It was my birthday last week and though I received a bunch of very sweet presents from my boys and my friends, the best one was something that cannot be bought - the news that my aunt's cancer therapy is working! After 10 weeks of treatment, the chemotherapy and radiation treatment are starting have an effect on those tenacious cancer cells. Her birthday email sounded happy and upbeat and POSITIVE. My spirits were lifted and I felt so happy.
Now I know that this doesn't herald a cure but it does buy her some more precious time - to spend with her loved ones, to enjoy the peacefulness of her and my uncle's little cottage outside of the city, to smell the flowers, to write email, to be a part of all of our lives and for us to be a part of hers.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Vacation is Over
Tomorrow it's back to work, back to reality, back to exercise! I've decided that this year's challenge will be to beat the time that I posted in last year's sprint triathlon. I've convinced one of my new colleagues at work to do the triathlon with me and we're going to train together which is absolutely awesome.
This means, of course, that I need to step up my training and start swimming and biking again. Right now, I've been running 2-3 times a week at a fairly leisurely pace and a fairly short distance and going to aikido class twice a week. I'm back to swimming laps once a week. Yesterday, I finally wired up my bike computer (which I've had for five months!) to my road bike and went out for a six mile ride. Got to start slowly.
My training schedule, leading up to race day will look something like this:
Monday: run
Tuesday: aikido
Wednesday: run
Thursday: aikido
Friday: swim
Saturday: run
Sunday: bike
Hang on, when do I rest?
This means, of course, that I need to step up my training and start swimming and biking again. Right now, I've been running 2-3 times a week at a fairly leisurely pace and a fairly short distance and going to aikido class twice a week. I'm back to swimming laps once a week. Yesterday, I finally wired up my bike computer (which I've had for five months!) to my road bike and went out for a six mile ride. Got to start slowly.
My training schedule, leading up to race day will look something like this:
Monday: run
Tuesday: aikido
Wednesday: run
Thursday: aikido
Friday: swim
Saturday: run
Sunday: bike
Hang on, when do I rest?
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Cousin Camp
Eight kids between the ages of eight and four. Three mommies between the ages of, well, let's skip that bit. :) Four summer days. What did we get up to?
Monday: Fun with Boxes Day! Who knew how much fun could be had with some moving boxes, a little bit of string, some masking tape and an adult wielding a box cutter? Just add creativity and you have some houses (with attics and garages), a tunnel and a pulley system for relaying messages.
Tuesday: Water Day! We've still got our 10-ft diameter pool up in the back yard and it was put to fine use as the eight kids were in and out of the water over the course of several hours. First, the splashers, then the non-splashers, repeat.
Wednesday: Field Trip to Coyote Point Museum. Admission was free as it is every first Wednesday of the month. The kids had a great time running around the exhibits, playing with all the hands-on projects, running around the exhibits, reading about spiders and hawks and snakes, did I mention running around the exhibits? Then we spent another couple of hours at the most awesome playground that the kids have ever laid eyes upon.
Thursday: Crafts Day! We made Cousin Camp shirts and decorated visors and flags. The mommies has as much fun as the kids with all the paint and glue and decorations.
I had a wonderful time with the kids and with my two mommy partners-in-crime. The shirts we made today for ourselves say STAFF on the back. That's us.
The best parts of the camp were seeing all of the children having so much fun with each other and becoming better friends in the process. There was very little conflict, only minor scrapes and bumps and not a single second of TV watched during the entire time. Truly amazing!
I hope we do this again next year. I really do.
Monday: Fun with Boxes Day! Who knew how much fun could be had with some moving boxes, a little bit of string, some masking tape and an adult wielding a box cutter? Just add creativity and you have some houses (with attics and garages), a tunnel and a pulley system for relaying messages.
Tuesday: Water Day! We've still got our 10-ft diameter pool up in the back yard and it was put to fine use as the eight kids were in and out of the water over the course of several hours. First, the splashers, then the non-splashers, repeat.
Wednesday: Field Trip to Coyote Point Museum. Admission was free as it is every first Wednesday of the month. The kids had a great time running around the exhibits, playing with all the hands-on projects, running around the exhibits, reading about spiders and hawks and snakes, did I mention running around the exhibits? Then we spent another couple of hours at the most awesome playground that the kids have ever laid eyes upon.
Thursday: Crafts Day! We made Cousin Camp shirts and decorated visors and flags. The mommies has as much fun as the kids with all the paint and glue and decorations.
I had a wonderful time with the kids and with my two mommy partners-in-crime. The shirts we made today for ourselves say STAFF on the back. That's us.
The best parts of the camp were seeing all of the children having so much fun with each other and becoming better friends in the process. There was very little conflict, only minor scrapes and bumps and not a single second of TV watched during the entire time. Truly amazing!
I hope we do this again next year. I really do.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Time Out
I'm having a 'staycation.' At least that's what the folks at P's daycare are telling me. I'm taking the week off and have pulled both kids out of day camp and day care, we're not getting on a plane or a long drive anywhere, and we are going to have a blast! We're having 'cousin camp'! I'm very excited.
Today, we are driving over to my brother and sister-in-law's house and will be playing with their three kids and with her sister's three kids as well. That makes, count them, EIGHT children under the age of nine under one roof. Or rather, in the garden, in the park, up and down the stairs and everywhere! Us mommies will be hanging out while the kids have a blast, hopefully only having to act as occasional referees and band-aid appliers.
Tomorrow, everyone comes to our house. On Wednesday, we go on a field trip. Thursday, it's off to the third house and on Friday it's back to my brother's for a housewarming/birthday/Fourth of July party. How fun! Especially since all the hubbies have Friday off from work too. I really love having my family close by.
Today, we are driving over to my brother and sister-in-law's house and will be playing with their three kids and with her sister's three kids as well. That makes, count them, EIGHT children under the age of nine under one roof. Or rather, in the garden, in the park, up and down the stairs and everywhere! Us mommies will be hanging out while the kids have a blast, hopefully only having to act as occasional referees and band-aid appliers.
Tomorrow, everyone comes to our house. On Wednesday, we go on a field trip. Thursday, it's off to the third house and on Friday it's back to my brother's for a housewarming/birthday/Fourth of July party. How fun! Especially since all the hubbies have Friday off from work too. I really love having my family close by.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Birthday Wishes
Today was D's 8th birthday party. We lit the candles on his cake, sang the song and, then, uttered those familiar words, "Make a wish!"
I wonder what he wished for. The answer probably revolves around a Nintendo DS*. But I got to thinking about wishes and how, sometimes, we wish for the moon, knowing that we will most likely not get what we want but we wish anyway, just in case.
What would I want? I do believe that it would be a teleportation device, so that I could see the people that I love that live so very far away, whenever I wanted to. Wouldn't that be awesome?
I don't know if this will ever exist outside of science fiction. I'll keep wishing anyway, just in case.
*The DS? We've struck a deal with D. If he can earn half of the money needed to pay for a new one, we'll come up with the second half.
I wonder what he wished for. The answer probably revolves around a Nintendo DS*. But I got to thinking about wishes and how, sometimes, we wish for the moon, knowing that we will most likely not get what we want but we wish anyway, just in case.
What would I want? I do believe that it would be a teleportation device, so that I could see the people that I love that live so very far away, whenever I wanted to. Wouldn't that be awesome?
I don't know if this will ever exist outside of science fiction. I'll keep wishing anyway, just in case.
*The DS? We've struck a deal with D. If he can earn half of the money needed to pay for a new one, we'll come up with the second half.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Made it!
It was a long weekend but I made it through. With the help of a superbly timed birthday party and a visit to my brother's new house (He's HERE! His whole family is finally here!), Saturday and Sunday went by without my going bonkers or passing out from exhaustion. I must say that I really do appreciate being healthy when something like the common cold knocks me down. I'm so grateful that I am recovered and that it didn't have me down for long. Makes me think of those illnesses where you get sick and you stay sick. It's very sobering.
M is back, D is done with second grade, P has moved up into the next room at his daycare (making this his SIXTH classroom there!) and we have 10 weeks of summer vacation in front of us.
Yay!
M is back, D is done with second grade, P has moved up into the next room at his daycare (making this his SIXTH classroom there!) and we have 10 weeks of summer vacation in front of us.
Yay!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Who's That Whining?
Oh wait, it's me.
M is off to Virginia for five days to represent the four of us at our niece's high school graduation. It's great because it's a wonderful celebration and a happy reunion time for the three brothers.
However...
I have a cold. Yes, a standard head cold. Yes, the kind I've had before and will no doubt have again. The kind that saps your strength and leaves your nose red and chapped, your throat scratchy, your lips dry and your head feeling like it's been hit with a three pound hammer.
I want *my* mommy.
It is now 5:38 pm and I am counting down the minutes until bedtime when I can get the boys into bed, take a dose of NyQuil and go to sleep. But first I have to rustle up some dinner.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
M is off to Virginia for five days to represent the four of us at our niece's high school graduation. It's great because it's a wonderful celebration and a happy reunion time for the three brothers.
However...
I have a cold. Yes, a standard head cold. Yes, the kind I've had before and will no doubt have again. The kind that saps your strength and leaves your nose red and chapped, your throat scratchy, your lips dry and your head feeling like it's been hit with a three pound hammer.
I want *my* mommy.
It is now 5:38 pm and I am counting down the minutes until bedtime when I can get the boys into bed, take a dose of NyQuil and go to sleep. But first I have to rustle up some dinner.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
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