Bitter and very Sweet Memories

As y'all know I am TERRIBLE at posting in this blog. I blame Facebook . . .it's just too easy to put a quick bit every day (sometimes four times a day but who cares?) Just thought I'd write a paragraph or two about my emotional state today. Long, long story short . . .Charles and I are moving to St. John. Yes, St. John. The one in the Virgin Islands. Really. I can still hardly believe it myself! When Charles worked for Starwood before we always, always tried to get Employee Hot Rates to go there but you never could. So we had knowledge of the island and always dreamt about going there. Now we are. For several years. The Universe is funny like that.... But this post is not about St. John. It's about Nashville. And journeying and, hence, leaving. Charles and I have left many places, cities and small towns. We do leaving well. This time was different, for me at least. We LOVE Nashville. Truly love everything about it (except for 95 degree humid summer afternoons). The people, the restaurants, the museums, happy hours, the smell, the parks, the coffee shops, the accents, the pride of the town. I love that people don't honk their car horn if they are sitting behind someone at a light and that person doesn't see that the light has changed to green. They REALLY don't! When I arrived here from Chicago that was AMAZING to me! There are treasures here which we haven't had elsewhere. The Belcourt Theater. The Southern Book Festival. The Frist. The Wild Cow. Percy and Edwin Warner Parks. The Full Moon Picking Parties every month at the barn. Buttercup's Pet Hospice. Dr. Brasher at Belle Forest Animal Hospital. Great neighbors. The way this town pulled together and lifted each other up out of the floodwaters back in May 2010. I have met and made so many wonderful friends and it is very hard to fly away from all of this. It is a constant battle in me . . .the need to see what else there might be, around the next corner. Good, bad or ugly, I want to experience it all. There's also, now that I am older, a side to me that KNOWS and acknowledges when something is good. That recognizing, in the moment, that this is a good time in life. The stars were aligned. The tea was sweet. The fireflies were bright on soft, summer evenings. The people were SOOOO good. Alas, that wondering if something else might be fun for a while has finally got the better of us, and we are off. Of course we wonder if we are doing the right thing. But how can we know....we just have to go and give it a shot. We are keeping our house, ostensibly so that it might gain value but, for me, as a tie, a reason and a place to return to, should I need to come home.

The movers came today, packed and moved a lot of our stuff. I am sitting in a virtually empty house. Alone, but not alone. Memories of these last six years have flooded this place today as forceful as those floods filled homes back in 2010. As the afternoon has worn on I have been (in my mind at least) on our deck with my girlfriends, sipping wine or sangria or some new-fangled tequila cocktail, laughing till our eyes watered. I've been laying on a blanket with my dogs in an open field at Percy Warner, watching fluffy white clouds cross a sky so blue it made me weep. I've watched Nigel take his final breath, right here in front of the fireplace. It was at that moment that one of the wonderful women, Laura, who had come to help Nigel pass entered my life and I'm so grateful for her friendship over the past couple years. I found, serenity and a bunch of new friends at the best yoga retreat (Gray Bear) in Tennessee. I walked past a woman on a trail in the park and we smiled and said hello and realized we were both English, and Dawn and I have been friends ever since. I've made Cosmopolitans for my friend, Karen and I, with my mum watching, in my kitchen to start the celebrations for my 48th birthday. I've called a friend and neighbor, Laura, when my Jack Russell was critically ill & needed to get the vet in a hurry and I couldn't drive for sobbing...and she came within a minute. I've watched the house fill with good friends on a bathroom pit stop one cold night on a limo tour of the Christmas Lights in a limo with blacked out windows (we couldn't see one light!). I've learned about open heartedness and a gentle spirit from my friend, Pallu, as we've excitedly discussed where else in the world we want to travel (we plan on meeting in Guatemala next June). I've busted a move at a bootcamp three days a week for two and a half years, at 5.45 in the morning, and watched the sun rise while jumping rope or doing push ups! I've had Thanksgiving celebrations with my American family over in Donelson who thought it strange I didn't eat meat! (Fun memory) I celebrated Christmas in a hotel room in Gatlinburg with my dear friend and her tender hearted mama, the room LIT-UP with lights and decorations, and we gorged ourselves on sweet potato casserole and bread pudding with whiskey sauce. I remember so many long walks in Percy Warner Park with my husband and our beautiful dogs - Christy, our Border Collie; Nigel, my 'child' and Kit, a short and so so sweet addition to our family in 2013. All three of them are at Steeplechase now and it hurts to leave them even though I KNOW those ashes are not their spirits. I remember a whole day (I think it was 13 hours) of baking holiday sweets, cookies and truffles before Christmas with Katie and Nicole and planning on doing it again this year! I have taken care of dogs and cats all over Nashville . . .every one of them a treasure. I miss the ones that have passed and I'm a little sorrowful that I won't get to see the ones still with us grow old and gentle and gray. I remember two wonderful evenings, each a year apart, with dinner in a picnic shelter on the back side of Edwin Warner Park lit up from a hundred tea-light candles, the space glowing with candlelight, firelight and moonlight. I'll stop, though I could go on and on and on..... When my friend, Leesa, suggested we move to Nashville we were more than hesitant. We resisted. She persisted. She said it was a great town and we would like it. Understatement of the century...thanks Leesa! So, it's adios to Nash-Vegas for a while. We have a new horizon to reach. I do LOVE journeying and I am pretty good at being, fully being, wherever I am at that moment. So I know it will be fun. St. John is a quirky little place & we will drink it all in. But Nashville, oh Nashville, I'm sad to say farewell.

St. Patricks Day

Woke to pouring rain this morning . ..the first rain in my seven days here (apart from one, brief, drizzly early morning). My routine has been to get up (between 6.30 and 7am) and go for a long walk with the dogs, come back and make coffee and toast or cereal and climb back into bed with my computer or a book for an hour. I was up at 6.30 this morning and I guess the dogs knew it was raining because they didn't even stir from their sleeping spots!! Ha Ha! I made coffee and just came back to my room to get my Facebook fix and blog a few lines. I spent Monday, St. Patrick's Day, in Galway. Gwen dropped me in Gort at the bus station and I got the 10am bus into Galway. I was excited to go to Charlie Byrne's bookstore, a big old bookstore that's been there a long time. Well, because it was St. Patricks Day it was closed. Bummer. The town was solidly packed with people, friends, lots of families, children, all painted in green, carrying flags and balloons, noise makers and streamers! I wandered the streets for a bit, watching people and scopinjg out a good spot to watch the parade. Now those that know me well know I am not at all into parades. Never have been. But, hey, I'm in Galway, Ireland on St. Patrick's Day . . .surely I should watch the parade? I watched about 20 minutes before having my fill of marching bands and pom poms, and then wandered away. (The parade continued for an hour and a half!) Galway is a delightful old old town. There's not much standing of the original wall from the old town, just a couple of arches. I went to go to the museum but, you guessed it, it was closed because of the holiday! I walked and took photos, walked and took photos. Cafes were getting ready for the onslaught of parade goers, setting up tables on the cobblestone sidewalks. Eventually I stopped in a little French bakery for a pastry and coffee and sat, writing in my journal. After the parade the crowds fill the pedestrianized area for lunch and, more to the point, beer and Guinness! As the afternoon wore on, families and kids disappeared and young people stayed around and the vibe was party central. LOTS of drinking and drunkenness! Towards the evening every third person I saw was either staggering or throwing up around the side of buildings! St. Patrick's Day looks the same in Ireland as it does in Chicago! Walking past a little place in a side street called Cava Bodega I saw my favorite spot in Spain. Couldn't help myself and I wandered in for some tapas and vino! I need to continue but it's time to have breakfast and go to do some planting! More later!

The farm in Fa Ha

I arrived at the farm yesterday about 4pm and met Gwen (Irish), her husband, Matthew (Australian) and their 4 month old daughter, Rosie . . .their adorable, elderly terrier (Luna) and Rex the Border Collie. Plus 3 cats! Everyone is delightful! We had a pasta dinner and stuffed mushrooms and I was asleep by 0pm! This morning was a balmy 38 degrees with bright sunshine and the temp climbed to 54, though I think its a cold 54. But I wasn't cold for long! We started working at 10.30. They lost a number of trees recently in the storms and, while Matthew sawed the big branches down, I broke up smaller ones and twigs to smaller pieces to fit into their fireplace. We stacked everything in the wood shed and made a kindling pile and a log pile. Broke for lunch around 1.30 (falafel, hummus and salad. Oh, and lentil soup). Matthew was saying he had wanted to go watch Ireland play rugby today at a friends but "I've got to feed the horses". You KNOW my ears perked right up! Apparently his neighbor is away and he feeds them when they're gone. Of course, loving horses the way I do, I said "show me where everything is and I'LL feed them!" So the four of us (including Rosie) went for a walk over there after lunch so he could show me, and I went back at 5pm and had a great time feeding ponies (I even brushed them a bit, despite that not being on the to-do list!) These guys are a lovely little family, and their place is in the prettiest, greenest valley. Another Wwoofer (Stella from Brazil) arrives Tuesday so that'll be fun, getting to know someone else). I want to write more but I.m in bed, exhausted, so calling it quits today. Again . . . not spell checking so forgive typos!

See ya later Doolin

Well, I'm checked out of the hostel, though still here, in the lounge, waiting for the bus. I took one last hike this morning to an old tower I had seen up in the hills the last couple days . . .it took about an hour to walk to but it was fenced and the sign read "Private". . . .ran into a car load of Americans there so I took their photo for them and they drove off and I had the place, and the peaceful countryside all to myself again! It is grey and cooler today. The wind off the ocean is wonderful. The smell of sea, soil, grass and manure (!) remind me of my childhood and at one point I just stood there, breathed it all in and actually got a little teary-eyed. Not sure why . . .just remembering my young life and great childhood, my pony, Sweetcorn, spending days at the farm, staying overnight in the barn because I didn't want to go home but wanted to sleep with Sweetcorn! They were GREAT years and that smell on the breeze this morning just took me back there, I guess. I'm looking forward to getting Gort this afternoon and meeting Gwen and her family, and seeing my home for the next two weeks! I'm especially excited to be living in a house with two dogs! Going to pop out for one more walk . . .got an hour before my bus comes and all this sitting around is making me cold!

We're up!

After many many tries of doing a new post, and losing either the connection or the computer freezing up, this one feels hopeful! Yay! I was going to say my travel day (the flight) was uneventful and, for the most part, it was. Upon boarding the plane I was at the window, an an older Irishman, Billy, was on the aisle. A yound, kind of nerdy looking young man came and sat between us. He was acting a little wired and told us both that he'd been up for 28 hours with no sleep, had flown in from Seattle that morning and had spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Boston. He said he fell asleep in the sirport about 4.30pm (our flight was at 8.30) and that 'they' said he'd had a seizure and he was rushed to a hospital in an ambulence! I wonder if he discharged himself because a stewardess came and told him that he could NOT take the flight as he didn't have a doctors note, saying it was safe for him to fly. He said he had a discharged sheet from the hospital and the stewardess went to talk to colleagues while he showed me (who really didn't want to get involved) he sheet. I didn't read it, really I didn't but I saw it said "confusion" and "You MUST see a neurologist upon arrival in Ireland"! Yikes! Anyway, the next thing I know a security possie came and told him he had to deplane, which he did without incident. Billy and I chatted ab9out it (Billy believing him to be high on drugs, me just grateful for a bit of room in the middle to stretch my legs and not fall onto someone if I managed to sleep). It was the only empty seat on the plane! Billy and I had fun, learning about each other's life (he'd been in Boston for a surprise 40th birthday present for his son). He was a fun and happy seat mate. I LOVED Aer Lingus. All the staff were Irish and, I can honestly say, every Irish person I have ever met (and I've known a bunch) have always been super nice and friendly, as was the case on the plane! Billy eventually popped a sleeping pill and tried to sleep and I watched ALL IS LOST, the Robert Redford movie. After the flight and trip out here I checked in to Doolin Hostel. It's a cute little place, one of many hostels and B&Bs in the village. (In fact, as small as this village is, apart from a few pubs and souvenir shops, most of the buildings are hostels)) In the summer the area is a big draw for surfers, bikers, ramblers, cavers and sea kayakers. Lots of buildings have little stations outside them with a hose to wash down your gear (bike, board, kayak, etc) after a day of fun!

I wish I could post photos but until I get to a town with a phone shop I don't have the cable I need . . . I spent yesterday trying to stay awake until the evening to reset my sleep from jet lag. The big draw here are the Cliffs of Moher (I think it's one of Ireland's biggest tourist draws). They are about 9km south of Doolin. There's cliff walk/trail called The Burren Way that starts here, just outside the village, and ends at the Cliffs, so I set out yesterday to check it out. It was GORGEOUS yesterday afternoon, about 58 degrees and bright sunshine! As you walk on this beautiful trail, every turn brings you an even more breathtakingly gorgeous view. Farms and fields come down to the cliff top, all with old stone walls dividing them. There are ruins everywhere, old castles or old cottages. I used my phone to snap photos every step of the way. The trail is directly on the edge of the cliff, in some places you are 2 or 3 steps from the edge! The noise is incredible. The roar of the waves below as they come crashing in and hit the rock, sending spray up and over the top is awesome! One plus about coming now? Despite the amazing day, I only saw 3 people!The thing that happened yesterday was my battery light came on and my phone was almost dead! I think I had walked about 3 miles. In retrospect I wish I had just continued on and saw the BIG cliffs a couple miles further on. I was chatting to a guy on the trail, Steve from Alabama who is a grad student at Auburn and we said our byes, and I said I'd get the bus the next day to the Cliffs and walk BACK to my hostel. I walked the 3 miles back to Doolin and went to Fitzpatricks Pub for a vegetable curry, before crashing in my bed by 8pm! The moral of this story is "If you can do something today and not put it off, especially if it's weather dependent, DO IT TODAY!" Today I got the noon bus to the Visitor Center at The Cliffs and you couldn't see a thing! The fog was sooooo thick! Ha Ha! I was a little disappointed but told Charles we'll both just have to come back. I took a photo anyway and, once I get the cable I need will post yesterdays and todays so you can see the difference a day makes. To rub it in, this morning while eating breakfast in the hostel I see Steve, the Auburn dude who finished the walk yesterday. He said it was one of the most spectacular sights he's ever seen! Thanks, man. (LOL!) Well, I could ramble on all evening but pub times-a-wasting. Gonna walk over to O'Connors for a little bite and a bevvy. . . . I love having a pub one hundred yards away! Ha Ha! Not even gonna spell check as I don't want to jinx the computer!! I go to the farm tomorrow. . . check in soon!

Off to Ireland!

Okay . . .I think I'll get better at posting for the next few weeks as I'm traveling! As some of you know I had been saving a little here, a little there, for YEARS, in anticipation of my 50th birthday year. I thought I'd take a BIG trip, like India or Africa.  I want to share that with Charles and when we started looking at it, we need much more time than he can get off work at this point in his career :-(
So, the wild and crazy trips are being put off, and that's okay with me . . .hopefully there's time for us to experience those amazing places.

Long, convoluted story short - I am going to Ireland to volunteer with WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) on a small farm, owned by a couple who have a baby and 2 dogs. They farm 7 acres with veggies and herbs. It's in County Clare in a pretty remote location  (well, as remote as you can get in a country the size of Virginia!) and looks beautiful. I will spend 3 days on the west coast first, go to the farm, spend 2 weeks there, spend 3 days in Dublin, and then take a cheap Ryan Air flight to England!

The hardest part so far as been trying to pack for a month in my backpack!!!

 

 

But I finally, today, 12 hours before I leave, have done it!!!! One big backpack to carry on my bag and one small one to carry in my hand on the plane!

 

 

 

 

So . . I'm not going to ramble right now (as you will see I tend to do in this blog). I'm going to hang out with the Spouse for a few hours and make dinner but I'll be online in a day or two!

Bon Voyage to me!



 

 

Hmmmm . . . let's try this again, shall we?

Okay. . . .a friend said tonight "You should write a blog". To which I replied "I have one." And I decided to look it up and see when I last posted to it. Next month, it'll be two years!!!! That is wild. And dumb!  So much good stuff has happened! I have kept up with my handwritten, paper journal but seem to have an aversion to blogging!  No matter. New Year. New intention (again).

Of course it's late now and almost time for bed but herein is my Intent. I will try to write in here at least once a week, but hopefully twice a week. Beginning in the morning.

Really.
I will!

See you tomorrow friends!

I'm optimistic I can do this . . . .

I know it has been MONTHS, but I DO write in a paper journal everyday!  I think that's just it . . .I'm old fashioned . . . I like PEN and PAPER, not keyboard and screen. Anyway there are many, many things to be glad about and optimistic for. I'm going to try and get back to it, here on the screen.

I have a lifetime love of horses. As a tween through my teenage years I had a pony in England. They were some of the most wonderful days of my life. I love all things horsey . . . .the smell of the horses, the hay, the barn. Mucking out stalls when it's rainy and cold out but you are warm and cozy in the barn. The way horses whinney and push their heads against you, or push their faces deep into pockets to look for treats.
Anyway I resolved this January to somehow get around horses again. I took training at Saddle Up, an organization out towards Leiper's Fork, where disabled children learn to ride, and grow and have fun with horses. It's been a month and, at the moment I go out and feed the horses on Thursday afternoons. I'd LOVE to do more if my schedule will allow.
I take feed buckets and nose bags of pellets and drive in a 4x4 to the various paddocks and fields and find the horses that need feeding (only some get fed at night), throw hay down for others and get to hang out and spend time with them. The hard part is learning which horse is which! There is one horse, Sidney, who they retired and he needs a home. I cannot tell you how much I wish I had a little land and a barn. I've prayed for it a lot the last few weeks! Sidney was mistreated before he was dropped at Saddle Up, he was skin and bones and now has a hip issue. As a result, he cannot be ridden. But he is GORGEOUS and fit and healthy . . . it's just that weight on his back would aggravate his hip problem. They have been trying to find the right home for him for a year. They need to trust that he is going to someone who, when they promise not to ride him, will keep that promise. Plus, most people don't want a horse that they can't ride, but he would make an amazing pet and can still be lunged (and needs to be to keep his muscles strong and healthy) Yesterday, after I fed him, I got to put his blankets on and walk him out to one of the far fields, about 1/4 mile. We chatted all the way and, before I let him loose in the field, I rested my face against his head for a minute. I LOVE this horse. I KNOW now is not the right time for me to have a horse but I secretly hope that no-one will take him and, eventually, I'll find a solution of a barn where I can keep him, and care for him for the remainder of his years.
At the very least I hope someone with a loving heart will take him and give him the life and love he deserves.

This week I go to Florida with Luanne, Karen and Molly (and Steve and Maribeth I think too) for the Disney Princess Half. I am SUPER EXCITED but will miss my Sidney on Thursday and look forward to March 1st to see him again!!

I have to go to bed now. . . . plan on parking at Lu and Karen's halfway point (ish) tomorrow at 6.15am and running to Lipscomb to meet them a 7am, and going back with them. I can't do the whole thing with them as I'm swamped (with good stuff) tomorrow and need to get home but this way I'll get 6 miles in. . . . .

The documentary "I Am"

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Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3, testing . . . .
The site promises me that if I copied and pasted the above mumbo jumbo that when I saved my blog and re-opened it, there would be the trailer to I Am, one of the BEST, most inspiring and uplifting documentaries I have ever seen. We'll see.  I wanted to purchase it on DVD for my bro and sis-in-law for Christmas but it is not out to purchase til January 3rd!
Anyway, logging off to see if this worked (I have a sneaky feeling it wont. Techology is not my gift)

This makes me start blogging again!

This morning my fellow booties and I ran/walked a 5K downtown. We have a friend, Michelle, who has always dreamed of doing a 5K. She was born with some physical challenges but has not let them stop her from doing anything - in fact we met Michelle when she signed up to do bootcamp! I remember thinking then that this is one amazing & courageous woman.

Luanne invited her to one of the training walks we used to do (for some reason we lapsed over the summer) and encouraged her to sign up for this race. I know Michelle has been continuing her walking throughout this time with the goal of this race in her mind. She has battled a bad ankle and had to have shots in it every now and then. I have seen Luanne encouraging her on facebook.
This morning I met Michelle at their car in the dark while her mom pinned her bib number on her shirt. I asked if she was excited and she said "Karen, I am terrified".  After meeting the others at a bus-stop bench and downing some Krispy Kremes, we all ran our own races. Jo (also running her first race) was zippy as could be and finished fast (31 minutes!) Gloria and I met up with her and Molly in the finish corral, closely followed in by Karen and Sharon. We all went over and stood with Michelle's family and then she and Luanne rounded the corner of 2nd onto Demonbreun.

Even remembering watching them now, some 8 hours later, moves me to tears. I ran over to the organizer and told her that they were coming (we had been concerned because they were putting 5K medals away and getting set up with the half marathon ones) and she handed 2 medals to one of the men in uniform who were placing them over people's heads as they finished. Michelle was weeping (with pride I hope), her family were all crying and all of us booties were too. As she neared the finished she began to jog and did so all the way across the finish line! This was not an easy feat for this beautiful woman. It took courage and perseverance and belief. Many of us would have given up months ago, or never even started it. She was "terrified" and she did it anyway. I am inspired by her beyond belief, and SO PROUD to know her.

This is the Diary of an Optimist. I haven't written here for months although it's not because I've stopped being optimistic. I see things everyday that make me optimistic in our world. But I could NOT let this event go by without recording it, even if only I ever see this blog. I am so touched by one woman's determination and by what is achievable when we encourage each other with love and support. I am so grateful for my bootcamp friends, whom I truly love.
Here's Michelle getting her medal! WooHoooo! You ROCK MICHELLE!!

creating fun!

So, quick post today. I am having fun with the website Zazzle . . . .and I wanted to post a quick link, mostly for myself (only for myself I guess as no-one reads this blog!) so I don't forget it.
I'll get back to this blog later:

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Where's May?

I have no excuse for not posting since April 26th. Well, we were away for a week after the half marathon and i was in excrutiating knee pain for a few weeks, but I suppose neither of those precludes me sitting at a computer and typing. Anyway, after a couple of weeks I actually forgot about the blog, totally forgot! Sitting on my deck this morning with a cup of coffee, before the sticky 90 degrees arrives, I was thinking about yesterday and, for some reason, yesterday reminded me I should write in my blog!

First here's a couple of photos from our trip to Folly Beach in South Carolina. . .

It was peaceful, relaxing and fun! (Seems a lifetime ago already!)

Anyhooooo, I damaged my knee in the race. Usually my knee begins to hurt at around mile 7 or 8 but on April 30th, it started before mile 4!!! Stubborn chick that I am I had to finish and Gloria (my running buddy) and I continued running, walking, running, walking to the finish line. Needless to say, I could barely walk during the next week and a half. . . .
It has gotten considerably better but still is sore and last week I finally went to see a 'knee dude' at TOA. He said he wants me to get an MRI, which is happening on Thursday. He told me "NO BOOTCAMP" until after he's looked at the MRI results. I must say though, it is feeling SO much better and I'm thinking it may have healed itself? I don't want to waste the MRI machine's time and energy. . . . ?  I guess I should get it checked out, just so we can make sure it's okay to run again . . . keep you posted.

Now I need to tell you about yesterday's weirdness, but time is flying and I've got dogs to walk so I'll do it tomorrow . . . . it's Memorial Day. Thinking of all the good military folk who defend us and especially the many who have lost their lives doing just that. Thank you . . . .

Ready . . . . or not.

Three days. Well two and a half really. After an ungodly getting up time on Friday, to watch Kate and Wills tie the knot, I will pick Kim and Vivian up at the airport at 10am, ready for our Big Weekend! We have to get to the Expo and then check in to the Hutton, generally loaf about, consuming carbs at every chance, probably including the hotel's pasta dinner. Early to bed, early to rise and we'll hoof it to the start line for the race. Gloria, Kim, Viv and I are in Corral 22. Kelsey, Luanne and Karen are in about 30 or 31 and I hope to run up there to say 'good morning' before getting back to 22 for the start. G and I plan to run and walk as we feel up to it. She is fitter than me and I'm wondering whether to take my ipod shuffle incase we end up splitting when she may wanna run and I wanna walk . . . we'll see. I have a little red 'pouch-thingy' in which I always carry a couple of extra gels and an anti-inflammatory, and a packet of salt (when you sweat like I do, those replacement drinks just don't replace enough sodium - at every race end I have crystals of the stuff on my ears, in my eyebrows, along my hairline. Pretty gross really)

I'm looking forward to it. This is my seventh half marathon. Everytime I say "that's enough of those. I'm gonna stick to 5 and 10K's" and everytime I end up suckered into another one! They're just plain FUN!
Our usual after-race routine will ensue once we get back to the hotel. Shower. Downstairs to consume yummy, guilt-free calories, followed by a good 2 hour nap!   At 5.45 we are off to Taco Mamacitas for some tacos or burritos - me, Viv, Kim, Karen B., Gloria (and possibly James), Natalie and maybe Nicole too. If Charles gets out of work early he may make an appearance too!

I'm SO SO SO looking forward to the weekend. I'm at the Hutton on Saturday but will get up and leave by 5am to get home. We hope to get on the road by 6.30. I hate to leave Kim and Vivian as they have most of Sunday in Nashville but at the time of booking the beach house I only saw the fact that we started our rental on May 1st, the month following the race. It didn't even occur to me that the race was on THE LAST DAY of April!
Packed my i-pad for the beach . . . maybe I'll manage to write a couple of entries in the blog while I'm away!

Two weeks and counting . . . .

 . . . . to our beach trip! SO excited.
And so are the birds apparently. I know it's Spring and they start singing before sunrise. I LOVE laying in bed listening to them. But both yesterday and today one lone bird figured he'd practice his singing at 2am. 2am!  We sleep the majority of the year with a window open and this time of the year all windows are WIDE open.  This little guy was going for it. I lay awake and then realized Charles was awake and, to judge from the tossing and turning in his bed, Nigel's slumber was also being disturbed!
I got up to pull the windows closed a little and actually spoke out into the darkened woods "Hey little guy, go back to bed. No-one's listening to you right now."  He replied with an identical rendition of whatever he'd been saying before but then, I swear, he was quiet! (Then I lay back in bed and felt bad for shushing one of God's creatures, only doing what he is born to do!)

Anyway, two weeks today we'll be in the middle of the Nashville Half Marathon and then we leave for Folly Beach! To say 'I'm ready" for a trip to the beach might be the understatment of the year. Today I plan on getting some stuff together, t-shirts, shorts, paperwork for the house rental as on the Sunday when we leave I will be sleeping with my out of town girlfriends at The Hutton Hotel, who are joining us for the race and, instead of waking at some unearthly hour to get home only to leave again, we have decided that Charles will pack up the car and then pick me up on the way out of town.  I'm hoping this is a wise choice. (a) I'm a control freak and am seriously worried he'll forget something we need to pack and (b) I'll have my no-doubt stinky gear from the race in the hotel room with me and it will have to ride with us in the car for nine hours to South Carolina! Guess I need to add "two or three garbage bags" to the packing list to place said gear in and seal tight til we get to the house and a washer!

OK, I'm rambling as usual. . . . time to get on with the day . . .Happy Saturday y'all!

Saturday Sweatin' Session

This morning I ran a 5K with my wonderful friend, Gloria, from bootcamp. Jim, her hubby was there too and then, at the last second Karen showed up! Rain threatened but it held off and the sun even shone! It was about 68 degrees at 7am when I was getting there. As always I got there early.  I love to get my bearings and people watch for a bit.

I haven't run three miles non-stop in quite some time and I wasn't sure I could do it, especially when I saw the first half mile was an uphill! But running with Gloria really helped me.  I did walk for a few minutes after Mile Marker 2 but I caught up with Gloria when she slowed to drink some water. Nashville is hillier than you think and I found it pretty challenging, especially when the sun was shining and the temp began to rise. Phew! I was glad to see that finish line!

Gloria and Jim had a busy day and had to leave and I sat to wait for Karen to finish. No sooner had I sat than I saw her cross the line! We got water and sat and chatted for twenty minutes. We could talk all day, the two of us, and eventually I walked with her back to her car under Courthouse Square so we could keep yakking, and she drove me back to the race area to my car!!

I feel so so so amazingly lucky to have such great friends in my life. Between running with friends and chatting with them, it was a really uplifting start to my weekend!

Friends, Foot Pampering & Frosty Cones!

Today was a fun day. In the early morning sunshine two bootcamp buds and I met at The Nature Center at Edwin Warner Park and walked a 6 mile trail. It was a glorious morning and, with the great weather, pounding hearts and great conversation the hike went fast. To me anyway. . .Kelsey might beg to differ on that.  There are a few hills on the hike and Kelsey started noticing them after about three or four. I told her it's only uphill throughout the beginning and then downhill during the second half. In reality it's up and down all the way but she didn't seem to notice many of the downhills!  Toward the end we got off the trail and walked a little on a roadway because she squeaked "Karen, do we have to go UP THERE?" pointing to a small upcoming incline.  Truly I almost asked if she was 83, not 23. But she'd had about all she could take of hill climbing so we took an alternate route the last mile to minimize the elevation! Youngsters these days!

They both came back to my house after, met Charles (although Gloria had met him before) & Nigel, & had a drink before going their respective merry ways. An hour later I met another friend, Dawn, at the nail place down the road for a pedicure. It was good to catch up with her while having my toes filed, massaged and painted. Right across the parking lot from the nail shop is a McDonalds &, believe it or not, my car just took me to the drive-through when I started it up! I ordered & enjoyed a soft-serve ice cream cone on my drive home, while giving the car a good talking-to about not doing that again.

A neighborhood friend, Katie, had asked if she could borrow my bike for a week or so (she's thinking of getting one & wants to try it out) and I said I'd ride it down to her. I haven't been on my bike in 2 years. It's new (well 3 years old but only ridden maybe half dozen times) and is an old-fashioned beach cruiser with white walled tires and a wicker basket on the front. It is totally adorable! I began to ride it thru the 'hood. The sun was beaming, the breeze was blowing & it felt so wonderful to be pedaling around! I'm a little nervous of it because you brake by pedaling backwards & I have never had a bike that does that. My first time on it I almost went over the handlebars, so I took it slowly and did a few laps before delivering it to Katie. She hasn't been on a bike in twenty years and proceeded to ride it around the place with squeals of child-like joy! Even after I was home, I kept catching glances of her going in different directions all over the neighborhood. Fun.

Late afternoon I napped for almost two hours (I don't know, can a two hour sleep be called a nap?) and then walked Nigel, paying attention incase Katie was still cruising around in the dark! On my walk I began thinking about something Kelsey had asked me on our hike. She'd asked how long I'd known Karen because it seems like we've been friends for years. I told her I met her at bootcamp but that we feel like we've been friends for a long time.   Karen has more time to hang out and we have a little regular date of a glass or two of wine after work every now and again, so I've gotten to know her better. I love her, I really do.  She has an amazing, open heart; an acceptance of everyone for who they are and where they are on this life journey. I am one hundred percent myself with her and she just 'gets' me. My gypsy heart, my restlessness, this constant pull of the world on me, wanting to get up and leave, and wander the planet. She has this ability to make me see things differently, to not take life so seriously.  For the most part I'm not a serious person but now and again I'll get off on a tangent, whining about some part of getting older, the thinning skin, the new lines on my face, the sagging extra chin. Karen will identify and commiserate with me but then make me see the futility of giving such things my energy and even shows me the hilarity of us caring about it! None of us is safe from the perils of aging. All we can do - like everyone else - is the best we know how.  And then laugh and move on.  I love that woman - every woman should have a friend like her. She is one of the biggest gifts the universe has ever given me and I only hope I can be even half the blessing she is to me, to her. 

Joys of Home Ownership!

One of our water tanks has been making freaky and loud noises for a month, so loud that they often wake us at night. We had a few companies come out and check it out and the consensus is that they are eight years old and need replacing! Personally I truly believe none of them know what the noises are and that's their answer when they're not sure what's wrong!  We have two 50-gallon tanks and it's an Appollo system which means hot water also is used (somehow, don't ask me how) to heat our home. Another worry is, for some crazy reason, the tanks are on the top floor of our three storey townhouse. Last year a neighbor's tank broke and water flooded down through his whole home, ruining floors, ceilings and everything in between!

We picked a company and they were here when I got home from bootcamp already! I made 'em wait while I took the quickest shower in the history of the world, as we will be without water most of the day! They are currently draining them. By the end of the day we will have new, shiny and non-noisy water tanks - yay! The only downside is that we have to fork over $4,600 for the peace of mind we crave! At least we can have eight to ten years of heat and hot water, worry free! I'm extremely grateful that we are good savers and that, as painful as it is to spend five grand, we have it and can get this issue addressed. And tonight, we will have a good night's sleep with no banging and pinging noises coming from the tank closet!

Ha Ha!!

A man goes into a bar with his dog. He goes up to the bar and asks for a drink.

The bartender says "You can't bring that dog in here!" The guy, without missing a beat, says "This is my seeing-eye dog."

"Oh man,” the bartender says, "I'm sorry, here, the first one's on me." The man takes his drink and goes to a table near the door.

Another guy walks into the bar with a Chihuahua. The first guys sees him, stops him and says "You can't bring that dog in here unless you tell him it's a seeing-eye dog."

The second man graciously thanks the first man and continues to the bar. He asks for a drink. The bartender says "Hey, you can't bring that dog in here!"

The second man replies "This is my seeing-eye dog." The bartender says, "No, I don't think so. They do not have Chihuahuas as seeing-eye dogs."

The man pauses for a half-second and replies "What??! They gave me a Chihuahua??!"

Words

People that know me well know that I love words or groups of words. I love prose. I love the spoken word. Monologues in movies, witty or inspirational dialogue, poems, essays. I have whole journals, begun thirty years ago, with passages and poems and quotes that caught my eye and I wanted to keep and read over and over again. I wish I were a better writer. I'm about to enroll in a screenplay class, mostly because of my love of the written and the spoken word and my passion about films.


Last night I wanted to find a certain passage in one of said journals but couldn't. I remember being crazily in love with this part of the script from the 1996 movie, The English Patient.  One of the characters (Katharine I think was her name) is dying in a cave and you hear her voice reading what she has written in the cave while waiting to be rescued. I have no idea why these words resonated with me but they did. I would read them aloud and loved them so much. Of course, I loved the film too.


Today I found the script online and rewrote the passage and figured I'd use it as part of my blog entry today!
Here it is:

We die, we die rich with lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have entered and swum up like rivers, fears we have hidden in like this wretched cave...I want all this marked on my body.

We are the real countries, not the boundaries drawn on maps with the names of

powerful men.
I know you will come and carry me out into the palace of winds, the rumors of water... That's all I've wanted - to walk in such a place with you, with friends, on an earth without maps.

GOOSEBUMPS!
I want to learn to write like that!

diary of a slacker?

I know, I know, I know. . . I am probably the least consistent blogger in the history of the world. Oh well, what can you do?  The days just go by. I have been writing, just not on here! Anyway the bootcamp girls and I decided to call ourselves 'Natural Born Slackers' and I'm thinking that that's apt for my blogging too!

Anyway, gotta run to work now, so I'm going to post a photo I shot yesterday of my beloved Nigel and call it a day: