And April brings.....

So far, April brought a HUGE snowstorm last Thursday...it was crazy - I went to bed and it was nice out - I woke up, had a shower, got dressed in capris and a t-shirt and headed out...only to open the door and find a gigantic snowbank against the door! YIKES What happened!?

I went back in and changed into some warmer clothes and headed back out to shovel my way to the van...by the time I made it to the sidewalk, my shoes were soaked. I had a Dr. appointment so I had to go out but the roads were nuts! Hello...People...winter was not that long ago...did you ALL really for get how to drive in snow in 1 month? Seriously!

Noah spent the afternoon shovelling the sidewalks, playing with Taz in the snow and making a snowman...

...which melted the next day...welcome to Calgary!

Speaking of Calgary - we went to the Juno's last weekend! They were being held here for the first time ever and we decided to go...it cost a small fortune but it was amazing all the same.

Fiest cleaned up - which is cool since she is from Calgary!

I loved all of the performances...it was like seeing 10 concerts but you only have to sit through their best song. I also saw people and enjoyed people that I would not normally buy tickets to see.

Noah loved seeing Avril!

I quite enjoyed Michael Buble...Jann Arden is always a fav....Fimder Eleven...awesome

Headly was fun...

Russell Peters is hilarious! I really must try and catch him at something else. He was a hoot!

To make it even more memorable, I did fall down the stairs...I'm sure if it hadn't been during the commercial break you would have heard my scream on TV while I was on the way down! Now - I was not drunk - so don't go all "alcoholic" on me! I had all of two coolers that evening. I did a number on my back and one leg but I am better now. The bruises are at least a faded green now. (ok - I should say that had the cooler stand have stayed open, I probably would have had a few more! he he he)

Gymnastics has been so-so...our club hosted the Southern Alberta Zones Championships in which the Provincial 2 & 3 level girls have to compete for a spot to go to the Provincial Championships. Only the top 12 in each age level qualify to go. ALL of our girls did amazing...just one, a good friend of Noah's had a bad day and just missed qualifying. I felt so bad...it's a tough meet...lots of pressure.
Noah did ok. Her vault was her best score...Ummmm? What!? It was a nice vault - but not her more difficult one...but a safer/cleaner vault. She was 4th.
Bars was good - she competed her cast-to-handstand/giant/layout-flyaway but her legs were bent...but it was still good enough to tie for a Silver Medal! Yay Noah!
Beam was shaky...not her usual confidence at all. She missed her connection in her back-walkover/back-handspring but she stayed on the beam! She was 8th...not her finest on beam.
I thought floor was rockin' as always - she did her FULL TWIST and landed it! But it was not reflected well in her score - 10th - sheesh! Everyone said she was robbed a full point...but what can you do? Judging is subjective, ya know!
She ended up 5th All-Around..again. Not the second all-around that was her goal. But really - you have to be clean to win and she has room to improve upon there.
Onwards to the Provincial Championships this weekend. I just hope that she has her head wrapped around it and goes in confident...surely it will be better than last year - which was 9th AA. I'll be crossing everything...

I wish I could say that the North Haven house is done - but it is not. It is beyond maddening...it is all in our control (excuse me...Anthony & Paul's control), yet is drags on and on and on....

My sister is back from Thailand for the summer...even though she is gone for 6 months at a time and I miss her (and worry about her) while she is gone, it feels like she never left. Funny how that happens. She is staying with our other sister...since the new house is still not ready to be inhabited.

The gym as a whole is still the most blood-pressure-raising of them all. Right now it is full-blown stress. Our Recreational Coordinator (a paid position) - quit on the first day of the Spring session and gave a whopping 10 days notice. This position will be almost impossible to fill mid-session. I am trying my very best to be ok with it but it really, really pisses me off. It's just plain rude.
Anyways - we have been left in worse situations and we will get through it but it doesn't have to mean that I'll be smiling along the way!

In 4 weeks we are supposed to be going to Cancun. We have not booked a flight. I have not asked for the time off of work. I do not have a tan. I think we should just stay home. Maybe I need to give my head a shake?

My sister/brother-in-law are due to have a baby in about two weeks. It's exciting and I can't wait to meet him! It seems like everyone is having babies right now...well, I guess it is spring - isn't that the right time for that?
I am feeling old. I always get a little down around my birthday...3 weeks and one year to go until I'm 40. ugh. I'm not ready.
Noah is growing up - she will be 12 in June and is showing the tell-tale signs of puberty....great...like we need more teen-age-itus in this house! Jordan offers enough of that! No Gracias!

So on we go...

So, so busy....

I know, I know...I say it every time.
I'm so busy.
But maybe I just can't be anything but busy.
Maybe I go crazy when I sit still...
Hmmmmmm.

The past month has been eventful...Noah competed in her 4th meet of the season last weekend - The Jurassic Classic at the University of Calgary. It was a much better meet for her than last year. Last year was her first ever shut-out....not even a ribbon! What a wake up call moving up a level was. Now I think we are both better prepared but of course, the expectation is back. I sometimes look at her and think - she is just a kid - and yet she has so much pressure do succeed...but it's how she is. Yes, we want her to be successful, but so does she. Oh God! I really hope that I am NOT "that parent"! LOL
Anyways - she competed a cast-to-handstand/giant/layout-flyaway for THE FIRST TIME EVER on Bars! It was amazing to see. I remember when she was younger and we'd see other girls at the gym work on that skill and Anthony and I both thought that Noah would never get that far...and look at her now! But she had to fight for it...she could have bailed but she fought it and it was worth it, she ended up with silver! Yeah!
On beam she competed her back-walkover/back-handspring and stuck it. She did have a wobble on her full turn and a small step on her dismount, but she managed a tie for bronze.
Floor was ok - she didn't do a great warm up but she threw the round-off/back-handspring/full twist on her first tumbling line anyway and she made it all the way around, but then fell back on her heels, then her butt. It was a shame because she has a rockin' floor routine. But really - this meet doesn't "count"...but she does need to pull it off for Zones & Provincials.
Vault was vault - not great. She stayed on her feet and at least made an attempt at a difficult vault. There is work to do.
She was 5th overall. Not bad... with room for improvement.

Anthony has been busy dirt-biking (ALL the time) when he should be working on the North Haven house! It drives me nuts that it keeps getting put off and put off and put off. I just want to move!!! I guess the reality is that I WILL have to pack the Dalhousie house and THAT sucks!

Jordan is busy at school...thinking about all of the money he will make this summer...doing what? Who knows. He wants to leave his lovely job of the German store in order to save some cash. He needs $10,000 in the bank in order to apply for the 3rd year university German exchange program. We'll see. If he can stay out of the bars, maybe he would save more. Ah ha...who hasn't ever said that one! Ah to be that age again!

I am back at work and again in finance. I'm enjoying being in the non-profit sport sector still - and three days a week I can handle.
The gym is still overwhelming with the amount of work to do...it never ends. We did hire someone to help with the recreational registrations and phone calls etc, so I hope that eases some of the work load. My term is up in 3 months...wow...time flies!

Taz is as awesome as usual - man I love that little guy. That personality is one of a kind - He is my BFF. he he Anthony has been so good at taking Taz and Sydney for 5k walks every morning...then Taz spends the rest of his day laying around the house exhausted! It's quite funny.

My sister Kathie comes back from Thailand in three weeks!!! YAY! I miss her so much! She is staying for just a month, then off to Jasper to work for the summer. But at least we can hang out for a month! And Jen and Laurie are off to Mexico for three weeks on Saturday....ah...that sounds like heaven!

We are invited to a wedding in Cancun in May but the wedding is on a Wednesday and Noah competes the Saturday night before and that Saturday after. What a dilemma. I have never missed a meet and I don't want to start now! Ugh. Mexico or gymnastics??? It's like having to choose between two children....impossible.

Red Deer Photos

Red Deer

We are home from Red Deer. I'm so tired and I really would love to be taking a nap, but I know if I don't write something now, I may not ever.

We headed up to Red Deer yesterday afternoon (through some crazy weather!) so that we could catch the P2 Tyro girls from the club. They did awesome and I'm glad we went up early to watch them. I love watching gymnastics in general and when any of our girls do well, I feel proud. And they did well!

We headed to the hotel later than I'd hoped and grabbed dinner at Moxies in the hotel. Noah got to bed a little later than she probably should have but I wanted to straighten her hair after dinner so it wouldn't be a big poof ball again. Anthony and I shared one bed and gave Noah the other one hoping that she would get a better sleep that way but oh my...those beds at the Sandman are tiny! I swear they are smaller than a normal double bed. Anyways - I did not sleep at all. Maybe 3 hours in total. It didn't help that I am still sick - Still coughing and hacking and feeling ill all around.

Noah did ok at the meet. She had an Olympic rotation - Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor - which she loves, so we started off on the right foot.
Vault sucked though. What else is new? This is the story of her gym career...and that of many other girls at our club. So she competes this damn skill that I have never, ever seen her land properly. I just do not understand the coaches decision to keep making her compete it when she never lands it. The majority of her competitors competed an easier vault and scored much higher. In fact, Noah was tied for second last. Bad.
Bars was clean. However - she is competing a very easy routine. She should have several harder skills in there soon...hopefully within the month - in time for our next meet. Her score was ok but nothing to jump for joy over.
Beam was good. She finally landed her back-walkover/back-handspring combination...even though she couldn't stick it in warm up! She got her only medal on this event - silver - and that gave her a big grin.
Floor was ok. I thought it looked better than the mark she got...but maybe I am just a biased parent. She did not do her full-twist but did a front layout instead. Apparently they are worth the same. Hmmm...someone should have told her that last week at Omega!
All-Around she came 6th. Ok but she is better than that - She has work to do. I just hope that she realizes that on her own.

We stayed for the next session which included the pre-novice, national novice and national open girls from our gym. It is always great to watch that caliber of gymnastics...but we left before they were finished all events...I can only ask so much from my husband!

All-in-all, not a bad weekend of gymnastics.

Omega Meet Photos

Omega Gymnastic Meet - February 2008


Noah representing her club...

Bars was not too bad...her layout/flyaway looks nice.

Game face.

Great legs, great toes.

Height isn't too bad....

Vicky getting Noah ready to go on floor.

(Kelsey is sitting in the pink jacket)

Not too much to say about floor....

And vault...ugh, look at those legs!

Oh my Omega....

So last weekend we flew to Abbotsford, BC to attend a gymnastics meet at the Omega Gymnastics Club. On Friday we went to Granville Island and had lunch at that great seafood restaurant "Bridges" overlooking the harbour. I had a smoked salmon, cream cheese, caper and onion pizza...YUM! Then we did a little bit of shopping around, got some snacks and fresh fruit for the girls. We found a great kids clothing store that sells tons of great Roxy stuff - So we bought Noah a few cute outfits. We also went to a great little wine specialty shop and I picked up two bottles of local white Pinot wines...but I brought them home to enjoy later!
We then headed to our hotel to check in. Noah and I stay in our own room in order to avoid the distractions of sharing and other peoples routines. It was a nice hotel but they totally lie and tell you that each guest gets a complimentary 15 minute massage....uhhh...we never got one!

We spent the next two days at either the hotel our the gym club. It was a great club and we enjoyed their hospitality for sure. But I got crazy sick Saturday night...and still am, actually!
Noah had the worst meet of her life...and I am worried that it will stay with her. She did a downgraded bars routine...the same one she competed two years ago. She fell on her back-walkover/back-handspring combination on the balance beam, she totally missed her round-off/back-handspring/full twist on floor and landed on her side. She was loose on her half-full twist vault and landed on her stomach. Ouch...definately her worst meet ever!
She should have won gold on every event. She ended up with two silver medals, a 5th, a 6th and 4th all-around. Now that doesn't sound too bad...but it was out of 7 girls!!!

So here is my top 10 list of what to make sure we do at the next meet to avoid this from happening again:
10) Make sure the gymnast gets at least her normal 10 hours of sleep.
9) Make sure the gymnast is not in a room with a mother who is ill all night long.
8) Make sure the gymnast does not eat chinese food take-out the night before.
7) Make sure the gymnast eats more than just a banana for breakfast.
6) Make sure the gymnast does not have to take care of her sick mother the morning of the meet.
5) Make sure the gymnast does not have to pack the suitcases of the sick mother the morning of the meet.
4) Make sure the gymnast eats her snacks during the 6 hours she is there.
3) Make sure the gymnast warms up her full twist rather than go to the bathroom.
2) Make sure the gymnast does not get just one foot taped with a heel pad that makes her unbalanced!
And the number ONE reason....
1) Make sure the gymnast does not fall on three out of four events!

Noah's first gymnastics trick...

This is so cute. I just found (buried in my laptop files) this video that Anthony took of Noah in the summer of 2003.

It's just a jump from the low to high bar...

but it was the beginning of so much more......

What a cheeky little monkey!

(loosey goosey body, bent arms, crazy legs...but a BIG grin!)

2.4 MILLION Dollars!

So we did it. We more than did it...we blew it away!!!

Our goal this year for the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund was to raise 1 million dollars. Through the generous donations of Calgarians we actually raised 1.2 million dollars. AMAZING!

Today we had our closing celebration...all of the 14 charities were present, plus the charity selection committee, the Herald employees and those of us at the Herald that specifically worked on this project alone. There were introductions of all of the charities, a slide show and a video presentation etc. Malcolm Kirk, the Calgary Herald Publisher, was making his speech and getting ready to hand out the cheques to all of the charities and he started telling this story about how he got a phone call late one evening from a local oilman (who wishes to remain anonymous) and how moved he was by the work we were doing at the Herald for all of these charities...well the man told Malcolm that he wanted TO MATCH what we had already raised!!! WOW!!!

So we doubled our goal and made 2.4 million dollars for our 14 local charities!!!

The whole room went crazy, the charities were crying, the staff were stunned, people were whooping...it was insane! I was so floored - I couldn't help but cry myself...it was so emotional. The charities had no idea that there we going to get so much money...they were so thankful and it was so hard not to keep it together knowing what a difference this would make to their respective charity work in the Calgary area.

I was so proud to be a part of this project. It really is such a great cause and one that really deserves the attention and funds that it has. I can't wait to do it all over again next year!

So THANK YOU to those that donated...YOU are making a difference!

For those interested you can find more information/articles/photos here:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/features/christmasfund/index.html

Happy 2008!

Ok - so this is my New Years Post:

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Happy New Year Family & Friends!

Just in case you were wondering, this year our family took a challenge and chose to not send Christmas Cards. The money that we didn’t spend on cards and postage, went towards a donation to the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund. More about that later on!

Our family has had a very busy 2007.
We bought another house in a community called North Haven here in Calgary – it was a little bungalow on a great corner lot. Since we took possession, we’ve ripped it down to the basement concrete and have been building a two story house. We had hoped to move in before Christmas- but alas, the house is behind schedule. Now we are hoping to move in by the end of February. At that point we will do a small renovation on our Dalhousie house and sell it. We are hoping to move into the Charleswood/Collingwood area of Calgary so both Jordan and Noah will be close to their schools...so our move to North Haven will definitely not be our last.

Jordan graduated grade 12 this past June – but we missed the ceremony as he was still in Germany finishing up his second student exchange trip. Jordan is now in his first year of Post Secondary school at the University of Calgary. If you know, it is a tough school to get into, so we are very proud that Jordan made it in! His major is in German (Language and Studies). He is still thinking about his Minor – he is considering taking a second degree in Education or International Relations. But just this morning we talked about a minor in Fine Arts/Photography and becoming a travelling photographer around the world! Who knows...but it is just the beginning of the journey for him.
Jordan quit his job at Boston Pizza and now works for Edelweiss – a little German gift shop, importer, restaurant/deli/bakery...a very cool little place! He is trying to save up to go to Germany to take a year of University there as well.

Noah is in grade 6 and still attending a Spanish School. She made the honour role this past semester – so we are incredibly proud of her for making that accomplishment while being so busy training 4 – 5 days a week as a competitive gymnast. She is just gearing up for her competitive season (about 8 – 10 meets this year). We will be travelling to BC the first weekend in February and attending a competition in Abbotsford. Hopefully we will not all get evicted from out hotel like a certain other meet we went to last year! ha ha
Noah has also been taking acting classes again – something she is so great at as she is a natural drama-queen! She just finished competing in the CanSpell Spelling Bee for her school...but she lost out on her second word. She also recently signed herself up for the Junior Miss Calgary competition and was in the top ten!

Noah and I spent two weeks in July in Texas attending a gymnastics training camp. It was a great experience and one we hope to do again next year. In August, Anthony, Noah and I went to Europe and met up with Jordan there. We spent some time in Germany and Austria where we dropped Noah off for another gymnastics training camp. Then Anthony, Jordan and I went on to visit the Czech Republic and Poland. Both totally amazing countries! It was quite the whirlwind trip but worth every second of it. I can't WAIT to go back to the Czech...I'd love to live there. Specifically in tiny little place called Czesky Krumlov!

Anthony is super busy working 6 – 7 days a week on our houses. We are now on our 5th project. It sure keeps him busy but he loves it. Plus he sneaks in dirt biking whenever he can!

I am still the President of the gym club and spending a great deal of time there. My term is up next June so I am trying to decide what my next move will be. Run like hell or stay on and keep the gym headed in the right direction. Sounds like an easy choice when you know the time and effort that I put into but – it’s like a child...hard to give up on.
Unfortunately my blood pressure is through the roof again – so I’m trying to work on correcting it to a manageable level.

I also took on a 3 -4 month project for the Calgary Herald overseeing the financial administration and accounting for the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund – in which we were trying to raise One Million dollars for 14 worthy Calgary Charities that are trying to help the working poor in our city. It is a great project and I’m happy to be a part of it.

Our little puppy Taz is still so cute and fun and as spoiled as ever. Sydney is getting old but she keeps up with Taz just fine when she wants to. Herman – our tabby is doing well considering he has a chunk of fur missing from what appears to be a big cat brawl! Bad cat!

So that is the current events of our life.

We are so busy and it seems that we don't have the time to keep up with all of our friends and family - but I sure hope that all are happy and healthy and looking forward to 2008!

Much love & happiness always...

I have a blog.

I was reminded today that I have a blog. I know I should update it more often...I have a million thoughts and I do hundred things each day but I guess it's a time thing. No time = No Blog Updates.
Plus my laptop is on the fritz...so if I want to get on-line I have to share the computer. Bah...who wants to share?!
However - I do seem to find the time to hop on facebook every day. What a bad addiction!


So...what's new?
Our house is freakin' BOILING....it is hotter in our house than it is outside right now.
It is sick. Even with a cool fan blowing right on you all night long, I'm still sweating. So gross.


I ran into my old next door neighbor on Thursday - Kim. It was weird...Noah, Anthony & I went to the gym for our buildings Stampede BBQ Lunch and sitting at the same table with the gym staff was Kim. Even though I hadn't seen her in 8 years, I recognized her right away. Neat!
We were able to catch up a little bit, but hopefully will get together for happy hour one day soon.
It sure made me realize all of the friends I left behind when we moved. Sad! But that is my bad...I am horrible at keeping in touch. I guess that is why it is such a great idea to have this blog...people can read all about me whenever they want to...it saves me having to write so many e-mails...ha ha ha!


Noah & I leave for Texas next Saturday for two weeks. That should be fun...if not interesting! We are heading to a gymnastics camp - Noah will train and I am going as a volunteer. She is too young to ship off to the states all alone for two weeks. I dunno...maybe she is old enough - but I'm not senile enough.


We are also still planning on going to Europe for two weeks in August. Anthony is being resistant as the timing is bad. But I really think it is the last chance that we can do something cool with both Noah and Jordan...they are both getting older and Jordan will be going to UofC (cross your fingers) in the fall. I think it will be so neat to show the kids where I used to live and where I went to school and all of the places I went to when we lived in Germany. When will we have that opportunity again?


We also really want to make it is Australia before Anthony's brother & wife move back to Canada. Hopefully we can swing it to go in early January. No kids. (Says Anthony...what party pooper!)


I'm feeling sad for my GF...she and her DH are going through a really rough patch and my heart just goes out to her. I actually feel sick about it...she is so hurt and shocked and it is so hard when someone is hurting and they are so far away. I wouldn't even know how to deal the way she is. I wish I was there...but sometimes it just has to work itself out but I'm really hoping for the best.
It sure has made me think about my own marriage....how easy it is to get complacent. I have tried my best over the past month to make an effort to be a better wife. That's hard. I don't think it should be easy...but a happy marriage is a lot of freakin' work!
I think being a good wife is a lot harder than being a good mother. Interesting.

On that thought - I'm getting off the computer.

I need a vacation!

My sister offered me such a cool opportunity to take a Caribbean cruise with her or to go to the Mexican Riviera for a week...but do you think we can coordinate our schedules...no! UGH!
There is nothing more that I'd love than laying by a pool with a great book and a margarita in hand....ahhhhh.
I just can't swing it. Over the next two weeks we have our year-end stuff going on at the gym and our AGM...which I don't think I could skip. Noah is going to Texas for two weeks in July and I'm going with her as a volunteer at this gymnastics camp, then we'll be home for two weeks and then off to Europe, then home for two weeks and then off to Florida. I think this is quite an aggressive vacation strategy...but I guess it makes up for the lack of holidays we had last year.

Things are nutty at the gym....we are busy trying to do as much work in the new spaces as possible without having to go through too much red tape. We just need to get it operational so we can start using it and bringing in the income we'll need to pay the crazy rent! But that brings a million opinions and people getting pissed off that their ideas were not used etc. ....you just can't make everyone happy...and they don't get that. Yet these are the same people that didn't want to step up and take the lead on the project...interesting, huh?

Taz is bad...have I mentioned that before? I am down another 4 shoes and Noah about 3. I can't find a single pencil in my house and every cord is chewed through. What a diverse palette my dog has. Plus since Jordan got home he has taken to peeing in the house again! GRRRRRRR! He is so cute but so damn bad!

We take possession of the new house tomorrow...it couldn't be worse timing though. We are just so busy and to take on another project...yikes!

I'm excited that my GF Melissa is coming to town in two weeks! That'll be fun and that'll force me to slow down for at least a few days! But that does mean I'll have to clean my house. Hmmmm....gotta think about that trade off! LOL JK!

...Hello June...

And so the rat race continues....

Today my laptop really fried. This is not good. It has every single digital picture that I have even taken is stored in it, every password and login name for the past 4 years of my life, every document I have ever written, every EVERYTHING is in it! AAARRRGH!
It had been acting really weird for months now, not connecting to the internet at all and only opening certain types of documents...so I just stopped trying to use it at home...but every once in a while it would work and I could access something... albeit sooooooo painfully slowly...
But today I took it in to the gym to get some advertising off if it...and it worked...and then it just didn't. I guess it needs to go to the computer doctor for resuscitation..and if it is really, REALLY dead...then I will flip.
OMG! My pictures!!! Just the pictures...gotta SAVE those damn pictures!!!!

Other than that trauma....life is full steam ahead.

Here's the rundown:

Went to Kelowna for our very last gymnastics meet...and it was so hot and beautiful and wonderful...except for one little/big incident that wasn't so great...that involved many cocktails, a very late night, a second story balcony, an open pool down below and a very unhappy hotel manager! And NO, it wasn't me!

Taz had his 1st birthday and got shaved! He looks like a rat.

Our anniversary was last week....and we both forgot. Ah...isn't love grand?!

Noah had her 11th birthday a few days ago...gosh...where do the years go?

Jordan came home from Germany on the same day. Yikes...I'd forgotten what it was like having teenage-itis back in the house!

My house is a mess. I don't even care anymore...I'm never here enough to care. ha ha

My hair is crazy long again and I hate it but I am still at least an inch short to get it cut for Angel Hair. Noah is at the same stage...it's so hard not to chop it all off...but then you think that it took two years to get here...have some patience!

The mosquito's are out in full force and DH keeps leaving the screen door open and letting in the house to bite us. Bad man!

My volunteer work is at a very trying time with our year-end, AGM and renovation all in progress. No-one is ever happy about anything...and I can't always change that. And sometimes I just don't have the energy to care. But I do feel like I am being bullied by several people and I'm just being too damn nice and not telling them to PFU. Ahhhh... politics.

Oh yeah...and thanks to Tanis, I am addicted to Facebook. Bad, bad, bad time waster! Fun, but bad!

Our possession date on the new house is looming nearer. Just finished the design for the architect...I think it is going to rock! But then I will have to pack. Hmmmm. That will not rock!

Yup...that's it in a nut-shell!

Goodbye May....

Well, May has proven to be a busy month. Really, they are all that way, but with my birthday, Mother's day and gym meets most weekends it's flown by.

I actually gained 15 pound in the past two-three months. I am sure that it can only be attributed to gym stress though. Not a great time to pack on the pounds with summer banging at the door. I've been eating low carb the past 10 days though and feel great...no carb cravings at all (thanks to my goji!!!) ...and I'm down 5-7 pounds...hopefully I can keep that up. It's hard having no cocktails though...so I may cheat on that this weekend! ;)

With all of the stress of the gym lease and having to move I felt a little strangulated for a while there...but now we are staying in our same location but expanding into the two bays next to us. It is going to cost a fortune in rent...but it would be that way almost everywhere in Calgary...so we will just have to make the best of it. Now comes that toughest part...trying to get everyone to agree on how to develop the space...yikes. It has already proven argumentative...but Anthony has stepped up to be the project manager so hopefully it will run smoothly. I think I will try and take some before and after shots of the space.

Noah did our home clubs meet, then went to Okotoks, then Canmore and tonight we leave for Kelowna. It's been a busy but fun gymnastics month. The girls train all year long and live for these competitions...it's nice to see it all come together. Then after this weekend our training groups will change a little but and we start the summer training...hopefully that means lots of new skills this year!!! Noah really needs a few new tricks for next year...full twist on floor, front layout on floor, cast to handstand on bars or free-hip circle to handstand on bars, cast to handstand - giant - layout flyaway on bars, back handspring on beam, round-off back-tuck dismount on beam, handspring full twist on vault....... It will be an interesting summer. Knock-on-wood that she remains injury free!!!
I think we have decided to go ahead and send her to a gymnastics camp in Texas in July plus she is invited to go to Austria in August to train at one of our former coaches gyms for a couple of weeks. Maybe those will be the boosts that she needs to kick it up a notch. Who knows!

Jordan is SUPPOSED to be graduating tomorrow!!! But he is staying in Germany for another week...actually he is in Malta...lucky bugger! But he gets home on the 7th...Noah's birthday and then he needs to find a way to make some money so he can afford to go back to Germany and go backpacking for the rest of the summer. What a life!

I can't remember if I mentioned that we bought another house. This one is in North Haven. We take possession in about three weeks. It is a 1150 sq. foot bungalow that we will rip the roof off and add a second story plus a double garage. While I do love living in Dalhousie, I think we will move there...even just for a year or so. It's about 10 minutes closer to the gym...but it is missing the close proximity to restaurants and shopping that we have here now. I love my Earls patio/martinis in the summer time you know!!!

Taz the Spaz is being a very bad dog. He has eaten about 6 pairs of my leather shoes, sandals and boots...and now he just ate a pair of Noah's brand new...worn once...leather ballet flats...$65.00 down the dogs throat! Grrrrrr...if he wasn't so darn cute........

Ok - I gotta run...I still need to finish packing, Noah has a chiropractor appointment, we are having lunch with the in-laws then Noah needs to be at the gym for 3:30 for a 2.5 hour training session before we fly out to Kelowna tonight! Cross your fingers for a gold-all-around!!!

Bird Flu?

So my 3 finches all died on my birthday.
Kinda weird huh?!

Hmmmmmm...
Is it a sign?
Is it bad luck?
Is it bird flu?

DD is terrified of birds (any birds) so this was traumatic all around for her. I guess they are scary dead or alive.

Not sure what to make of it.

Call poison control?

Happy Birthday to me!

Bah!!!
Yup - I hate birthdays.
And maybe that would explain why I am sitting at the computer listening to the awesome music of Jenny Allen, drinking a cold Twisted Raspberry Smirnoff and posting to my blog!

Jordan called home to say HB from Berlin this afternoon. Sounds like he is having fun...what else should you expect from a teenager abroad??? Yikes...I don't even want to think about it actually! :0

My friend Alana stopped by this afternoon to have a cocktail and to bring by some gifts that she and Noah had picked out for me.
I got some cool yummy goodies from LUSH...and a beautiful silver bracelet from Swarovski. You got great taste kid!
DH gave me a KitchenAid mixer that I have been eyeing for about 5 years and a big set of kitchen & steak knives...hmmmmm...is he trying to tell me something?


This past weekend was a big one. Our club hosted our 19th annual invitational meet. We went big this year and rented out a hockey arena/community centre...but it was a huge amount of work, but I think we pulled it off...although there is always room for improvement. That's me the perfectionist speaking.

Noah did pretty well this weekend in her competition. 3rd place all-around. I thought she could have pulled of 2nd or 1st...but hey, 3rd is ok too. She still has three meets to go this season so we'll see what she can pull off.

Now I need to find the club a home... 3 weeks and ticking until we are homeless. Lucky me. Not!

And a panic attack to boot....

Those that know me well, know that I have been under some pretty extreme stress with some big issues facing our club. Our lease is up in oh...4 days...and we have no real place to go. This has been 10 straight months of challenges...a nightmare to be honest. Just thinking about it now is making me crazy! We think we can still negotiate to stay where we are for a while but with some crappy conditions...one of those being that our rent will go up and through the roof... and on top of that, we will be losing $48,000.00 a year in gaming revenue and so on...just crap on a plate!

Anyways, today was particularly stressful and all night I was flushed and I could feel my blood pressure and heart rate racing and being erratic. I felt off all day. When I got home tonight after our board meeting (more stress), DH and DD were having a bit of a disagreement and I just couldn't take it anymore...so I jokingly said something like...if I die of a heart attack or a stroke tonight you'll know why!!! Well...poor DD starts freaking out...bawling and shaking and sobbing....grabs me and throws her arms around me and is upset because she thinks I am going to die tonight.

Just at that point, little Taz escapes out the front door and all I can hear is a car driving by and DH screaming for Taz to come back...so I jump up and run out the door...of course DD follows and as she thinks Taz might die too, her panic escalates. Ack! Oh vey...just what my poor heart needs! OK...*I* should be the one having a panic attack..not my 10 year old. Ah...poor girlie...I feel bad. I remember having panic attacks at her age whenever I thought of death or my mom dying or something like that...so I understand...I've just never seen that from her before. That was a first.

Is stress catchy?

Anyways, Taz finally came back and Noah was ok...but boy am I ever drained.

Fried. Done. Finished. Ok. Time for bed.

Time flies once again...

I am so bad.
I just cannot for the life of me prioritize my life.
How on earth have I let the past 5 weeks slip away...without even a single post to my blog? Bad me. Either my life is really crazy...or really boring! ha ha

Geez...ok...here we are, April is almost over...what has been happening?

Besides our little mutt Taz...Gymnastics rules our life right now. I spend pretty much every weekday day in the office sorting out the messes that accumulate on a daily basis. Every afternoon, I head to Noah's school, grab her and head back to the gym where we stay until 8 pm most nights. While Noah trains, I continue on with my mission to sort out the disasters or listen to a multitude of parental complaints or when I am sick of it all I may indulge in watching Noah train for a while. I have to say, even though the coaches don't like it so much, I find it fascinating to watch what these girls can do. I love to see the progression of a skill...the attempts and frustration of trying something over and over again and never quite getting it, then all of a sudden it all comes together and wham! A new skill! So kewl!

Once we get home after gym it is usually close to 9pm...dinner usually still needs to be made and Noah will often have a bit of homework to sort out, after we eat she might get a quick massage or get something iced or have a bath and get to bed for 10pm.
At that point, I'm about ready to decompress.

I know, I know, I spend way, way too much time at that bloody gym, or at home doing something for the gym...it's beyond thankless, but I am too much of a "doer" to sit back and not do it! LOL
And besides, I believe in "pay-it-forward" and "what goes around-comes around"... and so I will continue to do what I do and hope that one day the universe will repay me. Ha!...tell THAT to my husband!

Other than that, but still gymnastics related....Noah has competed in quite a few meets...she qualified for the 2007 Provincials in Grande Prairie last month so we headed there for the competition...she did not get the results she was looking for, (9th All-Around) but I think she did well for the skills that she has. I know that she was disappointed, but that is the way it goes...she just has to get back in the gym and work at it some more. She did meet some personal goals of coming ahead of some of her competitors...so she will have to take that and move on.
I will try and download and post some pictures soon.
I have been wanting to figure out how to load up videos too...but I have no patience to sit still and figure it out.

We have our home meet in 2 weeks, then a meet in Okotoks, a meet in Canmore and our final meet in Kelowna. A busy 5 weeks it will be....but this is what they train for all year...Noah loves to compete!


Jordan is still in Germany...you can read his blog but please excuse the spelling...I told him how to use the spell-checker but I don't think he does. According to the blog posts, it doesn't sound like he does a whole heck of a lot of school work or studying...I guess we can see where his priorities are.
He is supposed to be coming home to graduate on May 30th, but his host family had already booked him a trip to Malta that same week...so if he goes then he has to miss graduation and he gets to spend a fortune trying to change his (group) ticket.
Oh well. I am NOT paying. He is an adult now and he can sort it out himself.


Oh and we bought another house...another reno project. We take possession mid June. We keep threatening to sell this old house and move to one of the ones we buy and fix up but we never seem to. Maybe this time. Although the thought of sorting and packing and moving and unpacking again...ugh...no thanks!


Well...Anth is home from his day of dirt biking...time to get back to life....

Bye Bye Jordan...

...or should I say good riddance? Ha Ha...just kidding!



Jordan, Noah & Anthony at the airport


Jordan left this afternoon for his second Alberta Learning exchange to Germany. One of his best girl-friends Emily is also on her way to Germany although staying with a different family in a different town. I'm sure that it will be nice to know someone else and I'm sure that they will be close enough to each other that they can connect a few times. Jordan seemed pretty laid back so that meant a lot less stress on my end...I guess he knows what to expect this time around. And he also had the opportunity to meet Markus' family when he was staying with Tim last year. Kinda cool!



Emily & Jordan


He will be gone for 3 months then flying home early to graduate, spend some time with us, get some work done on his braces and then head back to Europe for 2 months of backpacking with Emily & Lindsay. Ah...what a life!

We started him his own blog to keep us updated on his European adventures...so check it out once he starts to update it ... www.JordanPalaschuk.blogspot.com

Rod Baby.....

I managed to get a date night in with DH last night...a first in a while. Our "dates" are usually breakfast out while on the way to do something! LOL
But last night was a goodie. DH bought me tickets to Rod Stewart for Christmas and threw in an awesome dinner at the Saltlik Steakhouse too!
I forgot how bad the traffic could be around the Saddledome and the parking situation was crappy...so it took an extra 20 minutes to get into a spot (and pay $10.00 to park in a giant mud puddle...how nice) and then another 10 minutes to walk all around the crazy construction and piles of mud. We were thinking that we'd just miss a bit of the opening act, but alas...there wasn't one! So we missed about 15 minutes of Rod. :(

The seats were pretty good...but not that close considering that DH bought the tickets the day they went on sale. And I think I was sitting next to Rod's biggest fan....a nice middle aged fellow who could sing every song (with about 35 % accuracy) at the top of his lungs and rock it out in his seat like no other..... At least he drowned me out! he he The best song of the night...as always...Maggie May...mmmmmm...LOVE that song!

The concert rocked...although it seemed short. A mere 2 hours! I could have listened for at least another hour. And I don't care how old he is...he is still sexy to me! Raaaarrrrr!

Geeezzz....I clearly remember being 7 years old and rockin' it out to "Do ya think I'm sexy"...can't you just picture that! ha ha I'd made up all kinds of dance routines with my friend Candace and we'd practice over and over and over again. My poor family had to endure Rod Stewart music and dance routines/shows for years...until Grease came out! ha ha ha

I also went to see Rod Stewart when he was here back in the 90's....I went with a bunch of cool chicks from work, rented a limo and had an absolutely fantastic time being cool chicks! Ah the good-ol-days! Remember that?!

I was a little mellower this time around...OH MY GOD...Am *I* middle-aged??? Hmmmmm...

Anyways...that was a real treat! Thanks honey!

NorthShore

Well, the gymnastics competition went ok down in Vancouver. It was definitely fun to go to a meet elsewhere and compete against different kids. It is also nice for the parents to get away from the gym and socialize in a different atmosphere ...(read: hotel room/cocktails)

Anyways...since I still cannot get into my laptop to download the photos off of my camera, here are some that I bought...

These photos were taken during Noah's Floor Routine...what they don't show is that about 2/3 of the way through she had a brain freeze and forgot where she was and froze...it was so hard to watch her struggle. On her last tumbling line she was just bawling and the tears were flowing but she pushed through and completed the rest of her routine quite nicely. But she was devastated and I felt bad...but it is her lesson to learn and better that it happen here than at an important meet...and I'm sure it will never, ever happen again!

On a happier note, we also managed to see my cousin Kandis and her two boys...so that was a treat! I love Vancouver...and I'd love to live there again too...but there are so many downsides...rain, traffic, rain, housing prices, rain......