Life Is Beautiful

We are kicking off the Summer here in Nebraska!  The kids are done with school and will be home with me and on the constant prowl for food and entertainment for the next 12 weeks. Maintaining order (ie. sanity) is hard.  One thing that I have found is a must, is a tentative schedule.  Not so much for activities but for EATING!  With some kids that can get their own snacks and some who can't it never fails that you end up with a big kid eating the last of the _______ at 1:00 in the afternoon while one of the youngers looks on in over dramatized jealousy. MOM!!!! So I set down rules of what can be eaten and when.  I find that also reduces the constant questioning as to when and what we are eating.  Breakfast and snacks are a little more lenient and include some of the same things -- fruit, yogurt, toast, granola. Lunch and dinner are on the table about 11:30 and 5:30.  I write on the fridge white board, a list of the meals I will be making that w...

Nearly sixteen years ago, I sat criss-cross-applesause on a hospital bed around 1:00am with a baby on my lap.  I remember looking at him and thinking "what in the world am I going to do with him??" I became a mother that day. Arguably, I became a mother when I first discovered our first son. But I was a different mother the day he was born.  I became a different mother the first time he choked on spit-up, the first time he fell and hurt himself, with the first word he said, the first time he walked alone, the first time he spent the day away from me.  I will soon become a different mother as I watch him drive away. I guess I thought that "Motherhood" was a finite state.  You had a baby and became one and that was the end of the transaction.  I have learned a lot since I was 22 and had my first baby.  The transformation is the curious part.  The infinite difference in sixteen years of growth and development on my part is staggering.  More s...

You know your going to be "busy" with four children.  A logical mind understands the financial and time commitment of having a large family.  But I am finding out that: I didn't know squat. I think the most surprising thing to me is the constant existence of Survival Mode.  Anyone who's had a new baby understands what I'm talking about.  That sleep deprived, can't get much more tired than I am right now, oh lookey yes I can, gee that's new, sort of mode.  Where the things still need to be done and the house cleaned and shopping done and you're just a shell of a human zombie walking around Doing it anyway. I don't mean to seem so dark here, of course I "consider it all joy."  But really, I had no idea how insanely busy we would be.  With kids in drama, band, chorus, football, church activities and more, we run every night of the week.  And not just the actual doing of the stuff but keeping track of books and uniforms musical in...

It's not fair! I hear that a lot at my house.  The kids say it quite a bit too.  ;o) fair (adjective) --  free from bias, dishonesty or injustice.  Legitimately sought, pursued, done, given, etc. The older I get, the more I am completely certain that fairness only exists in Heaven.  Down here on the Earth, it's 100% true what they say: Life's not fair! Some folks get the "thin genes" some of us don't.  Some work hard all their lives and still can't make enough money to cover the month.  Some people seem to have all the illness that would be too much for four people.  Others enjoy good health.  It's NOT fair. And it's probably a good think that life isn't fair.  If I got paid back in justice, honesty and non-bias for all the things I ever did -- I would be on the streets with people walking by to kick me for fun.  Seriously.  It's a GOOD THING we don't get what we deserve. Just something I was thinking about. ...

What a beautiful day for a race!  David and I upped the ante this year and went out for a little bike ride before the start of the race.  I was a little nervous about how that would go off (having to make it to the start line at a certain time) but it was just fine. The Night Before We are fairly accustomed to preparing for brick workouts the night before, so this was old hat.  We got out bikes ready, the bottles of Perpetuem and Cytomax made, the clothes all laid out and the alarm set. The Bike The alarm went off at 4:00am, as our goal was to leave at 4:45 and ride for two hours.  The mileage wasn't as important as the time spent riding -- but I figured we would make about 30 miles in two hours.  I ate my usual half a peanut butter sandwich and cup of coffee and we were on the bikes right on time. With a two hour bike ride and a two and a half hour run to do, it was important to "front load" our nutrition on the bike.  I had approximately 700 ca...

 It's 12:54pm and I'm wishing it was bed time. Of all that has happened so far today, it's the generous outpouring and the near collision with the reckless driver at the grade school that has me thinking. We live in a low-income neighborhood.  About half of our neighbors are home owners, with the other half being high turnover rentals and a couple of crazy college houses on the block to make life interesting.  Our grade school has an 87% qualification for free/reduced lunches. I sometimes feel badly.  We drive a very old car, I coupon and cook from scratch.  We wait til the last possible moment to hit the thrift store when the seasons change because money is just always that tight.  Christmas is quite stressful, car insurance is due that month also, so - you know. I get jealous, though I know I should not, of our peers that seem to do so much better.  We have more children, less education and at least as much debt than many people we know.  ...

The longer that I am a Mother, the more I realize that I don't know anything. My skin gets a little tougher and I'm not as easily rattled, but I am no closer to knowing how to figure out my kids. One thing I do know, is that they need even more attention as they grow older.  You would think that a two-year-old is at the pinnacle of need.  They need to be diapered, dressed, bathed and fed all by your hands.  They no longer sleep 20 hours per day and that afternoon nap is all you get for a break.  Food must be cut in to appropriate sized pieces, gates must be secured, doors latched and bodies of water observed with hawk-like attentiveness. I always felt like things would get easier when the kids got older.  Don't get me wrong, it's really nice to have all four of them able to feed, dress, wash and toilet independently.  What I'm finding is that parenting is way more than my physical time investment.  Even after the day is done, as they get older, I...

Yesterday, I had David pick me up short from from a long run. :(  The weekend was very full and I, erroneously, thought that after all that I could run 8 miles with no problem.  Hmm.  I turned early on my route to shorten in because I was feeling tired.  Then as I neared the zoo (about 1.25mi from home) I called for a pick up.  I then saw this sign, which made me laugh and think of my little sister and her sharp wit. Where does one get a sticker that even says that!? Looking at my stats, I could see that I was barely trudging along.  I made it about 3.75 miles - so at least I burned off some weekend calories! Our church's Ladies Retreat was Friday night through Saturday afternoon.  My husband took Friday off to do my job and I went up early in the afternoon to help set up. Several of the gals had arrived even earlier and had it mostly done.  Our theme this year was "From Pieces to Peace" so the table decorations were quilts and puzzle p...

This week has been hard.  I had a shot of Lupron Depo on Friday of last week, and by Sunday the pain was ON.  It's actually gotten better since then, but I'm still experiencing a level of pain that ibuprofen cannot handle.  Now, I'm not crazy and I'm certainly not any tougher than anyone else, really - but I have continued to run.  It doesn't make it any worse, and in fact it makes my brain feel better.  I do have to lose a little sleep to get it done - but there is something wondrous about that quiet time in the early morning all to myself. I have a couple of events coming up and am glad to be run focused again.  I really like triathlon, but my first love will always be running.  The Governor's Cup on October 19th marks the 7th anniversary of the first race  that I ever ran.  I did the 5k back then and ran it in 32:23.  I don't remember following a training plan but I do remember running around my neighborhood keeping time on my watc...

During the month of September, I started taking 6g  fish oil per day.  I took 2 pills (2g) at each meal.  I didn't change much else - I noticed that my weight was creeping up, so I did cut out some treats.  September was a hard month with my health - and I missed most of my workouts in the 1st and 2nd weeks of the month.  My motivation for trying the fish oil was to see if I could cut some body fat.  I'm slightly less concerned about the number on the scale at this point.  I guess I will play the "genetics" card when it comes to that.  Sounds like BS, probably is. I should probably note that I eat about 1700 calories per day, eat lots of whole grains, low fat dairy and fruit and veg - and drink plenty of water.  I was pretty pleased with my results - especially given that I had less than perfect adherence to my workout schedule.  I actually missed my "A" race of the Triathlon season due to illness.  Okay on to my findings: Wei...

Sunday September 15th was my one and only Triathlon for the season.  An Olympic distance, Last Blast was out at the Branched Oak Reservoir and had about 76 participants in that distance and another 35 in the Super Sprint.  An added 15 people rounded out the day competing as 3 man teams. I had trained with my husband, using a free, 12 week plan from Garmin , and added my own strength training plan. David and I both felt that our fitness increased and we were challenged but not impossibly overwhelmed by the Intermediate plan.  Unfortunately, I was very sick the two days prior and the day of the race.  I was more sad to miss the experience with my husband than to miss the raceitself. :(   David was nice enough to write up a race report for the blog.  Here it is, my husband David guest posting today and giving us his take on the Last Blast Lincoln Y Tri! Last Blast Olympic Triathlon Well, perhaps I should call this First Blast as this ...

Sugar is poison.  Aspartame is poison.  Fat is bad for you, carbs are bad for you.  You should only eat organic produce, meat and dairy.  You should never eat meat and dairy.  Vegan, Vegetarian, Omivorous, Paleo, Low-Carb, Locavore.   What you eat, says more about you than it ever should.  What you feed your kids and what you choose for your family can even make you the subject of other people's conversations. I admit it.  I've done it.  I've seen the woman in the grocery store, pushing a cart full of sugared cereal, TV dinners, bottles of pop and bags of chips with her children grabbing candy bars and sodas at the check out.  I have judged that woman and felt like she wasn't giving herself or her children a chance in life by eating that way.  I've even gone so far in my mind as accusing her of neglecting her duties as a mother by feeding her family that way. No matter what the situation is, we all have a thoughts on food c...

First, a couple of cute things said by our 4yo son, Cameron. "I'm done with getting dressed.  I'm going to stay in my underwear now." --During yoga with me "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Yah, I should definitely buy a cow when I grow up." I'm trying to soak up every single minute that I have with him this year.  He will start Kindergarten in 2014, so I am counting my blessings! On to the fish oil experiment.  David and I started taking Fish Oil pills last Friday.  We've taken them before, but not for a purpose other than "because they're good for you."  I did some research on the fat burning qualities and decided to begin taking 6g per day split into 3 doses with meals. I began a bit conservatively to avoid any digestive upset.  I've not had much luck with my guts lately, so I started with just 3g per day on Saturday.  On Sunday and Monday I took 6g and by Monday night I realized a strange thing.  I felt prett...

Goodbye August, hello September! Hello Autumn, hello soups and casseroles, long sleeved shirts, the smell of wood burning stoves, hello off -season.  I started out September with a terrible nights sleep followed by the most difficult workout of the last 10 weeks of training.  My ride wasn't too bad, other than the wind.  That died down about halfway through and was replaced by rain in the last 6 miles.  My run was another story.  I got almost to the 3 mile turnaround and walked twice. As I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other I zoned out and had sort of a dizzy feeling towards the end.  Heart rate data indicates that my body was really struggling, not just my mind.  Pushing myself to exhaustion on a run on a Sunday morning makes me, once again The Freak in the Room .  My husband has had fun with this designation since I read Meredith's post over at Swim Bike Mom.  She talks about how being a triathlete makes her a li...

Hopped on my scale today for the first weigh in in quite a while.  I figured as much - I'm up to the top of my five pound "acceptable" range.  Time to make some tweaks and back off the cliff.  If I take a good look at the last month or so, my water consumption has been very low and my fruit and veg have been terrible.  I drank a green smoothie every day for almost a year - and had to take a break. Oh well, time to get back to it. Just a few years ago, I could never imagined that I would be one of THOSE women.  You know, those women who don't weigh themselves or obsess over calories, fat and carbs.  Those women that go by how their clothes fit and how they feel to determine if they should cut out treats for a while. Those women without a weight problem. Okay - so while I haven't been genetically altered I do think that after 10 years of behavior modification and consistency I may have obtained a little more normal outlook on food and fitness.  I...

So very grateful that I work from home.  My back has been up to its usual tricks with increasing frequency.  I am very aware how blessed I am that on especially difficult days (like today) I can sit in my rocker with the heating pad and read books to kiddos, assist with a puzzle, or even allow a little extra TV.  If I could only figure how to cook meals and snacks from here... I was talking with my sister the other day about my tentative plans to scale back my training.  While proper daily exercise is very important to managing a chronic pain issue, I'm not sure that pushing my body to it's limits really is.  While I do consider myself a balanced athlete, with time devoted to weight training, flexibility and endurance, I fill my whole year with training for increasingly more difficult events.  This year I trained for my first marathon in the spring, and my fall event is a push to break a time barrier on an Olympic length tri. It might be time to focus o...

Being a SAHM and a home daycare provider, I don't often get a "day off."  I don't really need one like other people do - I stay home and sort of give each day as much effort as I have.  It's nice.  I work from home, so if I'm sick or tired or whatever - we just do less.   But being a Mom is hard and sometimes a girl really does  need a break.  I am so very fortunate to have a husband that is very intuitive to my needs.  I'm also lucky that his job offers vacation time that he can take on short notice!                                                                                                                                  ...

I'm so upset that my arms are numb.  I had a panic attack in the dairy aisle of the grocery store.  Really not sure I've been this stressed out for a while. After a non-stop cry fest from a fussy daycare baby, my tweeny-bopper rushed in the house and up to her room before I could even say hello.  The baby had finally succumbed to napping just before she arrived. She emerged from the staircase sobbing and hysterical.  She had left her gerbil in his ball all day.  He chewed his way out and was loose in her room.  Somewhere. My husband went up with a net as I tried to fix dinner.  David emerged with blood dripping all over the place to report that "Peanut" was back in his cage.  Just then, one of my clients arrived to pick up his child.  Nothing says "Love and Safety" like blood all over the place.  Pretty sure hubs should have had a stitch where that rat bit him. During all of this, our teen was texting form school to say that his ...