Happy Hour Chatter

The new year is soon to arrive in a few hours.   While 2013 hasn't been a bad year, it hasn't been a stellar year.  I'm not complaining, just stating a fact.  It's part of life.   I don't believe in resolutions, therefore I don't make them.   Why?  Two reasons: 1) Resolutions last for about a month or for however long it takes for people to perceive those resolutions as having failed and therefore give up hope of change. 2) Every day is a new day and a chance to get it right.   A New Year arriving doesn't make things magically better.   It takes daily work and commitment to change something.  Example: You don't run a marathon without training your body...changing your body...conditioning....in order to run 26.2 miles.   If you do, you will fail.  It takes commitment and a desire. Same things happen with resolutions.  It takes daily commitment and desire or will  to make changes....

I am not a fan of being sick (who is, really) but I have been just that...sick..for the last three days.   I started to not feel well on Thursday afternoon when at work.  I developed a nose bleed out of the blue which was quite hard to get under control.  It took me  20 minutes.   Unpleasant to say the least.   Then my lungs started hurting...in actuality, it felt like I was having a heart attack, that's how heavy my chest felt.  I sat at my desk and did something that I rarely do - I think I've done it once before in five years - I cancelled my training session with Nick at the gym.  I know!!  I was THAT sick!! I went home, got in my jammies and headed to bed.  Friday was a new day and I would feel all better.  Right?   Wrong!  I had taken Friday off as a gift to myself so that I could maybe take my nieces Karen and Wendi out for lunch, coffee or a movie. I hadn't made plans...I was ...

It's Christmas evening and I'm sitting here in my recliner with my sweatpants, sweatshirt and fuzzy socks on.   I'm tired but very, very content.  My heart is full of all things good tonight and I have a warm fuzzy feeling.  My Christmas started last night with my yearly trek to my sister Peggy's home.  I've been going there on Christmas Eve for 42 years.  It's tradition. My brother Terry, Marna, Wendi and Blaine joined me, Tom, Peggy and Karen for a lovely night.  We had awesome food, drink (yes, I got in to the wine), laughter, memories, a few tears and a toast to Family.  It was a late evening but T and I managed to stay awake long enough to exchange gifts.  He spoiled me with a beautiful bracelet to match the set of earrings and necklace he gave me last year.   I attempted to spoil him but Amazon didn't arrive  on time - so he'll get his gifts tomorrow - hopefully. Today was Christmas with my brother-in-law Bill, Ja...

Seems like the only time I get to write on my blogs is on Sundays when life is a little bit slower for me. It is what it is; I'm not going to stress out about it...life is too short to stress. It's 3 days until Christmas.  Amazing how fast time is going.  I have everything ready  or as ready as it will be.  T's gifts were ordered late (had trouble finding them on the net), so they'll be arriving after Christmas.  Again, nothing to stress over .  He knows one of them, the other will be a surprise. We normally order Oysters to be shipped in from the west coast, but that too got late; we'll have oysters for New Years.   Hmmm, a bit of procrastination on my part this year.  It was hard to get in to the Christmas spirit this year.  What else is going on?  I'm on a two week hiatus from teaching yoga.  Attendance has been low with the holidays so I figured I'd take my usual two weeks off and let my body regroup and everyone el...

I'm at work today and almost had an anxiety attack when I realized the date.  Holy Cow!  It's December 9th already!! I don't do a lot to celebrate Christmas since it's just the two of us and we have no children.   I used to decorate and send out cards but I don't anymore.  The cards are too expensive with postage and I don't have a lot of spare time to address them.  I'd rather call those close to me and talk with them.  And I'd rather spend spare time visiting with the residents of the Heritage Center and helping them keep in contact with their loved ones.  I'll put up a few things around the house and maybe make it look like something other than a Charlie Brown Christmas.   In so far as gifts, I have very few that I buy for; Tom, Blaine and my secret Santa person at work...but I have the essential wine for my sister!  Lol I guess its not all the trappings that make Christmas. ..its what you feel in your heart.  And I feel ...

We were lucky to hold off with the snow until the 1st of December.  Mother Nature is making up for lost time though and gifting us with a winter storm.  I have lived in ND most of my life (except for brief stints in Minnesota), but I'll never get used to this first initial slap in the face. It takes me a while to learn how to drive on snow and ice, and to allow extra time to get from point A to point B.  It takes longer to dress (or undress) the layers of clothing I now find myself forced to wear just to go outside for even a brief minute. Because I teach yoga, I need to be available for those classes.   So every morning, I wake up and flip the channel to find the weather forecasts, which ultimately determine how many bags I'm going to pack for the day. Today it wasn't looking so good soooooo....this is what I packed: 1 suitcase with clothing for 2 days 1 yoga bag with clothing for 3 nights of classes (ok, one night is actually an "optional" outfit in ...

Today is December 1st and I am in a food coma.  Although I've tried to curtail the holiday eating, my body feels blechy.  I've been limiting the amount of carbohydrates I consume but the Thanksgiving mashed potatoes and stuffing were a must have for the holiday.  It was a choice I made and now I get to repair the damage.  So this morning, I started with my protein shake and my yoga routine.  I found a December challenge for my body - which is doing push ups every day - and I did my 5 push ups already (no girlies ones either!).  Today is unique for me as I'm doing a "first" for me.  I'm going to make a yoga video!  Yep, you heard right!    The back story is:  I teach one class a week at Anytime Fitness on Tuesday nights.  One of my class attendees is a Physical Therapist working as an intern at the Anne Carlson Center while she is completing her doctorate.  She asked me if I would be willing to do a yoga vide...