Record Month for Mileage

Despite the fact that February is one of the months with fewer days I was able to exceed all of my other months in mileage so far. This month's total has come to 180.46 miles, which is an average of 6.22 miles per day. I really had to dig deep on some of the days. As well as play catch up as two of the days were 2.27 miles, 2.25 miles and my other low mileage day was 4.22 miles. All in all I am thrilled and excited with this new achievement. I am always striving to out do my last month, but with Ironman training right around the corner I am thinking that I may be to0 busy with the swimming and biking to get 6 miles in per day, but you never know. Today was day 182 of the run challenge and I did 8.28 miles today.

I don't know if Trevor being gone is having an effect on me, but today I was getting quite irritated with a few individuals at the kid's school. No, they weren't teachers. They were actually just other parents that were volunteering. Yes, I realize that volunteering means you don't get paid and you are just doing a good deed, but does that mean you have to do as little work as possible and make excuses for everything. It seems that everyone that helped out today had some sort of back issue and couldn't lift anything more than an ounce. My goodness, I wouldn't want you to put out your back anymore. So, who does that leave to lift everything and walk back and forth bringing food from someone's truck to inside the school---yup---me. The best part is that while they are busy chit-chatting (which must relieve back pain---because they do it so well) I am struggling to get the door open while I am holding huge boxes of food and beverages. Thank goodness for my little helper, Simon, who was definitely acting more responsible than others---okay---rant is now over.

Tomorrow is Kamden's family party tomorrow and then on Sunday is her kid's party at Chuck E Cheese. I will be sure to take a lot of picture. I sincerely hope that none of you are getting sick of my pictures, but I just love smilebox.

Happy 35th Birthday, Trevor!!

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I think this is the first time since I have know you that I haven't seen you on your birthday. We miss you lots and wish you a very good day and, of course, the best year ever. The one good thing about being 35 years old is that you have now moved into the next age category for your Ironman races...Yeah!!!


Since I can't physically give you a gift I have given a gift to your virtual you from me and the kids.

Kamden's 1st of 3 birthday celebrations

Hey Trevor, this post is for you. We didn't want you to miss out on the action, so here is what went down at Montana's tonight...Check it out!!

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We have a 7 year old!

How is it possible that our daughter, Kamden, is now 7 years old, but I have not aged since I have been twenty-five...that is just the craziest thing. Seriously though, it feels like just yesterday when we had a bit of a scare and Kamden decided to come 7 weeks early. Luckily I was one of those individuals that never had any sort of cramps and when I started going into contractions early I thought my stomach hurt a bit and didn't know that it was contractions, so I just went to lay down. It wasn't until couple of hours later that I thought I should call the hospital and they told me to come in. I clearly remember waiting by the door with my jacket and shoes on and Trevor was busy eating left over pizza saying something along the lines of "the hospital has terrible food and it's way too over priced...I am eating now" while I am in pain waiting by the door to go. We made it to the hospital and I was already 3 cm dialated. They said it looks like you are having the baby early and I got a room and Trevor started calling everyone (My family lived a 3 hour drive away). As it turns out only about an hour after my parents came Kamden made an appearance, but she wasn't breathing and was having a lot of problems. It took the doctors a minute and a half to resusitate her. Since there was all this craziness in the room they took her out right away without me seeing her or holding her and Trevor took everyone to see her before me. I was the last to see her. So---little trooper was in the hospital for 15 days and now---7 years later---we are just so blessed to have her.

Tonight we are off to Montana's for her birthday dinner with a couple my friends. I will take some pictures and post them later on. Oh yeah---Simon and I (Trevor's in FL) busted down Kamden's door this morning singing "Happy Birthday" and we gave her her gift---Avril Lavigne tickets...concert is on March 13th...she is so excited!!

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8:59 minute mile?????

Yup, it is true. Today I actually ran an 8:59 minute mile. All of last week I was just impressed with myself because I was finally doing miles under 10 minutes. Today Trevor flew to Florida for business and so I had to get the kids to my mom's bright and early at 8am, so that I could go and teach Sunday School and then she brought them to church for the 11 am service. After church we headed to my mom's place for lunch. It has been awhile since the kids have seen Oma, so they told me that they didn't want to go to the gym. I was debating weather I should do another long run, but opted out and decided to stick with a short run and just do the minimum 20 minutes, which is required for the run challenge. I thought since I am not going to go long I will at least go hard. My first mile I did in 9:13 and the second I did in 8:59 and then I continued on for another quarter of a mile. It has been awhile since I ran outside (New Year's Day)and I just had this gut feeling that I had improved a lot and I have.

On Saturday we had the privilege of celebrating my father-in-law's 60th birthday, which was actually on February 13th. We ended up going to Tony Roma's for some ribs. My father-in-law, Charles, absolutely loves that place. Afterwards we headed back to the in-law's place for ice cream cake.

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Mr Cougher

Finally Simon will get the weekend to hopefully get well. He has been dealing with a cough for the past week. I opted not to keep him home as I the kids have had quite a few days off from school this month with Professional Development Days and Stat Holidays. It's kind of like at work when you have a long weekend and you get the Monday off and there's always that one employee that calls in sick either the Friday before or the Tuesday after (nothing like an extended long weekend). I definitely didn't want the kids to get started with this behavior at such a young age. So for the past 4 days of school I have equipped Simon with a bag full of vitamin C candies in hopes that he'll get better or at least not cough during class, which seems to have helped in the 3 hours that he is in class in the mornings. Today, as I am writing this, Simon is sitting on the couch and he looks drained. His poor little nose is more red than Rudolph's and his eyes look like he hasn't slept for a week. This weekend's goal is to get Simon 100% recovered by Monday.

I just got back my assignment #1 (first one of this semester) Anatomy & Physiology II and I got 100%. I am doing the happy dance right now to celebrate. The assignment was on the nervous system and reflexes, so I guess I know my stuff when it comes to that. I think my next assignment is on the heart, which I am very much interested in and am looking forward to begin working on it.

Today I had intended on having a long run at the gym (10 miles), but 35 minutes into my run the treadmill decided to breakdown. I am turning into a "Trevor" and seem to have that special touch that breaks any treadmill I touch. This is the 3rd time in three days that this has occurred. One second you are having this awesome run and then the next thing you know the power on the machine goes off and unless you just looked at your mileage and calories burned you are SOL. Trevor has asked one of the employees why this happens and I think he said something about a power surge. I am just wondering if they know about the problem why don't they try to fix it. The owner is in there all the time when I am there, so on Monday I think I'll see what he has to say about it. Anyways, I happen to look at my number right before the malfunction and did get in 6.30 miles, so it wasn't the 10 miles that I wanted, but that's okay.

Tonight Miss Kamden has an appointment at the hair salon. She has been begging me to take her to go and get bangs. I am not sure why she wants them so badly, but maybe it'll be a nice change. She loves her long hair, but she doesn't ever like wearing it in a ponytail. So half of the time her hair is in her eyes, so maybe it'll be good.

Fun Stuff

So I am only my 2nd semester into my Personal Fitness Trainer program and I am already working on designing programs. Usually you don't get to do the fun stuff until later on. Right now I am working on designing a program focusing on under developed muscles in the average person. The program is to be designed for a beginner. A couple of weeks ago I did a paper on "Designing a Nutrition Plan" for two seperate athletes. I chose the two I was most familiar with, which was triathlete (endurance athlete) and bodybuilder. I just got my paper back yesterday and I did pretty good. Although I do think that I should have got a few more marks as the instructor wrote some remarks on my sheet asking questions regarding my paper, which were clearly answered in the paper. I am not sure if she read it too quickly and missed it or what really happened. I suppose I could send her an email and tell her that she missed it, but then I am risking having a bad relationship with my instructor and I am thinking that would not be such a great idea.

The last week or so I have been having incredible runs. I am finally at the 10:00 min/mile for all my runs and that for me feels like a comfortable pace. I am not dying doing that pace, which is...Wow!!! If I can continue with this I think I may actually be able to get that sub 2:00 half marathon at the end of April. Since I do most of my training on the treadmill and my pace outside is faster I am just so excited about this seasons races. YEAH!!!!

PET PEEVE: People that think they need to stick their gum to the cardio equipment instead of spitting it out and actually putting it in a garbage can (last time I checked the gym had a few of those hanging around) and people that think they are too good to wipe down their machines after use. I don't know about you, but getting on a machine after someone has sweated all over it is not my cup of tea. Really...is it that hard for some people just to have some common sense...come now, people!!!!

A Virtual Me...

Okay, so during some studying today I took a bit of a break and played around and found a cute website where I could create a virtual me. I am a sucker for that kind of stuff. Truly I feel like a kid a heart. So what do you think? I think I'd make a good video game character. Anyways...better get back to the books.

Oh yeah....picked up Simon from school and we headed to the gym. I knew he wasn't feeling good, but as soon as we walked in the house he requested that I put him to bed so he could have a bit of a sleep. AWWWW...poor little munchkin.

Our first Family Day together

It may as well have been called Family Weekend since we were able to spend the entire weekend together. Of course we did our usual family activities, which always include renting movies. This weekend we watched "The Game Plan", which the kids really enjoyed. On Saturday we went out for a Chinese Food Buffet and on Sunday in the afternoon we made those "Healthy Brownies", which I posted the recipe for. They are super duper yummy, but at 236 cals for a serving it definitetly is a treat. We also made a batch with Splenda instead of sugar to try to make it healthier and it tasted really dry and not so good. So if you are planning on making some goodness stick with the real recipe. Yesterday after going to the gym in the morning we went home, showered, and went out for lunch at this awesome restaurant called Open Sesame then after that we surprised the kids with a trip to the movies to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. The kids really enjoyed it. There was some parts that made them jump and Simon, who was sitting next to me, wouldn't let go of my hand. He was holding on pretty tight. Trevor and I both like that movie as well and feel that it was an excellent family show.

Yesterday I thought I should probably have a look at my IM training schedule and start deciding which plan I am going to follow. I am going to go with the same training book that I did last year. It's Matt Fitzgerald's book...Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide. This time I am going to do Level 9 in attempts to get more running and biking in per week in hopes that will better prepare me for the race come August. The one thing that I really enjoy about this book is the bike training and Penticton has a tough bike course and I am going to be more prepared for it this time. The one thing I don't like about the book is the swimming...4 times per week. Sometimes it is difficult to get out to the pool all the time. It's not like the gym where I can just put the kids in child care, so Trevor and I have to juggle around our schedules in order to make it work. Usually the time that works for me is in the evenings at 9 pm. but by then I am ready for bed.

Running Challenge: So far this month I have been averaging 6.12 miles per day. Today will be 172 days straight.

Happy Heart Day

I hope you are all having a super duper day with your loved ones. I think I like when Valentine's Day takes place on the weekend much more as my ideal Valentine's Day consists of just hanging out with the family. Actually, that would be my ideal day any day. Last night we took the kids out for our Valentine's dinner. Our church, First Alliance Church, has a dinner every Wednesday from 5:00 pm -6:30 pm. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for kids (dessert is an extra $1). Yesterday's meal consisted of sweet & sour chicken, rice, peas and carrots, and mixed salad. Of course, we all had dessert, which was angel food cake with some icing and very nicely decorated with hearts. It was well worth the $24 that we paid for the family. We are considering making it a once a month family affair.

Today both Kamden and Simon had the day off of school. It seems that my internal alarm clock is set for 7 am as I rarely sleep past that time. We had to get the mini van in for some sort of repair as it is only under warranty for a few thousand more kilometers. Luckily, our mechanic (dealership) is in walking distance to Gold's Gym so we dropped of the wheels and headed to the gym. We were there for just over 2 hours. My muscles have been pretty sore the last couple of days and today I did have a difficult time breathing, so I took it easy, but managed to get in my usual 6 miles. Since other children had the day off as well the kids had a great time playing tag and making crafts with their new friends. This afternoon consisted of washing the vehicle (it has been so messy on the roads) and venturing out to Costco.

Tomorrow the kids are off again (super long weekend for them) as well as Monday, when we all (Trevor included) get the day off for Family Day (a holiday in Alberta). We will be going to the gym early again as the kids have their annual physicals in the afternoon, which I am not looking forward to because we spend so much time just sitting in the waiting room.

Here is my gift to all of you for Valentine's Day:

Healthier Brownies

This recipe uses heart-healthy ingredients such as cocoa, canola oil, omega-3-rich walnuts and egg whites. Cocoa has three grams of fat per ounce (28 grams), whereas and equivalent amount of unsweetened chocolate contains 16 grams of fat.

1 1/2 cup (375 mL) granulated sugar
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (175 mL) cocoa
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) canola oil
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
1/2 cup (125 mL) walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit (180 deg Cel.) Prepare an 8-inch (2L) square pan by spraying with canola cooking spray. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking power and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix canola oil, egg whites and vanilla.
Form a well in center of dry ingredients, pour in wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in nuts. Pour batter in prepared pan. Bake about 30 mins.
Remove pan from oven and place on a wire rack. Cover hot brownies with foil and allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Makes 16 squares.

A day in the life of me

Last night I ended up watching Saw IV, which was a lot like the other three. I actually enjoyed the gory scenes and the story. Although after the first three movies I have come to know how it is going to end by the middle of the movie. If you liked the first three I am sure you'll enjoy Saw IV. I am not a night owl and was in bed just after 9 pm. However, I didn't go to sleep, but watched one of my favorite shoes "what not to wear" on TLC. So I actually ended up turning off the lights just past 10 pm...yeah I know...I am so boring. This morning I woke up before 8am and the rest of the family got up shortly after that. Spin class at the gym is at 9:30 am, so we thought we'd attempt to get out to that. We managed to get to the gym on time and got on to our bikes just a few minutes late for class. It has been awhile since I have been on the bike and I had a fun time. I think I've been avoiding the bike cause I know that in a few weeks it'll become a huge part of my life as the countdown for IM training is almost up and then I'll be on my bike a lot. After spin class I did my usual 6 mile run...nothing exciting...a little slower than I wanted, but hey---I got it in. After the gym we went home and ate lunch and then we had this great idea to go to the "Health Show", which was at the Stampede Corral. We were so disappointed. Our disappointment started when we got to the grounds and found out that parking was $11...ouch!!. We had a coupon for the show and the kids were free, so we ended up paying $8 each to get in. Crazy...hey!!! Parking was more expensive than the show...only in Calgary. The next disappointed was the show. It was just a bunch of booths that had different types of energy drinks, which tasted yucky. There was also a few booths with massages, spas, and some jewelery...definitely not worth the hour that we were there. Oh well...won't go there again. However, the afternoon could have been a lot more expensive as Trevor made a u-turn where he wasn't supposed to and next thing we know a police car comes in front of us and cuts us off. Can you believe he just got a warning. I think it's because where they stopped him, he was blocking a bunch of traffic or maybe it was just his handsome good looks (it was a female officer).

Trevor and I spent the afternoon watching "The Brave One" which actually was pretty good. I can't say too much about it as I would end up giving the story away. It's a good show to rent.
Right now I am just relaxing a bit before I am off to bed. It'll be another early night for me as I am off to church bright and early to teach the five year olds. I am not looking forward to getting up at 7am as I know it is going to be super cold out. I think the cold snap ends some time tomorrow...I hope so anyways.

Gee Willikens!!

As I am writing this we are once again in the midst of freezing weather (-21 degrees Celsius, but feels like -34 degrees). Simon had yesterday off and last night we headed out for parent-teacher interviews. As usual, we didn't go empty handed, but bought their teacher's 2 dozen roses. Simon's teacher got yellow ones and Kamden's teacher got some peach colored roses. The kids absolutely adore their music teacher, so we got her some pink roses...mmm...they smelled so good. I thought that I would find a good poem and put it on some card stock, so they could use it as a bookmark. Both of the teacher's really enjoyed the poem and said "I'm going to cry".

My Hero

My teacher is my hero.

She's the captain of our team.

My classmates all adore her.

She taught us all to dream.

It's a dream of overcoming

All the challenges we'll face.

She helps us build our confidence---

Prepares us for the race.

It's a race into the future

To a place we don't yet know.

We've got to be quite versatile---

Prepared for any foe.

My teacher looks for excellence.
She says she'll take no less.

Now when a challenge faces us

We've learned to do our best.

I really love my teacher

And I'm sure that she loves me.

When I get to be a grownup

She's the kind I want to be.

Today both kids have the day off of school. Unfortunately, I had to spend the morning working on an assignment about the nervous system and the reflex arc. I managed to finish it off in 3.5 hours. So we headed to the post office to get that delivered and then off to the gym. I really wanted to have a super long run today especially after Trevor came home this morning at 7am and I found out that he just did under 15 miles in 2 hours. The competitive part in me thought...fine...I guess I'll punch out 15 miles as well. Yesterday I pulled off a 9 mile run and today I did 6 miles---it wasn't the 15 that I was looking for, but I am averaging about 6 miles per day, so as long as I keep up with that then I won't beat myself up.

I didn't make it to my Weight Watcher's meeting on Wednesday cause I had an information session at the hospital about the ED program. I've been on the waiting list for the Eating Disorder Program at the hospital since April of 2007. The waiting list is anywhere from 10-14 months long. I would have really liked to get some counciling earlier but it is so expensive. 130 per hour---we can't afford that, so my physician referred me to the program, which is covered 100% by Alberta Health Care. I am hoping that I will get into see someone soon. I definitely have my good weeks and bad weeks. My triggers are stress and being alone. Trevor is off to Florida on the 24th for a week and I am concerned as last time he was gone (to Afghanistan) things for me were pretty out of control. I just wish I could wake up one day and not have issues with food, weight, body image etc. Honestly, you would have thought that being hospitalized when I was 19 yrs old would have cured me, but we learned at the meeting that sometimes it takes 4-5 interventions before it is not an issue anymore. So---hopefully they will call me soon---I really want help...now!!!

Tonight is movie night. We rented Saw IV and I can't wait to see it. I've seen all of the others in the theatre, but that one we missed. We also rented "The Brave One" with Jodie Foster, which the Blockbuster employee informed us "it's really good", so now I have high expectations. Come back tomorrow for my reviews.

Absent---1 day

Kamden's attendance is no longer perfect. She managed to make it to school on the two coldest days ever last week when there were temps of -35 degrees with windchill taking it to -45 degrees, but today she stayed home with a fever of 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Yesterday when she woke up she had a fever as well, but I gave her some Tylenol and gave her a cold cloth and managed to get it down to under 100. Oh well...her attendance wasn't going to be perfect anyways with us going on vacation in May. I still had an obligation that I couldn't get out of at the school. Trevor ended up going to work to get his computer and was back in time for me to drive Simon to school. He didn't want to take the bus by himself without Kamden (he really does love her---how sweet). After school I took Simon to the mall to get his hair cut and for some lunch and then it was home time. Kamden's fever has now subsided and she is feeling much better, so I am hoping that our household will be back to normal tomorrow.

This month I would like to see at least 175 miles for the run challenge. So far I've been able to exceed 6 miles per day. Yesterday I even managed to get 6.06 miles in just 60 minutes (it usually takes me 65 minutes). It has been awhile since I've run like that. I actually felt good doing it, so I am happy about that. Sometimes I am not sure if I am on a treadmill that is just not working properly and just happens to be slow or if I am just finally getting better. So we'll just go with the "getting better".

*****UPDATE*****
It hasn't even been two hours since I wrote this post and Ms. Kamden is not feeling well again. By the sounds of her voice and her occasional hacking I think she may not be going to school tomorrow. I guess only time will tell. PLEASE DON'T GET ME SICK!!!

Holy Crap!!!

THE GIANTS----SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!
I am so happy---the $620 of my winnings is going towards our vacation in May.
THANK YOU, GIANTS!!!!
I LOVE YOU....I LOVE YOU...I LOVE YOU.

All signed up for Calgary Police Half Marathon

Trevor signed me up for the Calgary Police Half Marathon, which takes place on Sunday, April 27th. I can't wait as it is one of my favorite half marathon races. Hopefully the weather will be okay, but you never know.

Today I spent the entire day at the kid's school. I started off in the Library, which is what I do every single Friday. Then at 11:30 am it was time to go and sort out the milk in the milk coolers and deliver them to the classes. My afternoon consisted of helping Kamden's teacher with marking, photocopying and other "fun" activities. I even got to supervise the kids during lunch and read them a story, which was kind of fun. I was actually supposed to help Kamden's teacher on Wednesday morning, but I completely forgot to write it down. I can't believe it! I am usually so organized and I am a note taker. It is so unlike me to have not showed up for something. I felt so bad, especially since I am room parent for Simon's class and I know what it's like to organize the parents to come in and volunteer and they don't show up. I have come to pick up Simon a few times when his teacher will come and grab me and say "the parent didn't show up and I need your help, if you have time". I am definitely a people pleaser, so saying no to someone makes me feel like I will hurt their feelings, which is probably not true. I think most people know how hard I work and how many volunteer hours I put in at the school.

I am just waiting for Trevor so we can head to the gym as a gang for our Friday night run. Yeah---aren't we a fun bunch. On the way home I rented a couple of movies "The Hatchet" and "Captivity" and then of course this weekend is Superbowl. So everyone--Cheer for the Giants (Thanks Spandex King for helping me cheer for my team---I think the more support the better).