Remarkable Reflections-The year 2005 has been an amazing journey.
January was particularly bitter and with the news that Mom's health was in question it fast became particularly cold and heartless. I suddenly realized that throughout my life I had never really seen my Mom or Dad sick and it was such a shock to all of us that she was facing some big health issues. This was even harder given the fact that she has always taken such good care of herself. Dad would say she hadn't drunk enough red wine, however that would be his comment for just about every ailment we have all ever suffered.
In true Schur form we all congregated around Boston on February 10th and waited together as Mom, the bravest lady of all time, went into surgery. She may be a tiny little thing but she is still the strongest woman I know. A number of long hours later Dr. Libertino came out and gave us the best news of 2005. Mom was fine and there would be no ongoing health issues for her to face. As I watched my wonderfully brave father burst into tears, I realized that he had been holding so much in during this entire time. He hugged the Doctor and while the tears ran down his face he beamed the biggest smile I have ever seen. In my father I saw a different side that day. I saw the young man in him, the one who was desperately in love with his beautiful wife. In that miraculous moment he was given extended time with her. It was a moment of purity of soul and will touch my heart forever. Mom spent the next six weeks recovering and I will give her full credit for not lifting too many boxes during one of their crazy moves. (Explanations of this move would require an additional blog and thousands of hours of writing.)
March of 2005 saw Tim turn 12
and with every day that passes he seems to get bigger than me. 2005 saw the moment of change when Tim's feet became larger than mine. I now borrow his sweatshirts. March also was the moment when Tim and Justin discovered the back hills of Devil's Glen. Justin was a super star on Paradise and there was no holding Tim back from the jumps at the top of the River Styx.
April was a beautiful spring although a bit slow to begin. The new neighbours on our street came out and Justin and Tim's new bikes that they got for Christmas were in full use.
May saw Dad's 29th birthday (giggle...giggle) and Dave & Penny's 13th Anniversary.
June brought lots of fresh work on the outside of our house, with big plans to move shrubs and do lots of garden work. Unfortunately red wine and warm summer nights prohibited much work. June also marked the beginning of David's final year of being under 40, next year he really does become "old", just like the labrador in the corner..... Emily Lucille began her 4th year. And of course as gracefully as ever Mom turned 29 again!
July and August were filled with camps, trips to Wonderland by Justin and Tim. Justin's summer claim to fame was his achievement of a "purple bracelet" at Wonderland that allowed him to go on some horribly crazy rides. July also marked Penny's birthday month. July 16th marked the one year anniversary for James's Mom and Dad's move to a fabulous Condo and August 7th marked our one year anniversary for our move into our new home. Our annual trek to CT began in August and thanks again to Mom and Dad for a beautiful week with our kids!!
September was back to school for our ever growing children and of course the monumental 90th birthday of Great Granny Schur!
October celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary and James's 35th and my 36th birthday ( I may be getting old, but I am still not as old as David). It was also an amazing fall month in Canada.
November was another Schur reunion extraordinare. With the momentous occasion of Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary, the arrival of Margie from South Africa and the infamous cousin sleepover. Mom's studio is still recovering from juice boxes and lightsaber dents. It was a great reunion of family and I will remember it very fondly. I am happy to report that no cakes ended up on walls or ceilings.
December came up quietly and we all busily prepared for Santa. Justin and Abigail jumped into their 8th year! Justin celebrated by watching "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" with a number of his buddies, one of them was good enough to tell us he was a regular beer drinker. The stories in an 8 year old are priceless and honest. It was a good Christmas on our part and true to Canadian form snow fell peacefully on Christmas night. We had a very warm and wonderful dinner with James's Mom, Dad, Sister, Alex, Margaret and Bob Masterson and our family.
So 2005 comes to a close and as I reflect I try to find words to summarize the year. My horoscope indicated that 2005 was a year that would "challenge me" and true to form it did.
My greatest accomplishment this year has been the physical and emotional changes within me. I have managed to finally shed years of added "baby" pounds (about 70 of them), if I can get away with saying that. I managed to do this because of the events that happened this year, specifically the scare we had in January. I realized in January that our lives are short moments in time and we should cherish every minute. I also realized that part of being a good Mom was taking care of myself so that I can continue to be a part of my children's lives. That my mental and physical health were insurmountably connected to the health of those around me. If I didn't step up to the plate and try then I would accomplish nothing as person in life. It has been a long and very slow process and much like quitting a bad habit. I realized that 75% of weight issues are really just habits. We get into these terrible habits both emotionally and physically. The ending of 2005 marks the end of my feelings of guilt and punishment when it comes to my body. I no longer regret or resent myself for what I put into my body. I don't beat myself up about what I did yesterday I just make sure that today I take care of myself. It's a different kind of habit but I am hopeful that it is a habit I will keep for life.
Goals for 2006 - Things can only get better.
I would like to spend more time with people I love.
I would like to start my own business.
I would like to fix my front garden.
I would like to paint my bedroom.
I would like to see my brother when he turns 40.
And of course, Peace and Goodwill to all!
In true Schur form we all congregated around Boston on February 10th and waited together as Mom, the bravest lady of all time, went into surgery. She may be a tiny little thing but she is still the strongest woman I know. A number of long hours later Dr. Libertino came out and gave us the best news of 2005. Mom was fine and there would be no ongoing health issues for her to face. As I watched my wonderfully brave father burst into tears, I realized that he had been holding so much in during this entire time. He hugged the Doctor and while the tears ran down his face he beamed the biggest smile I have ever seen. In my father I saw a different side that day. I saw the young man in him, the one who was desperately in love with his beautiful wife. In that miraculous moment he was given extended time with her. It was a moment of purity of soul and will touch my heart forever. Mom spent the next six weeks recovering and I will give her full credit for not lifting too many boxes during one of their crazy moves. (Explanations of this move would require an additional blog and thousands of hours of writing.)
March of 2005 saw Tim turn 12
and with every day that passes he seems to get bigger than me. 2005 saw the moment of change when Tim's feet became larger than mine. I now borrow his sweatshirts. March also was the moment when Tim and Justin discovered the back hills of Devil's Glen. Justin was a super star on Paradise and there was no holding Tim back from the jumps at the top of the River Styx.April was a beautiful spring although a bit slow to begin. The new neighbours on our street came out and Justin and Tim's new bikes that they got for Christmas were in full use.
May saw Dad's 29th birthday (giggle...giggle) and Dave & Penny's 13th Anniversary.
June brought lots of fresh work on the outside of our house, with big plans to move shrubs and do lots of garden work. Unfortunately red wine and warm summer nights prohibited much work. June also marked the beginning of David's final year of being under 40, next year he really does become "old", just like the labrador in the corner..... Emily Lucille began her 4th year. And of course as gracefully as ever Mom turned 29 again!
July and August were filled with camps, trips to Wonderland by Justin and Tim. Justin's summer claim to fame was his achievement of a "purple bracelet" at Wonderland that allowed him to go on some horribly crazy rides. July also marked Penny's birthday month. July 16th marked the one year anniversary for James's Mom and Dad's move to a fabulous Condo and August 7th marked our one year anniversary for our move into our new home. Our annual trek to CT began in August and thanks again to Mom and Dad for a beautiful week with our kids!!
September was back to school for our ever growing children and of course the monumental 90th birthday of Great Granny Schur!
October celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary and James's 35th and my 36th birthday ( I may be getting old, but I am still not as old as David). It was also an amazing fall month in Canada.
November was another Schur reunion extraordinare. With the momentous occasion of Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary, the arrival of Margie from South Africa and the infamous cousin sleepover. Mom's studio is still recovering from juice boxes and lightsaber dents. It was a great reunion of family and I will remember it very fondly. I am happy to report that no cakes ended up on walls or ceilings.
December came up quietly and we all busily prepared for Santa. Justin and Abigail jumped into their 8th year! Justin celebrated by watching "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" with a number of his buddies, one of them was good enough to tell us he was a regular beer drinker. The stories in an 8 year old are priceless and honest. It was a good Christmas on our part and true to Canadian form snow fell peacefully on Christmas night. We had a very warm and wonderful dinner with James's Mom, Dad, Sister, Alex, Margaret and Bob Masterson and our family.
So 2005 comes to a close and as I reflect I try to find words to summarize the year. My horoscope indicated that 2005 was a year that would "challenge me" and true to form it did.
My greatest accomplishment this year has been the physical and emotional changes within me. I have managed to finally shed years of added "baby" pounds (about 70 of them), if I can get away with saying that. I managed to do this because of the events that happened this year, specifically the scare we had in January. I realized in January that our lives are short moments in time and we should cherish every minute. I also realized that part of being a good Mom was taking care of myself so that I can continue to be a part of my children's lives. That my mental and physical health were insurmountably connected to the health of those around me. If I didn't step up to the plate and try then I would accomplish nothing as person in life. It has been a long and very slow process and much like quitting a bad habit. I realized that 75% of weight issues are really just habits. We get into these terrible habits both emotionally and physically. The ending of 2005 marks the end of my feelings of guilt and punishment when it comes to my body. I no longer regret or resent myself for what I put into my body. I don't beat myself up about what I did yesterday I just make sure that today I take care of myself. It's a different kind of habit but I am hopeful that it is a habit I will keep for life.
Goals for 2006 - Things can only get better.
I would like to spend more time with people I love.
I would like to start my own business.
I would like to go on vacation with my husband.
I would like to run for 30 minutes.I would like to fix my front garden.
I would like to paint my bedroom.
I would like to see my brother when he turns 40.
And of course, Peace and Goodwill to all!
Comments
We will fix the brother thing which should probably be in Canada so the KolliReidGavinBelchKuteretc. operation can work.
Along with Old Tone, Old Gil and any old people we know to swell the aged ranks so David feels right at home.
The only sign of my advancing age thus far was my ability to drink a fair bit of wine while NOT managing to destroy any of my clothing in the process.
Hopefully I can buck up the courage to confront my excuses and rationalizations and take on my own excess baggage. Your transformation is an inspiration.