My son is amazing

Last night I had a soccer game and so did my husband, so our son stayed with me and our daughter went to my husband's game.  We didn't have a lines person for my game, so my son offered to do it.

He set up all the flags at the beginning, took them all down at the end and did lines for the whole game.  He is very good at this, he likes the rules and is very sure of the rules in soccer.  Part of being lines person is getting paid $2 by each player that shows up.  If we have someone to do lines, it means that we don't have to do it, and we pay the person because it's a pain in the ass for us to do it ourselves.

So he got $20 for doing the lines last night and was very excited about it.  Today, he and I went to Husky to fill up my daughter's new bikes tires.  Of course I left my change purse in my soccer bag, so I had to borrow a loonie from him to get air (yes, I had to pay for air!).  He brought his money so he could buy some candy at Husky while we were there.  He gave me the loonie and I told him I'd pay him back at home.

We got home and I gave him his loonie back.  He told me to keep it.  I said no, you earned it, you keep it.  To that he shrugged and left the laundry room.  10 minutes later, I was on the computer and he came in the den to give me the loonie back.  He decided that I already do so much for him that I deserved the loonie!  He said that I gave birth to him, clean for him, make him food and I don't need to do anything else for him as I already do too much (his words, I swear!).

He actually had tears in his eyes because I think he finally understood what it means to be appreciated and he wanted me to know that he appreciates me.  What an amazing kid I told him he was.  He said that he was amazing because he had such a good mother.  And this is just another example of why I love my kids so much!!

I think I'll be keeping that loonie forever!

Weight loss Goal 1 - achieved!!!!!!!!

I do not like to talk about my weight, and it's not for reasons that most people might think.   My weight does not define me - it doesn't matter what I weigh (within reason of course!) I love me just the way I am.  Of course I think about my weight and I worry about my weight, but more from a health stand point.  I also would like to weigh less simply because extra weight drags me down when I run.

I don't normally tell people my number.....mostly because it's no one's business but mine, and because most people lie about their weight, I weigh more than I might look.  So here goes.....for the first time in over 16 years, I weigh under 200 pounds.  Please don't ask me what that is in Kg, I don't get Kg and I go by the Lbs on my scale and in my mind.  I am officially 199 pounds!!!!!!!

You can't imagine what I felt like when I saw that one the scale.  Especially (as one friend mentioned) because I just got back from a 3 week European holiday where I ate Gelato pretty much every day, some days twice a day and at least 3 times a day one day!  It was YUMMY!

But I have realized, (thanks to many things, including my sister who once asked me if I needed a whole meal or just the half order.  Thanks a lot Tricia..and I am not saying that in the nice way, but it ended up ok, so I forgive you!) that I don't need nearly as much food as I once thought.  Oh I'm so hungry, I need a full portion, appetizers, dessert!  When we are in Europe, we usually share a meal with a kid.  So I get one meal to share and my husband gets one meal to share.  If we are still hungry we get gelato.  Or we just get gelato anyway.  But after 3 weeks of shared meals, the fact that I have been watching my portions over the last few months, and the fact that I think my stomach finally shrunk, I no longer can eat the way I used to, and I don't try to.

I exercise my ass off and I eat really healthy, but my portion sizes were out of control.  So now that I have that under control, and I mean that I just know that I am full after about half of what I used to eat, I seem to be losing weight almost effortlessly.  I guess the fact that I like to eat healthy and it's just normal, the fact that I exercise all the time - soccer, running - and that's just something that I do, I don't have to work at it, the weight is coming off because I am doing what I need to do and it doesn't take any special planning.  This is just my life.  The whole "lifestyle change" is not a joke.  You change how you just do things, and you'd be surprised at what will happen.

When we were in Europe we walked all the time, we also ran around a lot like fools, played like crazy in the water and found time for soccer practice almost every day.  That's just life, and I love it!  Once the kids go back to school, I will go back to my regimented running routine, not because I have to, but because I love it!  I love running, I love being in my own world, with my ipod and just running.  It's not work so much as it's something I love and something that makes my body feel great!

Anyway, I think I might be babbling now.  I'm just so excited that I reached my first goal and it just happened - without any heavy dieting or crazy things to help.  I am so freaking proud of myself and it just makes me want to work harder.  For example, I played soccer last night with a team that needed call ups and I play tonight with my own team.  I totally get why my husband is a soccer whore, I think I will be one soon too!  I also made my kids start their running routine yesterday.  They were so happy to do it too!  We are going out again tomorrow and they can't wait.  They both want to increase their endurance!  I love it.  I LOVE my crazy, full of exercise life!

I think I will have a glass of wine one of these nights to celebrate my 199!  Here's to me and to the 198 that will be next!!!

Europe 2012

I just got back from our European vacation on Tuesday.  Yesterday I woke up vomiting and sweating - I was not well at all.  I was really hoping that I didn't come home with another bacterial infection, and the good news is, I seem to be fine today.  I have a soccer game later today that I am unsure about playing because I am still really tired, I hurt my big toe on a water slide the other day and I have a finger that was almost cut off 2 weeks ago.  I am thinking I will go and just tape the crap out of all my broken parts!

Europe was amazing!  We flew from  Calgary to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Munich and then got a car in Munich.  We stayed in Germany the first night, then stayed in a place in Hungary the second.  After that, we stayed 8 days in a lake resort in Hungary, Keszthely off Lake Balaton, off to Budapest for 3 nights, then we drove from Budapest through Croatia, had lunch there, did a little shopping and checked out the water.  From there we drove through Slovenia and into Italy.  We stayed 4 nights in an Italian town called Gradisca d'Isonza, and went to the beach a few days in Grado, and went one day to Venice by train.  Then we were off back to Munich.  We stayed 2 nights outside Munich in a village called Etting, and then flew from Munich to London and then London back to Calgary.

It was a bit much, and I think we have decided that the packing up and moving every few days is no longer what we want to do.  I think we may pick a home base next time for a least a week at a time and just travel from there.

The kids did really good this year, there was no car sickness or a whole lot of whining from the backseat.  They were really ready to come home at the end though.  Mostly the 13 year old, but she did really well considering.  My son had a few glitches, a reaction to his amoxocillin on the 2nd day of our trip and we had to take him to the doctor in Hungary at 6am.  Then he got a burn.  But we got through it and we just have fond memories now!

I will be back to break the whole trip down and tell you all about the fun stuff we did including almost cutting my finger off, breaking into a professional soccer stadium in Italy and all the other crazy things we get up to.  In the next coming months, I will probably start to receive a bunch of speeding tickets from Austria and not having a highway pass for Slovenia that I will laugh about, and you'll get to hear all about that too.  The fun never ends!

Now I think I might keep going on the laundry, that will take a few days, and start weeding, that will also take a few days!!

(I am also going to rate my hotels on Tripadvisor, if you are interested in any European hotels.)

Why I had kids

I've always known, from a young age, that I wanted children.  I knew I wanted them, but I could never really put into words as to why I did.

I always thought of why do other people have kids?  Some have kids because they think it will be fun, that they'll have a little person that loves them, a little sidekick.  Now we all know how judgmental I can be about people and their children, but I really don't think that many people really think about why they have kids, they just have them because it's the next stage in life.  Not all people feel that way, and I  think that the people who know that they don't want children, they think it through and don't have them for a reason.  I would never begrudge anyone that doesn't have or want kids - it's their choice.  But those people who have kids and then ignore them, abuse them, treat them like crap, or just don't really care about them - those are the people I judge.

Kids aren't easy.  A lot of the time, they are not fun, they are hard work, they yell and cry, poop their pants, always want stuff, your time, your money, your attention.  So why on earth do people think that is going to easy.  Any parent that says parenting is easy, they are doing it wrong!

That brings me to my point.  I finally realized why I wanted kids.  I always wanted someone that I could love and I could tell the whole world that I loved them.  It's like when you have a crush on a boy when you are a teenager - and you want to tell the whole world and the boy, but you just can't.  Or when you fall in love and you want to tell the person, but you hold back out of fear, just in case he doesn't love you back.  I can tell the whole world that I love my kids!  I can scream it from the mountain tops, I can talk about how much I love them all the time and I have no fear of saying it.  I don't have to worry if they love me back.  Even if they didn't at the moment, they would have before or will again at some point, and that doesn't change how I feel about them.  I love them so much it hurts sometimes.  I kiss them so much that they complain.  I hold them and look at them, amazed that they exist.  I love to talk to them and know all about them.  I love to hang out with them, snuggle them, and just be near them.

I LOVE MY KIDS!!!!!!  I have so much love for them, I have to tell people or I will explode!  I love them and that's it.  They will (most likely) never break my heart, they will never really go away even if they move away.  They will always be in my life and I will get to be with them forever.  They are everything to me.  They are the reason I exist, my meaning in life.  It's an amazing thing the love I have for them.  And that will never, ever, go away.  Now I must go kiss them because just thinking about them makes me cry tears of happiness.

ps - my spell check isn't working.  If I have spelled things wrong, its because I can't spell!

Cyber Bullying

I've just had my first encounter with cyber bullying with my daughter.  Normally I think Cyber bullying isn't that big of a deal, but I realized, just now, that it kind of is.  I thought, ok, close your account, change your email or just don't respond.  But when people post stuff on boards on things like Facebook - it is out there, and you can't take it back.  You can reply, you can defend yourself, but it will always be there for you to see, for the whole world to see.

I am so mad right now that I am literally shaking.  I don't know if I should stick my head into it, but I guess it's too late, because I already did.  You know when you were little and your Mom or Dad stuck their nose into stuff like that, they embarrassed the hell out of you and sometimes made it worse.  Well I wrote some stuff on my daughter's page, with her sitting beside me, and I didn't hit the enter key, she did.  I hope I didn't make it worse, but if I ever see the kid that said these things, you will have to hold me back from strangling him.  I don't care if it was a "joke", that kind of stuff isn't funny.  Kids like that are such a$$holes, I'd like to have a talk with their parents and see if they know what their kid is up to, and if they even care.

I am not overprotective, I think, but I do watch what my kids do. I see them at school, I know their friends.  If they do something that I think is not ok, I will hear about it.  I CARE about my kids and what they do.  What kind of impression they are making on the world and don't think that I won't kick their a$$es if they are not acting appropriately.

This goes back (AGAIN) to the parents.  Where the hell are they?  Do they even care about the offspring that they let lose into the world?  Well I do, my kids will grow up to be responsible, intelligent, kind, caring, polite, helpful adults that will make the world a better place no matter what they do.  I love my kids and refuse to raise a bunch of (pardon my french) little assholes.

Those other parents, well, have fun visiting your kids in jail.

Hiatus....ish

I am not going on hiatus, but I just know that I am going to be blogging less over the next few weeks, to all summer!  Hopefully it will be a nice hot summer and I will be busy outside in my garden, at the beach, anywhere outside.  I am not just up and leaving, but I am going to be so busy and I don't want to just leave the blog hanging.

I have a small bit of updates, I hit just over 20km/hr last night in a sprint at my game!  I was so happy to see that!  Next goal is 22km/hr.  I don't know if I will ever get to 32km/hr like my husband, but I'll keep trying!  AND, I have officially lost 19 pounds!!!  I know it's not 20 and that's when people usually celebrate, but that will be next, and I'll celebrate that one hugely!

Right now I feel a bit pukey and I'm not sure why.  I think I'll take a gravol and go about my business.  It's a day off...which means I have to run errands.  But tonight is a real night off, which means I will do laundry, but I can do it in my jammies and not have to leave the house.  I was out in the rain for 3 hours last night at my daughter's game (1-1 tie, yay her) and my game - (1-0 for us.  Yes, we rock).  I played like crap, but it happens.  At least I ran fast and didn't fall down.  It's the little things that makes me happy!

If you miss me while I am on hiatus..ish, go outside and think of me!

I'm getting my own office!!

The school has finally decided that it is time for me to get my own office!  I have been at the school so much lately, 3 full days last week, 2 days this week.  When will the madness end?  Oh, yeah...June 28.  The school has not yet offered to pay me but I do get my own space.  Ok, maybe not a "space", but an area where the kids know that I will be, and the teachers too, for when they need me.  Maybe area is too grand of a word.....essentially I am getting a corner...... in the hallway......where I can just stand until I am needed.  I can just stand there, face to the wall, reading my emails from all the teachers that need my assistance.

Never mind, it's not that good of an offer.  I will refuse the hallway corner and just do my own thing until they call, text, email me, or hunt me down in person to do what they need.

I have to admit, I have done some pretty cool things this year with the school.  I got to go to Science school for a week with the Grade 3's, a fancy French restaurant with the Grade 7's, I chaperoned a concert and a play, planted flowers and pulled weeds, made clay, took pictures and a whole bunch of other things.  That was just the last 2 months, all the other things I have done the rest of the year has been placed some where in my brain that I don't have access to right now.

I am not complaining, I do love to be at the school, with my kids and their friends.  They all STILL think I am cool too!  Take that dummies from my high school!  I am totally cool now!  Side story - I was at my husband's soccer game a few weeks ago and he found me after the game surrounded by a bunch of 7-12 year old boys.  They thought I was cool too!  They all wanted to talk to me, I felt like a celebrity!

I guess now that I am all grown up, coolness takes on a whole new meaning.  I do get to lecture all the kids that come my way.  I spoke to a whole bunch of the Grade 7's about dating and how unnecessary it is.  One of the Grade 7 boys is a big fan of mine, ok more than one, but this one in particular makes my daughter jealous because he'll talk to me and not her!  It's not my fault!  I command attention!

In this rare minute of calm before the next shit storm happens, I can sit back and be happy about my new found coolness and relish in the fact that finally, finally, the junior high boys like me!