Wine-ing, Whining and Winning!

What to do about life? 

This is huge and has been weighing on my mind recently.  Greg and I have found ourselves in such a weird space.  All within a 3-week span, we had ONE bright, brilliant boy graduate from college.  ONE darling, determined daughter move away for school at the U of I.   And ONE, comical, creative, Cub that entered public school as an 8^th grader, after 7 years of homeschooling.

What to do about life?

Greg and I are wandering the rooms of our home, in search of the faintest whisper of noise during the day.  Strange place we are in. 

For me, because I have spent the past 13-plus years as a SAHM, it is the most bizarre feeling.  I am whipping up recipes in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon (which is normal) but what is NOT normal, is that I usually have Alli, or at one point, all three of our home-schooled kids, sitting at the bar, chiming in on what would go good in the recipe.  Alli LOVES to cook!! I miss her sitting there with her school books, asking questions, or reading to me, making art, or crafting up her own delicious recipes.  I have always had the kids around.  Have always had alot of kids around.  

  I am missing the churning in our home.  The activity.  The daily buzz.

Now, it is silent, with the occasion snore from one of the dogs.

And then……Greg.

 My sweet, loving, wonderful hus-by.  He works from our home office, our deck, our patio, or our hammock,  but has now switched his schedule to work on East Coast time!!!…at 2pm…guess who I am bumping into??  Wandering the halls…..

What to do!

On an EXCITING note,  our trip up north to Canada last week was amazing!  We had the most fun with our friends, and kids up there.  Did a lot of wine tasting!  Did a lot of laughing.  Did not a lot of sleeping….

 At Dirty Laundry Vineyard

At Misconduct

Township 7

Volunteering for Ironman Canada was incredible!  We worked Run Aid Station #1 "Cirque de Sole" (we won as best run aide station at the banquet.)  We met some incredible people. I loved helping these athletes, as they chugged back water, grabbed sponges to put into their shirts, shorts, or anywhere else they could fit them, or just squeeze onto their heads, on this 100-degree day!  As a volunteer, we were also privileged to get up bright and early on Monday morning and march ourselves down to register before the general public. At 5am!  So my next Ironman race will be in Penticton, BC next Aug 2012.

 Sister Madonna Buder

 I am REALLY looking forward to getting back to Ironman training….not because it will give me something to do….but….well, yes…..that exact reason!! 

Until then, I will keep up with my Asylum workouts 3x a week, with a couple of days of Insanity sprinkled in.   Run.  Run a lot!  Tri Cities Marathon in October?  Possible.   And of course hit a few swims, and bikes, before the “real” training kicks in.

 And we do have one little trip to the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in 3 weeks!!!!  Nothing like getting your blood pumping, & gettin' ya psyched for training than going to the Big Island to watch the Big Kahuna of Ironman races.

I am VERY excited for this trip!!  It's 10-days in Hawaii.  It's Ironman.  Not to mention how fun it is going to be to see our friend Mr. RS cross that finish line AND to be traveling with our great group of friends from Coeur d’Alene.  Bliss!

So, as one chapter in the Nilges House comes to a close, and we learn to let go of our kids, and live in the hushed rooms of our house, another will open.  I am sure of it!

~~~To be Continuned

The Art of Doing Nothing

I adore the business of summer.  Up early, exercising, out on the water, hiking, beach….but every once in a while I love the art of doing nothing.  I just had this type of weekend.  This is sometimes a hard concept for me, and probably a lot of people, but I think it is a great necessity in life.  The ability to fully relax, check out of everything, and have no worries.

We just spent a four-day weekend camping at Benewah Lake.  I was so excited about this trip, even though we had just been camping 2 weeks ago, but this time….our whole family went.  The Nilg-Fam-Five as we call it.  This is a hard feat for us to pull off now, since our son moved out a year ago, and our daughter works so much, and is getting ready to go back to school.

Our first day there, none of our kids came.  We were camping only with our friends, who when they woke up on Friday, had to run back home to Coeur d’Alene for the day.  This day…was our day of relaxing, and doing nothing.  Greg and I spent the ENTIRE day relaxing. Lying in our hammock.  Reading.  Taking a nature walk.  Laughing at the unruly squirrels, who found it absolutely necessary to taunt and chatter at our crazed Yorkie Terrier. 

As we lounged in the sunshine, I found myself so utterly relaxed that I felt almost drunk.  I suppose in a way I was….drunken on tranquility and peacefulness.  Now that’s my kind of liquor.  Sometimes it is good to grab yourself by the collar, give yourself a shake, and remind yourself there is no need to be “doing something.”  And that doing absolutely nothing is perfectly, OK!   It centers us.  Brings us back to neutral.  Allows our mind and body to heal.  Gives us time to day dream, pray, meditate, loosen up, and de-stress.

A lot of times, I am so busy, that when I have time to sit, I FEEL like I need to be doing something.  I am learning to be ok with doing nothing.  And this day….we honed in on our skill.

Of course that Friday evening, the whole gang showed up, and the party started!!  Greg and I cherished having ALL of our kids there.  We knew it would be the last time, for a while.  Those darn kids are hard to corral once they get a life, and move out!

So this camping trip was like no other. We ate junk camping food.  We smoked cigars.  We drank beer and Bloody Marys.  We belched.  Slept late.  And stayed up late!  We told funny stories.  Watched the stars.  Jumped off the train trestle (well the kids did) Swam with the dogs.  Farted (well the guys did)… We laughed so hard we couldn’t see straight……which is a usual occurrence in our household, but these out- door nights were exceptional.   The entire weekend was magical.  And memorable.  The nights spent around the campfire, days lounging.  A much needed solstice for all of us, from the ordinary of everyday life.  Couldn't have gotten much better!!

After that trip, I have committed to myself, to be more aware of my time.  To be aware when I am feeling like I need to be “doing something” and to be completely alright and content to do nothing, if I chose to.  I need to be greedy with my time, because if I am not, and I continue to be “busy” I may miss some pretty terrific times in my life.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

I let this blog go too long, between writing.  Especially in the summer, when I am running around having fun, and not sitting down to take care of it.

Summer is in full swing here in beautiful Coeur d’Alene (I think) and it is gettin’ busy!  Filling up with fun nights downtown with friends, dinners al fresco, camping, SUP, beach days, hiking, boating, you name it!  I feel like summer is my down time, but at the same time I am busier than ever….but in a fun way!  Our warm weather is way too short to not FREAK OUT in the sunshine every chance I get!!

Two weeks ago, a bunch of crazy girls and I went down to Portland, Oregon to run the Fueled By Fine Wine ½ Marathon.  We did this race last year with a smaller group of girls, but as word spread, we had a much larger group representing the 83815.  We had a BLAST!  The drive over was a blast, and full of giggling between my friend and I.  It included a stop at the Naked Winery.  Our favorite place to stop in Hood River (and our favorite wine club) They always treat us so great!  Their wine is incredible…I cannot get enough of it.

 Naked Winery with Alicia, Brenda & Dee

The day before the race we spent the day in Pacific City hangin’ on the beach, watching surfers (ummmm….even in a wetsuit that H2O is FREEZING) having lunch, and climbing the Dune of Death!

Such a great day!  After getting back we met the rest of our group for dinner at the ever-fabulous McMenamins.  Some of our girls spent the day making an amazing drive while supporting the boys on their Seattle to Portland Bike Race!  They did such a great job!  Rode over 200 miles in one day, and were still up for a fun dinner with us!  Great job C & B!!  You two ROCK!!

The WHOLE gang together representing the 83815 at McMenamins

The race itself was hard and hilly.  Oh man, those hills!  We had such a great time, taking pictures along the way, laughing, and running through the vineyards.  The views were spectacular, as always!  That race is just top-notch!  And of course with the whole Tiffany and Co theme and prizes, great swag, awesome race shirts and medals, how could you NOT want to race, right?  I am hoping that next year they raffle one of those beautiful Range Rovers that are parked there and are race sponsors.  Hint Hint!  This has become, in the last 2 years one of my favorite races to run.  It is a tough course.  Very challenging.  This year, we took our time.  No agenda for a good pace.  And with a couple of injured friends, we looked at it as a “fun time together” no pressure.  It was certainly not my fastest ½ marathon, but possibly one of my most memorable! 

Girls just wanna have fun!

Post race, we headed for lunch and spent the afternoon wine tasting at some amazing vineyards in the Dundee Hills.

At Four Graces

Heading home Monday, we took our casual time.  Hiking Multnomah Falls, which was so breathtakingly beautiful and of course stopped in Hood River to get "Naked" again!!  

It was so nice to have such great friends all around, and great bonding time.  Can’t wait for next year!!

Nice Bling

This was on the car ride over!!

 All finished and ready for wine!  GREAT job Kim on your first 1/2 marathon finish!!

Kim, Me, Natalie & Alicia