Diary of a Dingo

Visiting the Pain Cave.

2012-02-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

Triathlon seems to be experiencing a surge in popularity. Great news for our sport as it gets more exposure and support. I think those kind of things have been really helpful to a grass roots tri club like ours. Our membership is booming and we have been lucky in securing a lot of really great sponsors for 2012. One of these sponsors is The Bike Hub, our local bike and multisport store. Amongst a whole lot of other things, they offer our club use of their basement spin room. Its a massive space complete with a huge flat screen TV, countless spinerval DVDs, fans, trainers...you name it. And of course one of the best things is immediate access to a mechanic should that be required.

A group from our club workout there Tues/ Thurs and Saturdays every week over the winter. Finally this Saturday I had a 1hr 45min spin on my schedule so I decided to give the Bike Hub Basement a go.

Now I know what the term "pain cave" refers to.

A friend who was visiting the pain cave snapped some pictures of us. Yes, that's me on the far right. I know it looks like I am praying...praying for it to be over.

Afterwards my legs were like jello, but it was the best bike workout I have had in months. Way more focused than anything I would do at home by myself. So it looks like Saturdays in the pain cave will become a regular thing for me :-)

Portraits, portraits everywhere

2012-02-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't spent too much time with my camera in the last 12 months. So I took the opportunity on vacation to catch up on a bit of portait taking.

Hello and Goodbye

2012-02-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Goodbye to this....

And hello to this....

Time to get to work.

Seriously

I am starting the first build phase of this training cycle and looking ahead at my plan I can see some much bigger volume than I have been used to over the last few leisurely months. I know it will be challenging but I really feel ready. In fact I'm almost giddy with excitement about it. Must be Ironman Fever :-)

Whale of a Time

2012-02-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Excuse the cheesy title...(I obviously didn't quite get the creative juices flowing adequately this morning), but I HAD to share an amazing experience from our trip to Maui.

Whales

Humpback whales in fact

During the summer they spend their time off the coast of Alaska, feasting on all the Pacific goodies up there. Then once the winter hits they migrate south to warmer waters to breed. They come to the shallow waters off Maui...up to 3,000 each winter and put on a display that will take your breath away.

{ a mother and newborn baby...Mom is spouting the water...you can see her dorsal fin and her baby's next to her}

Now keep in mind that these things are huge...the newborn babies are 1.5 tons. The adults can be up to 50 or 60 feet and about as many tons. CRAZY BIG. And yet they can propel themselves out of the water at incredible speeds and produce a spectacular breach and dive back down again. And the wonderful thing is you can sit on the beach at this time of year and see this happen all the time. You can see them spout water out of their blowholes and slap their tails on the water. SHOWOFFS. But seriously, this is so much better than any aquarium or zoo you can imagine.

{these whales came up to us in the boat...they we so close you could have leaned over and touched then}

Another very cool thing is being able to hear the whales calling and singing to each other when you are swimming under the water. This is a video Matt took while he was snorkelling. He didn't film any whales but if you listen to the audio you will hear the whales singing.

Day 1

2012-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

I was excited yesterday to finally get serious and start my IM training plan. Happily it was an easy day with only a swim. I headed off to my coached swim practice at the gym. Lots of new faces which is fun...looks like everyone else's training started yesterday too. 2700 yards. DONE.
Day 1 down.
Only 132 to go till Boise 70.3.

Loving What You Do.

2012-01-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

"I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life? Rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?"
Mother Teresa

LOVE what you do.

What ever you choose...put LOVE into it.

Your kids, your marriage, your job, your hobbies, even your chores ...EVERYTHING

This morning I opened up my email to find Day 1 of my Boise 70.3 training plan on Workout Log.

And I peed a little.

This training is a lot more structured than I'm used to. Every workout has a specific purpose. There is no more..."just run for 40 mins" - now its about HR zones, cadence targets, drills and time trials. It's right about now I'm glad I hired a coach. There is so much "stuff" that I just don't have to think about. The only thing I have to worry about is scheduling it and making sure I can fit it all in. Which of course I will. I am a little A-type you know :-)

So flippin' excited.

Loving it already.

So many things

2012-01-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

So many things in my life are good.

So many things make me smile.

Melt my heart

Celebrating the good makes the difficult stuff seem small in comparison

Maui Paradise HM

2012-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

This was purely coincidental.

Matt doesn't believe me but its true.

AFTER we had planned and booked our trip to Maui I found out that the Maui Paradise Half Marathon would be on while we were there. Purely coincidental.

Truth!

Anyway..its very small town and fun, organised by a great race director called Jerry of the Maui Road Runners Club. He seems really laid back and accomodating. When I spoke to him a few days before the race he told me that only 6 people had signed up...6!!! I felt really bad for him but he went on to explain that this was not your average half marathon. There were no aid stations, no timing chips, no finish line to speak of. You didn't even have to run it on the scheduled day if you don't want to. It seems that people run this race effectively all through the year so its not just a one day event its year long. Like I said VERY laid back and accomodating. One other thing he told me was to make sure to bring a flashlight or headlamp because I would be starting out in the dark. I'm not sure if I forgot or just didn't think it was important enough but neglecting that little bit of advice cost me. Oh well, live and learn.

So the short version without too many boring race details. I did it. It was hot. It was fun. A new half marathon PR but I was hoping to go a little faster. But a PR is a PR.

The long version...I missed my sub 2 hour goal by 1 min 45 secs. That 1:45 I lost in the first 2 miles because I couldn't see where I was going. Yes...it really was THAT dark. It was about now that I was understanding the wisdom in Jerry's advice to bring a flashlight...doh!

mile 1 - 10:12 min
mile 2 - 10:03

(Can't see anything...hopefully I am still running in the right direction. I can't see my time on my garmin. I can't even see my Garmin. Actually I can't even see my arm....just keeping running and hope the sun comes up soon.)

mile 3 - 9:31
mile 4 - 9:24
mile 5 - 9:12

(Sun comes up and it starts to occur to me that I have lost a bit of time and need to start picking it up a bit)

mile 6 - 8:58
mile 7 - 8:59
mile 8 - 9:10
mile 9 - 9:11
mile 10 - 9:08

( Feeling good until I do a quick calculation in my foggy brain and realise that I need to giddy up some more to reel in those first few lazy miles)

mile 11 -8:48

(Trying)

mile 12 - 8:56

(Trying)

mile 13 - 9:00

(Trying)

the last 0.13 -1:09 (8:36 pace)
(Oh well...better luck next time)

Total time - 2:01:44

Av pace- (9:16)

The Brave Ones

2012-01-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

After the last post you might think that there was good reason for me to stay out of the deep water. I would agree with you. I stuck to the surf despite the dire warnings.

But the rest of my family are far braver and don't let a few sharks scare them off

Moray eel....icky

A New Community and an Interview

2012-01-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

Being part of the blogosphere has opened my life up to so many amazing people that I never would have otherwise met. People from all over the country and the world. I think about my parents generation and those before them. They would never have had the chance to meet random strangers who live thousands of miles away drawn together by a common interest. The internet really has become a powerful tool for making a new kind of community.

Speaking on new friends, I have just met Russell. He is racing Ironman Arizona in November just like me...AND it turns out he is doing Boise 70.3 in June too. So we thought it would be fun to keep in touch and follow each others training progress for the year.

If you are interested in triathlon he is writing a great blog about his journey to Ironman and lucky for me he asked me to answer a few questions and put my answers on his blog. You can check it out here.

I learned that he is dedicating his IM race to a young man called Alex who was diagnosed with a rare and agressive brain tumor 4 months ago. He is raising money for the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation in Alex's name. What an awesome way to really make a difference. If you would like to help Russell raise money for this very worthy cause you can contact him at russell.mckelvey@yahoo.com or you can go to the Team Alex fundraising page here. http://www.razoo.com/story/Teamalex

Ocean Swimming

2012-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

Some of my friends at our team swim practice asked me if I'd managed to do an ocean swim while I was in Maui. Well I HAD planned to but...the short answer is no, and here is why.

These guys were coming in to see if they could score some free food from a fisherman who caught this.

God help me but I just couldn't manage to go out into the deep water after that.

Still dreamin' of the Beach

2012-01-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

After all the craziness of Christmas it was time to escape for some R & R so we headed off to Maui. I can't even tell you all the things I loved about this place. It as really paradise on earth. Usually by the end of a trip I am ready to come home and sleep in my own bed....but not this time...I could have stayed there forever. I think Matt and I may have to retire there or at least make it an annual winter pilgimage ....yes it was really that good.

The climate was great. A pleasant 80 degrees everyday. Not too hot but warm enough to be out swimming and playing on the beach every day. I think this was reinforced when we arrived back in Spokane to 11 degrees and talk of a winter storm warning. Uggh.

We spent some time doing a few touristy things but mostly we just hung around the pool or went down to the beach. Just being together and having some fun. If I had to pick one word it would be BLISS.

Pure bliss.

{Matt doing his Moses parting the Sea impression}

2012...a little late.

2012-01-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, it's half way through January and I should have done this New Year post weeks ago like everyone else. But I needed some thinking space.
Don't get me wrong, I get excited about a brand new year. I like the idea of setting some goals for myself but I don't want to be a slave to them. I have noticed a lot of my friends and fellow bloggers are posting their New Years Resolutions.They seem to come in lots of different shapes and styles.

I liked my friend Michelle's idea....her 12 goals for 2012. Simple...not super demanding and leaves room for spontaneity. Another friend who is turning 35 listed the 35 things she wants to do this year. That is very cool...but lets face it, I am older than 35 so my list would be a little longer AND because I am older I am bound to forget most things on my list so that idea was a no go.

You see ...here's the thing. I am a list maker by nature. I make lists for everything. Shopping lists, To Do lists, packing lists...you name it. It helps me prioritize stuff and get it done. But once I've made the list, the "doing" of the things on that list becomes mechanical. I don't think too much about it. I just do it. And that's not what I want for 2012.

So I have decided to throw the list out the window this year. Instead, I'm using something entirely different. Something that I can look at each day and remind me of where I want to be. Something that will help me visualize what I want to achieve and remind me to stop and smell the roses. I want to be present in each day...not thinking too much about yesterday or tomorrow...just enjoying where I am at that moment with the hope that connecting a year full of moments will get me where I hope to go.

So after many creatively challenging moments I came up with my Vision Board for 2012. Hopefully it will help keep me motivated, focused and finding a little bit of fun in every day.

This will go up on my pin board so I see it often during the day, and hopefully I'll be able to add to it as the year progresses.

An American Christmas - Part 3

2012-01-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

Honestly I think I lost a couple of days in December. Before I knew it, it was the 31st. Long gone are the days where I stay up drinking and carousing till after midnight so when my neighbor suggested we continue a tradition established last year to celebrate West coast New Year on East Coast time at 9:00pm instead of midnight I thought it was a stroke of brilliance. And we agreed also to follow another tradition that was borne a year ago as well. This one was less brilliant....more crazy....with a dash of stupid. BUT...a tradition is a tradition.

So we all gathered once more on the first day on the New Year at Sanders Beach in CDA and prepared ourselves for our second annual Polar Bear Plunge. Our visitors surprised me with their enthusiasm to join in.

My Team Blaze peeps were there as usual.

Looking back at all the photos that were taken I can't help but chuckle. You can see the gradual removal of clothing and the steady increase in anxiety and general misgivings about the wisdom of this venture. I leave you with just the photos as we prepared, then plunged...and recovered. Really words are not necessary from here on out.

Heheheh....so proud of my Aussie peeps who challenged themselves to start the year off with a bang...or a splash. Either way....Happy 2012 everyone. Hope its a great one!

An American Christmas - Part 2

2012-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

After recovering from Christmas day feasting it was time to make a bit more merry, so on Boxing Day we all headed up to a friends place to eat Mexican. They are my surrogate family and are always a ton of laughs. I think my real family came away with a sense of why we love living here so much.

Then off to Schweitzer Mountain Resort for 3 days of skiing and snowboarding. I managed to take a total of 2 photos while we were up there....hopeless I know. Here is the first one...

And here is the second.....

This is what happens when you have your camera set on continuous shooting mode and it continues to flash and take photos long after you have finished...sheesh!

Now that I think about it this did sort of set the tone for the next few days. Fun and silliness. So when we got back from Schweitzer and NYE was upon us I guess we just figured we would continue that theme through the new year.
More on that to come!

An American Christmas - Part 1

2012-01-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Some Aussies came over to celebrate Christmas with us...my 2 brothers and their families. I can't tell you how excited we have been waiting for them to arrive. And then all of a sudden they were here...and we had a million things we wanted to do. So we did our best to give them an American Christmas.

First thing on the agenda was going to the property and cutting down our own Christmas tree. My SIL wore her slippery shoes and good naturedly allowed us to drag her up and down the mountain looking for the perfect tree.

The 3 girls showed off their logging skills.

The boys,( not to be outdone), felt the need to cut something down themselves.

Then of course we had to get it home and decorate it.

There was a gingerbread house to be decorated too!

We went on a Christmas cruise to CDA to see the Christmas lights. A little chilly but by this time the Aussies were getting used to rugging up against a Pacific NW winter. Look how tough they are standing out there in the snow.

Lots of last minute Christmas shopping and then Mother Nature played a hand on Christmas Eve.

She delivered a white Christmas....along with lots of sledding and playing in the snow. Some crazy people felt the need to semi-disrobe and roll in the snow. Now I may be crazy...but I'm not THAT crazy.

Christmas was a lovely day of drinking, eating and making merry. It took us several hours to all pitch in and make possibly the most delicious Turkey baked dinner ever and then it took us about 30 minutes to devour the whole thing. The kids loved having their cousins here to hang out with. Truly it was the most wonderful family Christmas. I really feel blessed that they decided to come all this way.

The Off Season

2011-12-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

During the spring and summer I admit that I spend a bit of time training. Somewhere between 10 and 12 hours a week. Not a lot compared to some people, but between juggling homeschooling, my printing business and the rest it sometimes seems like there is no time left over for another else.

So now that its the off season it has been nice to have some down time. I don't follow a structured swim/bike/run schedule over the winter. I just do what I want when I want, so that I stay in shape but prevent burning out and over training. If I feel like swimming I swim. TRX...sure why not. Doing nothing...yes, well actually no...truthfully I'm not very good at doing nothing. ( Except of course I amvery good at doing nothing if it involves a tropical beach and a cocktail but that is for another blog post)

So if I'm training less over the winter then what may you ask, am I doing with all this extra time?????

Well there has been some of this...

And a bit of this....

And this....(AKA the disco wreath)

And this one for Ciara....

And my personal favorite....

If you are noticing a particular color scheme here it is purely coincidental and has nothing to do with my A type personality :-) Now you understand what Matt has to deal with!

A Big Moment.

2011-12-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

Life is truly filled with landmarks. Today was one of those for Jack...and Matt and I. Jack made his First Communion and Confirmation today. He is now considered an adult member of our Church community. A big honor and a great responsibility.

It was a really special day for him.He asked our neighbor Natalie to be his sponsor. She was gracious and lovely as always.

We were lucky enough to have the Bishop at the service...so lots of photo ops with the big Kahuna.

This was really one for the books. Our last child is now a fully fledged member of the Catholic Church. I'm happy and a little sad all at once :-)

Competition

2011-11-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when the first sprinklings of snow hit the ground here.

It starts the male competitive juices flowing.

Sled races down the icy driveway.

Arizona Here I Come

2011-11-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words....

Food, Glorious Food

2011-11-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

I love food....especially if someone else is cooking it.

I admit I am a lazy cook...(that's right I said lazy not lousy...although that also could be true). Mostly I don't have the interest to crack open the cook books and find something new to cook. So I tend to cook the same things over and over. If it weren't for my 3 constantly ravenous children I may not cook at all. Cereal would become my best friend.

Well that is all changing....well....not the love to cook part...but I am trying to overhaul my diet. There are lots of exciting things coming up in the next 12 months for me and changing my diet is going to be an important step. I'm trying to eat less processed food, more fresh fruit and vegetables.

But nothing TOO radical...my food triangle will still include alcohol and chocolate....just less of it.

So with that in mind we signed up for the local food co-op, Bountiful Baskets.
This is an absolutely awesome idea - a volunteer run organization based on delivering fresh, quality produce to people at a reasonable price. You can get more details on how it all works from their website but basically you register and pay for either a standard basket of food ($15)...or an organic basket ($25). It is a mixture of fruit and vegetables but you don't know what you are getting until you pickup the basket. You can also add on selected artisan breads and other weekly specials.

Here is what we got in the standard basket for $15 that Matt and I picked up today.

Yum!

After our co-op pickup we headed out to the new Trader Joe's store,and here are some of the goodies we came home with.

We may have gotten a little carried away.

But we had the sweet potato gnocchi ( along with some of the sauteed vegetables we got in our co-op basket) for dinner along with the Teryaki chicken and we all agreed ( even the kids) that it was delish.

Blessed

2011-11-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm someone who keeps a small circle.

A VERY small circle.

The people in my circle are people that I trust completely.

Lifelong friends and family only.

Some people see that as kind of limiting. Don't get me wrong I have plenty of acquaintances but only a few of them make it into the circle. I'm not really sure why that is. I don't really see the need to analyze it. I like it. It works for me. Period.

Now you have the backstory I can tell you about this week.

It has been a tough week. For a lot of reasons. I'm not going to bore you with the details.

And then tonight a knock at the door...out of the blue.

And there is my friend Michelle and her daughter Natalie. They were just on their way home from the gym and dropped in to give us this.....

For no particular reason...( she wasn't aware I was having a tough week). Just because.

All I can say is that my heart is full and I feel blessed.

I think random acts of kindness are her specialty. I'm so lucky she is in my little circle. Oh, and the banana bread is wickedly delish!

A Week in Our Life.

2011-11-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt that your life goes by in a blur sometimes. That one week somehow blends into the next. I always tend to feel this way as we head into November. All of a sudden it is nearly the end of the year. How did that happen?

Now I am not a person that sees the point of being busy just for the sake of it but sometimes when you have kids it seems like busy is unavoidable. So in an effort to reduce the "blur" I thought I'd take my camera with me for a week and record our life. Kind of like a snapshot of our year as we come to a close of 2011. One picture of something that is going on in our household each day for a week....here goes!

Monday:

School dominates most of our time during the week. The boys generally get started at homeschool as Ciara heads off to high school. By 7:30am heads are in books and pencils are out. We have really missed Ciara this year but she is having a blast at CV.

But high school means lots of homework. Ciara's school bag seems so unbelievably heavy with all the text books jammed in it .I'm sure she is headed for some permanent back injury. We weighed her bag the other day. It weighs 30 pounds.

Tuesday:

The boys hit the pool for their weekly swim team at the YMCA. This week they got to ride the water slides at the end of practice

Wednesday:

Now its my turn to get wet. In the evening I head out to the gym to swim with my tri team. As my coach says..."Misery loves company"...so, so true!

Thursday:

We are lovers of science. I think it is the boys favorite subject. This week they were studying protozoa so we got some live samples and looked at them under the microscope. Kept them busy for hours. Way better then TV!

Friday:

Mercifully there was no school today. Veterans Day.

So we decided it was the perfect time to deliver some blankets we had made over the summer for a couple of local charities.

Weekend

And of course in the mix is a myriad of scout meetings, religious education classes, music and art lessons and a whole lot of other things that fill our time. Sometimes I need to just step back and find the quiet.

And then it is time to chillax....and enjoy our first hint that winter is on the way.

Kids Triathlon

2011-10-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

{I think I may need to take running lessons from Jack. His form is so much better than mine its embarrassing}

OK...so this will be my last summer related post and then we will be all caught up.

As the tri season came to a close, my Triathlon club organized a kids triathlon at our team gym. I made the medals and went along to help out on the day. The boys competed and we had so much fun.

It was around 95 degrees that day. An absolute scorcher so these guys had tough conditions to compete in but they all did an amazing job.

This little guy had a crash on his bike but he was so brave. I don't think I saw a single tear. If it had have been me I would have been wailing and bawling from all the road rash and blood. But his Mom was right there to patch him up AND she doubled as the team photographer for the day. Talk about multi tasking!

So that's a wrap for summer 2011. The weather seems to have turned and we have had rain all week, so I know that cold weather is just around the corner. Good bye summer....you were awesome :-)

Mud Wrestling

2011-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

OK...so that title is a little deceiving but it got your attention didn't it!

In July we headed over to North Bend with the usual suspects to do the Warrior Dash. An obstacle course style race with lots of mud, fire and potentially hazardous obstacles to climb over, slide down and jump through. It seemed like a fun race to do back in January when we all signed up for it but as the race day approached I think there were some questions about the wisdom of what we had gotten ourselves into.

We had our game faces on...

We had our official photographer...

The flaming start line...check out the ominous clouds in the background. Yikes...I was a little scared as we waited at the start.

And we're off

Climbing the rope ladder and then jumping over the flames.we are SO hard core!

Through the barbed wire covered mud pit

Matt was our teams officially mud extractor

After we got out we had a quick hose down from the fire truck ( or was it the public sanitation truck I can't remember) and it was time to congratulate ourselves that we actually survived

I like her kind of crazy...still smiling right to the end.

We made it...woohooo!

And this was us after...( yes I know it looks like I am missing an arm but the course wasn't THAT hazardous). This race turned out to be an obsolute blast if for no other reasons than I got to do something outrageous with my favorite group of friends!

Homer

2011-09-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

One of the things about this summer that the kids enjoyed the most would have had to be this little guy....his name is Homer.

He came into our lives as a foster puppy.

Ciara wanted to volunteer at the animal shelter and she wasn't old enough to be able to do it by herself. So instead we decided to sign up as a foster family for dogs that were too young for the animal shelter.

Homer came to us as an abandoned pup when he was five weeks old...Yummm...couldn't you just eat him up!

The kids totally took ownership of looking after him. They fed him, trained him and cleaned up after him.

They took turns looking after him at night and even got up at night to potty him. Occasionally we would come down in the morning to discover scenes like this.

He may also have been a little spoiled...but only a little.

This was Homer when we first got him...

and this is what he looked like the day he left when he was 10 weeks old.

The good news is that he was adopted on the day he left our house...so no lonely nights at the shelter for Homer. He is now part of a family that loves him as much as we did. In fact they called the shelter recently to ask them to pass on their thanks to us for doing such a great job training him.
Total happy ending.

Glacier National Park

2011-09-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Photo heavy post...you may feel the need to mumble obscenities about me as you wait for this goliath size post to load.

In the spirit of the previous post I am going to keep the summer recap short. Don't want to bore you to death. But one of the highlights of this summer for us was definitely our trip to Glacier National Park with friends.

The scenery really says it all....

And of course the people you go with can make a good trip great

especially the feisty ones!!!!

You know Summer over when....

2011-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

While speaking to my friend Cath over the weekend, she reminded me what a poor blogger I've been lately. Summer is over and I hardly even bloggged about it. So I thought I'd better catch you up a bit.

This is how I know that summer is REALLY over.....

It's peach picking time

Kids that were in high school are now headed off to college...(boohoo)...and of course fall soccer season is back in full swing.

School starts back again . Apologies in advance to the neighbors....

And my baby started high school. BIG Booohooo. Please summer, don't go!

Up at the Cabin

2011-07-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Catching up from the July 4th weekend we spent up at the lake. The weather had been disappointing leading up to the holiday but the July 4th weekend turned out to be perfect. Sunny, warm and no rain. Yay!

It seems to be the time everyone comes out on the lake. There are lots of fun things to do. I think this might be the boys favorite weekend of the year. Its the only time they are allowed to get their hands on these....

Fireworks..(these 2 don't look like trouble do they????)

The fireworks were being let off from 9:00am till midnight. and when they weren't doing that there was plenty of other things to keep them busy.

Catching crawdads.....

Fishing....

Swimming...(yes this was before the broken foot)

Watching the Boat parade....

Ciara and I spent our time reading and hanging out on the grass in the shade and Matt not being one to relax spent his time fixing things and trying to get the new squirrel resident out of our cabin roof.

Final score...Squirrel 1 - Matt 0.

Where is Max????

2011-07-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering where Max was in all the Valleygirl pictures from the previous post.........

Valleygirl

2011-07-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was one of my favorite races of the year. Valleygirl is a great local triathlon for women only. Lots of local support and plenty of friendly faces. I look forward to this race because is just so stinking fun.

This post is a little picture heavy to save from boring all the non triathlon folk to death. And excuse me being so self indulgent....there are way too many pictures of me on here. But there were a lot of friends out on the course taking pictures along with Matt and Ciara so for a change I actually have lots of photos.

Some of the guys from our team turned out to support us and took a team photo before the start. I have to tell you that my triathlon team is the BOMB. Really. I totally lucked into this group.  I didn't know anyone when I joined and they welcomed me like a family member. We train together and we have fun together. And when some of the team is racing others turn out to cheer us on.  Regardless of whether you are first, last or somewhere in between they make you feel like a rockstar.

Before the race there was some discussion about water temps, wetsuit vs non-wetsuit swim etc. There was talk of the race director shortening the swim because of cold water temps but it turned out to be unnecessary.

Out of the swim and onto the bike,  I spent a long time in transition doing I don't know what.  I thought I was fast but apparently not.

Coming back in off the bike I was the first one to rack my bike in my age group and I knew that there were a lot of much faster runners who would be chasing me down.  So I spent the entire 5 km run in the pain cave trying to make sure they didn't catch up to me.

Finally the finish line!!!!

I had my awesome cheer team there who helped me make it over the line.

If you are wondering where Max and Jack are....well that's a whole other post.

And the team masseuse giving post race massages....ahhhhhh!

This was the team picture after the race....yes there was a lot of bling amongst Team Blazers.

I was lucky enough to hold off all those fast runners and ended up 1st in my Age group and 12th overall.

Heart of an Ironman

2011-06-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to a segment that aired last night on our local news station here in Spokane. It's about the journey of a couple of friends from my triathlon team - Coach Scott Roy who along with his wife founded our team and a team mate Phil Sandifur. Both of them are toeing the line this Sunday at Ironman Coeur d'Alene after having to endure life saving heart surgery. To say that they are inspiring and amazing is an understatement. I see these guys a couple of times a week....working out, laughing, training and having fun. Who would have known that everyday people can be heroes. {and yes...I am in there briefly...I am a couple of people from the right in the group shots...I am the only one looking to the side in the photo}

Heart of an Ironman

Open Water Swimming

2011-06-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my swimming. Pool swimming that is. Now the weather is starting to warm up I've had to face my nemesis. Open water swimming. Sounds straight forward. But unfortunately for me its a whole other ball game. I can't see the bottom.I can't see what else is swimming in there with me. Oy...what a mind game.

And so I figure I just have to get out there and do it enough times that it becomes just as easy as swimming in the pool. Yeah....brilliant plan huh!

So luckily for me my tri club organizes group open water swims. So out I went to Medical Lake....really hoping just to survive the first one. I was glad to see one of our great club members had volunteered to man the kayak just in case. Most of the other swimmers out there were getting ready for Ironman so they have been doing some serious OWS.

So the short story is I survived. It wasn't a great swim or even a good one. The water was murky and cold but I didn't drown. So that's score one for me! We followed up the swim with 20 mile bike ride which helped me warm up again until the rain came down. Nothing like Spokane in the springtime! Anyway, I plan to be out there again on Wednesday for the first of a series of practice sprint triathlons that the club puts on...so another OWS is on the cards for me.{Thanks to my friend Suzanne who took these pics and made sure our gear didn't get stolen while we were out swimming}

Just on a side note, a local tv station KHQ6 sent a reporter out to our swim to film and interview team members doing the upcoming IM. They plan to air a segment on the team every day this week leading up to the Ironman race on Sunday, so if you live in Spokane keep an eye out for the team on Channel 6.

Riding the Ironman course

2011-06-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some of my friends and teammates are gearing up to race Ironman Coeur d'alene in a few short weeks. For those of you that aren't familiar with Ironman its the quintessential endurance race. It involves a 2.4 mile (4km) swim, followed by a 112 mile (180 km) bike ride and then a 26.2 mile (42km)run.As if that is not overwhelming enough the race has time limits. If you don't get through each stage of the race by the cut off time you are out of it and not allowed to continue. The professional athletes finish the race somewhere under 10 hours. Age grouper athletes can take up to 17 hours to finish. But when they do finish..wow...what a huge achievement.

We are lucky enough to have one of these races staged close to where we live, in Coeur d'alene, Idaho. This is great for those training for the race. They get to ride the actual course and get familiar with every twist and turn so that on race day they are comfortable with the course and know exactly what to expect.

Last weekend a group from my tri club were doing their last ride of the course before the race.I decided to go along with them for fun. The course itself is two loops but we rode just the one loop of around 56 miles. It was a blast to be out there....the weather was beautiful, the people were fun and the course was gorgeous...hilly but gorgeous.

Along the way we saw some pros out there training. One of them Hilary Biscay took some pictures of us as she rode past and posted them on her blog. She makes it all look so easy. Riding super fast and taking pictures at the same time. Her pictures show us stopped at an Ironman rest stop that some friendly person set up outside their house complete with water, sports drinks and a porta-potty. Moments before these were taken I was changing my shirt so I'm glad she came by after I was fully clothed again as that would have been a little embarrassing.

The race itself is June 26th. Matt and I are headed out to volunteer and cheer on our friends. I'll be taking lots of pictures and will make sure I blog about it. Should be a blast!

14

2011-06-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

My absolutely favorite 14 year old

She had a great day, shared with family and friends

One of our neighbors, Natalie surprised Ciara by decorating the front of our house while she and I were out. So fun to come home and see this..

Matt cooked up a BBQ extravaganza

And of course I was in charge of the chocolate cake. Mmmm..it was good.

More birthday stuff

2011-06-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

More birthday pictures for family overseas.

Jack and his friend Noah decided to have a joint birthday party this year as their birthdays are only separated by a week or 2. They chose to have their party at Laser Quest downtown.

You can just imagine what it is like taking a group of boys to a place where they get to shoot each other with laser guns. Boy heaven.

They were all very well behaved and Jack had a great time.

He is already planning for next year. It's never too early.

Last Week of School

2011-06-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Finished!

Phew....another year in the homeschool bag. Lots of changes ahead for us as Ciara heads off to Central Valley HS next year. So we decided our last week of school was going to be a bit of a celebration. A time to put away the books and just do something fun.

We made a list of somethings we really wanted to try. Our list included learning about Ancient Egyptian gods and making our own Egyptian mummy. Here are some of the other fun activities we packed into our last week of school:

{WARNING - If you have a weak stomach then you might want to skip the last few pictures}

Geometric string art

Cake decorating

Frog dissection ( I warned you)

So now its time for summer.....bring on the hot weather. Yippee!!

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

2011-05-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day here in the U.S is the long weekend that really seems to kick off summer. Everyone who owns a boat dusts it off and heads out on the lake, people are out walking their dogs and mowing their lawn. Winter is officially over on Memorial Day. This year....not so much.

But we have been moaning about our pitiful Spring for weeks now and this weekend seemed to be the time to just forget about the weather and get out there anyway.

A family and friends bike ride along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes seemed like just the thing. Some participants were a little less than enthusiastic but after a little ~~coersion~~ convincing they agreed to come along all the same. I think the location was a big drawcard although the promise of a donut stop may have been the clincher. The trail itself is over 70 miles of paved path beginning at the southern tip of Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho and runs nearly all the way across to Montana.

Because of the wide spread of ages we decided to ride a small, fairly flat portion of the trail that ran along the edge of the lake. We drove to the trailhead at Heyburn state park and biked up to Harrison where we stopped for coffee and donuts and then turned around and rode back. A total distance of about 16 miles.

The water level in the lake was super high.{So...THAT is where all our rain and snow has ended up.} There were lots of submerged logs and debris in the lake and washed up on the shore. The Marina at Harrison was flooded and there were no boats out on the lake at all. You can see the fee station and dock at the marina are partly submerged.

There was still lots to see though...a family of turtles swimming in the lake, some Great Blue Herons..(or GBH's for those in the know)...and an interesting sculpture kept us entertained along the way.

I'm hoping this first group ride of the season sends Mother Nature the message and she now realizes that she better get her giddy up otherwise we will be holding summer without her. Hopefully with more fun rides and loads more donuts.

It's Great to be 8

2011-05-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

When you are 8, achieving happiness is simple...

If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes a culdesac to make the cake! ( It was SO good...yum)

Happy Birthday to a great little guy who is growing into a wonderfully funny and kind, young man.

Snapshot

2011-05-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

This post is really just a whole lot of random things that I really should post separately but I just can't seem to get around to it lately. So here is a little summary snapshot of the last few weeks.

Easter.Of course there was also a lot of chocolate eating which makes it perhaps my favorite holiday.

My lovely brother sent us a package full of Easter eggs and some Australian flag tattoos to help us celebrate Anzac Day.

Soccer, soccer and more soccer....what can I say about that.

This week was picture day after the game.Smiling is obviously somewhat of a challenge for young boys.For some reason its hard to get it right.

And yes....this IS a faux hawk that Max is sporting. Since Matt cuts the boys hair I'm never sure exactly what kind of hairstyle they will end up with until they step out of the bathroom. It could have been worse...he could have been bald just in time for picture day!

Speaking of my husband, apart from been the hairstylist of the family he is also the baker. He can make his own bread...FROM scratch. No cheating with a bread machine here. And it was SO good. We demolished this whole loaf as soon as it came out of the oven.

Bloomsday has come and gone. A 12km race here is Spokane. I think there were around 50,000 runners and walkers this year. I ran it. The kids and Matt walked it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think that part of it was that we scored a beautiful, sunny day. A total surprise considering that this is what it looked like outside my house a day before.

Nookie

2011-04-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a bit of Nookie for our anniversary.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for knowing just the right thing.

Spokane River Run

2011-04-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

News Flash...trail running is the bomb.

I know most of you already know this but I have only just discovered it.

Truthfully, I have never done any trail running before which is criminal considering where I live. I really have no excuse. Spokane has an abundance of beautiful outdoor trails, parks and rec areas all close to where I live. So when I heard about the Spokane River Run I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me to give it a try.

The River Run is an annual Spring event run in Riverside State Park here in Spokane. The event offered 5K, 10K, 25K and 50K ultra distance options. Originally I had planned to do the 25K option but downgraded to the 10K which turned out to be a good decision for me. The race was a relatively late start @ 9:45 am but by then the weather was absolutely perfect. The air was cool but the sky was cloudless and blue. Such a change from the snowy, rainy weather we have been having lately.

The course itself was absolutely breath taking. Lots of hills, rocks, mud, dirt and some magnificent views of the Spokane River. My only complaint was that I was so busy keeping an eye on my footing that I couldn't stop and enjoy the spectacular view. I think that is why I have my serious face on in this photo....it took quite a lot of concentration to avoid tripping and falling. I saw lots of people roll an ankle or trip over exposed roots and rocks, so staying upright was my one and only race strategy.

In the end mission accomplished. I managed to avoid an embarrassing sprawl in the mud and I enjoyed an amazing run in the process. I definitely see more trail running in my future. Cheers to the folks that organised the race. They did a great job making this a fun, well supported and organised event

You know its Spring when...

2011-04-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

No...silly...its not the sunshine and warmer temps that gives it away.

It's soccer season

The boys have started back at soccer...and loving it.

It's toughening us spectators up, too. Although I have some soccer mentors that are veterans of about 12+ years of sitting out and watching their kids play soccer. So you can say we are learning from the best.

And they have taught me that a latte and a blanket can make ALL the difference

Jack loves playing forward. LOVES it.

Max on the other hand is all about being goalie.

He is lucky to have that "no fear" attitude that allows him to do this......

....and not worry about getting kicked in the head. Apparently that is Mum and Dad's job.

Come on Spring

2011-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Waiting very patiently for Spring. {Well...not so much patiently} When will it ever come?

My bike has forgotten what its like to be outside. Months on the trainer instead of the road. Running on the treadmill. When will the sun come out?

To keep from being fixated on our less than stellar weather we've had to focus on other indoor pursuits.

Jack took part in the annual Boy Scout Pinewood Derby race. Matt made the car in record time...(like 3 days from block of wood to finished car)...and Jack got to race it alongside all his friends. There were some incredibly imaginative designs. My favorite was the block of hersheys chocolate that managed to come last every single time. Maybe that says everything you need to know about combining chocolate and racing right there.

We've also had some really fun field trips.One to the Apple Store downtown. Seemed an odd choice to me at first. What would the kids do in a store. Well once we got there it made perfect sense. This generation of kids are so gadget savvy...they totally get IT. They immediately picked up the ipads, the Macbooks and ipods and started messing with them and playing around. Being somewhat of a technological neanderthal I struggled to find the "on" button. But regardless, the kids had a fantastic time. They got to make an i-movie and then produce a movie preview. Very cool.

We also had a trip to the Spokane Humane Society. Talk about the other end of the spectrum. Apple is cutting edge techno and the Animal Shelter is frankly...a bit of a sad place. But the kids got to see all the animals, play with the kittens and walk some dogs. AND we managed to come home without another animal so that was a major win for me :-)

Over the weekend we got together with some friends to work on a community service project. Making blankets for a local family shelter. It was fun to chat and craft. Special thanks to our neighbor, Natalie for giving us a crash course in tied fleece blanket making. The kids loved it so much we went back down to the fabric store to get extra fleece so they could make their own to keep. My only hope is that it won't be too long before the weather warms up and those blankets are packed away for next winter.

Fingers crossed!

Consistency

2011-03-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

Consistency.

My coach is a fan of it. Last year I can say that I was absolutely consistent with my swim training...consistent in that I never actually did any.
This year I thought I'd apply consistency to a more productive approach. And that is to actually swim.
This has proven a little more fruitful than my previous approach.

I feel like I've been super lucky too. My Coach recently changed gyms and now swims at the same place I do. A number of other members of my tri club have changed over too. So now I can get some great workouts in with a really fun group of people and get top notch coaching and advice on my stroke and swimming technique.

I have been swimming three times a week and last weekend I went to a great swim clinic that Coach Scott held for members of our tri club. I feel like I am finally being consistent. I'm not sure how that will translate to actual racing. Only time will tell. But I figure even if it doesn't make me faster at least it will give me more confidence.

Now if I could only apply this concept to riding my bike on the trainer.

Food, Glorious Food

2011-03-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

I'm not really a foodie but I do believe that coffee and chocolate satisfy all the nutritional requirements for a healthy diet.

So a trip to Seattle is not complete without:

1 - A coffee stop at the very first Starbucks. (On a side note there really is a Starbucks on every corner in this city), and

2 - A visit to Pike Place Market

Mmmmm.....chocolate

Oh, OK...they did have other food besides coffee and chocolate.

There also was a lot of seafood. Let me ask you....how do you pick the non seafood eating Melville???? Apparently the Crab Pot is NOT his favorite place to eat.

Please use the proper terminology

2011-03-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm always marvelling at God's sense of humor. And believe me, He has a really good one.

I like to think that I have tried to teach my children some good manners.

Swearing for example has always been a big no-no, although I am realising as the boys get older that banning something only in fact makes it somehow more alluring. Like the use of the term for a female dog. If its used in context it is quite an acceptable term. Out of context....a definite NO.

So it was on our recent tour of the Underground in Seattle that the tour guide made Max's day. He told us about the inventor of the flushable toilet. The poor man's name was Crapper....and the device he invented was Crappers Valveless Waste Preventer....or "the crapper" for short.

I kid you not.

So...you may be able to see where this is going. When requiring the use of the facilities shortly after Max announced that he needed to use the crapper. I cringed. Before I could respond he let me know that it was in fact the proper terminology used in the appropriate context. For 10 year old boy it was a huge victory. and as he strolled off to use the crapper I thought I might have heard God chuckle.

Seattle...my nemesis

2011-03-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Some of you may recall my "almost" trip to Seattle last November. I was supposed to be running the Seattle Half marathon just after Thanksgiving but thanks to our record breaking snowfall that month the Pass between Spokane and Seattle seemed a little too treacherous for me and I begged off going.

Seattle 1...Donna 0

Fast forward to late February. Ciara has to go across to Seattle with her band for a competition. This is what our yard looked like late last week.....

So we thought it would be a good excuse to escape more Spokane snow and head across to Seattle early. Do some touristy sightseeing before Ciara's competition. Great idea right???

Well it started off well.

The hubster, kids and I hit the great open road. Love road tripping with my fam.

Lots of magnificent scenery made the 5 hour car ride fly by.

We spent the weekend seeing Seattle...

the Underground tour..(more on that later)

the Aquarium,

the Space needle

and the Pacific Science Center.

And then Monday rolled around and we started getting ready for the band competition. Sounds too easy but Seattle wasn't going to let me get the better of her. So she dumped a whole new load of snow on the Pass and closed it. The rest of the band couldn't get across to Seattle. No band = no competition.

Seattle 2....Donna 0

Hmmm....Closed Pass = no going home to Spokane. Yep...you guessed it. We were stuck in Seattle until Wednesday. At least the Sheraton was a good place to get stuck. Huge gym and heated indoor lap pool. Got to make the best of it

The end score:

Seattle 3...Donna 0

But I WILL have my revenge. My friend Amy and I are running the Seattle marathon at the end of this year. I'll be back, Seattle. I have a score to settle.

Living with Purpose

2011-03-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

When I got back from Seattle there was a sad message waiting on my answering machine.One of my closest friends had lost her grandmother. My friend and I are as close as sisters. I have not known life without her. We lived next door to each other from the time we were born and grew up together. So her grandmother was like my grandmother.
And what a woman she was.
She was an adventurer, a traveller, an independent woman who was ahead of her time. She seemed fearless, travelling to every corner of the world...quite often by herself. Always going somewhere.
She was elderly when she passed. In her nineties.
I'm sad she has gone.
I'm sad for my friend and for her family.
But when I think of her I think of how she lived....with purpose. With drive and strength. And with an insatiable curiousity for the world.
A purposeful life very well lived.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

What kind of parent would make an appointment for their daughter at the orthodontist on Valentines Day?

Who????

Um....I have no idea. Probably a really mean one.....I'm guessing!!!!

On a brighter note.....this is what happens when you try to take a picture of just one of your children. The others just HAVE to get in on it.

Ski Friday

2011-02-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

Friday skiing and snowboarding at Silver Mountain Resort.

Love homeschool :-)

Patience

2011-02-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

Animals can be great teachers.

I learned today that our dog can teach me a great deal about patience. Being washed in coconut scented shampoo by a 13 year old in a bathtub that is escape proof.

Hardly a whimper.

Patience.

Cousin Love

2011-02-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Most of you know what a big influence my extended family has on my family and I over here. My last blog post is proof of that. Suffice it to say that I am very close to my family.

Emotionally..... yes.

Geographically.....no.

But we received some postal service delivered LOVE today. All the way from home.
Thanks to our cousins who knew just the right things to send. Gifts, books...and of course food.
Oh, Australian food. How I have missed you.xoxoxoxo

Most of it will result in extra cellulite on my thighs but you only live once....and it makes training all the more meaningful when I know I have to fit back into my spandex tri suit in time for race season.

Most of the goodies made it here unscathed except for the chicken chips that looked like they may have spontaneously exploded covering everything in the box with fine chip dust.

We will have to ration the goodies of course.
Savour them.

Mmmmmmm...just thinking about their yumminess makes me happy {food fixation I hear you say.....yes, quite possibly...no apologies there.}

A Boy and His Guitar

2011-02-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

Max has been trying to decide what instrument he would like to learn how to play.

For the past 4 years Ciara has played the clarinet. Max tried that out.....but the clarinet was not for him.

He thought about the trumpet or the saxophone.....no, still just didn't feel right.

He toyed with the idea of learning the drums but {thankfully} that came to nought.

But then....his cousin Daniel was given an electric guitar for Christmas and it totally ignited Max's imagination. He became a boy driven. He researched the one he wanted - a Fender Squier Affinity - and went about shopping for one. He found one on ebay and paid for it himself.

It arrived today.

Can you say "LOVE".

A boy and his guitar

Balance

2011-01-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

I like my life being full without it overflowing.

I like to have projects and activities without them being hectic and rushed.

I like to fit a lot in but I also love my down time.

In short I like Balance.

When there is Balance everyone is happy.

This week our lives have been busy mixed with quiet....just the way I like it.

Matt working on putting closets into the kids bedrooms in the new part of the house

Hmm...thinking....

Utilizing some of his MASSIVE tool collection....

Kids skyping their cousins in Australia under the supervision of George and Martha.

Putting Handmade to Work

2011-01-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

OK....so you already know how much of a fan I am of handmade things.

I like that there is a little piece of the person that made it in each handmade item.

It makes it personal...and special.

With that in mind, Matt, the kids and I sat down to work out how we can put our handmade to good work.

Every year we pick a family community service project to do together. Last year we put together little Christmas gift bags for some children in remote villages in Guatemala. We sent them down with our local Bishop and some missionaries who gave them out to the kids. My children really enjoyed seeing the fruits of their charity. And they decided that they wanted to do something like that again.

So I sent out some emails to local charities here in Spokane asking if there was anything that they needed that we could make ourselves. I got IMMEDIATE responses and a big YES from a number of charities asking for handmade blankets and quilts for babies and children.

The charities we will be helping provide support to low income pregnant women and parents with young children as well as serving as emergency and transitional shelters for homeless women and their children. The work they do is invaluable in helping the vulnerable in our community so we are super excited to be able to lend them a hand.

We will take a number of months to complete our project. We are going to try and make as many quilts and blankets as we possibly can. So over the next few months I'll be posting updates on our project. Putting our handmade to do some good work.

The Case for Handmade

2011-01-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

"That's the thing with handmade items. They still have the person's mark on them, and when you hold them, you feel less alone. This is why everyone who eats a Whopper leaves a little more depressed than they were when they came in. Nobody cooked that burger."

— Aimee Bender

There is an innate value in something that is handmade.

That someone took the time to plan and create it with their own hands.

Unfortunately the truth is that many things are cheaper to purchase already made than to buy the components and make it yourself from scratch. The cost of the yarn to knit yourself a scarf for example is often more than to buy a premade scarf at the store. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes that is great....I have absolutely no interest in making my own laptop, carpet or light fittings. I am happy and grateful to be able to buy these things from others who obviously have way more expertise and skill in manufacturing them.

But in other cases I think we lose something by not utilizing our own skills and talents. When I think back to my own childhood I realize that certain things I owned were almost exclusively homemade. My toys and those of my brothers were largely made by our Grandmother. She also made quilts and blankets for us, pottery and painted plates and dishes. She was the wife of a farmer and she lived in rural Australia so her creativity was often borne of necessity, but still those things she gave to us some 40 to 50 years ago still are used today by all our families and our children in turn. They have survived and are cared for and continue to bring joy to generations that my grandmother never met.

They are something of a legacy.

So I think about my own children. Whatever they need for their day to day lives can be bought.....clothes, shoes, food etc but do they have the skills to make these things themselves using their own 2 hands?
Just so they know they can.
Just so those skills aren't lost to this and future generations of our family.
Just so.

We talked about this as the New Year approached and we decided that 2011 was going to be good time to tackle this to some small degree in our family. We are working on a couple of ideas that I will be sharing a little later, but our hope is that we will plant a seed that will grow a legacy....even if it is a little one.

"Good apprentices know that they are in the process of becoming masters and that as responsible artisans they must seek to improve upon the knowledge entrusted to them and go further."

— William Coperthwaite (A Handmade Life)

Outside my window

2011-01-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Images from outside my window this morning.

A Breakthrough....finally!

2011-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Today is a red letter day.

I almost wasn't going to post about it because I'm worried what was done today won't be repeatable.

It is something I have been trying to do for over a year now.

Trying and failing.

But in retrospect all that failure was probably building the groundwork for today's success.

I didn't even feel like going to the pool today but it was on my training schedule like it has been twice a week for months.
I reluctantly went, just like I had every time before.

Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

Now just to be clear...I CAN swim.
I grew up in Australia, on the beach and had a backyard swimming pool throughout my entire childhood. So I could definitely swim but it was only once I started in triathlon I realized that I wasn't swimming with any degree of efficiency and after swimming only a hundred yards I would be gasping for breath and my arms felt like lead.

Bottom line....no endurance and no technique.

So I have been spending a lot of time in the pool and with the guidance of Coach Scott, I have been trying to work on my technique but it was only today that it all fell into place.

I took the kids with me to the pool and I had a half hour to do my workout. Usually I'll swim about 250 yards then have to stop to get my breath back...then another 200 or so and so it hass been going. But today I got in and swam......I swam 1200 yards without stopping, keeping my heart rate low and without even getting close to running out of breath. By the end of my workout I felt I could have just kept going.

I was so excited that I almost grabbed the hairy, shirtless 400lb man swimming in the next lane and hugged him....ALMOST.

I just hope today's workout was not an apparition. I have another date with the pool on Saturday, (as usual) so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

The Menagerie

2011-01-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Meet the new additions to our menagerie.

George and Martha....

Umm...no

Definitely not....

Ahhhh...that's them. Aren't they cute.

George is the green one....Martha is blue.

We're working on training them so they can be out of the cage during the day and only in the cage at night. At the moment they are sitting on the back of my chair as we do homeschool.

There was a lot of discussion yesterday about getting a new pet....a gerbil,a hamster, guinea pig or even a mouse. But my aversion to all rodent-like creatures led us to a bird. Two actually.

So we are hoping George and Martha like their new home. Not sure if Beau the dog is happy about it but I'm sure he can learn to share.

Busy Little Hands

2011-01-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Little hands have been busy around here lately....

Making simple machines in science

Homemade rice filled handwarmers

Sewing a bag from scratch.

Piecing together a new quilt

Ok...that last one was big hands...but you get the idea!

Eagle Watching

2011-01-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Matt took us to Coeur d'Alene today to see the Bald Eagles.

Over the winter months the eagles come to CDA to feed off the spawning salmon. You can read more about it here .

It was cold and snowing....and totally worth it.

Armed with our cameras and binoculars we watched these majestic birds soar.

They take my breath away. They really are just the most beautiful creatures.

My New Favorite Kids Book

2011-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

This is hot property in our house at the moment.

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

One child finished the book in less than a day....the next one grabbed it straight away and started reading. I had to wait for my turn.
Visually it really is a beautiful book. It's full of gorgeous illustrations.

And the story unfolds much like a movie.
It's charming and totally captivating.
My new favorite kids book.

At Our House Last Night.....

2011-01-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

Colonial Night.

No lights...only candles

No computers, ipods or t.v

Just the 5 of us.

Talking. Reading. Eating. Laughing. In the candlelight.

Pilgrims again for one night. Nearly.

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not telling.
I made a list of resolutions but I have decided to keep them to myself.
Weird huh!
But there is a little logic mixed in with the crazy. You see, I am a list maker and follower. Sometimes to the point that it completely stifles my spontaneity. I think putting my resolutions"out there" may make me a slave to them. It may cause me to overlook other opportunities that may come may way and worse I might just feel like I'm going through the motions....doing things just so I can tick them off my list.

Do you sense I have list issues.....you could be right.

I am prepared to share the contents of my list if I do actually tick any of them off....Oh wait....number one on my list was:

1 - Take a Polar Bear Plunge.

Check....did that yesterday. See, I can share.

Anyway...my friend Michelle has made an awesome list of 111 things she wants to do in 2011. So skip on over there if you want to see a person without "list issues".

Starting the New Year Off with a Splash

2011-01-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

Nothing like starting the New Year off with a splash.

To herald in the New Year I joined some of my teammates from Team Blaze and ran the Hangover Handicap 5 Mile Race this morning. It was c-c-cold. My car said minus 1 degrees F which is about minus 20 degrees C. But after the first mile or so I warmed up and it was just breathtaking running around Lake Coeur d'Alene.

After the race we headed over to Sanders beach to join all my other crazy friends to do the Polar Bear Plunge in Lake CDA. Yes...that's right. Plunging into a frigid lake. Hold on...lets back up....let me just give you a little background here first.

Doing a polar plunge is on my bucket list. When I found out there was one at CDA on Jan 1st I figured "why not". I mentioned it to some friends here and there. Most thought I was crazy....but to my surprise a number of my friends got onboard with the whole idea and agreed to join in. So fun...its always better to do something ridiculous with company.

FUN

So I met Matt, the kids( yes they were eager to join in too) and all our friends at Sanders beach and prepared to plunge. Did I mention that it was a teensy bit cold????

MAD

I was actually surprised to see so many people there. These Pacific Northwesterners are a tough lot. Snow all over the beach and icy water won't stop them. Then there was a countdown...( and a polar bear in a boat).....and in we all plunged ....all 19 of us.

{This series of pictures really makes me laugh - you can see how cold it was just from looking at the expressions on peoples faces}

Got the year off to a great start....so far 2011 is looking gooood.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not really one for looking back. I don't spend too much time reviewing or rehashing things that have happened.
Live, learn, move on.
I'm more of a now person or a tomorrow person...Not a yesterday person. Which is why I blog....so I can keep some kind of family record. I don't scrapbbook. I hardly ever even print photos out anymore. So this blog allows me to capture today and happily move on to tomorrow.
Today is a big day though. The last time we will ever see 2010. It has been a great year for our little family. We completed our first year of homeschooling, we travelled, we met new friends and spent time with some old ones. On a personal note, I fell in love with triathlon. I ran over 800 miles (nearly 1,300km) and biked about the same number of miles.
But even though 2010 has been great I'm already eagerly anticipating 2011. I can't wait to see what is in store for us in the NewYear.
Happy NewYear everyone....see you in 2011!

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

What's not to like about snow?
Really...it's absolutely beautiful. It makes everything look so clean and new.
Yes...I know it makes travel more difficult...it certainly managed to mess up our holiday plans. But there is something very pure and delicate about it that I just love.
Bring it on, I say :-)

Pictures from our yard after last night's Winter Storm.

Crafting up a Storm

2010-12-27T19:21:00.000-08:00

With no school, no work and no organized sports I have had a little extra time on my hands over the last few days. So it seemed like a good time to pull out the knitting needles and the sewing machine and get some serious handmade goodness going.

Here are the results so far:

Knitted blankets - 1 completed and another started

Slippers - 1 set done (for myself of course). I used the tutorial here....super easy.

Christmas gifts (yes I know this is ridiculously early to be talking about next Christmas already) - 3 completed, 1 nearly done, 4 others started
New quilt for one of the kids - still in the planning stages.

Lots more crafty ideas swimming around in my brain.

Yes, You Can Choose Your Family

2010-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that I LOVE my family. I love my brothers, I've been blessed with sisters-in-law that are like the sisters I never had and all my nephews and neices are my favorite kids in the world..( besides my own of course). But the only problem with my family is that they live about 8,000 miles away.

So this Christmas we spent the afternoon with our adopted family. These people are more than just friends and neighbors. They have opened up their homes and hearts to us and made us feel like we are part of their family. They even agreed to a few Australian traditions including opening Christmas bonbons and wearing our funny paper hats for a family picture.

So we talked,we shared,we laughed AND we feasted.

Is this the best turkey you have ever seen? And it tasted as good as it looked. Yum!

And we reflected on just how fortunate we are.

Boxing Day

2010-12-26T08:29:00.000-08:00

I must say that I LOVE Christmas. All the anticipation and preparation that goes into it. All the eating, drinking and being merry. All the making and wrapping and giving of gifts. All the priceless family moments. But for me Boxing Day is the unsung hero. In general,it goes by mostly unnoticed. But I love the quietness of it. Its such a great day to just rest and reflect.

Speaking of Christmas...it was a flurry of excitement and activity here. Matt bought me a new camera to replace the one I lost. I didn't realise how much I had missed taking photos until I had the camera back in my hands. So with my renewed photographic vigor you can expect a new year full of regular blogging updates.

The kids were over the moon with their bounty. Max hailed this the best Christmas ever thanks to the surprise appearance of a new road bike under the tree. Triathlon season here he comes. And yes, he was riding it on my trainer yesterday because there was snow and ice all over the road and riding it outside wasn't an option. Ciara and Jack were busily trying out all their gifts. Both were a study in concentration and focus.

Matt was the lucky recipient of a new flip video camera,so you can also expect to see the occassional Melville movie make it into the blogosphere..{lucky you}.

Well, Christmas is over for another year...only 364 days to go until the next one. I'm sure the kids are counting down already.

Wishing you....

2010-12-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

My wish for you this Christmas.
To love extravagantly

{Inspired by the sermon I heard last night.}

How to Make a REAL Snow Cone

2010-12-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Now its official...we are up to our ears in the white stuff after coming to the end of the snowiest November on record in Spokane.

So after playing in it, shovelling it, skiing on it, driving over it and running in it...it was time to try something new.....eating it.

I give you the authentic Snow Cone...

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is the view outside my window this morning.

Thanksgiving didn't quite turn out the way I had anticipated. My family who were coming from Australia to spend the holidays with us had their trip cancelled thanks to Qantas. What a total stinker. And we didn't want to chance driving across the Pass to get to Seattle because of the crazy amount of snow we were getting so I never made it to the half marathon I was planning to run in Seattle. Double stinker.

But despite the disappointments there is a lot to be grateful for...

Running in the snow...(with these awesome snow traction thingies)

Snowman making...

And the lazy man's approach to sledding.....who needs a hill when you have a 4 -wheeler.

First Snow

2010-11-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Seems to me that winter has come early this year.

Our first dusting of snow last night with more to come.

We decided to delay school this morning to take advantage of our first snowfall. Not quite a "snow day" but close enough.

Our fave ski resort got a good dumping...12" last night....can't wait to get up there and check it out. For the moment, viewing it from the webcam will have to suffice.

However, my enthusiasm for this wintery weather has been tempered a little by the thought that when we get snow, the Pass across to Seattle is probably getting 5 times more snow. That does not bode well for our Thanksgiving trip across to the coast for the Seattle Half Marathon. The webcam at Snoqualmie Pass tells the story.

This next week will be a "wait and see" game. Will they or won't they close the Pass.

Halloween

2010-11-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

The holiday train is on a roll.
This one starts out in the Fall.
First stop...Halloween.
Pumpkin carving.
Trick or treating.
Apple picking.
Too much candy.
Over for another year....
All aboard....next stop Thanksgiving.

...And another one opens.

2010-09-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

If you read this post you know that I have been bikeless for a while. I sold my old road bike and went in search of a tri bike. Despite the fact that I had clip on aero bars on my road bike I never really felt comfortable in the aero position and so I decided it was time to switch across to a purpose built tri bike. I test rode a few different brands of bike...Felt, Quintana Roo. They were all nice but didn't quite feel " just right" I felt a little like Goldilocks...hmmm this ones too small, this one's too stiff, this ones too pink. (Sorry...just NOT a fan of pink bikes) And ironically after going through this long process of testing and comparing I ended up back where I started.
With a Cervelo.
I just bought her home today.
To say that I am loving her is an understatement ...( and yes, of course it's a "she" bike).
Just looking at her makes me smile.
I have some big plans for us.
This new chapter's looking like a pretty great one.
I just can't wait.

One Chapter Closes...

2010-08-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sad....

An era has ended....

My very first road bike is no longer with me....

When I first got her I was SO excited. I just loved her. She introduced me to the wonderful world on road riding.

I learned to ride with clipless pedals on her, trained for my very first triathlon on her and rode well over 1,000 miles on her.

So now she has gone to live with someone else. BUT I know she is going to a great home...someone in just the same place now as I was a year ago. Just getting her feet wet in the sport of triathlon. Michelle...I know you are going to love her just as much as I have. Enjoy her...she really is a great bike :-)

Part 3 - Last, Last, Lucky Last

2010-08-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

If you are still with me after the last 2 posts I know you are either related to me or very tolerant...probably both. So at last, we get to the one who was first. Who broke us in as parents and broke ground for the 2 others that came after her. The one who taught us that sleepless nights were worth the loss of every brain cell and that nothing could be more wonderful then adding that extra person to our little family.

Ciara......

Sensitive, creative, intelligent, witty. She has a remarkable memory and knows more trivia then anyone else I've met. I have made a mental note to never play trivial pursuit with her....EVER. She is loyal and kind and despite the fact that she loathes confrontation she is willing to stick her neck out if its the right thing to do. I have never had to worry about peer pressure with her...she is so responsible that she sometimes tells me that my behaviour is inappropriate. Did I mention bossy? Well...just a little :-)

Ciara is uniquely selfless....she is always the first to give up her seat , her icecream, her place in line for someone else. She is a nurturer, a carer...if she could just stand the sight of blood she would make a great doctor.

She taught Matt and I how to be parents. How to be more than a married couple. She taught us how to be a family. In so many ways she is the link that holds the family together. She is the bridge between this generation and the next. If she is the future, then the future looks bright :-)

Part 2 - The Littlest Melville

2010-08-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Even when he is a strapping 6 foot tall, 20 year old adult, he will still be the littlest Melville. Always. That is the fate of the youngest isn't it. Once the baby, always the baby. I know that from first hand experience.

The youngest holds a special place because they are the last. There will be no more...at least not from this baby momma!

Jack....

He is a hugger. What more could you ask for from the baby of the family. Any visitor to our house that ends up staying in the guest bedroom will be well acquainted with the 6:00am "tap,tap,tap" at the bedroom door. He likes to come in, say good morning and maybe give them a good morning cuddle.

He is affectionate, kind and a real cutie. And how can you NOT love those freckles. I think maybe he was born with freckles! He has a good sense of other people's emotions and seems to always know just the right thing to say. That will serve him well later in life I'm sure.

He has always been easy going and compliant. I'm not sure if he has ever had a temper tantrum. When Jack was born we KNEW that our family was complete. The last missing link of our chain. And he fit in perfectly. ( ..and yes, that is underwear that Max is holding up in the picture...don't ask!!)

So he maybe the little one now but one day he won't be so little...but he'll always be the baby :-)

Part 1 - Starting in the Middle

2010-08-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

Now if you are not related to me, I advise you to skip the next 3 posts. Yes...I am being self indulgent but its my blog and I can do whatever I want.
I often posts pics here about what our family has been doing and the places we've been going. But for a lot of my relatives who rarely, if ever get to actually see us in the flesh, the details are fleeting and scant and they feel like they are missing out on getting to know their little nieces/ nephews/ cousins. So I'm going to devote the next 3 posts to my kids.

If you are a middle child you will know just how tough it is to be one. Too old for some things and too young for others. You rarely get anything first, but you never get spoiled like the baby of the family. You never get to be the boss when Mum and Dad aren't home but you are almost always held responsible when something goes wrong. Being the middle child is tough so you'll be pleased to know that I am throwing convention out the door and starting in the middle.

Max....

He is athletic, tenacious and is always asking questions. His friend Aaron says that he would make a great FBI agent. He makes friends easily and is able to find common ground with just about anyone. Thanks to Max we have met some awesome people who have become great friends.

He is always able to find something to keep himself busy...building a go cart, making a bow and arrow. You can usually find Max at the end of a trail of wood chips and bent nails.

He is a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of person. He rarely reads assembly instructions preferring to figure things out for himself. He has a wicked sense of humor and shares my competitive spirit.

He is the family dare devil. He is always up for a new challenge and has the ability to really push himself way out of his comfort zone. Rollercoasters, black diamond runs on his snowboard, kneeboarding, learning to shoot a shotgun....there is nothing that he will not try. I'm not sure where that comes from but its definitely NOT from me.

After we had our first child, Matt and I were certain that we had this parenting thing down. But Max was sent to teach us a thing or two.....and he continues to teach us something new every day. He is a joy and a challenge...and I wouldn't have it any other way :-)

CDA Youth Tri

2010-08-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from the Coeur d'Alene Youth Tri last weekend. {Thanks to my awesome photog friend Michelle for some of the great action shots}

This is the second time they have done this race and they really love it. Their friends were racing too which makes it all so much more fun. Aaron is obviously showing us his game face in this picture!

The swim, bike and run distances vary between the various age groups and distances get progressively longer as the kids get older. Having done it before the kids were all a lot more comfortable with how far they would have to race. They knew the course and where the bike and run turn arounds would be so they were a lot more confident this time compared to the first time they did this race.

Max got to wear my Team Blaze kit...(this was part of my birthday gift to him as he has been coveting it since I got it.) And yes...I know....apparently I have the physique of a 10 year old boy since he fits into it quite comfortably.

Max in transition....

....and heading out onto the bike

Ciara was a little nervous before the swim start...but as soon as she hit the water she said her nerves disappeared.

These kids could all give me some tips on running by the look of it. They make it look easy. Here is Ciara sprinting to the finish.

These pictures do not do the conditions justice. The water was CHOPPY. The kids all did an amazing job swimming in some pretty decent sized waves. This picture makes me smile...Max offering Jack some motivational and inspiring words no doubt.

Jack made a friend on the run...he does not appear to have an ounce of competitiveness in him and so was happy to jog along with his new friend to the finish line.

All in all it was such a fun morning. The kids all got a medal, a t-shirt and had a complete blast. They'll definitely be back at it next year.

Not all Swim/Bike/run

2010-07-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

I don't want you to think its been all swim/bike/run around here lately.
Sometimes its just...swim.
Pictures, with a bit of a vintage flavor.... from a trip to Bear Lake today with some friends.
Isn't this the way summer is supposed to be? Lazy days spent swimming and playing in the sun.

Wearing the Big Girl Pants

2010-07-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's all because of this race.

If it weren't for a couple of margaritas, some over confidance, some girlfriends egging me on and this race, I would never have started down the triathlon path.

A year ago I signed up for Race the River Triathlon at Riverstone CDA thinking...hey, its a year away. I can totally do this....no problems. See - OVERCONFIDENCE. At that stage it didn't occur to me that I should be intimidated or the least bit perturbed about the half mile swim, 11 mile bike and 5 km run. Well fast forward to this morning when I am standing on the beach about to enter the river to swim half a mile and I was silently vowing to myself NEVER to drink a margarita with these friends again. It was definitely the margaritas that were responsible for me being in this predicament.

And so I did what all women are forced to do from time to time. I reached for my big girl panties...in this case my blue seventy wetsuit...and took the plunge. And it was a BLAST.

I knew going into it that last years winner in my Age Group had a time of 1:21:38. So if I could come in somewhere close to that I would be happy. Coach Tristan had told me that her approach to a sprint tri was simple...just go out as fast and hard as you can. OK then.....a simple strategy. I like it!

It was so much fun seeing heaps of people I knew out on the course, including my friends Michelle who was doing her first tri, her husband Ken and Spokane Al who placed 1st in his AG..(Way to go, Al). My friend Amy told me to watch out for a friend of hers, Karen who was also doing the race and what do you know, Karen ended up racking her bike right next to mine and we hit it off straight away.

So back to the swim...well from my last blog post about the Valley Girl Tri you'll already know that the swim is my least favorite part of the race...but equipped with my big girl pants I managed to NEARLY enjoy it. It was a deepwater start which was new for me and the swim itself was longer and straighter than VG. There was a bit of a run from the swim exit to T1 and then we were out and onto the bike.

The bike portion was a 3 lap course which was fairly flat but very congested with 700 racers.   So I tried to keep pushing and my legs still felt OK by the time I came back into T2. The only downside was that the straw in my aero bottle got stuck and was about 15 feet long and so trying to take a sip from it was a bit of a challenge but besides that it was all good.

Matt caught a video on me heading out on the run...I was still smiling at that point so that's something!

The run was a little ugly...a couple of hills but mostly the problem was the heat. I started in one of the last waves...in fact the elites were done by the time I got to start so by the time I hit the run it was getting hot. Luckily I managed to get dragged along by a very chatty Cathy who was happy to run with me. She dragged me along for about a mile and a half and soon I could see the finish line and was visualizing my lovely post race massage in the Team Blaze tent. Ahhhhh...heaven. Thanks to Coach Scott and Tristin for supplying the Team Blaze tent and their support and for AJ for her magic fingers.

Here is a video of me crossing the finish line. The kids handed me a gatorade and helped get the timing chip off my leg....it cracks me up...I was SO out of gas by then. I look like a 95 year old lady all bent over.

So here are the stats:

Swim:      0.5 mile    16:25
T1:                           1:39
Bike:        11 miles 34:05
T2:                          1:02
Run:        3.1 miles  27:44

Official Time:   1:20:57

Age Group - 6/52
Females - 48/365
Overall - 145/616

Valley Girl Triathlon

2010-07-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I raced my first sprint triathlon EVER....and I have to tell you it was fun. Really.

So much stinkin' F.U.N.

Maybe it's because I didn't drown in the swim portion of the race, maybe it's because I had the world's best supporters cheering for me or maybe it was the awesome team that I am lucky enough to be a part of. Probably a combination of all three with a little bit of friendly competition thrown in.

The weather for the race was perfect so I opted to leave my wetsuit at home. A decision I regretted when I got there although the water actually turned out to be really warm and I didn't need it in the end. Matt dropped me off at a friends place who lived really close to the start line of the race and as she was racing too we just rode our bikes down to the start together. We checked in, got our race chips and body marking and set up our transitions. I picked up my new Team Blaze race kit from Coach Tristin and had enough time to change into it before the start of the race. Here is a pic of the Team Blaze girls at the swim start (photo courtesy of Coach Scott)

The Swim...well what can I say. I survived it. My swimming technique stinks so I think it's time to call in expert help and I'll be getting some coaching guidance from Coach Scott to get this whole swim thing under control. So I swam. I didn't drown and in the tradition of Forrest Gump...that's all I have to say about that!

My transition to the bike went fairly smoothly although the lady whose bike was racked next to mine took a really nasty spill coming out of the water and I called the medic over for her as she had a nasty gash from her knee all the way down her calf...OUCH. Out on the bike I had a constant grin on my face. I was just loving it. I didn't want to blow up on the run so I took it easy on the bike and just enjoyed myself. My av on the bike was 18.3 mph so next time I'll know to push a little harder.

Onto the run and my legs felt fine but I had trouble finding my rhythm. I didn't really hit my stride until inside the last mile and then I was joined by my entourage. I had the only all male escort across the line. Seeing it was a womens only race I felt pretty special.

Stats for the race:

Swim: 1/3 mile 13m 13sec

T1: 2m 33sec

Bike: 12 miles 39m 17sec

T2: 1m 55sec

Run: 3 miles 27m 21sec

Total Time: 1:24:19

F40-49: 12/80

Overall 83/439

Special thanks to my wonderful husband and children who managed to be everywhere on the course cheering me on. My lovely friend Michelle who also came with her children ( they made me such a cute little poster and stuck it to my front door when I got home). And to my team mates from Team Blaze who came to race and support us....especially Coach Scott and Tobin who took all these great pictures.

Race the River Tri...here I come!

IMCDA

2010-06-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Out volunteering today at the CDA Ironman. Matt and I were in the swim to bike transition area and were lucky enough to be able to see all the awesome atheletes...AND their bikes. Something like 2700 athletes. The atmosphere was really energizing and the weather was just perfect. I took these pics with my camera phone so the quality is kinda lousy but good enough for you to get the idea...a sea of bikes.

Another Good Very Bad Day

2010-06-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

This was not the post I had intended to make.
After getting back from a week's field trip in Tacoma with our homeschool group, I was planning to tell you all about the wonderful places we visited and what we did.
But I'm not.
That will have to wait.
Instead I get home to find a very sick dog I had to rush to the vet. They think he may have a fractured neck and will have to do exploratory surgey on him tomorrow. In the meantime the vet have pumped him full of painkillers to help him get through the night.

And then I discover that I left $1500 of cameras and equipment...yes I said cameras with an "S" back at the hotel in Tacoma. When I rang the hotel they said they can't find it. It has apparently grown legs and walked away by itself.

And then I realise that it is my daughters 13th birthday in one day and as is my bent to procrastination I have not done a scrap of birthday shopping for her . In true optomistic style I decide that one day (tomorrow) is plenty of time for me to do all the birthday shopping I need until I check up on my business and find that I have so many orders its going to take me at least 3 days to fill them all.

Now I'm not telling you this because I'm fishing for some sympathy. Everyone has days where life just plain stinks. And I guess that's the point. Life isn't always a bunch of pretty pictures and cute stories. Sometimes it just has hair all over it...(for non-Aussies that's a reference to life just being plain ugly). And so to be honest I can't just always blog about the fun things we do and the great places we go.

BUT there is always a bright spark to even the darkest day. Sometimes you really have to look for it but it's always there. So after all this, Matt leaves work early and meets me at the vet, and while the dog is getting x-rayed he silently listens to me unload about all the drama of the day. He doesn't say a word...just nods. We finally get home and he starts making dinner for the kids and he turns to me, hands me a margarita that he has just made and tells me that life can always be worse, that he missed us while we were away and that a camera can always be replaced.
"It's just a thing, Donna. It doesn't really mean anything important."
And I smile...he is right...as usual.
And today is another good day.

History Comes to Life

2010-05-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

You don't see this everyday....well let me rephrase...WE'VE never seen anything like this before.

The Civil War...LIVE.

Remember we are Aussies....we grew up in a country that has never had a civil war ....or a War of Independence....or any other war, for that matter on its home soil . So it is intriguing to me the idea that this country was once at war with itself. To have that conflict as part of the national heritage and to see how important it is to Americans national identity even today.

So when we heard that there was going to be a re-enactment of a Civil War battle right here in town we just couldn't pass it up.

The Battle itself was awesome. The children were absolutely mesmerized with all the action, noise and activity.

After some initial attempts at detente, negotiations came to an impasse.

Hostilities formally began

The Cavalry were there.

And the heavy artillery.

There was SO much attention to detail it was amazing. The "actors" for want of a better word, set up camp over the weekend and stay at the encampment all weekend. They dress in period clothing and everything is completely authentic...right down to what they cook with and sleep in.

Oh...and this beast ( forgive the poor picture) is 220lbs of Irish Wolf hound. Gentle as a lamb so the owner told me....hmmmmm. Whatever you say!

Its All About the Food

2010-05-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ever feel like your life revolves around the food?

This week seems like it has been a bit of a foodie week in our house.

Jack requested a special cake for his birthday last week. He is a big Scooby Doo fan and wanted the Mystery Machine, so Ciara and Max set out to make it themselves. Very admirable considering my suggestion was to just get one from the Fred Meyer bakery. (What a lazy Mum I am).

So Ciara baked all the cakes, piled them up, found a recipe for fondant and then she and Max went about making and coloring all the fondant. The only help we gave was placing the blue fondant on the cake as it was really large and heavy. They did an awesome job and Jack was thrilled....and the cake tasted pretty good too! Look out Duff and Ace of Cakes!

This week we also took a field trip to a local restuarant for a tour of the kitchens and a behind the scenes look at how a restaurant operates. Tomato St on Division has been there for 16 years and has recently been refurbished. The food is fantastic...( we were allowed to sample)...and it really is a very kid friendly place...kids are given colored pizza dough and raw pasta necklaces to play with and they can draw on the tablecloths while they wait for their meal. Parent heaven!

So after an overindulgent week of eating, do I feel any guilt. Um, no...zero. that's the upside of all this swim, bike, run training.

Last Soccer Game

2010-05-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

So I hurried off after the half marathon to get to Jack's last soccer game for the season.

I arrived just as the game started...couldn't have timed it better.

The boys all had a great last game. They won 8-1, Jack scored 2 goals AND snagged a trophy from the coach. It was a fun season...Jack had a blast but it will be nice to have some free Saturdays for a change.

Windermere Half Marathon

2010-05-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

I survived my first half marathon...and dare I even say it....it was fun. Maybe not the last mile or 2 but in general it was something I would definitely be up for again.

13.1 miles (about 21km) and I did NOT have to be scraped up off the ground after I crossed the finish line. That was a win in itself.

Matt snapped some pics as I finished. I'll have to remember to look up and smile next time.

So the race started at 7:00am at Mirabeau Park. The weather was just beautiful and so I decided to chance it and run in short sleeves and a running skirt. It turned out to be a good decision as it warmed up to about 70' by the end of the race.
There was lots of friendly chatter along the way as I bumped into people I knew. And the course was just beautiful. Most of the way we were running along the Centennial trail right next to the Spokane River. It was just breathtaking watching the scenery go by. At about mile 8 there was a long uphill but nothing monstrous. It was a little undulating but generally pretty flat. A nice course to run...I would definitely recommend it.

Total race time was 2:10:43. I didn't have any real expectations about my time so I was happy with that. My goal is to eventually run a half under 2 hours. So at least I have something to work on for next time.

As far as organization goes this race was great. Plenty of water and aid stations ..I think there was one every 2 miles or so. They offered water, Heed, gummy bears and Hammer Gels which was nice. And as always the volunteers were awesome and there were plenty of them pointing everyone in the right direction. Good job guys.

Finally I made it to Riverfront Park and I could smell that finish line. The last 3 miles were a little tough but I made it. I got my pretty little medal and a nice long sleeved shirt. Good swag :-)

The organizers had a great little festival set up for all the finishers. Food, drinks, icecream and some bands playing. If I didn't have to take off to get to Jack's last soccer game I would have definitely hung out there for a while.

I am already planning to add this race to my calendar next year...highly recommended.

Vacation portraits

2010-05-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

OK, so I know you are OVER my vacation spiel.

But this is a bit of a tradition

Since I started dabbling in photography my nephews and neices kindly offer themselves up every vacation for the Aunty Donna portrait session. It started last time we all took a holiday together and the kids loved it plus I got some really wonderful pictures of them all together. Real keepers.

So I thought I'd share a couple of the portraits I took of the kids this time around.

The Girls

The Boys being restrained

The Extended Family

Vacation - The Final Chapter

2010-05-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

For all of you blog readers that aren't sick of my recent posts, I have one more.

I think it would be remiss of me to talk about my vacation without mentioning the local people and culture. I have to say that the Fijian people are some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Relaxed and laid back but don't be deceived...they are some of the most phsyically fit and healthy people out there. Must be all that coconut tree climbing and rugby, me thinks.

Max took this picture as well as the one of the guy with the torch below. I think we have another budding photographer in the family. He and his cousin Daniel managed to befriend all the Fijian guys who worked at the resort. By the end of our trip they were all on first name terms. Talk about socialites.

We were treated to some fire walking and firedancing. So glad they didn't call for volunteers for this one. I could just see myself launching one of their fire ball things into the crowd or catching their grass skirts on fire.

Max and his cousin Daniel were taught how to climb coconut trees and harvest coconuts. You never know when that skill may prove handy.

We watched the locals beat the Lali drum every night to call people to dinner.

And let me leave you with this image...another of Max's photos. Looking at these guys NEVER gets old :-)

Vacation - Part 3

2010-05-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Or - could this vacation recap get any longer.

Can you tell that I am still sadly trying to hold on to the last shreds of my holiday???

So if you are sick of my Fiji posts please feel free to skip this one....but seeing as all of our other Australian friends and family trawl this blog to catch up on what we have been doing I feel obliged to give them the full run down.

So what to do in Fiji for 2 weeks...well....

A lot of snorkelling and swimming. I could not believe how many tropical fish there were.

Lots of eating. I think we spent about $300 at the icecream shop during our visit.

Hanging out in the sun and playing in the sand...

(Oh yeah baby check out the sand sculptures.....The Great Pyramid in the center and then Elaine is working on the Sphinx.....no pathetic little sandcastles for this family!).
You can see our kids are quite "creative" with their sand sculptures too!

We did some kayaking

Drank our share of cocktails

(don't worry those are "virgin" daiquaris the kids are drinking....isn't a swim up bar an awesome idea!!)

Hot tubbing

Hair braiding

Family time

And yes I even fit in some running. (Oh, come on....you can tell that the little dot there is me!)

It was ALL good!

The great thing about a vacation is the going...the coming back is a whole other thing. Now, coming back to lovely 75' weather would ease the post holiday blues but NOT 45' windy, rainy weather. Ahhh....Spokane in the spring. Back to reality.

Vacation - Part 2

2010-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

So after a 10 hour flight we arrived in Fiji. My first impressions....beautiful, hot and tropical. We had a car pick us up at the airport because we had NO idea where our hotel was and I am SO glad we did. The roads there were awful...one giant pothole...and it appears that only the locals are privy to the road rules. From what I could glean from the passenger seat you either go fast or stop. That is apparently all a driver need know how to do.

Anyway after a 2 hour drive and growing a whole new patch of gray hairs we arrived at our hotel. When we pulled into the drive we all sighed. Oh I really felt like I was on vacation now. The resort was absolutely fantastic...right on the beach...great pool...nice big, cool rooms....you could do everything or nothing.

After exploring the resort a little we saw a guest wedding there...very cool. What a great place to get married.

We went and explored the beaches while we waited for the rest of our extended family to arrive from Europe and Australia.

Finally...after concerns that some of our family would be stuck in Rome thanks to the cloud of volcanic ash from the Icelandic volcano...FINALLY...everyone arrived.

Now, time to get busy doing a serious amount of nothing.

Vacation - Part 1

2010-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one."
~Elbert Hubbard

Amen to that....no man or WOMAN.

I love vacationing...I wonder if I could make a career out it.

This one started in the wee hours of the morning. Our flight from Spokane left at 5:00am so we were all up and leaving home at 3:30am. The kids were great. They are so used to the travel thing they have just learned to roll with it. Once we got to LA at 9:00am we had a whole day to kill before our flight left for Fiji at 11:30pm. So we decided to get some sightseeing in and we headed off to see the Queen Mary at Long Beach.

If you are in California and you have never done this I highly recommend it. It really is living history. You can walk all the way around it ( above is a picture of the engine...completely massive, and we also visited the Russian submarine that is moored right next to the Queen Mary. The kids thought it was all very cool.

Torpedoes and all!

On the way back the kids got a glimpse of the REAL Goodyear blimp. A six year old's vacation highlight right there!

Then after a bit of R & R at the Airport Sheraton we headed back to the airport for our late night flight. A late night flight that turned into a VERY, VERY late night flight. FYI we flew Air Pacific and decided that Air Pathetic was a much more appropriate title forthis airline. Having 3 kids in LAX at midnight and having the flight continually delayed hour after hour stinks. Will not be intentionally flying this airline again...Nuff said.

Part 2 Tomorrow - Bula Fiji!!!

Leave of Absence

2010-04-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Just in case you are going to miss me....this is where I'll be for the next 2 weeks. I know...my life is sooo tough. I'm sure you are silently pitying me right now. :-P
Beware though...I plan to torture you with loads of vacation snaps when I get back. Fiji here we come :-)

Race for the Cure 5K

2010-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I headed off to the Race for the Cure in downtown Spokane. The weather was absolutely gorgeous...couldn't have asked for better running weather. Somewhere around 55' and sunny. I was really surprised to see just how big the race was. With over 9,000 participants, the race itself was a massive undertaking for the organizers.

From my p.o.v there were 2 sides to this race. As an event it was just awesome. Really positive and uplifting. We heard stories from breast cancer survivors as we waited for the race to start. All the cancer survivors who were present released a pink helium balloon just before the start....it was the kind of event that you want to take your sister or daughter too. Very empowering and hopeful.

But from a racing point of view...hmmm...not sure if I would race this one again. Don't get me wrong...the race organizers and volunteers did a great job considering the number of people who entered the race. They had coralled people who had planned to race in a separate area to everyone else. If you had a chip timer..(like me) you had to pass through a different start and finish line archway...( you can see it in my blurry cell phone picture above...the lovely boring black metal one to the left). So they had intended to give racers a head start of everyone else but unfortunately it just didn't work that way. When the race started the walkers etc merged across into the path of the chip runners so it caused a lot of weaving and dodging for the first half mile. I heard a lot of runners complaining that they were using this race to qualify for Second seeding at Bloomsday so having to dodge walkers would really have been a bummer if you were running to hit a certain qualifying time.

My goal was to try and run under 25 mins. My 5k PR is 25:45 from last years Jingle Bell run so I was aiming for 24:XX. Considering I haven't done any speed work whatsoever this may have been a little ambitious. I feel like marathon training is making me slow. But I wanted to run sub 8 min miles...I guess it just wasn't meant to be today!

Anyway...my splits.....

Mile 1 - 8:11 mpm ( dang you pesky walkers..out of the way!)

Mile 2 - 7:58 mpm (better)

Mile 3 - 8:09 mpm (eeekkk-where did all these walkers come from again???? More dodging)

Last 0.1 - 8:30 mpm. (I had given up trying to dodge people and just wanted to be done)

So apparently there was an option for people to walk a one mile loop instead of walk the whole 5k, so they rejoined the rest of the folks doing the 5 km about 0.5 miles from the end. that again caused a bit of chaos trying to weave around a new set of people. By that time I was T.I.R.E.D.

Anyway...I didn't make it under 25 mins...boohoo. I missed out by 7 seconds but its still a PR so I'll take it.

3.1 miles - 25:06 mins - Av pace 8:o5 mpm

Easter

2010-04-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

In the lead up to Easter there has been a lot of busyness. We've been working through Spring break so we can take 2 weeks off for our vacation which is coming up crazy fast. Here is a bit of a peek at what we've been up to...

Some Eggs-periments. Checking out how atmospheric pressure works.

Dissolving egg shells and seeing osmosis in action. This was pretty cool...the eggs ended up feeling like rubber balls....if you look hard enough you can see the yolk.

We also dyed and decorated our Easter eggs and made Ressurection rolls and then we went on a field trip to a local TV station with Jack's scout group. Here they are testing out the anchorman's desk.

And...of course being one of my children there always has to be SOME drama. And as they were showing the kids how the weatherman uses the green screen and filming them with the tv camera...Jack pulls out his wiggly front tooth. You can see him holding the blood soaked kleenex in his hand. Maybe he has a career in tv...he certainly knows how to put on a show.

I'm Tri-ing

2010-03-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

If you've read my last post here, you know that I'm embarking on a bit of a foray into triathlon this year. So in order to ease myself into this whole adventure, I thought start with an indoor triathlon held at our local YMCA. I found out about it through a local triathlon club. {More about that in a moment}. Anyway, it sounded kinda fun and unintimidating. It involved swimming laps in the indoor Y pool for 20 minutes, followed by a 10 min transition, then 30 mins on the stationary bike and then a 2 mile (3.5km) run along the Centennial trail that runs behind the Y and along the Spokane River. Hmmmmm...sounds very doable.So here's how it went.
I got there a little early and the first wave at 8:00am were already starting in the pool. My wave was 8:30am and I'm so glad I opted for the later session. There were only 5 of us in that second wave so we got our own lane in the pool. The first wave had about 12 people and so they were all sharing a lane. While I was waiting I got to meet Spokane Al. He was just as nice in real life as he sounds on his blog.
I was kinda nervous getting in the pool...swimming is definitely my weakness...but everyone was so nice and encouraging...so I just did my best.
I took too long getting changed out of the pool..( I can see already that transitions are going to be a problem for me )..so I only had 20 mins on the bike instead of 30 mins. The organisers had an awesome ironman video playing so the riding went by fast. Then it was out on the trail for a run. The weather was beautiful and it was just perfect running weather.

The Results...

Swim = 18.5 laps in 20 minutes (465 yards)
- heaps of room for improvement here.
Bike = 10.7 miles in 20 minutes
Run = 2.14 miles in 18:06 mins (pace = 8 m 27s/mile)

The Verdict...

I had a blast. The people were awesome and it was just so much fun.

And finally the most exciting news......I mentioned that this tri was organised by a local tri club, Team Blaze. Well...I am now officially a member. How exciting. I picked up my team kit today...hence the photo in my team shirt above.(Yes...I know I look a bit bedraggled but this was taken straight after I got home from the "Y" - pre-shower). I took my camera to the tri and I took NO photos at all. Zip, zero, nil nada...so this pic of me in my new kit will have to do.