Pan Can update

So far we have raised $1860.00. 

 I hope that everyone knows how much they are appreciated for their support in this endeavour. 

Finding Zen

 Zen ...what exactly does it mean? 

 The whole point of Zen is to become fully aware, here and now.  Zen demands one to “Come to your senses!”, for when you get lost in thoughts of the past or future, life passes you by.   When you  mindfully focus in the present moment, you can completely dissolve into whatever manifests.   Each moment is filled with a profound peace and clarity.  Each moment is perceived to have significance, charged with magic and mystery, infinitely precious.  

I found my Zen this morning residing with a sweet young man behind the Starbuck's counter. After a morning that had not gone well I decided to treat myslef to a latte. While in Seattle I had discovered the vanilla chai latte. It wasn't on the posted menu but I took a chance and asked for it anyway, fully prepared to be told it was not available. Instead, this wonderful young man with a beautiful accent asked how I wanted it prepared and made it perfectly. The first taste was wonderful, pure bliss. Nothing else came into my world at that moment except the taste of the chai as it flowed into my mouth, biting the back of my tongue as it continued down my throat. That moment of zen stayed with me.  I actually giggled most of the way home, enjopying the happy peace that had settled over me. 

I need to find a way to be fully present, right here, right now, more often and enjoy the moments of Zen that present themselves. So the lesson is..... If not now, then when?

Journals...

My mom is an avid journal keeper. She pointed out to me the other day that the blog entries I make are in essence a journal. She suggested I print them out and put them together in a notebook for the kids to read some day. I like that idea. So as of today I am going to print these out and put them in a notebook.

 Who know someday in the future someone might find my life interesting or at least humorous.

Support....

This post is from my sis-in-law, Tina. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2009

...screenprint.

My hubby and I are showing our support for his sisters running a 10K by screenprinting. They are running in the Hospital Hill Run in KC to raise money/awareness for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. You can check out all the info at the team website:http://www.firstgiving.com/daddygirls. We live far away, so we are printing up some bandannas for the team and a bunch of fun flags for the supporters in the crowd. It's an in-house job. We are doing it all ourselves from design to print. Lucy is our model today.


With all these flags laid out to dry, Andy Warhol's work comes to mind...

GO, DADDY'S GIRLS!!!

Ronan's visit

Ian and Rosie's great-aunt Marilyn stopped for a visit with her newfoundland Ronan. 

Stormy Weather.

These were taken Saturday afternoon during a break in the rain along 169 Hwy.

Turkey

You know you live in the country when this is your
view from your kitchen window....Wild turkey anyone?

Having issues with the Blog

Sorry for the overdose of my blogs. Multiply seems to have republished more than half of the things already there. I havent figured this out yet so bare with me.

A day in the life of Alzheimer's

So I was awoken this morning to the sound of fingers drumming on my kitchen table. It was G'pa. He was very agitated because his breakfast wasn't waiting for him and he had to catch the train.  It took about 3 minutes to get him to understand he did not have to catch the train as it was Saturday. I was not about to try to convince him he wasn't working anymore.  So he went back to bed grumbling about being crazy. I am not sure if he was referring to himself or me.  About 7am ( a much more reasonable time) I was awoken by him screaming "Lorine". This is my grandmother's name, although he frequently calls me this. I don't understand that because I look nothing like my grandmother ever did. But I go along with it for my sanity's sake. So I stumble into the living room and ask him why he is yelling. He is upset because he can't find his equipment to catch the rabbits he needs. (He used to catch rabbits and tag them as part of a research project in CA).  I again choose the route of the obscure to convince him he didn't need to do this today. I pointed out it was storming and they predicted thunder and lightening and it wouldn't do him any good to be out in the rain as the rabbits wouldn't be out anyway. He accepted that but continued to tell me about the research project and such.  Then all of a sudden he declares he is crazy.  I am taken back by this and ask him why. He ignores me and goes off on another tangent about rabbits. Trying to change the subject I bring up his birthday which is this month. I ask him how old he will be....he tells me he doesn't know, and looks very puzzled.  Then he declares, " I guess I am too old to worry about it." and laughs.

Unfortunately, these mornings are coming more frequently. He is slipping into the Alzheimer's abyss. His wife, my grandmother, Lorine is well in to late stage Alzheimer's. There are times I think it is a blessing that he is now slipping too. It has been so hard on him to see her and not have any recognition from her.  Now he is more accepting of her presence without her acknowledging him. The hard part for me is seeing how he treated her first hand. He frequently thinks I am her and is not very kind. I am amazed at the strength my grandmother must have had, not to smack him with a skillet sometimes. 

Update on Fundraising for PanCan

We have raised $535 of our $2500 goal so far.  

This week Smithville Junior High raised money thru a "Make a donation, Wear your jeans" day. They raised $160. WAY TO GO WARRIORS! 

I continue with my training. I am up to 4.5 miles. I am really psyched about this. If I make it thru this 10K, I may just try for a 1/2 marathon next year.  

I want to make sure everybody knows how thankful I am for their support, prayers and good wishes. 

If you want to see our progress you can use the link below to go to our donation page.

http://www.firstgiving.com/daddygirls

Easter with the Family

We had a great time with everyone at our house for Easter.  James and Tina called and we were able to video conference with Seth, Staci and Rhianna. Dad got to enjoy some deviled eggs, made especially by Sean. Chad made scalloped potatoes and we had a spiral cut ham with an awesome glaze.  The kids ran around and caused the usual chaos.  It was great fun!

Bunnies...

Easter Bunnies everywhere!

Coloring of the Eggs.

We had all the kids over Thursday to dye easter eggs. It was a blast!

Toupee?

The poor guy in the background looks like he is wearing a toupee. He was quite funny to see up close. The white patch was parted down the middle and looked neatly combed.

Sunset

The sunset tonight was beautiful and progressed

into an equally beautiful full moon.

A reason to Drink Chocolate Milk

One of the newest recovery foods discovered is chocolate milk (although any grade school child can attest to its wonders).

Chocolate milk provides the athlete with a winning combination of nutrients: protein for muscles, carbohydrates and B vitamins for energy, calcium and vitamin D for bones, potassium for fluid balance, and water for rehydration.  The best way to refuel after your next run, workout or competition is to drink 16 ounces of chocolate milk within 30 minutes of finishing. For more information on how to make chocolate milk a part of your training schedule, or on the sports nutrition benefits of dairy, please visit www.midwestdairy.com.

OK, this you gotta love! I valid reason to drink choclate milk. MmmmmmmmmM!

Seth's email

seth.mayo@usmc.mil

For those who would like to have it here is Seth's work email. He asked that it be posted. He still has his personal gmail account too. We figured out how to make the web call work on MSn tonight and Rosie and Rhianna got to chat. It was grreat fun. Next we are going to try for a virtual play date.

Anybody found Zen?

Today is one of those days that I am having to make a concentrated effort to be motivated. I am just off today. Even at the gym I had to really push to get thru my sets. Maybe I did too much yesterday or maybe the stress of life is taking it's toll. Either way, I think I will try to lay low today and hope for ZEN.

OHMMMMM......OHMMMMMM.........OHMMMMMMM

I ran...

So today I made it to a personal milestone...I ran. I actually ran. I did 5 intervals on the treadmill....4 minutes walking then 1 mintue running. I know 1 minute doesn't seem like much but I haven't been able to even run a full minute until now. So I am psyched!!

 My goal is to up the running while decreasing the walking until I can run a full thirty minutes.

Seeds of Life gift...

We recieved this wonderful gift from our dear friends, Jim and Rachel. It is an acorn ready to sprout into an oak tree that you can then plant. We recieved this just after Aunt Sarah passed. Our plan it to plant it in her memory as soon as it is ready. I truely appreciate the thoughtfulness behind this gift. What a wonderful way to express your sympathy to a family who has lost some one dear. Thank you Rachel and Jim.

GNO - April

Girl's Night Out   April 2009

Mom, Liz, Kris, Meg, Lisa, Sam

Our first girl's night out was a smashing success! I had a blast. We went to Cascone's Italian Resturant. I had the best fettucine alfredo with shrimp.We had this wager going. We all kept track of how many minutes we worked out. The person with the most minutes got their dinner bought for them. This was a huge motivator for me. I came out with 701 minutes, which means I got bragging rights for this month. WHA-HOO!! We decided to do this again and make it a monthly thing...until we get tired of it or our husbands revolt...whichever comes first. 

I had planned the night off for myself. So after dinner I went to my hotel, checked in, watched a movie and went to bed. I slept sooooo good. I woke up this morning with a whole new attitude and feeling refreshed. I even made it to the gym and worked out for 2 hours. As a bonus, I got on the scale and discovered (even with pigging out yesterday) that I had dropped 3 pounds. I will definitely have to do this again.

Weight Watchers

I joined Weight Watchers. I attend my first meeting last night.  It was really interesting. I like the fact that I can eat what ever foods I want as long as I am paying attention to portion size and such. I started plugging in my meals for the past few days into the points tracker. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasnt horribly off. I was over my points but only by 5 or less. That made me feel like I was in a good starting place. I just need to be more thoughtfull when planning meals. 

I have gotten back on the gym horse too. My goal is to go 5 days a week or more. Right now I am sticking to the elliptical thingy. It doesn't hurt my knees. Next week I am going to try the treadmill and see if I can do some interval walking/running.  I would like to get to a point I can actually run. 

With luck the combination will be enough to get me in shape and healthy. 

ARGHH!

Last night was a rough one. The kids refused to go to bed and then proceeded to antagonize each other for another hour or so. I finally got to bed about 11:30 and was woken every hour on the hour to the sounds of "I need water. LORINE, WHERE ARE YOU, WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING ME!" (My g'pa has taken to calling me Lorine) I love my children and my grandfather however, I am getting to a place where I don't like them very much.  My attitude sucks right now.

I can not tell you how much I am looking forward to Friday. My sisters, mom and I have been doing a challenge. We have been keeping track of the minutes we workout this month.  Now you will notice I said minutes worked out, not pounds lost.  This was supposed to be motivation to get us all moving more. The person with the most minutes gets their dinner bought at our GNO this friday. We decided to go to Cascone's , an italian resturant. YUMMY! I also decided I needed a break, a night off from being Mom/Nurse/Wife/add job description here. So I have gotten myself a hotel room for Friday night. I am going to enjoy the peace and quiet for one whole night! I can take a bath with out a child demanding to come in, or watch a movie uninterupted, or just sleep with out a knee in my back and being woken up constantly. It is only one night but I am going to make the most out of it. I am hoping to come back a little more refreshed and with a better attitude (did I mention mine sucks right now). 

If it works I may have to make it a monthly thing.

Just for Hannah....

This is our world!