Support

On Sunday January 27th I ran my first race of the 2013 season. It was the Robbie Burns 8km run in Burlington. It was a fabulous experience and I hope to do it again in 2014.

My favourite part of the whole thing (aside from finishing) was my support team. Jenny, my running partner, and I had just hit the two kilometer mark when we noticed pulling up beside us a white Chevy Tahoe blaring "Eye of the Tiger" ... My support team!! Michael and the kids!! YAY!! I really needed the boost at that point too. I've been suffering from ITBS and wasn't sure how much further I'd be able to go.

Rising up, straight to the top - Had the guts, got the gloryWent the distance now I'm not gonna stop

After taking a few pictures of us running along side of them they drove off. We didn't know where they were headed, but figured they would head back to the finish/start line to wait for us.

Gab gab gab gab ... chatter chatter ... talk.

Jenny and I kept running along, chatting, keeping a good pace and, to our surprise, found the cheer squad a little ways up. I wish I had my camera with me to take pictures of them along the route too.

Just keep running

They followed (ahead of us) for the entire race. Michael took over 300 photos. At one turn in the route he and the kids were standing on the sidewalk. I didn't see where the truck was parked, but I heard their cheers and looked over to see my three little lovelies jumping up and down shouting "GO MOM GO!!"

Heading up a hill.

The Burlington PD were amazing with traffic along the route. I've been in a few races where they stop the runners to allow for traffic, but not here. The traffic had to wait for us. It was great!!

I had never, in my life, been so happy to see a finish line. The ITBS was seizing my leg and I know I should have stopped running, but it was a race damnit!! Yes yes, I'm seeing my doctor and a certified sports injury therapist. No worries. :)

A strong finish!

In a time of 57:51 and a pace of 7:21 Jenny and I crossed the finish line. Our gun time was 58:43 which means it took us nearly a minute to cross the start line at the beginning of the race. There were a lot of people.

I found out afterwards that Michael and the kids had to sprint to the finish line in order to make it there on time. They didn't think they would catch us crossing, but they did.

Big hugs for Mom! 

Jenny and I -- Still smilin'!

Next stop is the Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed my ITBS is significantly better by then. I'd hate to be a DNF for my first half marathon.

Thanks so much to my support crew and to Jenny for being an elemental running buddy. Gold star!!

My family is awesome.

Introducing ...

Moose!!

That's right folks, you heard it here first (unless you're friends with me on Facebook then you probably heard it there first); the puppy has a name!! His registered name is Once in a blue Moose and we'll be calling him Moose.

Yesterday we got to visit with the little gaffer.

Cutie pie.

As well as the kids, hubby and I, Dozer got to meet Moose too. It was love at first sniff. It was really funny because the puppy would squeak a little bit and Dozer would go into full blown head-tilt mode.

Dozer meets his baby brother Moose.

Today is race day -- The Robbie Burns 8km. It is -16°C outside. I've got two layers of pants on and multiple shirts. Brrrr. LOL I will let you know how it goes.

More chocolate smoosh! Closer up. :)

Have a great day!!

L.T.N.P.

Long time no post!

Holy cow, where has the time gone?

Michael is home from work so the lace knitting, as simple as it is, of Webfoot has been put on hold. I don't need distractions for that and when it's just the kids and I at home I do it when they're in school or in bed.

So I've started knitting baby stuff. I just found out there is going to be a baby boy arriving in the family in June and I didn't have any baby weight blue yarn so I went and picked some up. No, it's not my sister's baby. She still doesn't know the baby's gender. She's still not finding out until the baby is born in April. That's okay though ... just no gender specific colours for her!

The white is going to be turned into a couple sweaters in which I have blue and pink buttons for and the pink is going to be knit up and put into waiting.

Bernat Softee Baby 

Buttons Close Up

The buttons on the right are going to be put on the sweater I'm knitting with the blue yarn. I don't have a picture of it, but I'm about 50% finished. The pattern is Top Down Seamless Garter Ridge Raglan Baby Sweater. I've made some changes to the pattern, just slightly, but I think it's too busy with the garter ridges all the way down so I've stopped them part way. It's looking good.

The buttons on the left I just love the colour of. I think I will probably put them on a white cardigan. They're kind of an odd yellowy-orange and I think they'll pop really nicely on something simple. We'll see.

Today we meet the puppy. It turns out there were female puppies in the litter, I misunderstood, but they were already spoken for. C'est la vie. We're still happy with our little chocolate boy. I will be taking pictures and blogging all about it. Be on the ready! :)

Costco

Today we took a trip to Costco. It's not unusual for Michael and I to go there, but today was special. Today we introduced my Dad to Costco. I've taken my Mom there with me before and she was anxious for the Skeptic (aka Dad) to see it. I think he liked it. Mom, of course, loves it and found lots of neat things she'd like to have.

I am pretty sure I get my shopping gene from her.

Of course any trip to Costco involves taking a well planned list of needed items and then buying about $100 more in products you happen to see and think "I need that!"

The poor kids though, it's a big store and we normally go when they're at school because it takes a long time to get through it. Today it was nearly 3 hours. Holy poop.

I bought myself a new spring/summer running shirt. It's comfortable and brightly coloured, purple and orange - $16.00; sweet. I love it. I'll take a picture when I'm not feeling so lazy. ;)

Cheers!

Chocolate Squoosh

Yes, "squoosh" is a real word. ;)

The breeder sent us more pictures of our chocolate lab puppy today. Only a week left until we get to see him!!

Our pup is the one on the bottom with the giant head.

He's on the right in this picture.

Have a great weekend!

WIP Webfoot

As promised I've taken updated pictures of Webfoot and as promised I'm to row 15. Actually 16 now, but hey ...

It is unbelievable how long it actually takes me to knit a row on this thing. You'd think I'd be more proficient. After all it is just knitting and purling ... geesh!

The whole 301 stitches.

A closeup.

Michael flies home today, so I'm going to be up late. Hopefully I will get a lot more done. I am going to have to stop once I get too sleepy though because I don't want any (more) errors. I kind of already have an extra yarnover in it and I'm not sure how it got there, but I do know my stitch count is right once again. LOL

Shopping!

One little word that can grab the attention of most women -- shopping. It's fun, it's instant gratification and it's technically exercise. What is better than that?

I headed over to the local mall today and there were sales everywhere! I had gone in specifically for one store, but ended up shopping at five and probably could have spent a fortune more if I had wanted to. Needless to say it was a good day to hit the mall.

Lets face it though, who can resist a good sale?

Certainly not me.

Michael and I have a joke about how he goes out and works hard and then I go out and buy shoes. Well that's all it ever has been - a joke. I love shoes, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a buy-a-pair-of-shoes-for-the-hell-of-it kind of gal. Today however, I bought shoes. Had to. They were on sale, 50% off even! It would have been wrong of me to not buy them. Not to mention the fact that I've been looking for a sort of every day kind of heel to wear. So it was sort of a whim, but sort of not.

Cute and comfy.

I also bought myself a Bunny Hug which was 50% off and two knit sweaters (2 for $15). Seriously hard to resist so I didn't even try. Why bother? Ha ha.

I've been knitting Webfoot. I think I'm on row 13. Slow and steady wins the race. I will take a picture of my progress tomorrow. Hopefully by then I'll be on row 15. ;)

Wordless-ish Wednesday

Little green things peeking out ahead of schedule.

My car. Her name is Betty.

Lonely toboggans waiting for some snow. 

Remnants of Hallowe'en. 

The pumpkins are all shriveled and frost bitten.

Twelve Km Tuesday

Today was LSD running day ... and now I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep great last night, had a busy morning and then had a great run with my running buddy. It's going to be an early bedtime tonight.

We ran 12km today and had planned our usual 12km route however it was a little flooded due to the immense amount of rain we've had over the last week. No worries though we were able to augment our route without getting lost. It's all good. 

This is me standing beside the river.
As you can see it overwhelmed the trail.

Next week Michael will be running with us, so I'm hoping I remember to ask him to take a picture of Jenny and I together. Next week is 14km.

Before bed tonight my plans consist of an evening of knitting some rows on Webfoot. A row takes me quite awhile. There are 301 stitches. It's not difficult, just a very long row. Since today is Tuesday there's nothing on TV I will want to watch so I think I'll watch a movie. Something I can knit to. Any suggestions?

Yawn!

Stretch!

Coffee!!

M-M-M-Monday

It's Monday morning, which marks the last day of the kids' four day long weekend; thanks to teacher strikes (that didn't come into fruition) and a PA Day.

I've been knitting, but not much. Just a couple of little things and I did cast on for Webfoot/Filigree but that's as far as I got. I'm hoping to be able to work on it today.

Webfoot/Filigree in the cast on state.

With all the babies cooking in their little ovens I figure as long as my knitting mojo is alive and well I need to be knitting baby things.

Baby Booties: Butterfly Super 10 Cotton

Baby Hat using random sock yarn with no label.

On occasion we get a visitor sitting on the window ledge on our house. Yesterday (as mentioned) it was a rainy but warm day outside. Perfect for attracting this little guy to a little bit of shelter. I wished I could have gotten a better picture, but he wouldn't cooperate.

Little Squirrel Buddy

A post here just wouldn't be complete without a picture of Dozer. I absolutely adore the way his ears fold up when he is laying flat on the ground like that. When he was a pup people told me he would grow into his huge ears. I didn't want him to, I wanted them to be huge forever. I got my wish. :)

Lazy dawg,

Tomorrow is LSD Monday Tuesday. We're running 12km. Hopefully it doesn't snow. I've heard it might. Not that I'm opposed to running in the snow, I'd just rather not.

Have a great day!

Rainy Day

I forgot to blog today.

Well, maybe I didn't forget completely, but I procrastinated.

Now I've got a couple FO's to share, pictures have been taken but I'm too lazy at 8:45pm to take them off the memory card and post them.

It was a rainy day here in Southern Ontario. Perfect for cooking in the crock-pot.

Who am I kidding though?

Every day is perfect for cooking in the crock-pot. 

Today it was chicken.

Tomorrow is another day. I promise a better post ... one with pictures and substance.

Funny Face

I've been trying out the different settings on my new camera, and who better to help me than an adorable little puppy dawg named Dozer? 

Blink! LMAO.

He always looks so hard done by, but the tail is wagging!

My handsome guy.

You'll notice on the door in the background there is a chew mark on the door. That's the reason we decided to NOT renovate our kitchen this year. Dozer chewed that when he was just a little gaffer. We aren't risking a new kitchen to a puppy.

By the way, the puppy has a name! I will let you know what it is as soon as I have permission to let the cat out of the bag.

Totally Random

Yesterday I went to Walmart, which is not my usual stomping ground, but they had totes on for a good price. I bought 6 small totes, 1 large one and one of those three drawer plastic thingies. Today L and I cleaned her room. We used ALL the totes. They are labelled, filled full of art stuff and toys and her room is organized. Hooray!

The three drawer plastic thingy.
You will notice the top drawer says "Sewing, Knitting, Beading"
That's my girl!

I bought myself a new camera. A little gift from the husband's pay cheque to me. LOL It's a Canon SX50 HS and there are a lot of really cool features on it. I only picked it up yesterday so I've been playing with the settings and figuring it all out. I'm excited to have a real camera again. I've been using only the one in my phone for about 6 months and it's horrid.

In knitting news I've knit two more hats since my last hat post. Hats are quick, easy and when they're baby sized, they're super cute. The patterns are Mock Cable Baby Hat and Bev's Baby Ribs Hat.

Bev's Baby Ribs Hat: Regia Sock Yarn

Mock Cable Baby Hat: Butterfly Super 10 Cotton

I also finished a baby sweater I started knitting in 2011. Yes. It took me two years to knit a baby sweater. Pathetic. I hang my head in shame. On the plus side, it's done now. Hooray!! The pattern is Paxton Jacket. A very cute and super fast knit ... for most people. ;)

Paxton Jacket: Random Sport Weight Yarns
What can I say? It's been two years and I lost the labels. LOL

I hope everyone has a superb weekend. My kids are all home for a long weekend. Monday is a PA Day, which is fine and dandy, but I've had to shift LSD Monday to LSD Tuesday. It'll be 12km on Tuesday.

Cheers!

The ABC's of Me

I stole this from fellow knit-blogger Dee. :) Thanks! :)

A - Age: 34

B - Bed Size: Queen

C - Chore You Hate: Cleaning windows; we have leaded glass. Nuff said.

D - Dogs Name: Dozer (and a puppy on the way).

E - Essential Start of the Day Item: Coffee

F - Favorite Colour: It changes every day. Today? Sky blue.

G - Gold or Silver: Both, plus platinum. Toss in some other shiny gems and it's perfect.

H - Height: 5' 7"

I - Instruments you play: Piano-ish. Not well. Wish I could play better. Lessons are in my future.

J - Job: Semi-Retired-Freelance-Writer-Stay-At-Home-Mom

K - Kids: 2 sons and a daughter.

L - Living Arrangements: In a house on a street, trees on the lawn with my family.

M - Music You Love: It's easier to list the music I hate: Country.

N - Nicknames: Sami, my mom calls me that. Sam, which I'm really not fond of, but well, what are you going to do? Sweets is what my husband calls me. My kids call me Mom. Those who know me best just call me Bitch. LOL

O - Overnight Hospital Stay: Two, the births of son number 1 and daughter. Son number 2 was born at home (so.much.better).

P - Pet Peeve: Food noises. Eat quietly. Also while you're at it, breathe quietly too.

Q - Quote from a Movie: "I got towels" ... not really my favourite, but it's a funny one that created an inside joke with hubby and I.

R - Right handed or Left: Right.

S - Siblings: I have a sister. Did you have to remind me? ;)

T - Time you wake up: Usually around 7:00am

U - Underwear: Thongs.

V - Vegetables you dislike: Zucchini.

W - Workout Style: Running, cycling, swimming (with the goal of not drowning), kettle bells.

X - X-Rays You've Had: Hips, teeth, face (sinus) ... enough.

Y - Yummy Food You Make: My beef stew is epic.

Z - The Best Place to Visit: Somewhere quiet. And why does this start with a Z? Shouldn't Z be "Zoo Animal Favourite" or something like that. For the record: Tiger.

Wordless-ish Wednesday

Dozer has such a tough life. It makes him soooo sleepy.

Mmmm Chocolate

Ever since we got our beloved Dozer we knew we would be adding another labradorable addition to our family. We had hoped to do it last year but the timing wasn't right -- M was changing jobs, life was all kafuffled -- but now! Now the timing is right. Also M told me if I signed up for a half marathon we would definitely get a puppy (a nice bribe on his part, but I was planning to run one anyway) ... My first half is March 3rd, my second is May 5th. I think I've about covered it.

We have been in contact with Dozer's breeder for about 5 months about getting another pup and we've been waiting and waiting and waiting. They bred Dozer's dam to Dozer's sire in early September and oh how we were excited! An exact sibling to the best ever dog on the planet. At first they thought she was pregnant, but then her symptoms disappeared. It was a false pregnancy. They had emailed us to let us know and also let us know they intended to breed another one of their bitches -- who is actually Dozer's sister -- a very sweet girl indeed. We let them know we wanted a female puppy in either black or chocolate.

Yesterday I got a phone call from the breeder.

He started off with "I've got you on our list for wanting another labrador retriever puppy ..." and I said "yes, that's right." Then he says "Well unfortunately ..." and then he pauses ... "well, it's fortunately, but unfortunately ... maybe ..."

Now I'm thinking there are no puppies but he's going to put me back on the list!

He continues "We had a litter of pups on January 2nd, chocolates, blacks and yellows, but ..." another epic pause. "they're all males."

Is that all?

Males?

That's great, perfect, more than perfect! It's a BOY!!!

I was so relieved and let him know that we still want a puppy, that we are looking for another family companion and that gender isn't our priority. There are four chocolate pups, three yellow pups and three black pups.

We are getting a chocolate pup. YAY! We requested the darkest chocolate puppy, but that is subject to change should the darkest puppy have a personality that doesn't mesh with our family of five plus Dozer. Dozer gets along with everybody so I doubt it's going to be an issue at all in that regard.

An adorable pile of  boy puppies.

We think the guy on top here is our pup.

All ten pups.

We get to meet the pup later this month and I'm planning to take loads of pictures, so be prepared to get bombarded with cuteness. He doesn't have a name yet, but we're working on it. Dozer's full (registered) name is Dozer Dreams, so I'm thinking we'll go with something equally calm sounding.

Now back to knitting!

FOs and a Run

Happy Monday! The kids are back in school today and schedules are back to normal. I love having my kids home, but I function so much better with a set schedule than I do when things are sort of random. Dinner times and all that stuff were the same when they were home, but running and workout times were disorganized. It's hard to keep motivated when it's like that -- at least for me anyway.

To mark the return of a schedule I started the week off right with a LSD (long slow distance) run with my running partner Jenny. We'd been slacking a bit over the holiday season, so rather than bump ourselves up to the 14km mark (where we would have been before Christmas) we brought ourselves back to 10km and will build up from there. It was a good run and our pace was right on target. :)

Oh man, was it cold outside though. Brrr. Not once we got moving, but until we got warmed up. It was -7°C when we headed out. We hit the trails and roads, and managed to find a lot of places where the roads, sidewalks and paths were clear of snow and ice. I'm looking forward to next week. It's supposed to be warmer. Yay! :)

My knitting mojo has not quite returned, but I did manage to get a couple small things knit. Just a couple of hats, but at least my fingers are happily moving along rather than twiddling and feeling twitchy.

My new toque!

I knit a beanie toque for myself. I needed a new one. This isn't the greatest picture, but it was hard to get a good shot of my own head with my phone. I did 8 rows of grey, 2 rows of purple all the way up in a 2x2 rib.  I used leftover Patons Decor Grey Heather from E's sweater and some old red heart silky stuff for the accent colour. *edit* L saw my toque and asked so sweetly if she could have it. I said yes. After all it does nearly match her mittens.

My first knit of 2013!!!

I know three? pregnant women right now and a few couples who are hoping to get pregnant very soon, so I'm stocking up on baby knits. I've got another one on the needles now in a different colour. The pattern is Bevs Baby Ribs Hat and it's my absolute favourite newborn baby hat to knit. They fit newborns wonderfully and don't slip off. :)

Have a good one folks!

Say Cheese!

A few moments ago I heard a crinkling noise coming from across the room. I looked over to see someone munching on something bright yellow -- the cheese and cracker snack!

Exhibit 1: The Snack Package

Aside from the wrinkled packaging, this looks like your average cheese and cracker (sticks) snack, doesn't it?

Exhibit 2: Where's the Cheese?

It appears the package has been peeled back with care exposing only the cheese to be eaten.

Exhibit 3: The Crackers!

Upon closer examination I found that, yes, the crackers and the package surrounding them is completely intact!

Exhibit 4: The Culprit (alias Dozer D. Dawg)

Guilty as charged! Though because he is such a good dog he gave it to me without a fuss and was quite proud that he had only licked out the cheese.

I really wish I had thought to make a sign for around his neck. That would have been hilarious. Oh well, I imagine there will be plenty of time for that in the future. 

Knitting Mojo, Where'd You Go?

Before the holiday season started my knitting mojo was hot. My needles were on fire. Now? Not so much. I think it's in part to the fact that I have this really gorgeous yarn and I am in search of a project that will do it justice.

Wandering Cat Yarns Twinkle Cat DK: Orion
2 Skeins @ 230 yards/skein

I love this yarn. Adore it. It's soft, it's blue, it's sparkly. What's not to love? You can understand why I need the perfect project for it. At first I thought I would knit a hat and scarf combo with it. Hermione Hearts Ron is the hat pattern I was going to use and then create a scarf pattern to match, and while I do like the hat I don't think it's the right one. I'm also considering a long and lacy triangular-ish scarf. Valerie gifted me a lovely brown scarf/shawl a couple years ago and it's my absolute favourite scarf. It's the perfect fit and I can wear it several different ways. I'd like to knit something similar using my blue Twinkle DK yarn. The only problem is I cannot find anything even remotely close. I'd even (attempt to) knit the same pattern as the brown scarf -- it is such a pretty pattern -- but I have no clue what it is.

My favourite scarf.

A close up of the beautiful pattern.

So you see, if I can find a pattern -- and I'm taking suggestions -- that will be perfect for this yarn I will be able to get my itchy knitting fingers back in the groove and my mojo will come running home to me.

Better Late than Never

Usually I like to quote my friend William Shakespeare by saying it's "better to be three hours too soon than a minute too late," but in this circumstance -- the beginning of a new blog -- better late than never works out okay.

This is not my first blogging rodeo, I've had my first blog since 2004 and in between then and now I have had several others. I decided to start a new blog in 2013 because 2012 was a year of some pretty significant changes for me. I'm not going to go into detail, it's not important. Twenty-Twelve is behind us and I've got a whole new clean slate of 2013 (and this blog) ahead of me. Out with the old; in with the new.

My writing will mostly be about my hobbies I enjoy (knitting, sewing, crocheting) and the sports I participate in (running, cycling, swimming) but you'll read a little bit about my friends and family here too and just about life in general.

It's going to be fun. It's going to be great, fantastic, sensational, marvelous, superb!!

All aboard!