A 21 Day Commitment

We had a "Lunch and Learn" session at work yesterday. The topic was "Commit to be Fit". The leader was a very nice and perky (they're always perky, aren't they? These fitness instructors. Energetic, bouncy, fit woman named Adrienne from Trifit, which is a company that works with employers to promote health and fitness for their employees (http://www.trifit.com/main.asp). She talked to us about nutrition and activity and told us that a habit takes 21 days to get to be part of your routine. She asked us to commit to one thing and she would follow up with us in 3 weeks' time to see how we make out.

But she didn't actually ask us what our commitment is, so I thought I would share that here with you, my loyal readers, rather than just keep it to myself and that way, I can't change my mind in a day or two and try to fudge the results. The accountability will keep me honest.

Of course, I have several ideas about what I should commit to doing (work out more, eat less, get more sleep, lose 20, 30 0r 50 pounds, eat more vegetables, drink more water, run a marathon - okay, NOT! on that last one) and part of me thinks, change everything all at once. But the reality is, it should be a gradual change, one thing at a time, I shouldn't make it too much of a shock on my system by trying to do too much too soon or for sure I will lose motivation and quickly.

So, here goes: I have committed to doing one half hour of aerobic activity at least 5 times every 7 days, which means at least 15 times between now and August 5th. I already do 20 - 30 minutes of stretches every day for my back, usually first thing in the morning as I sometimes wake up with a stiff back (although a lot less often since I started doing the stretches regularly) but I'd like to add cardio activity to that. Already, I have 2 out of 15. I came home last night and went for a 2.9 km walk which took 35 minutes. Tonight, I went for a half hour swim (as usual, I had the pool to myself, which was lovely).

Wish me luck! I'll let you know how I make out.

Keeping Busy and Getting Tidy

They say that when you are grieving, you should keep busy. So far, that philosophy seems to be helping me. I took yesterday off from work and did some laundry, organized a couple of closets, unpacked some boxes that have been sitting around since December when I moved, parcelled up some stuff for Goodwill, went grocery shopping.

It didn't make me feel less sad, I know I need to feel the pain, mourn my loss and pass through it, which will happen given time, but it did help clear up some of the ongoing clutter in my brain, by finally cleaning up a few areas of my home that had been bothering me on a subconscious level for quite a while. Every time I walked into that tidy closet today, it felt like such a relief. The floor is clear, everything is stacked on the shelf or hung on a hanger where it belongs, I can find what I am looking for easily. Instead of a jumble of chaos, it has become my closet of calm.

My friend Stephanie recently told me about a website called Flylady that helps busy people deal with cleaning and clutter. I checked it out and have found it be very helpful so far. The best part is how they tell you to do things in 15 minutes intervals. Keep it short and sweet and things get done. You set your timer and when it goes off, you're done, you walk away. I'm amazed at how much can get done in such a short period of time! If you think this might be helpful to you, here's the link: http://www.flylady.net/index.asp

Not sure how long the urge to purge will last, but I'm taking advantage of it while it's here!

In the Midst of Life

...we are in death, so the saying goes. That phrase has been in my head for the past several days, as I prepared for Carly's death. Last Saturday afternoon, I made the appointment to take her in on Monday night after a long chat on the phone with the vet about the options. She was very compassionate and helpful and once the decision was made and the appointment booked, I felt good about it, knowing it was the right thing to do. But I was also glad to have the time to prepare myself (as much as one can) and say goodbye to her.

Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out that way. When I went in to work yesterday morning, I was shocked to hear that the 15 year old nephew of a work colleague (who is also a good friend) had drowned on the weekend. What a horrible tragedy for a family to endure!! As devastating as my own loss feels right now, it simply doesn't compare to theirs.

I keep thinking of the irony that my cat lived a longer life than this poor boy. I am saddened at the thought of all the joys and challenges of life he won't have the chance to experience. Still, I'm sure his parents wouldn't trade a minute of the time they had with him, as much as they might desperately wish to have had more.

When we choose to become a pet parent, we do so with the knowledge that we will probably outlive that pet. Overall, their lifespans tend to be relatively short and depending on their lifestyle, they might be exposed to a lot of hazards that might prove to be their undoing. But giving birth to a child is different. You never expect to live longer than that child and I'm sure any parent would gladly sacrifice their own life to ensure their child lived on healthy and safe and happy.

My heart goes out to this family. Losing someone we love always leaves a hole in your heart that never quite heals but to lose a child under such tragic circumstances seems even worse. I pray they will be able to come to some sort of peace with this loss in time, and will be comforted by their memories of the time they did have together.

In Memoriam

Sending a sad farewell today to my beloved Carly. Rest in peace, my angel cat.

Yard Sale

The yard sale held by my apartment building went ahead today. It was a beautiful, sunny morning but the tables were set up in the shade and there was a strong wind, so it was pretty darn cold! (sadly, this July has been more like October)

It was $5.00 to rent a table. There were probably at least a dozen vendors. One very innovative family even had such intriguing items as a frame for a windsurfer and an inflatable life raft for sale, which they proceeded to inflate by driving their van up and using an attachment that fit into the cigarette lighter slot! I didn't see anyone leave with the raft while I was there, but I didn't stay to the very end either.

I find yard sale shoppers to be very amusing. No matter how low you price your items, there's always somebody who wants to bargain you down. It's usually the guy who is checking out your gold or electronic items, he's probably some sort of dealer but he always has a reason why he can't pay the full dollar for your item, will you take 50 cents instead? Either he doesn't have any change (even though you can hear a pocketful jingling as he walks) or it's for his kids or he just moved here from some foreign land and doesn't have much money (which would be easier to believe if you hadn't seen the car he drove up in).

Luckily, those kinds of people are balanced by the type like this one little girl that came by my table. She wanted something I had that was priced for 25 cents. I told she could just take it. Her mom said it was okay, she had her own money and she got out her little purse. Then I said, why don't you give me 10 cents for it? The little girl said "But it says 25 cents" and handed me over a quarter. What a sweetheart.

All in all, I made about $15.00. People just didn't seem to be in a buying mood. That's okay, I only stayed two hours and I met some of my nice neighbours. Plus my motto is that anything that goes out for a yard sale doesn't come back in the house, so I'll be making a trip to Value Village tomorrow to donate the leftovers, so that's a couple of boxes of books and stuff that I've cleared out of my apartment. That alone makes it a worthwhile endeavour!!

Rain Delay

I was supposed to take part in a garage sale at my building today but the forecast yesterday and at 4:40 this morning suggested that Sunday's rain date would be the better day. As it was, I was up very early feeding one of my cats (4:30, 5:15 and again about 6:30) so ended up sleeping in until 8 a.m. Woke up to a sunny morning and thought, oh no! The yard sale!! Quickly had breakfast and a shower and rushed downstairs at 9, by which time it had gotten very, very dark and threatening outside. I thought surely no one would be there, that they would have realized tomorrow morning would be a better bet but no, there were several tables set up. Of course, just as I arrived, the rain started to fall and everyone scrambled to get their stuff packed up again. Good thing, as we were treated to quite the thunderstorm after that!

I was rather glad, as I wasn't quite ready to go this morning but now am very ready for tomorrow morning, with everything I'd like to sell in boxes with price tags, ready to be trundled downstairs in the morning.

With my new found free time, I also had a chance to fix my rug. My apartment has wall to wall broadloom and I have a couple of area rugs laid over top, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. Both of them have huge bumps (buckles?) in them, they just won't lay flat or stay flat. I took a trip to Alexanian Carpet earlier this week and bought myself a pad to go underneath the area carpet. The idea is that this underpad is sticky on both sides and keeps the rug from slipping. Technically, it's to be used to keep an area rug secure on a hardwood floor but I'm told it works for rug to rug situations as well. We'll see how the experiment goes - I'm trying it out in the living room first, as there was less furniture to move. If it works, I'll do the bedroom rug. I do hope it works, it's quite annoying and a definite safety hazard, not to mention that it looks like crap!

Grin and Bare It?

What are your plans for tomorrow? Did you know that all across North America, people will be taking part in a Guiness world record event to try to get the largest number of people simultaneously skinny dipping?!! Can you imagine?

One website I read said that if you're new to the whole nudist scene (and apparently I am, as I had no idea there was a "family naturist park" only 30 minutes north of the city) and feeling shy, it's okay to be submerged up to your neck and just hold your bathing suit up over your head!!

It all takes place at 3 p.m. "Eastern Nudist Time" (so 12 nude on the West Coast - get it?!) on Saturday, July 11th.

Me, oh gee, sorry I've got other plans, can't make it. Going to have to pass. It has been a looong time since I skinny dipped, I'm pretty sure it was during the early days of the Reagan administration and more importantly, it was dark. I'm not saying I didn't like it - to be honest, it really just that I don't necessarily want to see a bunch of strangers naked. Not that there's anything wrong with that...