Resolutions

Back in Middle School band, we played a piece called "Resolutions".  I loved it, but unfortunately don't remember who the composer was to look it up.  And it's the time of year where most people go crazy making over-the-top resolutions for the upcoming year that they don't have any intentions of carrying on for more than a few months.  I've learned my lesson on not to get over zealous with resolutions!

It's been a rough past few years, but I still have a lot to look forward to!

I love watching the girls grow up! Two girls who look so much alike but have completely different personalities!  And those personalities are as lively as can be! They aren't so little any more, Ellee is in 1st grade and is reading while Dani is in Preschool and learning to write.  And as with girls, the drama gene is starting to appear - this is the one thing I could definitely do without!!!  But then again, it just makes life all that much more interesting because you never know what is going to happen!

Learning to live with Type 1 Diabetes has been an interesting ride in itself, but Ellee makes it look easy.  April will mark our 3 year mark. Some days it feels like it was just yesterday that she was diagnosed and others if feels like it should be longer than 3 years.  We are now 3 months into pumping and while it has one major downfall, the benefits are priceless.  I'm looking forward to our Endo appointment in Feb so that we can see how much, if any, the pump helps control her A1C!

But, the high light of my year will be getting to ride in the JDRF's Wisconsin Ride to Cure!  Two years ago I bought a road bike for myself for my birthday with doing a JDRF ride in mind.  I knew I wouldn't be able to do any thing over 10 miles on my hybrid bike, so I took a leap.  I didn't get to ride it much that summer, but I did learn a lot about a whole different world: the world of cycling!  However, this past summer I started living in this world!  It's kind of like visiting a European country, falling in love, and wanting to move there!  I wish I lived closer to work so that I could park my car and ride my bike! But I will be the first to admit that I'm a fair-weather rider, so as soon as the temps drop and/or the wind picks up too much, the bike comes in the house in hopes that I get some time to get the rollers out!

This past year I put 375 miles on the bike and 115 miles on my inline skates!  I did my second half marathon inline skate and while I didn't finish in under an hour like I wanted to, I can't complain about my performance: 13.1 miles in 1:05, finished 3rd woman to finish and 1st of the women in my age group (out of 6-8)!  We drove the course right before the race and my heart sank as I saw the hills on the one stretch of road, and when I say that the finish line was an uphill battle, it literally was!  It felt like the last hill was a 45 degree climb with about 10' of flat road right in front of the finish line!   As for cycling, I'm still getting use to it, but along with lots of shorter rides. I did a 47 mile ride and felt awesome afterwards but another time did 65 miles and for the last 8 miles had this overwhelming feeling to throw up, and once I did, I felt human again (as weird as that is to say)!

While I may not make resolutions, I am making goals!  I want to spend more one on one time with the girls.  I want them to see that life is what you make of it, and while not everything is fun, with a little hard work, it is very enjoyable!  I also want to improve my cycling and skating skills, not only for my health, but for the girls' health!