Skip to main content

Carmel update

Image
By

Posted by Mike





























We are now recovering from a lot of days of rain. I know, "wah wah", from the NW crowd but it really was constant and the wind was 30-40 mph the whole time. Fortunately, the power never went out for longer than a minute.

Last weekend, I finally got our garage cleaned out. This was something we have been wanting to do since the move last summer. Well, we got it done in one day. This was dual purpose: 1. Park my new VW GTI out of the elements and 2. Set up our home gym. For now, our home gym is just a SoloFlex we picked up off Craiglist, a treadmill, and some gymnast rings, but we hope to expand it over the next year. It sure has been nice.

Jane is doing well in school, really well. She is busy with that and saving up her half of the her first EFY with many babysitting jobs. She just got a terrific new haircut from Brooke. I am sure pictures will get posted.

Sadie has started Drama (real, actual Drama) at school. I believe she just memorized her own soliloquy this week. She is still having typical girl issues with other girls but we are coping. She has absolutely flown through the Lightning Thief books since Christmas. She got book 2 from Santa and is now already in the middle of book 5!

Ellyn had a rough week. She has started hitting Brooke unexpectedly a lot, she has also had sleep issues again. But, she has started going to primary with a lady who is assigned as her aide. She has done very well the last few weeks. She is still happy most the time and we love having her.

Sawyer is moving a million miles a minute. Along with the garage, we got a playground set up in the yard which he loves. We were able to trade it for an old extra washing machine we had and it is one of those nice, classy wood ones. So, we (and Sawyer) are delighted. His love for Batman is still in full force and he is playing with his toys from Christmas, his birthday train, and the "batman house" constantly. He does have a lump on his forehead right now from one Sadie Jean and a wildly swinging Wiimote during a Wii Sports Resort swordfighting session.

Brooke is incredible. She is running over 25 miles a week now. We have also, together, started a diet since new years. It is called "Body for Life" and we love it. I have lost 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks already. Brooke has done a masterful job of adjusting the cooking and shopping plans to make sure we get the right stuff. On top of this, she is juggling everything else incredibly well. Just an amazing woman I have got there. On top of that she is starting to fall out of her jeans, literally, and just looks fantastic!

I am focused on this diet and getting my ankle back to shape. Buffy, between your advice and Brent's generosity with the shoes and arches, I think I have finally beat this thing. I ran 4 miles at a 8:00 pace yesterday with no pain during or after. I have not done that without pain since early September. Working with the calf raises and the shoes made huge difference to the way I was running. So thanks! My goal with this diet is to get under 200 lbs for the rest of my life. I am 35 lbs away from 199 and cannot wait to be there. Kind of a mid-life crisis I guess:-) With healthy consequences;-). Anyway, the pics above are from my bike ride around the peninsula this morning when the rain finally stopped for a bit...kind of. 22 miles. Unfortunately, our budget will be pretty tight this year with the car crisis we had but my good old 10 year old Mountain bike with cross country tires fared pretty well. Not as speedy as a road bike, but still the same exercise I guess.

Well, friends just arrived. Love you guys.

Mike

Comments

Lisa said…
Brooke, do I even know you anymore?? Did we not have a love of treats? I now feel guilty for the 3 brownies and slice of lemon cake I just ate. Thanks a lot.
January 25, 2010 at 3:09 AM
Brooke said…
The best part of this diet is that every Saturday is "Free Day." You can eat anything you want. I would give you the list of what I ate yesterday but it would be kind of embarrassing:).
January 25, 2010 at 4:36 AM
Jacki said…
So good to hear from you Mike! I have tried that diet, my problem was that my "Free Day" turned into free 2 days and 3 days and so on. I am still doing Eat to Live and when I do it, it works very well. I have lost 15.5 pounds in 3 weeks. When I lose another 24 then I will maybe let myself have a treat and then I'd like to lose another 25 but we will see. This weight thing bits!!!! I'm glad that you are doing this while you are young, I wish that I would have and then maybe I wouldn't look like a saggy, baggy, elephant. Skin just doesn't shrink back like it use to! Anyway hope that all is well! Love you Aunt Jack
January 26, 2010 at 1:37 AM
Darla said…
That was a great post, Mike. You love your family!! What are these shoes you're wearing now? I hope they help with the problems you were having that I didn't know you were having... (;
Brooke, your husband adores you. Good for you for being so amazing. (;
Hope to see you guys in July!!!?
January 31, 2010 at 4:31 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 and Another Go!

By
For almost three years I have been thinking how very sad it is that I hadn't continued to keep a journal of our family activities.  No more deployment letters and emails to Mike, no more family blog to keep grandparents and aunts and uncles connected to our family.  Nothing but printed off monthly calendars saved in a file somewhere.  I guess our family blog died a slow death when we lived in Washington and we were seeing everyone all of the time.  It just was not important to keep everyone informed.  They were right there with us.  I did not stop, in all the chaos, to think how very important the blog might be to me, or to my children.  I have often thought of the cute pictures and quotes we had saved on our family blog.  I thought of the interviews I did with the kiddos, and how grateful I was that, somewhere, on a dusty webpage, those beautiful faces, those funny antics, still existed.  I have checked to make sure the blog still existed fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

MICHAEL IS COMING HOME TOMORROW!!

By
My Michael is coming home . You can't just say it. You have to SING it. Tomorrow my tall, strong, gorgeous, husband will be here and it will be beautiful. He will nestle into the life of our family and we will have him with us, here, in our house, in our family . He'll help put on jammies and read stories, and tutor Jane in math. He'll take me on dates and wrestle at least one child during sacrament meeting. He'll snuggle me in bed at night and nuzzle my neck while I'm doing dishes. We'll go for walks and play games and watch movies and do fun family Saturday stuff. He'll help carry a kid down to the car and then he'll drive while I put on my makeup ! We love him, we know how much he loves us. We can't wait! Don't worry, I won't work him to death. I won't make him cook dinner every night for the next 10 months or hand over the kids and take off to the spa for the weekend (tempting, but... no). We just want him HERE. I kee...
9 comments
Read more
By
November 7, 2020, My Beautiful and Wise Daughter, Jane. I can breathe again. I won't be going to bed with my stomach in knots and my whole body feeling tight. I won’t be listening to a President who gains momentum by tearing others down. I won’t be going to sleep worrying that my children won’t have clean water to drink or clean air to breathe. I won’t be going to sleep thinking about the horrific experiences of children being torn from their mother’s and father’s arms because they were seeking refuge. I won’t be living in fear of the rapidly-growing racist attitudes and prejudice—that someday harm would come upon my baby that I have now and my future children. That my sister and my cousin and others that I love won’t be stripped of their rights and feel like they are any less of a human being than the rest of us. If this election wasn’t going to change anything for you and if you didn’t see the harm that Trump was causing, that is great and I’m sincerely glad that you have that p...
Post a Comment
Read more