It's A New Dawn, It's A New Day

Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

I don't know exactly why I had such a yucky end to my day yesterday. Probably partly that the kids had an unexpected day off from school and my new found  freedom of this school year was taken away (I'm a turd...) and Mai had a little fever so she obviously wasn't feeling well (this translates into whining), and I, myself, seem to have come down with a chest cold. I re-looked the day and we had fun at a new park, the sun was shining, we found a caterpillar. I'm sure to the kids it was a good day, and I'm hoping they didn't sense the unparently (is that a word?) feelings I was having. Actually, I know Mai did notice, but It's a new dawn, It's a new day... and aren't we lucky that God gives us a fresh start each day ~
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

On to less biblical things:
Steve has all the tombstones done!
Meet Mr. Seymour Butts and his spooky friends...

time to cover this bad boy with some cobwebs

Awww...poor 3 year old girl across the street...why does Steve insist on doing this to you? It doesn't help that Mai hates Dora and says "what did she ever do for me except teach me Spanish?" Hmm...how to argue that.

My personal favorite. RIP Paul M'finger...hehehe

Some Days...

...I'm not a very good mom. I don't empathize enough, I don't hug enough, I don't play with enough, I'm just not enough. I hate these days.
As I head to bed with thoughts of a new day tomorrow, I introduce you to new family members (if they survive all the manhandling)...

Meet Kathy the Katydid...

Fuzzybutt the caterpillar...

and of course you already know these little animals...

Grape Stomp

What cures a vodka headache from last night? Wine tasting today :-D
MIL, SIL and I decided to hit the Grape Stomp at St. Josef's today and the little girls wanted to come with...

But they did have to understand and agree to the rules first...

After some Chicken Dancing...

 and the Conga Line...

we got to witness something that totally made my day. I don't know who they are or what exactly they were doing but I sure got a chuckle out of them...

The crowd was so dense I had to send the 6 year old in to infiltrate the masses. She came back with this fantastic photo and said "Mama, I got a great picture of men in underwear for you" Aww...She's too good to me ;-)

By the time the drummer started drumming with his drumsticks on fire, I was wondering if I had had too much wine...

Gloria really wanted one of us to get called to stomp the grapes and made us all put our names in the bucket. I increased her chances by writing down her name instead of mine - it worked!

Kiara Tackles The Trails #20 Boulder Ridge Trail

I'll start off with some updates...

I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering if Julie ever finished her deep clean of her house so she could open her chakras to new and amazing things in her life.
Well...um...not so much. Sorry. I'm not going to change apparently. But!! I've not given up. One drawer at a time, just one at a time...

An update on my tendonitis: I can say that after two weeks of meeting with the chiropractor, I actually have hope. I'm going in twice a week for lower leg work. They massage the back of my legs, the front of my legs and my feet. All this is extremely wonderful - sometimes a "good pain" wonderful, but nothing too bad. Then they get to working on the adhesions on my achilles and I want. to. throw. up.
...but I don't - I take the pain and bite back swear words. I know it's going to help eventually and so it's worth it.


I also do 30 minutes of stretches and mobility exercises twice a day. I KNOW this is helping me by leaps and bounds. I'm being consistent and believe this will be the key.


After last weekends debacle of an hour of stumbling around Powell Butte in massive pain (I wore my boots - BIG mistake), I was kind of not sure whether or not to even bother attempting a hike this weekend, but I found a hike not too far away - maybe 10 miles or so before Government Camp on Hwy 26 - Wildwood Recreation Area. I've been wanting to check it out for a possibility for my organized Kids Hikes next year. I was a little perturbed that it's in the Mt Hood Forest but that I couldn't use my forest pass and would have to pay a $5 fee, but when I got there, there was a sign up at the parking booth that today is National Public Lands Day and no fee was required!! Hooray!

AND...This place is a WINNER!! What a find for the kids!

I messed around for about an hour on the Wetland Trail and the Cascade Streamwatch Trail and because my ankles felt pretty good, I decided to try a hike up Boulder Ridge Trail towards Huckleberry Mountain.


As most of you know, when I hike alone I freak myself out A LOT! The start of this hike was not looking favorable for my anxiety when I was met with this sign at the trailhead...

I know there are always bears and cougars out in the forest, but I'm able to forget about them unless someone posts a sign...and then my mind will only stay on one course - that I'm bear lunch. To top it off, I watched Dateline last night and I figured if the bears did not get me, then a crazy pervert would. I had already decided that I would only hike in a little ways because I didn't want to do any damage to my ankles. My trail notes said that if I would just climb a series of switchbacks for two miles, I would have a good view of Mt. Hood. Very shortly into the hike I did get a pretty little view of the top...

...but I kept going in hopes of seeing more of it. About a mile and a half in I was so worked up about bears and creeps that I had my heart rate through the roof. It really wouldn't have been an issue if there were other people up there, but I WAS ALL ALONE, not another person to be found. Eventually I fell right into an extraordinarily extensive spider web that covered the entire path and immediately was able to eliminate creeps from my imaginary problems since no one could have been past that spot without destroying it before me. BUT...then Ki

started acting sketchy and I almost turned around right then and there. I finally decided that what would be would be, but that I was at least going to get up to the 2 mile point to see Hood...which I did...

...And then Ki and I RAN LIKE A BAT OUTTA HELL THE ENTIRE WAY DOWN THE HILL to safety. Phew...
composed myself, ate my tuna sandwich and drove home.
Good Hike as usual!

Why don't mummies take vacations?

...They're afraid they'll relax and unwind.

Yes, it's THAT time of year again. Some lose their husbands to hunting, some to football...I lose mine to the likes of this...

And of course this has impacted the small children in one form or another...

Six Seconds of Exercise, Drink Beer Half An Hour...

"Oh, come on, I love bowling! It's the perfect workout. Six seconds of exercise, drink beer half an hour." - Roseanne Conner



Get advice from Grandma...

Too cool to even watch what she rolls...and a flick of the hair to show she means business...

Run back to Mama for hugs (yes...I know these are blurry...I suck!)

He's ready for his strike!

Jack says "A split? That STINKS!!"

Mama bowled a 112...
...with bumpers :-P

10 things

Sometimes all you need is love....
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

...and I'm talkin' a little leg love from a massuer named Ivan.

I had my first real appointment for physical therapy yesterday and they called to tell me I had better insurance benefits if I saw the chiropractor, so I said I like that and they said fine...and an hour later I was getting told that if I don't start yoga immediately, I will continue to have these problems with my legs and all that they support (me). She was fantastic and I have faith in her ability to get me walking again...hiking again...running again!! I super loved her because she had Ivan give my lower legs a 30 minute massage. His only words to me the entire time were..."Good Gracious!! These calves are TIGHT!"

She said the issues are more in my feet and that is what is irritating my achilles. She said my feet are like solid blocks instead of how they should be. I totally KNEW this about my feet. I can feel it when I walk or run. She also said I have scar tissue around my achilles, which I also totally knew...I can feel it! This was such a vastly different appointment from the physical therapist I went to last fall. I'm excited to see some major rehabilitation because I actually cried from pain after my dog walk yesterday. Enough is enough!

Now on to some Blogger Love. The wonderful KELLY gave me an award last week with the instructions to name 10 things I like.

 I'm going to change it to 10 Things I Like About Today:

1) After the initial confusion as to why my alarm clock was ringing on a Saturday (whoops...it's Wednesday isn't it?) I started my day off in prayer and fellowship with God. Why do I ever NOT start this way? A subject I should seriously consider.

2) Petting these of the very softest and fuzzy variety of ears and knowing how happy that makes her.

3) Finding Jack waking up with smiles to find the the super soft bunny rabbit Mai loaned him last night.
 
4) Letting Mai's overnight braids loose and smelling her cherry shampoo exploding out as her golden curls cascaded down her back.

5) Putting on my favorite turquoise bracelet (favorite because it's the only bracelet I own...and for some reason I only wear it with purple shirts).

6) Grabbing my red purse and hopping into my red car.
 

7) Starting my new Women's Bible Study this morning.: Faithful, Abundant, True.

8) Enjoying the company of my wonderfully beautiful small group in the study.

9) Singing Son of a Preacher Man like a total rockstar in the car (and it wasn't pitchy, dawg) and not caring what the neighboring drivers on the road thought of me.

10) Being calmed down by Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends.

I'm adding a #11 because I'm headed to now go do the first day's homework in the study and I have two kids in school FULL-TIME this year and that means I can gather what's left of my brain and go get in the Word!

I'd Rather Be...

reading this right now...

Sore throat, ear ache, and intermittently moving downstairs from working in my office to the upstairs to bed to read this darling book. Since I have a bed in my office, I'm not sure why I haven't moved the book down here. Hm...

Blame It On The...

70 minute delay of game last night for lightening (Go DUCKS!)...OR
...the multiple shots of Jagermeister with wine backs, but no matter the excuse ~ I never got in my 30 minutes of Out Of The Box exercise yesterday.

Blame it on the Jagermeister...OR
...the pizza that preceded it, but today's challenge almost got cancelled due to HEARTBURN! Yikes. Massively painful heartburn almost made me say fugetaboutit, but once Steve agreed to help me set up the net, I was able to talk myself into some badminton.

I also missed a day of 30DSLR



yesterday so I'm going to attempt to hit both yesterday's and today's topics right now.
Today's Topic: Jealousy. Tina asked these questions and my answers follow:
What ways do you encounter jealousy? The first thing that pops in my head is how envious I am of women/moms who don't have to work.
How can it hold you back? I don't know that it hold me back, but it sure is selfish of me to not celebrate the fact that they ARE so fortunate.
What could you look to in yourself or your life when wishing for what others have? What's so ridiculous is that my situation is, I'm sure, probably one where others are envious of me because I have been so fortunate as to work from home for the entire lives of my children and have not had to miss one little thing as they've grown. Boy, talk about wanting it all! I'm a poop, huh?


Yesterday's Topic: Seeking Control. Tina asked: What things in life might you try to control?
I like to be in control for sure, but several things have happened in my recent life that have helped me to get less and less concerned with having to feel in total control. I've found that once I give the control of a situation over to God (REALLY give it over) then things have a way of falling in to place or at least a sense of knowing that He's going to take care of it all. Mom's cancer was one. A huge change in our business was another. I figure that these are two of the biggest challenges I've had to face in my adult life and if I can give these two huge things over to God and he has taken such good care of me, then why shouldn't I give him the small stuff, too?

Fore!

I forgot I had clubs and balls in the garage, it's been so long since I've played. This made for a great OOTB Challenge today. Mai's mad that I did it while she was at school, but trust me, it's much safer with no kids around. I'm lucky I don't hurt myself.

Today TINA asked us to view the role exercise plays in our lives. For many years I didn't exercise, then I exercised I think just the right amount. I've never felt out of balance with doing too much, just with doing too little.

I think doing this 30 Day OOTB Challenge has been really eye opening to me at just how many fun things there are out there to occupy our time and our bodies. I would actually predict that these 30 days are having a bigger impact on my daughter especially, but also on the boy. We'll never know what sport he's to call his own unless we try a bunch out and so that's what I'm aiming to do.

Movement is where it's at, baby! Where it's at. It doesn't have to be on an elliptical or treadmill or weight room, although if those things make you happy, then you should partake!

One thing that I'm coming to realize is that you have to take care of your body...not just so it will look HAWT! but because if you don't take care of it, it will fail you.

I speak from experience in that I have failed my body and now it is failing me. Years and years and years of not stretching (my legs are so tight, I'm surprised some day they don't just pop), two triathlon seasons of training through shin splints, wearing unsupported flip flops 365 days a year, keeping too much weight on my frame. Oh Boy.
I had my consult today at the sports injury clinic. They were surprised I've let this go on for so long. I told them the only answer I had...I thought with time they would get better. WRONG.

I meet with them again next Tuesday - late day, when the swelling and pain is at it's worst and we'll go from there. I feel like they'll be able to help me. I also feel like it's time for me to step up to the plate and do my part to take care of this problem on the things "I" can, because I'm too young to have to sit with the old people during opening music at church :-(
For reals.

Pillow Fight

I have to tell you, I almost just took today off in my 30 Day Out of the Box Challenge. I was NOT feeling it. I haven't talked a lot about my ankles lately, but I'm in some serious pain. Just those easy hikes in the last couple of weeks have really taken their toll on me. I can barely walk the dog. I have constant pain. Trying to come up with things to do for my challenge that don't involve my legs or my left hand (the whole jammed finger incident) has become more difficult than I expected.

As far as the legs, they have been so swollen around the ankles and painful for going on 15 months, but for the last two weeks I'm feeling some nerve involvement going on all the way up the back of my lower legs. It's freaking me out enough to try another visit to a sports injury clinic tomorrow...acupuncture maybe? I'm up for anything at this point.


HOWEVER, after soccer tonight I had the BRILLIANT idea of a Pillow Fight!! Now that's some good exercise! We were sweating and laughing so hard that even our abs were getting a great workout! I would like to say I won the war, but she was just too tough...I might have been able to claim a few battles but that was all...
School + soccer + pillow fight...she should sleep good tonight :D

For 30DSLR today, Tina asked us again to remember the gifts of the body. Here were my three for this week:

1) My fingers… ’cause I love to write (as in type) – I’m not that great with pen and paper, but I love to just let the fingers fly to write poems or short stories or blog.
2) My teeth…because in the past they embarrassed me by being big and the two front ones are slightly crooked. Now they bring me great joy because they make my smile all the bigger for people to enjoy.
3) My ears…because they allow me to hear all the wonderful things my children say and because I LOVE to hear a good joke.

I Let My Racket Do The Talking...

...That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches. Pete Sampras

Ya, baby. I let my racket do the talking, too. It says "GO HOME, JULIE, GO HOME."

I made the kids do drills and games...

Look at that form, will ya?...

Good workout running all around that big old court!!

 

Today for 30DSLR Tina asked us to reflect on perfectionism in our lives. I always think of perfectionists as people who get things done and get them done well, but I also realize that I have perfectionist tendencies and I am far from someone who gets things done or necessarily does them well. If I can't do it perfectly, I just don't do it. Therefore messy house, unfulfilled dreams, great ideas that go no where.

I have a childhood memory of being at my aunt's house and her allowing me to draw in her grown up art book. I was left alone in the room to do my art and each time I would make a little mistake, I would crumple up the paper and start over. I would barely get anything drawn at all before I would be crumpling it up again. I was so frustrated that I wasn't doing it perfectly and boy was she was frustrated when she walked back into the room and I had wasted so many pages of her book. I guess she didn't know about my little problem...perfectionism.
Can't be a perfect student? Don't settle for very good, just give it up all together.
Can't be a great athlete? Fine, don't even bother trying out for the team.

See, these things I struggle with daily. Even right now, Steve has me working on this great project and all I want to do is give up before I even start because I don't know what I'm doing and that does not bode well with this particular perfectionist.

BUT, I'm trying. I'm not giving up...

...next time you see someone bumbling around in the midst of mediocrity...remember...she just might be a perfectionist in pain :-)

School Yard Games

Four Square anyone?

We're so fast, we're blurry!

After soccer Mai and I hit the playground for a little fun. We tried to play tether ball but she's just too short, so I'll have to get Steve down there with me some time this week.

It was the kids first day at school and they both loved it. Mai said it was like "sitting in a rainbow". Now if that's not a good day, I don't know what is.

So, for our first day of two kids in full time school, those 6 hours sure flew by. I definitely didn't get as much done as I thought I would. Guess I need to get into a routine.

Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun had us working on perspective today. She posted a favorite quote of mine: "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." - Anais Nin
I had a perspective wake up call in the last few weeks. I had, unfortunately, been comparing something in my own life to some friends lives- two in particular. I started wishing this and thinking that and wondering why...on and on it went....until I actually spent some in-depth time with them both and learned that my perception of their situations was completely off...and therefore my comparisons of their life and my own were also skewed. It was a huge lesson in remembering that we never know the whole story and that we need to live our own lives - not based on the perception we have of how others live, but based on what's in front of us...our own truth.

I Am Not My Body

I can find no better words to express today's topic of "Do We Idolize Our Bodies?" for 30 DSLR than those of Stephanie Nielsen. If you haven't already visited her site or know her story, please check out her blog NieNie Dialogues after viewing her story as told for her church.
I hope you'll watch the video through to the end. It's beautiful.



For my own 30 Day OOTB Challenge, I had planned to go for a leisurely bike ride along the Springwater Corridor on a nice fat cruiser. Unfortunately, although I've scoured Craigslist for weeks now, I have not been able to find one in my budget of $5-10. Today I decided to just break out Steve's mountain bike and enjoy this last day before the rain comes in. I was not able to sneak out the door without a little someone...

catching on and so it ended up being a harrowing ride through the neighborhood with me trying to introduce Mai to road biking and all the concerns it entails. I pitted out, but from sheer terror, not exercise...but we're counting it as a workout!

Who Loves Ya...

I almost forgot to post today :-(
Today, Tina asked us today to think about who loves us and to see ourselves through their eyes. I spent lots of time with the family today and thought about it as Mai and I went school clothes shopping and then to The Saturday Market...

and then out to lunch...

I was in a bit of a mood, so being grumpy didn't help me do much but see a very grumpy me through their eyes. If I were them I would have ignored me...but they love me. I think it must be much easier for the kids than for Steve. They often don't see the subtleties, but he does...
Although, lately... a couple of  times, Mai has asked me if I'm mad at her. She's starting to hear my sighs more, sees me turn away in anger and it's hard to face her and be the adult when all I want to do is act like a child not getting my way. I want to throw the tantrum, I want my way...and...well, I'm the mom, right? I have to play grown up even when I don't feel like it. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, other than sometimes I can't believe they still love me when I act so unloveable. But I know they do, and that counts for EVERYTHING.
I found this picture of me and my best friend today.

I've been pretty unloveable to her, too, but she's never let me down. I reached out to her today. We've lost each other to different lives, different locations over the years but it's a relationship I don't want to end, so I'm going for it. We'll make it work.
I guess what I figured out today is that as unloveable as I can be, I'm still loved. That's quite a gift.

Another gift I received today was a surprise visit from Mom and Dad. Well, it wouldn't have been a surprise if I would ever answer my phone...
I got to spend some time with Dad on a road trip up to Vancouver to check out a kayak and Mai got to show off all her new school clothes for the 4th time today, but this time to a new person...someone who I'm sure fawned over her more than I did...The Grammy!

After they headed home, we made our way into the very dark backyard to honor the first weekend of College football by tossing around the pigskin until Steve killed me with a pass that totally jammed my ring finger. I'm done. Guess we'll make up today another time as my bed is calling my name. Lights out.
G'night.