A Gym Journey

This week has been amazing for me with my exercising.  My personal trainer canceled our appointments this for personal reasons and so I decided to really go at my cardio training on my own.  And I have stuck to it!  2 of 3 days so far I've done the treadmill for an hour PLUS the elliptical for 10 minutes each day.  The other day I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I am really, super duper proud of myself!  Last week I joined Weight Watchers Online and have been reminded that the more you exercise, the more points you earn that you can use for food, so I've been motivated!

The actual eating part of WW hasn't gone so well, however.  Camera Guy and I went away last weekend to San Francisco and I ate and imbibed way over my point allotment for the week.  And I'm really close to depleting this week's points and it's only Wednesday night.  *sigh*  And I learned a hard lesson today at the cost of my points and a little dignity; know how many points what you're going to eat costs before you eat it.  I'm really going to try to do just that moving forward.  That's going to take some discipline and not allow much room for spontaneous restaurant-going, unfortunately.

Cub also had a new gym experience of his own.  After a talk with his teachers at school and having them express to me their thoughts that he needs more outlets for full body exercise (he enjoys crashing his trikes into other kid's trikes at school repeatedly, despite their interventions) I took their suggestion and we went to a local gymnastics class this week.

The classes are mid-session and we got a free class to try out and see what we think, if he likes it and if it'll be a good fit for him.  After some initial nervousness he joined the group of 3-4 year old boys and followed the Coach like a little duckling.  He learned about walking single-file, like we all see the gymnasts do in the Olympics as they move from one apparatus to the next.  He learned to "take a knee" while he's waiting his turn and while it didn't sink it comepletely, I think he understood that it's important to listen to the Coach.  Always.  (Side note: I was tickled to see him "take a knee" so young in life, hoping he does it again some day far, far in the future with a special person in his life.)

I actually teared up at one point, watching my little son, my baby, my Cub, participating in his first organized sport activity.  I had to choke back tears while I smiled and stiffled a giggle.  One of the other moms asked me if it was his first class.  Yup.  That obvious, huh?

He behaved the way I would have expected him to, (being goofy, not paying attention sometimes, swatting at the other boys ocassionally) and also a bit more maturly than I would've thought he was capable of (walking on his hands and feet across the parallel bars after being shown how to do it.  I would've expected him to tell the Coach he didn't know how so he wasn't going to do it.)  He surprised and delighted me.  I was so proud I literally felt my heart swell with pride.

What's unfortunate is this particular Coach felt like he was teaching 2 classes, one to the kids who had been with him since before Thanskgiving, and one to Cub.  He didn't feel it was fair to the other kids and recommended Cub start with a different Coach at the beginning of the next session.  After getting a session under his belt, with Cub learning the routines and what's expected of him (not goofing around) he said he'd welcome him back in his class.  While I totally get where he's coming from, I'm a little bummed because this class is specifically Boys Only and is coached by a man.  I think that may be part of why Cub responded so well.  

Cub had a great time, really enjoyed himself and has told me several times since then about things he did during class and things Coach said.  I was hoping to get into that class in the next session, but it sounds like the Coach really thinks we should go into the class taught by one of the gym's co-founders, who taught him, so I guess we'll do that.

My journey today and this week is one of exercise, focus and fun.

New Year's and birth day Journeys

We live very close to the parade route.  That's THE parade route.  The granddaddy of them all.  We had lots of friends over to bask in the heat of the day (and btw, what's up with 80 degrees on Jan. 2?  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but not so much at 10 a.m. when I'm sitting outside, facing east and have a small child on my lap trying to watch a parade that is mere feet away.  Also, btw, we didn't last out there more than 30 mins. in the heat).  But Cub was thrilled so many of his friends were around to play with that day, a couple of which joined him inside away from the heat after a while, too.  I was humbled by the warmth and love we felt by our friends braving the traffic and crowds to come join with us to celebrate the new year watch THE parade and partake of Camera Guy's amazing baby back ribs.  I'm thrilled he did those.  It's been a looonnng time since he's done anything on his Big Green Egg.  He hasn't lost his touch.  I’m also thrilled to have our neighborhood back to normal and not have to deal with the traffic and crowds for another 11.5 months.

The new year has also brought a return to school for Cub (thank goodness!) and the prospect of his impending birthday, which is today.  Everything in his world is about robots these days, so of course the theme for today's party is robots.  He assembles a simple stack of Duplo Legos and tells me it's a robot.  If he adds 2 Legos sticking out from the side he tells me they're wings and the robot can fly.  I LOVE the creativity in his brain these days.  I can spend hours just watching him play and imagine the cogs turning furiously in his head as he comes up with new and exciting ideas of what his robots can do.

But about today.  And 4 years ago today.   And the journey since that day.  The day he was born was exciting, scary and filled with joy and tears.  15 months prior I had a miscarriage.  Technically, I was far enough along to actual call it a still birth, but I don't like the sound of that term, so I say miscarriage.  My pregnancy with Cub was not the joy-filled time of my life one would want their pregnancy to be.  With a previous miscarriage in my past, I was tenuous, careful and scared throughout my pregnancy with Cub.  Arriving at the hospital that winter morning (gosh it was early, why do you always have to be there so gosh darn early?) I finally felt joy at the prospect of a child coming into our lives.

We didn't know his gender prior to his birth.  I wanted to be surprised.  Camera Guy wanted to know, but I told him possession is 9/10ths of the law, so we didn't find out.  It didn't matter what gender the baby would be, and I wanted to the focus away from that aspect of the pregnancy.

As I sit here today, reflecting on that day, there was so much joy in that hospital room.  Joy of anticipation, joy of a new family member, joy of all of us being together for a blessed event, joy of finally meeting this new person who would change all of our lives forever.  When the time came to take me to surgery (I had a C section) my surgeon warned her staff that Camera Guy’s camera was not a regular ole’ point and shoot like most of them were used to husband’s bringing into the delivery room.  He had quite the lens on that sucker.  Less than 45 mins. later we had a wiggly, cheesy-covered Cub in our lives.  He had always been our Cub, that was our nickname for him in utero, since we didn’t know his gender, but now he was here, in our midst, crying and squirming.

It’s been a whirlwind of first-time experiences for all of us ever since.  Most of them have been wonderful, fun-filled, life affirming and joyous experiences.  Some not so much, but those don’t get remembered.

Today he turns 4.  I can’t believe it’s been 4 years already.  And yet, hasn’t it been 14?  Sometimes it feels like it.  The days are long and the years are short.

I love you desperately, Cub. You are my inspiration and my reason for waking up in the morning. I hope you keep asking your questions of curiosity and wonderment, they will lead you far and teach you much. You are so active I can barely keep up. I hope you always stay busy and moving, much like you have been from the day you were born. I can't wait to see what the next year brings for us all and the growth and learning that awaits you.

I am eagerly anticipating your party this afternoon.  I hope it will be all that you want it to be and more, filled with everything robot.  We have so many of your friends and family coming to celebrate YOU!  You have brought joy and love to all of us.

The journey of remembering the last 4 years and the day of your birth is fresh on my mind and I am looking forward to watching you take more steps towards growing up, getting smarter, taller, faster, stronger and finding you’re able to more and more things with your mind and body.  Tomorrow will be a whole journey for you as you get to go on a ride at Disneyland you’ve been so eager to go on for so long.  Mommy and Daddy decided that at 4 you could do it.  I hope you enjoy it and aren’t scared.

But today’s journey is about celebrating you and all you are in this world.  Happy Birthday Cub!

An Advent Journey

We're waiting here at Casa de Cub.   Waiting for Christmas.  We've also been waiting for Camera Guy to finish working and have 2 weeks off so we can get a Christmas tree, start decorating the house, finish Christmas shopping (or in his case, start) and finalize plans for Christmas Day.  We aren't waiting for that anymore.  He finished working 2 nights ago!  We went to 2 parties last night!  We decorated the tree tonight!  Let the celebrating begin!

Advent really is *my* season.  The color the church uses to signify Advent is purple.  Purple is my favorite color.  I wear it all year long, but I really love wearing it during Advent.  I feel like I really fit in during Advent, fashion-wise.

We're waiting for the Christ child.  I'm trying very hard to instill in Cub the notion that Christmas isn't all about Santa and getting presents.  He's pretty good about saying back to me that it's Jesus' birthday when I ask him what Christmas is.  But, he's almost 4 years old.  He's also quite enamored with TV commercials filled with toy ads and frequently tells me of something new he saw that he wants.  It's been a journey for me to explain (over and over again) that we can't afford to buy him everything he wants, that he's already a very lucky boy to have the toys he has and that some toys will have to wait until he's older before he can have them.  


However, one toy eludes me that he wants.  He says it’s a jumping robot.  I have NO idea what that is.  He says he saw a commercial for it.  Yet, with all the time I’ve watched with him, I have yet to see it.  I don’t know what it is and perhaps it will be a journey of learning for him that we don’t always get everything we want.

We're waiting for the city to clear the debris from our street from the wind storm we had 2.5 weeks ago.  Don't get me wrong, our street is very passable, but there are a couple of large debris piles and tree limbs blocking portions of our street that I'd like to see removed before New Year's Day.  While it might serve as a nice deterrent for unwanted people to park some vehicles on our street for the parade, the better choice is too have it removed.  I called to remind the Public Works Dept. that there will be several thousand people passing through our area on January 2 and that the children may want to play on the downed tree limbs and may potentially get hurt, opening the city to a lawsuit.  They took down my street name.  That was last Tuesday.  This is Sunday and the debris is all still there.  I plan to go and haul some of the wood away tomorrow to keep for firewood for us.  Camera Guy hasn't let me have a fire in the fireplace since Cub was born for safety's sake.  He says I get to have one this year!

We're waiting.  Anticipating.  Eagerly looking forward to and hopefully wishing for our individual heart's desires.  waiting is so very hard when you're not yet 4 years old.  Heck, it's hard when yo're my age, too.  :)  My heart's desire?  To watch Cub experience and enjoy the thrills of Christmas Day and spending time with my family.  With a warm fire in the fireplace.

A Windy Journey

For the amount and force of wind that went through my city the other night, we were very fortunate with the outcome at Casa de Cub.

I had not been aware of how hard the winds we were expected to have would blow.  I was pleasantly ignorant.  I took few precautions.  I laid our patio chairs and a ladder on their side.  I put our hose on top of Cub's outdoor toys inside his plastic pool. But that was about it.

As I prepared for sleep, I put in my earplugs per usual (Camera Guy snores, don'tcha know) and heard the wind a few times throughout the night.  Thankfully Cub slept through it all.

I awoke to find a large piece of tree branch blocking half of our street and twigs and leaves in our yard.  A neighbor had a relatively small-sized tree crack and fall over.  Our next door neighbor had a tree crack and fall into our yard.  She also lost most of the shingles on the front of her house.  I saw several branches in the street farther down aways.  Not anything catastrophic, just inconvenient and unfortunate.

Our mayor asked us to stay inside and not venture out if it wasn't necessary, leaving the roads to the emergency vehicles and Water & Power crews.  I did just that.  However, I did walk around the corner to a local church to see what I had heard was a very large tree that had fallen.  Very large was an understatement.  It was then that I started to get a sense of the magnitude of this wind event.

After deciding to clean up our front yard and salvage what I could of the twigs for free kindling, Cub and I retired to the house for the remainder of the evening.  We were supposed to have another windy night so I got out the flashlights and candles, just in case we lost power, which hadn't happened the previous night. But, again, fortunately, we didn't.

Today was my first time venturing outside of my little pocket, my protected bubble.  When I recalled someone on the internet having referred to the destruction they saw in my city as a war zone, I decided to modify that (after all, a war zone surely is horrific) to say this looked like all the trees, and I mean ALL the trees in the city got into a war with one another.  Hardly a tree is unaffected.  And this is a city that loves it's trees.  As are our neighboring cities, which also sustained a fair amount of damage and loss.  Driving takes more concentration than usual as large amounts of tree branches and trees are blocking entire lanes of some streets and parts of lanes on others.  Not one street has full use of their driving surface.  You cannot imagine what it looks like by seeing a news report on TV or pictures on the internet. It's almost beyond comperhension.

I mean, how hard must it have been blowing to break a cement light pole in half?  I saw a half dozen in that condition in the 2 mile drive between my and my mother's house.  How many more are there like that?  Several friends are still without power and one friend in a neighboring city had her apartment red tagged after a power pole AND a tree went through the wall of her kitchen.  I am thankful it wasn't her bedroom.  She is not allowed to live there until the pole and tree are removed, and presumably until the wall is repaired.  How long might THAT all take?

It's truly devastating and disheartening to see the destruction that has occurred.  It makes me sad knowing that some folks aren't going to be able to afford to pay to have their trees cut down and removed and the city will only take care of those trees in the front parking strip or if they are blocking a road.  And if it's not a main artery, they may not get to it for awhile.

My journey today is one of pain.  I am hurting for the loss our city has suffered and the amount of clean up we as a whole are facing.  And yet, I am even more thankful and grateful knowing how truly fortunate we were at Casa de Cub after experiencing a small portion of what other folks are facing.  A few roof shingles is nothing in comparison.

Anniversary Journey

This week Camera Guy and I will have our 9th wedding anniversary.  We've been together 13.  We take turns planning the anniversary celebration.  This year was my turn.

Earlier this year Camera Guy mentioned that he had never seen a stage production of Phantom of the Opera.  This was my cue of what I was going to plan our celebration around.  Since Phantom hasn't been in our large metro area for many moons, I had to plan a trip to Sin City, the closest place with a current production.  We usually end up there at least once a year and we hadn't been yet this year.

Leading up to this weekend I pretended I hadn't yet planned anything (not very convincingly, I might add) and that I thought I might only be able to get a room at the Embassy Suites in the next city over.  Thus was born a running joke that ensued for nigh on 2 weeks.

After leaving Cub in the capable hands of his grandmother and godmother for the weekend (thanks, ladies!) we were off.  I'll spare you all the non-hilarity of pulling off getting to and arriving at our final destination and suffice it to say, I don't think he was the least bit surprised when we stopped in Las Vegas.  However, I *do* think the establishment I chose did surprise him.

The gal at the front desk informed us that we were being upgraded due to the nature of our celebration, however, that room wasn't ready yet.  After sitting down and imbibing in a cocktail we remembered from several years ago and enjoyed immensely, our room was ready and we arrived to find a roomy suite with certainly more space than we needed, but certainly appreciated.  But, it did come with one very large down side.  We had no view whatsoever of anything other than the hotel's HVAC system and the walls of other wings of the hotel.  *sigh*  Oh well.  We were fine with it and proceeded to prepare ourselves for a dinner at an restaurant I had been looking forward to for 5 months now.  It's co-owned by a celebrity chef and I had been looking forward to partaking of his cuisine.

We got dressed up and found ourselves seated in a quiet corner of the wine room.  Fabulous!  Dinner was scrumptious and tantalizing.  Dinner the next evening was equally so in a different restaurant owned by a different celebrity chef with a different take on cuisine followed by a later performance of Phantom. Camera Guy seemed surprised by my choices of places to dine, however, less so by my choice of show to see.  Once on this particular property, it was easy to narrow down what we'd be seeing.

The journey this weekend was not one without flaws and hiccups.  I tried to hide as much from him for as long as possible, including what clothes he'd need to have with him.  In the end I packed for both of us so he wouldn't know we'd be going out twice and in doing so left behind a few key items that I'm certain wouldn't have been forgotten if we'd each been responsible for packing our own items.  I won't do that again.  It wasn't worth it.

Secondly, I don't plan to go to Vegas again on Thanksgiving weekend, and IF we do, I'll try desperately to remember how horrific the drive home was on Sunday.  We'll come home on Monday next time.  If Camera Guy's not working, that is.  6.75 hours to go what should normally take 4 was an unbearably long time in the car, especially knowing Grams and Godmother wanted to get back to their lives away from our home and that Cub was anxiously awaiting our return.

In the end, the journey we took together this weekend was a lot of fun.  I left our establishment taking with me $28 of their money with me.  :)  But, mostly, I was with my sweetheart, celebrating us.  And that's one of the sweetest journeys I can think of.  Happy Anniversary, Camera Guy.  I love you.

A Friendly Journey

Cub is having a brand new journey as I write this.  And it was a journey for me, as well.  A journey of letting go and watching him expand his wings and break away from Mommy a little bit.  I am choked up with pride at his blossoming, and at the same time am sad at being replaced.

He wanted to play with a boy this afternoon.  I was told that Mommy is not allowed to play Zurg in his game of Buzz vs. Zurg because Zurg is a boy.  Mommy is not a boy.  *sigh*  So off we went to a neighbor's house and Cub asked the Mommy-of-the-House if the little boy could come over and play.  Sadly, the answer was no, he's getting ready to go somewhere.  Cub was crushed.  It broke my heart to see his face fall.  Maybe another day, he was told.  After a small protest we departed.

It seemed little consolation that I offered we could try asking another boy in the neighborhood.  Again he asked the Mommy-of-the-House if the little boy could come over and play.  She seemed hesitant because they have to go somewhere soon, too, but the boy said he'd like to and she said ok for a little while.  Cub practically floated on air as he ran home, leading the way.

His journey today was one of branching out beyond what's comfortable and known.   We rehearsed what he should say, what words to use to be polite.  He soared with flying colors!  And learned a hard lesson that sometimes the answer is no.  I think that furthered his journey of learning about playing with people who don't live in the same house he does.

With this experience my journey today has been one of watching him reach out to others and allow him the space and safety to do so.  Having another child in our home playing, without another adult supervising said child is new for me, too, being responsible for someone else's child.  I am enjoying listening to them playing, interacting with one another, deciding how to proceed with what they are playing.  It makes my heart swell knowing he has reached a new milestone.  And at the same time I am sad that I truly, truly, no longer have a baby, toddler, small child who looks to Mommy for total companionship.

Although he has been running over to me every so often to tell me what's going on.  I like that.  :)

It's a good day.  A good journey for both of us.

Homecoming Journey

Life is a journey.  Each year is a journey.  Each day is a journey.  Changing jobs is a journey.  Getting married, having kids, moving, and the death of a parent are all journeys.  Of course, taking a trip is a journey, and for me, a new recipe is a journey.

I love being married to Camera Guy.  I love being Cub’s mother.  I love my friends, my church and cooking.  But some aspects of my life annoy me and I want them changed.  Working through these aspects of my life is a journey of patience, faith, love and chemistry (that’s about the cooking part).

My intention with this blog is just to write about what journey I may be on that day or have gone through recently.  It might be about parenting, being married, being me or yes, a new recipe.

I am proud to be on the Board of Directors of my high school Alumni Association.  Overwhelmingly proud.  I bleed our school colors.  Truly.  Helping plan this weekend’s activities was a year-long journey.  We started after last year’s Homecoming weekend by reviewing what went well and what didn’t and looking towards making this year better.  We talked at every monthly meeting about what we wanted this weekend to look like and our planning paid off!  It was a fantastic weekend!

Today my journey of Homecoming Weekend 2011 has ended. 

I went to one of the 2 major high schools in my city.  The big football game was played Thursday night against our cross town rivals.  We won!  We usually win.  Trust me when I say this game is big.  Huge!  Not only in importance to the two schools, but in the venue it’s played in and the attendance we get at the game.    I doubt there’s anything like it anywhere else in the country. 

The win just put that much of a sweeter spin on the rest of the weekend’s activities.  We inducted new members to our Alumni Hall of Fame and had our Alumni Homecoming Faire & Picnic.  So much planning and work goes into all of these activities.

The journey of planning these activities is truly a labor of love by all the volunteers on the Board who put in tireless hours to ensure everything that happens is the best it can be for the enjoyment of the returning alumni.  The people who pulled this weekend off are extraordinary people and I’m humbled to know them, work with them and call them friends.

It’s been a journey, this past year.  But we sailed through with flying colors and I’m so proud of everyone.  This journey was definitely fun, as was the destination.

I hope you’ll decide to journey with me again here on my blog.  Until then, I hope you enjoy your journey.