Operation Healthy Balance

To clarify, I didn't completely partake in "Ottawa Race Weekend" but I did have an "Ottawa Race Couple of Hours".  Larrin, Chase, Karson, Arlen and I arrived in Ottawa around 4 pm.  The 5K race was scheduled for 5 pm so we had plenty of time to park, find a Tim Horton's, search for a post-race meeting point, and for me to find my starting coral. I had watched the starts of previous Ottawa 5K races on the internet so I was prepared for the drones on people lining up to race.  Everything was going as planned until I realized I totally miscalculated the number of people that would outright lie on their registration form.  During registration, runners had to report their expected finishing times.  I had placed myself in the 35-40 minute category because at the time of registering that was pretty much what I was running.  So I was standing in my self-assigned coral and looking around I could tell that I should have moved myself up a coral or maybe even two. ...

This time when I took the boys to get their haircuts, I thought it would be a good lesson for them to have the responsibility of telling the hairdresser how to cut their hair.  While waiting I gave instructions to ask the hairdresser for "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  Everyone agreed with rolling eyes as to say "yeah, whatever Mom". Chase got called first.  He politely stated "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  I sat as the proud mother whose child is taking one more step towards independence (I know it is a stretch but that's how I felt).  He was so polite and respectful.  I love that about Chase. Karson then got called and repeated, "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  Again I sat with pride and of course Karson was elated that he too had remembered my instructions and was able to pass them on by himself.  He looked at me for approval and I gave him a smile and a wink.  I love how Kar...

Four days until I run my first official 5K race.  Since February I have been plotting training regimes and tracking distances and times.  I have gradually improved my running technique and speed as evidenced by the following: February PB 38:22, fastest km 7:09 March  PB 35:58, fastest km 6:02 April  PB 30:51, fastest km 5:24 May PB 29:49, fastest km 5:39 My goal for the Ottawa 5K was to run it in under 30 minutes.  I thought I was well on my way to accomplish this but my right hamstring may have other plans.  Turns out that in all my time dedicated to planning and plotting training I purposely overlooked a very important piece of the training puzzle.  I know it sounds silly but I haven't been warming up, cooling down or even stretching for that matter.  I know.  Dumb move. Anyways, probably for my last 3-4 runs, my right hamstring begins screaming at me to stop at the 3 km mark.  My last run was on Saturday and I could not complet...

Haven't took the time to write anything lately.  Usually means, I've gone into hiding.  This phenomenon always happens when I am feeling the walls closing in; when life is a bit overwhelming and I have too much on my mind.  Sitting down with my thoughts is therapeutic but I "fight" it for some reason. So what's going on?  Rain, rain, rain and I leave for a one week Alaskan vacation with my mother in 14 days.  Before my departure I wanted life here to be somewhat organized for those that I am leaving behind.  The biggest obstacle to organization is crop planting.  It was my dream that the crop planting would be well on its way to completion and well....not even close. To put it into perspective, we usually plant approximately 265 acres of barley, corn and soybeans.  Currently there is 55 acres planted.  Barley is done, with 35 acres planted.  I guess you can say corn is started with 20 of the 165 acres in.  And the 70 acres of so...

With Mother's Day around the corner the boys are busy making treasures at school to give to glorious me.  So here is the latest..... "Your the best mom I ever had" Okay seriously, I know what he means.  I told him that he is the best middle son that I ever had.  He said "I know".  Glad we cleared that up.

"The only kind of chicken I like is ham." Alright then....

I was busy with appointments and errands all morning and when I finally had time to go for my scheduled 5 km run, it was raining.  Not pouring but a steady rain.  I talked myself into just going for 3 km. I decided to head out facing the rain so that it would be at my back on my way home.  The first km it felt like I couldn't get into a running rhythm and it was pure torture.  Much to my surprise I looked at my timer and I had run the first km in 5:55 min.  Usually my 1 km lap times are around the 6:20 min mark so I was surprised I was under this benchmark because my body was not in it's groove. By the second km the rain had soaked through my three layers and I am sure I resembled a drowned rat.  It felt like vehicles passing by were looking at me like I was nuts but I plugged on.  I finished the second km in 6:26 min, my body felt more coordinated.  My mind also changed its tune and instead of focusing on the rain and how bad I felt, I began ...

"Mommy!  We should just eat lunch when we eat breakfast so we don't have to do it later." Hmm.....

Among my menagerie of animals is a pair of muscovy ducks.  This spring the female started laying eggs in the chicken coop.  Once my hens saw this mound of eggs they couldn't help themselves but to "brood" on the nest.  It's very interesting how hens are mesmerized by these tiny oval creations; natural instincts and mother nature truly are remarkable.  The female duck began to lay eggs somewhere else so I decided to let the hen "adopt" the nest and just see what happened. Everyday I would gently kick the old hen off the eggs and collect any new chicken eggs that were laid.  Well today I went out and found this...... I tried to put the little creature back under the hen but she wanted no part of it and even started pecking the poor little thing.   I've heard that hens will go as far as kill deformed chicks so maybe this was also the hen's uncontrollable instinct. The duckling was probably only a few hours old and would die if left outside so obvi...

Meet "Railcrest Aerocerf Karina".  Karina was born June 2, 2004.  During her initial classification she was Railcrest Farms' first Very Good 2 year old scoring 86 points and moved up to Very Good 88 during her third lactation.  She scores 88 on rump, 88 on mammary system, 87 on feet and legs and 89 on dairy strength.  She is a good looking cow with excellent height and a deep rib.  Her highest scoring traits are her udder texture being very soft and body depth being very deep.  Traits that we will try to improve with her progeny are rump angle and udder depth.  Her rump is a bit high and her udder depth is a bit deep. Karina is a fantastic cow and is always noticed by visitors when they enter the barn.  So this is all great right?  Well, we have a dilemma.  We have not been able to get Karina pregnant and this is leading to much frustration and the general realization that her time her at Railcrest Farms is coming to and end. You se...