"Just" a housewife

Happy 4th Birthday Lauren!

Lauren is 4 today. In this picture - taken today by my sister - she's in her school uniform. Obviously the school is teaching her how to pout!

Anyway, she has a birthday party tomorrow and Aunite Emma sang her happy birthday via phone!

Long time no post!

Well a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Work stuff has been interesting to say the least, but this is a no-work-comment zone, so that's all I'll say.

I've been reluctant to post the most significant, yet disappointing news. I have had to give up my marathon dream. During the weekend in Yellowstone it had been playing up and the following week my sciatica and back ache came back with avengence. I had a doctors appointment, was put on muscle relaxants and 4x a day 800 mg of Ibruprofen, had x-rays and scheduled physio-therapy appointments - and she told me not to run! [Interesting experience the other day when I took the muscle relaxants on an empty stomach...not good!]

I was really upset that first week; I mean I was so determined, so committed, I'd given up a lot of time and sacrificed friday night alcohol sessions! But as David said I had to think about my long term health rather than a short term desire to run a marathon.

I didn't want to admit it, nor to others that I'd failed. Anyway, I'm still getting up at 5:15 a.m. 4 days a week and trying to work out 5-6 days, but I'm walking on the treadmill rather than running...

Anyway, that's the running update. Wedding planning update will come tomorrow...now there's another saga!

Significance!

I grew up in Sheffield. A working class town. My mum was a bank clerk and my dad was a policeman. My dad did very well rising through the ranks of the force. They both worked extremely hard to provide for me and my sister and in turn I'd like to think we both worked hard for what we have now.

As a result, I enjoy the nice things in life, fun vacations, a glass of wine, smart clothes, etc. but I also have learned that material things don't matter.

When David produced this lovely little box last Sunday in Yellowstone and I opened it to see this beautiful diamond ring, I never imagined it would be so nice; stunning I called it. To me it was gorgeous with a diamond in the center. Beyond my expectations. I have no idea what the official 'carrot' is. I have no idea the total number of carrots of the diamonds around the band. I have no idea what it costs. I have no idea the color or the clarity.

And you know what I don't care. It's the significance of the ring. David chose it. David chose it for me and I would never change it for anything in the world. I will not 'upgrade' it when we've been married 10 or 20 years (as many American's do!) and I will not get sucked in to those comparison conversations with friends.

The ring is significant to me and only me. And it's unique because it was bought by David to signify our love...

Yellowstone; A black bear, a moose and a very nice rock!

David and I went to YellowStone National Park in Wyoming for the Labor Day weekend. The trip started off badly as I had been suffering with back ache all week similar to my old ‘herniated disk’ days and I was worrying that it would not only hurt all weekend, but it might start impacting my marathon training. I was glad that I had a scheduled break from running. And I took a Percaset tablet on the plane. [For those in the ‘know’ it’s stronger than Vicodin!]

Needless to say during the 2.5 hour drive from Jackson Hole north to Yellowstone, I was in a pain killing induced doze. Thankfully David was driving.

Saturday was pretty special as we explored the park by car. We got to see a black bear just 15 feet from us, on the edge of the road. I was both scared and exhilarated. We’d approached a traffic jam and David encouraged me to get out and walk ahead along the side of the road to see what everyone was staring at. As I approached, this black bear sauntered out from the tree where he was hiding and joined the cubs in a nearby forest. I think I got a pretty sweet picture (or 10) of the bear before I ran back to the car, heart pounding to tell David to go and look. I was so close I could see the rich texture of his fur…magical!

On Sunday we hiked for about 10 plus miles, over 6-7 hours. It was at the end of the hike, overlooking the beautiful Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, that David asked me a big question while producing a gorgeous diamond and platinum ring.

David asked me to marry him, so there we have it…I said yes. I was stunned, surprised and extremely happy. So much so that a woman we passed on the walk back to the car even commented that everyone she encountered on the walk looked so happy! I doubt there were too many others that had experienced just what I had!

Yellowstone has gorgeous scenery and many beautiful rocks, but David had pretty good taste choosing this rock!

Oh and on Monday we spotted a moose! Pretty cool hey, not back for a weekend trip ;-)