proud mom

Matthew had his very first stripe test at Taekwondo last night. It was more of a formal affair than I was anticipating!! They lined up all the kids, had them say their Student Creed, salute the Canadian and Korean flags, do their warm up. The school's master sat at a cloth covered table and had the kids come up and do the test. And of course we were a few minutes late...what is with these kid's activities starting at 4:15...? Seriously, I had to leave work WAY early to get the offspring, get back downtown, parked and walk to the school. eek!! Thank-gosh I have a super flexible job with super flexible hours...

Anyway, when it was Matthew's turn I was so nervous!! That was the first time I had ever felt like that. But he did awesome!! Did all the drills correctly, bowed and shook hands with Master Duk like a little pro. At the very beginning of the session, Master Duk told them all, that part of the test was sitting still. So there was one little guy that was having a hard time with this. Master Duk had already given him is new stripe but then asked him to come up to the front and Master Duk took the stripe away!! In front of all the kids!! There was not a sound made from the kids or the parents...Oh Dear!! I thought that was a little harsh, they are only 5-6 years old!! But then, they have to learn and this school is supposed to be very good and I have been very impressed with them...but still!! The poor little guy was close to tears. BUT he sat still the remainder of the session and then Master Duk called him up again and told everyone that he was impressed with the sitting still and gave the kid his stripe back.

And now we can collectively say "awwwwwww"!!!

when it rains....it pours

Feeling better today...thanks to those who read my last post and commented or dropped me a quick e-mail. It is appreciated. Just that time in life, I guess, a bit of the changing of the guard. My mom is travelling overseas right now and is currently in Jerusalem. She is very ill. She e-mails it is just a very bad flu but my aunt also e-mails that is more likely pneumonia. She is trying to come home early but cannot get a flight...I cannot imagine flying all those hours feeling so bad!! Scheduled to be home Friday so hopefully all goes well there.

Back to my training....got a bike workout in this morning and it was a damn good one! Have you ever had a workout where you just want to hurt? You just want to feel pain? Put your body through the paces? This was me today. Stress makes me work harder. Can't explain it but it does. Looking forward....a swim tomorrow, another bike workout on Thursday and the club is offering a run clinic on Saturday morning. Can't decide if I will attend...my running is perfect....oh THAT is funny!! I kind of like my runs around the bridges on a fall morning in the fresh air. It is my time to just run and not have to think about too many things.

All Families are Psychotic

I am reading this book right now, and it is making me laugh. It's really good. I can totally see my family in parts of the family that the story is about. It also flips between present day and the 80's when the sister and two brothers were growing up. Again, I can relate!!

And my family is psychotic....love them to pieces, but oh my gosh we can be a weird bunch. This past Saturday was my grandma's 94th birthday. If you know me, you know I am super close to my grandma. We spend alot of time together and my kids love her. She lives just a few blocks away from us and I am her personal chauffeur and fix-it-gal. I often call her my 4th child who does not live with me. Lately, she is totally stressing me out. She is in the beginning stages of dementia and I am having a real hard time dealing with this. She would be horrified to know the things she asks about, can't remember. She has always been the strong, tough, no nonsense kind of gal. Always on the bubble. She has guided me through university (she did not have the opportunity to go to university so was always so proud that me and my cousins could go), boyfriends, career choices, kid advice.

We went to pick her up for her birthday dinner on Saturday and she asked if we had a new truck...it is the same truck we have had for three years, the same one we pick her up in every single week. She comes out of her condo with just light slacks and a t-shirt on...it was a chilly evening and she was shivering. I asked her if she wanted me to run and grab her jacket, she said "Why would I need a jacket?" We took her to her favorite restaurant and I had reserved the booth we always sit at and as we were walking in, she says she had never been there before. She asked why my mom was not coming to the birthday supper...I told her again, for about the 12th time, mom was travelling overseas.

This breaks my heart. To see someone just deteriorate right before me...she was always such vibrant and chatty gal, but now this is just a shell of her. I hate it. I hate that this is the memory my kids will have of her. I hate that my husband gets annoyed with her. I hate that she struggles to hold it all together but also knows in her heart that she is failing. This past summer she had two nasty falls. I was there for both of them. I hated it, picking her up and carrying her to the sofa...like a child...she would be horrified....horrified! And my kids saw it all too. And I was trying not to cry and hold myself together so none of them would see my own crazy fear. It's getting to be too much and I don't know what to do.

rock star run

Up early today to get my run in as we have a busy weekend. Taking the boys to a play today...should try to get some culture into them that is not sports related. One of the local theatres has a children's series and we have been before and it is really well done and they serve lunch so off we go again today!!

I was a movie star on Thursday night and a rock star today!! I showed up at the Roastery with my mind made up I was going to *try* to run with the gang. Lots of them are super fast runners. I knew one fellow was going to be there that is a very good runner but if I really tried, and got myself focused and didn't chat the entire way, I could probably run with him for a good chunk of the morning...mission accomplished!! I was SUPER happy with my run today!! We did all the bridges and my silly knee was starting to bother me a bit in the last couple of kilometers, so that was the only time I slowed down and walked and told them I would meet them at the Roastery afterwards. But seriously, built some confidence today big time...I did wear Gary Garmin and he tells me our average pace was 5:45/km for 46 minutes...holy smokes....this was unthinkable, undoable and unimaginable a year ago for me...my average heart rate was rather high but oh well...then I had to walk/run as I am taking no chances with this left leg. But I was bouncing along in my walk enjoying the morning and watching the sun come up. A great start to Saturday!

a wednesday swim and the oscars

I am on a roll this week...three days and three workouts! Swam this morning about 2000 meters. We did some sort of a kick drill but your arms were to recover under the water...let's just say I drank alot of the pool today. And there was no hot water in the showers. But was an okay swim, not much to report. Trying to get all my workouts in early this week as I have a sneaky suspicion my head will be foggy on Friday. I have been invited to a dinner through the Womens' Network here in town. Their big event of the year. They give a vacation away at the end of the night. I am going as a guest of one of the invesment companies we work with (we work very little with them so I was surprised to get the invite) But of course me being me, I found out who else was at our table and one of the other gals is someone I would like to meet and find out more about, so off I go to the dinner!! The theme is "The Academy Awards" and you all know how I love to dress up!! Should be a fun time as I got an e-mail yesterday about what time the limo...yeah...limo is picking me up!!