11 posts tagged “family”
It's been a pretty traumatic week around this household. The month of March was already proving to be a hard month but this week helped turn the stress level way up...
Show us your favorite artist.
I've got two favourite artists :-)
The whole family headed out this morning for the local Race for the Cure 5K/10K run and walk in support of Breast Cancer. My wife used to work for the World Conference on Breast Cancer Foundation so we have a special affinity to the cause. We all participated in this same race two years ago (although the youngest was still in the womb).
Our two boys have been waking up much earlier than we would like for the past two weeks so we did not expect any problems getting to the start line on time. It was 75F, 92% humidity and overcast. We arrived with plenty of time to register and prepare for the run/walk. Our oldest boy couldn't wait to go running and kept asking if everyone was here yet so that he could start.
My strategy was to keep in a fast-yet-comfortable pace for the first four miles and then "kick it up a notch" for the final two miles. I didn't follow the game plan. I didn't go out too fast but I found myself ahead the main pack and trailing only three runners. I recognized two of the speed demons ahead of me and realized that I would be crazy to attempt to pace off them for even a mile. I settled into a good pace and worked to trail a block behind the third place runner. The first 5K went quite good but I knew that I would tire on the second lap. I was hoping that the three guys ahead of me were only doing the 5K but as I came around for the second lap I realized that we were all headed onto the second loop. By this time I was probably a good 1/4 behind the guy in front of me. He was slowing down but I certainly wasn't gaining on him. Apart from the last mile, where I managed to pick up the pace a little, I ran a very consistent positive split for each mile of the course. The winner finished in 40mins and some change. While I ran my slowest 10K ever, I'm not feeling too bad about my result; a 47:46 finish and 1st place in my age-group, although I think I was the only one in the group ;-) It was also nice to find that my 5K split was faster than my 5K finish time two years ago.
My wife walked/jogged/slogged an excellent race. While pushing our two toddlers along in a non-jogging dual stroller, she finished in under 50 mins. I could hardly believe how fast she was going as I only caught up to her within a 1/4 miles of the finish. Luckily the two boys were on pretty good behaviour during the race and she was able to immerse herself in her music.
Both the boys thought my medal was very cool and they took turns wearing it all day long. Our oldest informed us that he wanted to get his own. I guess we'll let him run (and then walk) a 1 mile Fun Run sometime soon.
Embedded is the course for the 5K. The 10K was simply twice around the course.
Where do you consider home? Is it the place you grew up; the place you're currently living? Why is it home?
Submitted by uncagedbird.
For my family, home is wherever we are currently living. The idea of "home" to me has more to do with where my family is than what our address is.
In a job where we can expect to be relocated every four years or so, its very hard to call any static location "home". Both my wife and I grew up in Western Canada but neither of us have lived there for more than a decade; its hard to call my hometown my "home" when I find it difficult to navigate local streets when I'm back for a visit (although I can always find a Tim Hortons).
In twenty or thirty years from now I'd like to ask my boys this question... Seeng that we are dragging them around after us while they are growing up (they were each born in different countries), I hope they don't feel they missed something along the way.
We're packing up the van and heading out to Three Rivers State Park for a long-ish weekend of camping with the family.
The last time we went camping was this time last year up near Auburn, AL, and it was horrible. On the first night the temperature ended up setting a record low and thus our attempt at sleep with a two year old and three month old in sub-freezing temperatures, without a space heater, was less than effective. We ended up wandering around a local Super Wal-Mart at something like 4am. We ended up having a great trip but traded in the tent accommodations for a cabin.
The boys are older now and the weather forecast looks much better (highs of 80 and lows of 60)... off we go!
I just finished my second 7HoHEP seminar, so I was reinvigorated to follow-up on my New Years Resolutions:
Family
- "Date Night" 3 X month with my wife - Needs Improvement. Have only managed to have two date nights thus far. Need to catch up on the four lost date nights.
- Read with my sons 5 days/week - Needs Improvement. I'm probably averaging two to three days/week.
Running
- 5 runs a week - Doing Well. Minus the required recovery time and some sick time, I'm well on track.
- Strength training twice a week - Needs Improvement. No strength trg yet.
- Run over 1000 miles for the year - Doing Well. With 18% of the year complete, I've completed 15% of the required mileage (149 miles)
- Compete in two marathons - Doing Well. One down... one more to go
- 5 X 20 mins of practice/week - Needs Improvement. No individual practice yet completed
- Begin post-grad - ??? Selection for my program is announced in a weeks time.
- Improve French speaking - ??? Working to get my distance learning course up-and-running (I'm having some technical difficulties)
- Reduce coffee consumption - Doing Well. Only 2 mugs and none after lunch.
- Find 2 geocaches/month - Needs Improvement. I haven't even gone caching once this year.
- Read for 5 X 30 mins a week - Needs Improvement. I've been able to do this for only a week or so at a time. Need to be more consistent.
Our family spent the weekend dealing with vomit, diarrhea, IV tubes, and rotavirus in the pediatrics dept of our local hospital. Our oldest started being sick on Thursday afternoon and shortly after arriving at work on Friday morning (after spending Thursday night cleaning up my son and doing laundry) I was summoned back home to help take both boys to the ER; my youngest was now also sick.
After a <sarcasm>quick</sarcasm> stay in the ER we were admitted into pediatrics. Saturday morning various blood/urine test told us that both boys had rotavirus. My wife's response was "... but they don't have diarrhea..." which was quickly interrupted by a two pronged diarrhea attack. We were lucky to have some great nurses in peds. By the end of the day the puking had ceased and the diarrhea was in retreat.
Sunday was killer. Both boys awoke happy after a great night's sleep. Now that the boys were themselves again, the IVs stuck into their arms and the rather small hospital room quickly became a problem. They both wanted to walk around, play, and eat/drink what they wanted but couldn't. It wasn't until 5pm that our pediatrician visited so that we could be discharged.
With a clean bill of health and doctor's permission, we are busily packing for our trip to Disney. We might be a day behind and have to take things a little bit easier, but we are hoping that some Disney magic will help further heal our two little guys.
While this might hurt a little, here's how I'm doing on my New Year's Resolutions:
Family
- "Date Night" three times a month with my wife - Managed to get one in so far this month
- Read with my sons no less than five days a week - Nope
Running
- Average of five runs a week (injury and and illness permitting) - Averaging only two thus far (although I have been recovering from my marathon).
- Add some mild strength training into training plan, two to three times a week - Nope
- Run over 1000 miles for the year - 16 miles behind for the month
- Compete in two marathons - One down
- 20 mins of individual practice, five times a week - Nope.
- Begin post-grad; complete six credits - Trying to get past the application process.
- Improve French; score a "B" on my French Oral interview by year's end - Start French course next week.
- Reduce coffee consumption to two cups per workday (and only in the morning) - Probably averaging a little over two cups thus far.
- Find two geocaches per month throughout the year - Nope
- Read for no less than 30 mins, five times a week - Nope
What are your resolutions for 2007?
Family
- "Date Night" three times a month with my wife
- Read with my sons no less than five days a week
- Average of five runs a week (injury and and illness permitting)
- Add some mild strength training into training plan, two to three times a week
- Run over 1000 miles for the year
- Compete in two marathons
- 20 mins of individual practice, five times a week
- Begin post-grad; complete six credits
- Improve French; score a "B" on my French Oral interview by year's end
- Reduce coffee consumption to two cups per workday (and only in the morning)
- Find two geocaches per month throughout the year
- Read for no less than 30 mins, five times a week
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
Submitted by sami711.
I really like the part when I get presents ;-)
Well seriously, my favorite tradition is how the kids get their gifts on Xmas morning. While grown-ups are permitted to get up, prepare breakfast, make sure the living room is ready, ensure the camera is ready to go, and most importantly brew a pot of coffee; the kids are forced to wait in their rooms. When released, the kids run into the living room to find their 'Santa gifts' unwrapped underneath their respective stockings. The best part of this set-up is allowing mum and dad the chance to see the look on their faces when they first see their presents and capture it all on camera.
Stay tuned shortly after Xmas to our boys' blog for photos and videos posts.
