Life is....

Life is ….

That’s as far as I got. What do I think of life these days? It is very full. It is tiring. It is stressful. I find myself so focused on all the millions of things on my “to do” list that I have almost forgotten what it’s like to relax and enjoy life. And there is so much to enjoy. I am so lucky in so many ways, and I think I need to spend more time thinking about these and appreciating them. Let’s think of a typical day.

These days I usually wake up by my alarm going off at 5:20 am. I sit up in bed and see the two adorable children sleeping in our bed because they both fell asleep there the night before while we were watching TV together. Often Koda – our 82 lb black lab – is also on the bed. CJ is usually not in the bed – he’s either downstairs working (he still works in the middle of the night several days a week) or sleeping in the guest room because he is tired of trying to sleep in the 6” sliver of bed that the kids leave him. Anyhow, I drag myself out of bed, brush my teeth and go downstairs to make coffee. Koda, in her no so graceful way, usually comes flying down behind me almost knocking me down in her haste to get to the bottom of the stairs first. Then I make coffee, put on my socks and running shows while Koda sits right in front of me waiting anxiously to go for a walk. By 5:40, I am usually out the door with Koda and my coffee in a wonderful coffee mum that sue turned me onto (from Costco – it has a no leak lid, that, with the press of a button, opens up so you can drink). Bev and I started walking together every morning about 4 months ago. We are still doing it now. We have a nice 5-6 km route that we take everyday. In the summer it was light out when I left the house. These days, it’s still dark out when I get home. But, regardless, I have come to love our walks. Through these daily walks, not only have I become stronger and I’m sure healthier, but Bev and I have developed a wonderful friendship. We walk and talk for an hour every day. We share our insecurities, worries, hopes, and successes with each other. And through it all we laugh… (like today when I went to throw the bag of dog poop into the woods and had a very bad throw that resulted in the bag going straight up in the air and almost landing on my head on the way down) .

I usually get home shortly before 7:00 and get a cup of coffee for CJ (if he’s sleeping). Sometimes he’ll be awake when I get home, and he will be getting lunches for the kids prepared. This year we have taken a bit of a different approach to kid’s lunches. We’ve started giving them hot lunch almost every day. Heating up leftovers in the microwave is actually a lot easier than making a sandwich (and cutting off the crusts etc). the kids seem to like hot lunches better than sandwiches and I like that they are actually getting a lunch with some nutrition.
Anyhow – I digress. I won’t talk any more about our mornings because they can be quite stressful – trying to get the kids fed, dressed, teeth & hair brushed and off to school in about an hour. They are not familiar with the concept of having to be somewhere at a certain time.

However – they are both doing great at school. Kenzie has a WONDERFUL teacher this year who is just perfect for her. Very warm and kind and patient. I really think she will thrive this year. I see it in her work already. She is a lot less fearful of writing and is writing page-long stories – something that she would never have done last year – or if so, it would have taken her days and days.

Both kids are doing great socially. Kenzie has a group of friends whom she loves and fights with on a daily basis. Her social life is so emotional that I can hardly bear to watch or listen to… “I never get to play with Zoe…. Alisa is upset because I am playing with Zoe all the time… Zoe is upset because I am playing with Alisa so much…. Can I have a sleep-over with Sophie… Megan and I are BFF’s now … I need to spend some time with Kristi this weekend because she misses me….” HA!!! But all in all she is good and happy and has good friends and has fun.

Seb is different. Last year he cried when Kenzie got invited to birthday parties because he was never invited (or so he said). But I think it was the parties and loot bags he was jealous of and not the friends, because honestly, he seems to be perfectly happy being by himself, and he doesn’t seek out friends or need friends in the same way that Kenzie does. Yet I am finding that kids are attracted to him. Well this year he has been invited to just as many, if not more birthday parties than the Boo. In fact right now Kenzie has one birthday invitation on the fridge and seb has 2. Especially the girls – they seem to really dig him – I think that growing up with an older sister has made him a bit more sensitive to girls feelings. He has had the same “girlfriend” now for over two years. Lily. They are so friggin cute together. He’s 2 months younger but about 8 inches taller. He loves to help her reach things that she can’t. And when he’s not being such a chivalrous gentleman he likes to chase her and be chased by her.

Seb also started hockey a few weeks ago. He is not playing games yet but goes to a skills practice every Saturday and Sunday morning with CJ. CJ has been going out on the ice and helping with the training. Seb is sort of middle of the pack right now in terms of skills, but I think he really loves the sport. He seems to love skate around holding the stick and shooting pucks at the net. It’s neat to watch him. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in determination. I have a feeling that by the end of this season he’ll be playing like a pro. I’m looking forward to watching him advance.

Let see… just realized that I started talking about an average day and then got sidetracked. Just to finish off that “typical day” line of thought.

- We drop the kids at school – they have fun
- CJ and I go to work where we both really like our jobs and the people we work with. I have learned that that is a pretty amazing thing to be able to say. There are many, many people out there who don’t like their jobs or co-workers so I am incredible grateful for the luck CJ and I have had in finding these companies/jobs.
- We come home and have dinner. Kids do their homework and then we watch TV (and there are so many great shows on right now like So You Think You Can dace, Survivor, Amazing race etc) and then fall into bed.

All in all it’s a pretty damn good life. We have love in our family. We have our health. He have the means to support ourselves and do fun things. I think I need to focus on all of these things more instead of going through life feeling “rushed’ and unappreciative. I am VERY THANKFUL for all I have. CJ, Kenzie and Seb – I love you with all my heart. You are my everything!