New year, new ideas

I have been having fears about my health lately. I have neglected myself for quite sometime. The New Year is really just a coincidence, not a resolution, for I have been craving change for quite some time. I hope to chronicle this change because it is not merely just a physical change that I am seeking but one that goes much deeper.

Running Mad

Well, I've gone and done it. My determination to get healthy has led me to sign up for a couple of organized runs. The first one is the St.Patricks Day Road Race that I did last year. It was the run that got me all fired up about running again, until I hurt my groin (what the hell?). You can choose to do 5km or 10km, so I chose the first option. I can do 5km. Now for the second race. I signed up for the Rocky Mountain Soap Company Women's Only Run in Canmore. Options, 5.5km or 11km. This time I went with the second option. Aagh, 11km! I mulled over the distances for awhile and figured that if I can run 5km in one month, I should be able to get to 11 km in about 2.5 months. Can somebody say MOTIVATION?

ps. I would love to run down this path

Tides

I feel like my life is just rolling in and out, in and out. Change happens, progress is made and then everything reverses itself. There isn't any stucture right now and that is freaking me out. Is that change I see on the horizon or has my ship already sailed? Stay tuned.

I wish things would start happening. Or maybe I need to be the one who makes things happen. Is it wrong that I have no motivation and yet I expect things to just magically manifest themselves. I need to change things, I can see what needs to be changed and yet I can't make myself do it. I will continue to wallow in this until . . . I don't know, until something happens?

Being a Mom

I get a Canadian magazine every month that has to do with all things related to parenting. It's kind of a guilty pleasure for me. Every month they have a one page article written by the average parent and some random type of topic. This month, the article was written by a mother who claims to be an introvert when it comes to being a mom. Wow, I thought that I was one of the only ones.

She talked about diverting her kids at the park from other groups of kids so she wouldn't have to talk to the other mom's and how she rarely could stand to set up playdates, just to name a few. I can totally relate. I love my kids, words really can't describe it, and enjoy spending time with them. I am just not the type of mom who is completely absorbed with being a mom and having to talk about it with every other mom out there. Do I feel guilty about that? No.

On my Piperencino's 4th birthday, one mom stayed behind to hang out at the party. We managed to get a few words in, amidst the commotion of five, 4 year olds. When the topic of work came up, I mentioned that I worked 3 days a week. She on the other hand is a stay-at-home mom and worded it that "she was lucky, she didn't have to work, her husband made enough so she could stay at home." At the time, I didn't think much about it. A week later, I was somehow reminded of it and I couldn't believe how upset it made me. I felt like I was being judged because I worked. She didn't care about what I did, because she never asked. She was a lucky housewife - I had to work - so does that make me unlucky? HELL NO! I know she probably didn't mean it in a rude way but why is a mom who stays at home all day luckier than the one who gets to go to work 3000feet off the ground? We all know I'm not going to work for the money! :) I want to be there for my kids but I'm not giving myself up, not all of it. I can't do it.

My choice for the Seven Wonders of Canada

Thanks Quodlibet for the post. I had to go and check it out for myself. Although there were many wonderful choices, I decided that I had to stick with the ones that I have seen myself, which eliminates about half of the selections. I don't have a particular order but here is my list

1. Northern Lights - Up north, you can't even begin to imagine how beautiful they are
2. Prairie Skies - I fly them and I love how much "sky" I can always see
3. Ice roads - What a feat, and I love being able to see through 10 feet of ice under my feet
4. Cathedral Grove - Stopped in last summer, a sense of awe and serenity from this place
5. The Rockies - I can never tire of them, when I've been gone, seeing them again means home
6. Sprial Tunnels - Practically crazy, I can't imagine what it was like working on them
7. Trans Canada Highway - How cool is it that one highway can take you from one side of the country to the other, allowing you to access all these wonders of Canada.

Motorcycle mania

Getting a motorcycle wasn't the first thing on my mind, so when we got a phone call asking if we wanted a motorcycle we, of course, had to say "yes".

In 1999, I walked into a motorcycle shop and saw a motorcycle on a display pedestal. The moment I saw it, I determined somewhere in my mind, that if I ever got a bike, this would be the one. Fast forward from there to 2 years ago when Spencer from work showed me a picture of his girlfriend's newly purchased bike. My jaw dropped open because it was "the bike". A month ago or so, Spencer told me that Lisa was thinking about getting a Harley, "the bike" for her. Upon hearing this, I told Ben, who told me, that I should let Spencer know that we may be interested in it and could he let us know first if Lisa was going to sell it, no promises though. Last Wednesday, I get the phone call that Lisa found "the bike" and were we interested in buying hers? It took Ben and I about 10 seconds to decide "yes" and then about 5 minutes to figure out where the money was going to come from. On Friday, we picked up the bike and now I have to learn how to ride it. Fortunately, Ben knows how to ride and actually used to own a bike (thus why I was in a motorcycle shop in 1999, looking for a helmet to wear when riding with him) Unfortunately, I have no clue so I am signed up for a class at the end of the month. I even have my learners manual so that I can start studying. Ben has showed me how to start it, but when I sit on it, I feel a bit overwhelmed. It makes me think of my students when they first start flying.

"The bike" is a 2001 Honda Shadow ACE 750cc (so probably a year newer than the one I saw). So not too bad for a starter bike. It belongs to Ben and I however he insists that it is my bike . . . how exciting!