My thoughts on... Apple Watch

This past Christmas, James surprised me with an Apple watch.  I was shocked, I had  mentioned it in passing and he told me it was stupid and I forgot about it.  On Christmas morning Grady ran over to give me a gift and I didn't even get suspicious when he started filming it.  If I wasn't so lazy I would find the video and post it, but alas, it is no longer on my phone.  I spent a better part boxing day getting it charged and synced to my phone.  Something they always tell you is going to be easy but never is.

So, I've been wearing my watch every day for almost 4 months which I think is more than enough time to give my honest opinion.  In no particular order, here are some of my thoughts on the apple watch.

1.  My favorite feature by far is the find my iPhone button.  I hit it and my phone beeps.  I no longer have to find James and use his find my iPhone app, which happened more often then I care to admit.  Cooper tells me I should at least try to look for my phone before I hit the button, but feel that is just wasted time...

2.  I love that you can change straps.  I don't love the fitness strap for work so I hit up Amazon to find a new work one.  Now I have 3 extra straps which I love but my fave is the animal print one.  While searching for the photos I came across an camo print one that may have ended up in my cart for later....

3.  I don't love it from a fashion perspective.  I used to wear bracelets and now the watch seems to have replaced that.  I try to throw on a bracelet but the watch sits high on my arm and the bracelet lower on my wrist.  I'm still coming to terms with the watch has replaced the bracelet.  At least my new straps are fun.

4.  I no longer miss phone calls.  I used to miss calls all the time.  My phone would be buried in my purse and I would never feel the vibration of the ring.  I never have volume on.  Ever.

5.  On the flip side, I never miss any text or email either.  I have no self control, my wrist vibrates and I check it.  In the 'old days' my phone would be sitting on the table unattended for hours and I would have no idea if I had texts or not.  I don't always respond right away, but I do always glance at them and this proves to sometimes be a distraction and a time waste when I run to find my phone using the find my iPhone button on the watch.  See point 1 above.  Ha!

6.  I love that you can customize what is on the face of your phone.  I've chosen to display the weather, the activity app, my messages, and the battery life.

7.  The fitness app is what I use my watch for the most.  Like very single day.  Multiple times.  I had a fit bit way back when and after a year it broke and I never replaced it.  While I loved the social aspect of competitions and such that the fit bit offered I hated how it was step focused.  Some days I would do weight training as my workout and I got absolutely no credit for it.  I felt like a failure on those days were I only got 7000 steps despite working out for an hour.

The Apple watch uses a ring system that tracks 3 things.

-Stand: To close this ring you need to stand for at least one minute during each of 12 hours

-Exercise:  To close this ring you need to record exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.  This includes all sorts of exercise, run, walk, stair climber, HIIT, yoga, and there is even an other option if your activity doesn't quite fit with the set activities.

-Move: To close this ring you need to meet a calorie burn that you set for yourself.  Mine is set to 500 per day which means I burn 500 calories higher than what my body burns just exisiting.  Essentially these are exercise calories.

While I can look at the steps I've taken, it isn't one of the goals of the day and I rarely look.

8.  Another feature of the apple watch is that is it water proof.  I have the series 3 and it says it is water proof but I am too chicken to try it.  If you have one and you've swam with it, let me know if I can trust it!

9.  The watch has a built in time that I use a lot for cooking macaroni and also for their time outs in their room.  Just keeping it honest.

10.  I love that I can answer my phone right into the watch.  I usually only do it when it is James and I continue to look for my phone after I answer, but it really guarantees I never miss a call.

I wasn't' sure that I was going to make it to 10 things, but I did, so I'm wrapping it up here!

Overall, I love my apple watch and I love how surprised I was to find one under the tree even after we agreed to not buy each other gifts this year....  I'm not sure I would have bought one for myself given I already have a Garmin watch for running, but I love that I can change the strap to suit my mood and that it has the extra abilities of texting and making phone calls that the Garmin still doesn't offer.

Though it isn't the watch for everyone, I feel like it is a great watch for me!

Bringing Home the Gold

We headed north to Spruce Grove for a hockey tournament for Cooper over the weekend.  Yes, I said hockey.

Cooper is playing in a multi sport league this spring where the kids play hockey, soccer, and baseball.  Since they are playing 3 sports it comes with a little bit of a time commitment. April is mostly dedicated to hockey while we wait for the warmer temperatures to arrive.

We entered the tournament unsure of what to expect.  Personally I was expecting to lose every game since spring hockey generally means elite players, which we are not.

We are a group of players that played all 3 divisions in the regular season and hadn't actually played a game together until the first day of the tournament.  Which we lost by the way. 

With each game they played they improved.  They bonded as a team and played more like a team with every minute of each very long game.  Did I mention that it was 20 minute stop time periods with no game max? Such a difference where the Zamboni is ready to plow you over if you aren't on the ice after exactly one hour.  They also zambonied the ice during the second intermission to make the game even longer.

As for Grady, there was a pool at the complex and he swam during every game.  I think he clocked in 5 hours on Saturday....  No, he did not turn into a fish while he was there.  He might as well have.

#redpants

For our gold medal game we played the same team we lost to in our first game.  It started out bad, really bad.  We were losing 3-0 at the end of the first.  I am not sure what the coach told the kids but in the second them came out and scored 5 goals in a row!  Final score.... 9-6.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, we promised Grady that we would go the WEM water park if they were in the B final.  Which they weren't.  But he wanted to go so bad we went anyway which got us home at almost 10pm. 

It was a busy but super fun Easter weekend.  And don't worry, the Easter Bunny found us in the hotel!

Embracing Change

I bet you've missed me!  After 2 weeks of new posts every single day, I figure you must be going through withdrawl.

We've had a busy week back.  We've had many changes in our childcare situation and more to come.  Our nanny of 8 years went on maternity leave while we were away on vacation and we needed to shuffle around our childcare while she is away. Luckily James has a pretty flexible job that can help bridge the gap until our university student nanny starts at the end of April.  This would have been all good EXCEPT Grady didn't have school this past week and needed childcare.

While we love our alternative school program, the alternative school schedule can cause a problem if you need childcare.  There are no camps for weeks were your school is the only one out!  In comes Grandma.  

Grady was so lucky to spend 5 days just him and Grandma.  And I know he wasn't the only one that enjoyed it....  They would drop Cooper off at school and head out for the day.  Some days that meant watching the same movie you've already seen more than once, and some days it meant a trip to the science center or Big Fun Play.

Along with a change in childcare we are going through a change in chores.  The work once done by our nanny is now reallocated around to the rest us.  Mostly me.  The week was full of new after work routines and chasing after the kids to pick up their jackets and put away their laundry.

While the change had been long anticipated, the arrival of it has proven to be an adjustment for all of us.

James is going into work late and making lunches and I am trying to keep the household up and running.

I'm really excited for the kids to have a university student watching them this summer.  I am hopeful it will be full of bike rides, slurpees, soccer, baseball in the field and much much more.  

While I am not one to invite change into our lives, I am choosing to embrace it, mostly because I have no choice!