Category Archives: 101 in 1001

Listography #1: Things I’m Looking Forward To in 2013

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I’ve watched Crystal, Heather, and Melinda write their weekly lists for 2-ish years now, and I love every post. I hope they don’t mind, but I’d like to use their prompts each week on my own blog – I love the self-exploration and discovery, the reminiscing, the gratitude, the appreciation, the wonderment of it all. So, without further ado:

List #1: Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2013

  • Mexico. Always Mexico…I think it’s what gets me through these short, cold days!
  • Two sweet little bugz turning 5 years old
  • Festival/performance season as The Boss, for the first time in 8 years. Eeks!
  • Summer projects, like putting baseboards in our house, building new gardening beds, and more
  • Two months off this summer
  • Those little bugz climbing the steps to the big yellow school bus this September…although I’m equally scared about letting my babeez go off into the world!
  • (having two to three full days to myself this fall…)
  • More skiing this winter
  • Teaching the bugz to ride big-girl bikes, and surprising them with new bikes for their birthday this year
  • Saving for, planning, and booking our 2014 Disney Cruise!!!
  • Running outside when the weather warms up
  • Finishing up my 2nd round of 101 in 1001
  • Wrapping up the first “new” season of Expressions Dance Studio in 16 short weeks – ahhhhh!
  • Travelling to Vegas again for the Dance Teacher Web expo
  • More nights curled up on the couch with Leith, watching cheesy TV shows and bad movies together
  • Continuing the guilty pleasure of my Sweet Valley High book club with my childhood friend :)

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 

The Year of Nothing

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While the rest of the blogosphere is coming down from the buzz of deciding their New Year’s Resolutions and writing their Year in Review posts, I am sitting in my bed thinking about how little I plan to do in 2013.

You see, I decided that 2013 shall be The Year of Nothing.

2012 was all about kicking ass. And it really, really did. It was incredible. But it was so incredible that I really, truly just want to spend a year doing nothing.

I don’t mean to imply that I’m going to sit on my bum in my pyjamas and eat raw cookie dough all year as much as I love the sound of that. I mean that, for the first time ever, I’m not making any sweeping, dramatic plans for the year ahead.

Race schedule? Zero.
Wild holidays? None (other than Mexico, of course…how awesome is it that Mexico is just “standard” now??)
Major diet changes? Meh.
New skills? Don’t need ‘em.

I have two things to accomplish this year: finish my 101 in 1001, and find one more teacher for my studio for next fall (or convince Miss Krista to teach two nights a week for me!). Other than that, it’s free and easy down the road I go: Finish choreography, have my students perform, spend a lazy summer with my beautiful family, escape to Vegas for a little professional development (!!), and begin the life of a kindergarten parent next fall. Hang up my stay-at-home mom hat for 2-3 days a week. Hopefully only teach 2 nights a week instead of 3.

Just be.

Ahhhh…do you hear that? It’s the sound of unwritten/unfinished goals whooshing past into the shadows of my past. It’s the sound of simple existence. This is The Year of Nothing.

And for me, that will be quite something.

Snow bugz!

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We had the chance to get away during the Christmas break!! Leith and I really wanted to, but it wasn’t looking realistic…until we suddenly booked a Saturday night in Canmore. We originally planned to ski at Lake Louise, but right after Christmas, we decided that cross-country skiing was more within our budget.

Read: $90 for 2 days, instead of close to $500!

The bugz received princess skis for Christmas. They were a great little purchase: $40 for skis that strap to their winter boots, grow with them, work for beginner downhill and cross-country,and includes poles. We really wanted to get them out and used to the winter, instead of hiding indoors for 8 months…

We decided to get cross-country sets for ourselves as well. There are so many places to go where we live, and it’s so much cheaper to get outfitted than for downhill! Our skis weren’t ready to go before we left, but we had boots, so off we went…

We spent Saturday at the Canmore Nordic Centre, where Sku met us and helped out big time. My kids always respond so well to her :) She had them out on their skis while we waited in line for our rentals. By the time we caught up, Kit-Kat was in love with skiing. C-boo was doing really well, but she wasn’t as confident as her sister.

We went about 1.5km down the easy trail before we turned around. It was slow-going, and not at all the workout I expected, but it was so much fun! It was nice to take it easy, too – I hadn’t skied since Girl Guide camp in 1992 or 1993… C-boo tired out quickly, and was done. She alternated between skiing and stubbornly trying to carry her skis!

We warmed up with some hot cocoa in the lodge, and then headed out for some skating! Grammy and Poppa gave the bugz their first ice skates this year, and they were SO excited to finally try skating!! Kit-Kat was a natural once again. Within 5 minutes, she was actually taking steps on her own for short distances. When we left 30 minutes later, she was barely holding on to my hand for support!

C-boo wasn’t as confident, but she still got her skates on and tried! She liked “skating” with her winter boots on a little more ;)

We tried to get out again this morning, but it was much colder and neither kid wanted anything to do with skiing. I can’t blame them: they got more fresh air the day before than the entire month previous! We packed up before lunch and headed to Sku’s for a visit instead.

Today may have been a bust, but I’m still excited to get out again! I love downhill skiing, but it gets far too expensive far too quickly. For rentals and trail fees, we paid only $90 for two days of cross-country! At home, we’ll have our own equipment, and plenty of free trails. With more practice, I think our girls will learn to love winter :) As Kit-Kat said:

“I love skiing, but sometimes I don’t.”

Thank goodness for a big backyard!

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Well that escalated quickly…!

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Two weeks ago, I slipped on the ice. It was nothing at the time: slow motion slide to the ground as I walked around the back of my car. No bumps, no bruises. Just a sore palm from scraping against the ice as a last hurrah.

I was fine. Until the next night.

I made it through 15 minutes of 4-year old creative dance before I could no longer put my right hand on my waist. By the end of the night, I was sitting curled up in a ball, barely able to lift my head up to direct my students through their exercises.

It was pathetic.

Thankfully, a blizzard rolled through our area and I was able to cancel the next two nights of classes. Unfortunately, said blizzard also cut off my access to my physiotherapist and I wasn’t able to see her for a full week :( Let’s just say that the “healing” pain I finally endured made me sob silent tears into my pillow and pop more Motrin than I could refill in a day…

After tweeting with my angel of pain, it became clear: just dance (or just running, or just anything) wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I needed support. I needed strength. I needed to stop using physio as my personal expensive bottle of Advil to get me through the season. So I called in the pro:

Jessica Zapata from Infinite Fitness. A longtime twitter friend and renowned fitness expert in these parts…and by “parts”, I mean across the country. The woman is a force to be reckoned with. As I would soon find out…

Within a few days, with couple of keystrokes and an online coaching program made with love, I was laying on the carpet of my basement floor, willing myself to stand up. Thanks, Jess. You single-handedly destroyed me from the comfort of your home office. I love you THIS MUCH:

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She warned me: Monday and Saturday would be my hard days. But really??! Did she have to kill me? Because I didn’t realize “hard” was code for “kill Magz, or at least maim and leave for dead”. Sigh…

I started with 2:1 sprints. 8mph for 2 minutes, 5mph recovery for one minute. Not my old sprint speed, but for 3.5 months off, I’ll take it. Oh, wait: three sets. And then an insane 3-exercise circuit on my TRX suspension trainer. Wheeee! 3 rounds!!! Then 3 more rounds of sprints!!! Then another insane circuit of full body strength training. Then???!

She expected another round of sprints! For the ever-lovin-love-of-mother-truckin-mud. Thank goodness my IT-band decided to squawk loudly, thus allowing my dignity to creep down to a brisk walk without feeling like I was quitting.

I’ve never passively stretched so passively before. I basically laid on the floor and willed body parts to flop together while I trembled uncontrollably. I gulped water like I’d spent a month in the Mojave desert. If I breathed too quickly, I coughed like I’d inhaled a gust of sand and fiberglass insulation. I could barely hold up my own body weight to roll out my aching legs.

Then I dragged my sore-y ass upstairs and poured myself into a bath that was half Epsom-salt brine.

Tomorrow is my day off. Someone should really check in to make sure I’m not dead. Don’t panic if I don’t pick up my phone. The thing weighs something like 85 grams. So. Heavy.

This, my friends, is payback for every client I made puke or cry while I did a “maintenance” workout after their session. And then drove to McDonald’s.

Karma is a bitch.

1000

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1000 posts.

That’s a lot of rambling to put up with over the last 4+ years. It’s a little over 250 posts each year. You’ve listened to me ramble a lot.

Sometimes, it’s been inane mutterings. Sometimes, I’ve actually had something good to say. I’ve covered the gamut, from breastfeeding to mom-formula, from policing to cancer, from twins to contraception. It’s never boring around here!

I’ve fought with my Christmas tree and with my demons. I’ve moved and changed jobs. Myyyy, how I’ve changed jobs! I’ve baked and cooked and gardened. I’ve made cheese. I’ve been through not one, but two 101 in 1001 lists. Well…the first one ended in defeat, and the second is still in progress.

I’ve travelled alone and with my husband, and even with my kids. I’ve taken pictures along the way, and journaled my way through life. I’ve made good choices and bad choices. I’ve even made really bad choices. I’ve told my story.

And along the way, I’ve developed some fabulous friendship through the ether. I’ve cultivated relationships and poured my heart to my readers, who have loved me and accepted me with open arms for the most part.

So, to thank you for this, I’m having a little giveaway:

Leave me a comment on this milestone post about your favourite MagzD post in the past 4.5 years.

Let me know what your favourite charity is as well, and in one week, I will draw a random comment. I will give $100 to that commenter’s charity, and $100 to the Canadian Cancer Society as well.

You know, just to say thanks for putting up with me. Xoxo.

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This post is a part of the Summer Blog Challenge (and I’m still down by two!!). Join the rest of us:

Natural Urban Mama
This Mom’s Got Something To Say
The Dulock Diaries
2 Plus 2×2

Cash checkup

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Just over a month ago, I had a massive sewing fit and somehow managed to sew THESE: fabric cash envelopes, into which went our family’s weekly spending allowance. Each envelope was labelled, and a certain amount of cash was allotted to each category: food, fuel, entertainment, gifts, and dog/physio.

Yes, my dog food and physiotherapy share an envelope.

Anyway, after a month, this is what happened:

  • The first week was a wild success! I was almost $100 under budget, and it all went into a big glass (former kombucha vessel) jar on the counter
  • The second week was also a screaming success
  • I’m assuming the third week was also a success. I was in Calgary/Las Vegas for the entire week, and Leith didn’t make a single debit card purchase. I arrived home to find my family clean and fed…
  • Last week was a bit of a wagon-drop: we didn’t withdraw cash, but we still stayed within the budget overall. The best part?? All the excess money in the jar paid for a two-day trip to Drumheller and the Calgary Zoo, with an overnight in a hotel!

This week, I’m cashless again, seeing if I can stay below our means on my debit card. I’ve spent our food allowance on groceries and meal planning, so I don’t anticipate anymore food purchases. I spent $157.50 on an annual family pass to the Telus World of Science on Wednesday, so it kind of threw things off kilter. My only “allowed” expenditure this week are fuel for my car, as a result. But I’m not too worried :) We have swimming lessons and our TWoS membership to entertain us, and a fridge full of food with a menu on the side!

So far, the cash-only lifestyle is great. The fact that one month allowed us to go on a small family holiday was fantastic! A “free” vacation feels a lot greater than one where you pulled strings to pay.

This fall, the big goal will be sticking to food budget and meal planning. My dance classes start in just over a week, and I need to be diligent about preparing our meals so that we don’t fall into a weekday convenience rut. Fortunately, the bugz’ only paid activity this fall will be swimming lessons ($110 for both girls, each session) and their (free) dance classes at my studio. We won’t be spending the big money at play cafes like last winter, and we have our now-paid-for TWoS membership for the cabin fever days!

What changes will you be making to your budget this fall?

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This post is a part of the Summer Blog Challenge! Join the rest of us:

Natural Urban Mama
This Mom’s Got Something To Say
The Dulock Diaries
2 Plus 2×2

Family time

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A short and sweet blog tonight, as I snuggle in to a soft, fluffy bed with my family. We’ve ordered a movie in our hotel room, and we have a high cuddle quota to meet. We’re dino’d and swim’d right out!

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Time for some quiet family time until we fall asleep together…and rest until it’s zoo time tomorrow!

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This post is a part of the Summer Blog Challenge! Join the rest of us:

Natural Urban Mama
This Mom’s Got Something To Say
The Dulock Diaries
2 Plus 2×2

The Moose is Loose

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I’m going to start this off with the biggest disappointment:

Despite the name, there was NO moose anywhere on the race course.

Sadness.

But I did get up bright and early today to run my second half marathon!! It was also my second half marathon in 2012, and my second half marathon in 6 weeks!!

I was a little disappointed in the course. I was expecting a rolling 21.1km of trails. Instead, I got a fairly flat course that was only about half trail. The rest was paved pathway. Not quite the “trail run” I’d been told about… The course volunteers were also less than enthusiastic for the most part, sitting in chairs, not clapping or cheering, barely acknowledging the runners.

But the sun was shining, and it wasn’t yet scorching hot out. Once the initial bottleneck thinned out, I had a really enjoyable 21k! My IT band didn’t bother me until 14k, and it didn’t stop me in my tracks until almost 18k. Even still, I was able to keep a normal gait this time ;)

I also ran the full distance! I took 5 seconds to walk and chug 2oz of water at 4 aid stations, and about 15 seconds when my IT band smacked me at 18k, but that’s it! My pace was awesome too: I varied between 5:30 min/km and 6:30 min/km for an average pace of 6:00 min/km. I was blown away! While my “burst” at Footstock was 5:30, I ran my last kilometer at about 4:15, with energy to spare!

All that speed meant that I knocked nearly FIVE MINUTES off my Footstock time! I finished in 2:05:56 by my Garmin!!

Crazy!

Half marathon #2 is done for 2012! I don’t think I’d do this race again, but it was still a nice morning. There’s no rest for the wicked though: next week’s long run is 18 miles in preparation for Kelowna!

Meanwhile, I have another finisher’s medal to add to my collection:

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Whole 30 – Week One

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My meal plans are set out for the next seven days! Today and tomorrow are my farewell-to-grain days, as I am preparing for the Moose is Loose half marathon in the morning. Monday morning is the start of my Whole 30 Challenge!!

Breakfasts:

  • Egg muffins with spinach, sausage, onion, and pepper
  • Ground turkey with onion, kale, and apples
  • Shredded chicken with yam/carrot/onion hash
  • Sausages with sweet potato hash brown cakes
  • Omelette with spinach, onion, peppers
  • Apples with almond butter, hard boiled eggs, left-over asparagus
  • Shredded chicken with apples, onions and carrots

Lunches:

  • Spinach salad with tuna, avocado, peppers, and cucumber
  • Spinach salad with salmon, red onion, capers, and olives
  • Peppers stuffed with tuna, carrots, peppers, avocado, mayonaise
  • Shredded chicken, sweet potatoes, fruit
  • Omelette with sausage, kale, and asparagus
  • Left-over beef roast with kale, onion, green beans and sweet potato
  • Left-over beef stew with apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and onion

Dinners:

  • Spaghetti squash with ground beef, diced tomatoes, spinach, onions, and peppers
  • Beef roast with kale, onion, carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans
  • Beef stew with apples, carrots, sweet potatoes and onion
  • Turkey chili with tomatoes, onions, and kale
  • Cauliflower pizza dough with sausage, onion, tomatoes, and peppers
  • Sausages with onions, apples, kale, and cucumber salad
  • Crustless spinach quiche

I’ll be honest: looking at my meal plan, the estimated cost of groceries for this week terrified me! Nothing but fresh produce and meat! And this is my first week of living on cash only! What if it was more than the $200 I allotted us??

I had a handful of the ingredients already (5 peppers, green beans, cucumbers, riced cauliflower, diced tomatoes, almond butter, and capers) but I needed to buy everything else. When the cashier at Superstore finished ringing up my items, I was shocked!


Shocked!!!

Now, I still need 2 rotisserie chickens (those are my lazy-protien days ;) ) and a spaghetti squash, so my final total will be closer to $150. I’m sure I could do a little better on the produce if I went to H&W Produce, but I didn’t want to make 2 trips into the city today.

Not bad, hey? And this is for ALL FOUR of us!

Switching to gluten-free grain flours and products bumped my monthly food bill from $600/month to $850. It kills me to spend $4-8 on a loaf of bread. This will take a huge chunk off that total, AND it will also keep Leith from buying lunch every day. $8-10 a day, 5 days a week?? That’s another $200 a month saved right there!

I am so excited, and my mouth is watering just looking at the menu. I can’t wait to start…48 hours to go!

The No’s: any grains/rice/quinoa, seeds (including peas and corn), soy, dairy, legumes, sugar, caffeine (other than tea), and alcohol

I can’t wait to share the results with you :)

I came, I sewed, I conquered

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This is the post that almost wasn’t.

I have never raged so loudly. I have never sworn so passionately. I have never took to Twitter with such vehemence over a machine.

I have never spit gravel up as I torn out of the driveway in a sewing-filled rage as I did today.

Remember this?

Well, today was the day. I bought, washed, pressed, cut, ironed and prepared 10 squares of fabric last night. This morning, I made breakfast and then hauled my sewing machine out of its dusting corner. I diligently read the instructions and followed every one.

And it jammed. Over and over and over and over and over until all I saw was red hatred.

And then I had a temper tantrum and told Twitter that they could have my stupid, non-magical sewing machine for $100, with a free helping of crushed hopes and dreams.

Me? Dramatic? Never.

Then my Gramma called me. Through picture messages and her 70+ years of sewing experience, she tried to walk me through. We did everything right, and it still didn’t work. So, out of sheer love and compassion, she told me to do this:

 

To Gramma:
Please sew my fabric squares together and make them look pretty?
Love,
Magz

Gramma fixes everything, even if you have to mail it to her for her to sew and send back to you because you are an embarrassment to the 21st century sewing establishment…

With the stuffed envelope in hand, I went to buy groceries. You know, instead of continuing to rage at any living or inanimate thing that crossed my path… While I was out, I decided that this ongoing sewing debacle had earned me the right to a DQ Blizzard and some wine. I walked into the liquor store and immediate saw three bottles:

I bought the first two.

When my mom found out that I was ridiculously sewing impaired, she was overcome with grief, resulting from her utter failure at raising a competent woman for the 21st century. Can’t cook, can’t sew, can’t manage her budget, can’t keep her house clean, has demon children… She was so overwhelmed and distraught by her wavering reputation that she actually drove all the way out to the boonies to school me in the ways of my Singer sewing machine.

And school me she did.

With minimal cursing, she figured out what was wrong with the blasted machine. And for the record? There WAS something wrong with the machine, and it WASN’T my fault. Stupid machine. She got it working, sewed some lines, and stayed until I could prove my worth as a shaky, newbie seamstress.

After she left, I did this:

Then, I did this:

I attached a bit of velcro:

And finally, I had these:

The white one ended up with a little flap, instead of velcro all the way across the top. I ran out of velcro strips and only had dots, so I improvised! I’ll be using this one for dog food, which is only a once-a-month purchase, so I won’t need to worry about containing coins ;)

Pay day is this coming Friday, so now that I have OWNED MY SEWING MACHINE AND MADE IT MY SLAVE, we are ready to start our cash-only spending!

And my mom is less embarrassed by me.

Win.