It's Friday, and it's the first Friday in a while now that we are back into our said "normal" routine. Grammy & Papa are back in Oregon, so it is just us and Uncle Brad once again. That said, nothing around here this time of year is actually very "normal"...... just busy and hectic and crazy and fast-paced. So, here is how our weekend is shaping up for us at this point.....
This evening, we will be heading back to school for family movie night, sponsored by the PTO. We will be watching the movie "Earth", and the kids will be enjoying dirt pudding, popcorn and soda. This is being done in recognition of Earth Day, which is coming up next week.
Tomorrow morning we will be at the Northwest Soccer Fields @ 9am, ready for Evan's 9:15am soccer game. Then, weather permitting, we will be at the Sumas ball fields for a double header scrimmage baseball games with Evan's team, from around 2pm until 5 or 6pm.
Sunday morning we will head to church, but rather than the 10am service that we normally attend, we will go to the 11:30am service instead. After church, we will head somewhere to have a nice sit-down family lunch together. Then, at 2pm, we will head on over to a surprise birthday party for a good family friend of ours. From there, we will head right on out to the Northwest Soccer Fields once again, where we will be having our team pictures taken at 3:45pm. After pictures, we will start warming up for our make-up soccer game from last week, which starts at 4:45pm.
After the soccer game, we will head home, where we will get the kiddos cleaned up, fed and ready to relax for the evening...... and that will be it for our weekend!!!
WHEW..........
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Good-bye Grammy & Papa
Bittersweet is the word for today here. Today, Grammy & Papa left us to head back home, after taking the kiddos to school one last time. Grammy had been here with us for the past three weeks. Papa spent the first week here with us, then went back to Portland for a week and a half. He came back up a few days ago. It was a lot of fun having them here, and especially for the kids. But alas, all good things eventually come to an end......
So today, with Grammy & Papa now gone back home to Portland, it is time for us here to try and get back to some resemblance of normal around here with our routines. Normal isn't really a great word to use, since our schedules are constantly changing lie crazy, and right now we are entering that crazy and busy time or year for us, where we are on the go every day, chasing kids around to practices and/or games of one sport or another!!!
Fact is, though..... we LOVE it!!! :-) We will miss having Grammy & Papa here with us, as we always have a great time. However, we will keep on having a great time even without them here, as we now start baseball games, soccer games and t-ball games every week for the next month... or longer!!! :-)
Now, if someone would please find a way to get nicer, drier, warmer weather to visit us for a while.... that would be fantastic!!!
So today, with Grammy & Papa now gone back home to Portland, it is time for us here to try and get back to some resemblance of normal around here with our routines. Normal isn't really a great word to use, since our schedules are constantly changing lie crazy, and right now we are entering that crazy and busy time or year for us, where we are on the go every day, chasing kids around to practices and/or games of one sport or another!!!
Fact is, though..... we LOVE it!!! :-) We will miss having Grammy & Papa here with us, as we always have a great time. However, we will keep on having a great time even without them here, as we now start baseball games, soccer games and t-ball games every week for the next month... or longer!!! :-)
Now, if someone would please find a way to get nicer, drier, warmer weather to visit us for a while.... that would be fantastic!!!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The boy is fast!!!
So, yesterday morning Brad and Evan and myself all entered and ran the Lynden 6k Fun Run, held at Bender Park. This was an organized fund raising run, with the money raised going to help support Children of Hope Orphanage in Dulce Refugio, Mexico. This seemed like a great cause, and worthy of us getting out early and getting our morning fitness in to start the day of right. The weather was just right, and there was a rather nice turnout of people at the event.
Anyway, the 6k run works out to be 3.75 miles. Evan ran a 4 mile run back at the beginning of March, with a time of right at 37 minutes. He has been convinced that he could have run it faster, and was excited to try and beat his time at this run. I kind of figured that if we finished at around 32-34 minutes, we would be doing really well for the day, and especially for Evan. If we could finish between 30-32 minutes, then it would be a most excellent day of running, for all of us! So, what did we do? We blew Evan's time away from his previous run, and his pace....
Evan finished the 6k (3.75miles) in 28 minutes and 47 seconds!!! This is fast!!! This means that Evan maintained a running pace of 7.8mph, or a 7:40min/mile!!! The kid is only 9 1/2 years old..... I was both amazed and proud of my son. :-) To add to this already great success story, Evan also finished the race in 14th place overall.... simply fantastic!!! And he hasn't even been training to run distance since his last run... just has remained the very active kid that he is!!!
As a comparison, since this run was a full .25miles shorter than his last run, here is how his 4 mile run results stacked up.... he finished the 4 mile run in 37 minutes and 53 seconds. Thus, Evan had a running pace of 6.3mph, or a 9:28min/mile!
Amazing! Evan absolutely rocked it yesterday morning! He improved hugely, and blew his previous pace away, not even by just a little, but by a lot!!! It was so much fun to run with my boy, and to be able to share this experience with him. I know that Evan was able to do so well yesterday because we were together, and because I helped to set the pace for him, and to help keep him on track with that pace throughout. Other than that, though, it was Evan's self determination and athleticism that carried him through... not me!
I am also very pleased with myself for how we both did yesterday. I had a great run as well, and set and maintained a much faster pace than I ever could have imagined being able to do before. In fact, it was much faster than I expected us to run as well. I had planned that we would try and run at about 7mph, or 8:34min/mile, coming at around just over 32 minutes...... that's what I had thought and planned on anyway! But no way.... we had a great morning, and a fantastic run, both of us. I managed to finish just a bit quicker than Evan, as Evan lost his wind in the final sprint to the finish line, while I was able to hang on just a bit longer. I finished the race in 28 minutes and 39 seconds, which gave me a pace of 7.85mph, or a 7:38min/mile, and overall came in 12th place! :-)
Yes, I am very happy about our run yesterday. However, you may notice that I have talked only about myself and Evan, though I mentioned that Brad was also running with us. Well, unfortunately, things didn't go as planned for Brad. He started out well, and stayed strong for quite a while. However, at some point, his hip started bothering him, and ultimately caused him to have to stop and walk for a while. He attempted to run again a bit later, but things didn't improve greatly. He did push himself to run out the end, but was not very happy with how things went. He came across the line at just a little over the 32 minute mark. I was really bummed for him, as I know how much he wanted to run a really strong run, with a good overall pace, and more than that, to be able to finish this run with Evan and I. It didn't happen yesterday.... but I am convinced that it will happen soon! Perhaps in two weeks, when we head out to run the 5k run with the fuzz, to support local law enforcement agencies!
So, there you have it..... me bragging up my boy once again! I am sorry to keep on all about him.....OK, no I am not!!! As long as Evan keeps doing such amazing and wonderful things, I will continue to brag about him here!!! I love that boy, and am so proud to be his dad.
Next run is on Saturday, April 23rd... the Fun with the Fuzz 5k, in Bellingham!!!
Anyway, the 6k run works out to be 3.75 miles. Evan ran a 4 mile run back at the beginning of March, with a time of right at 37 minutes. He has been convinced that he could have run it faster, and was excited to try and beat his time at this run. I kind of figured that if we finished at around 32-34 minutes, we would be doing really well for the day, and especially for Evan. If we could finish between 30-32 minutes, then it would be a most excellent day of running, for all of us! So, what did we do? We blew Evan's time away from his previous run, and his pace....
Evan finished the 6k (3.75miles) in 28 minutes and 47 seconds!!! This is fast!!! This means that Evan maintained a running pace of 7.8mph, or a 7:40min/mile!!! The kid is only 9 1/2 years old..... I was both amazed and proud of my son. :-) To add to this already great success story, Evan also finished the race in 14th place overall.... simply fantastic!!! And he hasn't even been training to run distance since his last run... just has remained the very active kid that he is!!!
As a comparison, since this run was a full .25miles shorter than his last run, here is how his 4 mile run results stacked up.... he finished the 4 mile run in 37 minutes and 53 seconds. Thus, Evan had a running pace of 6.3mph, or a 9:28min/mile!
Amazing! Evan absolutely rocked it yesterday morning! He improved hugely, and blew his previous pace away, not even by just a little, but by a lot!!! It was so much fun to run with my boy, and to be able to share this experience with him. I know that Evan was able to do so well yesterday because we were together, and because I helped to set the pace for him, and to help keep him on track with that pace throughout. Other than that, though, it was Evan's self determination and athleticism that carried him through... not me!
I am also very pleased with myself for how we both did yesterday. I had a great run as well, and set and maintained a much faster pace than I ever could have imagined being able to do before. In fact, it was much faster than I expected us to run as well. I had planned that we would try and run at about 7mph, or 8:34min/mile, coming at around just over 32 minutes...... that's what I had thought and planned on anyway! But no way.... we had a great morning, and a fantastic run, both of us. I managed to finish just a bit quicker than Evan, as Evan lost his wind in the final sprint to the finish line, while I was able to hang on just a bit longer. I finished the race in 28 minutes and 39 seconds, which gave me a pace of 7.85mph, or a 7:38min/mile, and overall came in 12th place! :-)
Yes, I am very happy about our run yesterday. However, you may notice that I have talked only about myself and Evan, though I mentioned that Brad was also running with us. Well, unfortunately, things didn't go as planned for Brad. He started out well, and stayed strong for quite a while. However, at some point, his hip started bothering him, and ultimately caused him to have to stop and walk for a while. He attempted to run again a bit later, but things didn't improve greatly. He did push himself to run out the end, but was not very happy with how things went. He came across the line at just a little over the 32 minute mark. I was really bummed for him, as I know how much he wanted to run a really strong run, with a good overall pace, and more than that, to be able to finish this run with Evan and I. It didn't happen yesterday.... but I am convinced that it will happen soon! Perhaps in two weeks, when we head out to run the 5k run with the fuzz, to support local law enforcement agencies!
So, there you have it..... me bragging up my boy once again! I am sorry to keep on all about him.....OK, no I am not!!! As long as Evan keeps doing such amazing and wonderful things, I will continue to brag about him here!!! I love that boy, and am so proud to be his dad.
Next run is on Saturday, April 23rd... the Fun with the Fuzz 5k, in Bellingham!!!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
April Showers.....
April is here. And just like we learned growing up, "April showers bring May flowers"..... indeed, Aprils has started out living up to this popular phrase quite well. In fact, the forecast over the next two weeks here seems to be following right along! I am so sick and tired of the rain....... I so badly hope that the second half of that phrase requires lots and lots of sunshine to make happen!
My bicycling thus far this year is nearly non-existent when compared to last year at this time! I long to ride more miles, but I have struggled with the wet and the cold and the wind this year....... no doubt, I will be a great snow bird when I retire!!! :-)
BUSY!!! This will be the word we use most frequently for the next five months now! With Spring comes the busy and crazy and hectic and fun time in our lives, where we spend all of our time making our lives revolve around school and sports activities. Evan is playing both baseball and soccer, while Sierra is taking on t-ball for the the first time this year. After much pleading from both Evan and his best friend Jacob Roosma, I have taken on the role of head coach for the soccer team. So, here we are, heading into April...... and this is what our month kind of looks like already:
This next week is spring break for the kids, so no school...... and two kids who will be bored at all times if we aren't working hard to find things to entertain them!
TUESDAY - the boys head to Canada for hockey night. Uncle Brad won tickets to the Abbottsford Heat game on Praise 106.5 , and the girls will have girls night while we are gone.
WEDNESDAY - soccer practice for Evan, as well as baseball practice
THURSDAY - baseball practice again for Evan, and t-ball practice for Sierra
FRIDAY - heading south to Seattle Prime Outlets for a shopping day.
SATURDAY - Lynden 6k Fun Run at Bender Park in the morning, and Evan's soccer game in the afternoon.
April 16th & 17th - weekend baseball tournament in Lynden for Evan's team!
Sierra's first t-ball game on Saturday, April 23rd.... along with Evan's soccer game!
Sunday, April 24th is Easter!!!
Tuesday, April 26th...... Tracie and I go to see the performance of "CATS" at the Mt. Baker Theater!
Saturday, April 30th..... Sierra has her second t-ball game, and Evan has his last regular season soccer game
In between these dates are practices for all three sports, covering at least three days of each week, and sometimes five of the days!!! Of course, we haven't yet dealt with our taxes, which obviously MUST be done, and soon! And as always, other things will come up without a doubt..... and somehow, we will find a way to fit them in somewhere!!! :-)
Yep, April is here..... the first quarter of this year is behind us already! What am I doing here right now? I have so much to do.....
SEE YA!!!
My bicycling thus far this year is nearly non-existent when compared to last year at this time! I long to ride more miles, but I have struggled with the wet and the cold and the wind this year....... no doubt, I will be a great snow bird when I retire!!! :-)
BUSY!!! This will be the word we use most frequently for the next five months now! With Spring comes the busy and crazy and hectic and fun time in our lives, where we spend all of our time making our lives revolve around school and sports activities. Evan is playing both baseball and soccer, while Sierra is taking on t-ball for the the first time this year. After much pleading from both Evan and his best friend Jacob Roosma, I have taken on the role of head coach for the soccer team. So, here we are, heading into April...... and this is what our month kind of looks like already:
This next week is spring break for the kids, so no school...... and two kids who will be bored at all times if we aren't working hard to find things to entertain them!
TUESDAY - the boys head to Canada for hockey night. Uncle Brad won tickets to the Abbottsford Heat game on Praise 106.5 , and the girls will have girls night while we are gone.
WEDNESDAY - soccer practice for Evan, as well as baseball practice
THURSDAY - baseball practice again for Evan, and t-ball practice for Sierra
FRIDAY - heading south to Seattle Prime Outlets for a shopping day.
SATURDAY - Lynden 6k Fun Run at Bender Park in the morning, and Evan's soccer game in the afternoon.
April 16th & 17th - weekend baseball tournament in Lynden for Evan's team!
Sierra's first t-ball game on Saturday, April 23rd.... along with Evan's soccer game!
Sunday, April 24th is Easter!!!
Tuesday, April 26th...... Tracie and I go to see the performance of "CATS" at the Mt. Baker Theater!
Saturday, April 30th..... Sierra has her second t-ball game, and Evan has his last regular season soccer game
In between these dates are practices for all three sports, covering at least three days of each week, and sometimes five of the days!!! Of course, we haven't yet dealt with our taxes, which obviously MUST be done, and soon! And as always, other things will come up without a doubt..... and somehow, we will find a way to fit them in somewhere!!! :-)
Yep, April is here..... the first quarter of this year is behind us already! What am I doing here right now? I have so much to do.....
SEE YA!!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Spring has Sprung!!!
After what has seemed to be the longest Winter ever on record, at least in my own personal little world, I am happy to report that Spring has finally arrived!!! Yes, I know that the calendar says Spring officially starts on March 20th, but that is NOT something I ever hold on to, just like trusting a weather report.... could go either way!!!
However, this year, March 20th actually looked and felt and smelled like Spring in the air around here, which gave me some real hope that we were finally turning the corner and entering a new season. What really convinced me, though, that Spring has sprung, wasn't the calendar date or the weather, but around our place we went from silence at night to an absolute deafening orchestra of frogs, simply in about one days time!!! It is the most awesome sound to hear.... thousands of frogs croaking aloud in the evening as the sun goes down...... letting me know for certain that Spring has arrived!!! :-)
Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying that things are yet exactly as I would like them to be. The weather still isn't cooperating nearly as much as I would like it to, with temperatures still about 10 degrees cooler than I would like them to be, and still more rain than makes me happy as a cyclist looking to log some drier miles!!! :-)
But alas, things are improving....the days are getting longer, the weather is slowly improving, and life is coming around int eh way of birds, frogs, plants, etc. People are already moving lawns, and things just seem to look better as color starts coming back into them. I am hopeful that this year we will enjoy a bit nicer Spring and Summer than we did last year.... in fact, I sort of feel like we deserve it! ;-)
With Spring comes the absolute craziness and joy and happiness that is our lives this time of year...... Spring soccer, baseball, and this year we add t-ball. Evan is back to playing soccer for the Nooksack league, after playing his last two season with Lynden, because Nooksack's organization had fallen apart. Both Evan and his very best friend Jacob Roosma begged and pleaded with me to be their soccer coach, and so... I am! In addition, Evan tried out and made the boys 10U competitive baseball team this year!!! He is doing so great, and is having a lot of fun so far. This means we have baseball practices three days a week right now, until the season starts. In addition, we have two soccer practices a week, and we have soccer games on Saturdays as well. We just heard from Sierra's t-ball coach, and we will be adding t-ball practices to the mix starting this next week!!! Nope, we are not busy at all.... we have plenty of time to do lots of other things as well...sure. Taking care of 11 acres of mini-farm... no problem, we can handle it........ yah, whatever!!!
So, if you can't seem to find us or reach us, just know that we haven't run away or left town, state or country.... we simply are out shuttling our kiddos around to practices, games and/or tournaments!!! :-) And YES, we are loving every minute of it!!! :-)
However, this year, March 20th actually looked and felt and smelled like Spring in the air around here, which gave me some real hope that we were finally turning the corner and entering a new season. What really convinced me, though, that Spring has sprung, wasn't the calendar date or the weather, but around our place we went from silence at night to an absolute deafening orchestra of frogs, simply in about one days time!!! It is the most awesome sound to hear.... thousands of frogs croaking aloud in the evening as the sun goes down...... letting me know for certain that Spring has arrived!!! :-)
Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying that things are yet exactly as I would like them to be. The weather still isn't cooperating nearly as much as I would like it to, with temperatures still about 10 degrees cooler than I would like them to be, and still more rain than makes me happy as a cyclist looking to log some drier miles!!! :-)
But alas, things are improving....the days are getting longer, the weather is slowly improving, and life is coming around int eh way of birds, frogs, plants, etc. People are already moving lawns, and things just seem to look better as color starts coming back into them. I am hopeful that this year we will enjoy a bit nicer Spring and Summer than we did last year.... in fact, I sort of feel like we deserve it! ;-)
With Spring comes the absolute craziness and joy and happiness that is our lives this time of year...... Spring soccer, baseball, and this year we add t-ball. Evan is back to playing soccer for the Nooksack league, after playing his last two season with Lynden, because Nooksack's organization had fallen apart. Both Evan and his very best friend Jacob Roosma begged and pleaded with me to be their soccer coach, and so... I am! In addition, Evan tried out and made the boys 10U competitive baseball team this year!!! He is doing so great, and is having a lot of fun so far. This means we have baseball practices three days a week right now, until the season starts. In addition, we have two soccer practices a week, and we have soccer games on Saturdays as well. We just heard from Sierra's t-ball coach, and we will be adding t-ball practices to the mix starting this next week!!! Nope, we are not busy at all.... we have plenty of time to do lots of other things as well...sure. Taking care of 11 acres of mini-farm... no problem, we can handle it........ yah, whatever!!!
So, if you can't seem to find us or reach us, just know that we haven't run away or left town, state or country.... we simply are out shuttling our kiddos around to practices, games and/or tournaments!!! :-) And YES, we are loving every minute of it!!! :-)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
And So It Begins......
I just posted that March is already here, and now here we are, practically half way through the month already!!! Unbelievable to me..... I am NOT liking this at all. I can't seem to keep up with the days, or with life right now.
So much happening starting this month, and this next week. Evan made the cut for the boys 10U competitive baseball team, which is awesome.... and practices will be starting this next week some time. Evan has also decided to play soccer this Spring. He and Jacob really wanted me to be their coach again, so I signed on to be their coach. Just got word that the U10 and U11 boys are being combined into one team, and that Evan will be playing up with the U11's, with me as head coach! Crazy!!! I have nothing really to offer as far as soccer skills and knowledge go for this sport.... heck, I was just a player myself as a kid, many years ago! To make matters worse, I only just received my team roster last night!!! We don't have any practices scheduled yet, and I have no equipment as of yet either! And of course, our first game is in just two weeks from yesterday!!! :-(
I really thought that the Nooksack organization might get their act together better this year, after new people got involved..... but so far, it appears I may be wrong!!! :-( It isn't fair for these kids to get one or maybe two practices in before playing their first game, especially when some of them haven't even met one another before. And there is more..... I have just enough players for the field, no subs on the sidelines!!! That is gonna make it tough for my kids... really tough. They play the bigger field this year, and have no chance to take a break, unless they can learn excellent passing and ball control skills really fast!!! ;-)
Tracie, Jenn and Tiffani had their huge garage sale event for raising funds for their Africa mission trip yesterday, and did very well, making more than $2000 for the day!!! :-) They had their first mandatory mission trip meeting at CTK last night as well... haven't heard anything from Tracie, as we were all in bed asleep when she got home.
Our Suburban had its transmission fail a week ago on us. Had to have a new tranny put in this last week, which cost us $2590..... money we didn't have. I had to spend my paycheck to get our vehicle back, so we don't have any money to pay bills, buy groceries, or cover our mortgage this month with. Not too sure how this is going to work out. I seem to be the only one who cares, or who who is scared to death about how bad off we are. I will continue to trust in God, and pray for guidance, support and answers.....however, it is my belief that God doesn't just hand things to us without us putting forth great effort on our part as well..... something I don't believe has happened as of yet. I am trying as best I can right now... I have sold off a bunch of stuff, including things I had no intention of selling....things I did not want to sell. I am getting ready to do it all again as well this week, this time selling off our beef cattle.... something I do not want to do either. In addition, I have been calling in for every overtime shift that I am available for, with exception of one day. I even called in today, which would mean missing church, and missing my final hockey game of the season.... but the BC had scheduled wrong, and the overtime got cancelled.
Uncle Bob and Brenda were supposed to come here yesterday to visit and get the rest of their beef from us to take back home. They never made it. They called to say that they had their vehicle broken into while loading to leave Tacoma....lots of stuff stolen, including wallet and check book and cash, etc. They ended up dealing with that mess and then drove back home to Idaho. We will make other arrangements to get them their beef. :-(
Just over a week and I have my 43rd birthday. Nothing big deal to me, but it does mean I have just ten years left until I can retire!!! :-) It also means that Grammy and Papa will be coming up to visit us again. They want to come to be here for my birthday, and then stay to be here for Sierra's jazz dance recital on the 25th and 26th. From the sound of it, Papa may head back down to Portland after that, leaving Grammy here for another week to stay and visit and spend time with the kiddos. Don't know the plan in detail yet for sure.
Spring is coming, it just has to be.... this morning starts daylight savings, and I have already moved the clocks ahead an hour. It will be light outside a full hour later today, which very well may do my mind and soul some good. I am in desperate need of nice weather around here. I miss riding my bike regularly, something that is so very good for my heart, mind, and soul. With the weight of our financial issues upon my shoulders, I am needing an escape each day, even if just for an hour or two... and the bike works so well for me!!!
So, as if I didn't have enough to think about or worry about already...... I have now added soccer coach to my list, and have a short time to try and prepare to work with these kids to help them get ready for a game in just two weeks..... not sure how this is going to work out, so I will start praying today!! :-)
Funny thing is....as I sit here and think about my issues, my troubles, my problems..... I can't help but think about how meaningless they all seem when compared to what is happening in Japan right now, after suffering an 8.9 earthquake, so many aftershocks, and a tidal wave of destruction and death that has the country reeling in pain right now. :-( And then I think about how Tracie, Jenn and Tiffani are going to Africa, and what they will be seeing over there..... makes my issues seem so small. And yet here I am feeling like my world is caving in on me..... crazy!
So much happening starting this month, and this next week. Evan made the cut for the boys 10U competitive baseball team, which is awesome.... and practices will be starting this next week some time. Evan has also decided to play soccer this Spring. He and Jacob really wanted me to be their coach again, so I signed on to be their coach. Just got word that the U10 and U11 boys are being combined into one team, and that Evan will be playing up with the U11's, with me as head coach! Crazy!!! I have nothing really to offer as far as soccer skills and knowledge go for this sport.... heck, I was just a player myself as a kid, many years ago! To make matters worse, I only just received my team roster last night!!! We don't have any practices scheduled yet, and I have no equipment as of yet either! And of course, our first game is in just two weeks from yesterday!!! :-(
I really thought that the Nooksack organization might get their act together better this year, after new people got involved..... but so far, it appears I may be wrong!!! :-( It isn't fair for these kids to get one or maybe two practices in before playing their first game, especially when some of them haven't even met one another before. And there is more..... I have just enough players for the field, no subs on the sidelines!!! That is gonna make it tough for my kids... really tough. They play the bigger field this year, and have no chance to take a break, unless they can learn excellent passing and ball control skills really fast!!! ;-)
Tracie, Jenn and Tiffani had their huge garage sale event for raising funds for their Africa mission trip yesterday, and did very well, making more than $2000 for the day!!! :-) They had their first mandatory mission trip meeting at CTK last night as well... haven't heard anything from Tracie, as we were all in bed asleep when she got home.
Our Suburban had its transmission fail a week ago on us. Had to have a new tranny put in this last week, which cost us $2590..... money we didn't have. I had to spend my paycheck to get our vehicle back, so we don't have any money to pay bills, buy groceries, or cover our mortgage this month with. Not too sure how this is going to work out. I seem to be the only one who cares, or who who is scared to death about how bad off we are. I will continue to trust in God, and pray for guidance, support and answers.....however, it is my belief that God doesn't just hand things to us without us putting forth great effort on our part as well..... something I don't believe has happened as of yet. I am trying as best I can right now... I have sold off a bunch of stuff, including things I had no intention of selling....things I did not want to sell. I am getting ready to do it all again as well this week, this time selling off our beef cattle.... something I do not want to do either. In addition, I have been calling in for every overtime shift that I am available for, with exception of one day. I even called in today, which would mean missing church, and missing my final hockey game of the season.... but the BC had scheduled wrong, and the overtime got cancelled.
Uncle Bob and Brenda were supposed to come here yesterday to visit and get the rest of their beef from us to take back home. They never made it. They called to say that they had their vehicle broken into while loading to leave Tacoma....lots of stuff stolen, including wallet and check book and cash, etc. They ended up dealing with that mess and then drove back home to Idaho. We will make other arrangements to get them their beef. :-(
Just over a week and I have my 43rd birthday. Nothing big deal to me, but it does mean I have just ten years left until I can retire!!! :-) It also means that Grammy and Papa will be coming up to visit us again. They want to come to be here for my birthday, and then stay to be here for Sierra's jazz dance recital on the 25th and 26th. From the sound of it, Papa may head back down to Portland after that, leaving Grammy here for another week to stay and visit and spend time with the kiddos. Don't know the plan in detail yet for sure.
Spring is coming, it just has to be.... this morning starts daylight savings, and I have already moved the clocks ahead an hour. It will be light outside a full hour later today, which very well may do my mind and soul some good. I am in desperate need of nice weather around here. I miss riding my bike regularly, something that is so very good for my heart, mind, and soul. With the weight of our financial issues upon my shoulders, I am needing an escape each day, even if just for an hour or two... and the bike works so well for me!!!
So, as if I didn't have enough to think about or worry about already...... I have now added soccer coach to my list, and have a short time to try and prepare to work with these kids to help them get ready for a game in just two weeks..... not sure how this is going to work out, so I will start praying today!! :-)
Funny thing is....as I sit here and think about my issues, my troubles, my problems..... I can't help but think about how meaningless they all seem when compared to what is happening in Japan right now, after suffering an 8.9 earthquake, so many aftershocks, and a tidal wave of destruction and death that has the country reeling in pain right now. :-( And then I think about how Tracie, Jenn and Tiffani are going to Africa, and what they will be seeing over there..... makes my issues seem so small. And yet here I am feeling like my world is caving in on me..... crazy!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March is here!!!
It is March 1st today..... hard to believe, at least for me. I only managed to get one bike ride in the month of February....the weather has been so cold, windy, wet, snowy, icy and just plain crappy!!!!! :-(
Today is the 15th birthday of my beautiful young niece, Makenah. I am so happy for her, and proud of her. She is becoming a beautiful young woman, and a talented athlete in fast pitch softball. :-)
Today also marks my very first day back to Homestead Fitness Center, after three long months away at the YMCA in Lynden. I have missed Homestead, and have struggled tremendously with getting good workouts at the Y, and it feels so very good to be back "home" once again. I went and worked out this morning on my own, and had great run, painful Stairmaster clobbering, and a very nice hot tub soak to finish it off with. I left feeling so good, so alive, so much better, and looking forward to my next workout!!!!! :-) YAY!!!
I go to work again tomorrow, and then on Thursday and Friday, the kids have NO school.....mid winter break, and four day weekend. I gotta get busy making some plans for things to do with them on my days off..... hoping to have some family fun together!!! :-)
In just three weeks from now I will celebrate my 43rd birthday. Along with getting my fire department annual physical ( I am actually excited to see how I have done since last year), I am also planning to have another body composition done. My goal is to get my body fat percentage down at around 10%, while still maintaining my lean body muscle mass. So, three weeks to work hard, train hard, eat right, and see what I can do. It would certainly be nice if the weather would cooperate better, so I can get out and back on the bike once again!!!!!
OK, time to go enjoy an afternoon cup of coffee..... thanks to all who lurk here, and who actually take the time read my musings!!! ;-)
G
Today is the 15th birthday of my beautiful young niece, Makenah. I am so happy for her, and proud of her. She is becoming a beautiful young woman, and a talented athlete in fast pitch softball. :-)
Today also marks my very first day back to Homestead Fitness Center, after three long months away at the YMCA in Lynden. I have missed Homestead, and have struggled tremendously with getting good workouts at the Y, and it feels so very good to be back "home" once again. I went and worked out this morning on my own, and had great run, painful Stairmaster clobbering, and a very nice hot tub soak to finish it off with. I left feeling so good, so alive, so much better, and looking forward to my next workout!!!!! :-) YAY!!!
I go to work again tomorrow, and then on Thursday and Friday, the kids have NO school.....mid winter break, and four day weekend. I gotta get busy making some plans for things to do with them on my days off..... hoping to have some family fun together!!! :-)
In just three weeks from now I will celebrate my 43rd birthday. Along with getting my fire department annual physical ( I am actually excited to see how I have done since last year), I am also planning to have another body composition done. My goal is to get my body fat percentage down at around 10%, while still maintaining my lean body muscle mass. So, three weeks to work hard, train hard, eat right, and see what I can do. It would certainly be nice if the weather would cooperate better, so I can get out and back on the bike once again!!!!!
OK, time to go enjoy an afternoon cup of coffee..... thanks to all who lurk here, and who actually take the time read my musings!!! ;-)
G
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