Discombobulated

This has been a very strange week.  My 17-year-old has had a regular school week, while my 15 and 12 year old had exams on Monday and Tuesday morning and have been home for the remaining time.   I am someone who thrives on routine so this has gotten me a bit discombobulated!  At least the weather has been gorgeous but I have been so busy working around everyone else's schedule and activities I haven't gotten out for a run - but I did at least get my usual gym workout in on Monday.

Today I am taking some time for myself: a short run this morning and meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon.

Tomorrow the boys get their report cards in the morning (fingers crossed!) and I will treat them to lunch out after that.  And then it's the start of two weeks of Easter vacation...and picking my running back up so as to be ready for the Ladies Run 10K in May!

Spring has sprung

Nothing better than a gorgeous spring morning to make you want to get out and go for a run! We did a big loop past some of our favorite running spots: the Finnish track, the big lake at the Provincial park, Vlierbeek Abbey, and the bike path that goes through our neighborhood...
It felt good to get out, especially since last week was so stressful (workshop and kids taking exams) and sad (funerals for all the victims of the bus crash)... 

Hopefully the coming week will be a better one for everyone.

On the Radio

Here is the link to our radio interview.  (Scroll down and click on the play button on the black screen.)  In spite of everything, it was broadcast last Friday.  Linda and I were happy with how it turned out.  Kudos to Jonas for making a nice piece out of it!

Stefaan and I got out for 7 slow kilometers on Sunday.  My legs were for some reason really sore and I needed a lot of walk breaks.  Today it's back to the gym - I haven't been in a while, and I am looking forward to it.

Then I'll be busy getting ready for our workshop on Tuesday and supporting my two youngest boys who start their spring exam period on Wednesday.

Words cannot convey the sense of loss that is felt here.

This morning I walked to the school in Heverlee to pay my respects and then to the cathedral in the center of town to light a candle.  I wanted to be in town, at the town hall, for the moment of silence at 11.  I ended up seeing a woman I know and we stood together in the crowd of others who were there.  We stood in silence until the tolling of the church bells broke the spell.  Then we went into the town hall to wait to write our condolances in the sympathy book.  I was glad she was there to share the moment with me and we hugged each other as we went our separate ways.

My thoughts have been with the families of the victims, here and in the cities of Lommel and Aarschot, nearly non-stop since we heard the news.  Everyone here in our city is affected by this and connected in some way to someone who was on that bus. 

I can only hope that the support of family, friends, and our community will continue to be a comfort to the families who were hit by this in the difficult times ahead.  And that the rest of us are mindful of how precious life is and that we remember to cherish what we have every day.

Close to home

Terrible things happen every day in this world of ours, but sometimes they hit painfully close to home.  We woke up this morning to news that a bus bringing Belgian school children home from ski class in Switzerland had crashed, leaving 28 dead: including 22 of the children.  There were kids from two Flemish primary schools on that bus; one of those schools is right here in our city.  My kids have friends from that school in their secondary school.    I pray that none of them have lost a younger sister or brother... 

My first thought was for the parents, what a terrible thing to get that phone call and have to wait to hear if your child is safe or not...  and then the children themselves, how frightening it must have been.  The parents have just been flown out to Switzerland on a military plane, some of them don't have any news yet of their child - I can't even begin to imagine how that must feel.   Not just the school itself but our whole city is in mourning now, as well as the entire country...My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has been touched by this tragedy.

Scherpenheuvel

Well, no news on the radio segment yet, so instead of sitting around all day listening to the radio I went as planned with my friend Kristel to Scherpenheuvel, a small city which is built literally around the most frequently visited shrine of pilgrimage in Belgium, the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel. 

Kristel and I visit several times a year, and burn candles for friends and family who are sick or having other problems, or for children who need some extra luck on exams.  It's a lovely place to go, very serene.  

Filled to the Brim

The last couple of days have been filled to the brim with one activity after another, some of them very unexpected and nerve-wracking (but in a good way). 

• On Thursday, I was quietly enjoying having all my children healthy and back in school when I got a phone call from one of the big radio stations here.  At first I thought, I won a prize!  But no - he wanted to come the next day and interview me and Linda about a workshop we are doing about tea for a local cultural organization.  We hesitantly agreed and proceeded to freak out getting ourselves prepared.  
• On Friday morning, it was beautiful and sunny and I knew the best thing I could do for my interview nerves was go out for a run.  It was awesome and I ended up doing an extra loop around the lake just because it looked so pretty in the spring sunshine.  Ended up with 8.5 km in 59 minutes.
• Then Linda came over and we prepped for the interview.  At 2, Jonas from Radio 2 arrived with his recorder and we got to work.  He wanted us to make tea so he could record the sound effects of boiling water, pouring, tea cups clinking, and then he asked us questions about our topic.  It ended up being a lot of fun!  The interview, which will be about 4 minutes long, is supposed to run on Tuesday - I am excited but really dreading hearing my own voice and my accent in Dutch. 

I won't bore you with all the other things that have been going on, but they've all been positive.  Sometimes it stresses me out when things seem to all want to happen on the same day or same weekend, but then I remind myself I should be grateful to have my teacup filled to the brim from time to time! 

Happy day!

Here's to all the strong women I know - have a great day!

And to this handsome guy, an awesome 15th birthday!

Enforced Rest

Let me be brutally honest here - I am starting to get buggy.  Really buggy.  And grumpy.  I got a  lot done around the house yesterday but this is getting old!  *sigh*

The 12-year-old has exactly the same thing that the 17-year-old had last week, so this could go on for a couple more days.  I feel bad for him, but I am thankful that it is nothing more serious than the flu, and even more thankful that it is not the throwing up kind of flu! 

It's bright and sunny out this morning so I might just have to sneak out for a quick, short run to get some endorfins coursing through my bloodstream.  I could combine it with a stop at our pharmacy, so technically it wouldn't really be exercising, it would be doing an essential errand...right???  And I might as well work up a sweat before taking my shower, don't you think? 

Laid Back Sunday

It was gorgeous weather yesterday and so I biked downtown to get some errands done - and it felt like spring! This morning when I got up it was still pretty warm and the sun was peeking out. So we were excited to get out for our run. We took it easy, doing an enjoyable, slow run to the Finnish track, doing a few rounds, and headed home again. My legs were still pretty sore from the resistance work I did on Friday but that didn't bother me too much while I was running, they just seemed to tire a lot faster than they normally would.

It looks like tomorrow is going to be a stay at home day - now my 12-year-old has the same flu his brother had last week.  Oh well, I will try to make things as comfortable as possible for him and I am thinking of doing some spring cleaning since I probably won't want to leave him to go to the gym.

Have an enjoyable Sunday!

A Good Start to the Weekend

Our doctor's visit yesterday confirmed that my son is just dealing with a bad case of the flu, and nothing more serious.  Which was a relief (I am the same way, Diane, it makes me nervous when my kids are sick, too).  And when he woke up this morning he said he felt a lot better than yesterday, so that is good.

Having a child home sick, even a low maintenance 17-year-old, does change the flow of my week.  But not as much as when I had toddlers and I have to say I am quite proud of myself for having gotten to the gym three times this week for three really good workouts.  And still hang out with my son (we have been watching the first season of "Brothers and Sisters" together and we are totally addicted).  Having teenagers is awesome!

This morning I was a bit in a rush to get to the gym in time to get weights and the elliptical in before Body Balance class started.  Then I remembered the car was nearly out of gas and I would have to stop at the gas station first - OR - just bike over there.  You know what I did, right?  It actually felt great to get on my bike.  It's not cold at all out right now, and I was thinking about how easy it is to get a little habit going (like driving to the gym) when you have a good reason for it (like really cold weather), and then keep on doing the habit, even when the reason is gone.    

So then I get to the gym and find out Body Balance class is cancelled because the teacher is sick.  (The flu is really going around here right now.)  Hmmm...what to do?  I was kind of at a loss for a minute, then I decided to get a 30 minute run in first, then upper and lower body weights, and then 25 minutes on the elliptical.  I finished off with abs and stretching.  The bike ride back home was very slow but satisfying.  A good way to start the weekend!  Even better with a listen to Arid's latest single in a lovely pared-down version:

Climbing

Hey there!  I hope everyone had a good Leap Day.  I got to the gym, and had a really good workout.  An interval run, weights and the elliptical, with some abs and stretching to finish off.  The gym was very quiet again.  Must be a lot of people on ski holiday right now or something. 

I was feeling extremely motivated to do my weights, because we just booked a half day rock climbing class for all 5 of us this summer when we are in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  I also promised the boys I would go to the climbing gym here with them a few times to try it out.  I've never been really excited to go climbing because when I look at those high climbing walls, I get a bit freaked out.  I have this fear of hights, you see.  Do you think that might be a problem?  Was I crazy to sign up for a rock climbing class?  Hmmmm... 

I have a run to the Finnish track on my schedule today but first I have to take my oldest son to the doctor.  He's been hit pretty hard by the flu, has been home since Tuesday and I want to make sure there isn't anything going on in his lungs, because he's been very wheezy.  Fingers crossed that it's nothing serious...