Weekend Captures

~2 Dozen White Roses~

~85 Chocolate Cupcakes~

~8 Bowls of Punch~

~(unlimited) Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing~

~106 Strawberry Shortcakes~

Added up...

made for a busy and yet beautiful Weekend.

~~~~~

My problem is this:

I have too many of these leftover.

If I could, I would ship them away! 

But alas  I cannot.

And so...

I believe this means I am in for a very 

Sweet Week.

Signing for my First Half Ironman

It's Saturday.
I have lots to do but I also am trying to settle on a race schedule for next year.
My Bucket List and Goal Sheet sit staring at me daily.

My next contemplation lies here.....

http://ajourneytotri.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-703.html

Hope you all Have a Wonderful Weekend...

(and I heard many of you are getting snow~~

even before I have had even a snowflake 
up here in the north!:)

Reason to Climb

A few weeks ago I took a quick hike up into one of my favorite mountain spots.
When you reach the end of the hike, it opens up into a view of 2 beautiful lakes surrounded by walls of mountain rock....a favorite place for the avid mountain climber.
(The REAL mountain climbers.)

As I watched this guy make his way up the face of this particular side, it struck me as to how we all seem to be climbing.
Somewhere.
Climbing up, climbing over, climbing across, climbing in....but we all seem to be on an adventure of a climb.

I guess it doesn't matter where you climb- so long as when you get to the end of the climb, you can be proud of what you accomplished.
And even more importantly...proud of the way that you handled the climb to wherever it is you wanted to be...

I hope to look back and see that I climbed with grace.
At the moment grace is lacking.
Think I need to step back and reassess the climb I am on.

For if we don't climb with honor, sincerity, a purpose...what good is the climb?
 It is merely a climb..... to no where.

Happy Climbing

Rocket Girl

I was listening to this song the other day, feeling sorry for myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I have it playing on my ipod when I run...thinking the title alone should inspire me to run faster....having "rocket" in the title and all.

{I know it doesn't work when I look at my pace, but it was an idea to inspire speed...})

Anyway.

My mood has been melancholy as of late.

I haven't been inspired, or felt a moment of elation in anything that normally thrills me,

and I feel as though I have lost my "upbeat-ness" somewhere out there.

I feel  I'm that Rocket Girl....traveling away into far unknown places.....

or places that aren't usually seen by the average person.

~if only in my mind.~

How about China?

I want to run along the Great Wall.....

take in the gardens and walk the bridges.

Then there are the plains of Africa.

A safari or 2....catching glimpses of never-ending plains where exotic animals roam.

And Mt. Kilimanjaro is on my list to hike.

Even a trip "Down by the Bay" would be lovely.

A row in my Rowboat amongst the reeds and cattails....

catching sight of a fish leaping from the water or strange birds diving for lunch.

My dream....Italy.

Where laundry is hung between homes and the pieces flutter above your head in the sunlight.

Flowers in the open window sills....music and wine and the best of Italian food.

The Swiss Alps. 

I've wanted to go there ever since I was in Grade 6 and had to do a report on those mountains.

To climb, or ski, or just listen to a yodel as the sound bounces between the peaks.

After the song ends and the pictures in my mind slow down a bit...

I stop.

And realize something.

All those places I dream of.....yes....are actually out there somewhere.

But those scenes can be found right here in my backyard.

And I get to see them all for free.

~~~~~

~all photos above taken from right here...

where I  already am.~

The waiting game

It knows that as soon as it gives in to the fall, 

the winds of winter will begin breathing down our necks.

I'm cheering it on to hang up there just a bit longer.

The Waiting Game

It knows that as soon as it gives in to the fall, 

the winds of winter will begin breathing down our necks.

I'm cheering it on to hang up there just a bit longer.

A week of Numbers

 Monday morning to this moment...has been an accumulative 109 hours and 18 minutes.


Training~wise... (as of this morning), I  have logged a total of 93km....on the bike, rowing machine, at the pool, and in my running shoes.


School with the kids....have covered 5 more lessons of math, 2 in spelling,  1 Science Unit, and a ton of writing in composition books.


Football practices....6 between the 2 boys, 3 games Saturday.


Bills paid....3. One more this afternoon.


Sleep....too little to mention.


Grocery trips...4.


A week full of numbers, hours, moments.


My favorite so far has been the number of these I made with 2 boys 4 days ago.
There are 0 left.


The number I consumed....will be the only number I don't share with you in this post;D

Have a Sweet Weekend....in all you have planned to do.

Or maybe....we should all just sit back and take a numberless weekend off!

I'm thinking of making another 18 of these anyway.

~~~

A thought...or few

If the 'road ahead' was unknown,

and 'around the corner' was a mystery....

would you travel that way?

                If the grass looked greener on the other side...

would you jump the fence?

Do you bloom where you're planted~

                               sow seeds where you should?

If you want to be somewhere seemingly unimaginable,

do you break through the stubborn cracks of "society's mold"

to get there?

~And~

 if you truly believed that each new day was a gift...

                                        just how would you unwrap it?

More than just one day~

~Simply Thankful~

I think we can take more than just one day in which to be thankful.

~Wishing ALL of you a Happy Thanksgiving.~

superheroes~

This year is completely different from all the other years I have taught my kids.

Instead of 4....I now teach only the 2 youngest...as the older are off on their other learning adventures.

It seems so strange, and yet...I've embraced it as another season of my life. And theirs.

Thankfully, these 2 get along amazingly.

For sure, there are still brawls on  the front lawn - and arguments over  whose turn it is for chores-

but the friendship between these 2 is golden.

I'm trying to capture every moment with the two of them....as sooner than later,

I won't have them at home either.

*sniff*

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.
-- Marc Brown

~~~~~

Left Alone~

Some say if you break a problem into parts....it's easier to figure out.

In this case, 

I do believe it's just a lot of work no matter how you view it.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think this problem can just rest easy on the big hill out back...

for some problems are probably better 

just left alone.

~(Linked to Barn Charm~)

choice or tide

Action implies ~ I’ve made a choice. 

Movement can mean ~ simply drifting with the tide.

Never confuse movement with action.

~Ernest Hemingway ~