Photo Wednesday

There are two photos this week, both of which feature darling daughter's posse. At the current moment, she cannot go anywhere without her beloved Care Bears and baby. They go with her for nap time, bed time, play time and snack time. In the above photo, she insisted that they come up with her as she got changed for the day. Below, they are lined up, watching her eat breakfast.

The Golden Age

I think I’ve hit a Golden Age with darling daughter. She’s at an age where everything is new to her. Bugs, sticks, sand, rocks, trees, birds, clouds, and even splash pads brings her pure delight.

We were unable to enjoy splash pads last year as she wasn’t walking until the end of August and I wasn’t about to let her crawl on concrete. Yesterday we got together with my friend J and her little boy. She suggested we head to a nearby splash pad to cool off and enjoy the beautiful weather. I won’t disclose the location of said splash pad because it may be the best splash pad in the entire city of Ottawa because it is so darn cool and quiet. And my gut tells me that not many people know about said splash pad so it is best keep it a secret.

Darling daughter had the time of her life, dashing in and out of the jetting water, squealing and screaming in delight. Her little friend was a bit cautious, likely due to an unfortunate incident where he was frightened by a big stream of water hitting him unexpectedly. He had great fun running through the splash pad when the water stopped, tempting fate so to speak. Regardless if they were getting wet or staying dry, I looked at darling daughter and her little friend having fun and concluded that this may be one of the Golden Ages of their childhoods. They are just getting to know the world around them. They aren’t exactly set in their ways because they get distracted easily (and depending how you look at it, that may be a con). And the simple things, like running or avoiding running through rushing water, brings pure joy into their lives.

As darling daughter ran in and around the splash pad, I documented her experience with my camera. Some of the photos are priceless. She has a huge grin in most of the photos, delighted with the rushing water gushing from the sprinklers below and above her.

There will definitely be more Golden Age days in darling daughter’s life, but the day when she first discovered the splash pad has already become a fond memory in my mind.

Father's Day

Yesterday, we were super busy celebrating Father's Day, so busy in fact that I didn't have time to write. Our day celebrating Father's Day was in stark contrast in how we celebrated Mother's Day. (Dear husband took darling daughter to an indoor playground while I watched a movie. It must have been a bad day. I remember that it was a rainy day). We kicked off the day watching dear husband run 5k for the Do It For Dad run/walk. After eating a pancake breakfast, we came home and packed for a picnic before heading to Gatineau Park.

The rest of the afternoon was as busy as our morning as we ate, chatted and then toured Mackenzie King Estates. It was a great day, not only celebrating Father's Day, but the day as a family. It was a great, memorable day.

Walking the line with the man in black

Move over Fred Penner, you've got competition.

I kid you not, darling daughter is a Johnny Cash fan. She loves him. His Greatest Hits CD is one of many in our CD collection in our car. Well, darling daughter will say, "song, song" demanding we put on the CD. She particularly enjoys Get Rhythm. Likely due to the fact that dear husband used to sing her the song when she was a baby and she was crying. The other day, she was getting fussy in the car and I immediately put on the CD. Instantly, she was smiling and bopping away in her car seat to Johnny Cash's voice. Who knew?

I guess if we ever take any long road trips we've got to get our hands on some more Johnny Cash tunes. I wonder if she'd like Willie Nelson?

Photo Wednesday

This photo was taken at last Saturday's Barrhaven Run for Roger's House. As part of the race kit, I received a T-shirt. Unfortunately, I didn't like the cut of the neckline. Fortunately for darling daughter, she loved it. She wore it the night before and during the race. We've also found the key to keeping her happy and entertained during running races: bring the wagon instead of the stroller. That way, she can climb in and out when she wants to.

The magic of magic looping

This post is for all the knitters out there who hate using and fiddling with double pointed needles. If you haven't already ditched those darn needles for magic looping, you should. My friend K got me onto magic looping. She had mentioned it to me and her tip came in quite handy when I was making a sweater. For whatever reason, I couldn't get the sleeves right with the double pointed needles I was working with. It looked like there was a run down each side of the sleeve. After a quick magic loop tutorial on knittinghelp.com, I got those sleeves done. And I was hooked.

Basically when it comes to magic looping you are knitting small diameter knitting projects on a long cable needle. When you get the hang of it, the technique is is quite ingenious as well as simple. It looks a bit complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is quite addictive. I've magic looped two longie legs at the same time. I've magic looped sleeves. I've magic looped the legs, arms and body of a sock monkey. Right now, I'm magic looping a small baby hat. It is much easier than using double pointed needles. The other day I had to add more length onto a sweater. Instead of using the cable needles I used to knit the body of the sweater, I had my long cable needles handy (same size as the smaller needles I had used) and started magic looping.

Although I still occasionally have to use double pointed needles, my dpn usage has been cut down significantly directly because of magic looping. My new knitting motto is when in doubt, magic loop. You can never go wrong when you magic loop.

Who is going to drag me across the finish line?

This was my punishment for being too cocky: running a 10k race.

Since crossing the finish line at Race Weekend, I’ve been dragging my feet when it came to running the 10K Barrhaven Run for Roger's House. I found the 5k on Race Weekend to be difficult to complete. How was I going to run 10k? I can’t even remember when I signed up for this race, either. It must have been done in an fit of euphoria after finishing a good long distance run. Damn those endorphins.

The day before race day, I contemplated switching from the 10k to the 5k. I was even going to ask to make the switch when I picked up my race kit. But since the line was so long, I didn’t get a chance. Volunteers were rushing to hand out kits to people standing in line. Obviously, it wasn’t a good time to ask. Then I thought about not running at all after reading the course wouldn’t be closed to traffic. When darling daughter woke up Saturday morning and we discovered her dotted rash turned into massive red welts, I thought there was no way I could possibly run when my child was suffering. Turns out she wasn’t suffering at all. No major illness. The rash continues to be an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. According to the doctor, if it isn’t bothering her, she’s fine.

Out of excuses, I decided to put up, shut up and run. If I was going to run a 10k race in June, Saturday was the day to do it since it wasn’t too hot or too sunny.

I put the following plan into action: survive and cross the finish line upright on my own two feet. Since I wasn’t running with anyone, having someone else drag me across the finish line was out of the question. So it was all on me (and my Sauconys) to get it done. I also told myself that I would take a walking break at the 5k mark to refuel and get some much needed water in me. I’m starting to learn, and appreciate, that walking breaks may be helping my running in terms of improving time.

As the air horn sounded the start of the race, me and about 350 other runners were off and running. By the time I hit the 1k mark, my pace was a bit too fast (six minutes). At the 2k mark it was back to my normal pace time and at the 5k turn-around point, I was on target at 33 minutes. Lately, I’ve found that the second-half of my runs turn into crap, so a walking break was needed. Once I found a good place to start walking, I got out the fuel gel (which was disgusting) to replenish my electrolytes. I had a three minute walking break, got to the water station, got more water into me, and dumped about three cups onto my back. It felt glorious.

At the 7k mark, I was still on target, but things got a bit iffy at the 8k mark. I took a small one minute walking break before getting back to the task at hand. Once I got to the next water station, I walked a bit to get water into me as well as to dump more water on myself before running to the finish line. I was glad to see the giant blue arch marking the end of the race route.

My official chip finishing time was one hour, nine minutes and 25 seconds. Not bad. I’m not about to complain. I did it. I finished what I set out to accomplish and that is good enough for me. I’ll worry about improving my time at a future race. I’ve also decided that I won’t be running any more races until the fall. But I think I may have talked dear husband in running a 5k next weekend. It will be nice to cheer from the sidelines for a change.