... and you're a dreamer more than a doer, you drive your control-freakish mother kind of crazy.
But I'm slowly learning to accept who you are and find a balance between pushing and guiding. I want you to do great things because I know you can... but I need to come to terms with the fact that YOU have to choose those things with YOUR heart.
Creative James vs Athletic James: I think I know which one would win.
But it doesn't have to be one or the other, right?
<3
Having fun with my new photo editing app... it was a fun week to document.
- doggy playing fetch
- Jamesie turning 11
- meeting Steph's baby, Jackson
- Thomas learning to solve a 3x3
- playing at Robert Hopkins
I'm going to try printing these and putting them in a scrapbook page. :)
First outdoor lesson of the year for James' group. Loved watching them! Such a talented bunch...
Still waiting for James to step up and work hard. Not sure if he's ever going to want it but, at this age, it's gotta come from him.
Oh well. It's time for me to get back on the court. Outdoor tennis is soooo much better. It's the way it was intended to be played. :)
So my eldest is almost 13... seems like not that long ago that Mike and I were attending prenatal classes at the Civic Hospital. And now, we are wrapping our heads around high school course selection forms in a year's time, driving lessons in three years' time and girls... well, probably right now.
Eek!
I love that Thomas is so into sports. And the fact that I drive him to and from the club gives me lots of chances to spend one on one time with him. I think these two things are of huge significance to his growing up.
His participation in sports at a highly competitive level (if he could in stop goofing around in the group lessons!) gives him a good sense of self-esteem (goal setting, hard work) but also places on him a responsibility to take care of his body (what he eats and drinks, how much he sleeps...). I arranged a private lesson for him with the new squash pro yesterday, and it went spectacularly well. Who knows, right?!
And he has just started to feel more comfortable talking to me about things that would've sent him running in the other direction only two or three months ago. Girls... the great mystery of the universe. :)
So I've helped him find a stylist who knows how to cut his hair. I'll probably need to cut back on eating out or drinking Starbucks so I can afford his awesome hair style but I think it is so worth it... that's the age at which my mom and dad let me start going to a real stylist and doing pretty well whatever I wanted. (Can we say curly, big-hair perms?!)
Here's what happened yesterday... I told him I think the girls will like it.
So life is unpredictable much of the time, and many days I feel like I'm in over my head... and the past week has been a bit both and then some.
Mike's father has been in the hospital. He's better than he was but not completely better. The boys have been worried about their grandpa, as have we adults. Our family has been in and out of the hospital to visit, but we're hoping the next visit will be at his home. Soon.
Work was insane this week. Again. I suspect I will be able to day this every Friday between now and October.
*sigh*
Last weekend, Jamesie and I had breakfast with Steph's family-- and then we had a fun side trip to Chapters. The baby, Jackson, slept in his stroller the entire time, but at least I got to see him. Soooooo cute and tiny.
Card for baby. Madi at Chapters.
... to be grateful for:
• spring in the air...
After last week's late season snow storm, I'm happy for warmer weather and the prospect of being a tennis mom at an outdoor tennis tournament this weekend.
• good friends at work...
My buddy, Randy, has been a close friend since my first day as a reviewer in the department. It's been awesome to have a mentor in my current group... and also to have someone who has my back. He's the number one reason I haven't had a complete meltdown when things get crazy.
• close knit extended family...
Through good times and tougher times, we look out for one another. Thinking of someone very special today and hoping for good news.
• best Broad friends...
I'm really looking forward to hanging with my BFFs in July. Saskatoon, here I come!
• field trip mama...
Tuesday's trip to the Science and Tech Museum probably put me near the 20 mark in the "field trips survived" category. There should be a medal if bravery for that, right? I have to admit I loved having a chance to see James with his new friends... like watching a wild animal in its natural habitat. :)
Seriously, snow?! Yep, snow...
So it's early April... snow is not unheard of at this time of year in this fair city, but it is disheartening for those of us who've shown signs of mild depression during the long, grey winter we've just been through.
James is supposed to play in an outdoor tournament this weekend. I'm thinking that ain't happening. It may be postponed or moved indoors. Who knows!
Speaking of tournaments, Thomas played in a tournament on the weekend. He played in two age categories of the Quebec Junior Open, and he took home the third place trophy in the U13 group. Nice to see his game coming along with all the hard work he's put in.
Okay, lots to do today. Gotta run.
Must try to blog more often, if for no other reason than having a record of all the things we fill our hectic lives with...
Winter was officially over at some point last week, but you wouldn't know it from looking out the window. Ottawa is still covered in the white stuff, and its streets still adorned with gravel-covered snowbanks. Ick!
So it's Monday again. *sigh* But it's a short workweek. The first of two consecutive short weeks. Yay! Just one of the many reasons to love spring.
.....
I always do my grocery shopping on the way home from the OAC. More often than not, I have one of the boys in tow with me.
Last week, on separate occasions, I mentioned to each of them that I thought it was time to give up the egg hunt. After all, they are 10 and 12 now, and I figured they'd be just as happy if I gave them each a bag filled with candy and chocolate... but I could not have been any more wrong. Their disappointment was so strong that I caved and bought more of those stupid plastic filler eggs and the tradition of hiding eggs with with either a T or a J written on them will live on.
.....
From the time they were born (and maybe even before), I've been determined to raise kids who love to read. Mike and I read to them as babies, and we always kept lots of board books in their toy bins and, later on, picture books on their book shelves. We've ordered hundreds of books through Scholastic and purchased hundreds more at Chapters Indigo. Our boys love to read, and I pretty much let them buy whatever they want. As long as it's not inappropriate for their age group or very much against my social values... it's all good.
Lately though, I've been on Thomas' case to branch out and read books that are a little more challenging and perhaps a little more age appropriate. His last report card had a comment to that effect, so I called him on it. I questioned whether a kid in 7th grade should really be enjoying Captain Underpants as much as he seemed to. As you might expect, my meddling was met with resistance and defensiveness.
But alas, we may have found a solution. He asked me about my Rafa book, something I started reading two years ago but lost interest in. We dug it out, and he started it last night. Today, he asked if he could take it to school. :)
Seems that he may be his mother's child after all. Nonfiction rocks my world. Sports fandom played a large part of my teen years. Thomas loves watching tennis, hockey and any Olympic sport on TV.
Up next: teach him how to watch CFL and NFL football.
.....
Guess who turns two today? Our beautiful blondie, Lemon. Happy birthday to the best dog around!
Oops, I forgot the list... here's one for Mundane Monday:
5 things we do over and over again, week after week
1) buy groceries to satisfy the appetite of growing boys... usually takes more than one grocery run a week;
2) drive kids to squash and tennis lessons, matchplays and tournaments;
3) lecture the kids on the importance of punctuality and how being late without caring is disrespectful of the other parties affected, whether it be coaches, other players, teachers, classmates, coworkers or friends;
4) do laundry, way more often than other families might because we have workout gear, dog-walking clothes (that often have other dogs' dirty paw prints or slobbery goobers on them) on top of the usual linens, pajamas and work/school clothes; and
5) take pictures to share on facebook - always on my to do list as I attempt to keep in touch with family members around the world.
So I've been sick with a low grade something or another for more than two weeks now. No matter what I do (sleep, eat well, drink fluids, rest, exercise, eat less, teach spin, don't teach spin...), I cannot seem to shake this stupid thing. Viral infection, you suck!
In the meantime, I've been feeling foggy-brained, and my productivity at work has hit a new low. (How many times do I have to reread the instructions for submission of papers to that online journal? Or are there no specific instructions for the type of paper we are trying to write?) Seriously, procrastination and ADHD have nothing on this lingering head cold.
.....
I wouldn't normally obsess about being sick, except I'm starting to worry that I'll never feel well again. I wake up at night feeling thirsty (dry throat from being sick? maybe...), and I'm worried that my excessive thirst is a symptom of Type 2 diabetes (well, I have been eating a bit too much in the way of chocolate, cookies and other processed carbs lately)... I am overtired and irrational because it's 3:00 am, so I read some info on the Canadian Diabetes Association website, and I click through to a self-assessment questionnaire on the Public Health Agency of Canada's website. After making up some scary high numbers for my weight and waist measurement (things I have not, in fact, measured lately), I find myself at low risk for being pre-diabetic or diabetic, but I resolve to take better care of myself as a drift back to sleep.
......
There are days when I'm certain I'm going crazy. I wonder what I'd be like if I ever did get really sick. I'm sure my family would be tempted to disown me out of sheer exasperation.
.....
So I've decided to start running again. I'm tired of waiting for my Achilles' tendon to heal. It's almost there, and the pain is manageable during and after my runs, so I'm just going to go with it. The plan is to take it easy, limit the distance and maybe even train for a race. I'm thinking a sub-27-minute 5-km is a challenging yet obtainable goal for me.
So here I go. New shoes. New running season.
