Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

I thought that the friends I made when I first moved to Austin would eventually form my family away from family. That didn't work out like I expected. I've concluded that most of the friends I've made through the kids, have not translated into social interactions sans children. That's the crux of it. So, how can I actively find and keep female friends; women who I consider my band of sisters? And will they view our relationship the same way I do? And how is this latest harbinger of head-hurt related to understanding my world? Here it comes. Because I don't interact with people on an everyday basis, (my contact today has been the boys and the Ozarka guy dropping off water), I miss out on the office conversation about the latest news, gadgets, social networking, etc. Now, I'm left to my own devices to acquire and assimilate my world, but what I lack in richness I make up for in diversity. Which brings me to why I am pondering about my peeps. (As a testament to thi

Yesterday I was at our neighbourhood swimming pool and I saw a Mom with 3 daughters at the pool - maybe 4, 3 and one less than 1 year, none of whom could swim. I was in the water for maybe 1 1/2 hrs, and the whole time I was there she was holding the baby in her left arm, supporting the 3 year-old with her right (who had arm floaties on), while the eldest was off with a pool noodle. None was able to stand in the water. Who does that? How can you effectively supervise two, young, mobile kids at the pool with a handicap (the baby)? Geez, I get a headache thinking about three. Two is all I can manage and even then, one is old enough to have some sense. She was such a pro that she took the baby to the washroom without the two older girls. If it was me, everybody was going to the restroom, whether they liked it or not. Maybe with girls you may have more confidence that they would look out for one another, but if they were boys, it was more dangerous to have them together. They get ..

It's been some time since I wrote about my writing (yes, that does sound odd), and I wanted to give everyone an update. I realized that in the last post referencing my writing Are you brave? , I didn't actually admit that I was working on an article to submit to a magazine (example of me being not brave). Well, I finished the article, submitted it and was rejected forthwith. Unsurprisingly, the comment back was while "good" it wasn't appropriate for the readership of the magazine I'd selected. I re-wrote the article, re-submitted it and haven't heard back. I'd planned to follow-up in two weeks which turned into three then four. The truth is, once I had written the piece, it wasn't urgent anymore and I lost interest in it. Who knows, it might make an appearance on this blog at some point in the future. In the meantime I am working on a submission (1,500 words or less) to the Writer's Digest annual competition . Sad to admit, but what I am

I recently listened to Raising Boys by John Eldredge (Ransomed Heart Ministries). What John talks about with the others on the cd are what they have done/are doing to be deliberate in helping their sons negotiate their path from boys to men and everything that comes in-between. If you have sons I would recommend you take a listen. Having said that, I'll give you fair warning: It is Christian-based but the Bible does not form a large part of the discussion They talk about boys learning to be men from other men. Not women. The behaviours described are what you would typically hear associated with boys (climbing, fishing, guns, big machinery, danger) Even if this may not be quite what you would expect to get insights from, you, like me, may still find the key points valuable. I've put what I like at the end of this post. My boys do act like they discuss on the cd. I remember one breakfast morning, Lucas ate around his buttered toast into a shape of a gun. He was 3 if so

This parenting business is not easy, as I'm sure I've said before and definitely two heads are better than one (especially if they aren't knocking against one another). My view of my husband's parenting style is that he is too lenient and, you can imagine what he thinks of mine since I am just the opposite. Very often, whenever Lucas wants something or asks me to do something, I always see why he can't get it or can't do it. What I've learnt from Gunnar is to always try and figure out a way to make it happen. If it means that much to him, I should at least think about it. What does that mean in practice? Lucas wanted to have a tea party yesterday. In case you are wondering why he wanted a tea-party, all I can say is that of all the habits of mine he could have adopted, tea-drinking was it. Anyway, my first thought was 'No', Liam would want, the sugar and caffeine would get them hyped up, it would spoil their appetites for dinner. No. And then I

Since I listened to my first audiobook, I've found that I can enjoy some books even if I only listen. So I decided to invest in a personal cd-player. I think my husband was just too embarrassed to see me walk around with this clunking old-age technology; so much so that he decided to give me a (very) early birthday present. An iPod. It is great! How could I have lived so long without one? Beneficial side-effects include having unobtrusive ear-buds (Liam hasn't pulled the iPod off me yet) and I can more easily ignore crying and wailing when I have them on. I've also downloaded a few podcasts, a couple about a topic near and dear to my heart which shall remain nameless, and frankly, they weren't very good. So you can imagine what comes next, maybe I can do a podcast? Maybe a podcast of my blog? Hmmm..then I might actually have to, well, be consistent and write more and have...thoughts. Maybe I could do something else, like talk about home. Anybody interested in hear

This post was the first one I ever wanted to post on my blog, but I thought that I didn't have the right words; that I would come off as arrogant or ignorant or both and alienate any would-be readers. After all this time, I don't have any better words, so I'll just go ahead anyway. When I was growing up, apparently I was very competitive. Then, it was the natural order of things. Now, looking back using the wisdom of age, I would describe it as "competitive" - not liking even being near the middle of the heap. So what does that have to do with the price of tea? I was concerned that even in first grade, Lucas only received alphabetic grades indicating whether he was performing acceptably or not. At his age, I was tested every term (semester) and ranked against all the other students in my class, by subject and overall. I knew what my percentage was and I grew up thinking about who I needed "to beat" in exams. That was my measure. I wasn't comp

My sister-in-law recently made a comment to me about reading one of my blog posts and "inspiration". Either she was questioning where I got my inspiration, or commenting that I gave her inspiration. I'm not sure, and I'm not being deliberately vague here, I just didn't catch the full sentence (boy noises in the background you see, and then we were on to another more juicy topic). I didn't care about the exact wording because it was intended to be a compliment...I hope. Anyways, regarding getting inspiration for my blog, I am not sure it's about inspiration at all. My conclusion is that now that my brain is pretty much clear of work-related crap (presentations, processes, protocol, politics, etc), my mind is empty. Free to roam into all sorts of previously unexplored territory. I am actually able to think about the random ideas that cross my mind instead of having them quickly replaced by deliverables with deadlines. I have availability. The downside of thi