Out of this world Valentine’s Day

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This past Valentine’s Day I spent time with my parents, my kids, my husband and an astronaut. Yes an astronaut. We spent Valentine’s Day at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was an out of this world Valentine’s day.

I have been to Florida many times and the Kennedy Space Center was not on my list of destinations until I married an aerospace engineer. My oldest was an astronaut for Halloween so I knew that it would be of interest to him as well. As luck would have it my parents wrangled a mini-van as a rental car and we all piled in for a astro-ordinary Valentine’s Day outing.

In keeping with family tradition the kids were wearing their heart shirts. As long as they request holiday specific t-shirts and will happily wear them I will keep making them.

 

 

Family Day and Legoland

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LL2.jpgThis year we spent Family Day at Legoland in Florida. In case you are reading this in another part of Canada family day in BC is a week earlier than Family Day in other parts of Canada. I have no idea why.

Our kids are 3.5 and almost 7 which is the perfect age for Legoland especially when our 3.5 year old is really, really tall. Even though he is young he was tall enough for all of the rides (42″) which definitely made for a more pleasurable experience because we didn’t ever have to tell him that he was too short to ride on a ride.

We headed to Legoland on superbowl Sunday which I consider to be very smart planning (as a football fan my husband didn’t agree). The park wasn’t super busy and we didn’t wait in line very long for any of the attractions which meant that we could see a lot in the time we had. After a Lego overload at the park we checked into the Legoland hotel for a little more visual stimulation.

The hotel was a fantastic for place for kids. Inside the lobby there was a castle with moats filled with Lego, a pure delight for kids. The rooms were very well designed with a kids bunk area which made for some happy travelers. In the room there was a short quiz that unlocked a treasure chest with some goodies for the kids. I signed my oldest up for a master builder workshop where he learned how to build a shark from one of the parks master Lego builders.

After a restful sleep we attacked the park for another day of fun, but only after a swim in the heated hotel pool. The kids were excited to swim with Lego blocks. It was an awesome way to spend Family day, and I would highly recommend it if you get the chance.

Metal Detectors & Landscape Photos

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6This week I flew for the first time since I had a shiny metal plate bolted to my skull. One of the top questions from people after surgery was “do you think that you will set off the metal detector at the airport”? I went through one metal detector in Canada and one in the US this week. I was actually a little nervous that I would set them off, need to explain the situation, and flash my scar. It’s not really a big deal if I was flying solo, but I had my kidlets in tow. The whole security process at the airport is difficult even if you are really good at it from years of weekly travel like me, add kids into the mix and I feel like it’s a circus act which I have yet to master.

It turns out that I had nothing to worry about, I didn’t even make a tiny beep, it was smooth sailing except for the need to strip down to get through security and then wrangle the sleepy kids back into their coats. So in case you were wondering if that metal plate in my head would set off the metal detector, the answer is no.

The whole family flying together adventure makes me nervous though. The last trip we took Air Canada gave my two year old a seat in the middle of two strangers mid-plane a seat for me at the front of the plane, and his dad and five year old brother seats together  in the rear of the plane. It got sorted at the gate at the last minute because obviously no logical human thinks that a two year old flying without their adult is a smart idea. It’s bad enough to be seated close to a child but it’s just mean to put an active two year old between strangers. I have been that stranger seated beside a random child when the parent wasn’t within sight, of course I shifted seats with the parent but shame on Air Canada for putting people in that position.

4So when I saw that I couldn’t choose seats when I booked the tickets and I got a notification that they would be assigned at the gate all that I could envision is a situation where the four of us are scattered through out the cabin. I actually contemplated calling the airline so that they could put a note in our file when assigning seats. I was pleasantly  surprised when I went online to check in and they had given us seats together. Kudos to you Alaskan Airlines your computer program that matches parents and children works, now if you could share your logic with Air Canada that would be great. My first thought after I got all of us checked in was “I will sleep well tonight”, it was that important to me. First world problems I know.

If you read this far I think you deserve a treat. Here are some shots that I took from the plane.

 

Sock it to me

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My feet are always cold. Even when I am wearing socks my feet are cold sometimes. It’s grey rainy and cold here so I can think of nothing better than colourful wool socks to keep my feet warm. It took me a few weeks to make these. I knit when I watch TV or lectures for school and occasionally when I am out and about. The time invested is totally worth it, as long as I don’t accidentally shrink them in the wash.

These aren’t exactly matching but they are from the same yarn. Matchy, matchy is totally overrated. I think the pattern adds to the fun. I am sure that my sister who never wears matching socks would approve!

Warm and Cozy

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There is nothing quite like knitting a warm cozy blanket in the winter. Last week I wrote about a crochet project that I had worked on for 2 years (even I can’t believe it), in contrast I made this blanket in only a few days over the Christmas break. There are a few differences that account for the speed. This blanket is a bit smaller, and is knit with big think yarn which makes larger stitches per inch. Even better than knitting a blanket in the winter is snuggling under it with a cup of tea in a handmade mug of course and a magazine. Pure luxury!

The 90 day Lifelong Fitness Challenge

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imagesWhen I turned 37 I wished for health for my birthday which in hind-site was like hoping to win the lottery without buying a ticket. My health wish was followed a few months later with a brain tumour, which isn’t all that healthy. Fast forward a year and a bit and the tumour is gone but my health is still a little dodgy. I love sugar, alcohol and carbs, and I am not a big fan of exercise.

Last year as in the start of 2015 I made the resolution to get healthy and I started exercising which is what led me to the brain tumour diagnosis. I am laying it all on the line by telling you that I started the “Bikini Body Mommy Challenge”. I can hear you laughing from here, don’t spit your coffee all over your electronic device. By workout number 2 I was lying flat on my back (it wasn’t part of the exercise regime). I experienced a pain in my head that was blinding. Which I now know was Timmy the tumour telling me that he wasn’t going to let me exercise.

For the 8 long months pre-surgery I limited my exercise to walking, lots and lots of walking. I threw in a reduced sugar, carb and alcohol diet. For the record it was my neurosurgeon’s suggestion to limit alcohol not mine, unless I am growing a tiny human alcohol and I are BFF’s. Post surgery I ate like I have never seen food and un did all my pre-surgery healthy habits. But I also learned how fast muscles atrophy from the 6 days stint I did in the hospital. My calves have never been so small (read jiggly).

Here I am now tumour free and recovered. I started the “Bikini Body Mommy Challenge” again (I can still hear you laughing) and have successfully made it past workout 10. I told my husband about my plans before I started and this is how the conversation went.

  • Me: I started that bikini body thing again, you know the one I tried last year
  • him: uh, hun
  • Me: it’s 90 days long, that’s a long time
  • him: you realize that fitness and being healthy is really a life long thing right (says the guy who goes to the gym everyday).
  • Me: oh crap (I know he’s right, just don’t tell him that)

He gave a rather short lecture (because he doesn’t ever say much) on the importance of exercising our aging bodies and the importance of strength. I know that this is not optional, if I want to be healthy I actually need to act, not just hope or wish. I am committed to the exercise daily and have reduced my carb intake substantially to one donut a day (just kidding, no donuts) but the alcohol stays.

HIITWish me luck on this 90 day (78 days left but who is counting) fitness challenge. If you want a good laugh come by any day around 4 I will be attempting my exercises with my trainers aged 3 and 6. One rolls on the ground by my feet and the other constantly yells “look at me mommy” while attempting to follow along. It’s a full on shit show and I am the star (at least most days).

P.S. Laughter is the best medicine. I hope you burned a few calories reading my post.

 

 

Two years in the making

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I wish that the project that I was about to show actually looks like I spent two years working on it. When my youngest was born I made a promise to my husband that I wouldn’t start anything new for at least a year. In the days leading up to his birth I was finishing a Bachelor of Design degree and life was full. I swore that I would take the year of maternity leave to just BE with the kids. That lasted for a little while but I can’t sit still for long. Once the long nursing sessions stopped and I had a little time with my hands empty I took up knitting. That was enough of a challenge for a few months then I took up crochet. Here is my first post about crochet.

Someone tried to convince me that crochet was easier and faster than knitting. The jury is still out on that one. It took about 30 minutes per row of stitching (the blanket is sized to fit a double bed). I don’t know if that is normal or I am super slow. I know that most crochet blankets typically have a very loose weave and perhaps that’s why it’s faster. Or maybe I am just a slow crocheter.

I fully intended on making this blanket for myself, until my oldest discovered what I was working on and claimed it for himself. I make so many things for the kids that they just assume that they are entitled to take what I make as their own. I want them to appreciate the art of making objects so when they ask I oblige them.

I don’t have a pattern for this one. I can’t read a crochet pattern yet even after 2 years. It’s basically a really big scarf :0.

Relief

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running_brain_cartoon_character_postcard-r2c634ae87ae046c795c1bddcee9cc90a_vgbaq_8byvr_324I received a call the other day from the neurosurgeon’s office about my MRI results after waiting nearly a month. I rarely have the ringer of my phone on so I missed the call. I was sitting getting my hair done (the old lady that lives at my hairline was back with a vengeance) when I checked the message. All I can say is that I have a tremendous sense of relief.

Timmy was fully evicted. The surgery was a success. No extra pieces of him are floating around in my brain. No subsequent tumours were found. My brain has “bounced” back to fill the void that was left from Timmy’s eviction. All that is left is a perfectly healthy brain. Fan_freaking_tastic. My next MRI will be in three years. My surgeon had told me as much after surgery but I didn’t fully believe him. Somehow knowing that someone else looked at a picture of my brain and they say that it’s all good makes all the difference.

Thank you to all of the good tax payers in Canada who have been funding my medical journey, I am going to stop spending your money now! My brain is as good as new.

Now on to the next adventure with my healthy brain.

P.S. I also have received all of my marks from last semester which was my first semester without Timmy and it turns out that I am smarter (at least in post-secondary education) without a brain tumour. Go figure. 😉 That bastard Timmy was dragging down my GPA.

 

Just for me

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If you have been following my blog for any length of time you probably notice that I make craft projects for other people often. Even when I decide to make something for myself frequently someone tells me how much they like it and somehow it becomes theirs. I am an advocate of the handmade and prefer to gift handmade objects.

One of my friends gave me yarn for Christmas this year with the implicit instructions to make something for myself. She knows me a little too well. The yarn that she gave me was beautiful but I was already making myself a pair of finger-less gloves. I might have to turn the yarn that she gifted me into a pair of socks. No one in my house will steal them because they will have a bit of pink in them.

If you think that these are as great as I do here is a link to the pattern. I think that I was sucked in by the pretty pictures with the pattern and I have made an effort to duplicate it but I didn’t really do them justice.

P.S. In case you were wondering those are my real hands and my nails are real. I just have to throw it out there but I take zero credit, because it’s all in the genes. Some people get skinny genes, some people get good nail genes. I only got the good nail genes.

Hypochondriac?

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hypoI have been waiting for the results of the MRI I had on December 8th for a month now. I called before Christmas to see what the Dr had to say and learned that he hadn’t looked at my scan yet. So Christmas and New Years came and went and I am still waiting. I would like to think that no news is good news but I am not too sure.

I think that I might be turning into a hypochondriac though. When my head pain turned out to be a brain tumour it’s hard not to think that every cold and flu is indicative of something much larger. I am on my third round of sickness in the last month. Even though my kids and husband have been sick about the same time with the same symptoms I of course think that it’s worse than it is. That’s when the anxiety kicks in.

I spent most of the day in bed yesterday. I was very dizzy and nauseous and by the end of the day I was so sore that it brought back memories of the days post surgery when it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Those first few days were rough my joints were sore from lack of movement and being clamped to the operating table for 5 hours even with all of the pain meds. It all came flooding back yesterday and it was scary.

hypochondriac_thumb[2]Every once and a while I will feel something in my head around my scar which the Dr says is normal but it still freaks me out. The dizziness and nausea with the most recent bout of the flu was reminiscent of my pre-surgery brain tumour symptoms. I was not excited to feel that way again. I’m sure that this too will pass but until then I will play the role of a hypochondriac.