Friday arrives

Fridays are always hard for me they signal the weekend and I know we as a family"enjoy the weekend" with meals out, drinking alcohol and generally having a good time.

I am working this weekend so have gone out and bought myself some salads to see me through thus avoiding me rushing my work to enjoy a fry up with Nathaniel and Simon and hopefully feeling better about myself.

It is too early to notice any weight loss but I have been tracking my food intake and I even bought the light for my bike and rode to boot camp this morning and it was fine. To be honest this is the most fun I have had with exercise in a very long time. So thanks to Keli and the other mum's for inspiring me to keep going, I almost look forward to the alarm going off at 5 am and next week I will definitely start the swimming on a tuesday and thursday and look forward hopefully to some positive news next friday in the shape of maybe a pound or two down!

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend - in moderation as always!!

The next challange

Come on, there is always the next challange, for me it has to be loosing weight.

I would like to loose 40lb but lets start with the first 10!

I am being really good and going to bootcamp and I am putting in my all into it and it is hard (thanks Keli) but hard is good - there is no point if it is too easy!

Now I need to really focus on charting what food I eat and doing more exercise at home.

Lets see by the weekend if I have made a dent into that first 10lb's

Life in the old dog yet!

So I embarked on a 10k run this weekend. It was not something I expected to be good at, over weight and under trained I felt that this could be a necessity to spur me on the better health and fitness.

The packet pick up day is always exciting, I enjoy seeing the booths and the spirit of the race, I dont get this excitement at home as Simon and Nathaniel dont really understand how hard these things are to participate in or how fun they can be!

So this morning I headed off at 6.30 to park and get the shuttle to the start! Surprisingly it was pretty quiet I am used to bigger Marathons and there were onlt 700 people registered for all races and 112 for the 10k, we waited for our start which ended up being delayed due to poor planning and the 1/2 marathoners were still coming up the hill in an abundance when we were due to start on the same path, so a slight delay then.....

Suddenly I am off racing down the hill from Mcnears beach telling myself, go slow warm up it will be fine, the first mile was easy and then my achiles on both legs started hurting, every step hurt and I was regretting my decision to run, I struggled on back up the hill passing mile 2 and mile 3, by mile 4 the sun was out and high in the trees and I was warming up, 4,5 and 6 was pretty much a downhill then a back uphill and the last .4 was trail along the seashore.

My official time was 49.21 a good 6 seconds off my personal best and I placed 13th in the women, 25th overall (men and women combined) and 4th in my age group!

Not bad indeed!!

Now as keli would say - go out and run!

A Walkathon

So today was the school walkathon, much care was taken not to sign nathaniel up for too much per lap as you never know how much they will do. Last year in kindergarten it was very controlled, maybe it will be the same this year - at least they limit the time.

It is always so much fun to see the kids with pure excitement on their faces and in their voices!

We headed off to the route and everyone was so excited and the sun was blazing down.

The kids all hurriedly headed round their first lap and as you can imagine the last lap was more of a struggle, it was also very funny to see the boys racing round trying to beat their buddies while the gilrs strolled around without a care in the world!

Funny how when grown up the roles reverse;)

THe Scouting Movement

So Nathaniel and I spent the last 4 days at the scouting 100th Anniversary jamboree, camping for me always fills me with dread, seems like too much work but once I am there and my tent is up I usually have a good time.Baden Powel has achieved greatness with the organisation that he formed over 102 years ago and following 100 years ago with girl guides/scouts and the Boy scouts of America. Having moved through the girl guide movement in the UK I learned many skills and mostly I would say "organisation", "thinking for yourself" and "teamwork" were some of the valued skills I used as I left school and started my career. I helped celebrate the 75th Anniversary 25 years ago.

For Nathaniel I wanted him to experience that too and learn some independent thinking but also working as a team towards a goal.

The 100th Anniversary event was probably a bit wasted on him at 6 years old he doesnt understand the point of the scouting movement but instead he just has a good time camping with his friends and at some point you just have to let them do that! Friendship is a good thing to learn at cub scouts too!!

The boys enjoyed the usual activities of Archery, Soccer, BBguns, lighting fires and many other things as well as the more fun events of campfire and smores.

So, scouting continues to bring boys (and parents) of all ages over to enjoy and c

elebrate learning and friendship and i don't think there is any sign of it stopping anytime soon!!

Another new one

Every year there are new TV series, and some make it and some don't and every few years you find one that seems to "capture" the hearts of the world. Glee seems to be one of those that has hit it off with most people, as friends eagerly post "spoilers" on facebook and such joy to know you are ahead and know what is going on that say the UK it gives a strange excitement - it is a TV show!! The last one that had this much "buzz" was probably Ugly Betty in 2006 and prior to that Lost in 2004 (22nd september). The fates of these programs are not just in the audience but how the writers write so time will tell if "Glee" can maintain the phenomenon and keep going for many seasons, Ugly betty went quickly down hill and has now been cancelled, Lost, lost it's way around the 3rd season but came back strong for the 4th and now we are looking at the final season with just a few episodes left - I hope it makes sense!

Many of these series have dips and peaks and some people tolerate more than others but the main thing is just go out and enjoy what you can.

Our current favourites

Flash Forward

Nurse jacky

Lost

Brothers and Sisters

Just let me lie down!

So today I read an article from the new "Real Simple" magazine (may edition). Can I call you back in 15 years got me at the title, how I so feel like that some days and the past month it has been just definitely like that. Kristin Van Ogtrop author of "just let me lie down" writes about balancing kids, work and sleep - she leaves the husband out of it (for a minute). She talks about us having lots of time when we are young and suddenly balancing everything in our lives in our 40's it brings us to a subject of friends, she never thought she would have to "choose" to see friends rather than it be a natural thing, she notes that "friendships need consistent attention and occasional aggressive pruning" and really having to give up a few minutes of alone time to see a friend it becomes a juggling game.

I did as she did in the article and that was to draw up a pie chart and divide it up with the things you do in a day and boy I discover the same as her, I have very little time alone to do the things I love - yes I do not have cleaning the toilets on my "love to do" list.

I pride myself in being efficient and a good time manager but when asked to go out and I cant make it (babysiter problems or just exhausted) I am often made to feel guilty, but honestly i am tired or I do have to do the cleaning/tidying/shopping, god forbid I go to bed early! Is it because nathaniel is an only child that I take him to all these activities - I doubt it cause if he wasn't doing them he would be on playdates, but I sure feel like I spend a lot of time ferrying to his activities (14 hrs per week), and still working about 30 hrs a week minimum and volunteering and still having food on the table a smile on my face and a clean pair of knickers on!

I try to be good at everything, but it is more than obvious that as I take care of everyone else, it is me that goes down hill in the food I eat and the clothes I wear and the lack of exercise I do and the lack of friends that I see. I really do try and keep in touch as much as I can but it can be a struggle during these busy times! I am sorry.

So if I am sitting alone when I hit 80, please come and say hello, I know being busy isn't an excuse but sometimes it is a reason!

Happy Monday

Happy Easter and moving on!

So yesterday we had our "Easter party" it was so much fun, lots of friends and their kids to relax with. People "thank" me or tell me I am crazy but for me there is nothing better than getting to hang out with friends! If my house was bigger I could invite more but I felt it was the right number to keep an eye on and also socialise with everyone.

It was also a sad time as our friends Thomas, Elise and Elie are heading back to Montreal tomorrow for good. Now as experts from moving backwards and forwards around the world I can certainly understand how they feel and once Elise leaves there will certainly be a lot more wine in the Napa valley since everytime we get together we try to empty the place!

Elise has painted a beautiful picture which stands pride of place in our dining room and she has given up her 2 rugs.

We will miss them very much but wish them well as they head home to their Mother land and then for adventures in Lebanon after that

To my friends, THANK YOU for being our friends

podcasts

So, I have recently re-discovered podcasts! As I drive around all day in my car I have tried music, radio and audio books but they all just don't grab me, either too repetitive or need me to concentrate more so I have popped back into itunes and starting downloading some podcasts and you know what??? It is working,

I am cheerier when i get to my patients home and easy to pause and restart.

So what have I been listening too.

Well - "the Archers" a UK soap opera has me listening to a little bit of craziness

Chris Moyles radio show is always a fun favourite

Sarah and vinnie Secret show is another daily favourite (not for the kids)

medical matters - from the BBC keep me upto date with some favourite topics

World book authors, give an insight and interview with an author of a book.

Any journey you take is always better with companion ship so next time you are out and about - check out the huge podcast directory and find something you are into!! They will keep you company all the way!!