Nothin' But Air

Today we went tobogganing in Mitchell,
where the park has a wonderful hill,
with jumps.


I took 150 pictures,
not at all joking.



But tonight,
I'm posting the jump ones.


They were sooo cool.

M was the best "flyer."
He flew over this jump on his first run down,
and he always got the best air.

No Fear.
I can't believe I only got one good pic of him.

He was amazing.

Quin was determined to go over the jump on his snowboard,
which he did many times,
but he never quite got the landing.

Uncle Tyler wasn't about to be left out,
and got some serious air on his wicked awesome GT Racer.

(Notice he's screaming....)
(like a little girl)

And Emma, the adrenaline junkie,
went over a bunch of times.

Quin watches J go over.

Quin, gearing up to go flying

Trenton executing a spectacular move!!
His balance was incredible,
he's an amazing snowboarder.

Quin actually landed this one.
He didn't keep sliding,
but he landed it.

Emma.
She's crazy.

Quin getting some backwards air.

Nate going flying.

Quin had fun on this little red sled...

And Nate liked this one...
to do the jumps.

He liked his own to go whizzing down the slope.

He did NOT land this one.

He did this one.

Quin interfering with Nate.

E goes flying,
J scrambles out of the way.

J goes flying,
as E looks on.

And then shows Quin how it's done.

Quin on yet a different sled.

Can you tell that Quin liked the jump the most?
Which is funny,
because if he wiped out,
which he did a lot,
he would lie on the hill and act like he was dying.

I'm sure the other parents that were there thought I was a bad Mother,
when I wouldn't go over to my son who was flailing in the snow.

If it went on for more than a minute I would yell,
"Oh, Get UP!"

And he would, and three seconds later be back,
going over the jump.


Crazy kid.

And Emma.
She loved it too.
And boy did she FLY.
She was gung ho the whole way down...
never stuck her boots in before the jump to slow down.

Oh, and Ava got air too.

Awesome afternoon.

Nate

With all the hockey I just went through,
I have a lot of hockey pictures.


So I thought I'd share.



This post is pics of Nate.


Quin will come later.

Nathan's fun to watch.

His drive to win is incredible.

He's not a finesse player,
by any means.

In fact, he kinda skates like a lumberjack.

But it's his heart that makes him stand out.

His motto is:
"Never give up,
Never Surrender!!"

And he's tough.
He goes into corners to fight for the puck,
and he's usually the one left standing.

Here he is waiting for the pass.

He does things you can't really teach kids,
like lifting an opponents stick so you can steal the pass.

He does it 'cause he wants to win.

It doesn't matter to him if he's the one who scores or not...

He's just as happy when his team-mates score.

He loves hockey.

These guys were there too.

At hockey, the older kids take turns following Ava around.

They were on the other side of the rink.
Quin's still trying to catch some of the action.

Non-Smoker Update
Driven to Quit Challenge




Still on the Patch.

Still feeling okay.


Yesterday I didn't put a Patch on till 2 in the afternoon,
so I went all morning with out nicotine.


I was a little testy.

I have one more Step One Patch,
then I'm going down to Step Two.



The only bad thing about the Patch is that it makes my arm ache.

And there is no "rush,"
like when you inhale a cig.


But, all-in-all,
it helps.

March

In honour of March,
which is the month of the Irish,
I have posted my Celtic Playlist.



Hopefully it doesn't drive you crazy.

I like it.



My boys like to brag that they are Irish.

I say, "You're not all Irish!"

They say, "Well Dad is Irish!"

I say, "Yeah, well he's 1/8 German!"

They say, "So he's mostly Irish!"

I say, " Yeah, well you're half me,
and I'm a MUTT!"


Then the acquiesce to my superior intellect,
but not without saying,

"Well, the part we are most is IRISH!!"





And I guess they are right.

Wordless Wednesday

I know it's not "technically" Wednesday.
But it's Wednesday night.

And I know that now it's not wordless.


Just be quiet and look at the pictures.

Non-Smoker Update
Driven to Quit Challenge

Not much to say, really.

I'm on the Patch still.
I feel good.


Still have some cravings,
but nothing I can't handle.


It's not the habit that's got me,
it's the addiction.


So the plan is to step down using the patch system,
only once a week,
instead of every few weeks they suggest.

And then once I gradually wean myself of nicotine,
it should be easier to go cold turkey.



That's the plan.

Nick and Dan's

Last October,
I was on my way home from dance
when a suicidal raccoon on steroids
decided to take on my van.

The raccoon lost,
but my van was injured.

Here's a closer view.
It's not very clear, but believe it or not I only had ONE picture of my van.
And this is it.

So bear with me.


And yes, that is duct tape.
The broken piece would flap up and hit the side of my van
if I went faster than 100kms,
which I usually do.

Well, after a long drawn out affair,
it's finally finished.

And like a dork I am,
I didn't take pictures in the sunlight.

I just went out now.

It's the lack of nicotine brain fog.

Looks better, no?

My van is whole again!!

And get this.

The shined it.

It's shiny.

And cleaner than it's been since I moved to Manley.

And the inside?

It's clean too.

They must have some sort of industrial vaccuum
'cause they even got the wood chips out of the trunk.
And the food ground into the carpet and seats.

The trunk.

They cleaned the trunk.

I haven't been this impressed with a company in a looooong time.

And that's not all.

They fixed the outside, washed and waxed it.
They cleaned the inside, and vacuumed it.
And when I went I was all done and ready to leave,
he hands me this.

"In appreciation for my business."

It's made out of wood.

How cool is that?

So, if you ever have body work that needs to be done,
I highly recommend Nick and Dan's Collision in Stratford.

Non-Smoker Update
Driven to Quit Challenge


This morning when I woke up I didn't even want to get out of bed,
'cause I knew I couldn't smoke.

How sad is that?

But I did get out of bed.

I had Quin pour everyone a bowl of cereal,
so they would leave me alone.

After checking my e-mail,
I tried to get busy.

But I was in a fog.
And jittery.
And had a splitting head ache to end all head aches.

So I kicked the kids outside in the sunshine,
and I went on a butt hunt.

I checked everywhere.
Under the desk,
under chairs
in corners,
in places where I'd throw half a cig.

Nothing.

I was way too thorough the night before the 1st.

I know me.

I knew I'd be butt hunting.


So I sat down, put my splitting head in my hands,
and cried.

I'm not a crier.


But I was FED UP.

I don't understand why this is so hard for me.
People quit all the time.
Why do I always fail?

I have good self discipline.


I was anorexic as a young teenager,
I went without FOOD!!

I used to be a coffee addict,
and go through two whole pots a day myself.

I quit that cold turkey.

Why can I not quit smoking?


I cursed the first time I ever put one of those evil things to my lips.

I sat and tried to calm myself.

Tried to stop my hands from shaking and my head from pounding.



Then I thought of something.


And I went rushing to the bathroom cupboard.

And squealed with joy.

Over what?







The Patch.




I had bought some ages ago,
and had some left.


I peeled and stuck as fast as I could,
and I relaxed as I felt the nicotine enter my system.

My head stopped pounding,
and my hands stopped shaking,
and I was actually able to be productive today.


So, what does this mean?

Well, as far as the competition goes,
it's perfectly okay.

You are allowed to use The Patch, Nicorettes,
or any other stop smoking aid.


I, however, am not happy.

I wanted to do it cold turkey.

'Cause I know I'm prolonging the agony.

Eventually I have to go without the nicotine.

I can't stay on the patch for the rest of my life.







Or can I?





No, no, just kidding.

I know for me, it's not the "habit" part of smoking.

I can change my habits pretty easy.

It's the physical addiction.


So, one step forward, two steps back.

I didn't buy a pack today,
even though I had an opportunity when I stopped for gas.

But I deliberately chose a pay at pump station,
'cause I am weak.


So, the battle goes on.

Whew.

It's over.

I've done it.


11 straight days of hockey is finally finished.



It didn't really get hard till yesterday and today.

I wanted to rebel and not take my kids.

But I did.

And they both won.

In fact, they won all the games played.


I think that's awesome.




The hard part about it was that the games were all at 6 or 6:30 pm.
They have to be at the arena a half hour before game time.

That means that I leave my house an hour before the game starts.

And what time would that be?

Suppertime.

So I either had to feed my kids at 4pm,
or wait till we got home at 8:30 or 9pm to feed them.


Which means that by the time they were done eating and I put them to bed
and did the dishes, it was like 10:30 or 11.

This is probably why I stayed up too late last week.
My day didn't end till late.


And even if I fed them at 4, they were starving again by the time we got home.
I got away with just giving them snacks,
but there was still all the dishes and clean-up to do,
since we had to rush out the door right after we ate.


There is my rant for this week.
Hockey games at supper time.

I can handle it once in a few days,
but 11 days in a row was just too much.

Grrrrrr.













Non-Smoker Update
Driven to quit challenge.



Today was hard.

I was really busy, and gone most of the day.
At first, I thought that would help,

break up the normal routine and all,

but there was such a temptation to buy a pack of smokes!!!

It would have been so easy to stop.



But I didn't.



The worst part is that my brain is in a fog.

I can't think straight.

I can't organize myself.

Quin was almost late to his practice,
and Nate was late to his game.

I forgot my cell phone,
which I never do.


And my patience is thin.
As in non-existent.

My poor children.

But they understand.



Now I'm going to share something really gross.

Just stop reading if you have a weak stomach.



This afternoon I was burning garbage,
and as I threw one bag in and it melted,
there were a bunch of cig butts there
from when I emptied the ashtray last night.

A few were almost half a smoke.

I actually considered pulling them put of the fire.

In fact, I did.

One big one.

And I looked at it.

And I thought,
"Heather. You just pulled this out of the GARBAGE.
Are you freakin' kidding me?
You can't put that in your MOUTH."


But I still stood there holding it.
Considering.



Finally, common sense won out,
and I threw it back in with the others and watched them burn.


It was kind of cathartic, I think.


Anyway, yes I know I'm pathetic.

But I'm trying.

And it sucks.

And it's only the first day.


It better get easier.