Running January 20, 2012
Posted by sunflower71 in running.Tags: boxercise, half-marathon
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Last May I started, for the first time in my life, to have a real hobby. I’m sure many of you are familiar with that funny feeling of having to fill in a form, or a cv, and needing to say what hobbies we have, and we write ‘reading’ or ‘travelling’ or something equally vague. We’ll I’ve done this all my life. But won’t be doing it any more. I now have a hobby I’ve come to love and to whom, with Stephen’s support I’m able to dedicate about 3 to 4 hours every week. I’m doing a mixture of boxercise and running. I’m a late convert to exercise as those of you who know me are very well aware. I’m also very and constantly surprised at how ‘fast’ my body adjusted to this new routine. I still do sometimes nearly hear my muscles and tendons discussing together what’s gotten into me recently, that I make them do things they had never done before!
My progress has been constant and in August I asked the fitness trainer at the gym I attend whether I could run the half marathon next February. He suggested that I should go for the walkathon and maybe jog parts of it. In October, together with a few other people, the gym offered us a different option – that of starting a running club. Every Monday we started going for a 45 minute jog, that has seen us improving until in December my running partner and I completed a 17.4 km race in 1 hour 47 minutes!
That’s the medal and here my partner and I a few seconds after we crossed the finish line, still incredulous of our feat!
We’re still all of us alive…. January 20, 2012
Posted by sunflower71 in Life with 3 princesses, Uncategorized.2 comments
Hello again from me here at life with 3 Princesses! We are still all of us alive, healthy and growing. I haven’t given this space the attention it deserves. After all, those elusive few minutes remained elusive. Today is no different.
As I write Francesca is next to me watching Baby TV. Catherine is on the other side attempting to read what I’m writing. Maria is in the next room busily dreaming. Right now my wish is that she sleeps through the night. It is the same wish I have every night. She is a very light sleeper and every night without fail she comes along to our room with a number of requests ranging from being cold, being hot, needing a drink, needing the bathroom, bad dreams, and her latest excuse, “I came to be daddy’s hot water bottle”!
As you can see from the little ticker tapes on the left of the screen, Francesca is now 3. In a few days she will start going to the big school as she likes to call the Kindergarten she will be attending every day. She is very looking forward to wearing her new uniform to be just like Maria! She craves to be older and be doing older things. Today the squabble with Maria was on who has most homework for the weekend! To me it sounded a bit too nerdish….but funny too! Oh, how I will enjoy reminding them about these little quarrels when they are older and probably, like all teenagers , reluctant to complete all the homework!
In the mean time Stephen and I seek to keep them healthy and happy. Here we are a couple of months ago at a friend….in a rare picture where all 3 Princesses not only looking at the camera but all of us are actually enjoying being photographed! Thanks Becky for this! It’s one our best photos all together.
in need of a good dusting September 8, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in Uncategorized.3 comments
This blog has been lying mostly dormat these last few months. This mummy has been very busy doing what mummies usually do and a few other things on the side that hardly any time was left for blogging… Well, my intention is to revive this space and let you, my dear loyal, follower or two, into our family’s advetures again. See you soon.
7 years on June 6, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in about me.Tags: wedding anniversary
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7 years ago……
How time flies!
But in reality why am I wondering where all these days went…. we’ve had the 3 princesses in the mean time… that is where these 2555 days went….
It has been a fairly rough ride but when all is said and done very manageable thanks to my man. He is the one who kept us going. He is our rock. My rock. So thank you, dear, for having chosen me to share your life with.
Maria: creature of habits May 31, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in Life with 3 princesses.Tags: films, The Cherub
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Our Maria is really and truly a princess who likes routine….
One fetish of hers is to watch movies over and over and over again. I know that most children her age are like that but I also think that she is a little bit more stuck to something once she likes it. She is just over 4 years old but she has already been through her Annie phase, The Sleeping Beauty phase, The Sound of Music phase and now we are currently in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers phase. Every free moment she has, she wants to watch the same movie. The running commentry she makes up while watching them is also unchanged. What is funnier though is her sisters’ s reaction to her suggestion to watch her current favourite….they are already resigned to her constancy, and they are just, simply, patient with their sister. The dynamics between the three girls is amazing. At their young age, it is impressive to see how they are coping with each other’s character traits. This is one of the moments that gives me most pleasure – seeing my princesses building bridges towards each other and learning how to live peacefully together.
is it time to let go of the nick names? May 31, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in Life with 3 princesses.Tags: blogging
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Originally, when I started this blog, I was very reluctant to upload pictures of my children and even to call them by their name when I write about them. Now I don’t know if maybe I’m getting a false sense of security, but I somehow let go of this fear and eventually started up loading pictures of them. I feel that I’m now at another point in the security issue. I think it’s high time I got rid of the nick names and to make my life and my readers life easier, I am going to start calling them by their names….. So dear readers, may I introduce you to Catherine, my eldest, Maria my second daughter and Francesca the youngest princess.
What I’m thankful for May 26, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in about me, Life with 3 princesses, Uncategorized.Tags: about me, feelings, motherhood, women's roles, working mum
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Busy mummies are not only that. Obviously. We are also women, wives, colleagues, sisters, daughters, friends, etc. And being human (I hate being apologetic here, but somehow when one becomes a mother, other roles tend to become secondary) we also get our full share of different emotions. Among which that pesky feeling of being ‘down’. Now when does a working mother of 3 little girls have time to feel down? But you know, sometimes it happens. The reasons could be various. For me usually it happens when I make comparisons. I know they are odious but I guess they are also part of human nature. This time the comparison was with my single younger colleagues. And I got a general feeling that I was born too early. I started missing the freedom to do as one pleases on the spur of the moment.
And then a friend notices my ‘face’ looks different and after a few days of seeing this ‘face’ asks me ”do you have something missing in your life? Why are you sad?”
The question shocked me. I wasn’t expecting it and anyway it took me some time to give myself an answer.
In reality what is missing in my life?
The things I listed are not worth mentioning here.
My friend then surprises further me by sending me this poem:
Die slowly by Pablo Neruda
He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never change space,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.
He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones “i’s” rather than a of emotions,
the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.
He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.
He who does not travel,
who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.
He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck,
about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.
He or she who abandon a project before starting it,
who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn’t know,
he or she who don’t reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.
Let’s try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.
Then reality hits in and I realize I have nothing missing. Instead I have a lot to be very thankful for.
And this list is definately worth listing here. The order is not in order of importance. It would be too difficult to put an order….
I am healthy.
I have 3 beautiful, healthy girls.
I have a husband who loves me and is fully dedicated to our family.
We have two jobs, a house and food on the table.
…
It’s not a long list but it is a lot to be thankful for and enough to blow away any ‘down’ feelings.
Thank you for reading.
Parenting skills May 16, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in Life with 3 princesses, my opinions, The Star.Tags: children, house chores, parenting, The Star
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This is probably for many of us in this role one of the issues that troubles us most. Unlike other skills we might possess there is pretty little to show us if we are actually on the right track or not. I do not mean to say that the difference between parents is not sometimes too obvious for the wrong reasons but that there are no indicators that could in some way let us know that we are actually on the right path to helping out children become mature and responsible adults….that is, until they are older and have become adults. But then, by that time, it is obviously too late to do anything about it anyway.
Then today, while I’m taking down the clothes from the clothes’ horse The Star comes along to help out. She starts piling up the clothes according to who they belong to and then putting the pegs in their container. Later when this is done, she starts giving me the wet clothes to hang together with 2 pegs at a time! We work silently together until both tasks are complete. For the record, she is 2 years 4 months old.
Now, tell me, if this is not a sign that I’m doing something right with the girls, what is?
Conversations with The Star May 12, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in The Star.Tags: my man, The Star, vocabulary
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My man: Francesca don’t touch the tv as it can break (when she touches the laptop’s screen with her fingers)
Francesca: That’s not a tv daddy, that’s a computer!
Lesson learnt: don’t try to simplify life too much for children as they are generally far more aware of what is what than we realize!
Something new May 6, 2011
Posted by sunflower71 in about me, Uncategorized.Tags: boxing, frustration, trekking
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This mummy is going bonkers.
This mummy has gone bonkers.
This mummy has managed to carve out some time for herself to do something that she has been longing for, for a very long time. And to be perfectly honest I don’t really care is any body starts to think any of the two statements above about me.
Ever since those crazy days of this and this post….I have been longing for some form of exercise to release the tension that I was feeling building up in me. To me it was clear that I needed a vent. But it was not to be back then.
Until one fine day, I’m casually chatting to another mother of 3 kids, while our children are at the swimming pool about what kinds of things we’d like to get involved in if we had the time. I mentioned kick boxing. (You see, she is not Maltese so with her I feel a tad more comfortable to say something like this. Every one else I know except my ‘crazy’ sister looked at me incredulously when I mentioned this.) ‘But you should go then. We have it in Mosta (where we both live). My sister-in-law and her husband go there! There are lessons every day, you know!’ I remember feeling very but very excited about this. Suddenly, this ‘secret’ wish that I had started looking possible. But somehow I never managed to get the telephone contact of this organisation. She just told me the whereabout of the location. I scouted around the area a bit but I missed somhow missed them.
Then, just to prove that this was somehow meant to be, I recently befriended someone who lives in the area of this, until now for me, ghost organisation. She was, like every one else, very surprised to hear that I was interested in this, but managed to get me their number. I immediately made contact but due to the Easter holidays and my man’s work schedule, I postponed the appointment a number of times. Until finally I decided that I had postponed this thing enough and got an appointment and finally kept it.
So two days ago, my sister and I (I had to have her with me at least the first time), went along.
Neither of us knew what to expect. The people we saw coming out of the gym looked very decent to us. (We, both of us, can be real snobs if we choose to be.) Even the ladies, we said…..’hm, ok, it seems ok from the looks of them’. On entering, that is, we make and entrance because the lesson had already started, the instructor greeted us very warmly. ‘Very nice’, I immediately though of him. ‘I already like it!’. They are doing some stretching and general exercises to begin. As we settle in to the routine, we start spotting people we know. Actually between me and my sister we knew half the class! Half way through, we were told to work with a female instructor. She is ‘cute’. definitely not some one I would have associated with this sport at all. Not in a million years.
So we work with her on the moves….or better how to hit, how to hold your legs, how to move…. and we do a few repeats, and learn or rather try to get familiar with some terminology and some hand movements. By now, I know I’m not in a kick boxing class, but ‘only’ a boxing one. From what I had seen till now, to me it sounded enough for what I had had in mind.
Later we join again the rest of the class for some final stretching.
And finally the ‘very nice’ instructor starts explaining to us what we could expect of this kind of class. Now it seems crazy to me that we didn’t have this chat before we even started but anyway, better late than never. We filled in some forms and decided to subscribe to a 10 session programme. And, moreover, my sister and I are now the proud owners of a pair of boxing gloves, bandages and a skipping rope!
Now last night I went for the second session. And now the real work started. The instructor is some one else. Not as ‘nice’ but equally professional. I can sense I’m being pushed to my limits. What feels good is that, he sees my limits and stops pushing me. I like this and feel confident I can come back here for more.
Before I close off, one thing to put straight is that what I am doing is not going to make me a boxer. I wouldn’t want that one single bit. But I’m doing some exercise, that I who has never exercised before, is finding fun and challenging. And at the back of my mind I know my next trekking holiday is looming pleasantly near and I want to be much fitter for it this time round.
