I must be getting old... and other thoughts

I've managed to stay pretty healthy this past winter and I think a lot of it has to do with taking my vitamins everyday. The whole H1N1 thing kind of freaked me out a bit so that's when I started, but now I find it's just a great habit. Anyway, my little old lady pill reminder case is NOT because I forget, but more because of my hang up with clutter. Having 5 different vitamin bottles scattered across my counter was starting to drive me a little nuts, so thus the pill case.

And I made some bran muffins... with flax. Yep I did.

And a wonderful sign that spring is juuust around the corner! Can't wait!

And a couple from this past week.

The kids loved watching the zipline across Robson last week and thought it would be fun to make their own zipline from Connor's room to the tree out front. The maskots had some good times.

So happy to see the sun again today! Joel and I got caught in some heavy rain downtown on Tuesday unfortunately, but the crowds had certainly died down, so that was nice :)

I hope you all get a chance to get outside and enjoy the fresh air today!

peace out

I did it, and I'm doing it again tomorrow

On Friday, my mom and I took the kid's downtown to check out all of the Olympic festivities. We took the West Coast Express in, which was very nice and relaxing. Once we got to the Waterfront Station I had two kids who both needed a washroom. We tried taking them on the train, but the train was so jammed packed we couldn't move out of our seats. So they waited. Once we made our way out of the train station we headed for the nearest washroom, which of course had a line. This pretty much turned out to be the theme of our day, as well as I'm sure the theme of many thousands of other people's day.

We walked with the crowds taking in all of the Olympic sites. The kids ended up being the most intrigued with all of the pigeons walking around on the sidewalk, go figure. By 2:00 we hit a Starbucks for lunch, seeing as how all of the restaurants had huge lines to just get in the door. We grabbed our goods and searched for a place to sit. Right. Wasn't going to happen. Mom suggested we call Brandon and see if he was home. So I did , and thankfully he was. We walked down to BC Place, which his condo looks right into, and had our lunch at his place. It was nice to sit and relax for a bit. He then joined us as we walked along False Creek, which was very beautiful. Actually, everything was beautiful that day. I know I'm sounding negative but it really wasn't bad. The sun was shining, it was warm, the kids were such troopers, never complained. The thing is, is I am just not a crowds person. Nor a big event person. The odd Canucks game, or concert is fun, but long line ups and wall to wall people is just not my thing.

That night after we got home I sat on my front porch in the dark. My front porch is probably my favourite part of my house (another blog post on that later.) Looking up into the dark night sky at the twinkling stars, soaking in the quiet and the stillness made me so thankful for where I live. I love the city, and I love the years we spent there, and I would move back if that were where our lives were to take us, but deep down I'm a country girl who loves the smell of fresh dirt, big open spaces, and the freedom to be alone.

Tomorrow I will venture back into the big city with Joel and without the kid's. It should be fun. We will have much more freedom to stand in lines and see all the neat events everyone talks about. But I will look forward to tomorrow night when I can sit on my front porch again with a hot cup of tea and take in the solitude of a February night.

I posted pictures of our day downtown on my other blog if you're interested.

As for tonight, I am driving out to New West for a photography workshop. Should be good, although it doesn't end until 10:00.

I hope you have all enjoyed this wonderful sunshine today.

~Lj

I did 11kms today in the beautiful sunshine. I am feeling so exhausted now. I am up to 80 miles this year... goal 500 for 2010.

I don't think I can write anymore tonight. Going to try and stay awake for "Surrogates."

Thursday morning

It's hard to believe this week is nearly over! Every day has been jammed pack with little out of the ordinary things. Swimming lessons, car repairs (more car repairs today :-(, more swimming lessons today, groceries, volunteering at Gleaners, going our for lunch with friends, coffee with friends, running, yoga, care group... It's been good, but I have also been wanting to get out in my garden. I bought some Dahlia bulbs yesterday that I am dying to plant. I LOVE Dahlias, probably one of my favourite flowers, but I don't get to enjoy their beauty until the fall.

Yes the fall. I have been struggling thinking about the fall. In six short months both the kiddos will be in school full time. I have been so looking forward to this for years, but now that it is just around the corner, I am beginning to fear that I will be lacking purpose in life. I know this sounds a wee bit extreme, but I have been a full time mom for the past 8 years, and not that I won't be come September, it's just that the kid's won't need me like they once did.

I like to keep busy, and I'm not sure how busy my business will keep me. The fall will be fine, since that is my craziest time, but come next January I think I will be bored. There are only so many rooms in my house I can re-do, only so many runs and yoga I can do, and my new hobby of crocheting has not gone as well as I had hoped. So my conundrum... do I get a mindless part time job where I can go and be social (Starbucks?) or do I volunteer somewhere? I've talked about how I have a love/hate relationship with change. This year I have gone through many hard changes, and I still am. I know these changes shape me as a person, so who knows where I'll be in the fall. Life could be oh so different. I like to have plans in place, but I am learning that sometimes plans change and I need to embrace that. So I guess only time will tell. I do know I will be enjoying my Dahlias though :)

This weekend looks like it's going to be fabulously beautiful. I'm taking the kid's downtown tomorrow with my mom, Saturday I have a shoot in Fort Langley and a good long run planned.

May your weekend be full of sunshine, peace and happiness!

~Lj

Oh, and in case any of you forgot, it was Luc Robitaille's birthday yesterday. I'm sure y'all celebrated!

I had high hopes. I was going to run 8kms in record time this morning. But no, my hopes were dashed as I started out. My eyes were burning, I couldn't take a deep breath to fill my lungs, bricks were tied to my ankles, or so it felt, my hamstrings were tight and my head was pounding. Ughh, what's wrong with my I thought. Was it because I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight last night, or that I kept waking up every hour? Was I dehydrated (quite possibly, as water is not my beverage of choice) or am I getting sick? I did a great 10km run on Saturday in the cold rain, so today I thought this 8 km was going to be a piece of cake. Well 8 k didn't happen. 5 did, but it was sad and pathetic.

Okay, I'll put away my disappointment from this morning and chalk it up to everyone has bad running days. Now onto designing more layouts for a new flush mount album, editing images from this weekend's session, and putting together an information book for clients.

I will leave you with a quote I stumbled across this morning.

Accept each day, each moment as it comes-the different seasons-and soon it will be spring.

-Jean Vanier, Philosopher/Humanitarian

Enjoy the sun today :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

It has been a long week. The end is in sight, thankfully.

Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine's Day.

And because of our spring like weather; some flowers.

Lj

Mmm, granola

This week I thought I would make my own granola to go with my yogourt and blueberries. A friend gave me this great recipe that I thought I would pass along to you. Enjoy!

Granola

Preheat oven to 300

3 cups Old Fashioned Oats

3/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

-Mix together in big bowl

Heat in a pot for about 1 minute at medium heat the following ingredients:

2/3 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

Combine all the ingredients and spread onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes

-Lj

500 in 2010

I have a friend in Langley who is doing this 500 in 2010 challenge. It's kind of funny because I call her my "friend" but I have never actually met her. We're both photographer's, which is how we connected, but we are also girls who love to run and run at about the same pace/distance/time (I think) Anyway she is setting a goal of running 500 miles in 2010. I thought that was pretty cool and am challenging myself to do the same. With my new handy dandy little (or not so little) Garmin watch I can keep pretty good track of how far I've run. So far this year I have logged 52 miles. I have done a few runs without the watch, but I won't include those since I'm not sure exactly how far I went. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Tonight I am taking a break from running. I've run 20 kms in the last couple of days, so I'm hitting the 7:30 hot yoga class to stretch everything out and hopefully get rid of my sore hamstring.

My Olympic Thoughts

For 8 years Vancouver has been planning. Planning on welcoming the world to our beautiful city. So here we are, days before the opening ceremonies. I've had mixed feelings about the Olympics. I've heard both sides. I've seen the effects of the government's money poorly spent, I've also seen infrastructure that was so badly needed, built. At the end of the day, I have to say I am not a fan of the Olympics.

The buildings and roads we really needed to build, would have been built regardless. Perhaps not this soon, but it would have happened.

And really? $600 million dollar Sea to Sky highway upgrade? A new highway that leads us to a resort that is on the verge of bankruptcy? The $2 billion Canada Line? And what about all of the small businesses that now have their streets closed. How are they going to get through the next month? I could go on and on, but I think you all know where our money has gone.

With all of this being said, I have taken my children to see the Russian figure skaters practice, and we did see the torch in Abbotsford last night. I know I have to suck it up and realize this will most likely never happen in my lifetime, or my children's lifetime again. These are fun memories and opportunities.

I hope BC does make a quick recovery after all of this money has been spent... but I'm not holding my breath.

Hmmm...

This afternoon I had a great run in the beautiful warm sun. I did 11kms in 1:12. Two minutes better than my last time. As I was running I was thinking about what is more important, to run faster and shorter distances or to run at a more steady (slower) pace but cover more distance? Or do the two go hand in hand? Is this an individual thing or is there some "universal" rule?

Anyway, just random questions and thoughts.

Just got in from a great dinner out, but now I feel sleep calling.

g'night...

new PB

After a week of sucky runs, I really pushed myself this morning and did 8kms in 51 minutes. I'm looking forward to a longer run this weekend. Off to shower and then buy some more paint!

A new room

So last week I was pretty sick with a nasty cold/flu. I didn't feel like doing a whole lot, and was thankful to have a good book to read. I had run some errands in the morning and then picked up Connor from Kindergarten. I was unpacking my groceries when my mom called. We chit chatted for a bit and somehow ended up on the topic of rearranging furniture. If you're reading this blog then you know me. You probably know me well enough to know that I love rearranging furniture and I love painting. I love these kind of projects.

I'll back up a bit and tell you about a dinner we had here after Christmas. We had invited my parents, my two brothers and their girlfriends over for dinner one night. Joel had planned a big meal for the evening and was ready to get going on it when he realized he needed a few more ingredients. We went out to Costco for these ingredients and came home with a new dining room table and chairs. I spent the afternoon putting together all of the chairs and table, while Joel spent the afternoon cooking. Everything came together just in time for our dinner guests.

My brother Brandon hadn't been over for quite a while. He recently just moved into a brand new condo in downtown Vancouver and has enjoyed furnishing it. As he was looking around my house, he said he loved everything about it, but our kitchen table and chairs had to go. He said it was really bringing the place down. I had to laugh because my little brother can be very blunt and rather brutally honest, but I appreciate it. He was right. We had bought that little set second hand and I had spent hours stripping it and re-finishing it, but it had been through the mill with the kids and I started thinking that perhaps it was ready to go. Sooooo, fast forward to the conversation with my mom last Thursday...

She asked if I had ever considered moving our new dining room set into our kitchen and making our dining room into a living room. I suppose it had crossed my mind at one point, but I was just used to having a dining room. She told me to measure the table with the leaf in it just to se if it would. So I did. And it would fit. She said she would be up in ten minutes to help me move. So it had begun.

I moved out little old kitchen table & chairs out and we moved the new table and chairs in. We moved out couch from the basement upstairs as well as a coffee table and the desk. It was a lot of moving in a short amount of time, but we did it and I liked it. The only thing that was missing was an area rug, which mom told me to run out to Costco and pick one up and she would pick up the kids from school. Okay then, the room was complete. I enjoyed it for a whole day. Saturday I woke up, still feeling sick, but with a bit more energy and decided I want to paint the room. So I did. Joel bought some new bookcases to replace our buffet and by Saturday night our room was once again put together. There are still a few things that need to be done, such as cabinet doors put on the bottom of the bookcases and I have a big mirror I want to hang above the desk, but first I am going to paint it and vintage it up a bit. Also I am not sure I want to keep the desk in there. I may move it back and put a loveseat or a chair-in-a-half there.

The paint colours: Actually the light gray I haven't painted yet, it's going in other places of the house.

Here is how we're looking today: