Been Far Too Long

How long has it been?  I forgot to check - I'm thinking Thanksgiving!  Ridiculous.  So what's been going on that has kept me from writing?  Not too sure, not much of anything really. 

Took a week off from the gym.  Why do I do that?  What's the point?  Take a week off so you are just back where you started two weeks before when you actaully return.  Hmm.  Such a procrastinator.  Returned yesterday.  Today I can feel the places where my abs should be!  Must have done something right!

Attended a fantastic Redneck Halloween party on Saturday. Hosted by some people we had never met before - but wonderful!  We had a very good time.  I love meeting new people.  I think it's what makes me tick.  Well, that, along with a bunch more stuff.

This weekend is the big scary night.  We don't have too many plans, perhaps will go to a friends house dressed in costume.  It's odd not having plans, we've had a party the last few years - but I'm getting tired of always hosting and having to deal with the mess.  Time for a break, time to plan parties for people and get paid to do it!

Being Thankful

Good morning, it's Monday.  Thanksgiving where I live.  I spent some time this weekend thinking about "thanksgiving", what does it all mean anyway?

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in much of North America, generally observed as an expression of gratitude, usually to God. The most common view of its origin is that it was to give thanks to God for the bounty of the autumn harvest.

In the United States, the holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada, where the harvest generally ends earlier in the year, the holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is observed as Columbus Day or protested as Indigenous Peoples Day in the United States . 

Wikipedia states,

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Jour de l'Action de grâce), occurring on the second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. Although some people thank God for this bounty, the holiday is mainly considered secular.

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed:

“

A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

”

So there you have it.  Not quite.  I'm thankful for my family, my freinds (some are one and the same), my co-workers and my great job, being successful and being happy and healthy.  It's a personal thing isn't it?  I'm thankful each and everyday and really, Thanksgiving, isn't it just an excuse to gather, cook and overeat isn't it? 

Nicholas bought an apple pie yesterday (shudder, no, I didn't make one) ~ he ate almost the entire thing himself.  Do you suppose he was thankful?  I'm thankful that I have a healthy growing son who has an appetite I can afford to feed! 

No baking for us for quite a while.  Seeing the Mr. Olympia competition (yes, thankful we can do that sort of thing) lit something within Chad and I.  We are being very strict with our diet and are at the gym everyday.  Thankgiving dinner this year (we celebrated yesterday) consisted of white turkey meat (no skin of course), LOTS of veggies, no dressing (you may know it as stuffing), no pease pudding, no cranberry sauce and a gravey thay was made of vegetable stock (home made) with no pan drippings!  It was extremely tasty.  I cannot believe how my tastes have evolved and changed in the past few weeks.  A potato is now the most bland, plain vegetable on my plate (it isn't even a vegatable is it, but a starch), and the other veggies, without butter or salt were so tasty!  Sweet potato is the best, so is cauliflower!  Yes, I'm thankful for my new found healtier ways and the possiblilty of actually taking weight off this long weekend (there's a switch!)

So here it is, Monday morning.  Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for all five of you who I have shared this blog with.  You mean the world to me in so many different ways.  You also know who you are.  I love you.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - wishing you happiness and greatness every single day!

It's your first time? Oh, make a new row

You know those scenes in movies where the "awkard" child is trying to fit in with the cool kids and they just don't?  They end up looking goofy and the audience feels bad for them.  Yeah, that was me yesterday. 

I have decided to do a little more than 20 minutes of daily cardio and 3 sets on the weight traiing circuit, I took in a yoga class yesterday.  Of course I was the last to arrive, all the good spots in the back were taken. 

"Just start a new row in the front" says Patty, the 40-odd year old instructor with the body of a 22 year old.  Sure, I'll start a new row, here in front of everyone who have been coming here forever, whose bodies are like elastic bands and they actually KNOW what they are doing. 

I think putting the newbie in the front of everyone is really unfair.  I must have looked like a total fool, up there thinking I looked all ballerina-like.  I looked over my shoulder at one point and I was doing the exact opposite of what everyone else was! 

Luckily, there was a nice lady in the class.  She whispered to me when I looked over my shoulder and discovered I was being a loser "turn around dear, you're all backwards."  It's hard to try something new and the only person you can see is backwards from you but explaining it the way you (me) are supposed to be doing it. It's like a 3-way mirror!  I managed to get through the entire 50-minute session.  I did things I didn't know I could still do.  It turns out I'm still pretty flexible, but my knees suck!  I sweat almost as much as I do while doing cardio. It was great.

This morning, I can definitly "feel" my arms, neck and core.  What a great feeling it is!  I was also down again on my weigh-in.  I've taken off 5.4lbs since Wednesday!  WOW.  Wish every week could be like this.

It's Thanksgiving this weekend, no yoga for this guru.  Maybe a little yuzu foam? 

It's Tuesday the 6th of October already.  I feel as if I have lost the last week to nothingness. 

I spent last night in bed watching my puppy play with a piece of raw-hide.  It isn't something we give him as raw-hide swells when it's wet and can choke puppies - but, his vet gave it to him after his appointment last night and he was totally in love with it.  Anyway, he played with it like it was alive.  Jumping on top of it, springing around like Tigger.  It was the cutest thing.  He makes me so happy.

I read something this morning that has really made me stop and think.  Here it is. 

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

 

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk...

 

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again...

 

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

 

45 minutes:

 

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

 

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

 

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made ... How many other things are we missing?

The Crossing Lady

Do you suppose the crossing guard lady who is missing half her teeth has had an interesting life? I wonder what brought her to assist our school-age children with crossing a busy street. I see her every morning and sometimes in the afternoon as well.

She's a larger woman who wears sweat-pants, her orange safety vest and carries her STOP sign like a torch handled by some ancient Grecian athlete. I haven't noticed what she wears on her feet, but I do imagine it's something like dark Velcro-closing sneakers from Wal-Mart.

This morning, while she had six or seven children waiting to cross, she was speaking to them about something that was no doubt very important to her. They all looked to be completely enthralled with what she had to say. Was she telling them they shouldn't have run across the side street? Perhaps what she had for dinner last evening? Or maybe she was telling them a tale of when she was a young, beautiful girl with hair like golden thread and teeny little feet that slipped into calf-skin dancing shoes while her dance card remained full every evening.

Do we ever stop to ask or even wonder about all those people around us? The crossing guard, the old guy picking up bananas at the gas station because they are $0.20 cents cheaper than at the grocery store, the lady you see out for her morning walk. I wonder about all their stories. Who lost a loved one early on in life? Who taught children for 35 years? Who drove a truck filled with goods for our stores?

So many stories, so many we'll never have the pleasure of hearing.

October 1st.  Where has the time flown?  There's a whole bunch of stuff floating around in my head this morning.  Not sure where to start. 

I had an email from an old friend this morning.  Her dad is suffering from cancer, terminal cancer.  What a terrible situation to have to deal with, but so many people do.  I've been blessed in my life thus far - no one close to me has suffered from this awful disease.  I should reword that, many close to me have suffered, no on in my immediate family has.  Thankfully.

It was a beautiful email which she wrote. She is someone whom I wasn't really good freinds with when we were growing up.  We become close in our 20's and 30's and have become closer in our 40's.  It's easy, we share things, we write, we see one another every now and then.  We have no expectations of one another, just to be there.  It works, I like it.

She is a rock where her dad is concerned.  I told her in my response I wasn't sure I could hold it together as well as she does.  She, like me, lives away from her family.  That part is the hardest.  She has told me she looks at it all this way, there's nothing she can do, it is what is.  That thing called life.  Sucks sometimes doesn't it?  Saying goodbye is the hardest.  It's never easy, but when you're saying goodbye forever.  Wow, that's almost impossible to think about.  So I don't.

On a happy note, I'm off to a $200 a plate dinner this evening. It's a fund raiser for our local symphony,  New Zealand wines are being featured. My dad used to live in New Zealand, I feel a connection.  Not really, I just pretend I do.  Should be an interesting evening, it's a work thing.

Tomorrow evening is a wine tasting event with my love and some friends and Saturday it's a BBQ for all the staff here ~ at my place!  Pretty full agenda, once again.  It's how I thrive I think.

Time to give that event planning business some more thought I believe.  I know I'll regret it if I don't start it in some form.

Off to make the donuts.  Cheers