Kicking A$$

My cold / bronchitis is kicking my A$$!  Yes, it is now cruising into week three and I'm still really under the weather.   When I'm a little more upbeat I will respond to you that have tagged me, but currently my head is so full of cold and gorp I can't think straight enough to answer your questions...but I will.

Unfortunately or fortunately life goes on so here is a mini report.

•  round three of chemo ~ Bob has gone to ground, we do communicate by email or phone, but he is really feeling the effects after this round.  God Bless him for going through all of this for the sake of gathering information for others with this experimental chemo cocktail.
  
• our winter is the weirdest I can remember ever since moving to Ottawa.  Snow followed by freezing rain, then rain...repeat.  That was unheard of when I first moved here.  We'd get tons of snow, then it would snow, followed by more snow.  This is becoming more like Toronto weather...hey Toronto, you can keep this crap!
  
• this past weekend was the Walk for Memories and I'd really like to THANK those who supported Dad and I with their more than generous donations towards fighting this debilitating disease. There was a great turn-out for the walk with many local celebrities showing their support.  Hopefully as the Baby Boomers (me), head into our Senior Years, the Alzheimer Society will receive the funding they require to find a cure and stop this heartbreaking condition.
  
  
  

  

  Dad walked 10k!!

  Life's fun if you don't weaken,
  
  
  Lily

Wordless Wednesday

Keeping it real

So, I'm sick, with a cold, a really BAD COLD.  You know the kind, achy, chills, fever, running nose, coughing up gorp and for many a blessing because I've lost my voice.  Pretty huh?

However, I'm living a conundrum.  I'm sick and sort of whiny, no, a lot whiny and haven't seen my friend Bob in over a week because of this.  We've been back and forth with email but it still isn't the same as a face to face conversation.  Our last conversation was one of facing the reality of what he is living with.  The bravado is now gone, fear and depression have set in as well as the overall feeling of doom along with being VERY sick because of the experimental chemo.  He also expressed his fear of the timeline he was given...Three Months, it has been over a month since the diagnosis.  Tick Tock.

What sort of friend am I to complain to him that I have a cold?  I really, really feel as though I've let him down recently by being so busy with my dad and then coming down with this galloping gorp.

Other than investing in a Hazmat Suit, our visits will have to be put on hold.  Sometimes reality bites.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

An anniversary of sorts

Today I am celebrating one year of being alcohol free.

Not that there was a huge problem or issue with my alcohol intake, but lets just say that when I decided to get a little more serious with my Half Ironman training, it just seemed the natural thing to eliminate from the mix (pun intended).  You know when you get home from a craptastic day of work and you have a glass of wine, then pour another while you are preparing dinner, then have a glass of wine with dinner...before you know it...a bottle is gone.  That is not good, well, it wasn't good for me.  A year ago I woke up the morning of January 22nd and said "that's enough", if you are going to try to get your lazy, sorry ass in shape to tackle the Half then you'd better get a grip on some healthy living.

So, here is to ONE YEAR !!

CHEERS!

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Three Things Thursday

• All is not lost, after being shamed into encouraged to put some things down on my empty calender, I am happy to say that I am participating in the Walk for Memories hosted by the Alzheimer's Society on January 29th.  I'll be walking for Memories with my 92 year old father. What is amazing to me is the support that I am receiving while fund raising for the walk.  So far dad and I have raised $300.00.

• The latest news is there WILL be a Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour this year!  This is an awesome fun ride (weather permitting) which gives you several options for cycling distances.  I've only ever done the 100k.  

my first year riding Blizzard

• The weather has been craptastic lately.  Extreme cold, freezing rain, snow squalls, extreme cold (yes I meant to say it twice) along with power outages.  Yesterday our power was out for quite some time, so much so a few of my tropical fish were affected.  There were a couple of floaters this morning when I got up to feed them....RIP fishes.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Wordless Wednesday

Goals?

Now that we are in mid-January, I'm continually being asked what my 2012 goals are for the year.  Even my dentist asked me yesterday.

Well my calendar looks like this...

Pretty sad huh?

So far this year (don't forget, it is only mid January), I've had one DNS.  Yup, Did Not Start.  How sad is that?  Call me what you will, you can call me a wimp, coward, unadventurous soul but when the temperature outside is -25C (-13F) but feels like -31C (-23.8F) with the wind-chill, trust me when I say...I'm not racing!  Many of my friends raced the 30th Annual Richmond Road Race and had a great time.  Bully for them!

This is not my kind of fun.

So, instead I hopped on my aptly named bike "Blizzard" and worked off a few anxieties for about an hour.

Blizzard on the trainer

Trying to fit in training while trying to manage all the rest of my angst, guilt and poor time management is just adding to the stress.  So, I'll just continue to get to the pool when I can, sit and spin when I can, snowshoe and / or ski when I can and try not to take it to heart that I'm not able "do it all".  I must remember that I'm only good to others after I'm good to myself.

I can honestly say I don't know how you get any training done if you have a young family.  Believe me, to all my friends with kids, I now understand how sometimes (most of the time) your time in no longer YOUR time.  Between driving to medical appointments, dental appointments, working full time, visiting,  getting groceries, housework... the list just goes on and on.  If there is mouldy bread in someone else's fridge, it isn't necessarily my problem,  (yes, I got an email saying that their bread had gone mouldy and I understand they are not feeling very well and they are now in a depressed state),  but I've got my own mouldy bread to deal with trying to fit all this other stuff in.

So I can say that possibly my goals for 2012 are just trying to cope with all the new stress and just do what I can for the time being.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily