Sunday, January 24, 2010

Oh Yeah, This Too



It's a horse fly. Thanks to TyMcM for posting this on his site.

These are a Few of My Favourite Things

FYI - this is easier to do with more frequency. Anyway, here are a few I was reminded of this weekend:

* Spa night with Julia/Boys night at hockey (btw, I think I'm due for a real spa day)
* Post-secret Sunday
* Fruit Loops
* "I love you mummy - kissy? huggy?" (Julia)
* Colouring with Hunter
* Stories
* Sleeping in (even if only until 8 o'clock, I still appreciate it)
* Snow days.

90 Down 910 to Go

Okay, this week was a bit slower but I still managed to get 25k in, which brings me to a grand total of 90k (per the title).

Having run 15 in one stretch I know I currently do not have the stamina to do 21 in a row at a non-embarrassing speed. Must work on speed and endurance. Again, still haven't started on a formal program and am just basically screwing around at the moment. That's probably why I like the idea of doing 1000 in 2010 as a goal.

Don't worry, I'm not totally letting myself off the half marathon hook just yet. Once I'm no longer exhausted on a daily basis I'll start following a program (why am I so tired, I thought all this exercising and shedding of excess pounds would help?). Must find more time for sleep. And I suppose I should try to get a physical one of these days.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Things that are Making me Smile

* Getting stronger, I can feel it even if I can't see it yet.

* Taking two good classes - good for entirely different reasons. The Friday one because it has all these full time students in it that remind me what it was like to have a million ideas for what you want to do when you grow up and just be hoping that someone will give you a chance. The Saturday one because it has a bunch of colleagues (indirect ones) in it and is taught by a political scientist. It's been a while since I've taken a class from a political scientist, it's refreshing. It's also great to experience the colleagues in a totally different environment.

* My monkeys, as always. Julia continues in her Hunter adoration and it's so much fun to watch. I think the whole copying what he is saying thing may be getting on his nerves a bit but I think he's also a little bit proud that it is he who she admires. Hunter's love for school continues to amaze me - he's actually excited to do his homework each night. It's also amazing to see how much his reading is improving (and I love that he reads to Julia and not only for selfish reasons).

* My wonderful and supportive Jason. I couldn't live this crazy life without him.

* Less important things like Glee and the Hangover winning awards. I must be getting older because stuff I watch is actually winning awards now. I maintain that this weekend sucked for football, though (okay maybe just two games in particular).

Checking in

Ack, week two in and I'm already falling behind on keeping this thing up. I blame being stupidly busy. I say stupidly because it's stuff I've brought on myself. Basically, I've upped my running (65k so far this month), I've also started 30 day shred, which is brutal and I'm taking two classes this semester in an attempt to finally get my damn masters done. The classes are intellectually stimulating but involve a tonne of reading and because they are stimulating are also draining. If I can just survive the next three and a half months I will be much further along towards reaching my December resolutions. Upon reflection, applying for my passport would probaby a much easier check mark on that list.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Weekend Smiles

* Sliding, fireworks and some unexpected Olympic spirit
* "A kiss for mummy, a kiss for Hunter, a kiss for daddy, a kiss for Shadow and a kiss for Julia" (Julia after walking around giving everyone a kiss then one for herself)
* "It was awesome!! I knew what you were going to ask" (Hunter running in the door upon returning from sliding with his friend)

Not only this but both Dallas and Arizona won.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Today's Smiles

* A husband that is willing to start the car for me in -37c weather. This is especially appreciated since he otherwise wouldn't have had to brave the cold. Incidentally, this only somewhat counterbalances the whole it's -37c, is this even human, thing.

* Watching the cat knock Julia's princess castle onto herself. It's one of those pop-up, tent-type things with a long tube to crawl in and out of. It has two doors. The cat loves it because she can hide in there and attack people who walk by or hide from the kids when they aren't playing in it. Today she leaped out of it and knocked it on to herself. Totally serves her right for trying to attack me. I swear that cat is crazy.

* Hearing from my Mum that there might be an Adrian Mole book out that I haven't yet. I love Adrian Mole!

* Crazy family dinners. These are an everyday occurrence, I'm just appreciating it today. One of the best parts of my day even though half of it is usually spent trying to get at least one of the kids to eat at least something on their plate and the other half is usually spent trying to instill some sort of manners.

* Blogs. In case it's not evident, I'm so happy to have rediscovered this medium.

* I almost forgot (how could I?) - there is a whole new person in this world. My friend had a healthy just under 4lbs baby boy today. After much worrying and an intentionally early arrival, the little dude is doing fabulous.

It's Four O'Clock Think

* Would it be reasonable for me to leave now even though I was a half hour late this morning? I mean, it is cold out and there was a two hour conference call over lunch today. Two. hours. Over. lunch. Really, really long and painful. Over lunch, for two hours.

* It's cool that you can now pre-draft posts and post 'em later. Yes, that's right, this was drafted at 10pm last night anticipating what I might be thinking about at 4pm today. Guaranteed I could predict how I'd feel about that conference call.

* My legs are so. sore. Stupid running. Should have taken a rest day yesterday. Must rest today. Guaranteed I'll be writing the exact same thing tomorrow. Really need to follow a program instead of winging it. A four day program probably makes the most sense.

* I've got soo much to do I should really get working on something. On the other hand, it is 4, with an hour left in the day does it really make sense to start something new? Maybe I should just make a list of things to work on tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Ooh, ooh More Little Things that Made Me Smile Today

* Cracking brand spanking new text books full of ideas and potential
* My wonderful, exhausted, Julia actually going to bed on time (and it only took cutting out her nap and a couple hours of napless crankiness) - there really is nothing sweeter than sleeping children
* Hunter's palpable excitement about going back to school tomorrow
* An afternoon much better than the morning

All in all, a net positive.

It's the little things

* Squeeze hugs
* Purring cat
* A warm bath
* A great run
* Fluffy snow

Optimist Project

Savvy reader(s) may have noticed that I tagged my yesterday post Optimist Project. I am not naturally optimistic. I'm cynical, pessimistic and a chronic worrier.

I've been thinking that I have a million little things to be greatful for and that if I focus attention to consciously taking note of the little things that make me smile each day, I might not only hit the pillow more content each night but I might also, over time, condition myself to become more optimistic. You can expect to see these reflected on my blog.

Here's the trouble: I still have lots of things that make me crazy and there are going to be days where I just need to whine about the shit that is making me want to say fuck it and jump in my car and drive away.

Today is one of those days.

I don't want to drive away from family, I just want to escape from the job. Some days, it is the general soul-crushing nature of working in a bureaucracy that gets me. Today, however, it is the little things.
* It's the annoying Director from another ministry that calls my boss instead of me because his title is Executive Director - totally disregarding the reality that he won't know the answer to her questions because I am actually the contact for her ministry and on this file. The sense that it's the title that matters not the knowledge makes me nuts.
* It's the paper-flow processes that aren't working.
* It's the lack of clarity.

It's the sense of resignation all these things together create in me.

Huh. It's kind of like the opposite of my little optimist project. If the little positives together are what makes life worth living, maybe there is value in paying attention to the little negatives coupled together and thinking about what they, put together, do to me too. Huh. Need to file this away for further reflection.

To counterbalance the negative, this made me smile this morning:
* "Mummy, you look great!"

Monday, January 4, 2010

Things that Made Me Smile Today

* High five wars with Hunter
* Julia's "I want to do [insert activity here] just like Hunter"
* Coming home to painted trim (thank you, Jason)
* First day back at work not being nearly as bad as I had anticipated
* Feeling more excited about what I might learn than overwhelmed by the workload of the two classes I'm registered in
* Feeling like I can't run another minute at 5K then making it to 10K

Saturday, January 2, 2010

It's January so...

It's time to inevitable commit to losing the last of the baby pounds (plus a few more I'd put on before that pregnancy). I'm not sure that the twenty remaining pounds from the last pregnancy really count as the remainder of the baby weight any more, but thinking of it that way gives me a bit of a timeline for unloading it - Julia will be three on February 14th - three years is long enough to carry that extra twenty so I'm going to aim to get rid of it by then. It may not be entirely realistic but it gives me something to shoot for so time to get on it. Instead of any fad approach I'm just going to eat healthier, try to get more sleep and exercise more (including as a stress reliever). Training for the half marathon should help (I've got a long way to go, 10K is about what I'm capable of running now and I want to be much faster). Anyway, I'll keep blogland posted on both counts - I hope not to disappoint.

Additional To Do

Earlier this month, Jason and I went through all of the pictures on Family Album and I realized how much I value what I have captured there (and mostly without words). It's neat to look back and see just how much the kids have grown. It definitely escapes you day to day. We listened to Hunter singing at his pre-school Christmas concert and couldn't believe how much his voice has changed in just a couple years. I wish I had more of Julia's voice captured as she has changed tremendously (her Huhus are now Hunters, banas are now bananas, etc., etc.). I regret not updating it much more than I regret not updating this blog. Pictures are coloured only with each of our memories and not just the voice of one story-teller. As an add-on to my to do list, I'm going to catch up some photos over on family album and plan to post a couple every couple of weeks.