this left feels right!

observe sherlock! the L and the R on this pair of socks was clearly put there for a reason. yes! there is some sort of cushioning, gait, suspension, corn preventing, bunion blasting reason that they are labeled. of course when you are ME and it is early (very early) and you are running out of the house to get on your bike and pedal to meet your f.r.e.d. peeps and go for a run you tend to just pull the damn socks on and GO!

let's back track shall we? monday the doc asks me if I am under any stress. YES! is there anyway of getting rid of this stress? , he says. I say no because their names are mom and dad. unless you want to take care of them doctor I am on my own. he actually thought about it for a moment and my heart skipped a beat at the thought that he was almost in. almost....

so he recommends that to relieve my stress I should do some walking. some moving, some fun stuff, relax and enjoy. in with the good air, out with the bad. I say, uh, ya, okay! so in addition to running three oh four times a week and doing resistance training three times a week and throw in a yoga class and oh how about boxing for shits and giggles you want me to DO MORE? I see! ooooooooKAY! so why not park the car, save the environment and grab your bike! WEEEEEEE!

I meet up with my friend and we start biking and for some reason I am struggling. I start saying things to myself like, you suck, you ARE a fat ass, you have no business biking with the likes of Val - queen of the bike. she stops to wait for me and I apologize. she thinks I am apologizing for not keeping up. oh no! I am saying sorry for whatever I did, whatever I said, whatever I didn't do because apparently I have pissed you off and you are torturing me! If you knew Val you knew she wouldn't hurt a fly! unless that fly was wearing a helmut and riding a bike behind her and her name was NADIA! just kidding. it appears that the reason for my struggle was that my tires were not full, my front brake was also not working. I was a freakin' toddler on a bike! so in addition to the tour de Edmonton bike ride and the 6 km walk (run? wasn't happening!) we walked up the biggest hill in the city to the bike store where I announced that my bike had a boo boo. bike fixed and we were on our way. I took the lead and boy did my bike ever feel better! I don't suck! okay still a fat ass, but HEY! working on it!

I get home and conclude that the bike ride wasn't really as stress busting as I had hoped. a few glitches so I needed MORE! doc said! so I call upon my buddy rod and we have a relaxation session. I found my OM! feeling refreshed, feeling ready to get up and go and preparing the to-do-list for tomorrow. gotta get stuff done!

thanks to everyone who commented about Dan. he reads the blog and loved the comments. maybe one day we will have a Q & A with Dan. how about it?

a pic of his last english project. he had to write a poem and decided to write it on an album and the sleeves. kewl!



don't forget to go and comment! lots of fun stuff in store for the summer at the studio and we will be sharing with you all.

he did it!

graduation ceremonies last night and what a night. it started out with the routine dressing. I have always said I was given a boy for a reason and last night he became a bit of a girl. "sweet socks mama!" "what the hell am I supposed to do with this hat?" "I have too much hair!" "oh screw it let's roll" "hey I look good, don't I?" and he did look good and very tall!

last night I looked at these young men who have been together since play school. they have been on soccer teams together, lacrosse and had tons of birthday parties and sleep overs. building forts, carving pumpkins, skating at the rink, video game tournaments, skate boarding at the park etc. they have been through good times and some rough times together, but always there for each other. what a thrill to stand on the side and watch them all in their glory. their excitement was contagious. they still look like little boys and it is hard to believe that they are finished grade 12 and on to the next chapter in their lives.

and the party has just begun...

got milk?

that's me with my oh so yummy chocolate soy milk decaf espresso coffee concoction. say that three times fast! accompanying my drink is an equally delicious lara bar of the cocoa coconut flavor. cause goodness knows when you take away milk from a girl you somehow take away chocolate as well.

did the doc thing today and the gig is up. no more screwing around! my insides have been poked and prodded. blood has been drawn and the cup is full. test away! and please for the love of pete figure out why in the hell I have this pain.

first step is to give up milk products while we wait for some test results to come back. that pretty much covers all I eat and drink! good bye "5 pump, non-fat, extra hot grande lattes". good bye yogurt and milk for my cereal. good bye grilled cheese sandwiches with basil, tomatoes and honey. good bye organic milk chocolate bars.

at least for now....

and while we wait we have some thinking to do. like why do you suppose I ran into a ultra marathon runner who just so happens to be lactose intolerant down the soy milk isle? hmmmmmm.......

I am surrounded by greatness...

above is a pic of my peeps. f.r.e.d. (friends, running, eating, drinking). we had a scrumptious lunch to celebrate our 5th anniversary. 5 years! some of us started in running clinics together and every week without fail we meet. some of us run, some walk, some hit the pool and some come for coffee. there is always coffee afterwards. we come from different backgrounds, but we have a special bond. we have had injuries together and celebrated milestones together. fred our one and only man, THE man has done the boston marathon. kath is an ultra marathoner. val traveled to dublin for her first marathon. michelle and jen have done the ms bike tour. bobbie has been through it all. running, walking, swimming. jan will jump in wherever needed and gives us a place to stay for Melissa's. treva has taught clinics. deb is our bling girl. she starts out her run looking like a million bucks and by the end she looks even better. we still have no idea how she does it. kathy is our little one, but don't let that fool yeah!

and me? I am the lucky one. I get to be a part of this amazing group. all because one day I thought it would be fun to take a running clinic. each and everyone of them has been there for me. they've listened to me whine. I have cried on their shoulder. I have asked them to push me and challenge me. I have had fun running with them. walking with them. swimming with them. going to yoga. riding bikes. drinking coffee. eating chocolate. sharing photos and stories of our loved ones. it's amazing!

still feeling crappy and not able to see the doctor till monday. yuck! just when you think you have it bad though something comes along and reminds you that you have it pretty darn good after all. case in point. my cousin from california. I mentioned her last year while I was gearing up for the breast cancer walk. she is a breast cancer survivor. she had gamma knife surgery last year. and now more tumors and they are growing. the doctor wants to operate. she says no. she is afraid she won't make it off the operating table. her husband is afraid that if she does not have the surgery she won't make it. he asked me to pray that she will change her mind. I am gonna pray and ask that you keep her in your thoughts and hopefully she will come through this either way. all this going on and she made another quilt this year and participated in the "walk for life". hello? amazing!

so there you have it. a whole bunch of greatness. wonderful friends and amazing family. I am blessed.

here comes the sun...

grab your shades dudes! it's hot and it's bright and I LOVE it! enjoy it! get out there and sit with it and sip a cold drink and just soak it in cause it has been a long time coming.

around the house we have different stations set up. recovering people sprinkled here, there and everywhere. throw in a couple of dogs and it is truly a "dog's life". some sickness, some surgery, some screaming and in sickness and in health we are all here and we are together and we will get better.

it's a long weekend and long means one extra day! woo hoo! I will be running like the wind and try to get things done, stuffed, mailed, cleaned and organized as one extra day also means a short week. classes next weekend at treasured memories. hope to see you all there! looking forward to it!

and if all else fails:



ciao!

on being a mom

today is mother's day and the day I became a mother was the best day of my life. oh you will hear me tell stories of how wonderful the pregnancy was and there was only one day I felt icky. I craved sunflower seeds and pepsi/cream soda slurpees. his father drove around for hours finding me this combination as no other would do. I knew the delivery would be hell. I could feel it. the thing is I don't think I realized until just now why it went the way it did. it was like a preparation for things to come. I was overdue by two weeks so I was induced. all was dandy till the drip kicked in. whoa! hard and fast contractions. I threw ice chips, I yelled at the nurses to just let me lie there. I closed my eyes and prayed that I could actually deliver this child. I was afraid that I would lose him. I was afraid that I would never be a good mom. that I would fail. I worried about so much and after pushing and pulling he was born. he didn't cry when they put him on me. he just sat there and looked at me. as if to say whoa! that was one hell of a ride, hey mom? it was only the beginning...

and here we are almost 18 years later and it has been one hell of a ride my son! we have had our share of fear. we have yelled. I closed my eyes and prayed several times that he would get through it. each speed bump made me stronger. made him wiser. we learned SO much together. I worried that he would still love me when I had to be tough. that he would have as close to normal a life as I could build for him. that I made the right choices, for him. that he would make the right choices, for him. that we would be able to sit down and have real honest conversations about sex, drugs and rock & roll.

being a mom to me has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I did what I did hoping it was the right thing. I did the best I could with what I knew and continue to try to be as supportive as possible in all his choices. he is an amazing kid. SO not a kid anymore, but a man. hair on his face and broad shoulders. he has given me such a show growing up. he is brilliant, talented and artistic. he is his own person. I admire that in him. we always thought he would become a lawyer. negotiating, researching, defending were and still are a big part of his discussions. some days he wants to go into music. other days he wants to pursue culinary arts. whatever he does I know that he will do great things. something big. something that will make a difference or at least make a statement. I know it just looking at his entrance into this world and how he has made such a difference in my life. and tomorrow on the day that we buy our mother's cards and gifts I feel like he has given me the best gift of all. "front row and center" as I watch him grow and I can hardly wait to see what' next!

and here is the latest photo of my beautiful baby boy:



and did I mention he could cook?



yum! mediterranean pasta!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

is it Monday yet?

thursday? WOT? holy crap! can we talk? first off stampers celebration this past weekend was such a blast. Laurie and I rocked Airdrie. tons of pics over here. I love teaching with that gal and love road trips with her. SO much fun.

been WAY busy cleaning up from the trip (you know getting all that paint off my nails!) also gearing up for our next teaching gig at treasured memories. super excited about that. dates should be up soon!

art day was part work, part play and then our brains went bonkers! you know when you get a thought and pretty soon you are writing as fast as you can and doing sketches on tiny little post it notes cause god knows you have no bigger paper in a frickin' art studio! LOL! lots of good ideas for future classes.

I have some pics from last weeks journals to share. this is kind of a swap. just back and forth to me then Laurie and back. the journal is called good and evil and for some reason I felt like I needed to use red a lot. wierd? I will post more pics tomorrow!

this first one I used some of the techniques from betty's class and played around with these. I like the long irregular type of lettering. fun!



this one was gesso and smooshing (technical term) the paint and some stamping. words recalling moments of frustration and fear, love and understanding. the other page recognizing that I have problems remembering things. both pages related yet different.



last two pages were done first with left over practice sheet and black masking tape for the writing base. second page Laurie was painting through the aftermath of chipboard letters and when she placed it down I said "HEY" put that in my journal and so she did and I loved the effect.



feeling yucky still...kinda of tired, yucky tummy this week so off to bed....more tomorrow!

on the road again....

another pic from the weekend:



long day yesterday....it was meant to be a packing day, last minute run around, a run with friends, work at my real job and pop in to say hi and happy anniversary to mom and dad. they have been married for 48 years now. so cute! unfortunately my visit turned into a medical exam. mom was not doing well at all and after four hours of questions and phone calls to the pharmacy we had everything organized as far as her medication and hopefully she will begin to feel better. dad is doing amazing btw! still not smoking. here are the two of them in a silly moment. so cute.




last night while I was packing dan came into the studio and worked in the "garage band art girlz" journal. I packed and packed while he played in the journal and we listened to music....calm and fun. it is the moments like this that we share that are my favorite. a word now and then, but mostly being present with each other. check it:





AND this is how max feels about me leaving....



hope to post from the road and if you are attending stampers celebration I look forward to making stuff with you!