Friday, July 27, 2012

Vacation and Upcoming Plans!




I know you've all been missing me like crazy and wondering where the heck I went, but it's summer and the livin' is loco! I'm totally lying. I had the plague which dragged on forever (I'm STILL coughing!) and then I started my two weeks of vacation with my family.

We did some travelling to see the in laws (haven't seen them since September! Yikes!), we have plans to visit our friends in North Bay, but it looks like a Halifax trip is on the back burner. For now, anyways. There's about 100 different reasons for that decision, but needless to say, the timing just isn't working out for us. We're hoping to still get there sooner than later, and I DO still have my Bluenose marathon registration for May that I had deferred from May 2011! We'll get there, my lovelies! Come hell or high water, one way or another....we'll be there.

Other than working on my sweet tan, I've been doing a lot of swimming laps thanks to my sister's pool, as well as walking. I don't know HOW people run in the heat. Like, at all. While at the in laws I swam, walked a lot, played badminton, jumped waves and "mostly" watched my diet. I didn't lose anything, but good news is, I also didn't gain! I take that as winning.

August is going to go by fast and furious! It's my daughters birthday and my anniversary, but I also have a bunch of physical activity plans-which I'm loving!

I'm taking a Stand Up Paddling course in August which I think will be a lot of fun, but also a big mess. We'll see how shaky I am with the whole balance thing! I also joined a group of women doing runs every Thursday  evening in my neighbourhood.  It will start at 4.5km and increase the distance from there. My goal is to run the whole 5k without stopping (I currently have been doing 15 mins run, 2 mins walk, 15 mins run) and to improve my speed as well. Second to that, I'd like to increase my distance to 10k. One step at a time, I know!

Lastly, I have some goals for the year ahead that will be starting just before my birthday in September and will be continuing throughout my 39th year. I'll tell you all about that as we get a little closer!

I'm SO excited about what's to come....but also trying to just live in the moment and savour every day individually. As my daughter would say, "YOLO!"

Friday, July 13, 2012

Beachy Keen




We had been in the pool all afternoon, and were back in the house, hair all salty and messy. I was reaching into the fridge to grab something to grill for dinner, with the plan of a salad on the side and some grilled veggies, when the feeling hit me. Standing there in my bare feet, no makeup on my face for the 10th day in a row, I realized, "I wish I lived like this every day." 

I'm not a heat girl, unless I'm by the water. If I'm beach or poolside, bring it on! I've been thinking a lot lately (I know, big surprise!) that I ache for a simple, beachy life. I would be ecstatically happy to spend days by the water, my hair a tangled wavy messy and with easy, comfy shorts and a tee thrown on, without a thought or care in the world about "outfits" and looking "put together."  It's truly when I'm happiest. I get up in the morning and I'm ready to go in less than 10 minutes. I quickly run a brush through my unruly mane, brush my teeth and go.

There was a Dalai Lama quote on Pinterest that really struck me, about how we're all living in bigger houses, with more things, but less time. We're all busy with so much in our lives, and we don't have time to enjoy any of it. Maybe it's nearing 40 and that whole "mid-life crisis" thing is for real, but I am at this point of re-evaluation. Is the daily rote what life is truly all about? Is this it for the next "however long?"

Moving back to Ottawa was supposed to be for a better quality of life, to be able to pursue "more."  I'm SO happy to be back with my oldest besties, with the capability of seeing them all whenever time and schedules allow, and I'd be sad to have to give that up yet again. On top of that, I really feel like it's time to let my kids have a bunch of years in one place, to finish school together with a group they know more than a year or two or maybe three. I'm not "unhappy" here. In a weird twist of events, I just want....less.....and Ottawa is all about "more."  Or so it seems, anyways.

I'd love a smaller, beachier house on the water. A place where I get up in the morning and throw on the same shorts and t-shirt as I wore yesterday to sip coffee by the waves. Where I could swim and sun and run.  Where I could make easy dinners in my bare feet. Where maybe I had less, but my soul felt free and like it could soar. It's Canada, so I know winter would change those bare feet into fuzzy socks, but maybe the months of hippy ease would linger to dull the winter's chill in my bones.

This really isn't about Halifax....it's more about redefining the "dream," I guess. Even though I'm an anxious OCD type, somewhere in there is a bit of a beach girl that doesn't care about what kind of car we drive or the size of our home or keeping up with the Jones. I've just realized that I'm halfway through my life-if I'm lucky-and my vision for the future is different than what it was 20, 15, 10, or 3 years ago.

I'm not sure where that dreaming will lead, or what will happen, because who ever knows these things,  but for now, I'm enjoying every messy, freckled, sun kissed, salty haired moment.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Sick As A Dog = Disjointed Blog

This blog post is going to be a 'lil bit 'o this and a 'lil bit 'o that because frankly I'm slightly delirious and yet felt like putting thoughts down for the world to see.

I felt exhausted and just not quite "right" all of this week. When I went to bed on Thursday night, my throat was starting to feel scratchy and I felt a little congested. I woke up the next morning with a horrible sore throat, barking cough, fever, and sinus congestion. If you add in some body aches, fatigue and a headache-you're the winner in the "guess how crappy Tracey feels" contest!

I'm a horrible sick person. I get super frustrated and impatient to be better. I don't like taking meds of any type, so I go by my own little beliefs which include Pho, tea, toast and honey, ginger ale, and anything hot. It works, and never a medicated hazy moment! I'm hoping that tomorrow I'm feeling way, way, way more like myself because frankly, who has time to be sick? I especially don't have time to be sick in July! What the?

In other news, I'm still on the Insanity crazy train. I didn't get all of my workouts in this week for various reasons, but let me just say-Month 2? It's NUTS. The "Max Cardio" workout? I can't even begin to describe it to you. It's 48 minutes of nonstop jumping and punching and squats and planks. There is *maybe* one water break in the whole thing. I was swearing, grunting, lying on the ground. I'm actually nervous for the next time it's in my rotation.(umm, this week) I have three more weeks to go of Insanity. I have to say though, I am seeing LOTS of changes and I feel pretty bad ass/hard core for even doing it in the first place! I'm down a total of 26 lbs as of this week, since January. That's not too shabby!

I also ran twice this week. Some of my runs lately have left me feeling like a rock star, in that I was pretty sure I can do 5k in 30 minutes or so. See how I said "was" there? This week was a total disaster. Maybe it was the heat, or the fact I ran at night after eating dinner, or the fact that my body knew it was going to have a total sick breakdown-but two of my runs were BRUTAL and felt like I was moving through molasses. Honestly, everyone tells me the race I'm doing in the fall isn't one to worry about time and speed-it's just a run to soak in everything around you. That's weird for me, because honestly, I don't feel like there's a point in doing it if I'm not kicking my own butt, know what I mean? Guess we'll see come race day.

I have a big Bucket List both for summer and for the year ahead, but I'll leave you hanging until I post allll about it. Right now, top of my list is to stop coughing like my lungs are exploding and to clear the jackhammers from inside my skull!