Other New Year's Changes I'm Making

So in addition to the whole triathlon thing, I've informally resolved to do a few other things differently in my house.

1.  The first, and by far the hardest (harder than swimming 500 meters, for sure) is to make one dinner every night.  Many of you have met my sweet blond kiddos.  You probably also have heard me complain about their pickiness.  I am perfectly aware that I have created these chicken nugget monsters, and I am the only one who can change them.  So every night, I am now making one meal and serving it to everyone, no matter what the backlash. 

This is hard for several reasons.  Patrick works until 9:00, so I am often the only adult eating.  I would much rather throw together a salad for myself every night and feed the kids a frozen pizza.  It is so much easier on me and the kids go to bed with full tummies. 

Now, I am putting together a simple, slightly healthy, but kid friendly meal each night and serving it to everyone, including myself.  Sometimes this means grilled chicken and salads, sometimes this means spaghetti.  There is no more "grown-up dinner" and "kid dinner."  Jackson has done fairly well at trying new things and likes what he tries 80% of the time.  Macy, on the other hand, usually goes to bed hungry, but doesn't complain too much.  Jackson's eagerness has helped me stick with this plan.  I am seeing that really, if there is no other choice, kids will eventually try something new.

I am not loving the meals so much (I would much rather have baked tilapia and roasted zucchini squash) but I keep telling myself that part of the problem was the huge discrepancies between our meals.  If we can meet in the middle, maybe someday I will be able to introduce the kids to seafood and salads.

2.  The next thing I'm trying to be better about in 2011 is teaching my kids compassion for others.  I think both Jackson and Macy actually have a pretty good sense of this, but I want to nurture it so they grow into caring teenagers and adults. 

My first task is nightly prayers.  It felt a little awkward at first, and I had a lot of questions to answer ("Mom, what does 'bless' mean?"), but we seem to be getting the hang of it.  Jackson always prays to protect his daddy at work, so this is a good start, but Macy is a little more difficult.  For the past few nights, she's been insisting we pray for "Hello Kitty." I'm not sure how to handle this, so I tell her she can ask God to bless Hello Kitty and I'll ask him to bless the sick babies at work.

3.  And last but not least, my obligatory resolution that I make every year:  floss once a day.

Oooh, Jillian Michaels...

Just busted my 30-Day Shred out of it's unopened package.  I thought this morning "Hey, I'll do a little 20 minute workout while the kids are out of school, and then we'll all head to the gym this afternoon for an extra swim workout."  No biggie.  Additionally, I thought, "Hey, I've done her Level One Shred before, I should kick it up a notch this morning and do Level Two."  No biggie.  And I used my FIVE pound weights for the first time.  Hmmmm....

Needless to say, my shoulders hurt quite a bit right now.  And I still haven't gone swimming yet.

The New Gym (ahem, Health Club?): Pros vs. Cons

Pros:

1. Longer childwatch hours
This is the biggest pro in my house.  Patrick and I have had trouble scheduling our workouts around the YMCA's ever-shrinking childwatch program. 

2. An in-house spa! (see cons, below)

3.  An in-house cafe! (again, see below)

4.  The indoor track.
The YMCA's indoor track is1/16th of a mile, carpeted, and really just a path to get to the locker rooms.  This is a real track with lanes, and it's 1/8th a mile. 

5.  So far, the pool has been pretty empty.   Not even a lifeguard around to silently laugh at me.  This is a big issue of mine. 

6.  The locker rooms are nicer than most hotels that I stay at.  Sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, free shampoo, free conditioner, free body wash, and FREE Q-TIPS.  This, my friends, is a blessing for those of us prone to swimmers ear.

7.  The childwatch has a three story climbing area (Think Monkey Business on a smaller scale), a half court basketball area, and a craft area.  (Possible con, kids don't want to leave).

8.  In the summer, OUTDOOR salt water pool.  Huge pro with me.


Cons:

1. Further away.  Still in Olathe, but a 10-15 minute drive, instead of 5 minutes to the YMCA.

2.  The childwatch doesn't change baby's diapers.  They page you to come and do it yourself (What?).

3. They have an in-house spa and cafe.  This could get pricey.

4.  The fancy keypads on the wooden lockers are more complicated than I anticipated.  I wandered around the office area in a wet swimming suit for quite some time, looking for someone who could unlock my locker for me. 

5.  The clientele are quite a bit more upscale than the good old YMCA.  I'm going to have to invest in some cuter gym clothes...

6.  My kids also seem to be a bit under dressed.  On the upside, a childwatch worker came to me today as I was putting on my kids' Wal-mart coats, and told me they were the only two kiddos (out of at least 20 or so) who helped her pick up toys when she asked.  I guess size 4 Northface coats and mini Ugg boots don't necessarily make for well-behaved kids. (I wouldn't mind finding a pair of those Ugg's second-hand, though.)

If anyone's curious, we're really not paying that much more for this fancy-schmancy place.  With the cop discount, it's only about 20 dollars more per month.  Considering the amount of money I anticipate saving this summer for the outdoor pool use, it should even out pretty nicely.

Bleh, snow.

Snow days seem like a good idea.  Before they happen.  Again and again.  We just joined a fabulous new gym yesterday and I can't get out of my driveway to try it out.  Boo.  My kids are stir-crazy and my baby has an ear infection.  I'm not a winter person.

Here we go!

So, everyone has a New Year's Resolution.  That's nothing new.  Probably 50-60 percent of the people I know who have resolutions for the year 2011 already have or have started a blog for people to follow along.  It's a great idea to help us all stay accountable, and to pull us through when we feel like being less than consistent.

I'm taking this 2011 plan one step further.  My New Year's Resolution this year is to do my first triathlon.  I have already signed up for the Olathe Woman's Triathlon on September 10th, 2011.  Shelling out 75 bucks is definitely a motivator for me.  But then an idea came to me last week.  Why not train for a cause?  Each lap I swim, every mile I pedal and run, would be for a reason bigger than myself. 

Finding a cause came easy for me.  In 2005, Jon "Blazeman" Blaise became the only person to race an Ironman triathlon with ALS.  Blazeman not only did an Ironman race 5 months after his devastating diagnosis, but he did THE Ironman race, in Hawaii.  ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease.  People diagnosed with ALS typically live 2-5 years post diagnosis.  Jon passed away from the disease two years after his last race.  The Blazeman Foundation, founded by his family, supports research for an ALS cure at Northwestern University.  

I was first made aware of this foundation when I had dinner with World Triathlon Champion, Chrissie Wellington.  Chrissie, a lovable Brit, has won the Hawaii Ironman World Championship three times and set numerous world records in races around the globe.  Her enthusiasm for life is infectious.  One of my first memories of Chrissie is watching her run through the half-marathon turn around at Ironman Kansas 70.3, already 60-some miles into the race, on a scorching hot Midwest morning.  She ran effortlessly around the orange cones, smiling at the cheering spectators, and gave a special small wave to my 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter.  Naturally, she went on to win the women's half of the race.  She then stayed at the finish line to help pass out medals to each athlete that crossed the finish line, my triathlete husband included.  Chrissie is known worldwide for not only her speed, but her smile.

Chrissie told the Blazeman story at a pre-race fundraiser dinner before the 2010 Kansas Ironman 70.3.  Members of Team Blazeman invoke his memory after each race by log rolling across the finish line, like he did after his last race in 2007.  Patrick, my husband, and I were particularly affected by her commitment to the war on ALS and thanked her profusely for everything she'd done when we got to talk to her after dinner.

ALS has affected my family not once, but twice in recent years.  My mom's dad, Grandpa Meier, was diagnosed with ALS in the late 1990's.  ALS is a disease that attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.  This weakens muscles all over the body and makes voluntary muscle movements increasingly difficult.  The thinking center of the brain is totally intact, so a person with ALS tends to feel trapped inside a progressively weakening body. 

I often think about Grandpa Meier when I run.  His calves were like tree trunks, and in my head I thank him frequently for the Meier legs that can power me through just about anything.  He was a loving grandpa with a wide smile and a boisterous laugh. 

More recently, my dad lost his oldest brother to ALS, too.  Uncle Steve was the oldest of eight kids, and the patriarch of the entire Schumacher clan after Grandpa Schumacher passed away.  I can't even picture him without a smile on his face. His kids and grandkids adored him, his nieces and nephews enjoyed his stories and jokes, and his brothers and sisters respected him.

So I am doing my own small race this year for Grandpa Meier and Uncle Steve.  When training gets old and the triathlon idea seems out of reach, I'll just remember their fight.

Me, Patrick, and Chrissie Wellington.

(also titled: Patrick with the Roundest and the Skinniest Women in the Room)