Finally Back To The Gym

It's been far too long my friend. Where did the year go? Seemed like just yesterday, down 35 pounds, feeling better each day... Not so long ago, yet, the last few months of bad weather meant not much riding to work at all. No riding to work meant quite a weight gain and that not so great feeling, feeling.

Fortunately, I'm back in the gym tonight for the first time in two months. There's quite a bit of work to get done, but I have to start here before I can start to see it again. Today will be that day... No more soda, no more crap-tastic food... It is time for that change.

So far 15 minutes on the free climber, 30 minutes on the bike and some pre-workout stretching has felt pretty good. The music of the Nokia Music Hair Bands playlist is keeping me moving and pressing onward. I'm also blogging this right now from the gym! You have to love the versatility of the modern smartphone!

From the gym, I'm signing off for now, but I'll see you all here again tomorrow!

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My Kid And Technology

Evie loves herself a nice cellphone. She likes to watch movies, play games and enjoy a funny video of herself. She is exactly like me when it comes to her devices. What's funny is that she seems to forget the world when she is holding that precious Rollie Pollie Ollie playing minature TV, and that's just fine by her.

It made me wonder if letting kids "entertain" themselves with our gadgets is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, should kids under 5 use these little things for a distraction or should we shelter them from them as long as possible. Will my little girl be asking for a Facebook page next week?

On the flip side to those thoughts, does using this stuff actually give her a bit of a headstart on life? When she gets to be school age, tablets will replace textbooks, media will be the leaning tool prefered by teachers and parents will be playing catch up on the latest and greatest. It's scary to think that 3 or 4 years from now, she will be in 2nd grade, using all this technology to become smarter.

Perhaps playing flying penguins, Perry and watching a few hours of Rollie Pollie Ollie isn't as much distraction as it is prepping her well for the future.

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Maybe We Will Move?

So after experiencing the sticker shock of the cost of moving in to our fall back place, we had all but decided to stay put in the apartment for another 6 months. We just couldn't handle the $3000+ deposits that some of them wanted. Maybe if they included last months rent or something, it would have been different.

Just as we became "content" again, and I use that word in the, "Beats being homeless," sort of way, we were called by a friend who has a relative with a rental in Snohomish. It is now a question of timing,  rather than money for our move. If everything works out, we would pack up mid February and be out of here. If not, we would have six more months of the trompy's up stairs before we break free.

That said, I snapped this photo on the way in to the apartment. This was a stack of rocks that Evie and I piled up over the summer on the landscaping rock out front. It hit me that despite what we think of this place, this is home to Evie. She's too young to know about the annoyances. She's too little to understand the poor staffing. She's just happy where she is,as long as Daniel Tiger is on and there's Fruit Loops on the table.

The rocks have stood the summer time and people coming and going. The rocks have made it through the fall rains, and neighbors moving away. The rocks have even outlasted the winter freezes. I guess I look at the life lesson of our little rock pile and smile. When you build your rock pile on a solid foundation, it out lasts all of us, no matter what happens around it, it will always be able withstand the weather, the people around it and most of all, everything that's out of our control. That's the benefit of a solid foundation.

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Losing Family

This has been a really bad week. During a time of year that should be about new beginnings and wonder, our family has been dealt the biggest loss that one can endure. The amazing woman that we call Jan, Mama and GiGi has been defeated by a horrible disease. No, she isn't gone completely, but after her ill-fated fall on New Year's Eve, her last week plus has been spent at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue.

With all the odds against it, I was personally holding out hope that they could heal her feet up enough for her to climb back on them and go home. I just knew that she would get out of that dreadful hospital room and go home one more time... Unfortunately, that trip will not be the one that she gets to make this time.

Tomorrow, she will be transferred to a hospice facility to either beat this evil back one more time, or to finally wave the white flag and surrender. Part of me wishes that she has that last bit of fighting left, while the other just hopes that she can find peace. The less selfish side, the side that wants what's best for her, and the rest of the family, just wants her to pass peacefully on into the night so we can remember the amazing person that she will always be.

In the mean time, the prayers will continue, friends will visit and the waiting room at the end of the hall will be where one small child loses herself in her favorite shows, not realizing what is happening a few feet away.