A Night at the Mustard Seed

This past Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to go downtown Edmonton to the Mustard Seed to help serve dinner.   For those that aren’t familiar with the Mustard Seed, it is an incredible ministry in an old church downtown that different groups of people  come in every night (except Sundays) to serve dinner to 200-300 people who have a hard time providing meals for themselves and in some cases, their families.  They have an incredible program for helping people who are in need with everything from home cooked meals, a food bank, household items, clothing and a warm place out of the cold.

What made this time different for me, was that our two boys came with me.  When the mention was made a month ago, our youngest (who is nine), was the first to sign up. He had seen how much Darcy and I enjoyed our evenings there and was excited to be a part of it.

As we were on our way into the city, it dawned on me that more questions would probably come up throughout the evening, and sometimes a little boys’ voice is not as quiet as one might hope.  So we agreed that any questions or comments during the evening would have to wait until we were back in the car. 

I watched as my kids went right at it with washing tables, get chairs ready and making juice.  After each task they would come back eager for the next instruction.  As I watched my kids in their hairnets, aprons and oversized gloves, I couldn’t help but feel proud that they were willing to step up and help a group of people they didn’t even know. 

When the doors opened for people to come in and grab a plate, Brandon was first in the line handing out cutlery, with a smile and “how are you? “  A little further down the line, Kayden and I were on cookie and pudding duty.  After the first few people were served I heard this little, not so quiet voice say “are these people ever nice.”  I couldn’t help but smile.  I watched as people came through the line and noticed that some, who had few words for the adults, always had a thank you for the kids helping.

The entire evening was again fantastic.  I really believe that it is important for our kids to see that not everyone is as fortunate and that there are things that we can do for others that truly can make a difference.  

As we were getting ready to leave, we were invited to stay for karaoke night.  They obviously had never heard me sing! 

Alana Regier

The Knee Bone's Connected to the Hip Bone

Well I have bought the running shorts, the camel back water back pack and now a pair of trail running shoes, but what do I do about my knee?  I have signed up for a leg in the Grande Cache Death Race this August long weekend and am pretty  frustrated that my training has not been where I was hoping.  I have been battling some knee issues for the last few months, which doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  Ice has been my friend.  I was nervous at signing up originally but that soon turned into excitement, and now its frustration.  I have been in to see the doctor and put on the waiting list for an MRI…. the process begins. 

I have realized the hard way how important good supportive shoes are.  They not only need to be comfortable for your feet to feel good but they need to offer support that compliments the rest of your body’s alignment.  For years I heard about how crappy shoes would affect my feet and eventually my knees and hips and etc; how true this is.  The last 3 weeks I have been feeling sciatic pain in my lower back and hip.  I have been visiting my chiropractor this last week and hoping that she can make a difference.  I’m not sure how long my hips have been out of alignment (according to her records it’s been 2 years since my last visit, ouch!), I haven’t been walking with a bad limp yet, but it makes sense that this would contribute to my knee issues. It’s amazing how everything in the body is connected and works together. 

Where I feel issues the most right now seems to be in my forms.  Because we are moving in a deliberate way from stance to stance, at times I feel very off balance or just plain uncomfortable with pain.  It’s funny how some things don’t seem to bother me and others can have me grimacing in pain. Lau Gar is turning into a hard form for me these days, especially the opening bow with the twisting of my upper body.  So at this point I’m taking things day by day and doing what I can without aggravating things more.  I’m staying engaged with my numbers and kms and adding in portions of forms that I need to work on more.  It’s frustrating, but I’m grateful it isn’t to a point where I only feel comfortable lying in bed.  I just need to change my focus a little right now and trudge on.  It’s all good!

Alana Regier

Appreciation for My Community

Last week I had a pretty miserable week, with what started as allergies and I think turned into something else.  I have a whole new appreciation for being able to breathe out of my nose.  When that doesn’t work, the in through the nose out through the mouth goes out the door.  Although the start of the week was crappy, the weekend was great.  The kids and I headed down to the southern part of the province to spend the weekend with Darcy.

 Throughout the weekend, we spent some time walking and wandering through the town.  I was absolutely amazed at how little care and attention was given to the community.  There was garbage everywhere and few garbage cans, neglected grass, weeds all over and out of control and a general run down appearance of a lot of the residences and buildings around town.  It was so hard to walk by and not want to pick the weeds or ask someone if we could borrow a lawn mower.  As we were walking one evening, there was a young kid walking in front of us.  As he walked and came upon a can or a piece of garbage, rather than bend down and pick it up, he just kicked it around as he continued to walk. There was no awareness or care of what he was doing.  From the looks of things around him, he was just following the example of many other people.  It was so hard to just watch and not say anything. 

When we go for walks, we always take bags with us; one for recyclables, another for garbage.  If we forget a bag, there never seems to be a problem finding one hanging in a tree along the way.  Our kids have been taught by example and are right along with us.  This is our community and it is our responsibility to help take care of it.

This weekend I realized what a beautiful town and community we live in.  Care is taken all over Stony Plain, from the gorgeous hanging pots around town, the mowed and well maintained lawns and parks to the recycling facilities that are at the residents’ finger tips.  We definitely live in a community to be proud of.  It is important that we each do our part to keep it that way and to teach our kids and lead by example to others around us. 

It’s good to be home, just wish it was with my whole family :(

Alana Regier

Dog Meets Porcupine

Sunday morning, the house was quiet (late night for the kids) and I was having my coffee with Darcy over the phone.  After our morning chat I strapped on my shoes, grabbed the leash and headed out to get the dog for a walk.  What I wasn’t expecting was for her to meet me with a nose and mouth full of quills.  We have a litter of kittens, 9 to be exact, who were born in her house.  She has been very protective of them and won’t let unwelcome guests near; I guess that included the porcupine.

 It so happened that Sunday was a big day for us, as three members in our family were getting baptized.  The last place I had planned to be was sitting on the veterinarian clinics floor with our dog, waiting for her to wake up.   I couldn’t help but feel disappointed at missing the morning, however, I also realized that sometimes we are needed in other places, whether it be away from home working, with loved ones who are sick or sitting with a dopey dog wondering how am I going to lift her in the vehicle?  Life has a way of throwing monkey wrenches in to best made plans and intentions.

Our life is kind of a fly by the seat of your pants one. A phone call can come any day and any time, and off to work Darc heads.   In our family we are quite familiar with members being in different parts of the province at any given time. It sucks, but it is sometimes necessary, as the bills won’t pay themselves.  I am very grateful to Darcy for doing what he does, as I know it’s not easy for him to leave his family and home and is difficult to get in the training he wants with the schedule he has.   I honestly don’t think I could do it.  I think what we continue to learn in our family, is how important it is to take advantage of the time that we are together.  This can be hard sometimes because there is always that LIST of things that need to be done.  I think we are slowly learning that sometimes projects can wait another day.  Let’s go for a bike ride instead, or let’s pretend we didn’t look at the clock and see it was pass bedtime and go toss a baseball around instead.

We might not always be exactly where we want, but there are times when there isn’t a lot of choice.  The best we can do is be grateful for what we have and enjoy the times we are given.

Alana Regier

It's Not Like Riding A Bike

Apparently swimming is not like riding a bike!  After over 20 years, you can’t just jump in to swim lanes and expect it to all come back to you.

 This last Friday a fellow classmate invited me swimming.  It seemed like a great idea to hit the pool for some good old lanes.  Wrong!   As a child I grew up swimming.  It was the one activity that was not an option in our family, you had to learn it; it was a matter of safety.  I use to love swimming and did quite well at it.  What I did not realize was that without practice you forget or get rusty.  Who would have ever thought it possible to forget how to breathe?  I still enjoy water and feel comfortable in it, however, when it came to front crawl all of a sudden I found myself struggling to breathe correctly.  I floundered in the water gasping for that next breath and quickly switching to my side or back crawl.  By the end of Friday night my neck was very stiff.  I was so tense while trying to keep my head up for that precious oxygen that every muscle in my neck still hurts today.  This has been a reminder to me, if you don't commit time and effort to something, it is hard to maintain it and impossible to get better at it.

 So as of today, I have given myself a new challenge, relearn to swim.   With all that is on my list, I will probably only get in 1 day a week, but that is my plan.  I am hoping by learning to breathe again in the pool, it will also benefit my breathing in the rest of my training, from when doing kicks to sparring.  This can only be a good thing.  Thanks Mrs. Rice!

Alana Regier