Where has the year gone?

It is amazing how fast a year can go by. We are a busy family. With two kids at home, our son is involved with the Boy Scouts and our daughter involved with Girl Scout time slipped away and I have neglected my blog.
I have been working at home selling cruises for Cruises Inc.
Last fall was a sad time for our family. The children lost their beloved grandmother to cancer. Such a difficult life experience for them. Time heals and in time the bitter sting of loss will not be as sharp and fond memories of her will remain.
The winter was long and cold in our neck of the woods and we were grateful to see signs of spring when the first crocuses came popping up through the ground.
Another school year ended and the kids did well.
Summer brought the new experience of Boy Scout camp for my son and my husband. A week away in the woods sleeping in tents. A young boy delight and exhaustion for his dad.
This summer also has brought a new love into our lives. The kids have had the honor to meet work with and fall in love with two lovely horses, Chica the Paint Princess
and Storm.
A new school year has started and the kids are once again busy with scouts and all the many activities that brings into our lives.

2008 Olympics

I have been deeply involved in watching the summer Olympics. I have been fascinated with the women gymnasts. Wow such strength to be able to do what they do. I was in awe of the womens vaults. Wow is all I can say.
I have never been one to watch the swimming events, but this year I watched all that I could and felt honored to see Michael Phelps win the gold over and over and over. Eight golds is amazing.

I can not even begin to imagine the hours upon hours they put into training. Then I think of how much they do and how hard it is for me to do just a little in comparison. I am in awe of their dedication.

I remember being a little girl and the big gymnast of that Olympics was Olga Korbut. I remember being in awe of her and wanting to be a gymnast, no it never happened but seeing her had a big influence in my life. Now I wonder how many kids will have watched this Olympics and saw such great athletes and maybe just maybe had a good influence on them.

Where Has The Summer Gone.

It has been an incredibly busy two weeks. We are preparing to start our fall classes. I have come up with a great recording schedule that will get us through school. I am really disappointed that HomeSat will no longer be available to homeschooling families after this school year. It has been a blessing to us and I know without Homesat we could not have afforded the education that my children have received. This will be huge loss to families that are educating more than one child.
We have spent the past few days setting up class rooms for the kids. Son and Sissy are both delighted to have their school rooms down stairs and not up in their bed rooms anymore. My biggest concern is, am I going to be able to keep the house looking presentable. I have decided that the kids will have to clean their school room each day so it looks presentable.

My exercise is going well. I am walking each and every day at least three times a day. I am averaging around 4.5 miles to 6 miles a day. I am thoroughly impressed with my family. My husband has stepped up to the plate and is waking and walking with me at 7 am before he heads to work. This is a real pleasant surprise.
I can not say my kids are enjoying walking as much as they are but I can say they are not fighting me over it. Never do they ask for me not to go. They have really been good cheer leaders for me. I truly appreciate their support.

I am beginning to look forward to our vacation planned for September. Now I just have to find clothes that fit. I have shrunk out of them. This is a good problem to have.

A Very Busy Week in Review.

It has a been a very busy week for me. I had my big follow up with the doctor who did my colonoscopy. The best news was the biopsy came back clear. YEAH!! I am very happy about that.
It also has been a very good week for my exercise program. My daughter and I have logged 31 miles for our exercise for the week. I am only going three miles today to give my knee some rest. I have felts some pinching in my right knee. Not sure what that is.
I went and bought myself a good pair of running shoes to help with the blisters that formed on my feet from wearing the wrong shoes. I never before put much thought in to the health of my feet. I do now.
I am gearing up for the new school year that looms ahead of us. School will start broadcasting in less than three weeks. I have to know what classes that have to be recorded and what books need to be bought. Where has our summer gone.
Son is loving working at the family store. He has shown so much maturity working with the public. It is a pleasure to watch him turn into a young man.
Sissy has become my constant companion since son has decided to spend his summer working with Dad. Sissy is witty and a delight. Very seldom does she have a bad mood always quick to see the good side of every situation. It has been a good summer so far.

The Feel Good Effect of the Sun

The Feel Good Effect of the Sun.

I keep pondering the thoughts of why now; why this time does becoming physically fit feels so much better. Why do I know deep down this time it truly is going to work. This is the conclusion I have come up with.

Back during the winter I moved my computer and later I set up a new office in the sunroom of our home. I started using the sunroom back during the winter. I did notice that this past winter I was not plagued with SAD “Seasonal Affective Disorder” that I sometimes would get during the winter. Matter of fact I loved sitting in the sunroom and could not get enough of the sunlight coming in to the room. Hence I moved my whole office and took over the sunroom as my space.

I started looking up information on the benefits of natural sunlight and here is some of the information I have found.

Sunlight triggers an increase in the feel-good brain chemical serotonin.

Serotonin lifts your mood and wards off depression.

I know that now when I am out walking in the fresh air and sunlight I love how I feel. It is something I have not experienced since I was a young child running and playing out side. It is a great feeling and right now I am craving going out walking in the sun.

The Exercise Continues.

Yesterday was really a great exercise day. Our morning started with the children and I walking the trail once. The weather was perfect. We were able to make our round before the midday heat.
I was also able to invite a friend who I have not see in at least a year. She was somewhat surprised in my weight loss. Made me smile when she notice.
Then in the after noon my normal walking buddy called and the kids and I went again. YEAH. I had done my twice a day and I was happy.
Well low and behold when my husband got home he wanted to go. So we went for are third trip around the trails. Sissy Lou and I did 6 miles yesterday. YEAH The is my personal best. I was feeling the muscle tightening by evening.

Today has not been as good. I had appointments first thing in the morning and they did not end till 4 pm. Well we tried to walk and the heat was to much. We made one mile and had to stop. We will go tonight when Dan gets home and the sun is down. It was nearly 98 today. Too hot to walk.

My schedule is working really well. Being able to know that I have a designated time to exercise has been life changing. Know that I have allotted time for me has been wonderful. I am worth the time. My health is worth the time. I need to take this time to be a healthy person.

Another Great Exercise Day

Already this morning the kids and I were up and out the door early to get in a morning walk. It is suppose to be a very hot day here today so I was glad to get my exercise in before the mid day heat sets in.

Yesterday I was out working in my yard when I hear a buzzing sound. It took me a little time to locate it and it was my Mountain Laural bush, it was covered with bees. It was a sight to see.
There were hundreds of these bees all over the bush. Very interesting.

Spontaneity

Spontaneity has never been part of my life.
I have always been the planner. Even as a child I would plan every thing out so I was never surprised and taken off guard.
Well as I have gotten older I have really tried to roll with the flow of the day and not panic if things do not go exactly as planned. It has gotten better since the kids are older too.
Last night supper was made the kids an I had eaten and we were waiting for Dan to get home from work when my friend called. I asked if she wanted to go for a walk, (me being spontaneous is huge). She of course was happy to go, so we went. I am so glad and I was able to take some really nice pictures too.
Yesterday ended up being a really great exercise
day. With the bike ride in the morning and
our evening walk last night I believe our mileage
for the day was around five or six miles.
I feel really good about that.

I Will MOVE My Body.

Today the kids and I loaded the bike rack on the car and we went biking. Actually I was very proud of my son. He helped me figure out how to attach the bike rack to the car, and he helped me load the bikes to the rack and we went biking.

No huge mileage but we went. We were able to make two and half rounds on the trail before we were tired. Actually Sissy Lou was the one to ask if we were finished or not. I forget that her little legs are not as long as mine so she is really peddling to keep up with us.

That actually is the longest bike ride I have taken in YEARS, and it felt good. The worst thing about the whole biking experience was loading the bikes. The rack is heavy and lifting the bikes is heavy. I could not have done it with out Son.

We had a good weekend. Dan took Son to work with him on Saturday and Sissy Lou and I had a girls day at home. On Sunday we went to Church and then spent the day at home preparing the kids room for the new school year that starts next month. We packed away last years curriculum and I now have to do inventory on what new books we need to buy and what classes we have recorded and what classes we need to record in the fall.

A good weekend and a good start to a new week. I will move my body, I want to be a healthy person, I will work on being a healthy person.

Summer Fun

Today was a beautiful day here and the kids could not wait to get out an play in the water. It was a lot of fun watching them play on their slip and slide. It gave me a lot of memories of when I was young playing on our homemade slip and slide. Lots of summer fun today.

Determination

I am determined that I am going to be in control of my health. I do not want to go into my old age already unhealthy.
Today I got up. I rallied the kids and off we went on our morning walk. We walked the whole trail once and then we walked the first half again. No huge feat, but we are increasing our miles. This is great and I feel better too.

I am determined to help with the money income. Losing my main source of income last month hurt. That was our play money. The money that paid for vacations and going out to eat. It also paid for those extra visits to the Dr. or unexpected visits to the er. I am determined to find another source of income.

I am determined to make healthy food choices. I pulled out the George Foreman grill and am trying to cook healthier. I am trying to cut the fat from the diet. Son is loving cooking on it.

I am determined to being a better person in general. I am trying to think before I speak. Trying not to speak in the heat of the moment. Trying to look at the bigger picture. Angry words can hurt for a long time.

I am determined to be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.

It Has Been A Good Day.

It really has been a good day. I received a lead for a cruise first thing this morning. So I spent the better part of the morning looking up prices and getting the customer their quote.
In the after noon my friend came over she too had gotten a lead and we worked on getting her quote out too.
Son went to work with his father and that gave Sissy and I a girls day to hang out and be together.
I feel pretty good after yesterdays colonoscopy. I was amazed how loopy the anesthesia made you feel even hours after it was over. I glad to crawl into bed last night.
I am planning to get back into my exercise routine tomorrow. It was interrupted with the prep and the colonoscopy yesterday. I can not believe I am even saying this but I have missed the daily walks, the past two days.
I spent so much time today looking up quotes for cruises I did not take the time to look for new opportunities posted on craigslist and monster.com
So once again I am looking at my schedule tomorrow and adjusting it accordingly to make up for what have missed today. Top of the list, exercise and job searching.

Nice Family Weekend.

We had a really nice holiday weekend. Nothing exciting but it was just nice being together as a family. Dan had to work on Saturday but was home early. I spent a good portion of the weekend mowing the apple orchard while J and Dan trimmed the apple trees. This was a much needed chore that we had been putting off. It looks so nice now that it is done.
The picture are two that I took this spring when our flowers were just blooming.

My View through a Lens

For Christmas this past year Dan and the kids got me a new digital camera. I have to say that I have loved this camera. I love the instant satisfaction of being able to see the item you are shooting. I have found myself looking at things differently. Even bugs look interesting through the camera lens.

Happy 4th of July

Today is the 4th of July and picnics and fireworks are in our plans.
Well we hope they are in our plans.
So far today it has rained and the sun is not shining, yet.
Just because one makes plans does not mean that plans will go off with out a hitch.

Yesterday my plan was to take my 8 year old to see the movie Kit Kittredge. We arrive at the theater and the girls are giddy with excitement only to find out that Kit is not at this theater. "POP" that is the sound of the girls bubble being broke. Flexibility, that is what is running through my mind we have to be flexible. Ok, well what else is playing that has not ALREADY started. So our choices were Kungfu Panda or Hancock. Well lets see, I am NOT paying to see Kungfu Panda, so we went to see Hancock. Not exactly a great little girls movie, to much swearing but the story was really good. And I have to say I really like Will Smith as an actor. I had never been to one of his movies and he is a really good actor.

So it is now the 4th of July and it is raining and the sun is not shining. We have no idea if the picnic and fireworks will take place but we will be ok. We will be flexible and roll with the punches and enjoy this day off with our family.

Happy 4th of July.

A New Day.

I can not believe how much I am loving my new office.
I have been spending so much time in the inviting area. It has done wonders for my attitude and excitement in doing my work.
Day two of my new schedule was a great success. I believe working on my time management is a much needed task.
Yesterday I actually penciled in time to take a break and a walk with my kids. That was a much needed break.
I feel that sometimes I spend so much time working, or working at working, that I forget that I have to take time for physical activity too.

My next goal is to make a weekly schedule for work, home, and family.
I know in my heart that I can make this work.

A New Office

I have a new office.
I have decided that I needed an environment that was appealing to be in. For so many years my home office has been the extra room up stairs. It was a hassle to check the phones, or look to see if work was available. The office just did not seem convenient to where I was most of the time.

So I have moved my office to the first floor of the house. I now have windows that look out on to the back yard. I can see my kids playing all day long. I feel so much more connected to my children's daily lives.
And truly that is why I quit my "out of the home" job. I wanted my kids to come first. I wanted to be the care giver to them.
So this new office on the first floor of our home is working out great.