Manotick families, support the proposed “pool to school” pathway!

This is terrific news for Manotick families with kids at or heading to St Mark High School. Per the latest Manotick Village and Community Association newsletter, there has been movement on the proposed pathway between St Mark High School and the Long Island Aquatic Centre, where it will meet up with the village’s existing network of sidewalks.

From the newsletter:

An MVCA-promoted project for a pathway connection between the Village of Manotick and the Osgoode Multi-Use Pathway is included in the list of Community Connectivity Projects (2015-2018) for the proposed Term of Council Strategic Initiatives. The project was initially named the “Pool to School Pathway”, as its objective was to allow for a safe pathway for students, pedestrians and cyclists to travel from St.Mark High School to the Manotick pool area, where sidewalks are in place.

The project name is “CC10 – Osgoode Pathway to Manotick Link”. The MVCA has asked the city for more details on this project. Residents wishing to express support for this project are asked to please write/click on these links: Councillor George Darouze at George.Darouze@Ottawa.ca and Councillor Scott Moffatt at Scott.Moffatt@Ottawa.ca, with a copy to president@manotickvca.org

Your support for a safe route for our youth, cyclists and pedestrians along Mitch Owens is greatly appreciated.

Bike lane

I think this is an excellent idea and long overdue. I know Tristan would love to bike to school, but there is no way I would allow him to ride on Mitch Owens, with no paved shoulder, speed limits of 80 km/hr and terrible truck traffic. He has missed the bus once or twice and walked home and I’ve cringed having heard that he took it upon himself to walk home along Mitch Owens. It’s simply not safe in any weather, and non-navigable in winter.

Even myself, I love to ride around the island but I am seriously terrified of riding on any of the arterial roads into and out of Manotick – the edges of the road are rough and the shoulders aren’t paved. Who would have thought living outside the urban areas would lead to such a lack of bike paths? We love being able to walk to the library, the shops, the pool and the elementary school – it would be terrific if the boys could some day safely ride to the high school as well.

I’m 100% in support of this initiative to link two of Manotick’s biggest neighbourhoods, especially one that gives safe, easy access to the local high school. If you agree, feel free to let our city councillors know!

Photo of the day: Sweet sisters on the porch

Hooray! Another portrait season launched and the porch is officially open for business. I had a visit yesterday from this adorable twosome – look at those sparkly eyes!

Outdoor candid portrait of children

They were just the perfect mix of sweet and shy with a wee hint of sassy. And oh those matching dresses! I’m sure I’ll be sharing more of this session once I finish sorting through the photos.

Weekend bookings are filling up quickly, so if you’re interested in playful summer portraits of your family, please get in touch soon!

In which she makes solid progress in her health and weight goals

Two months ago, on Easter Sunday, I pulled my FitBit back out of the drawer, where it had been taking a brief break from my wrist. I’ve missed my 10,000 steps per day goal only seven out of the 61 days since then. I’m pretty pleased with that!

FitBit steps graphic

I’ve really been working on overcoming my naturally sedentary nature. I try not to go more than 90 minutes sitting at my desk without getting up and moving around. My favourite work break is to get up, walk down to the main floor, across the length of the building, and back up the stairs to my fourth floor office. It’s surprising how clear your head gets after breaking away from a task and doing eight flights of stairs! I’m also working on getting a stand-up desk, and have jerry-rigged my current office set-up with stacks of dictionaries under the keyboard tray in the meanwhile. Not exactly ergonomic, but it will do for now.

I’ve also been pretty good at getting home from work in enough time to leave the car in the driveway and walk the kilometer or so over to the boys’ school to pick them up and then walk them home, or on days when time is short, hopping on my bike and cruising over to the school, then walking my bike home with the boys. One of my fellow moms at the school gate commented on how I’m always smiling and happy-looking as I walk up and I realized that it’s one of my favourite times of day – a peaceful transition from the work day to the rest of the day wrapped in an invigorating 15 minute walk. (And heh, the more late I am, the more invigorating the walk can be!)

I’ve also discovered hot power yoga, and have been doing that once a week faithfully for about three months. I seriously love it, and it’s become a sacred part of my week. My family has been great about accepting the twice-weekly gym visits and now weekly yoga classes, and Tristan is an excellent walking companion. (And my excellent, I mean long-legged setter of unforgiving paces that sometimes leave me struggling to keep up with him!)

My focus has really been on moving my sedentary arse, so while I’ve been conscious of my food choices, I haven’t exactly been dieting. There has been poutine and chips, and a healthy share of Beloved’s amazing cookies. (Oh the irony: as I have been busy teaching myself how to cook real, whole foods, he has been teaching himself how to bake like his grandmother did. I keep asking him to bake the cookies I like least, just to ameliorate the temptation. The cinnamon oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from Chef Michael Smith’s Family Meals cookbook are more than my feeble willpower can withstand!)

All that to say, while I have been making good choices, I haven’t really been depriving myself, and I have been seeing some pretty solid progress: I’m down 10 lbs over two months, and am at my lowest weight in a couple of years.

Screen Shot weight progress

You can see there has been a lot of two-steps-forward one-step-back, but that’s okay. I can feel the difference in how my clothes fit and even see the difference in the mirror – especially in yoga class, where I first flinched at my reflection months ago. I’ve got 2 lbs to go to my original goal, but if I go another 10 lbs I’ll be at my 10-year low, where I was circa 2009. That would be awesome, but what’s even more awesome is that I feel strong and healthy and proud of myself. And I had cookies along the way!

I’m doing anecdotal research about stand-up desks while I wait to see if the bureaucracy can cough one up for me. Are you using one? Any recommendations?

Simon’s piano recital

The boys have given us no shortage of reasons to be proud lately. Lucas has been adorable in his enthusiasm about soccer, and Tristan has turned into quite the track and field star. Today’s post, though, is all about Simon.

Simon took a year of piano lessons and then took a year off. Throughout the year off, though, he’d return to the electric keyboard that passes for a piano at our house (sidebar: I crave a piano with an almost physical sense of desire, but cannot for the life of me figure out where we’d put it!) and play idly with it often. We picked up his lessons at the Manotick School of Music earlier this year, and his teachers have been very positive about both his ability and his progress.

As I mentioned earlier, the Manotick School of Music is under new management this year, and nowhere was that new management’s touch more obvious than at the spring recital. I have to admit, I was a little grumbly when I found out it was not to be in the church basement around the corner, but waaaaay out in Kemptville at the municipal centre. (I spent a LOT of my week in Kemptville this week – it’s a lot more accessible than I expected, and closer than a lot of destinations in Ottawa or Kanata to Manotick!) I was delighted, though, when I saw the recital was in an actual hall, with theatre-style seats, and a stage – it was a big step up from the church basement and stacking chairs!

How fun is it that the kids played their spring recital on an actual stage, on a grand piano, no less? Here’s Simon’s 36 seconds of fame:

(Sorry about the aspect ratio. My mad videographer skills are somewhat underdeveloped, and I completely forgot to bring my camera and was using my iPhone in Instagram mode. Thank goodness YouTube now compensates for hapless moms-with-a-camera like me and at least rotates the footage to the proper orientation.)

Are you interested in music lessons in Manotick? I really can’t say enough good things about our experiences with the Manotick School of Music, and right now there’s an early-bird incentive to register before June 12 – they’ll waive the administration fee. More info on their website.

I love music lessons for a lot of reasons, none of them more than the huge smile of self-satisfaction on a little boy’s face as he walks off the stage after playing on a grand piano in front of a crowd. I may be a reluctant and late-blooming soccer mom, but music will always be first in my heart.

Lessons on a grand piano

Disclosure: the Manotick School of Music is a sponsor of this blog, but this post was not part of our agreement. I just wanted our friends and family to see how awesome Simon is!

Photo of the day: Lucas’ first soccer game

Well, I’m pretty sure he’s no David Beckham, but you’ve never seen a happier kid than Lucas at his first ever soccer game. And look, for at least one shutter click, he was paying attention to the ball!

Soccer star

Five things I learned at our first soccer game:

1. It’s hella walk from the playground where we parked at the South Gower soccer fields to where the kids actually play. Like, a kilometer walk. Apparently there are four lots, and we chose the furthest. Now we know.

2. Lucas can eat a LOT of watermelon.

3. This is the first level they have goalies, and the kids take turn in goal. I think I have the flu the night Lucas is in goal. I’m not built to withstand that sort of stress.

4. The time passed a lot more quickly than I expected, and I enjoyed it more than I expected, too. Lucas didn’t stop smiling the whole night. And a few times, he actually watched the play.

5. When it’s down near 10C and windy, worry less about the bug spray and more about bringing a blanket. I’m still shivering. Lucas, on the other hand, was in shorts and his new jersey and didn’t notice it was cool.

It’s going to be a fun season!

In which she capitulates to being a soccer mom

We are not exactly, if you haven’t yet noticed, a sporty family. I’ve made great strides (pun intended) this year to lead a less sedentary life, though, and have been encouraging the boys to be as active as possible as well. So when Lucas expressed an interest in soccer for the second year in a row, I didn’t feel like I should keep dodging the ball. And really, isn’t it some sort of parental rite of passage to sit huddled on the sidelines on a late spring evening that feels more like March than June, with skies threatening rain and mosquitoes the size of sparrows? Okay, so I’m not exactly falling over with enthusiasm, but for Lucas I will persevere.

100:365 Future NBA career

(I don’t have any soccer pictures yet, so this one circa 2011 will have to suffice as our baseline. He’s got a lot of room for growth, right?)

I post this to solicit your best tips and tricks for surviving the summer soccer seasons, oh clever and experienced bloggy peeps. All I can think to bring is a lawn chair, some bug spray, an umbrella and of course my camera. What else do we need to survive our first game – and the rest of the season, too? What are your best soccer-parenting tips?