Happy Thanksgiving!

This has been a good week - lots of stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie this weekend, but otherwise it has been a good week.

There were a few walks at High Park with the dog -

Blurry. Running.

Fall colours

 

 The dog and I finished weeks 1 AND 2 of Couch to 5K -

 

Walk breaks are for stopping to sniff, right?

 

My favourite part of every run

I made it through Day 11 of the Ab Challenge -

We cleaned like mad and had the family over for Thanksgiving Dinner, then spent today over at the Brickworks for a walk in the fall colours. 



 

Tried to take a family picture, but belly rubs were more important

Perfect way to end a long weekend

A good week.  



March Break!

It's March Break and I've got the week off with the kids!



Verrrry fierce! Friday night at the ROM - March 2011
Yes - my daughter is wearing PJs - her class had a pyjama day at school today

Friday - Cheering and big grins when the school bell rang at the end of the day. Took the kids downtown to the Royal Ontario Museum after school, and stayed until they closed about 4 hours later. We brushed up on our history, checked out a special exhibit on Water, and generally wandered through the galleries. Our favourites of the night: a clutch of 150-million year-old dinosaur eggs, 1,200 year-old Viking swords, 3,500 year-old mummies, two of Chopin's pianos, 450-million year-old fossils of aquatic life from this area back when it was under water, 2,000 year-old busts of the Olympian gods, and the hands-on exhibits in the children's galleries. I also love being at the ROM after dark - the lighting is fabulous.

Saturday - I went to Curves in the morning while my husband took the kids down to the community centre. He and our son ran/walked about 4K on the track (way to go!!!) while our daughter had her gymnastics class. Lazy day after that.

GPOY: Post 5K edition

Sunday - St. Pat's 5K! Nice cool, dry day, fairly flat course. Great swag bag, chili and beer! Did this one with Lynda, Kat and Emma. Something remarkable happened - this is the first 5K I've done that (a) didn't suck, and (b) I finished STRONG - I signed up as a walker, but ran the first 100 or so metres (burst of adreneline),  ran the last 100 or so metres, and crossed the finish line with a smile! OK, OK, I know that's bad race etiquette...but I've never been fit enough to run any distance, anywhere - let alone at the END of a 5K and so I'm super impressed with myself. In the past I've had trembling hands after crossing the finish line. My Blackberry has chips out of it from me dropping it when trying to turn off my timer at past 5Ks. Not today! Was it the lucky green tech shirt? Or have I just been working hard enough that I'm fitter than I was in January?!?! Emailed the race coordinators for the next 5Ks that I'm signed up for and changed my category to 'runner'...just to give myself the option to jog here and there if I'm up for it.

Mamma gorilla storming off after breaking up a fight: Honestly you two - I've had enough.
Yep, I know how she feels :-)

Monday - Beautiful sunny day! Took the kids to the zoo for the day.  Kids had a great time, but this is tough for me - I know zoos do good work, and ours does absolutely the best they can, but some of the enclosures seem...cramped. Sigh. Highlight: watching a gorilla break up a fight between her son and his little sister. Just like being at home!

Tuesday - Cleaned the house for FOUR hours (long overdue...), then played outside while waiting for my SIL and nephews to arrive. Beautiful sunny afternoon - kids spent their time scootering, biking and drawing with sidewalk chalk. Bonus: my husband signed my SIL up for the 10K that he's doing this spring, and we booked our summer camping trip!

Wednesday started off rainy...

Wednesday - SIL and I took the kids bowling in the morning before heading to the park for a few hours. They headed home after dinner and I went to Zumba.

...and then brightened up!
This was really cool - feeding chickadees and nuthatches by hand

Thursday - Went to Collingwood to visit my cousin and her family. Kids played, grownups relaxed, and we took the kids swimming.

At Sunset Point, Collingwood - March 2011

Friday - Took the kids & cousins hiking down by the Collingwood waterfront. Highlight of the day: watching their dog (a boxer) endlessly chase his tail while wearing striped kneesocks that the kids had put on him. Truly the funniest thing I've seen so far this year.

What I'm reading this week - It's all over the map! Superdad: A Memoir of Rebellion, Drugs and Fatherhood by Christopher Shulgan, Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs, The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich.

Merry Christmas!



Can you hear me screaming? This
hill was a lot steeper - and slicker -
than it looks! December 2010

Remember what I said last week about it being time to start shrinking again?  Yeah, well...about that.

Christmas and my hormones got in the way. Not to be indelicate - but I find that I crave crave crave carbs for a full week every month. I try really hard to recognize it for what it is, but end up spending about 4 days in full-blown carb-loading mode. Sigh. It really sabotages my efforts. Any advice on how to get over that? I mean, besides strapping my hands behind my back?

This week was also a bit light when it came to exercise. I am reminding myself that some weeks are like that, and it's not a disaster as long as I get back up on the horse ASAP. Good thing the Resolution Run is coming up this weekend!

Here's a recap from this week:

Saturday - Christmas! Slept in to 8.20 (best present ever - thanks kids!), opened presents, lazed around, then went to my sister-in-law's for family dinner and CHIPS! and DIP! and CHOCOLATE FONDUE! (ack)

Sunday - Boxing Day. PJ Day! Woke up with the best of intentions about cleaning ALL THE THINGS (thank you Hyperbole and a Half for a great laugh!) but ended up cleaning some of the things and relaxing.

That's one brave 6-year-old. She caught air &
laughed when she hit that bump! Dec 2010

Monday - Out of town to my mom's for another Christmas. Had a quick lunch, then took the kids sledding before dinner. There's snow where she lives!! Man - I thought skating was scary? SLEDDING got my heart beating faster. Hill was pretty steep and slick and going down it was terrifying! My kids had a blast!

Tuesday - Meant to go to the gym, but got overwhelmed by how out-of-control messy the house was. Invited a friend for dinner and spent the day putting things away and cleaning before she arrived.

Wednesday - Back to work for me. Good thing - getting up at 6.30am meant that I discovered our leaking hot water heater before it completely flooded the basement. My husband had the day off so spent the day with the kids, the shop vac and the service guys. Had to have the tank replaced (free) AND have the chimney lined (not free at all). (double ACK)

Thursday - Work. No real exercise, but I did power walk from home to the streetcar stop (2 blocks), from the subway to the office (3 blocks), and again on the way home.

Friday - New Year's Eve and a day off from work. Put away the Christmas decorations, cleaned the house from top to bottom, and had good friends over for the dinner and the evening. Nothing like starting a new year with a sparkling clean house! Took it easy with the wine and food - the Resolution Run is tomorrow!!

What I'm Reading This Week - Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King's new book of short stories. Nice and creepy. Started The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw, a loaner from my mom - set in 1940s Malaysia.

In Which We Go Ice Skating a Lot

 

Perfect day for skating - December 2010

We're on vacation for the next 10 days - how sweet! The craziness of past few weeks is behind us - HOORAY. We're planning on resting and relaxing and skating and (if the weather cooperates) sledding and celebrating Christmas with our family. Nice, nice, nice.

About skating. Did I tell you that I used to be afraid of skating? I used to feel really unsteady on my feet and didn't like the out-of-control feeling. Or the falling. It occurred to me this week that although I'm not terribly skilled, that I'm not afraid anymore. Helps that I'm lighter and stronger and have the world's most comfortable skates - but I'm also generally more confident now.

This week, I worked my way up to gliding on one foot with the other off the ice and bent up behind me. And then managed to do that with my OTHER foot too. Had some fun talking myself into that one: "Nothing bad is going to happen if you take your left skate off the ice. Honestly. Trust me! Nothing bad happened when you took your right skate off this ice, now did it? OK - NOW DO IT" And I did! Slowly, slowly breaking out of my comfort zone.

Here's a recap from this week:

Evening skating at our local rink - Dec 2010
Pic taken by my daughter

Saturday - Curves workout in the morning. The four of us took my daughter to her last gymnastics class of the season, then over to our local bakery for hot chocolate and coffee. Bought a few groceries from the Italian market next door - home-marinated artichokes, warm ciabatta, pesto, pizza dough, a lovely rustic tomato basil sauce and some beautiful tomatoes, beans and broccoli. Lunches and dinners this weekend are going to be lovely! Spent the evening at the Christmas pageant / party for our son's Scout's troupe. Went on until midnight as usual - at least we were prepared for that this year.



Sunday - Laaaaazy morning, then met friends at a new outdoor skating rink in the west end. Absolutely perfect day for outdoor skating!

Monday - Ran a few quick errands with the family before the stores get crazy later in the week. Mild weather meant I could ride my bike to Curves and back (5K) for a workout in the afternoon. Took the kids skating after dinner. So proud of them both - we haven't been skating since March and they are doing amazing. My son's a decent skater and is teaching himself speed skating and snowplowing. My daughter falls a lot but is learning so quickly. By the end of our skate yesterday, she was back to where she was in March. By the end of today, she was able to skate the length of the rink without falling!

Tuesday  - Lazy morning then out for a few errands - including the very last of the Christmas shopping. Stayed home to wrap gifts while my husband took the kids skating. Realized that I've overbought for one kid and underbought for the other. Shoot.


Harbourfront Centre - December 2010

Wednesday - Finished the Christmas shopping (for real this time) and hit the gym. The kids talked me into making latkes with dinner and ohhhh I ate too many. Good thing I only make them about once a year.


Had an 'aha' moment this evening reading a post over at 5-4-3-2-1. Cara, the author, is suffering from sprains and strains in one of her feet that have derailed her plans to run a marathon before the end of the year. The good news - she's come back fighting with a recovery and training plan. The part that really got my attention was her comment, 'I'm sure a main cause of this injury is being a still-overweight person who runs 20-30 miles a week'

Aha! Maybe that's why my knee acts up now and then. I may feel strong, energetic and invincible - but I AM carrying 40 or so extra pounds, and they're with me up the stairs, on power walks around the block and at the gym. I'm thinking that it's time to break out of the comfortable plateau that I'm on and start shrinking again.



Doing Life at Harbourfront Centre - December 2010

Thursday - Skating again, this time at Harbourfront Centre down beside Lake Ontario. Skated for close to 2 hours. Took pics of the kids wearing their 'Do Life' t-shirts and sent them on to Ben. He asked permission to write a post about it - check it out over here!


Friday - Christmas Eve! Power walked around the neighbourhood with the kids, delivering cards and cookies. We're heading to a family party this evening, then home to set out milk & cookies for Santa.

Merry Christmas everyone!

What I'm reading this week: Born Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield, about an 11-year-old boy living in Kabul after the fall of the Taliban. Very, very illuminating about what life is like in Afghanistan at present.