Keep riding, boys. I’ll have less to worry about.
Category: Day-to-day life
Wherein I ramble.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, mainly because I’ve been mopey. Nobody wants to hang around mopey, much less read about mopey. So I’m trying to move past mopey into more hopeful. Mopeful, maybe?
My body is nowhere near 100% fixed, as much as I like to pretend it is. Watching the winter pass me by has been very frustrating – particularly not being able to ski. I miss skiing and feel like I am missing out on a lot with the kidlets.
I’ve tried a few days of skate skiing without poles which was ok, but otherwise my workouts have been limited to the gym, pool running (ugh) and the wind trainer… endless hours on the wind trainer. Actually, I’m pretty proud of myself for the workouts I’ve developed: they are based solely on TV characters. When character A comes on, I spin 100 rpm. When his enemy comes on, I spin 80 rpm, etc. etc. It actually makes time fly. As much as time can fly on a wind trainer at 5:30am. Maybe I’ll trademark these workouts and become an infomercial superstar! (Wait… do infomercials still exist?)
I celebrated 1 month post-op with a 1km run on the treadmill in the garage – which I then had taken away from me by a well-meaning physio who told me to back off again. I may or may not had shed tears of frustration. Not having the ability to run daily has had a huge effect on my ability to manage my anxiety, so for both my physical and mental health I’m hoping to get back at it sooner rather than later.
Baby steps, I suppose. In the meantime, while I build my body back up, I’ll continue to lurk on race websites, read blogs, try to pick up a hobby, follow people’s twitter updates and will the snow to melt and my body to heal so I can once again get out and play.
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Know thyself
A few weeks ago, I was headed to the city to run some errands and let the boys know I’d be picking them up some tees and hoodies as they’d outgrown/destroyed the ones they had. Rory piped up that he “wanted a pink t-shirt with a skateboarder on it, but if they don’t have that, I’ll just get whatever”.
Will looked at me and said “I don’t want to be a dude”. I was a little confused by this comment and replied “but you’re a boy, therefore you are a dude.” He elaborated: “No, no. I don’t want to be a dude, like who skateboards and wears pink shirts and stuff. I like Lego and books and calmer stuff. I just want a plain blue t-shirt”.
It’s interesting to me that at 6 years old, he’s pretty self-aware. And so very, very different from his brother.
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Meanwhile…
I bought Anja a new coat as she’d outgrown her current one (belly coats, anyone?) She came downstairs, saw it and said “OH MINE GOODNESS! It’s Beee-ooootiful”!
I like an appreciative kid.
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Completely unrelated to anything
I was at one of my recent 298374 doctors appointments waiting for the doc when I saw this: 
I must have been having a bad day because it infuriated me. I’m no feminist, but COME ON. Set your daughter up with some slightly higher standards than “Diva”. I hate that moniker applied to little girls – never mind newborns. How about “Astronaut in Training” or “Athlete in Training” or “Average, healthy kid in training”? Anything is better than Diva.
*steps off soap box*
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Don’t ask.
I gave up chocolate for Lent. I’m not religious, nor have I ever given anything up for Lent. I wonder what possessed me this year. So far so good. But The Chocolate Easter Bunny better watch his back March 31. And his ears. And tail.
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Yesterday
It was the first warm and sunny day we’d had in a long time. I spent a lot of it thinking about Mum. She used to love early Spring days and would bundle up into her coats and blankets, drag an old chair to a sunny spot somewhere outside and read her book till the sun became shade. I think that early spring days will always remind me of Mum and some of her ingrained habits. I can’t believe that it’s already been 6 months without her.
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I’m back at work! Bring on the sitting, office snacks and the fluorescent lighting. And hopefully more positive blog updates.
On kids and independence.
I feel like this should be a confession. We let – actually, we encourage – Will to walk or bike to and from school on his own.
He’s 6, soon to be 7 and has been doing this since the fall when he started grade 1. I’m fully aware that there are parents in our community who think that this is a big mistake and I get the hairy eyeball pretty frequently when people find out about this ritual of ours.
Here’s the thing. We live in a small town, and our home is about 1km away from school. Everyone seems to know everyone else and families look out for each other. Will takes the responsibility of getting himself to and from school very seriously. He doesn’t like to talk to anyone – friends included – when he’s en route. We don’t let him do it every day. But the best part? I trust him. I know he’s not going to break my trust and do something stupid to compromise the privilege of going to and fro on his own.
So my question is: how soon is too soon? How much independence or leeway do you grant your kids?
The inconvenience of injury
Let me preface this by saying that, in the grand scheme of things, my current injuries are very minor. I’m mobile, upright and for the most part, coherent. When I start to feel sorry for myself, I think of a friend who’s son is in hospital and mentally slap myself and thank my lucky stars.
That being said, being injured sucks. A few weeks ago, I fractured my shoulder. As I was peeling myself off the ground – knowing instantly that I’d done a fair bit of damage, random thoughts ran through my brain:
“There’s NO WAY I’m calling patrol. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Ugh. How am I going to get my shirt off?”
“Stay calm. Kids are watching.”
“Well, there goes swimming for a while. Can I bike? Run? Skate ski?”
See? Inconvenient but not that big of a deal. Does it hurt? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes: just ask anyone who’s watched me pull off a sweater. Do I think I did more damage than good when I caught the blender falling off the counter a few days ago? Oh hell yes.
Being hard-headed, I knew I had a minor knee surgery scheduled for yesterday. Despite knowing that hobbling around on crutches probably wasn’t going to happen, I refused to re-schedule in the hopes that I’d be weight-bearing. And waddya know? The stars aligned, and here I am. Weight-bearing and feeling like I’ve been punched in the thigh. Peeling off the dressing last night made for a super fun family activity, one that all kids were keen to get involved in!
The good news is that surgery went smoothly and that frankly, it was the best sleep I’ve had in YEARS. The bad news is that there are potentially 2 more to come. But I figure I’ll cross that bridge when I’m being shoved over it.
In the meantime, I’m going to work on physio/recovery/rehad like it’s my job. There are too many upcoming adventures hanging in the balance not to!
Greater tuberosity and other fun things.
Greater Tuberosity.
Doesn’t that sound like it should be a name of a roller coaster at a super fun amusement park? “Step right up people and have a ride on the death defying GREATER TUBEROSITY! A feat of engineering, a marvel of adventure!”
The reality is that “greater tuberosity” is just a fancy name for shoulder. Which I fractured last week. Oops.
Considering I’m scheduled for knee surgery next week, my timing is spectacular and this has put a damper on the ski season. Just when I’d managed to rekindle my love/hate relationship with skate skiing… Plus, I get total FOMO when it comes to skiing with my kids – I don’t want to miss a thing. It drives me bonkers when they go without me.
I’m front loading the surgery with as much running as I can as I am not sure when I’ll be able to get out there again (super graceful, one-armed running). I devastated that I can’t swim (total lie). Garage biking is happening. I tried snowshoeing but almost died of boredom: I would have been a terrible coureur des bois.
Coming soon: road trip recap! In the meantime, enjoy some random photos.
Packing up and logging off…
Tonight, we head to Vancouver to begin our Christmas road trip. We’ll have an early Christmas dinner with the family and in the morning we’ll load up the kids and our gear and start heading south… I’m equally excited and nervous about what this experience will bring. I’m looking forward to seeing new places, being with the family without too many domestic distractions and seeing the sun. I’m nervous about being in the car for so long and I hope that we haven’t built it up too much in the kid’s minds. Time will tell, I suppose. The goal is to make it to San Diego by Christmas and then meander our way home in time for school in January. I plan to take lots of pictures and write updates on our journey, so stay tuned. That is, if I’m not in some kind of road coma.
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The self-imposed cooking challenge is now officially over. While I wouldn’t rate it as a complete failure, it wasn’t a complete success, either. I did manage to stick to my plan of 2 new recipes a week, and I think that I’ll continue to do that when we come back from this trip. However, I failed to fall in love with cooking. I think it’s time to face reality: cooking and I will maintain a healthy respect for one another, but there ain’t gonna be wedding bells anytime soon.
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What will 2013 bring, I wonder? I’m not one to make resolutions but I’ll admit that I want to set some new goals and challenges for myself in the coming year. I’ve already committed to 2 races and I am pondering what else I can challenge myself with to fill the calendar. I think it should be the “Year of Yes”: time to try new things and say “yes” to whatever comes my way. And I’ll admit that I am not at all sad to see the backside of 2012.
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I’m planning on ending 2012 by taking a break for news, social media and digital distractions in general. On this trip, it’s time to re-connect with my family, rest and re-charge. I’ll bring a notebook with me and actually use a pen. Time to shut off the noise for a while. Digital detox!
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I’ll leave you with some recent pics. See you in the new year.
In which I blab on about a variety of topics.
I spent the weekend in Vancouver with the kids, the plan being to take in the Stanley Park Christmas train, city lights and the Santa Claus Parade. Then, this happened:
Being sick when you are little sucks. It’s hard to communicate what you feel and you can’t help much beyond back rubs and cuddles. And midnight/2am/4am Tylenol and kleenex doses. Thankfully, they both seem to be on the mend.
Rory and Will rallied for the parade, Anja fell asleep…
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QOTD:
(scene: Rory is having a hissy fit because we’d planned an adult evening without him).
Me, to Will: “What’s going on?”
Will: “Oh, Rory’s losing his marbles because you’re leaving”.
Me: “Hmm, well – are you ok with it?”
Will: “Me? Oh yeah. You should go, you guys totally need a break”.
(scene: Rory, on the couch, legs in the air)
“I feel a celebration coming on!”
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Knee surgery looms in January. In the meantime, I’ve been running and kind of biking (and by kind of, I mean hanging on for dear life on the rollers while staring at a dot on the floor so as not to lose focus). I’ve also been trolling the internet and planning 2 types of race schedules.
1) The one I’d do if I were single, rich and responsibility-free (read: Phuket, South Africa, New Orleans, Texas, Mexico, Hawaii… just to name a few destinations).
2) Reality. I’ll be coming off of surgery, have 3 kids to focus on, don’t have that much race mojo anyway. Any suggestions? Oh, I’ve been talked into the Test of Metal after a 9 year hiatus.
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The cooking project continues and I’ve been diligent about trying new recipes. In the process, I’ve learned a few things. First, don’t try to fool the kids with things like “These quinoa burgers are just like real burgers”! They’re kids, not idiots. Truth helps.Next, I’m much more of a 1 dish kind of gal. If I have to cook a main and 2 side dishes to all be ready at once, something is bound to be over-done, under-done, too hot, too mushy, etc. Plus HEY LOOK SOMETHING SHINY! I’m too easily distracted and there are always 3 little people talking to me at the same time between 5-6pm. Finally, I keep waiting for that love of cooking to spark. But I’m thinking this is one blind date that’s going nowhere…fast.
On the bright side, I made myself laugh the other day when Will came barreling into the kitchen demanding to know what was for dinner. I answered “Windowsills. Now get out of my kitchen”. Verbatim what my Mum used to say to me…
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If, like me, you harbour romantic notions of living in Canada’s north, do check out Tandi’s blog. A healthy and funny dose of reality!
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It’s here… another ski season. Day 1 for me started with these two and it was both painful and awesome. Anja delights in folding in half and laughing when she hits the ground. Rory seeks jumps like it’s his job. The two of them collided more than once and I ended the day with sore legs (snowplowing is evil) and a full body sweat. Here’s to more days on the hill and less days of plucking them off the ground!
- Have you ever seen anything cuter? No, you have not.
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- Wedding weekend coming up!
True Canadian?
Much to my sister-in-law’s dismay, I’m a big fan of the CBC. I’m still mad that they got rid of Rick MacInnes-Rae (the best voice on radio, in my humble opinion), but despite that grudge, I listen almost every day.
I love that the program “Q” has created what is sometimes described as the “Survivor” of books. How very Canadian… a reality show about books.
I’m making it my personal goal to read all these books by 2013, regardless of which ones get kicked off the island first. So who’s with me? We can have our own virtual book club!
Pointless rant.
I’ll admit it. I judge people by what they put into their shopping cart at the grocery store. In line to pay, I glance back and wonder why you’d buy the white wonder bread that is stocked right next to something a teeny bit more wholesome. Pushing my cart past the produce, I wonder why someone buys 6 frozen pizzas but not a single fruit or vegetable. It’s none of my business, but I can’t help question it.
I avoid going to our local grocery store here at lunch time for the simple reason that it both depresses and enrages me.
Why?
Because that’s where the high school kids go to buy “lunch”. I stand back (or, let’s face, get bowled over half the time) and watch these kids, many of whom are overweight or clearly headed in that direction make their purchases. Chocolate doughnut and giant can for Rockstar? Check. Family-size bag of doritos and a 2L bottle of Coke? Yum. Can of Monster AND a can of Coke? Bring it on!
I can’t help but feel sorry for the teachers who get to witness the sugar crash/food coma that must follow this intake of junk. I want to take these kids and shake them! I wonder if they know better and are simply making the choice to ignore what they know. Or worse (is it?) are they legitimately ignorant of the basics of normal nutrition?
I’m by NO means a saint when it comes to what I eat. I have a sweet tooth that is rivaled only by my salt tooth. In fact, last night I dumped out all the leftover Halloween candy, ate what I wanted and dumped the rest in the trash. But that only happens once in a blue moon and I understand that moderation is a good thing. Plus, I know how to work it off.
How do we convey this moderation to our kids? I’m proud that my kids request salad for dinner and think fruit salad is “fun”. Do they love candy, chips and treats? Absolutely. Do I hope that someone regulates the intake of energy drinks in kids soon? You bet I do. In fact, take that crap off the market or sell it in a liquor store. There is nothing you can argue that will convince me that kids need that kind of stuff, much less in the middle of a school day.
–end rant–
Progress report
Yeah, you’re all dying to know. Did I or didn’t I bail on the week 1 cooking challenge do-over?
I attempted a few new recipes and re-jigged a few kid favourites (to their ABSOLUTE HORROR.) Among other things, I “invented” a veggie stir-fry that I really liked, the kids thought it was essentially poison. Have you ever watched a 4-year old pick grains of rice out of a plate one-by-one? Entertainment at its finest. Chocolate pudding? WINNING. I didn’t tell them it was made with avocado.
I’ll continue on with my personal quest this week and see what I manage. True confession, though: it’s a lot easier to learn to like wine than it is to like cooking…
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What is it with this time of year that ignites my inner consumer? I’d been doing a pretty good job of purging and keeping my desire to acquire things in check, but lately every time I turn around I see something that I have. To. Have. It’s ridiculous.
I think I need to initiate some kind of reward/earning system for myself to justify some of this desire… (that being said, I can pretty much talk myself out of anything, so maybe that’s what I need to be working on). That elephant ring on Etsy? Must cook 15 original meals. That new cycling kit? Must… um… earn it somehow?
Is this something you do? Tell me more, if so. How do you justify your treats?
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Rory, trying the guacamole I made: “I don’t really like it but I kind of love it”.
Will: “Sometimes, when you slow down, things come to you rather than having to chase them”.
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CITS is kind of in hiatus these days… it’s just me and my bike. I can’t run comfortably so I’m trying to get re-acquainted with my mountain bike. I wonder why I like riding more in the cold and wet than in the warm sun? Weird.
The SMO's stories 