Change

Things have been a-changin' lately...

Mostly me.  I think I alluded to my "bucket list" of items to accomplish some time ago- I managed to tick off another one: marathon- done.  42.2km of gruelling sweat, exertion, painful feet, euphoric highs and droopy lows, and definitely a few tears- I am now a "marathoner", having completed the Mississauga Marathon on May 5th (my 35th birthday!  What a gift to have my 3 loves of my life to cheer me on course-side in numerous spots to keep my motor running all the way to the finish!)

Other things have changed too- things that I had a hard time articulating a number of weeks ago, yet now seem not to define me as much as I thought they would...  Medtronic went through a restructuring, and I was officially "voted off the island" in mid-April.  Wow.  At the time- there were lots of emotions: confusion, hurt, anger, frustration, helplessness, and a lovely lowered immune system- which means I picked up every little bug and cold that crossed my path for the next few weeks!    Lo and behold tho- time passes, I achieve my big marathon goal, I age another year to my life, I go on vacation- and frankly, I'm feeling like I've been handed a gift.

I made the quick decision that we would pull the kids out of full-time daycare, and I would take this time as an opportunity to spend more time with Rowan & Georgia- and it has been like a 3rd mat leave, without having to get pregnant the 3rd time (bonus!).  We've done playdates, park tours, planted vegetable gardens, gone on nature walks, rainy day puddle hunts, cuddled, played "trains", dolls, babies, coloured, painted, crafted, hide and seeked about 1000 times over, rode bikes, rode scooters, baked cakes and banana muffins, and read book after book after book.  And I have loved it.  I've had to rework myself a bit- its hard to go from fast-paced-million-mile-a-minute, down to a smell-the-roses 4- and 2-year old appraoch to life, but truly- the adjustment has come easily.  The slow-down has allowed me to look at what I'd love to be doing with my kids on a grander scale- I'm finding new ways to "teach" them things- random chats about nature, how things work, space, and sometimes finding the odd mini-french lesson incorporated into sidewalk chalking or dinky car rallies.  Rowan loves his "home days", and Georgia just saps up any extra time she gets to spend with all of us. 

I'm learning things from them as much as I'm teaching them.  I'm getting the 2nd chance to sit back and watch them- not through the chaeos of a 2-day weekend that typically gets jam-packed with all the social stuff that doesn't fit into the work week - but truly the time to watch them experiment, discover and adventure.  And its truly amazing. 

This time truly is a gift.  And I'm tapping it for all I can...