Things That I'm Happy About This Week

Things I am happy about this week

• that I have had Dexter on for seven days and he doesn't even need sticky reinforcement yet. 
• that I drove for an hour yesterday and the sun shone the entire time
• that my presentation for Friday is all set and ready to go
• that Doug and I tried homemade nachos, complete with homemade pico de gallo, and it was delicious

• that I haven't seen one snowflake this week. Not one!
• that the Parti Québécois was soundly thumped in the provincial election and that the discriminatory ideas they had will not come to pass. Go Québec for voting for inclusion rather than exclusion!
• that the sun doesn't set until almost 8pm now
• that I finished the book I was reading called the Sixth Extinction. It was quite interesting and made me long for my science days
• that, after searching in three different Winners, I found my favourite shampoo at a really good price and bought one of those big huge bottles
• that we are all stocked up for the easter egg hunt we are running at a family Easter event
• that I've only snuck three (ok four) chocolate eggs from the Easter egg hunt stash (don't tell Doug)
• That Game of Thrones Season Four has started. We don't actually get HBO but just knowing it's on makes me happy.
• That it's Wednesday today but, since I have the next two days off, it's kinda like Friday.
• That I have a four-day weekend this week AND next weekend
• That the Masters is on this weekend and, if the weather holds, our own golf course might just open too
• That we're watching Season Two of West Wing and I really like it 
• That my red bathing suit seems to be holding up nicely so far
• That I make lists like this sometimes and they remind me how many things there are to be happy about.

I Must Admit

Well, I must admit that it is nice to be outside again. 

My swims are, for the moment anyway, indoors. The air at the pool is a bit, um, lacking in the fresh department. Unless you're one of the people who find the smell of chlorine fresh...

My morning cycling routine on the trainer takes place in our basement. I have the fan blowing so there is air movement but, again, it's not particularly fresh.

Now that I'm working my way back to running form, I get to tie on my running shoes and head OUTSIDE!!

I smell lilacs, lily of the valley and mulch. After a rain, I smell fresh dirt and worms. Freshly mown grass and barbecuing. It's a wonderful wonderful thing.

Well, I must admit that it is nice to be able to stretch on my back deck again. 

From fall to spring, I do my stretching and icing routine on the living room floor. Often with a coffee beside me. The radio is usually on, unless it's Sunday morning, and then Sunday Morning is on. It's nice.

From spring to fall, as soon as the sun is warm enough, I bring my mat and muscle relaxing paraphernalia out to the back deck. I find myself a sunbeam and I bask while I stretch. It's really really lovely.

Well, I must admit that it is nice to hang up my coat and tuck my pants to the back of the drawer. 

Living in Canada means that, from one extreme to another, we have a range of 60 degrees of temperature that we rotate through. We can go from minus 30 in the winter to plus 30 in the summer.

I love the extremes as well as the middle. I rejoice when it starts to get colder because I much prefer to be cold than hot. But I also dislike the amount of clothing I need to pull on when I run in the winter time.

As winter changes to spring and then summer, the removal of layers and the transition from pants to shorts and jackets to tanks is cause for celebration. It's celebration time!

Well, I must admit that it's nice to: 
- have breakfast and dinner on the back porch
- come home to a glass of wine and a plate of crackers and cheese waiting for me on the deck
- spend the weekend puttering in the garden, washing windows, and riding around Niagara
- sleep with the windows open
- head to the driving range after dinner to practice my swing
- bring out the arsenal of summer salads and barbecue recipes

I must admit that it's nice, and really important, to always be grateful for the little things. 

Not Out and Back - Just Out

I ran 14k on Saturday morning.

It was wicked!

My body felt strong. Several times I looked at my watch and was surprised at how far I had already run. My blood sugar behaved thanks to two gels and a handful of raisins (9.6 before starting, 8.0 half way and 8.8 at the end). And I had a negative split (ran faster in the second half) despite turning around and discovering that the 7k home had me heading directly into a very cold headwind.

Every week since I reached 10k I've been adding 2 kilometres to my Saturday runs. If all goes well, I'll keep adding and, after a wee taper once I hit 22k, I'll be ready for the innaugural Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon in June. Fingers crossed.

What's turning out to be my favourite part of this training (other than the fact that I can actually run without pain) is that I'm slowly, kilometre by kilometre, making my way back to my old stomping grounds....

...er, running grounds, I guess I should say.

Last summer, when I was pulling off 25+ kilometre runs, I discovered that I loved running from my house, down a long stretch of road that eventually lead out into the quiet, beautiful, Niagara countryside. It took me up and down rolling hills, past fields of horses, vineyards and woodlots. I loved it and I loved leaving home in the dark and running while the mist burned off the fields and the sun rose in the sky. The deer and foxes kept me company and herons flew overhead as I watched the world wake up.

The last few weeks, I've been running out and back runs on Saturday mornings that take me down that old familiar road. The first ten kilometre run didn't take me that far from home. Twelve kilometres had me getting one kilometre closer to the part that really starts feeling like countryside. On Saturday, when I added yet one more kilometre out, it took me to the base of the hill that starts it all.

This week is easy week (only have to run 10k) and then...I'll run that next kilometre up the Effingham hill.

The week after that - I'll be in the country!!

I'm not a big fan of out and back runs. I prefer to go on a journey so I typically run circular routes. The problem is that I'm not yet running far enough on Saturdays to start doing circular country side routes. At least not without hopping into my car and I'm just not ambitious enough to drive to run. Plus there's a part of me that like to earn that country run by running to get there.

During my run last Saturday I decided that, one weekend soon, I'm going to hire Doug to be my driver. I'm going to leave the house and just run out, not back.  Sixteen or eighteen kilometres in one direction - out past my horses, my foxes, my vineyards and my herons.

We'll prearrange a pick-up time and I can just run and run and run.

That, my friends, will be heavenly.

Day 2: Letter Writing Day

My dear pancreas,

I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately and wanted to say hi. I miss you. I know I didn’t pay much attention to you when I was younger. I admit that I didn’t really appreciate our relationship. In fact, I completely took you for granted. For that, I am so very sorry.

It was only when we started having problems that I realized how much I really needed you. But by then, it was too late. You were leaving and there was nothing I could do to make you stay. I was left frightened and feeling very alone.

It has been almost nine years since we’ve been together. A lot has happened since then. I want you to know that I’m doing fine. More than fine actually. At first, I worried that you left because of something I did. Perhaps if I had been better somehow you would have stayed. I now know that is not the case. There was nothing I could have done differently, nothing that would have changed the fact that you had to go. I’ve made my peace with that and I hope you are happy with your choices too.

Don’t worry, I am not angry or hurt. But I do miss you.

I want you to know that your leaving changed my life…for the better.

When you left, I grew strong and brave. I learned to question the choices I had made and understood how fragile life can be. I learned the importance of living for today and made changes to my life that I would not have had the courage to make when you and I were together. My life today is rich, challenging and full of love.

Ironically, I am much healthier now. I take really good care of myself and am surrounded by people who do the same. I am not afraid of being selfish – I have learned to say no. I choose things that make me feel good and avoid things that don’t.

Did you hear? I’m getting ready to start training for a marathon! How crazy is that? Do you remember when you and I used to work out together? A walk here, a step class there, some weights at the gym – that was it. You wouldn’t recognize me now - I would totally kick your ass.

Honestly, if you and I were still together, I would not be who I am today. Every brave, life-changing choice I ever made, I made after you left.

I am grateful for the time we did have together. Some people are not nearly as lucky as you and I were. We had 28 wonderful years and for that I will be forever grateful. As for what the future holds, I know very well how impossible that is to predict. We shall see won’t we?

Take care of yourself my friend. I will do the same.

Love,
Céline

East Coast Weather

It's cold, windy and rainy on the East Coast. 

Everything is as it should be. 

My father is French Canadian and, from my mother's side, I come from good strong Irish stock.  From the land of sunshine, rain, ocean winds and fog - often occurring one after another in quick succession.  You might leave the house in a t-shirt but bring a warm coat and umbrella just in case.  

This is the weather that I love.  It's so wild and unpredictable.   Fog is my absolute favourite because it cloaks everything in mystery.  That feeling that there could be whales just offshore is quite compelling.

Today was a smorgasbord of experiences.  First stop - laundry.  Clean underwear and socks do wonders for one's ability to enjoy each day to the fullest.  So we popped in a load of laundry and headed out to explore the art galleries of Provincetown... 

...which apparently don't open until the tourists arrive in May.

Coming in the off season means we can enjoy the town without tripping over other tourists but it also means that things might not be open when we'd like them to be.  I'm ok with that tradeoff.  I like the peace and quiet.

Provincetown, for those of you who might not know, is a meca for artists, dog lovers, gay men, lesbian women and transvestites.  Which makes for entertaining people watching and shopping.  We have seen big burly men walking (and talking to) their very well groomed lap dogs.  We have walked into a corner store to find anal douches where the city maps should be.  And we stopped in a chocolate shop to discover an entire wall dedicated to chocolate body parts.  And I'm not talking arms and legs...

...I'm talking about nipple chocolates, penis sculptures and vagina suckers...

We did not buy any but we sure as hell took pictures! 

After lunch, we drove to a nearby beach.  We hadn't even stopped the car when I spotted a whale spout on the horizon.  The rights whales were feeding just offshore!!  

Right whales, for your information, were given that name by whalers centuries ago.  Why?  Because they are very slow moving and, unlike some other whales, they float when they're killed.  So they were considered the right whale to catch.  

That name makes me sad.  

The fact that they are swimming right off the coast makes me happy. At one point, right whales had been driven almost to extinction but they're making a comeback and we got to see them.  I've never seen a right whale before so that made it even more exciting.  I thought I'd have trouble recognizing them from so far away but, after seeing so many humpback and finback whales, I could tell these boys were different.  Wicked! 

It has taken me a grand total of five seconds to readjust to life by the ocean.  I'm sleeping better and feel a sense of peace that I feel nowhere else.  

I'm an ocean girl.  

Period. 

Happy Being Green

I love that feeling when you're just so happy that it feels almost like a volcano of happy bubbles is building and about to erupt.  And yes, that's actually what it feels like.

I'm having a happy bubble day today!

It's St. Patrick's Day which is a good start.  I'm proudly sporting my green shirt and everyone I pass in the halls today is in green.  It's fabulous and we're all grinning like a bunch of idiots in on a strange little joke.

I started teaching a new class at work today and everyone who signed up for the class is one of those naturally happy people. I mean REALLY happy.  When they play a board game they get just as excited whether they roll a 1 or a 6.  They're just as happy if they get the answer right or wrong and they don't care if they go to jail or get out of jail free.  They're just happy to be with other people and to be sharing a fun moment.  They cheer everyone on, laugh when they get the answer wrong and shout with joy no matter what the dice say.  Put a group like that together for an hour and we were a complete giddy mess by the end. 

So, to recap, everyone is in green today and I'm riding a high from my new class this morning. 

Might as well call my little Irish Nana to wish her Happy St. Patrick's Day.  She answered the phone in her irish lilt and, well, she had me at hello.  We chatted about the sunshine and the weather and then the phone call ended with her warning me not to drink too much whiskey today...at least until I got off work!  Oh Nana, you're so cute!

Afterwards, I read Dave Hingsburger's blog entry and it sent me over the edge, straight into my happiness volcano.  Dave writes a daily blog about disabilities and he's always thought-provoking.  Today's entry about St. Patrick's Day, inclusion and disabilities was wonderful and is very much worth the read.

With still half of my waking hours left ahead of me, a run in the sunshine and corn beef for dinner, this day shows no signs of slowing down.

So I'm taking a moment to be thankful for my partner, my family and my friends who fill my life with such riches.  And raising a glass to my Grandpa who is looking down on us today with a wee leprechaun on his shoulder and an amber glass of whiskey in his hand. 

Sláinte!