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| My biological grandmother and aunt c. 1932. |
- Last week I was contacted by a woman named Anne who was researching her family tree (she was adopted too). In the process of trying to find information about her father, she came across a lot of information about my birth mother and her family. She is connected to my family, but her and I are not actually related. She found me through my blog and sent me links to some really interesting historical information about my birth family. My grandmother in particular. It was fascinating reading through the text of an interview my grandmother gave to a historian about "Reservation life and life while trapping in the bush". I also learned that my grandmother was Algonquin Indian from Quebec. Since she married an Ojibway, she considered herself Ojibway. So I am part Algonquin and part Ojibway. Love to learn where I came from. It will be especially important when Julien starts asking questions about his heritage.
- Although Julien only met my birth mother once (and I'm so happy I made that decision and she got to see him before she passed away), he doesn't understand who she is to me. He doesn't have much of a memory of meeting her, but she did bring him gifts and he still has them. When someone asks where he got them from, he says from her. I'm waiting until he's a bit older to explain the circumstances behind my birth and adoption. My birth mother shared a bunch of pictures of herself and her family that I had scanned and put on disk. That will definitely help me tell my story, and now I have more historical information to share as well. It's so important to know where you came from. I'm very grateful to Anne for sharing this information with me.
- The last two days have been busy. I had two solid work days. Having my ThinkPad has definitely made working on the road much easier. I'm always connected to the office which didn't sound appealing at first, but I have to admit, I find my work days much more productive. And I got free Starbucks coffee on Monday. Some suit paid for my coffee even though I initially declined his offer to pay. Hey, I'm not going to say to no to free coffee so I let him pay after he insisted. Does that make me a coffee whore I wonder? He thought I might sit at his table as he motioned to the seat across from where he was, but I thanked him, gave him a shy smile and got a small table of my own to work at. I was there to work, not socialize!
- Monday night I went to a Dr. Poon support meeting in Scarborough. I didn't get home till 11:30 pm! I sat and chatted with a great group of women until 10:30. We normally meet once per month and I find that I am enjoying their company more and more. We are different ages, different backgrounds, at different stages in life, but are connected through Dr. Poon. And it's amazing how people who start out as total strangers can become so caring and concerned about one another. I'm looking forward to spending more time with these ladies (and Verne) in the future:)
- Yesterday I woke up early to run. Monday was my rest day, but Tuesday was a 7K steady run on the schedule. My mileage is building. Next month, I'll likely run 200K. That's a lot for me. I ran 200K in the month of August while I was training for the Road2Hope, right before I broke my ankle. Womp, womp, womp:( Hubby has been struggling with getting back onto the running schedule since his concussion. We have had to discuss the likelihood of him being ready to run the Around the Bay at the end of March and it looks like he's gonna have to sit this one out. He can't catch up without doing serious damage to himself, so I'm going to try and sell his bib. This shouldn't be too difficult. The race is sold out. On line transfers begin March 1st.
- When my mileage goes up, so does my appetite. I have been very hungry over the past week or so. I feel like I'm constantly eating. Eating and drinking water. I have been chugging bottles of water like a champ and eating like every meal is gonna be my last one for days. I haven't weighed myself for about a month I think. I don't really care what the scale says right now. I know that I am the same size. My size 6 jeans still fit me the same and one thing I have learned about myself over the past year while on maintenance is that I have become so in tune with my body that I know right away when something is off. I have been blessed because running and eating clean has enabled me to not have to worry about my weight. I have never had this freedom before. I have always had to worry about portion size and calorie intake. These are things I don't even think twice about now. The last time I tracked my calorie intake out of curiosity, it was around 2700 (that day). I know that I go over that some days, but its the quality of my calories, not the quantity that matter.
- It's snowing pretty steadily in Hamilton right now. The snow's supposed to last all morning and into the afternoon. I'm working from home today. I'm running 6K steady at some point this morning. Likely after I get Julien off to school. The blowing and drifting snow should make for a challenging run, challenging but real pretty too. Those are the best ones!
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| Top left: Perhaps it's time to get the bangs trimmed now? Top right: -14C run yesterday. A bit of frozen sweat. Bottom: My last fortune from the Mandarin. Best fortune yet! |