I’ve received time off and have confirmed fur baby care in my absence from 04/21/2011 – 04/23/2011. The following is my tentative schedule, barring scheduling conflicts with others and confirmation that I can stay w/ MB on Friday :)
Thursday, April 21st 2011
1) Arrive at SeaTac mid morning, pick up car
2) Lunch with HG in Seattle
3) Pikes Place Market or time w/ GramE & Grandpa (whatever works for them)
4) Head to Bellingham to chill with Kai and friends for afternoon/evening
Friday, April 22nd 2011
1) Breakfast in Bellingham
2) Time w/ GramE & Grandpa (Lunch?)
3) Deception Pass
4) Dinner/evening w/ MB
Saturday, April 23rd 2011
1) Breakfast/early brunch w/ GramE & Grandpa
2) Back to Seattle to fly home
I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see everyone!
XO
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Progress.
I am making some progress on my 2011 goals list. I am in motion on getting things organized at home, which feels great. It appeals to my desire for order, plus it really does make life run a lot smoother when you know where everything is and it’s easily accessible. Plus, doing an inventory on the amount of clutter, clothes/shoes that don’t fit, etc…well that was slightly depressing (I miss some of those clothes and shoes) but gratifying nonetheless to see them in the “donate” pile. Now, it’s just a matter of two more closets and organizing the storage and voila, my home will be that much less overwhelming on the daily and much more manageable in terms of housework. There’s something about knowing that the closets are organized and clothes that don’t fit me any more or lamps that are no longer my taste are simply out of the equation.
I am seriously reconsidering joining Weight Watchers. It’s true I want to lose weight and focus on a healthier life style, but I’m not going to punish myself into submission to do so. This does not contribute to emotional health and well being, been there done that. I might have LOOKED awesome, but I didn’t FEEL awesome. No, this time I’d like to do all of this with a little less self-abuse and over restricting and focus on a macro level relationship with food, including portion control and breaking up with my sugar daddy (literally) for good. As much as I’d rather try and do this on my own, I can’t quite seem to get my ass in gear on the subject and have been going all out since the holidays and the pounds are creeping back on from my tonsil weight loss. Weight Watchers might be just the thing to get me back on track, without turning into one of those crazy people that counts every calorie and has a conniption when even one work out was missed…oh wait, that was me…7 years ago. Amazing how life circumstances change ones priorities. Anyway, along with this consideration also includes the fact that I find the whole group support piece incredible rewarding and weekly meetings for weigh-ins etc…keeps me much more accountable. I’m on the look out for a WW buddy, it would be nice if I could find someone who would commit to going to meetings with me and then working out after. Kristen and I did this together in 1998 and both lost a lot of weight and kept each other really on target. She’s not in that mindset at the moment and I respect that and I doubt I’d be able to replicate that situation with anyone (K is my bff after all, I mean, you can’t just become WW with anyone and have it work out THAT perfectly) but I’m thinking I’ll post around on the various sites and see if I can find someone who wants to commit to 3 months of WW meetings and a walk or something afterwards with me. I will start on FB, that’s probably my best chance of finding someone I already know AND local to boot. The thing about WW is that man, if you follow the program, you do find yourself losing weight AND sort of retraining your brain in the process. It’s really pretty amazing. I’m sure my doc(s) would be thrilled if I took off 30 or 40 lbs this year, as would I! I might even get a gold star
In other news, I’m having this really amazing experience recently with my dogs. I’ve been reading up on pet massage and learning basic technique and details about how massage benefits our fur babies. In the process of applying some of these techniques and experimenting with lengths of time and what not with Bailey (who is more mature and bonded to me, therefore more willing) and Bella (when the wiggles have escaped her puppy body long enough for her attention to be focused on anything but chewing, eating and playing with toys) that they are incredibly receptive and responsive to the experience. In doing so, I find that engaging in this physical interaction with my dogs that I get into this zone, where I can literally feel the energy being exchanged between us. It’s sort of hypnotic, almost like meditation. I find the very activity, in and of itself, soothes and calms me just as much (if not more) as I hope it is doing for them. My favorite and theirs too I think, is the massaging of their ears, head, neck and upper body since I learned that pugs (and lots of dogs built similarly) tend to carry their weight in their front paws, legs and joints and therefore, a lot of their tension and energy also lives there. They really lean into it and give me lots of gratifying responses and I get this real sense of expression from them, like “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, thank you momma!” Which I suppose appeals to the mommy in me. I used to give Max little massages after his baths as an infant and toddler with lavender oil and he would sleep….well, like babies do. Perfectly. I’ve also noticed that the puggies sleep really well after I give them there little puggy massages, with lots of happy dreams from the sounds of it. This may all sound very strange to someone on the outside, but the act of connecting with another being so lovingly and innocently really brings a lot of joy to my spirit and the intoxication of it all is not something I’ve experienced before. It’s like God connected us so that we could mirror the organic love that naturally exists in the other. They really are these kind of salt of the Earth type of creatures. Sometimes I truly believe that these animals come into our lives to remind of us how simple and available love is to us in its most pure form, if we just accept it. Maybe that’s partly why man is so bonded to their pets. It may have started out as a protective thing (dogs) or involved acts of worship or suspicion (cats) but the business of having pets in our daily lives has definitely blossomed, I think, into perhaps a sense of reconnecting to ourselves. Bella and Bailey are full of all this unbridled love and comic relief, they are so innocent, intuitive, sensitive, have no real fears. They kind of remind me perhaps of how I should love and be.
I should note that Bella is leery of Gaia, but I wouldn’t call it fear so much as lesson learned. Gaia has claws and is not afraid to use them. She is the mistress of her domain and will tolerate Bella’s tomfoolery to an extent, but testing those kitty waters could land you with a sore nose and the total humiliation of knowing that a cat just kicked your butt.
I won’t even get started on the cats. There’s no disputing the cats role in my home. They are the surveyors of all the land and royalty of the house. Gaia watches all goings on and judges accordingly. Gaia will insist you play with her when she feels like it and that you leave her alone unless she instigates interaction. Pumpkin demands and demands and demands…loudly. She’s old, she’s got that right as far as I’m concerned. Regardless, food must be present at all times (even if they aren’t hungry) and water can only be drank from the tap. That’s just the lay of the land with those two. I’ll sure miss Pumpkin when she’s gone. She slightly resembles an matted, orange striped dinosaur at the moment. We all know what happened to the dinosaurs.
More soon my friends, home awaits. Love to you all.
I am seriously reconsidering joining Weight Watchers. It’s true I want to lose weight and focus on a healthier life style, but I’m not going to punish myself into submission to do so. This does not contribute to emotional health and well being, been there done that. I might have LOOKED awesome, but I didn’t FEEL awesome. No, this time I’d like to do all of this with a little less self-abuse and over restricting and focus on a macro level relationship with food, including portion control and breaking up with my sugar daddy (literally) for good. As much as I’d rather try and do this on my own, I can’t quite seem to get my ass in gear on the subject and have been going all out since the holidays and the pounds are creeping back on from my tonsil weight loss. Weight Watchers might be just the thing to get me back on track, without turning into one of those crazy people that counts every calorie and has a conniption when even one work out was missed…oh wait, that was me…7 years ago. Amazing how life circumstances change ones priorities. Anyway, along with this consideration also includes the fact that I find the whole group support piece incredible rewarding and weekly meetings for weigh-ins etc…keeps me much more accountable. I’m on the look out for a WW buddy, it would be nice if I could find someone who would commit to going to meetings with me and then working out after. Kristen and I did this together in 1998 and both lost a lot of weight and kept each other really on target. She’s not in that mindset at the moment and I respect that and I doubt I’d be able to replicate that situation with anyone (K is my bff after all, I mean, you can’t just become WW with anyone and have it work out THAT perfectly) but I’m thinking I’ll post around on the various sites and see if I can find someone who wants to commit to 3 months of WW meetings and a walk or something afterwards with me. I will start on FB, that’s probably my best chance of finding someone I already know AND local to boot. The thing about WW is that man, if you follow the program, you do find yourself losing weight AND sort of retraining your brain in the process. It’s really pretty amazing. I’m sure my doc(s) would be thrilled if I took off 30 or 40 lbs this year, as would I! I might even get a gold star
In other news, I’m having this really amazing experience recently with my dogs. I’ve been reading up on pet massage and learning basic technique and details about how massage benefits our fur babies. In the process of applying some of these techniques and experimenting with lengths of time and what not with Bailey (who is more mature and bonded to me, therefore more willing) and Bella (when the wiggles have escaped her puppy body long enough for her attention to be focused on anything but chewing, eating and playing with toys) that they are incredibly receptive and responsive to the experience. In doing so, I find that engaging in this physical interaction with my dogs that I get into this zone, where I can literally feel the energy being exchanged between us. It’s sort of hypnotic, almost like meditation. I find the very activity, in and of itself, soothes and calms me just as much (if not more) as I hope it is doing for them. My favorite and theirs too I think, is the massaging of their ears, head, neck and upper body since I learned that pugs (and lots of dogs built similarly) tend to carry their weight in their front paws, legs and joints and therefore, a lot of their tension and energy also lives there. They really lean into it and give me lots of gratifying responses and I get this real sense of expression from them, like “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, thank you momma!” Which I suppose appeals to the mommy in me. I used to give Max little massages after his baths as an infant and toddler with lavender oil and he would sleep….well, like babies do. Perfectly. I’ve also noticed that the puggies sleep really well after I give them there little puggy massages, with lots of happy dreams from the sounds of it. This may all sound very strange to someone on the outside, but the act of connecting with another being so lovingly and innocently really brings a lot of joy to my spirit and the intoxication of it all is not something I’ve experienced before. It’s like God connected us so that we could mirror the organic love that naturally exists in the other. They really are these kind of salt of the Earth type of creatures. Sometimes I truly believe that these animals come into our lives to remind of us how simple and available love is to us in its most pure form, if we just accept it. Maybe that’s partly why man is so bonded to their pets. It may have started out as a protective thing (dogs) or involved acts of worship or suspicion (cats) but the business of having pets in our daily lives has definitely blossomed, I think, into perhaps a sense of reconnecting to ourselves. Bella and Bailey are full of all this unbridled love and comic relief, they are so innocent, intuitive, sensitive, have no real fears. They kind of remind me perhaps of how I should love and be.
I should note that Bella is leery of Gaia, but I wouldn’t call it fear so much as lesson learned. Gaia has claws and is not afraid to use them. She is the mistress of her domain and will tolerate Bella’s tomfoolery to an extent, but testing those kitty waters could land you with a sore nose and the total humiliation of knowing that a cat just kicked your butt.
I won’t even get started on the cats. There’s no disputing the cats role in my home. They are the surveyors of all the land and royalty of the house. Gaia watches all goings on and judges accordingly. Gaia will insist you play with her when she feels like it and that you leave her alone unless she instigates interaction. Pumpkin demands and demands and demands…loudly. She’s old, she’s got that right as far as I’m concerned. Regardless, food must be present at all times (even if they aren’t hungry) and water can only be drank from the tap. That’s just the lay of the land with those two. I’ll sure miss Pumpkin when she’s gone. She slightly resembles an matted, orange striped dinosaur at the moment. We all know what happened to the dinosaurs.
More soon my friends, home awaits. Love to you all.
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