Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air...birds are chirping, time has "sprung forward", flowers are blooming, and all 5 of us are taking large doses of allergy medicine...spring is here!  The time since January has flown by as usual.  Both of my older 2 kids have kept busy with swimming, art and math/science club (for my oldest), and gymnastics and sports club (for my middle child).  In addition, we celebrated Valentines Day, my daughter's school flag ceremony, snow days, and more!  My husband and I have been busily planning for the upcoming year and actively tackling usual work challenges in addition to the daily juggle.  We squeezed in family pictures today and had a fabulous spring break full of outings and some rest.

In other exciting news...people told me it would happen...I had my doubts...but it is starting to happen...my kids (although I am reticent to even mention it for fear that I'll jinx it) are becoming less picky eaters.  My husband and I were dismayed when we, who are foodies who love all types of food, produced three picky eaters.  We would sorrowfully shake our heads when they turned up their cute noses at stir fry, fish, vegetables, and all of the foods we used to love to prepare.  Dinner became an exercise in self control as I would hear groans and moans and, "why can't we have pizza every night?" from my sweet little cherubs.  

Suddenly, my older 2 have become more adventurous.  It started one day when my daughter and I were grocery shopping and she was offered a sample of teriyaki grilled salmon.  To my surprise, she gladly accepted the sample and ate the whole thing declaring it was "yummy!".  I wrote that episode off as a fluke.  Yet recently when served talpia, salmon, and even shrimp for dinners, my older 2 have devoured every bite and loved it.  The littlest isn't quite as enthusiastic as the older two, but he has ceased to complain because I suppose it's no fun to complain alone without a backup chorus.  The icing on the cake occurred on Friday night when our family was dining out and my oldest ordered something NEW from the menu...not the usual, not something we coaxed him into trying, but something that he read and thought sounded good...he ate every bite and loved it.  It's a new era folks.  Perhaps there are foodies inside those picky eaters after all.  :)  

In preparation for 2.5 years with a full time working husband who is also getting an MBA, I signed up for a few races to complete before his school starts.  However, I planned poorly because the races are on back-to-back weekends in May!  I run a 10K and then follow it up a week later with a sprint tri.  All during the hustle and bustle of my older two kids' birthday weekends and graduation activities for work.  Silly me!  I suppose my ill planning will help me be bathing suit ready by summer.  Needless to say, I'm following a strict training schedule and loving every minute.  And, of course, like all other university faculty am REALLY looking forward to summer!  Below are some pictures from our winter season!  Hoping you all are well!

 

A New Year and Lots of Changes

Happy 2013 everyone!  Although we are only a few weeks into the new year, it is already shaping up to be a year of changes.

Our family enjoyed a few weeks of down time over the holidays including a trip to Tennessee to visit family.  We had a great time despite my parents and husband contracting the flu and being sidelined by sickness for a couple of weeks.  While I never got the full blown flu, I did get a nasty cough that lingered for a week or so.  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Our trip was very special although we did not know it at the time because it was the last time any of us would see my grandfather.  My father's parents were a close part of our family when I was growing up because they lived with us for about 3- 6 months out of every year from the time I was in elementary school.  While he had lived a good, long (94 years!) life, his presence will be missed.  I loved him dearly.

My grandfather led a fairly exciting life - one I have a hard time imagining considering the tiny, mild mannered person he was the last decade or so of his life.  His first career was in the Indian media as a radio reporter who was a follower of Gandhi.  He was a young adult during one of the most tumultuous times in Indian history when the people were fighting for their independence from England.  He never talked much about it but I know that he was a passionate freedom fighter who was tortured for his beliefs.  I asked to see the scars on his back more than once but he always politely declined to show them to me stating, "some things are better left alone". 

Post-liberation he was politically active holding several positions in the newly formed government and ending his career in academia as a chancellor (president) of a university.  Studying world politics and history were two of his hobbies.  An avid reader, he could start a thick book in the morning and be mostly done by sunset.  He taught me how to play chess, cards, and watched my swim meets and soccer games with a gentle smile on his face.  If I performed poorly, I could count on him for encouragement and support.  Although the British couldn't tame him, the flu got him in the end.  Thankfully his death was quick and peaceful.   I'll miss him but am so thankful that I was able to hug him and kiss his forehead just a few days before he passed away. 

In other news with our family, my husband heard this week that he was accepted into the executive MBA program and will start classes this summer.  I am so proud of him and admire his love of education.  In addition, I should hopefully know in the next few months whether I will be promoted to Associate professor.  The kids are happily into the swing of the school where learning, friends, and activities bring them home tired but content each day.  My oldest is doing 2 new activities in addition to swimming and karate this semester: art club and math/science club.  Both are right up his alley since he prefers to exercise his brain more than his body.  My girl, who unlike her brother, prefers physical over mental exercise, started swimming this winter and is also continuing her much loved gymnastics class and her not-so-loved-but-parent-mandated karate class. :)  Her new activity this semester is an after school sports club.  Both older kids will play ball this spring.  My baby is holding his own with a few pre-school sports and enrichment activities.  We are blessed.  Hope your 2013 is off to a great start!

November? Already?

Is it November already?  Where did the last few months go?  Today for the first time in months I looked around and realized that I had a full 30 minutes free and decided to update my blog!

What have we been up to?  Where to begin???  School started with a bang in late August with my oldest in pre-first, my middle child in kindergarten, and my youngest in preschool.  In an interesting turn of events a couple of weeks ago, my oldest's teacher and principal approached me about moving my son to first grade.  After a smashingly successful trial run, he officially began his first grade adventure 2 weeks ago and is loving it!  Have I mentioned how much I love my kids' school?  If not, let me just say, I LOVE IT! ;)

In other big news, the tooth fairy started visiting our house!  I must say, she is reimbursing for teeth at a MUCH higher rate than she did when I was at that stage!  I suppose it must be inflation.  No matter what the reason, she must be quite well off these days.  ;)

October brought us our "summer" vacation!  We intended to visit Disneyland this past summer, but could not resist the great deal we got for an October trip.  So, we pushed our vacation back a few months and were rewarded by a Disneyland hotel upgrade to a huge suite and fewer crowds.  It was wonderful!  Below are a few pictures.

Adjusting to having multiple kids in multiple activities took some time this fall!  Our schedule is, Monday, swimming; Tuesdays, gymnastics & swimming; Wednesday, kickball, Thursday off - hooray; Friday, karate and sometimes swimming.  Whew!  We did take some breaks from a few activities.  Neither of my older 2 wanted to play soccer this season and my daughter decided to take a break from ballet since she is more interested in gymnastics, swimming, kickball, and karate.  

Halloween was a blast!  Mario, Luigi, and the cutest cow had a blast trick or treating and are still enjoying their loot.

Lastly, for my husband and I things are going swimmingly.  I am currently going up for promotion to associate professor (from assistant) and was burning the midnight oil getting my packet ready earlier this fall.  Praying that it goes well and that I receive good news in the spring.  Other than that, I am thrilled to be running on a healed, mostly pain-free hip and completed a 10K in October.  I continue to lift weights 3-4 times a week and still do muscle flex moves in front of the mirror for the pure enjoyment of seeing muscles that didn't used to be much of anything pop out (much to the amusement of my husband).

Recently, my husband made a career decision to go back to school to get an MBA.  He is currently in the process of applying to executive MBA programs and I am praying that he gets in and that the next couple of years go smoothly.  I am so proud of him!  Exciting times!  Hope you all are well!

  

So Long for a While!

Well, as you probably can tell, blogging hasn't been at the top of my priority list for a while.  Like most hobbies my interest in blogging has waxed and waned and right now, I'm most definitely waning.  A break will be welcome.  So long for a while!

Decorating and Doctors

This week has been a whirlwind of activity at our house.  While my husband and youngest were visiting family on the other side of the country, my older 2 kids and I were in the throws of a major kid room remodel.  So, after 3 days, 2 painters, 1 interior decorator, 3 trips to Sherwin Williams, and 3 trips to Hobby Lobby the project is finished!  My daughter has a new girlie green and pink room, my two boys have moved into a room together, the kids' bathroom is now green & yellow, and we have (drum roll please...this is my FAVORITE part) an organized and functional playroom!  No more toys all over!  It's SUCH a relief!

In addition to the decorating chaos, I went to back to the ortho doc for a follow up on my hip.  I was pretty nervous because toward the end of May it had started hurting again...pretty bad.  Like a good patient, I immediately stopped running, started the NSAID's, and had only run a few times since.

Thankfully, the ortho diagnosed my new hip pain as a strained muscle, declared my broken bone healed, and sent me on my merry way without need of a follow up appointment.  My first gleeful thought was, "I'll bet I could run a half marathon by October!".  That idea was quickly squashed by my realistic husband whose exact words were, "you're delusional..."  Oh well, I might be delusional (although I would prefer the term "overly ambitious") but I did enjoy a wonderful 5K run this morning thinking about all the races I could do in the future and being very thankful that I am no longer limited.

More doctor appointments followed with well child checks for my older two kids.  Both received a clean bill of health.  In more blessings my son, who had fallen off his growth curve last year, is tracking in the right direction and his BMI was back up.   Looks like the high fat/calorie diet is working!

My husband and I are headed out of town this weekend for a getaway with some friends (no kids!).  We have a couple of hikes planned for Saturday followed by some hot springs swimming and, of course, some good eats.  Can't wait!   

Weight Training 101

It was May 10th when I excitedly met a huge Greek personal trainer named Nikko at my gym who put me through my first weight training session.  At the time I was a little smug thinking it would be easy.  After all I'm a former marathon runner and triathlete.  By the time I left I was a humbled, exhausted sap with shaky, twitchy muscles who was embarrassed by how weak I really was.  I was in pain for 3 days afterward (serious pain!).  Since then I have been dutifully training 3-4 times a week and have learned a lot in the process.  In my opinion there are distinct pros and cons to weight training.  In 5 weeks of training I have increased the weight on each exercise by 10 pounds, am up to 20 reps per set and and up to 4 sets per exercise.  For reference when I started, I was doing 12-15 reps & 3 sets of each exercise.

So what are the pros you ask?  Below is the list from my perspective.

Being Stronger: You're probably thinking "well, duh!", but I have noticed an increase in overall strength and stamina during my cardio workouts and in general daily activities.  In general, I am a stronger person.  My core and back are stronger, as are my legs & arms.  It's a really good feeling!

Muscle Tone  I am able to see definition in areas that I formerly could not.  The most noticeable areas are my arms and upper legs (the thigh/glut area).  Both areas are larger in circumference but tight (especially my arms) and toned.  When I put sleeveless shirts I do a few Arnold Schwarzenegger "muscle moves" just to see the muscles pop out on my arms - super fun!  My husband caught me doing that this morning and got a good laugh - it was a little embarrassing!

Walking Taller:  Another perk has been an improvement in my posture.  I caught a glimpse of my reflection as I was walking down the hall at work one day last week and noticed that my back is straighter and my shoulders are lower and further back.  This was so pleasing that I added a little strut to my walk.  Too bad the only place I was going was the bathroom.

Filling out clothes:  One of the first things I noticed a few weeks after starting to train is that my clothes fit differently, specifically skirts and pants.  They are looser around the waist but a little more snug around the rear and thighs.  I absolutely love this!  I haven't noticed much difference in shirts except for it being more fun to wear sleeveless shirts and dresses. 

Stress Relief & Satisfaction:  Okay, I have discovered that weight training is a FANTASTIC way to blow off steam (better than running) and is incredibly satisfying!  There is nothing like pushing through and a tough set when your muscles are screaming to quit and the only thing that forces you to keep going is your will.  Now I know why the big scary dudes lifting in weight training area look so determined and mean.  It's hard work!!  But so very satisfying!  I now feel a little kinship with the big scary dudes (although I still never make eye contact).

As with anything there are a few cons, these are the ones that I have noticed.

Weight Gain:  Okay, this one is specific to me.  Most people who weight train actually lose weight, but in my case I have actually put on about 2 pounds.  You are probably thinking, "two pounds..so what?!?".  However, for me this has taken some getting used to because I keep a very tight reign on my weight and am only comfortable with a fluctuation of 2-3 pounds in either direction.  Right now rather than a dry weight baseline of 109/110, I'm closer to 111/112.  Nikko warned me about this when he sized me up during our first session.  He said, "You will likely not lose weight and you might even gain some but you will be the same size and your shape will change".  Honestly, I didn't believe him but he was right.  Oh Nikko, when will I trust that you know more about this than I do?

Soreness:  Okay, this is one of the definite cons.  You pretty much walk around all the time sore or stiff in differing areas from a recent workout.  This is because as you get stronger you continue to add weight or sets to keep challenging your muscles.  They say that frequent massages help, but my chintzy self is hesitant to fork over $200 a month to get a couple of massages.  I may start getting them more frequently (as in more than just annually) but haven't really looked in to it much.  Too bad massages aren't like frozen yogurts when after you buy some you get one free.  Now THAT would be nice!

So that is my review as a newbie to strength training.  Is it perfect?  No, but do the pros outweigh the cons?  You bet!  So that's my propaganda for weight training because like Hanz & Franz, I'm here to PUMP (clap), YOU UP! Ha!

End of Year Celebrations

My two older kids have been celebrating the end of the school year for the last week.  My daughter has graduated from pre-K to kindergarten and my son from kindergarten to pre-first.  Both have had a wonderful year and are excited about the fall.  The next school year will be a bit easier for me & my husband b/c all 3 kids will be at the same school!  Only one place to drop off and pick up!  Yippee!!

Summer is shaping up to be fun with swimming and gymnastics for the kids (we have a nanny, actually a "manny" over the summer), a weekend getaway for my husband and I, and a mommy weekend with my best friend that starts tomorrow.  And yes, I couldn't resist - I signed up for one triathlon toward the end of the summer.  Right now I'm focusing on weight training (which has been a great challenge - more on that later!) while still doing spin classes and twice weekly runs mixed in with some walks and swims.