I have been working out regularly since January and I feel pretty good. I am sleeping better, I am stronger, I have lost some weight, etc.  I still do not like going to classes but once I am there I enjoy them and feel very accomplished afterwards since they are not easy classes.

One of my goals for 2014 was to build up strength again in my upper body.  Since I had shoulder issues and went to PT 1.5 years ago, I had basically done absolutely NO upper body work.  And I was so weak. I am still not that strong but I have reached my goal of being able to do 10 push-ups (from the knees). In January I could not do one.  I can also do 2 regular push-ups and my new goal is to be able to do 10.

Go me!

We took down our climber today.  Stephen assembled it the first weekend of May in 2004. It was a kit from Co$tco and he spent the whole weekend putting it together.  We had a small section of our backyard at the old house where we thought it would fit but once we had it we realized that if we put it together the way it was supposed to go, it would not fit! So we had to change the position of the slide with the climbing "wall" and voila!

 

This photo was taken the day it was completed.

 

 

When we moved, the lady who bought our house had two big dogs so she did not want the climber.  We decided we'd move it but that was a complete hassle.  In the end we hired a kid who was our realtor's neighbour to disassemble it and truck it the 1/3 mile down the hill to our new house.  Then he and his friends put it back together.  That was 6.5 years ago. 

 

Jax and Dex quickly outgrew the climber but Cars still loved it and used it all.the.time until this past winter when the swings snapped when he and a friend were playing on it.  So many of the boards were rotting (we replaced many of them over the years) so we decided that it was time to get rid of it. Stephen and the boys started disassembling it just before noon today. 

 

Cars got bored and after 2pm went in search of some friends.  Jax and Dex worked with Stephen until 5:30 and the climber is now disassembled and awaiting a trip to the dump.

 

Cars returned for the final photo op.

 

 

What a difference a decade makes, eh?

 

Long Time No See...

The past two months have flown by.  Here's a recap...

My 49th birthday was at the end of March. I am *concerned* about turning 50. It sounds so damn old.  I had no problems turning 40.  Forty was fun and I still felt so young.  But 40 was nearly a decade ago.  When my dad turned 50 (and I was a smart-mouthed teenager), I kept reminding him over and over again that he was "Half a hundred!". He really did not like to hear it and now that I am pushing 50 I can see why!

I had a hard time turning 25 - thought it was so old.  Stephen and I had recently broken up and I was single but always thought I would be married by the time I was 25.  And here I am, staring at 50 and while I am not concerned about getting married, I feel like maybe I haven't hit some major markers or milestones and won't by the time I hit that big 5-0.  Yikes!

A few days after my b-day we left for a visit to Toronto.  Toronto in April is never ideal but Toronto in April during a Polar Vortex winter/spring sucks!  Actually, just the first few days were cold but there was still so much snow piled up in places.  The quadrangle of the hotel that we stayed in still had snow.  The 401 had those icky black ice banks that accumulate along the sides of the road and the parking lots had big, gross, black piles of snow in the corners of them.

But, it was good to see my mom.  She was doing so much better than she had been just a few weeks before. This illness has taken a lot out of her - she has aged incredibly.

Jax turned 16 the day after we got back and we have scheduled his test for his license for May 4th. I am excited and scared for that.  The cost of his insurance will be astronomical and Stephen has spent every waking moment for the past 10 days trying to find a good used car for Jax.  It is getting tiresome.  We are not really in a rush to buy a 3rd car - we just need one by September.  Also, a friend who has a friend in the auto industry said that this is the worst time to buy a car because everyone has their tax $$ back and wants to buy a car so inventory is down (new and used) and prices are up.  I think we should cool our heels until the end of June.

And I cannot believe that we are buying a car for my 16 year old.  To be clear, it won't be *his* car but it will be for him to drive.  Living the OC life here in Washington state. ;)