Spinning My Ass Off

As many of you know, I have become a work-out-a-holic since we moved to Canada. For one reason, the size of my ass, and for the second reason, I ain't got shit to do but hang out at the gym (worst housekeeper ever, right here!), and for the third reason, they have childcare so for four dollars I get up to an hour and half break from Avery. Since September I have gone from a size 12 to a size 8. Go me.

Today was my weekly spinning class. For those not hip to the lingo, spinning is the trendy term for stationary bike riding class. I enjoy this Tuesday morning class because it is done by a trainer that I've used a few times that is very encouraging and doesn't make you feel fat and hopeless. Today there was a sub.

This guy was the most horrible instructor I've ever seen teach a class at a gym. I had to wipe the permanent look of shock off my face at least 15 different times during the class. He worked out along with the class and it was as if he were trying to compete with us or at least show us up. Hence making me feel fat and hopeless. The thing is, he was sweating and out of breath way more than anyone in the class. It was so bad, I couldn't understand a word that he was shouting at us as he cranked up his resistance and stood up in the pedals and started climbing that hill. Permanent look of shock. Don't even get me started on his music selection...I didn't know if we were going to drink martinis or work out. I looked longingly into the class next door doing step aerobics. Maybe mom is right, I should give Curves a try.

Drift Ice

We got word this morning that the drift ice was visible from Signal Hill, so we set out to take our "We're Not From Here" pictures. There were soo many people out, and rightly so, the sun hasn't been seen for months!! Or so it seems...

Here are the best pics that I got. Thank goodness for my fancy schmancy zoom lens!

One Last Sliding Session....Maybe

The snow started to melt...again...a few days ago, so Jeramy and Ryleigh got out the sleds and thought they would get at least one more sliding session in. (That's sledding for those of you down south)

The Funnel of Death

When parents escape, they do stupid things. My neck STILL hurts from this.

Jeramy Parasailing

Nothing like watching your breadwinner go up into the air, suspended by a Mexican parachute.

Lovin' My Tan

Jeramy made it back home from the rig in plenty of time to make our Mexico trip. We flew out at 7am on the 17th. After our brief layover in Toronto we were on our way to Puerto Vallarta. With the 3 1/2 hour time difference we were at the resort by about 3pm local time. The first order of business, put on bathing suit, order strawberry daquiri. Ahhhh, warmness, how very nice.

It was a very fun week. Jeramy did a fishing trip with the guys. He and I snuck away to swim with dolphins by ourselves (thank you Pam for babysitting) and later on we took Ryleigh to do the kiddo swim with the dolphins. We took a boat tour of the canals and saw lots of crocodiles. Jeramy went parasailing and we ate more food in one week than I normally do in one month. It was all-inclusive, why have one dessert when you can have two! And seriously, who doesn't feel like a queen when you have unlimited amounts of guacamole at your disposal.

Then there was the wedding and just like that Jeramy and I have a new sister. The ceremony was so sweet and intimate. Valerie is a really sweet girl and I'm so happy for Chris having found her to make his life whole.

We all got lots of sun and lots of swimming in. The girls seemed like they were tired the whole time. I think the sun just really zapped it out of them. It was depressing to come home to over a foot of snow in our driveway, but the trip seemed to have left us with a much needed refueling. We got back home at 4am Wednesday morning. Our snow clearing guy used up the last pre-paid clearing while we were gone, so the driveway was quite difficult to get into when we got home since the asshole is sure as hell not going to clear it if he doesn't have his money in hand. Dude, you know where we live! It was a good thing our taxi driver was a seasoned old Newfie; he backed that minivan up and just gunned it right up the driveway. Jeramy's 4x4 truck didn't have any problem navigating the drive, but he spent some time this morning running my truck up and down to make sure I could get out...I'm pretty sure he had some fun with the Land Rover in the snow while he was at it.

So yesterday and today has been cold, wet, foggy and just plain gross. It's making me yearn for the sun. If I have to hear from one more person back home about the flowers blooming and the kids starting to go to the waterparks I'm just going to vomit. People, keep it to yourself...you don't brag to Ethiopian children about all the yummy food you have.

I'm still working on downloading and organizing all the pictures that we took. I'll post a link on the blog as soon as I have them all in Shutterfly. In the mean time, enjoy this link that I got from a friend in Denver. It's just about the funniest damn thing I've read in a long time...but you may need to have come home from 10 hours of flying at 4am to a foot of snow in your driveway to really appreciate it.

Daddy Come Home!

I woke up to an email from Jeramy yesterday morning. He sent it at 5:30am and was about to jump on a boat and head in. He estimated that he would be here this morning. However, I received another message from him this morning saying that they're having to survey some icebergs and that he didn't think he would make it in by midnight. He really wants to cut it close making our Mexico trip I suppose.

We're here waiting patiently, but man do we miss our daddy!

Crash Update

Night is falling in Newfoundland and there have still not been any more survivors found from today's crash. It's such a tragedy and one that will really take it's toll on this island that we've come to love so much. Just about everyone that lives here has some connection to the oil industry either through their employment or their family. It's a close knit community with only about 500,000 on the whole island. My heart aches so much for those that I have already heard of that have found out their loved one is gone.

Jeramy should be able to catch a supply boat home in a few days. At the earliest he should arrive on Sunday, though it is completely possible that he will be arriving Tuesday morning just hours before our flight takes off for Mexico. It's amazing how unimportant that seems right now. We really just want our daddy home, here to read books with us at night and to snuggle up with for movie night. He is obviously quite shaken, as is his crew that he is out there with. He and his colleagues will certainly have some serious logistic issues to take care of in the coming weeks. Several of the crew have already expressed their unwillingness to fly in a helicopter again. If you want to know more about the crash and Newfoundland news in general, here is a good link.

Thank you for your kind notes, emails and phone calls. I feel so blessed to have so many out that care so much for us...even those that I have never met. (Hi Kerry Beth's Mom!) We love you all so much

A Sad Event

For those who have and have not heard, there was a helicopter crash this morning off the coast of St. John's. It was a Cougar Helicopter, the same helicopter company that flies everyone out to the rigs here. Jeramy was not on it and he is fine, however he is now stuck on the rig until we don't know when. The helicopters will not be flying for at least a few days. He had planned on coming back tomorrow, but now we will just have to see. We were planning on leaving for Mexico on Tuesday, but that is also now up in the air.

There were 18 on board and so far there has only been one survivor found. They are still searching, but it's not looking good. These kinds of events always turn my stomach inside out and we've never had one hit quite this close to home.

Think of our Daddy. He is really ready to be back home. And of course think of the families of those that are lost. My heart aches for them in a very personal way.

Make each day count...jenn

A Magical Magician

One of my favorite thing about being a parent is when I get to show Ryleigh that I can do something that she never thought was possible.

This afternoon she dug up a set of playing cards from somewhere. After I tidied up the kitchen from lunch I found her sitting in the living room floor with a stack of cards in front of her, a stack in front of Elmo and a stack waiting for me. We've tried Go-Fish before, but she was much younger and couldn't quite grasp the concept so I thought we would try again. I scooped up all the cards and started shuffling the fancy way that my Grandpa Jack once taught me. She just stared at my hands wide-eyed and when I noticed her look of amazement I asked what she thought of that to which she replied "Mom, You're a Magician!" It made me feel like a hero in her eyes, which is beyond awesome.

This morning I had coffee with a group of other expat wives. This week was the most diverse group that I think we've ever gathered. There were four of us from Texas (one of which was originally from New Jersey...yes, she's a yankee, but I love her), one lady from Australia, one lady from Scotland and one lady from England. I LOVE having conversations with these ladies that are from and have lived all over the world. It's just so interesting to hear everyone talk about what they're used to back home and how they're struggling, like I am, to find some pieces of familiararity in our new country. True, I'm looking for chorizo and they're looking for pudding of some sort, but it's all the same need to find a piece of what you're used to.

With This Ring...

On this day six years ago Jeramy and I said our "I do's" and kicked off this crazy life our ours. Unfortunately we spent our anniversary today apart, Jeramy out on the rig, I at home with two kids that have been ganging up on me all day. And now, I get to try and put them to bed an hour earlier than normal...this should go over like a cowboy hat on George Street.

Six years ago my cousin Brandi was 14 years old and stood guard at our guest sign-in table at the wedding. Today she gave birth to her second child, a perfectly healthy baby boy. She had an ALL natural birth at a birthing center and everything went just splendidly. My mom was there as her doula and I think the experience was quite remarkable for her as well. That makes 13 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren in the Wood clan. Becca, Coby...time to get crackin' and make your baby contributions!

Back to my anniversary...to my hubby...I love you more than ever. I am grateful beyond words for this wonderful life that you have blessed me with. I couldn't ask anything more of you. I love our life in St. John's and I love sharing it with you. And our baby girls, wow, I couldn't ask for more beautiful, sweet and loving babies! They complete us and make our family whole. I look forward to the future with you....forever.

Love, hugs and kisses....jenn

One Wild and Crazy Day

This morning started out with a kiss from my hubby as he was about to walk out the door to catch a three hour helicopter ride over the northern Atlantic in the snow to his rig. I still get butterflies in my stomach when he has to ride a helicopter and it doesn't help that we can hear and see them shortly after take off from our house. Something about watching a helicopter carrying the father of your children up into the dark, snow-filled clouds that makes one feel a bit uneasy. But, he indeed made it to the rig and has been working his fanny off since.

By about 9:15 the girls and I were at the gym. God knows I could use a few extra work-outs to get me ready for a week in Mexico and they really love the child-care area, so it's a win-win. After I did a round of circuit, marched up 43 floors and sent my abs into seizures we raced home to get ready for our good friend Jack's 3rd birthday party. It was Yo Gabba Gabba themed and was really amazing. I have to give total props to my neighbour Michelle and her endless amount of energy and beautiful RED monster cake.

We got home and the sugar high that the girls were on would not allow Ryleigh to nap and Avery stayed down for less than two hours. This made for a very interesting afternoon during which I ran to bathroom multiple times and stuck my head in a sink-full of water which only shocked me back into the hellish reality that I was in...single mom at home with two sugared out kiddos with bedtime nowhere in sight. We did make it through and managed to get some packing done for Mexico. Ryleigh tried on all her summer clothes from last year and they all fit better now than they did then, except for one pair of shorts. She has obviously been watching Project Runway when I'm not around because she kept marching up and down the hall with her butt sticking out admiring how cute she was in the mirror. She still needs a couple more dresses, a bathing suite and a couple of pairs of shorts to get her through the week. I got myself almost completely packed and tomorrow I'll work on Avery and we may do a little shopping for the things that we're lacking. Jeramy is going to be the hardest, the poor boy is really lacking in casual clothes seeing as he is all sorts of important these day and only wears professional type clothes. You know, the kind that he gets for free from work with his company and vendor's logos on them.

Over the last week the snow has almost all melted but since Jeramy left today, it has come back. God really likes to watch me shovel snow during the precious hours that my children are sleeping...it's gotta be my punishment for all that lusting I've been doing over Jack Bauer in the new season of 24...grrrrrrr baby grrrrrrr.

My cousin Brandi started the early stages of labor today, so please think of her when you say your prayers. She has decided to give birth at a birthing center with a midwife which means zilch for drugs. I admire her very much, but there is always risk involved in not giving birth at a hospital. Please think of her when you say your prayers tonight. My mom is serving as her doula, so I know that she has some of the most wonderful labor support available. We love you girl!