*OUCH*

Today my RMT Kyla was determined to get my healing on the way.. It seems my shoulder is tight enough that when I lay on my back my shoulder is still tilted up! This does not make for a great front crawl in the water.. since I can't get my arm over and around it might lead to me swimming around in a circle! Not good if I want to be in the annual Swim Across The Lake, I did ask Kyla if I might be alright to do the breast stroke (she used to be a life guard!) I got the thumbs up as long as I am careful. Now I have to learn how to do the breast stroke again!! I don't think I have done it since I took swimming lessons 30 years ago! Please note that I am coming to terms with the fact that this might be the year that I don't do any triathlons.. I'm still holding out for "Summerland Sprint" at the end of the summer! If you would like to meet my "Mistress of Torture" sorry I mean Kyla CLICK HERE!

On the diet side of things.. I am down a pound and a bit.. I know... baby steps..



I am readjusting with my diet, back to making a point of having breakfast! Every night before bed I toss: 2 cups of frozen berries, 1 cup of OJ, 1 banana, 1 cup plain yogurt. This makes enough for 2 glasses so both Steve and I can grab breakfast and go in the morning! Admittedly I am grabbing and going 3 hours before his eyes even open!

Need a reason to quit?

A friend asked me to share this with you. We were discussing smoking. I was a smoker for years, as was my husband. I have now been smoke free for 4 years and my husband for 2. The question most often asked is how and why. The simple answer - we got over ourselves. Smoking is probably one of the single most selfish acts a person can do aside from suicide.

Smoking does not do any good for anyone besides the smoker. NO one. I am not just talking about the appalling act of smoking if you have any interaction with children, I am talking about smoking at all. Facts are pretty clear, it doesn’t matter if you know someone that lived to 106 and was a smoker, smoking contributes to crappy health and usually death. The death is ugly and painful. Smokers will sometimes say, it’s there choice if they put themselves at risk to a deadly disease. Tru-dat. But what about everyone that it effects? On a broader sense we are talking tax dollars and strain on health care, but closer to home, I am talking about the child that sits in the hospital while the sun is shinning outside, waiting for you to die. Watching someone you love at any age die an ugly death is not something we would wish on anyone, yet every person who smokes doesn’t care enough about the people that love them to make sure that can't happen.

Are you really that selfish? Than you should be ashamed of yourself.

Click here for help

It often takes more than one try to quit.. please don't stop trying.

The plan starts to take shape!

So here is the deal...

Next summer I will do a Half Iron Man.

Swim 2K
Bike 93K
Run 21.1K

I thought I would be in a much different place when I made this choice. I didn't think it would be after putting on weight, screwing up my shoulder and having my heart monitored for an odd beat.

But I have.

I have a little less than a year to get this train on the rails.

Thankfully I have the beginnings of a plan, which is to find someone else that can put together a plan for me!

Enter two very important people.

My RMT Kyla Feddersen (www.creativehealing.ca) who will help get this shoulder back into swimming shape and Chris Willett from Fresh Air Concepts (www.freshair.ca)

Updates to come soon!

Our life in Screw Balls

So life has stopped throwing curve balls... and has moved on to screw balls!

WOW.. what a crazy while it's been!! Ratings at work, a house fire, a pregnancy scare, putting on a ton of weight, getting trapped in the real estate crunch, getting lumps removed from my head and a possible heart issue!

No wonder I had to take 2 weeks off and just stay at home!!

Once again I send out thanks and prayers for my wonderful family and friends! I find that you can get threw just about anything with the right team around you.. and it's so much easier when you have them at the start and don't have to build as you go!

One important thing my friends did for me in this round of excitement was make it clear that I was going threw plenty of stress and I wasn't being a total wimp for feeling the strain! Girlfriends sent cards in the mail, work friends gently inquired if I was going to be ok, and family picked up the phone when I called! Plus having a team of professionals to seek advice from certainly helped! I want to give a BIG thumbs up to Julie Weimer at RBC. Banks often get a bad rap when it comes to mortgages, well Julie and RBC have created a new form of yoga in the flexibility and creative thinking that has gone into getting us out of our jam! That's not without sacrifice on our part.. saying Good Bye to the boat as the temp soared to 30 degrees plus on my holidays had me in tears more than once.. as does the pending sale of my FZ6. More kudos this time to the gang at Rayburns Marine World for helping us sell the boat and Charles at Kelowna Yamaha that is sending people my way for the motorcycle!

So the long and short of the money stuff.. with some sacrifices on our part, and what will be a pretty tight year on the horizon, Steve and I still call Jones Street home and will have a rental available at Waterscpaes.. know anyone looking?? All the deets are in the posting a couple below.. we will be asking 1500, and will be ready for move in September 1.

On to the work stuff .... YEAH TEAM! SUN FM rocked the ratings! With two new stations in the market that is a VERY good feeling.. I get to keep my job for another 6 months!!!! :)

And the health front.. the lump in my head was a bunch of fat (insert fat head joke here) I have had a lump growing behind my ear for couple of years now.. last week I had it removed, after a night full of nightmares that the Doc would find worms in my head!! ewwwwwww.. weird part.. it did strangely look like a caterpillar when he pulled it out!! As for the weight stuff.. living in a hotel during the fire repairs did some nasty things to my body! Eating out was NOT good for me!! So I am refocused on the diet to bring down those calories (especially since some of the other stress is pulled back) and putting together a plan to get more competitive in triathlon.. at least I thought I was.. in the process of getting some testing done to figure out how I can train better some weird results have come back.. and some test are being done to see what's up with my heart.. which appears to have a rhythm all of it's own.. ha ha ha. I'm not in too much of a tizzy about it.. but I am concerned.. I will update you as the tests get done!

As a matter of fact I'm thinking this blog is going to turn into a bit of a diary for me.. Next post I will outline the goals and how i plan to get there. I will be an exciting couple of years ahead!

Hopefully you can gain something from my road to success, professionally, financially and athletically that will help you on your own journey!

SK xx

Never a dull moment - Let's pee on a stick!

Life brings with it many unexpected surprises.. and we almost had one.

Let me explain. Steve and I had decided that we will not be having any kids. Not an easy decision, we both love kids and would of been proud to be called Mom and Dad.. but the bigger responsibility to having children is looking at your situation honestly and making a choice that is best for the child to be and not your yearnings to be a parent.. strangely enough the most parent like decision Steve and I have ever made is probably not to have kids. Therefore we took the proper action and Steve ended up spending a weekend with a bag of frozen peas on his crotch!

But that’s not the story that is to be told here.

Life has been pretty stressful and hectic with the recover from the house fire and the insurance company dragging it’s feet on paying us the money we had all ready doled out.. plus all the other ups and downs that life brings.. so I hadn’t really noticed that my “monthly friend” was no where to be seen..

(insert Hollywood type screaming here)

I hummed and haaed.. Thank goodness Steve and I have faith and felt pretty confident that if a baby was on the way it was a pretty special gift.. but still.

This was not the plan.

So what to do. My life has held many an adventure. I have managed to do so many things that so many have not. But never in all of my days have a needed to take a pregnancy test.

(insert more Hollywood screaming here)

I reached out to a few girlfriends .. after the initial “now wouldn't that be funny” I got lots of support.. and marched myself to the local Safeway pharmacy to purchase a test. Wanna feel like EVERYONE is watching you? Besides buying condoms or Preparation H this has to be up there.. I was just waiting for the “in-store” announcement..

“Welcome Safeway shoppers - today a fun surprise in the pharmacy! Please stop by to see local radio announcer Susan Knight purchasing a pregnancy test. If you hurry you can watch the blood drain from her face and sweat form on her brow. Thank you for shopping Safeway.”

Thanks to Tanya, a lovely pharmacist who moved quick as she watched me stumble around that section of the aisle, I purchased the test. There was a brief chuckle as she also had not that long ago filled Steve’s prescription for Tylenol 3’s after his snip.

So during this whole ordeal I had been trying to reach my sister in London Ontario, she has 3 kids, a good sense of “ha” and sound advice and I figured would be the go to gal... but no luck so Melissa stepped up to the plate. Did I mention girlfriends rock in a way your best fella just sometime can’t.

So she talked me home..

Meanwhile. I gotta go.. I mean I REALLY have to go.. I had a pee pee dance going that would make Nikko proud. So I storm in the house getting the DL from Melissa who has also had 3 kids and is a wonderful source of support, advice and seems to be holding in any laughter pretty well.. So I get the skinny.. no I don’t need to wait till tomorrow morning, just pee on the stick for at least 5 seconds. GOTCHA. Seems pretty straight forward.

And I am about to burst.

So I hang up the phone, rip open the package, glance at the instructions in case I missed something important.. sit and ... awwwwwww relief...

Yikes.. stick.. must make sure . Ok.. peeing on stick..

And

Than

The

Moment

The Stick Turned PINK. not pale pink.. not slightly pink. But HOT fuchsia PINK. the kind of pink that screams..

YOU ARE HAVING A BABY ....... IT”S GOING TO BE A GIRL!

*blink*

*blink*

*blink*

.... and sanity returns.

Turns out those people have a sense a humor that create these nifty little tests. Seriously of all colours to have a pregnancy test turn.. PINK?!? BRIGHT PINK?!?!

That just seems mean.

It turns out, after closer inspection of the instructions, you need to check for a + sign in another section of the stick.

We seem to be in the clear... but still no little “friend” we shall see what colours any future sticks might turn!

Puppy love

Blessings come in so many different ways. I am a lucky girl because I have so many of them.

Two of the blessings in my life are my "fur kids" Barkley and Shillaleigh. Barkley is a malamute cross and Shillaleigh is a terrier cross. I love my dogs. It's hard to explain the joy that the pups bring me. I don't have "easy" dogs. Barkley is older and fiercely independent and while generally very passive he is a thinker and decides when and if he will do something. Shillaleigh is the baby, full of energy and love, she wants to be loved and played with and the centre of attention at all times. Shillaleigh was also a rescue which has come with an issue, she doesn't like many other dogs. She tolerates Barkley. Barkley is the closest friend she has with 4 legs but on occasion (like if Barkley has the crazy idea to come into the house) she will rip off his ears. So in our busy world the dogs continue to be a work in progress and do take up plenty of time. I will give it to them, because my heart belongs to those little family members. But with a busy life and demanding jobs you begin to appreciate the services that are available.

I want to introduce you to "Team Canine"

The Spotted Spa - Aunt Shelia and the crew are the kennel of all kennels! Room for my dogs to run, day camp or overnight stays, she does it all... plus she understands that one of my pups is "special needs" and makes sure that she has fun.. and the other dogs stay safe. Here is more info:
http://www.spottedspa.ca

Doggytopia - I use this place for the "do-it-yourself" bath. With two very hairy canines I can't afford to go to a groomer, and the groomer I love retired.. so I use these facilities to keep my dogs clean. AGAIN a great owner makes sure that the room is suitable for my little one that doesn't always play well with others. Here is more info: http:// www.doggytopia.com

Pawpular Pooch - This is a WONDERFUL doggy place.. little jackets, collars and the best of the best food. Shillalleigh has allergies.. and we do EVERYTHING we can to keep her in a good mood. So we have raw food for her that is dehydrated so we just add water, wait 20 minutes and serve - PERFECT! Plus Barks is a tad "big boned" so food that keeps his weight under control is there to! It also happens to be the best place to find presents for dogs and owners alike! http://www.thepawpularpoochboutique.ca/

Copper Boppers - My poop angel. Seriously.. they come and pick up the dog crap in my yard!!! Professional, fast, easy.. PERFECT!!! Check it out here:
http://www.copperboppers.com/xcart/help.php?section=caninewaste

While I am introducing you to a wonderful bunch of businesses that keep my family in good shape what I want you to take away from this is the team philosophy. You don't have to do it all yourself, you deserve a team. The only way I can have the joy in my life that comes from my dogs is to have a team of people, it is a balancing act because of finances but take a hard look at the time, love and peace that comes from the investment and determine if it's worth it. I don't utilize all of my team all the time, because I can't afford it.. but when push comes to shove I know that hey are all there and I can use there services to make my life easier - which bring alot of peace when times get tough, busy or full of unexpected surprises.

Could something in your life bring you great or more joy if you had resources or systems in place? Start looking at building your own team. You deserve it!

SKxx

Adventure!! This will be a blast!

Life is an ADVENTURE.. OK it doesn’t always feel that way so YOU need to take steps to keep the fun, adventure and spirit in your life. What else do you need? Well add charity to the list and get involved with the Urban Adventure Challenge! I wish I could but I will be giving away a car lease to someone as part of SUN FX :( Seriously this is as close most of us will ever get to The Amazing Race!

Here is the info Ryan Watters passed along to me:

JCI Okanagan presents the fourth annual Urban Adventure Challenge (UAC) on Saturday April 25. The UAC is based around the reality television series “The Amazing Race.” Teams of two travel through Kelowna by foot or city transit to complete a series of challenges that test the Mind, Body and Spirit. The UAC is a charity event to help raise funds for the Kelowna Community Food Bank and JCI Okanagan, while at the same time the chance to win some outstanding prizes.

The UAC promotes fitness and the aspect of “Go Green” as teams must be prepared mentally and physically to complete the race by using their feet or city transit. Registration for the Challenge is on now at www.urbanadventurechallenge.ca Deadline for teams is April 15, 2009.

It is a fund raiser for the Kelowna Community Food Bank’s Tiny Bundles program which is a non-government funded program that supports pregnant Mothers and families with babies under one year. Participants of the Tiny Bundles program, categorized into pre-natal, newborn and post-natal, receive monthly hampers, gift certificates for baby supplies and weekly nutritional supplements, milk, eggs produce and fruit.

There are a number of ways you can help this event; 1) Become a Partner; 2) Participate - find a friend to join you and pick up your pledge forms on the website (www.urbanadventurechallenge.ca) under the “Register” tab; 3) Challenge your colleagues and friends; 4) Volunteer; 5) Donate prizes; 6) Pass this email on to others who might be interested... You will be glad you did.

This year's race has taken a new direction, new attitude and full of new Challenges.

For more information email - urbanadventurechallenge@gmail.com

JCI Okanagan is a non-profit, leadership organization that empowers individuals to achieve personal fulfillment and professional development within the community. JCI Okanagan’s mission is to contribute to the advancement of the global community by providing the opportunity for young people of develop the leadership skills, social responsibility, entrepreneurship and fellowship necessary to create positive change.