Cannonball!!

My children gave me the "good job, mommy" in passing yesterday but my accomplishments didn't compare to the fun they had with their friends.  Lucky for me I have some great friends because with Jason in the States and both of our babysitters unavailable all my training for the race could have been out the window if I didn't have friends to step in and help.  Our friends, Hanley and Vanessa, immediately offered to watch the girls.  My friend Beanie's husband, Guy, also offered to take the kids.  I didn't want to overlaod anyone with kids since Vanessa and Hanley have 4 of their own and Guy and Beanie have 3 as well.  It worked out perfectly and Vanessa and Hanley hosted everyone at their house.  The girls were thrilled to be with all their friends.  Guy and Hanley offered to bring the kids down to the race when we would be close to the finish but as it turned out none of the kids (except Beanie's youngest who had no choice) wanted to come see us finish.  I wasn't surprised that my girls didn't make it down to the race.  When pitted aginst an indoor heated swimming pool, a trampoline, wii and good friends I know that I ranked pretty low.  The kids are still talking about all the fun they had at Louis and Sophia's house (Vanessa and Hanley's kids).  Louis even taught Sofia how to do a cannonball.  She had been talking about Louis' cannonballs before we went to their house so now that she knows how to do them she is pretending all her animals are doing cannonballs all over the house.  I'm happy they had so much fun and I'm glad that I have friends that will take my kids without my even asking and will treat them as one of their own.

Prague Half Marathon

Yesterday was the Prague Half Marathon. I am very happy with my race this year.  My goal was to beat my time from last year of 1:59:43 with a target of 1:57 and I'm proud to say I did it in 1:57:48!!!  I also kept my pace very even this year which was another focus for me.  Last year my split times were all over the place but this year I was fairly consistent and even able to run negative splits except for between the five and ten kilometer when my split time was a little faster. 

The training for the half this year was more difficult than last year since we had such cold weather and so much snow but it was made easier since I was training with friends.  My friend Beanie and I started our training together in January (even though we run together all year we actually had a structured training plan in place starting in Jaunary).  Our friend Pernille joined us a little later in the training since her training partner had to stop training.  We spent many hours together out in the cold and getting our bodies ready for the race.  This was their first half marathon and despite getting colds the week before the race and myself getting the stomach bug we all did really well.  I'm very proud of our running team!  I can't wait to run with my friends again in a less structured more social way.  There is nothing like having a good chat while we excercise.

This year the race was absolutely packed. There were 8,447 runners registered to run this year. That is about 2,000 more runners than last year. It felt like it too. I was never in a place by myself and was constantly moving around people and having people move around me.  It was still a good race though.  The temperature was 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees F).  It was mostly cloudy with sun peaking through at times and no rain.  The forecast had been calling for rain so I'm glad it held off until after the race.  Given how hot I was last year in the race I decided to just be cold at the start this year and I wore 3/4 length pants, short sleeve shirt and a visor so I could let the heat escape from my head.  It was perfect. I was still a little hot but that is to be expected when running 13.1 miles.  (I had already changed out of my sweaty clothes before the picture above and put on my regular hat since once I stopped running 10 degrees felt quite chilly!) My breakfast of egg and toast followed by a banana worked out well and I had no stomach problems during the race.  I had a slight twinge at about mile 11 but at that point I had a lot of twinges all over!  I drank some water and that seemed to settled my stomach back down.  Figuring out what to eat before the race is difficult since I usually have food and then run an hour later but with the race not starting until noon I needed to have a completely different routine.  I'm glad it all worked out.  Running the half is similar to child birth I think in that when you finish it is a relief and you think, "I'll never do that again!" but a year later you find yourself back on the start line!  Somehow over the course of eight months your mind forgets how difficult the race is so that by January you find yourself signing up again and starting training.  At this point I am still thinking that I'm done with the Prague Half Marathon but I won't rule it out until next year comes around.

Sadness

Jason left this morning for the States.  We got the call yesterday that his Dad was not doing well and that Jason should come home as soon as possible.  We rushed around to find a flight to get back to the States but the earliest flight we could get was this morning, departing out of Prague at 8am arriving in Boston at 4pm Boston time.  Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough.  Jason's dad passed away last night (prague time).  Please keep Jason and our family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.  We all have a lot of fond memories of Didon (our affectionate name for his dad) and I hope that we can remember these funny stories and celebrate his life during our sadness.

Obituary from Adams-McFarlane Funeral Home:

Jonathan Richard Luce (1938-2010)

Jonathan Richard Luce, a resident of Farmington, Maine for most of his life, passed away on Monday, March 22, 2010 at Franklin Memorial Hospital after a long illness.

Born in Farmington in 1938, Jon was a descendant through his mother, Rachel Norton Luce, as well as his father, C. Richard Luce, of two of the original founding families of the Farmington area. 

Jon attended both Farmington High and Kents Hill School, from which he graduated in 1956.

After serving in the U.S. Army, based in France, he graduated from University of Maine at Orono and then the University of Maine Law School.

On returning to Farmington after law school, Jon founded a law practice on Main Street. His law office was one of the most diversified and successful practices in Franklin County. Jon also found time to serve part-time as County Clerk of Courts from 1968 to 1970. From 1971 through 1974, he served as County Attorney for Franklin County, the last before institution of the full time District Attorney system.

Throughout the 1970's and into the early 1980's, Jon was legal counsel for the Town of Farmington, where he also served on a number of its committees including as Chair of the Farmington Budget Committee. In the early 1990's, Jon served on the Farmington Board of Selectman, including a year as its Chair. He also owned the Colonial Valley Motel on the Wilton Road.

Jon was actively involved with the local Lions Club, the Elks and the Masonic Lodge, as well as the Volunteer Fire Department of West Farmington.

In earlier years, Jon was an avid skier, golfer and tennis player, but his lifelong passion was boating. From a childhood spent at his parents' summer cottage on Boothbay Harbor to a succession of sailboats and powerboats he owned and enjoyed with his family throughout his adult life, Jon was never happier than when enjoying the ocean with his family. When not actively boating, Jon enjoyed reading about boats and boat design, and planning future cruises.

Jonathan's family and friends will remember him for his energy, love of life, and irreverent sense of humor.

Jon is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara, six children and step-children, and twelve grand-children as well as a sister, Suzanne Twitchell. Additionally, he was predeceased by his brothers Roger and G. Norton Luce.

A memorial service will be held at the West Farmington Elks at 126 School Street on Friday, March 26 from 4pm to 7pm. Donations in Jonathan's memory may be made to Franklin County Animal Shelter, 550 Industry Road, Farmington 04938. Arrangements under the direction of Adams~McFarlane Funeral & Cremation Services, 108 Court St., Farmington.

Easter Egg hunt

This past Saturday was the annual school Easter Egg Hunt.  The kids really enjoy the easter egg hunt and look forward to it every year.  This year, I think, was the most difficult yet.  The teachers head off into the woods with the chocolate and the kids have to find each of the eight locations.  Once they find the teacher they have to answer a question and if they get the question correct then they get a few pieces of chocolate.  This year the teachers were really spread out and after hunting in the woods for an hour we gave up and headed back to the picnic area having found only six of the eight locations.  The kids were fine with this since they had gotten about three pieces of chocolate at each of  the six stations we found plus the bunny rabbit (Sofia's teacher in costume).  Their bags had plenty of chocolate and they were hungry for lunch.  The picnic was nice but very windy and I was tired (as per my previous post the stomach bug was settling in on me.)  After walking for so long Ali was also tired so we headed home with tummys full of food and bags filled with chocolate.  Another successful easter egg hunt!

Stomach Virus

The dreaded stomach virus has run through our family.  Ali started off the virus last Wednesday night and into Thursday.  We were surprised that it went through her so fast and we were happy that noone else got it.  We rejoiced to quickly though since on Saturday afternoon I came down with it, quickly followed by Jason on Sunday morning and Sofia by Sunday night.  At this point I am hoping it is the same strain as Ali's stomach bug so that she won't get sick again.  In any event we are using hand sanitizer a lot and trying to keep the germs to a minimum.

Return to Coffee

For Christmas I bought Jason this Nespresso Machine.   Since the only coffee maker he has had to use since we have lived in Prague is a French Press I figured it was time to get a real coffee machine.  I wanted to make sure I got him something he wanted so we discussed the options before Christmas.  He decided that he wanted a nespresso machine since it had really good reviews and was simple to use thereby allowing for week day morning coffees.  We made the trip to Dresden to buy the machine since it is significantly cheaper across the border.  Now, I have not been a coffee drinker since before Sofia was born so this really was a gift for Jason's use.  The nespresso coffee smells so good though that I started to have sips and before I knew it I had to admit that I am back on coffee.  My tastes have changed signifcantly though from when I used to drink coffee.  I don't like normal American style coffee (as would be made in a french press or drip coffee maker) but rather now I prefer an espresso or a cappucino.  I am surprised by this since the strong taste of espresso and cappucino was something I really did not like when I did drink coffee.  I find though that even the "lungo" type of coffee for the nespresso machines, which is a full size cup of coffee, still has that strong, creamy thickness of the espresso. In the end a gift to Jason has now become something that I can also greatly enjoy.  So for anyone looking into new coffee machines I highly recommend the Nespresso coffee machines.

Exclusive Club

Sofia and I have started an exclusive club here in Prague.  It is unusual to become a member and slightly painful.  It is the "Large objects falling on you Club".  As I'm sure many  of you remember a couple years ago our kitchen cabinets fell off the wall onto me so I was the first member of this exclusive club.  I was hoping I would be the only member but unfortunately Sofia joined this club yesterday when the lockers in the pool locker room fell on her.  I will start off by saying that she is fine.  It was a bit shocking.  I had just finished getting her changed for swimming and turned my back to put our things in our locker when a locker from the other wall fell over and onto Sofia.  I'm not sure how the locker fell over but it hadn't been secured to the wall in any way so I'm not sure if there was a breeze or a slight shake that sent it falling. I am assuming the doors to the lockers were open which probably contributed to the fall as it tips the balance of gravity.  Since the doors were open though by some miracle Sofia actually ended up inside the locker rather than completely under it.  She has a few bruises on her legs and a sore knee as well as a bruise on her forehead but overall she is surprisingly fine.  My heart was in my throat when it happened.  I pulled her out immediately and checked her over.  Jason came to swimming for the first time yesterday so I ran into the mens locker room to get him.  I'm sure the men in there thought I was crazy but I didn't care.  My entire body was shaking and I was completely enraged.  I went out to the front desk and yelled at the lady in half Czech/ half English to get someone to come to the locker room.  They came and said "they must have been playing with the locker" since it wouldn't fall by itself.  I couldn't believe they would actually blame a six year old for lockers falling on them.  Luckily there were people in the locker room that spoke czech and stood up for us.  As Sofia ended up inside what would have been the top of the locker had it been upright, their theory wasn't even possible.  Sofia's friend Michelle also got bumped on the head from it but is fine and my friend Kelly also got hit by it and has her own bruises and sore body today.  I will now be placing the children in a location that is protected from falling lockers whenever we go to swimming.  I did see the benefit though to me being the initial member to our club.  I think it made this expereince a little easier for Sofia.  After I pulled her out of the locker and saw she was ok she said, "it wasn't as bad as yours mommy."  I had to agree with her that mine ended up with more bumps and bruises but what I didn't say was that emotionally this experience was much worse.  I would take the cabinets falling on me all over again if I could have avoided the locker falling on Sofia.

Spring, running and swimming

Things have been plodding along here.  The weather is still bad and spring has definitely not sprung yet but I have hope.  The weather forecast is calling for a warmup by Thursday.  I've already started Spring Cleaning in anticpation of the the warmer weather.  I finally bought some frames for pictures and also managed to pick up a couple decorations for Easter.  The windows are next on my list of things to clean so that I will be able to see the bright spring sunshine when it does arrive!

My half marathon training is still continuing.  This year I am training with friends which is nice since I don't have to go out in the freezing cold wind and snow alone.  Unfortunately, last week my achillies started to hurt after an 8 mile run in hills and snow so I'm hoping that it will feel better by the time the race comes.  Luckily all my long runs are completed now until the day of the race.  The training this year has been a bit of a drag since the weather has been so awful so I am looking forward to the race being completed and taking some time off.  It will be nice to just enjoy going for runs again rather than worrying about my pace and if I have done enough distance in a week.  Spring is also a great time for running and more of my friends will join in for runs when the weather is nicer.  It is always fun to mix socializing with excercise.

Sofia is making great strides in her swimming.  Her coach has her working on her stroke which is at times funny to watch and at times frustrating.  She manages well at first but then her kickboard ends on on top of her head while her other arm is completing the stroke.  When her coach is watching her he can correct it but he is often times busy with the other children in her class.  I never know if I should step in to correct her or just let it be.  One of the things that is interesting about lessons in Czech is that typically parents are not in the room while the lessons are taking place regardless if it is swimming, gymnastics, etc.  So I walk the line between correcting the kids and not being the crazy american mother.  I also know that for Sofia my corrections can easily be the catapult to a breakdown so sometimes I correct her becuase I just can't help myself and other times I let it go.  Anyway, she has been doing really well and last week she made a big break through and started to go in for dive sticks.  She tried a couple times last summer in our pool but was really too afraid to do it.  Even having her little sister getting the dive sticks wasn't enough incentive to get her down to the bottom of the pool.  This last week though at swimming lessons she finally did it and kept doing it.  She was so proud of herself and even came over to me to tell me about it.  She did it one more time just for me before her coach moved her on to something else.  She is finally getting more comfortable in the water and less afraid.  Her confidence is growing which is great to see.  She has asked me to take a video of her this week so I will post it after her lesson on Wednesday.

VZP - A master of complexity

Just when I thought I had the hospital all figured out I was thrown for a loop today.  Apparently as of March 1st our insurance company (VZP) has changed their rules for visits to the doctor.  Previously my visits to the hospital ear, nose and throat, (or ORL in Czech) went like this:

Step 1: Arrive at the hopsital and find a parking space.  This is more complex than it sounds since the parking is extremely limited and therefore often requires a longer walk from a distant parking lot.  If I'm lucky I get a spot close to the building.

Step 2:  Go to the Detske Poliklinika kartoteka (children's hospital check in) and take a number.  Once the number comes up, I go to the appropriate window and present the insurance card for whichever child is seeing the doctor and tell them ORL which, in turn, they correct my pronounciation with a loud Oh R(rolled r) Le.  They then go and find the file and tell me with five fingers held up "patek".  To which I respond with a smile and Dekuji (thankyou) and head to the elevator.

Step 3:  Arrive at the fifth floor and check in the with the nurses (Sestra).  The nurses only speak Czech so I fumble through with my hospital czech and then they ask me if I checked in downstairs.  I tell them yes and they tell me to sit down.

Step 4:  Wait, Wait, Wait (this step is occassionally short but it is highly unlikely)

Step 5:  See the doctor

Step 6: leave the hospital

Well, with the new VZP rules I need to add a few steps to the above.  I will list them below:

Step Pre-1:  Call VZP before the visit to the hospital to ensure coverage for the visit. (Even though I have an insurance card that says I have coverage through November 2010!)

Step 1: as above

Step 1A:  Go to the Foreigners desk, fill out a form and take the form with me to the Detske Poliklinka to check in

Step 2, 3, 4, 5: As above

Step 5A:  Bring completed form and doctor writeup back to the foreigners desk

Step 6: As above

I found this change today when I took the kids to their doctor appointment.  I had to call VZP while sitting at the foreginers reception.  (After figuring out in broken CZech that the lady at the poliklinika check-in was telling me to go to the foreginers desk.) The man from VZP told me that it makes the process easier and better for the hospital and for VZP to which I responded, "but it makes it more difficult for your clients!"  He told me he understood (of course) but this was the new way things were to be done.  There was obviously nothing I was going to say to change it so I just got off the phone with my approval for the visit.  The woman at the desk that was helping me told me that they do not like the new procedure either since it makes a lot more work for them.  They were happy when they didn't ever know I was in the hopsital.  I had to laugh since basically that meant the new process only makes it easier for VZP itself.  I have to question that as well since it means people will be calling VZP all the time creating yet more work for VZP.  The extra work created all around by this new procedure is astounding!  Oh well, here is to hoping that I won't need the new procedure again for another month.

Birthday Party

Today we had Sofia's birthday party at Beckiland, a local indoor play place.  With so many friends from in school and out of school we decided we needed to limit who we invited to the party this year since we were having it at Beckiland.  We wanted to limit our costs but also we needed to limit how many kids Jason and I could watch by ourselves since we were having it as a drop off party.  We decided that we would limit the party to all the girls in the year one class from school and their sisters.  Some girls couldn't make it and so we ended up with nine girls which made for an easy party.  The girls all get along so well that there really wasn't much for Jason and I to do except walk around keeping an eye on everyone.  We both found the trampolines irristible so we enjoyed playing on them with the girls.  The kids all found this hilarious since, given our weight difference, the kids were able to bounce much higher.  The two hours were over very quickly and before we knew it it was time for all the children to leave.  It was a successful party...no tears, no fights, fun food (nuggets, fries and ice cream cake), and kids having a blast.  Happy Birthday Sofia!

Happy 6th Birthday Sofia!!

Today is Sofia's sixth birthday.  I can't believe she is six years old.  It doesn't seem possible that six years have passed.  She has been eagerly awaiting her birthday.  This morning we started off with opening presents before we did anything else.  This of course made us rush around to get to school on time but well worth it.  I made a cake for Sofia today and brought it into school so that we could have a party for her in her classroom.  She was excited to have the disney princess tableclothe and napkins and little mermaid plates.  I know they don't match but I figured they were all part of the disney family and she was happy to have them.  I was going to make cupcakes for the class party but she specifically requested a cake and wanted me to decorate it.  Today I had to run out to buy the decorating kit since my frosting decorating kit somehow lost a piece which was unfortuntaly a critical piece.  I was happy when I was able to find what I needed in the first store I went to.  Anyway, I finished decorating and the cake was a big hit in her class.  After school Sofia had her Czech lesson but we pulled her out a little early to go out for a birthday dinner.  We joined some friends for dinner (the same ones we went to Austria with) since our friend, Kelly, also has her birthday today.  Sofia lucked out with sharing her birthday with Kelly since she was able to have more cake at dinner since Kelly and Michal brought a gorgeous cake topped with Strawberries to the restaurant for Kelly.  We stll have Sofia's actual bithday party on Sunday which she is looking forward to.  I will post more about that after the party.

Doctor advice

Sometimes, in my many trips to the doctor, I think, "the medical care here is pretty good.".  Then there are days like yesterday.  I brought Sofia in to the doctor because her ear was still hurting.  We were not able to see her regular doctor but I didn't care.  I just wanted someone to look in her ear and tell me if it had another infection.  The doctor we saw was very nice and spoke some English which is a bonus.  I did have to question her doctoring though when she asked me, "have you been in the mountains?".  I answered yes and she nodded her head and said, "yes that is why she has the pain.  It is negative pressure and the clean air.  She will be fine just keep her home for four days and do not go outside with her and if you have to go out then don't let her go out in the sun."  I smiled and nodded and we headed on our way.  Once we were outside and the sun was shining (which is remarkable in itself), Sofia said oh no I can't go in the sun.  So I proceeded to tell her that it was fine if she went in the sun.  Then had to continue with explaining that mommy and daddy decide if we will follow the doctors advice or not and that some doctors are behind the times in medicine.  I'm not sure if she believed me or got tired of my ramblings but she let it go and didn't question her ability to be out in the sun.