Well had the girls for 5 days in a row and it was awesome.. We had such a great time doing so many things and I already miss them terribly. Incredible what it feels like with so many kids around. At one point there were my 4, Dodies 3 and her 4 nieces for 11 girls. Just crazy and so easy to tell you the truth. Got some rodents, lots of food, more Koolaid than they can produce in a week and some sledding (silly carpet).
Well 2010 is upon us and there has been so much change this year in my life. It’s ever moving, evolving and taking turns when you least espect them. Love, loss, pain, sorrow, growth, discovery and reward. I’m sitting here at the office and have run the gamut this year when I reflect on it all. I have learned so much and through it all I’m reminded, especially today that you can’t go back and you can’t dwell on what is in the rearview mirror it’s behind you. You can just look ahead and try and enjoy the journey. I have set some lofty goals this year and have written many of them out. The most important of the goals is time… I need to spend the time. I don’t need to spend a fortune, just spend lots of time looking after what is important, my girls, my relationship, my hobbies, my friends and myself. I have been working on that the last 6 days preparing for the year and I think I’m ready. I’m at the office trying to restore my standby database and as soon as that is over I’m going to go and continue enjoying my time. I’ve included some of the pics from the last six days and will be adding more over the next couple days so check back.
Well my resolutions this year are many. It is a new year and a new lifestyle. These have been a work in progress and ever evolving. I have decided to purchase nothing new (except for consumables, hygienic objects, socks and underwear). Everything I will buy this year will have to be used. There are two main reasons for this, the environment and saving money. I will take advantage of second hand stores and sites such as E-bay, Kijiji and Craigslist. I’m certain I do not need to describe the ways this helps the environment.
This year will also be spent discovering. We spend so much of our time doing the same things. We are creatures of habit and corporations love this. When there is a menu item we love we go from city to city, province to province and country to country eating in the same establishment digesting the same foods. I want to break this cycle and discover new things. I don’t want a Hell’s Kitchen Chicken, a Big Mac or Mrs. Submarine’s husband’s foot longs. I will discover new foods by not going to the chains. Sorry Tim that means your coffee is off limits also (unless someone buys me one then I will drink it). But with that also comes the second half of that one, I will avoid eating out at all costs! Lunches, prepares suppers with left over’s for lunch. Buy and toast my own bagels at work! Make my own coffee and tea. As you can see all of these are to spend less and enjoy life more, spend time doing these fun things. Enjoy each other’s company while preparing a meal.
Beer and Wine – Make my own (start at a place to help me then start doing it at home)
When I do require things to be purchased new I will only buy things on Sale whenever possible and this included groceries. I will get a freezer and when things are on sale I’m going to buy and freeze them.
A garden! I will grow a garden at my dad’s place and incorporate some technology for watering etc. I’ll be developing this plan over the winter as to the best way to grow this garden and what are the best items to plant. I will also take up the art of canning both fruits and vegetables and also learn to make jams and sauces / Tomatoes etc.
I will keep a journal of all of my purchases and how much approx I saved per purchase. I will put down recipes of the great meals, how much they cost when I can figure that out. I would like a total at the end of the year as to how much this has saved (if in fact it does).
I will turn off lights; computers attach objects to a power bar and turn it off. Do you realize your TV is always consuming power as is the computer and the cell phone charger left in the wall with no charger attached to it? All this is going to stop!
No Facebook. I have taken care of this, if you are reading this you have realized my profile is deactivated. I need to reconnect with my friends, my real friends. Need to unplug to reconnect. Spend less time online and more time with the important people in my life, my kids, and my family and go see my grandmother. In the spring I will purchase a used motorcycle and cut down on my gas for commuting. It would be nice to take my car off the road in the summer and rely just on the motorbike but it’s kind of hard to get 4 girls on a bike.
The commute to work! I will no longer take my car when a bus or a train is possible. I will spend the time on the bus and train reading and drinking my prepared coffee. Again the time I’ve spent sitting in my car in traffic will be spent on a train reading.
This is my year to reconnect with all the things that matter most. Family, friends and loved ones.
Well Dodie and I made our way down to NY City for the weekend and had an amazing time. There aren’t to may photos and the reason is simple! As she said, to busy living instead of taking photos. We had an amazing time. Friday night after arriving made our way to an awesome Blues Club “BB King” and ended up spending the night there and admitedly I drank a bit to much beer. Having not eaten much all day didn’t help. I had a slice of pizza and a McD’s Hamburger and about 5 chicken wings. Spend great deal of time just relaxing in the room, realized that the running is causing some problems hahaha and also had the most amazing dinner… We found a great place called Angelo’s and had the most amazing table. There was no need to skate in Central Park, no need to visit Serendipity, no need for anything to prove anything. The moment and the weekend can be summed up in the “Table”. Thanks to Angelo’s! Also great walk in Central Park and made our way to Strawberry Fields and got a look at the Dekota!
Well why do I run? That became the question this weekend in NY City as I awoke Saturday morning to head out for my “long run” a day early as we were expecting a storm. I just couldn’t wait to run Central Park and it was going to be a great training ground. It didn’t really work out that way. I came to realize that I just wasn’t enjoying it like I used to. Don’t read into this as I don’t love running, I love running but I’ve been running for the wrong reasons. All the training wasn’t bringing me the joy I’ve been accustomed to from running. In the past I was running I’m sure to try and not think about what ailed me. In doing so I was concentrating more on my speed, how my body felt on adjusting my running because I was sore all over. Much of the discomfort was related to stress and I have noticed in the last few months that my speed and pain has gone down as my stress has come down. Well I was watching so many runners in Central Park having a fabulous time running and realized I was not. I should have been. Finally after almost 7 miles I pulled up and said “enough”. I’m not going to be running the Hyannis Port Marathon as I had planned. I’m going to let my body recover. I’m going to fall back into love with just running. 1 hour runs and discover new running areas. This winter I’ll run inside when ever the weather isn’t great and just maintain. I’m going to help some loved ones fall in love with the sport of running. Is it a sport if I’m running for pleasure? I’ll help them fall in love with the “passtime” that is running. Here are my stats from the Central Park Run.
Well this was a great run. I needed to get a 7 mile run in and didn’t want to push my luck running up the Chedoke trail again today. I did run that got me around the city a bit, along the waterfront trail, across Hess Village and Locke Street all in one run. The run finished right back at my work.
Well very wet run today up the Chedoke Trail. My 4 mile run and much of the snow and ice is now gone so it’s left a mess. There were a few icy spots so had to be a bit careful, more at the top. Anyhow had a great pace and my legs felt remarkably well. Did my four miles in 29:51 for an average pace of 7:28 minute miles.
Going to be going to NY City this weekend and just trying to decide my long run. I have a 7 mile run on Saturday and a 15 mile run on Sunday. I want to incorporate Central Park and Broadway would be very cool so this one looks promising. We’ll have to see when I get there.
Well I had an amazing weekend. Girls Friday night, up early for a race on Saturday in Burlington and there are pics on previous post for that. Then back to Fort Erie for a great time with all the girls, could there be more estrogen? Anyhow here are some extra pics that didn’t fit into the other articles.
Well what a run today. I had to decide whether to run when I was in Fort Erie or wait till I got to Welland. Fort Erie was a snowy path which would require my spikes and rain. Welland I had no idea what it would be like, knew no snow but what would rain be like. I made the right choice, when I got to Welland in the afternoon it was pouring. Anyhow I headed out in the rain and there was ice, slush and about 1/2″ snow along the trail. I started out at the Old Fort in Fort Erie and ended up running to Downtown Ridgeway (yes they have a downtown). Anyhow it was a very long lonely run but afforeded me lots of time to think. You know you only get one life so live it! Almost two hours of running and that is what I came up with. Live it! Anyhow ran 14 miles in 1:59:36 for an average pace of 8:32 minute miles. I had a few faster miles in there but had to stop fast to retie shoes a few times and adjust the spikes. All in all I’m pleased. It was really hard to start after that run yesterday as I ran a bit faster than I had planned.
