Barrel of Fun

I was sitting on my porch swing the other morning....minding my own business and trying to enjoy a coffee while madly swatting killer mosquitoes....

when my gaze kept being drawn to this barrel.

I had good intentions of cutting it in half and 

making flower boxes out of it to sit at the end of my driveway.

(Thank you dear sister-in-law who gave it to me FIVE years ago to do just that.)

Of course...it still sits where I plunked it, 

~or rather, rolled it~

when we were building our home.

(Another..."I will get around to it one day" project.)

Now the barrel sits like a permanent fixture. 

And I can't seem to find it in me to move it.

Now since that Barrel-Staring morning, I cannot seem to get the

Beer Barrel Polka

(click above link to listen. Or not.)

out of my head!

{A catchy little tune driving me a tad batty.}

~~~~~~~~~~~

I think feel a backyard Polka-party coming on...

(feel free to bring your accordion;)

Backdrop

The past can be used as a perfect backdrop for who you are in the present.

Monotony Breaker

Not too long ago,

2 people decided to escape the every-day monotony of routine and busy-ness,

 and take part in a City Chase Adventure.

They registered for the race, signed up under the name:

"2 Sole Racers".

Heart, Soul, (and Soles) were put to the test.

28 Checkpoints were hidden about the City-

10 of them needed to be completed within 6 hours.

450 teams of 2.

20+ degree weather.

Brand new runners.

Gun went off at 10am.

The Race was On.

~piano playing at an Arts Center.

~ posing with a paper by a water fountain.

~goalie equipment worn and hockey skills tested.

~pushing cars around parking lots.

~climbing 12 flights of stairs with 2 suitcases.

~lassoing

~chained together until you could unlock a code

~lacrosse

~worms

~Boa Constrictors

The 2.... managed to cross the Finish Line.

14km and 5hours 40 minutes later.

Surprisingly they were still speaking after it all.

The best part of the day had to be the end.

That was enough of a Monotony Breaker for awhile.

Normalcy and the mundane is once again appreciated:)

Spring Action

Around these parts....

May and June are months so filled with activity, 

you often wish you could just stay in bed.

You get pulled along by spring activities and year-end functions.

If you don't go along with it all....there's a chance you may get left behind.

Which wouldn't be a bad thing,

 if you could sit and enjoy the scenery somewhere 

amidst all the running and shuffling.

But every kind of duty calls....so you carry on.

And you look forward to the day when you can just stop 

and smell the roses.

Or any type of bloom for that matter.

LIFE IS GOOD.....

but is anyone else feeling the craziness of spring?

~~~~

Missing all your posts and can't wait to sit down once again and catch up.

Hope your May was spring-y and your June is full of even more beauty....

*Note of Irony....

after my last post on how dear I hold the invention of my 

washing machine....it broke down one hour later. 

And stayed broke for quite some time.

Life has a funny way of pulling my leg.

I actually could laugh over the irony of it all.

Maybe I'm finally growing up.....;)

Their Past to My Present

                               What has Past could not have been easy. When I think of all our forefathers did to get us to where we are today- I am more than amazed. 

{And as I scan my laundry room over this morning....

I am MOST grateful to the 'forefather' who invented my washing machine.}

In my books-

best (present) invention.

Ever.

Rainy Day Finds

{Youth}

{Frivolity}

{Potential}

~~~

I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness. 

- Adeline Knapp

Breaking the Rules

I finally found out why ducks have been waddling down my driveway.

Out in the trees at the edge of our road, there 

was a hideaway found.

I've made it a rule never to put all my eggs in one basket.

Guess there are exceptions to every rule.

Start to Finish!

Race day was beautiful.

It ended in thunderstorms...but that was fine by me.

I did it!

My first 13.1 mile run.

I had never run that far before...even in my training.

Ask me 3 years ago and I would have said that distance was insane.

Now.........I say those running the full marathon were insane.

Who in the world would run 42km?!

(Ask me in a year or 2....)

:))

I had wonderful cheer people along the course.....my own family as well as my sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew.

My "GO" sign made by my niece which she flashed at me at the 17km mark.

(It was much needed!)

My pumpkin shoes which my cheer people said they really appreciated.

I was easy to pick out in the throng of runners;)

In action.

(It looks blurry because I was going so fast....bahaha.)

Heading for the finish....

(where I crossed without crawling)....and was given my finishers medal and surrounded by my sweet family who had drove all over the city to cheer me on in different places along the route.

(My Goal Time : 2:10

My Time: 2:08:52)

yessssss!

Nothing feels better than finishing something you started!

A new camera....

....Phone.
It seems I still can't be courageous enough to buy and settle with a camera.
(I have indecisiveness syndrome.)
But- I DID get a new phone...camera included;)


I took these this morning to try it out....on my Mother's Day gift I received. 
A sweet apple tree.


It's been so windy here, so the leaves look a bit rumpled. 
But it does have some blooms blooming.

(So happy to see more proof of spring, now that it's almost summer...)

~One day I will be courageous enough to settle down with a real camera~

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

New Title

I'm a tad tired of being puzzled.
I think I've fit enough pieces together since I began this blog almost 2 years ago, to make enough of a picture.
And I've come to terms and realizations in many matters.

So...I've been thinking of changing my name.

Truthfully - I have begun to see myself in a different light. As well as the place(s) around me.
It isn't all about me and what I do and where I live and what I think.
There is more than just me here.
I am only just one life in this big old world.

Not only that, I have come to the stark realization over the past while ~~
we only do get to go around this track of life one time!

Just once.
And I'm just one person.

So...new name;

"Just~One~Life"

Hope the new name change doesn't go and scare anyone.
I still, am me.
Now whether that's a good thing or not...you don't have to comment;)

A HUMONGOUS THANK YOU goes out to Navigating Northward for my new header.
I love it.
I sent her my favorite pictures and she put them together for me.
(I am so useless in the design department.)
I am so truly grateful you did this for me...
Thank You dear blog~friend!!!

Now.....go have a wonderful weekend!

And live life!

Real Life Adventure

(Photo taken by a friend during our recent adventure to Florida/Caribbean)

Don't you wish you knew what would happen if you chose a particular path....

Before you took it?~~

Wouldn't it be nice to know what the outcome would be....

Before it happened?~~

Then again...it wouldn't be real life.

And how much adventure would there be in 

that?

The First Half

FOUR more days.

4 days until I run my very 1st Half Marathon.

And I'm a bundle of nerves.

I'm not worried about the race against others, 

for I only race against myself.

And that's where the problem lies.

I have a goal time set in my mind that I want to run that 21km in. 

And I don't want to fail.

I want to make that goal.

And if I don't...

Regardless of crossing the finish line or not...I'll feel unfinished.

Ridiculous?

Probably just one more thing I need to truly work on.

Another mind battle.....

~~~

In honor of this upcoming first Half Marathon Milestone, 

(and because I needed a new pair), 

I bought myself these:

(Before you look, you may want to don a pair of shades....really.)

Not sure they'll make me run faster or not.

But I'm thinking that every time I catch a glimpse of them, they'll inspire me to pick up the pace:)

~~~~~

{On this "Goal" note;

I have signed up for a 170km / 2 day Bike Tour in June in order to help raise awareness and funds for the Canadian MS Society. Click on the link  (top right corner) and it will take you to my Homepage~~where you can sign on to help me in my goal for MS research. 

Or if you feel so inclined, sign up to bike with me!}

Bumpkin vs. Slicker

When I was 8 years old, my family moved from the city of Calgary...
{~~home to my favorite hockey team, (Yay Flames!), the Calgary Tower, and the infamous Peter's Drive-In~~~}

to a not so bustling town in Central Alberta...
{~~Where EVERYONE knew your name AND what you were up to.}


Driving into town one day, I remember sitting in the front passenger seat .... watching in fascination as my sweet mother impatiently rode a (very slow) truck's bumper. 


"Country Bumpkin!" she muttered.
Being 8 (and from the City), I inquired to what that was.


"This farmer in front of me! They drive so slow out here. 
Now we're from the city, so we're called City Slickers!"


From that moment on I was determined to keep my status as a City Slicker. 
Never a Country Bumpkin would I be. 
This going so slow wasn't quite as much fun as the pace we had come from.
~~~~~
Fast forward about 30 years, and yours truly is trying to maneuver her way through a bustling city at rush Hour last week.
Shaking.
In near tears.
And horrified at the rudeness of fellow human beings as they drove their vehicles past and nearly into my own.
I was stunned. And appalled at the impatience.


When I finally did reach my destination in one piece (and the weakness in my knees passed), I couldn't help but chuckle and wonder:
 just what all those City Slickers thought of my driving that day.

Stating the Obvious

Sometimes....

you don't have to state the obvious.

It's just....

obvious!

Like why in the world are these carrots labelled so?

No one needs to tell me he needs a good bath.

It's pretty obvious I wouldn't want this window washing job....

And don't tell me this is even close to pretty:

Simply obvious matters.

Like when I was standing (and cringing) in the middle 

of a corral 

surrounded by steers 

at my kids' 4H Day this week.... 

Another mom came up to me and stated,

 "You really don't  fit in here- do you?"

No.

It's obvious.

No need to be stated.

~~~

Some things....

 just are the way they are.

~

This old house...

....is calling my name.

I pass it every time I drive to town, and by the looks of the orange flags which decorate the land surrounding it~~~may be torn down soon.

It's my dream house.

I don't know why, but it calls my name every time I pass.

I wonder what it would take to pick it up and carry it home.....

Monday....

...is already here.

~~And I'm not quite ready for it.~~

~~~~

{While I'm away....

check out my Mom's Giveaway here: Giveaway!}

Wishing you a wonderful day....

~ taken on one of my favorite running trails ~

Seeing is believing....

The calendar may have SAID it was Spring, but I didn't believe it.Not for a moment.Until.... this week..

"Faith.....

the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen."

~~~~

~Somehow it's just so much 

easier to believe in something 

when you see it.~

(guess you could say I'm lacking in the Faith Department....)