I have talked about a weekly Nine and Dine date as soon as weather permits.  My birthday present this year is a new bike to go with the one I got the Boy last year.  We’re walking the dog. I’m meal-planning and getting our food situation back on track. I’m finding new motivation to start working out again. I’m looking at vacation plans for the summer, and having just learned that we have a 4 day weekend for Canada Day, I’ve started thinking about what I can do to celebrate Plan Me then.

 

Maybe this is what people mean by “just relax” but for me, this isn’t an attempt at distraction – Plan Me still involves taking my temperature every morning, and following up with the fertility doctor.  Instead, I’m reminding myself that the hope is littles or no littles, in the end it’s just me and the Boy (who, BTW deserves a shout out for how awesome he’s been through all of this). So maybe I should take some time to be a little bit selfish, and get back in touch with the things I really like to do… like knit, and sew and walk the dog, and ride my bike and cook and bake and read, and watch terrible 90s television on Netflix and write for fun… not just for work.

 

And that’s where I’ve been.

 

Would you Call Me Brave?

The Boy went to his parents to drop the puppy off for puppy-sitting a few days before our trip. While he was there he heard some brand new information.  The Cabot Trail is awesome and a MUST see in any trip to the East coast.

Really?  How is he only hearing this a few days before we leave?  Why didn’t anyone tell him this earlier.

Oh wait, someone did.  But she’s totally unreliable… wives are like that.

Typical.

Regardless of who said it first we worked it into our trip and it made our Must See list. And now that we’re back, I can honestly say it doesn’t matter who said it first – I’m so glad we went.

Welcome to Cape Breton

We discussed the trail with my Peep in PEI – “You have to do the trail counterclockwise” he said with authority, although, he had never done the trail.

We made the plan to leave PEI on Thursday, drive to Baddeck and spend two nights there so we could spend one full day driving the trail.  While I was driving from beautiful downtown Pictou, NS to Baddeck the Boy started searching the internet for places to stop along the trail.  He came across a blog post.  You know how those bloggers are… always stirring up shit.

He read that counter-clockwise indeed had its benefits.  but… “it’s for the brave” and “expert mountain driving skills are a must”  to say this gave the Boy some anxiety would be an understatement.

World Famous – but no warnings of expert mountain driving skills required….

We decided to survey some locals on the clockwise/counterclockwise debate and unanimously – counterclockwise won the day.  So we decided despite nightmare premonitions – counterclockwise it is, and the review –

That blogger is crazy and counterclockwise is totally the way to go.

This is the cliff you get to see if you take the Coast Road detour – recommended by gingers and giants

Selfies with a giant take practice

This was the hightlight of the trip for the Boy.  The Highlands are absolutely beautiful, and when we go back – again, we’ll definitely stay longer.  It was stunning.  The beaches are beautiful, the water is crystal, the hiking is awesome.  A vacation on the trail could include an awesome golf course, beach, hiking, biking and secluded unplugging.

One of the many reasons we’ll be back – Ingonish Beach… next time we won’t miss the cut-off!

Impressive Inukshuks

World Famous Whale Interpretive Centre

First time for crab legs

We took our time and it took the entire day to drive the 300ish km.  We hiked the Skyline Trail and it was breathtaking.  And we broke some rules and took some rocks… shh don’t tell Parks Canada.

Leaving the mark of a ginger and a giant… can you tell?

The work of the brave.

Because we’re brave like that.

For those that might be Googling “Clockwise or Counterclockwise on the Cabot Trail” here are 5 reasons we totally recommend going counterclockwise:

1. More people go clockwise, so going the opposite makes for less traffic.
2. You’re cliffside.  This does not mean you are doomed to fall off the cliff as other bloggers might lead you to believe.  It does mean you have a better view of the ocean.
3. You start on the ocean and end in the gulf – we stopped less on the way back, we were tired.  I’m glad we weren’t sleepy and done on the Ocean side.
4. A lot of the best look outs are on the cliff side – so right turns, and since vision is a bit limited The Boy liked this part.
5. After hiking the Skyline Trail (a must) you immediately drive down the mountain and you can look up to where you just were – WAY up there.

Setting out on the Skyline Trail

Amazing.

That’s not us… but it was a few minutes before.

 

Anne’s Island

The Boy and I are home.  I’m writing this sitting on my beautiful deck on a rare Ontario August afternoon, warm, sunny and not humid = a rare treat in Northern Ontario. We’ve been home for a few days and this is actually my last day of vacation.  Tomorrow I go back to work, more than that I got a new job so tomorrow I go back to a week of transition, taking on my new job while wrapping up my old one. This is what happens when you get a promotion (albeit a temporary one) within your own branch and just down the hall from your home position – you don’t get to quit and run – they can still find you.  For today, I’m enjoying this beautiful day by doing nothing.  And since those days can be as rare as one in August without humidity – I’m taking full advantage and blogging our trip before I forget all about it.

So on with it already…

The Boy and I made a Must See list in the car while were driving out,

1. Whale Watching
2. Golf on the coast
3. Peggy’s Cove
4. Tides at Fundy
5. Kayaking
6. Eat a lot of seafood
7. Giant wooden nickel
8. Cabot Trail

We left Moncton late – the bed was just too comfortable, so while the Boy slept in King size bliss, I booked a campsite in PEI National Park, Stanhope Beach. Our original plan was to do Bay of Fundy first, then Halifax, then PEI – but we switched up the order once we got there for a couple reasons 1. The Boy really wanted to see PEI – it was high on his list, and knowing that the end of a vacation is always a little rushed I thought we should give it more time by stopping there first.  2.  The Boy had recently learned (even though I told him this months ago) that the Cabot trail is BEAUTIFUL – and it had suddenly ranked higher on his list.  If we were going to get that in we thought we should switch the order and do PEI, Cape Breton, Halifax, Fundy. 3.  I had recently learned that an old friend from High School was in PEI – and not that I was stocking him… but  the Boy and I both agreed that if we could get there while a local was there to give us the goods – all the better.

To Charlottetown we went, walked around, had some lunch including my first bowl of Chowder – things were already looking good – PEI didn’t seem to be out of food like Moncton was.

We also found another Brew Pub – and another sample tray and a big bowl of Muscles.  Both were delicious.

We connected with my former peep and who graciously took us on a personal boat tour of the Bay at Brackley Beach.  The last time I was on a boat with him, he threw me off an inner-tube, twisting my knee…. I’m happy to report no injuries this time.

Then it was time to face the music…. camping…  for 3 nights.

The Boy and I have never been camping together… the Boy has hardly been camping without me either, and although I haven’t been camping in a LONG time – having done it so much as a kid, I still like to consider myself a camper.  This was a true test.

The review? Camping in PEI is beautiful, we were in a Provincial park, we had an air mattress – a necessity, and thanks to BFF Kristyn we had all the necessary gear.  Some of the differences? When camping as a kid, we had a tent trailer – this is not the same as tenting.  Tenting is not so much cold, but damp.  While our full queen 12″ air mattress is awesome indoors, outdoors you’re sleeping on 12″ of cold damp air.  Once I figured out how to stay warm – things got much better.

We will camp again, and we did camp again in Fundy, but we need some practice.  So I have a place to reference it when that time comes, here are somethings we wish we had:

1. A flashlight that is actually bright
2. A paring knife
3. An equally comfortable but slightly shallower air mattress
4. A bigger tent
5. A separate tent or covered area for food
6. Bowls
7. Less bugs/bug bites (okay – I know that’s asking a lot)
8. Better fire making skills (The Boy says the wood was wet, I say, no one else seemed to be having such a problem – maybe we just need more practice)

I’ll probably write a few shorter posts with more details of the highlights from each part of the trip, but in an effort to provide useful information for anyone that happens to be Googling “Traveling in PEI” here’s what the Boy and I did and highly recommend in no particular order:

1. Walked the Beach and swam in the ocean
2. Went for an easy bike ride, that turned into a 30 km near death experience – PEI is internationally known for their bike trails, and for their rolling hills.  I can’t say polite language was always adhered to.
3. New Glasgow Lobster Supper – pay for your lobster up front, and all you can eat bread, chowder, muscles, salad, your lobster (ranging from 1lb to 3 lbs depending on your anticipated level of gluttony) and dessert – a choice of 5 different kinds of pie. My peep told me this is where the locals go for lobster supper – we were not disappointed.  It was awesome!
4. Camping
5. Cottaging – if/when we come back we’ll probably stay for longer and rent a cottage instead of camping – camping was great, but at this point we’re still short-term campers.
6. Relaxing – we both found we unwound pretty quickly once we got to PEI – it’s a relaxed and sleepy little island and I can definitely see why people keep going back.
7. Golf – we golfed at Green Gables Golf Club – it’s one of the oldest courses and did not disappoint for both view and challenge…. unless you ask the Boy – who was not happy with his score card… but I’m not to speak of that. PEI has A LOT of Championship courses, but because we were golfing on a day that threatened rain – we didn’t want to risk getting rained out after paying $120 each. This course lets you play both on the ocean (the Boy’s request) and alongside Anne’s famous house – I think they call that two birds with one stone.
8. The Dunes Gallery – a must see and a must eat.  It was so good we went twice. Lunch and dinner (two days – let’s not get ridiculous). So. So. So. Good.

 

1. The wharfs – pick a hamlet any hamlet and get your camera ready for old fishing wharfs with piles of traps as far as you can see – if you pick one that’s off the beaten path all the better.
2. Cows Ice Cream – it’s sickly sweet smell will grab you as soon as you open the door, but since it’s voted #1 Ice Cream in the world – you have to do it… plus there’s a giant cow, so…. enough said.The Boy said by the end of the trip PEI was the least memorable part of our trip, but don’t think that means for a second we won’t be back, or that it wasn’t absolutely awesome.  I don’t think we really had enough time there to fully do it justice – the late start out of Moncton really only gave us 2 days there.  It was awesome to have a couple of locals in town to tell us where to go and what to see not only in PEI but for the rest of our trip.  And the food was the absolute best we had on our trip – so fresh and SOOOO good.

Despite only 2 full days there – we did pretty well with our list:

1. Whale Watching
2. Golf on the coast
3. Peggy’s Cove
4. Tides at Fundy
5. Kayaking
6. Eat a lot of seafood
7. Giant wooden nickel
8. Cabot Trail

Our list for the next time we’re there?

1. Golf one of the Championship courses
2. Eat at lunch and dinner at Dunes Gallery
3. Walk the gardens at Dunes Gallery
4. See that year’s Anne show
5. A little more time in Charlottetown – get in some Confederation history and a little shopping
6. Beach walk and full beach day
7. Bike the Confederation Trail
8. Take the ferry
9. Anne’s house and obligatory tour of Cavendish
10. New Glasgow Lobster Supper – an absolute MUST!

It might seem like a long list, but the benefit of touring around trying to do a little bit of everything – you get to learn the things you definitely want to do more of!

Tomorrow – we head to Cape Breton

30 While I’m 30 – or 31

First things first – I didn’t finish my list.  Is anyone surprised really?  I doubt it.

I did okay. Probably better than I thought I would truth be told.

1. Take Gordon for 30 walks – little Gordon and I didn’t make it to 30.  We both blame Mother Nature.  Snow in late April?! Come on! What we did do is get back to a daily walk schedule.  Puppy is happy and so am I.

2. 1 week moratorium on Starbucks I made it more than 1 week, 10 days in fact… but then I had training.  And turning 1 week into 3 all went to hell.

3. 2 week moratorium on Starbucks – HA! The Boy and I agreed that this really isn’t the worst vice.  I had one yesterday for my free birthday drink… it wasn’t very good.  Whenever that happens I think I should just cut it out for good… but then the 2 o’clock sleepies kick in and I’m screwed.  Meh.

4. Finish the ottoman

5. Make a jewelry solution – I have the solution AND I have actually purchased part of the materials…  I still have not made it.

6. Unpack my backpack (the last “real” box from our move) – the backpack is full of jewelry… see #5.

7. Organize purses/purge for easier rotation

8. Build a desk – HA! It might be changing to build a sewing table… we’ll see!

9. Clean/organize office – Everyone needs a disaster room right?

10. Take wedding dress to be cleaned

11. Update resume – there are some jobs that have been posted, so this actually is going to happen this weekend.

12. Take a long walk on the Tom Taylor Trail with my camera – Didn’t take the camera but we did go on a birthday walk.  It’s a lovely trail and we’ll definitely be back.

13. Organize photos on new computer

14. Frame canvases from Sista I’m picking them up from the framer today – I’ll post a picture when we hang them this weekend. They definitely deserve their own post.

15. Decorate bathroom

16. Go to a spin class – still thinking about it.

17. Set up a regular RRSP contribution plan – I’m pretty sure this makes me an adult.

18. Have Kristyn, John and Logan for dinner – or bring dinner to them – We split dinner and had it at Kristyn and John’s so that little Logan could go to bed.  Turns out he’s not interested in missing the party no matter where he is – so everyone had a great night! 

19. Organize knitting patterns

20. Finish Tanis sweater

21. Finish cowl

22. Finish baby girl sweater

23. Stencil bedroom

24. Clean hall closet

25. Surprise The Boy with a present

26. Clean and shelf paper linen closet

27. Vacuum and clean both cars – What is it that they say about good intentions?

28. Plan a front garden

29. Get kitchen table and chairs

30. Make cupcakes – just because.

13/30… that’s not great but not bad.  I’m thinking about the year ahead and contemplating another list.  I like lists.  They ground me.  I never get through them, mostly because I move on to a new list before the first one is done.  Alas earwax.

As for the knitting on the list – I haven’t finished what I wanted to… because in my head those things are done so I have moved on to other things (are you seeing the theme).  But I did finish a pair of converse boots for a baby shower I went to recently.  They might have been shown up by a GORGEOUS stuffed hand knit elephant that was opened shortly afterward – but I still think they’re cute.

If you’re a knitter and looking for an easy baby gift I highly recommend them.  If you’re not a knitter you should either become one or befriend one and sweet talk them into making them for you.  I suggest flowers or chocolate…. or yarn, yarn would definitely work.

And finally, the Boy restrained himself from eating 1/4 of an ice cream cake that was left over in one sitting and instead had a normal size piece on Monday night and saved a piece for each of us for my birthday.  He gave it to me and said “This is better than any birthday gift I could ever give you.  I saved you some cake. That’s love because it was REALLY hard not to eat it.” So thanks buddy.  You’re right… that is true love.

New Resolve – For Real this Time

Tomorrow at 6:36 pm I turn 31.

31.

I was out with BFF Kristyn the other day and she had Logan 1.0 on her hip and I thought “Kristyn’s a mom!” When did this happen?! Am I old?

Yes.  Yes is the answer.

The Boy and I had a playoff party this weekend.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the playoffs for the first time in 9 years.  To Leaf’s fans, this is significant.  So we had a party to celebrate.  The Boy played golf, we made dinner, we watched the game, beverages and merriment was had by all and by 10:17 everyone had gone home. And I thought… “When did this happen?  I think we’re old!”

Yes.  Yes we are.

I’m completely fine with turning another year older. I’m very happy with my life with the Boy and Gordon, in our little house, for our little family.

But one thing I’m not happy with is the lack of documentation that I have of my last year. Let’s face it – lacklustre doesn’t even BEGIN to describe my commitment to blogging in the last year and a half or so.

A few of the blogs I follow have been either tailoring back their commitments to blogging or signing off completely. To be honest, I’ve considered it.

My family routinely gives me a hard time about the lack of blogging. But then something happened the other day…. a friend said – “I always loved reading your blog – but you haven’t been writing lately” and that’s when I realized – more than my mom reads this blog.

I’ve decided that this year, 31, is going to be awesome.  And there will be a time in my life when I will want to look back on it and see what we were up to our little family of the Boy and Gordon and I. No I’m not pregnant.

So I’m back with new resolve.  I don’t think I’ll get back to a daily writing schedule… but I am aiming for 3 days a week.

Some house updates, some food updates, some knitting updates and of course… Gordon.  And the Boy.  He’s had some good lines lately.

So if there’s anyone out there still – thanks for sticking around. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring a smile to your day.

 

10 Things – Mostly about Gordon

1. Gordon graduated puppy school.  We are so proud. Yes, Gordon’s certificate is hanging on the fridge.
2. Sista said they just give away the certificates, but we clearly saw our instructor tear up a certificate that had the wrong spelling on it – you know just in case another Lacey came in and stole the certificate without completing the classes. That would probably cause irreparable damages to the reputation of the school.
3. I was sick.  It was just a cold but it did knock me out for a couple of days.  I only took 1 day off but when I went back on Tuesday I was asked repeatedly why I was at work.
4. I was at work because it was a cold, I’m not a baby, and I have work to do.
5. People are weird. Especially cubicle people.
6. The Boy built a work bench last weekend. Now I’m coming up with projects for him. This is what I’m thinking.
   

   source

   The Boy thinks it looks complicated.  I vote, how complicated can a wooden box with lid be.

7. I foresee shenanigans and excellent blog fodder out of this plan
8. Hockey is back.  The Boy is happy.  I am not.
9. Gordon got her first hair cut last week
10. .  This is her before:
    

    Really the grad picture better shows her complete inability to see

11. This is her after. Meticulous attention was paid to about 300 individual hairs on her face, paws and butt. $30 later she pretty much looks the same, but she has been warmed to the idea of grooming. Brother says – “she looks surprised”
    

    Can you even tell that she got a haircut?

I Hurt my Everything

I was cleaning up my blog this weekend and came across this fully written but unpublished post from last February.  I’m not really sure why I didn’t publish it.  Or maybe I did – although I couldn’t find it when I searched through my blog.  It’s a little story about starting to do yoga with BFF Kristyn.  I have vague recollections of publishing if not this something very similar.  But alas, earwax. So if I did publish it and you have read it already, maybe you’ll enjoy reading it again.  If I didn’t publish it, well, this a little story about why I stopped going to the gym and started going to yoga.  Of course, now I’m back at the gym and I must say that most of my problems with the gym still exist – but I have a buddy, so I overcome them and I go…. 4 mornings per week – aiming for 5 this week. 

I know.  It’s crazy-pants.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this one despite it’s blast from the past.  Kristyn and I are still going once a week.  She’s back to work now which makes it a bit more challenging but I think we’re back in the swing of it officially.  The Boy says I’m crazy, with my gym-ing and yogi-ing and my working out 6 times a week.  I think he’s jealous.

Enjoy!

_________________________

From February 2012

Let me tell you a little story about me, the gym and motivation.  It’s short and sweet.  I got married.  The pictures are lovely (if I do say so myself) and then I pretty much stopped going.  Sure I check in every once in a while. But basically – no dice.

My problems with the gym include the following

1. I don’t know what to do at the gym
2. At the end of the day I’m sleepy
3. At the beginning of the day, I’m sleeping
4. I hate leaving the house again once I’ve been home – I’ll do it, but only if someone asks me to.
5. The gym does not call me and ask me to leave the house.
6. Most of what I’m doing at the gym I could be doing outside.
7. There are a lot of evenings where I go home and go for a walk with the Boy rather than go to the gym and walk/jog on the treadmill.
8. I don’t like strangers.
9. I don’t like calling 1 hour before to book myself a spot in a yoga class.
10. The level of fitness of the other people at the gym makes me uncomfortable.

Knowing my membership ends in March has led me to think about what I should do starting then.  I made a list of things I like to do:
1. Walk/maybe I could run outside. (the hecklers when I first tried running outside do scare me but maybe I could do it.)
2. Yoga (specifically of the hot variety)
3. Outdoor activities in the nice weather. (ex. I want the Boy to teach me how to play tennis)

So I emailed BFF Kristyn and proposed a plan.  We meet once a week and go to a yoga class. Once a week. That’s not a big commitment, totally doable and we would work through the buddy system.  I’ll go if I know someone else is waiting for me to show up.  She LOVED the idea, and there is a new Hot Yoga studio that just opened up around the corner from her.  It gives me a buddy to yogi with and her a couple of hours away from her beautiful baby boy and out with other adults, doing a little something that’s just for her.  Win-win-win.

We went last Thursday.

On Friday I hurt.  I hurt all over.  It hurt to laugh, it hurt to go up the stairs, it hurt to go down the stairs, it hurt to sit, it hurt to stand.  Saturday if you can believe it – I’m sure you can – worse.

BUT it was worth it. I felt good afterward. I saw my friend. I sweat. I ercised. I didn’t spend the night in front of the TV. Win-Win-Win-Win-Win.

So, despite my muscle’s cries to make it stop.  We’re headed back on Wednesday.  It thought it might kill us, but no pain no gain – Right?!

Well, I hurt again.  BUT I hurt in slightly fewer spots. I was more awake on Thursday. I slept well. I sweat. I didn’t spend the night in front of the TV. I saw my friend.  Win-win-win-win-win-win.

Good-bye gym membership.  Hello something I actually like doing.

Happy New Year

It’s that time of year again – new year, new resolve. I’ve been thinking about the start of 2013 for a while now, what habits I’d like to bring back in my life or do without. And while generally I don’t think New Year’s resolutions are terribly successful, I think the change in the calendar does give us a fresh start to try again. So what if I only make it to February or March – that’s better than nothing right?

One way to make resolutions stick a bit better is to make them: 1. things you really want to do, 2. not too complicated, and 3. manageable. Of course there’s that whole SMART thing, but that goes against my own rule #2 – lets keep it simple.

So for 2013, I’ve got 2 simple goals.

1. Meal plan. “What do you want for dinner is an all too common question in our house. I’m thinking if I can get back to having a list of meals for the week, the part I don’t like about making dinner will be limited to once per week. Pinterest is helping me on this one, with some great organizational tips, some simple enough they just might work.

2. Back to Blogging. I really miss my blog, and according to lots of the people I saw over the holidays, I’m not alone on that one. So, back to blogging it is. I’m not really sure why I stopped, I guess I just needed a break. But now, I’m settled in my job, the puppy is less demanding, we’re homeowners and we’re busy little bees making our house a home, and I’m determined to knit more and watch less tv. To me, all of these together equal a good recipe for getting back to a little hobby I really do enjoy.

So that’s it. No health goals – I’m healthy, and I’m still gymming it up. Blog, and food. Hopefully one can help add fodder for the other!

Any other resolutions out there? How long do you expect you’ll make it?