ONE OF THOSE YEARS

It seems that after last year and all the effort I put in to get myself into super athlete shape, this will be the year of injuries. I have been plagued by plantar fasciitis, quad pain, knee pain and today sciatica. And do you realize all this has happened within the last 2 months??? Some days I just feel so old. I was having a little pain in my gluteus area the last couple of days, but when I got up this morning it had moved right into the sciatic nerve - causing much pain. So, I spent the morning lying on the floor hoping that everything would simply heal itself. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I have walked around a little, but have generally been taking it really easy. One of the worst things is sitting because it puts pressure right on the nerve, but yet here I sit typing up this blog entry! I will be heading over to the health centre in the morning to get things checked out. I wouldn't mind this idleness if it was due to a real injury, but this kind of thing kills me. I haven't been able to run since last Tuesday and feel like my muscles are turning to mush. On the plus side, Brian has been fantastic - taking care of me and cooking supper tonight. Hmmm, maybe it's not such a bad thing after all.

DOGS ON THE PROWL!

After having been idle for 2 weeks due to plantar fasciitis, I finally got out for a run yesterday. I decided to run outside and discovered that my foot doesn't hurt when I run outside, I guess because I am not pushing myself as hard as I do on the treadmill and I am probably using better technique outside. My regular route has always been down to the river then back past my house and around the block - it's about 4 km total. Yesterday I was just coming back around past our house and 3 dogs tried to attack me. One actually tried to bite me a couple times. I was kicking at them, trying to keep them away. One person just drove right by. I was trying to get either over to the store or home so that I could phone the RCMP. Thankfully right then one of them drove up, so he was able to help me. This is when it really pays to be friends with the police. Then we went to round up the dogs so he can go after the owners. My leg is now a little sore and bruised where the dog nipped me and I am just mad because I was having a really good run and now I'm feeling quite ticked off! I think the dog attack got my heart beating faster than the running did. I should have checked my heart rate monitor. I am not giving up on running outside though, I will just have to take a weapon with me. The police who helped me out has taken care of one of the dogs and is going to be taking care of the other 2 very soon. On the plus side though, I just got my new workout clothes and I looked good while I was running and being attacked. LOL.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

You would think that with all the renovations we have done on this house we would be finished, but we are still not done. One of the things that I have wanted to get done since the day we moved in was to replace the kitchen floor. The old one was pitted and stained and just generally awful. So the last time I was in Whitehorse I picked up some peel and stick tile. I know it isn't high quality, but it's easy to install, cheap and looks great. Today was the day I chose to install it. So after cleaning everything out of the kitchen and dining room I cleaned the floors and went to work.

The kids were basically there to take part in the excitement, run errands and just generally look good.

Brian was in charge of taking off the old baseboards and getting everything ready for me to lay tile. Then after we were finished tiling the computer room he had the fun job of reassembling the computer and all its accompanying cords. That was probably more work than laying the floor.

The finished product. Tahdah!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

I'm heading out this morning. Time to go to Whitehorse. I am going for a medical appointment, but obviously the time is used for so much more. Hannah and Josh are coming in with me so I'm sure to have entertainment for the trip. I'm not sure what form it will take - talking, laughing, listening to music, or puking; but it is sure to be entertaining. Naomi is very excited that we are coming because no one has been in since she went back after Christmas. I think she is feeling a little lonely. I hate it when we have such a long stretch of no one seeing her, but with the weather the way it was we really had no choice. At least when I woke up this morning it was only -30 - definitely travelable weather. It was such a relief to see the temperature start to rise after being stuck at those extreme temperatures for 2 weeks. Now at least one can go outside and get some fresh air.
So I'm off. I will be back on Tuesday - hopefully I won't have any adventures to relay. LOL.

BRRRR!

As you may know, we have been living in a deep freeze for the last week. With temperatures reaching -60 C and beyond at night. This is what we were facing on our way to work every morning: ice fog.

You can imagine that we have to bundle up well to make the journey to work. Brian took this picture of me ready to head out the door. Even with all that gear there will still parts of my that were cold. Mainly my eyes. I would get to work with frozen eyebrows and lashes.

The good news is that we seem to be coming out of the worst of this spell. This morning it was a mere -45 C! And the sun is now rising at about 9:15 am, so we are able to enjoy more of the sunlight.