Happy Thanksgiving!

I had one heck of a week, followed by a fabulous weekend.

 

Things were exceptionally busy at both work and at home during the week, and I'm not proud to say that with the stress of it all I did a fair bit of yelling at home.

 

The one thing that kept me from going completely over the edge was exercise.  I'd have a nutso day at work, go home to a different kind of nutso, yell, then head out the door to either run with the dog or hit the gym.

 

Endorphins are wonderful things, aren't they? I'd come home feeling refreshed and happy, start off the next day calm, but then find myself getting increasingly tense as the day went on. Repeat.

 

So - I got in a couple of short runs, a couple of circuits, an abs workout, a body sculpting class and eventually the week was over.

 

And we had a 3-day weekend for Thanksgiving. Blissful.

 

We kicked things off with treetop trekking & ziplining! My son and I went with my brother-in-law and nephew, with my SIL on hand to take pictures. We gave this adventure to my nephew for his birthday, and had a fantastic afternoon out in the forest with the trees in full colour.

 

But here's the thing - I've done this before, but I really am afraid of heights. Ziplining is great fun, but walking on wobbly tightropes high up off the ground is really not my thing. But sometimes you have to push the envelope, y'know?

 

Me in red - catching my breath with my son. My nephew behind us in blue, with his dad on the platform to the right.

Heading out on the next obstacle. Reminding myself: "I am a Spartan...I am a Warrior..."

Edging along

 

I loved this one!

After the first obstacle course, I'd had enough. Meanwhile, both kids turned out to be absolute adrenaline junkies. They hit the intermediate course, then my son and BIL went for advanced one before all three of them went for the Big Zip at the end.

 

Double-decker cousins

My son ran through this one. Nephew was just as fearless.

The last zip: My son on the highest platform, nephew partway up the rope ladder, BIL on the platform below
I badly wanted to do this zip but couldn't face that rope ladder.





My son zipping in to the finish

 

The verdict? There's a really strong chance that I won't be going treetop trekking again, although I'd love to go ziplining again. The kids, though -

 

"We're coming back again, right?"

"Best birthday present ever, Auntie Jen!"

"We HAVE to bring [our younger siblings] next time - they should totally do the kids course!"

 

...and with that, we grabbed hot chocolates and met the rest of the family at Grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner.

 

The rest of the weekend has been a nice mix of chores, relaxing and our own Thanksgiving dinner. Followed by a trip to the park down the street to run the dog, soak up some sun...



 

 ...and shoot some hoops.

She sank this one.

The stress from last week seems like a distant memory now. A lot of it is temporary, both at work and at home. It may be a few more days until things calm down, but here's hoping that this week is more manageable.

 

 

 

Trying Something New - Treetop Trekking and Ziplining!

I opened my email one day recently and found that someone very wonderful - who knows that I'm on a mission to try new things - had purchased two passes to a treetop trekking adventure for myself and a guest, complete with transportation and lunch. And ZIPLINING!

How amazing is that?

This very wonderful person refused to be my guest.

So, I brought along my very good friend, Naomi.

Naomi is the world's best neighbour. She cooks and shares. And bakes and shares. Makes me laugh. Listens to my endless chatter. Cuddles my children. Takes my dog out for runs. Digs massive holes in my yard when I decide that I want to plant trees. She's also got two fabulous children and a pretty great husband. Standard neighbour stuff, no?

We got ourselves up early and headed out of town to our adventure. Got fitted for harnesses and helmets, had a safety lesson and did some practice moves 5 feet off the ground. So far, so good.

Look Ma, no hands! Practicing a fall during orientation.

Um...one small thing? I'm kind of afraid of heights. And this activity involves being 20-30' off the ground walking on wobbly things that bounce and sway. For a few hours.

Check out the beginner's course - wow!
We actually ran under part of this during the Warrior Dash in July, and I remember being disappointed that it wasn't part of the Dash...

Time to WTFU.

Reminded myself that my parasailing adventure this summer proved that I'm not going to die if my feet leave the ground.

Climbed the ladder and headed up into the trees.

This was seriously hard work! There were about 40 of us up in the trees but there was almost pindrop silence the entire time. Navigating through the obstacles took a lot of concentration and involved a lot of problem-solving. Oh - and let's not forget courage...strength... and balance!

Just don't look down!



Warming up with what I now know was an easy one



Naomi (centre) all smiles - she's already planning a trip back to try this again!



Steady...steady...
Little did I know at the time that this was another easy one. Those barrels, though? Not easy. No sirree.

I am very proud to say that I finished both the beginner and intermediate courses. Needed a break by that time though - I was so filled with adrenaline that I was shaking! - and waited on the ground while Naomi did the advanced course.

 
I got a LOT out of this -

• I stared one of my fears right in the face (heights) and didn't run away. 
• I got to test out just how strong I am - and was very pleased with the results. 
• I got to test out my flexibility, agility, endurance and balance  - and was very pleased to see they have improved. Thank you, Zumba!
• I got to work my brain! Focus, planning, control. Check.

Did I get any fun out of it? To be honest, it was so much work that I didn't notice if it was fun or not!

But then we got to the ziplining. AND THAT WAS SERIOUSLY FUN.

Honesty, I am having fun - I'm just concentrating REALLY HARD on what to do about the tree that I'm zooming towards.

Naomi heading out on the Big Zip...

...and me zipping in to the finish line!

There were a few shorter zips during the courses - and then a 983-foot Big Zip at the end. Apparently we hit 40KM/hour going down that one. Wheeeeeeeeee!

Stepping off the platform on any of these was pretty nerve-wracking, but then...so fast, so fun!

Yep, I'll be back.

To that wonderful person who treated us to this adventure? THANK YOU.