1st funeral

This week my grandfather passed away. He lived a long healthy life (he was 94). In all reality he lived the kind of life that most people dream of living. He was married to the same women for over 60 years, worked at the same job for 25 years, a job he loved and retired from. He spent most days of his life doing what he loved. I often wish I really had his genes (my mom was adopted), as I can only hope and pray that my health stays with me as long as his stayed with him.

My grandfather was a great example of a gentlemen and at the funeral that was one of the most common words people used to describe him. Anther common word was "great friend". Even at the age he was when he passed, he manged to have a room filled with people come to bid him farewell. He had many friends and was involved in many things even up until the end of his life.

We took the girls to his funeral. This was a 1st for them. I prepared them a lot before we went, as much as I could. Nadia had a hard time. It kind of shocked me since she wasn't all that close to my grandfather, but I tend to think that it wouldn't have mattered whose funeral we were at. I think it was just the sadness in the room. It broke my heart to see her sobbing, but we made it through.

setting goals and reaching them

In May when Cathy and I decided to start running I set a goal of loosing 10 lbs. It took all summer long but I finally lost the last 2 lbs to completing my goal yesterday! As much as I am very proud of myself for sticking to something and having it pay off it has led me to thinking a lot about body image. I have to wonder if there will ever be a point that I am happy with how my body looks. Will there ever be a # on the scale that I can look at and say, "that's it, that's enough"? It just seems there is always something that I think could look better. It's not even that I think I need to lose weight because I know I'm not big. It's more toning and building muscle. It can be difficult being a "skinny" person and talking about body image. People look at you and think that because you aren't over weight you shouldn't have any issues. If only that were how it really was.

I'm big on telling Nadia and Livy that mommy runs to be healthy. I want to be here for them for as many years as I can be so i feel it's important to look after myself as much as I can. But, I don't ever want them to think that they have to "look" certain way to be healthy. I don't want them at 31 years old to still be worrying about how they look.

I can say that at 31 years old.....i feel the best I've ever felt in my whole life. And for now that is the best goal I could ever attain.

September

I can't believe we are into September already. Is it just me or is there something just a little bit sad about September. I'm not sure if it's the ending of summer or knowing that winter is just around the corner or if it's the starting of school and the hectic morning's (and evenings) that come with that; but for me it's sad. I love the long days of summer and the slower pace that the days seem to take on. September brings early mornings and evenings are filled with homework and then rushing the kids to bed. I have never been one of those parents that looks forward to back to school and I don't think I ever will be.

time to blog again?

I've tried in the past to blog and have never really felt I had anything to say that would be worthwhile for other people to read. I'm not sure that has changed but I thought that i would give it a shot one more time and see how it goes.

Things have changed a lot since I last "blogged". I did end up leaving my job at Pinecone but did not go to work in the hotel industry. Instead I went in a completely different direction and went to work in a bank. I LOVE my job and I'm so glad that I went to work there. I work 2 minutes from home and I can literally look out the window of the bank and see the school where my oldest daughter attends grade 5. Wow! Did I just say grade 5??? I guess that is a whole other topic :)

One other thing that has changed in my life is that I'm actually taking care of myself. I'm running, something I wasn't sure I would ever be able to do successfully, but then again what makes a person a successful runner? I run with my sister in law a few times per week. We began with a program called Couch to 5k. It was fantastic, just what we needed to get us started. I remember in the beginning thinking I would never be able to run for 30 minutes straight which was the end goal of the program; but guess what? We did it! We can now run a 5k in 30 min and we will be doing our 1st organized run this fall.

That brings me to the point of blogging again. As I am beginning to take care of myself more I thought that this fall it might be beneficial to do one of those 21 day cleanse diets. Not a diet to lose weight but just to rid my body of all the toxins that add up over a life time of eating junk. I have picked a date to start this "cleanse" yet and I'm thinking that instead of following a program I may pick and chose aspects and recipes from all different detox and cleanse diets. When i start i will plan to blog daily about what I ate and how I felt at the end of each day. I'm already nervous about how i will feel giving up coffee for 21 days.....i actually shudder when I think about it right now. So why do I plan to blog about this? It's more for me then for anyone else. I'm hoping that by writing it all down it will help me stick to it and maybe just maybe there will be people out there who find it interesting to read as well.

At a Crossroads

I am writing this more for myself then for anyone else, which is probably a good think since i don't have many people reading my blog. I need to get a few things from my mind down on paper so to speak.

A little back story....i stayed home with Nadia until she was almost 4 at which time I started working at the Pinecone Campground in the office there. Because it is a campground i only work 5 months of the year leaving the other 7 to be home with the girls. the 5 months of the year that I do work, i work every other weekend and my shifts are 10 hours long and of late this has caused a problem for Rob. He really dislikes me working every other weekend as he feels we really don't get any family time in the summer. I'm summerizing here because i know there is more then just that to his complaint. Moving forward a bit.....i really enjoy working. I love when I am able to fix a problem and when people know that it's from something I did that made their life easier. I love the apprciation i get from the customers I serve and from the people i work for. I feel valued here in a way that I don't at home. Now, wait just a moment, i'm not saying that I don't feel valued at home because I do, but it's in a completely different way. I'm sure I don't have to explain that.

Now here's where the crossroads comes into play. Over the winter while I was off I started thinking about what it would be like when the time comes that I go back to work full time year round. When i would, where i would, if i would, etc, etc. I have thought that because of how much I enjoy my job that I would like to work in the hotel industry preferably at a front desk. So, on Saturday while Driving to Moncton i drove by the new Hampton Inn that is bebing constructed on Mapleton Dr and see a big sign that says "now hiring". I've not been able to think of anything else since then. I've gone online and looked at the job add. I've even updated my resume, but here's the thing. Next year is Livy's last year before going to school. Do I really want to go back to work full time at this time in her life or do I want to hold off one more year. By waiting, the job will no longer be there but that's not to say a new one won't exsit. It will also mean that I only have to pay for after school child care which will really help us out.

After going back and reading over everything i have written so far, it really seems that the best thing to do is wait. There will be other jobs, right?

So, for anyone who is reading this how would you go about telling your current employer that you only plan to work 1 more year here. Keep in mind that I love my boss and not only think of him as a boss but as a friend and I know that the idea of me leaving will really take him off gaurd. He has plans for me to be here for years to come, but i'm just not sure it's enough for me anymore.

any thoughts?

Nadia lost her 1st tooth

My 6 year old little girl finally lost her 1st tooth. she has been waiting and waiting, wondering when it would finally be her turn to get a visit from the tooth fairy. In kindergarten many of her little friends had lost teeth but not Nadia. Then this year just before Christmas she got her 1st wiggelly tooth. I never thought it would take this long to come out but just last night it finally fell out in her mouth while she was laying in bed. It was such an exciting moment!!! She was scared and excited at the same time but I felt like it was such a step towards growing up. Just last week we were at the dentist and it was confirmed that her 1st adult teeth (6 year molars) had come through!!! And now she's lost her 1st tooth. Her 2nd one is very close. She can turn it around in circles but she says it's just not ready to come out. I sent her downstairs to play with it some more because the way it's hanging i'm scard its going to fall out while she's eating and she'll swallow it. We leave for Sunday school in 90 min and I'd love to see that tooth out before we go. 2 visits from the tooth fair in 2 days is pretty exciting. We took pictures last night but I haven't had a chance to download them yet. I will post one as soon as i do.

tagged

tagged by http://messartists.wordpress.com/2008/01/

I've never done a link before so i'm really not sure this is the right way to do this.......

Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. orShare the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list. or Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

5 random things.....

1. I don't feel like my day has really started until I check my email, MSN, and Facebook

2. i love reading Dr. Suss books....if i'm feeling grumpy and I read one of his books to the kids I immediatly feel better

3. i have 2 cats and I can tell what they want by how they look at me or how they meow

4. i always wear slippers when i'm home

5. i really like the age nadia is at because I get to watch High School Musical and Hannah Montana and pretend it's only because she wants to watch them

I tag http://http://caitlinmary.livejournal.com/ and http://nodiggidynodoubt.blogspot.com/ but I don't know how to do with just putting in their names.....can someone teach me?????