Torn

Today I am torn between being happy and celebrating my accomplishments, and being sad for my losses.

I am happy that I have been consistent with my new goal of exercising more regularly. I went running today and feel great about my new habit. I love getting out in the early morning and having time to myself to 'meditate'. I am using a technique for quieting and controlling my mind that I learned from Sensaria's president, Melissa Soete. I spend about five minutes on each of the four steps of Breathe (concentrating on my breathing), Gratitude, Vision and Affirmations. And, I'm able to run longer and stop to walk less often. Most days I feel like I have more energy all day after running - but not today.

I am sad today because I have to say goodbye to several friends. One of my friends graduated and is leaving the country soon - I may not see him again. One of my co-workers and friends is leaving his Evergreen job and going on the road to help the Edwards campaign. And one of my favorite co-workers already left Evergreen for another college. Life is full of losses, but today I am especially sad about it.

Summer hair

Today is the summer solstice - a day I cherish and dislike at the same time. I love the beginning of summer - one of my two favorite seasons. I love the long days and the mornings that are perfect for running. I don't, however, like the thought that the days will now get shorter. I guess I just need to take my own advice and focus on the positive! Yay, it's summer!

I wore my long hair not only to work but also to a Thurston County Chamber After Hours event tonight at my friend Victoria's business - New Home Hunters Realty. (I have a hair piece I bought about a month ago and haven't worn much in public - just around friends. It makes it look like my hair goes to the middle of my back and is wavy at the bottom, like my daughter Sophie's. It's amazing how real it looks!) What a difference a hair do makes! A lot of people at work got a kick out of seeing me with long hair. I wonder if anyone who was at the After Hours will say anything the next time I see them...

Almost every day I'm reminded what a small world it is. I met a (gorgeous) guy at the After Hours who will be teaching the financial seminars I am attending in July. He weight trains with Victor - a friend of mine and the boyfriend of Sensaria's president.

After coming home for a bit, I met Vikki at Costco so she could see my hair. She just laughed! Especially when I took it off right there in front of everyone. It's fun, but I wouldn't want to wear it all of the time. I do still plan to wear my long hair to the awards dinner, though, next Saturday in Seattle. Maybe I'll keep it on all day so when everyone sees me on Sunday they'll just think I got my hair cut. ;)

Ok, enough about my hair.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Ordinary miracle

I love the song Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLauchlan and have been singing it all morning. It reminds me of all of the things I have to be thankful for - profound and small. I start with this past weekend.

I had a wonderful time with friends on both Friday and Saturday nights. Friday was so fun! I brought the kids with me to Andrea's graduation party. I met a fabulous lady, Gretchen, (Andrea's sister-in-law) who I really hit it off with. We decided we were twins separated at birth - scary to think of more people like me out there, huh? She makes a very strong, mean lime drop so I ended up very happy and too tired to prepare for Super Saturday. I look forward to spending more time with her, but she lives in Seattle.

Saturday I got up at 4am and started getting ready for my Sensaria booth at Super Saturday. I got there at 8am and thankfully found someone (my Evergreen boss) to help me carry the EZ Up and tables. I found another vendor to help put up the EZ Up - sure, it's easy to put up with someone helping! The day wasn't near as nice as Friday with occasional downpours, wind and sun breaks. I bought a shirt from a great local T-shirt company whose booth was across the aisle. I wanted the Ghandi shirt, but they didn't have it in my size. The one I did get says "What is the use of a house if you haven't a tolerable planet to put it on? - Thoreau."

Alley brought the kids to Super Saturday on the bus - they liked that! I ate lunch with them, they wandered around with Alley, and took the bus back to her house. I left about 3pm to go get them and take them to my mother-in-laws in time to come back in the evening to tear down and pack up. What a long day!

Then Brianna, my spa sister Mary's daughter, watched the kids for the night so I could go to another graduation party. They seemed to enjoy having a sitter that wasn't a relative. :) I got the chance to get to know a friend of mine better and had a nice time.

I keep being reminded what a small world/planet this is: my friend John is leaving soon to work in the Galapagos Islands where he's a tour guide. When I logged onto my computer, a web site that came up said Kevin Bacon's favorite vacation location is the Galapagos. Kevin's son is coming to Evergreen in the fall. And Kevin's 'friend' Kyra's favorite charity is Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org), where I am a supporter and on the Global Warming Map. My friend who is a tour guide in the Galapagos did his thesis on Global Warming...

This morning I went for a run/walk at 6am and it was beautiful! Again, so many "ordinary miracles" that I am thankful for! The sun was coming up, the air was cool and the trees, flowers and sky were all giving me reasons to be happy! That and the fact that I have a healthy body that allows me to run/walk. I am truly blessed!

Reflection on the importance of ceremony

Today is the graduation ceremony at the college where I work. Every year I help in some way. This year, like last, I helped pass out programs and was one of four ushers to get the students into their seats. I do this because it is now one of the only ways I get to connect what I do every day in my job with the outcomes of this institution (since I no longer have a job where I have the chance to interact with faculty and students on a daily basis) .

Although it rained enough to get the chairs wet early, the sun was out most of the afternoon. I got a bit of a sun burn, in fact. ;) What a nice day!

I am glad that when I graduated from this college, I participated in the ceremony. Although I considered not 'walking', I decided it was a ritual not only for me, but for my family as I am the first college graduate in my family. I also realize that I too often don't take the time to celberate my accomplishments. I'm glad that on that day over 10 years ago, I did.

The graduate speakers shared something I wanted to remember - the new academic R's - repose, reflect, respond.

Laverne's got a plan

Oh, I'm so excited! Laverne will be turning the big 4-0 this year and thought her and I could celebrate it together. Since she lives in Indiana and I live in Washington, we'll have to figure out where to meet. We normally spend a week together every fall (for the past three years) at a conference for Web geeks, but neither of us are planning to make it this year. Every year we'd consume more alcohol and get less sleep, so maybe its a good thing we aren't going to have the opportunity to out-do ourselves. We are, after all, getting older. ;)

Fun with the girls!

I love girlfriends! :) I got to spend a few hours tonight with some dear girlfriends - shopping for jewelry (great for me as I was a crow in another life), drink some wonderful drinks that Toni invented and just be. I went wearing my 'long hair' and ended up loaning it to a friend of Toni's. And I came home wearing a headband of hers. Mary, Stephanie and I got to spend time talking about life, health and what we plan to wear at the awards dinner at the end of the month. Toni modeled her dresses for us as Cami showed up late because she had a spa party tonight. There was also Terry, Susan, Kathryn (who now has long hair), Kristen and Jessalyn. I am so blessed!

Friday at last

Actually, this week flew by. Today at lunch will be my first attempt at running during lunch. Amy Greene is going to accompany me, although she's been working out, riding her bike and running for some time now. I can see it now! If I do any running along with walking, I'll be happy. I'm so blessed to have friends that push me to be a better me!

Focus on health

I have a goal of losing 20 pounds this year, maybe 30 overall, so I've been working out the last couple of weeks. I'm also trying not to weigh myself so I am just eating better and exercising and judging my success by how my clothes fit. I went 'running' tonight. Well, actually I only ran to the corner, then walked the rest of the way. I'm not sure how far it is around my lake neighborhood, so I'll have to figure that out. Also in support of my weight goal, I'm trying to get comfortable with my hair looking the way it does without a lot of effort and products. That's big for me - like when I stopped wearing any make up except eye makeup about 2 years ago. This is the first time in my life that I don't have bangs, too. I am hoping that if I can get used to my flat, fine hair, I can start running or exercising during lunch, take a shower and go back to work. Maybe I'll stick with brisk walking? :)

My first post on blogger

After talking to John Pumilio about setting up his own blog, I decided it was time for me to do so in a place not associated with my job. I love reading my friends' blogs and think about posting things about my own life occasionally, so this is where I'll do that.