Crazy summer!

Well so much for being faithful to blog. Oh well I guess that's the way it's going to be I am unable to make it a habit.

The summer was great! Went out to SK for 3 weeks, camped at Twin Lakes, and Shaw's Point (Slave Lake) and camped with Darryl by the river where he's working near Dawson Creek. So much fun, so GREAT!

Now it's fall...time to settle back into routines. Blah! It seemed to start so early this year! David started school August 31, Emily starts Kindergarten tomorrow (the 8th). It's going to seem so weird to only have one kid at home two days a week. But so much easier to get the mail, go to the store, the possibilities are endless! Seeing as I will have some "free time" I've signed up for a photography course! I'm hoping I will be able to work on it a little each afternoon while Oakley has some "quiet time". I'm looking forward to it! I will have a photography diploma when I'm done. It should take me about a year to complete.

10 K Survivor!

Today Twyla and I ran together for the first time. It was so much fun..let me rephrase that...it was enjoyable, nice to have someone to run with, to talk to while running. It didn't feel like we were in a race but just out for a run. We ran 10 km at the Heritage Race here in Peace River. It took 1 hour and 22 minutes, less time than I thought it would. I had told Darryl about 2 hours so he and the kids didn't show up until after we were already done. :( We (I say we because Twyla was nice enough to stay running with me at my SLOW pace) ran 5 walked 2 for the first couple intervals and then we did 10 and 1-2. We were the last in our age group to cross the finish line, but we finished. I DID IT! Makes me realize I really should be pushing myself harder when running during the week. It was so nice to share this experience with my sister, my oldest, truest friend.

Adjustments

The Winters' have now been living with us for about two weeks. The transition was easier than I imagined it would be. You never know what will happen when you add 3 more kids and 2 more parents. So far Talena and I have been sharing the cooking/cleaning details. That's all good, who doesn't want help with their house work?! She was even nice enough to slay my laundry giant! (Thank you) I'm not sure what she thinks of living amongst my clutter, but for now it seems to be okay.

We have all sat down and made sure we were all doing okay, and talk about any issues. Seems fine for three out of the four, Darryl can never stay on topic! It's not that he has problems with the living arrangement. He has problems with other aspects of life that he has to talk about when we are talking about our families! I love him, but his thought patterns are SO different than mine!

Hmm...it's 8:13 the kids are in bed, Darryl's not home from work yet, the dishes are waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher...but here I sit at the computer enjoying the solitude if only for a few minutes; I hear his truck pulling in the drive. Time to feed "the man", maybe I can convince him to watch a movie after.

I can't believe it!!

It's been coming for months...I knew EVENTUALLY this day would come. It has finally arrived, or almost. What am I talking about? The basement, it is 98% complete!! Let's just pause there for a moment....ahhh (deep breath, in and out) All that remains is the bathroom; grouting the tile then sealing it, installing the shower, and hooking up the plumbing. There are still things to be done at a later date the drop ceiling, the theatre room, and carpet. But I am not thinking about those things now. So let's just forget I've mentioned it. FORGOTTEN. Done. The basement is so close to done Jason and Talena will start moving in this weekend.

You may not understand why I'm so excited about the basement completion. Let me explain. For the past, let's say 6 months, give or take, my husband has been building walls, dry walling, mudding, and taping. "Big deal?" you say. YES! It is a big deal! He works everyday from 7-6, then quickly eats supper to return to the basement until WAY after I have gone to bed. Fine for a few days, but months and months, made the kids and I wonder who this "dad" character really was. We remember him vaguely, he's home but not really home. I am looking forward to this weekend. Darryl doesn't have to work and doesn't have a "project" that needs his attention. I will savour the moment, because I KNOW it won't last long. Did I mention the deck? The basement wasn't even complete, and I'm finding sketches of deck plans on the table! Next it will be the yard...when oh when will I have my Darryl back?

Four Weeks.

I am looking down at my previous postings and it says updated four weeks ago. The reason being? My computer was in for a new Mother board, that took 4 weeks to be repaired! Jason was nice enough to let me use a laptop from work, but I didn't want to use it for everything. So, as a result my blog has fallen behind.

My biggest encouragement is the fact that I finally have weight loss results to report! I am down 9 pounds!!! I'm so excited, I can see the difference in the mirror. I've been feeling more energetic for weeks but still looked the same. I was starting to get frustrated, because I want to look the way I feel. This is a start, almost 10 pounds!! Mary Beth has me doing a very fun workout. I use a deck of playing cards, each suit is designated to a specific exercise. What ever card is drawn off the deck determines the number of that exercise to do (ie 4 of Hearts means 4 squats). A face card is 1 minute of cardio and an Ace is a rest. I really like it, it keeps the workout from becoming the same old same old. I am up to 36 cards out of the deck; I started out with 26. I go through 36 cards for lower body (squats, walking lunges, crunches, and leg lifts) then shuffle the deck and 36 for upper body (rows, bicep curl/overhead press, crunches, push ups). I am feeling stronger. I can do all my push ups "boy style", from my feet. Yay! It's coming!

Chocolate Easter eggs....my demise!

I had (yes had) been doing so well, eating right, exercising regularly. I was on a roll. Then with mom here last week, the renos downstairs, and the Easter egg hunt "for the kids" I'm in need of a good kick in the pants! I'm sure I ate enough chocolate eggs to last a year!! The ironic thing is that morning I had run 8 km. Calculating calories burned with calories eaten I think I broke even. That's not the point of running, to be able to eat more! NO!!! LOL Mary Beth will come on Wednesday then I will get re focused!

Speaking of, I should get off my butt and get moving. Hmmm...how 'bout a nap?! No, to the treadmill.

Busy week!

I have really enjoyed having mom here the last week. She stayed here for 4 days and then moved over to Wes and Serena's. It's so nice and comfortable to have her here to chat with, and just be together. It sucks they (mom and dad; and Twyla) live so far away. The only negative about having mom here is that mom loves to bake, not good for the diet program. LOL

Over the weekend Oakley developed croup. So, finally on Monday I took him to the hospital, we ended up staying overnight. He was really struggling to breath, and was very pale. Now on Thursday he still has a cough, but thankfully his cheeks are rosy pink.

David has been taking swimming lessons at school this week. I'm so proud of him, he got to skip level one! The Lifeguard said that after the second day he could do all the level one requirements. I can't wait to see if he will get his level two today!