Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Almost forgot - that post from last week, about spring? Remember the pink tree (scroll down....) - here it is this morning:






Ruby loves the snow.

Monday, April 24, 2006



Who knew that winter extended into the third week of April?

Sunday, April 16, 2006

**BABY WATCH**

Moms and babies are doing great - Gavin and his mom have to stay in the hospital until probably Monday, as he was delivered via Caesarean. Rachel and her mama just got home a few minutes ago. They live next door, so I saw them pull in as I sat at my computer. Both sets of Rachel's grandparents are here, and one grandpa had a video camera ready to record her homecoming. It was sweet and charming to see, but made me not a little bit sad - should Alex and I ever have kids, it won't be quite like that - my dad is gone, my mom already has 2 grandkids, and Alex's parents have enjoyed watching 5 grandchildren arrive so far. Still, it's nice to hear all the excitement from next door - the only thing missing is the banner strung across the garage door that announces "IT'S A GIRL!".

I now have one remaining girlfriend who is pregnant - her daughter is due in June. This has been a busy year for pregnant friends - at one point it seemed like I was going to a baby shower every week! I've decided that it's just a factor of my age - I'm 35, and most of my friends are within a few years of that age, so it's natural that they're either starting families, or having their last kids. Plus, this is Boulder - home to more sets of multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) than any other place I've ever lived, and a lot of those babies are coming to families who've waited a while to have them (read: moms are older!). They tell me that the likelihood of a multiple birth goes up dramatically as you approach 40, which frankly fills me with terror. It's probably one of the few reasons I still hesitate to consider getting pregnant - oh, I know, everyone says you figure it out and make it work, but I'm telling you, a single child would be lucky to survive in my house, forget more than one.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Spring has sprung in Boulder. The white tree is in my front yard, the pink one is in the side yard. It's 75 degrees out already today. I just hope that if we do have a spring storm, my flowers will survive the snow. This happens every year, so they should be used to it by now.





Friday, April 14, 2006

**BABY WATCH**

Two of my closest girlfriends are pregnant, and both are delivering today! They're even at the same hospital. They're making it very easy for me to visit and bestow tons of auntie gifts on the little people. One knew she was having a girl, but my other friend was holding out to learn the sex at birth. I'm still waiting for calls from both of them with the announcement, names, sex, etc. This is very exciting!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006



I have lately been inspired by Ali and her success at losing the little extra weight that just seems to mysteriously appear. I'm not sure at what point I began to slowly creep up, but for someone who used to be quite thin, I am decidedly Rubenesque lately. Not into plus sizes or anything, but heavier than I like to be. Of course that extra weight had to go directly to my boobs and my hips - while the guys out there may not see the problem with that, I would like to get back to being comfortable in a tank top, rather than look like I'm imitating Jayne Mansfield or something.

I joined a new gym in Boulder, it's 24 hrs. and for women only. It's small and doesn't offer classes, but they have plenty of equipment, it's close to home, and I can work with a trainer. My trainer is called Jodi, and I meet with her every Wednesday morning. I'm obviously not as committed as some - Jodi told me about another client that she meets with 5 mornings a week - not only can I not afford that, I'm not sure that I could bear it. I make the effort to get there another 2-3 times per week, besides my workouts with Jodi, but lately I've not been too successful at that.

Last night I was flipping through a magazine, and there was an article about Gabrielle Reece and Laird Hamilton, their gorgeous kid and home in Hawaii. There was a quote over a photo of Gaby working out, and she talked about how working out has to be like your job - some days you don't feel like going to work, but you've gotta go anyway, and that you have to adopt the same attitude about working out or you won't be successful. That really hit home for me. So as I was just starting to wake up this morning, still groggy from lack of sleep and slowly coming out of my dreams, I started to try to talk myself out of going to the gym. Oh, you can head over there on the way home from work tonight. Oh, what's the big deal if I go tomorrow instead? Oh, I'll take a walk at lunch instead. I was suddenly aware of how easy it was for me to make excuses, and resolved to just cut it out. The truth is that I feel great if I go and do my workout, it really changes my entire day. I KNOW this, so why can't I just quit arguing with myself and go?

I don't intend to turn this into a weight-loss blog, but reading about Ali's efforts really helped me get clear on my goals, so I am in turn sharing this with you.

Monday, April 03, 2006

We're back from the loooonnnngggg weekend at the track. This was our first motorcycle event of the season, and the weather was glorious on the first day, just ideal conditions. However, Saturday night a storm rolled in, and I spent hours in bed, listening to the thunder and the rain and the hail and the wind, just waiting for the trailer to be knocked over. Luckily that didn't happen, but it did ruin our second day of riding. The track was wet, the ground was muddy, and the storms returned mid-day. All in all, it was a successful event, since both days sold out, but it would have been nice if we'd had better weather. I'm just glad to be back, I'm so completely spent after three days of sleeping in a trailer and sporadic access to a shower. I hereby commit to not making any plans for at least two weeks, other than my girls night out this week (I'm not skipping that!).



P.S. I read in the news this morning that those same storms we experienced Saturday night went on to kill 27 people across the midwest. Yikes. I can believe it, it was as bad as any weather I've seen before.