My mothers day!

I truly don't need a day in my honor. BUT....since someone has placed this special day upon me.. I try to enjoy it!

Mothers day 2010 was great. My first one as a mom of 3 kids!!! While breakfast in bed may appeal to some...for me, I headed out for a 9 mile run and came home to fresh coffee and an egg white omelet...oh, and a clean kitchen. HEAVEN!

Then came the gifts...handmade cards by the one and only Cole. Again, only a picture of me and Cole drawn on it...no twins. No daddy. Can we say "mommy time" needed? Tim purchased a lovely dumbell rack for my home gym. Before you "boo" at him...keep in mind that I did ask for one and I did squeal when I unwrapped it. Now my dumbells are all nicely lined up from lightest to heaviest in their nice little home.. off the floor!

I know I'm sad... (PS: last years gift was a weighted vest that I wear when I treadmill)

The best gift from my hubby though.....he managed to sleep train the twins last week. 7-7 my friends with NO FEEDS! Both boys! Again, HEAVEN.

He sent Cole and I into the basement for bed and he pushed through the crying and comforting at all hours in the night for 3 nights. By Sunday, I was able to move back upstairs and sleep a full 9 hours straight. Now THAT is the best gift ever...no?

We had brunch with my parents, my bro & new wife Tammy and my sister and her new fiancee (YES she is getting married in Sept...when it rains it pours flippin weddings around here!)

I guess the upside to a funeral is that is does bring the living together. In this case my mom was able to have all her kids around her during such a tough time. We all found our smiles that day.

Hope yours was a special one!

A weekend of sadness - funeral

The weekend is over...finally. I rarely hope for a short weekend.

Funerals + Me = Anxiety

We buried my aunt this past weekend. Viewing was friday night and the funeral service was on Saturday.

Funerals sure have changed...unfortunately I have attended my fair share of them. The first funeral I ever attended was for a friend in high school. He had been drinking under a bridge by the river and fell in and drowned. I will NEVER forget it. It was the MOST sadness I have ever seen in one room. He was only 16. It made me think, does the level of sadness heighten when it's a younger person? My aunt was 75, I heard alot of "she had a good long life" ....there was alot of sniffling but no sobbing and screaming like at my young friends burial.

Is there an age limit on when it becomes "ok" to die? Do we rationalize and accept death more at an older age?

I also noticed that funeral homes have embraced our age of technology...a nice slideshow was put together celebrating my aunts behalf, perfectly timed to suitable music (Frank Sinatra....her favorite!). There must be a team of elves working feverishly behind the scenes as there were 4 viewings and 2 funeral services happening at once! Either the funeral home director profession is a dying breed or we are dying in larger quantities then 20 yrs ago!

What I can say about this added technological service was that it really gave a sense of who my aunt was. Painting, playing piano, pics with her kids, laughing with friends, grandkids, and of course snuggle pics of her and my uncle brought smiles in a time of sadness.

I looked around the packed chapel and whispered to Tim. "I want people to come visit me, hug me and tell me they love me while I am ALIVE. I want a slideshow of my life that I can watch." It may not have been the place to start talking death with my hubby, but I need him to know these things.

Do you talk death with your spouse/significant other or family?

My dad did a eulogy. He read a poem that hit home for many I'm sure. If you have a chance to read it please do. It's called The Dash.

Fitness Friday...a day early!

Everyone grieves in their own way. For me, I run. I also head to the gym. My aunt was amazed by my dedication to fitness. She inspired me to age gracefully like she was doing and over the years we shared many walks in the park talking about health and fitness. For 75 years old, she was a picture of health and I was so proud of her. Whenever she asked what she could do to stay fit, I told her to just keep moving...and she did...as much as she could.

So, this week I ran....alot... I also hit the gym alot. Tim knows it's where I can find my peace. I also had a weigh in this week and although I was down 3 pounds this month, my bodyfat creeped up .5%. Eek! Nothing major...I know..I earned that .5% increase, trust me!

Tim reminded me this morning of how far I've come in less then 5 months of training..let's take a peek. Here is me on the way to deliver the twins.....50cm belly....ouch! Still rockin the lulu's though!


Here is me this week...29 inch waist (I am striving for a six pack this summer...right now I have a 2 pack. Ha! Also ignore my white belly....if the weather here would cooperate I would tan that belly to match my arms!)


This just shows that hard work will pay off...all you mommies out there who email me (ps: why not post a comment?) asking for my tricks. THERE ARE NO TRICKS. I use no supplements or fat burners, I train hard and eat clean. Plain and simple. These past 2 weeks I have been skipping meals, inconsistent with my protein intake and overall just too many "treats" This resulted in lost muscle even though I have been training. If you are putting in serious gym/cardio time, you must eat.

Ok, lecture over..(it's more of a self lecture to remind myself to practice what I preach!)

So for fitness friday I will post my treadmill run this AM. You can vary the speed/incline according to your level but here is mine.

Minute 1-5: warm up walking at 3.9mph
5-10: light jog at 5.4
10-20: hill training 1min (incline 8, 4.5mph), jog 1min (incline 2 5.5mph)
20-25: sprint training 30sec (incline 1, 7.0mph) walk 30sec

REPEAT the hill and sprint training for a total of 30 min high intensity cardio.

Cool down by walking at least 5 min and stretch!

ON MY IPOD THIS WEEK

• Not myself tonight (Christina Aguilera)
• Billionaire (Travie McCoy)
• OMG (Usher)
• Alejandro (Lady Gaga)
  

Have a great weekend!