Only 95 Hours and 8 Minutes To Go

Confession time: I have gone into my Outlook calendar at work at least twice each day for the past two weeks for the sole purpose of setting it to week-at-a-glance view and looking at next week.

Why next week?

Because August 16-23 just so happens to be all in purple.

Why in purple?

Because purple = out of office.

I can't remember ever wanting lusting after needing a vacation this bad. Not quite sure why, although my guess is that there is both carrot and stick involved here.

The stick is the crazy of the past month. The Husband's been gone almost as much as he's been here, and it's been a whirlwind. Actually, if I stop and think about it, I'd say that we've been in a whirlwind since last September. In some ways, I blame the school system (hello, Homework!), but I also blame myself (hello, trying to do too much with too little!). I'm working towards changing that, but that is another post for another day.

The carrot is the anticipation of a really fantastic time with my family. I have amazing memories of last year's trip. It's not just the golden glow of selective recollections of only the good times. I distinctly remember thinking, "wow, I have never been this relaxed on a family vacation before."

As the kids get older, certain things become so very much easier. (Certain things become so very much harder, but that, too, is another post for another day.) My kids are a heckuva lot of fun to be around, and that just gets better every day. They're always making me laugh.

Even better, they're old enough to be trusted to know where the limits are and stay within them (well, most of the time). I can actually look up at the scenery when we're out and about, rather than always keeping my head bent downwards to ensure I keep little ones about to take off always within reach. They're excited by what we show them and actively contribute to our enjoyment level.

Altogether, it's a mighty cocktail that leads to much clockwatching and impatient foot-tapping even as I pale a bit when I see the list of things to do before we go. But at least I'm not The Husband. He's on part 32 of 473 of the "let's change the brakes on one car and the shocks on the other one and maybe I'll do your headlight, too, just for the fun of it."

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Whoops! There Went July...

You know how in the old-school movies when they want to show time passing, they focus in on one of these page-a-day calendars and one page peels off and then another and then another and then another, going faster and faster and faster until it's just a blur and soon you can't even see the individual days flying off and one month appears only to be immediately replaced by the next one?

Yeah.

July was supposed to be a quieter month for us. The only things on the calendar were a couple of soccer games and a few piano lessons. With the kids in their summer program and me not needing to race home to meet the school bus, my days were going to much looser, with time to bike and take leisurely lunch breaks strolling through the farmer's market. No homework and longer daylight would mean lingering over supper and lots of time to play outside.

Again...yeah.

The big wrench in the gears (or "spanner in the works" as they say across the pond - one of my new favourite sayings) was The Husband's unexpected and rather intense travel schedule. I'd say that the Holiday Inn and I are about even-steven right now for who gets him at night. He left last Sunday on his most recent jaunt, thinking maybe Wednesday he'd be back.

Yeah.

(I've learned not to hold my breath, even when an actual return ticket is booked. Right now we're targeting tomorrow night, but don't think I don't have a kids movie and popcorn up my sleeve just in case.)

We've also been trying to fit in various appointments. Which? I think I won't do anymore. I think I'll just bury my head in the sand and not go to anything health or dental related, since this is the thanks I get:

- Routine doctor's appointment = "Hmm, his heart murmur that I said was nothing last time? Well, I can really hear it now. Here's the number for a pediatric cardiologist. Oh, and his lungs are functioning at 70% capacity. If you don't step up the Flovent, he will have this forever."

- Routine orthodontic consultation = "We're looking at an 18-month treatment course for phase 1 that will include the expander, the head gear, and the braces. Of course, there will be another round of braces for phase 2 when he's 14, but we'll talk about that later."

Seriously - head gear?! I didn't know they even did that anymore. Also, from today's follow-up appointment: "I'm going to request that we extract those two baby teeth. But only in the fall, so don't worry about it for now."

(And yes, I've also heard the words "already surpassed his lifetime orthodontic maximum." But, hey, at least we have dental insurance - otherwise he'd be shoeless on the first day of school.)

Of course, since I'm single-mom-ing it and working full-time/feeding children/dropping off/picking up/driving to the orthodontist/enforcing piano practicing/doing laundry/cleaning juuuuust enough to keep Family Services at bay tends to be a tad time-consuming, my running has fallen totally by the wayside. Sigh - I was really hoping to keep it up. But I'll get back into it...sometime.

BUT! We aren't just busy because of stupid things. We're busy because of awesome things, too!

We had some great Canadian visitors this past weekend, and they gave us an excuse to go to the zoo and to the children's museum. The museum has a special Wizard of Oz exhibit this summer, so I'll give you one guess as to who was skipping and vibrating with excitement when she got her admission sticker.

(Hint: Not anyone under 30.)

Riding away with Toto - she looks just like Miss Gulch, doesn't she?

Hanging out in the rooftop garden.

Apparently I ordered Stir-Fry with Croissants.

Somewhere Over Under the Rainbow

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Par-TAY at PM's This Weekend!

Oh yes, good, good times ahead. The kids are grooving to the beat of the All-Mom-All-The-Time channel and I've got a hot date with my latest page-turner and a couple of Fort Garrys.

Because nothing says total coolness like reading and drinking alone.

Alas, alone I am/we are. The Husband's "quick overnight trip" got a headstart with "Would you be okay if I left on Tuesday already?" and has extended nebulously into next week sometime with "Things aren't going well...I think I might be home on Monday night."

But it's not like I had to coordinate piano lessons, final soccer game, and wind-up party all in one night by myself.

(Oh wait...)

Fortunately, I didn't have to take the kids to my ESL class last night, bursting in late due to never-before-seen levels of traffic and then attempting to teach semi-professionally with a child on my lap.

(Uh, well...)

Well, at least The Boy wasn't home sick today, necessitating a pitiful request for my second work-from-home day in three days plus frequent administrations of Sprite and saltines.

(Yeah, about that...)

Luckily, I don't have to sneak into the airport parking garage sometime tomorrow since we got invited to a Sunday boat party 45 minutes away, and the car that doesn't have a balding tire and an untrustworthy hold on its transmission fluid happens to be somewhere on level 5, waiting patiently for its owner who thought he was coming home tonight.

(Totally not suspicious at all...driving in with one car, leaving it behind, and then driving out with another one. Think I'll get away with "you've seen one Jetta, you've seen'em all?"

[Actually, now that I think about it, I think that this is not my best plan ever.])

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You May Have Overbought at the Farmer's Market When...

"This is a DISGRACE! This zucchini does not deserve to be in these brownies!

Mom, do not ever put vegetables in brownies again. I will take the pan and throw it on the ground."

~ The Girl

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I Don't Have to Outrun the Bear. I Just Have to Outrun You.

I did it. IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!

I was totally nervous this morning. Couldn't eat a thing, but managed to choke down some coffee and juice.

(Because - running without caffeine? Please.)

At 6:28 am, The Husband left me at the back of the starting line pack and threaded his way through to the crowd where the cool kids were. I heard some sort of horn and then everyone started to bunch together. Slowly we kept walking forward and I was getting a tad claustrophobic since I don't like crowds and didn't like the thought of us all having to squeeze together to wait for the gun.

But then we just kept going forward and going forward and suddenly I was crossing the start line and thinking, "oh. So that's what that horn meant."

It was 26 degrees and felt like 35 when we left the house at 5:30 am, so it was already pretty sweaty. We'd been tracking a major thunderstorm for the last couple of days and there was a 50/50 chance it would hold off until the race was done.

As soon as I crossed the start line, the spitting started. By Mile 1, it was a drizzle. By Mile 2, it had turned into a downpour. By Mile 2.1, my shoes were squishing. Mile 2.25, one of my earphones shorted out.

At Mile 3, my ankle started to hurt. And then I got really nervous. I'd never accounted for injury. So I spent about a mile wracking my brain for everything I know about the Achilles tendon (hint: it's not a lot) and wondered whether there would be an audible snap.

And then, everything just started to settle in. I was soaking wet, my ankle hurt, and I was at the back of a very long line (FYI - it's actually quite nice at the back. Lots of room - no crowding).

I figured, hey, how much worse can this get, and settled in with my tunes, punctuated by the squish squish squish.

There were rescue vans and medics, hovering around we shufflers at the back like vultures. Every time they passed, my eyes narrowed and I mentally telegraphed move along buddy. Nothing for you here.

At about Mile 5 I actually started passing people. I ran the whole way up the most monstrous hill at Mile 8. And at Mile 11, I really opened 'er up, and passed a whole whack of people.

Of course, with this waiting for you half a mile from the finish line, it's a whole lot easier:
(The Boy was waiting a bit further up ahead. I reached him and held my hand out for a high five and he exclaimed with relief, Mom, I thought you were DEAD!!!)

But dead, I was not. Tired, very sore, and so very very very proud of myself.

I met my goals: I finished and I beat the rescue van. For those of you keeping score at home, my time was 2:44:01. Now when I started this whole thing, I figured this was it. It was a one-time deal, I'd prove I could do it, and I'd go back to my ketchup-chip-eating-workout-thy-name-is-a-stroll-around-the-lake ways. And then I saw my time today.

And I thought, Bet I can do it faster next time. Also, to my darling, supportive, behind-you-all-the-way-honey Husband? I TOLD YOU SO.

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I'm Not Dead Yet!

One minute I was all, "June is busting out all oh-over" and the next second I was parking my shiny, little surrey with the fringe on top back in the stable for another year.

(Heh, heh. Rodgers and Hammerstein drive-by.)

Happy belated Canada Day, everyone! Some days I hardly notice that I'm not in Canada. I listen to CBC all day (Mountain time zone, so I'm totally up on what's going on in Edmonton), I don't get sick (so I never fill out insurance forms), and I usually make sure I've got imported ketchup chips and beer always at the ready for snacking.

But Canada Day always feels a bit strange, especially since I know y'all are off work and nobody down here is talking about anything but getting ready for the fourth of July. But we imported some Canadians to spend the weekend with us, and The Girl arranged strawberries in the shape of a maple leaf on the cake and, really, what more do you need?

Sorry so absent lately. Been too busy to blog, alas and alackaday. But the busy = mostly good. Lots of visitors - the Hotel PM concierge has been blissfully busy planning firesides, biking, and trips to the park.

Plus trying out new recipes, something I only do when I have guests because if it's a flop a) there won't be leftovers to force down my family's throat all week and b) I figure that since our room rates are pretty low, we can assume at least semi-willingness to be guinea pigs. We've got an overnight baked french toast that is a definite winner.

The littlekins are back into the routine of their summer program. Good times for everyone with field trips and games. Although it's a bit tough on The Boy; The Girl moved up to the next level and he's a bit jealous of the cool factor over with the big kids.

She's loving it. Two words: glue guns. (No surprise to her mother, whose favourite Red Rock skill was Arts & Crafts. I love me some four-strand braided leather bracelets and felt bookmarks.)

My biggest time suck has probably been my body. I started biking to work again a couple of weeks ago and while it takes a fair chunk of time, it's really great. Good for my heart, good for my mental stability (I see my exercising as a public service, actually), and good for the environment. In theory, good for my pocketbook, but I figure it'll take me 2.5 months of riding/not paying bus fare to make up for the fancy new pannier The Husband bought me.

And, of course, the running. Tomorrow is the big day! I'm excited. Which, in itself, is pretty much the craziest part about all of this. That I would be excited to run 13 miles. Even though it's forecast to be rainy.

I'm definitely nervous, although less so knowing that I have run that far in the past. I have only two goals: to finish, and to beat the rescue van. I'm pretty confident I'll do it, but there's still a tiny part of me that's doubting my ability. I figure a healthy dose of fear will be good though - it'll get me through those last mile, shuffling along and glancing anxiously over my shoulder for that van idling slowly along, its driver looking at me a bit impatiently and thinking, oh honey, just admit it and get in."

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