Marco Island Sunset

Marco Island Sunset
Sunset at Marco ....my slice of paradise

Monday, January 21, 2013

I Will Wait

MUMFORD & SONS
 
Spinning class tonight....SUH-WEET.
Yes, my day wrapped up just fine!
The cute, redhead instructor
with the charming twang
plays this song tonight as the finale at our spin class.

and it just doesn’t get better
than this
 

History Lessons



The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that from age to age, nothing changes, and yet everything is completely different.
                                                                   -Aldous Huxley

I was browsing through my fitness journal from over four years ago, smiling to myself at the life lesson I was going through at that time.  It's funny how history repeats itself.  We learn from history, from life lessons, but it helps to REMEMBER those lessons for them to be most effective.

Today is supposedly BLUE MONDAY, the most depressing day of the year, they say.  I call those days "crappy days."  So better stated, the "CRAPPY MONDAY."  (Again, maybe blue tends to get a bad rap.)  They're also forecasting much colder -- frigid -- temperatures starting tonight and lasting throughout the week. 

My archived "crappy day" was actually a Thursday -- no day of the week is spared from FUNK.  But it being "Blue Monday," I decided to redirect this "lesson" to my blog.

And for the record, it may be Blue Monday, but I've decided that I'll defy the odds.  I choose to have a pretty decent day -- it's my day off, for starters, and I refuse to let pending bad weather or "history lessons" dictate the outcome.
 

AUGUST 7, 2008:  Taking a break from a hellish assignment that began yesterday, the catalyst to my loss of control in every aspect of my life yesterday.

Am I refusing to accept personal blame for my shortcomings? Not by any stretch. It's just that the circumstances under which I found myself yesterday (annoying, arrogant, rapid-fire, mush-mouthed, highly-technical witness, whose testimony I found increasingly impossible to take down), combined with other stressful situations at home, pre-TOM crap, and just an overall feeling-blah-don't-want-to-deal-with-this-anymore day, I decided it was best to stay away from others, to retreat to my cave and try to let it pass rather than inflict my demons upon others.

I truly needed an exorcist.

I have regained perspective today, and the embers are no longer visible.

Today is a new day. Coming up for air for a minute to blog here (trying to transcribe my horrific notes from yesterday's job from hell), I know that I need to:

Stay focused on getting this job completed;

Making amends with others;

Regaining my perspective for my personal fitness goals;

Knowing that one crappy day is just that, one crappy day.

I will move past this.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Music of Laughter

The most wasted of all days
is one without laughter.
 
Remember the day

we laughed
at silly things
and we
never
wanted
that day
to end?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Outward beauty
is not enough.
to be attractive,
a woman must use words,
wit, playfulness,
sweet talk and laughter
to transcend the gifts
of Nature.
-Petronious

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Laughter is the way to true love.


Friday, January 18, 2013

Thursday's Post Script


 
even in the month of January
on a cold and
colorless work day
Nature

left a vibrant and heart-warming
love note
its post script of promise


my heart smiled

Monday, January 14, 2013

...And So the World Kept Spinning

While lifting weights last Thursday at my gym, I ran into a friend of mine who is taking spinning classes with me.  We've been signing up for the same classes, preferring the Monday and Thursday night classes.  I had texted her last week to let her know that the week of January 14th was booked solid on all four nights for the Intermediate Spinning classes.  Obviously there are only so many bikes, and so there is a limit to the number of people taking the class each night.

She had stopped by the weights section after leaving her spinning class (I had to end up taking the class for the day prior because the Thursday night class was already booked).  We discussed the fact that people are signing up for classes to insure they'll get in, then don't show up for the class, which prevents others from participating.  This is annoying.
And it's rude frankly.

The management decided to add a note to the signup sheet admonishing people to call if they have to cancel.  There will be a list of alternates on the signup sheet, and they can then take the place of the no-shows.

Once the word got out about this, apparently some people had already begun calling in to cancel.

Okay.  So uh, if they weren't serious about showing up in the first place, why sign up at all?  "Inconsiderate" the most diplomatic word I can think of right now.

As a result of those cancellations, my friend offered to add our names to the Monday AND Thursday spin classes this week, and we got in after all.  I guess if we want to be assured a slot in the spin classes, we'll have to be more vigilant with the signup sheet.

I'm hanging in there so far with this new endeavor, spinning.  It's gotten easier.  The first night was a killer.  For one thing, I had cranked the resistance up too far, it being my first time.  It seemed so easy at first, but as time passed and the intensity intervals increased, I became more and more fatigued and even had to stop a few times and just spin at my own pace to catch my breath, recover, then I'd join back in.  soaked to the bone and exhausted, I was praying for the class to be over, vowing to never return.  

But I'm not a quitter.  I was determined to make it through the next time and to make this work for me.  After class I spoke with the instructor and we adjusted my bike a bit (again), and he suggested I dial back on the resistance and work up a little more slowly.  Good advice.  The second time was far easier!

Tonight's class will be my fourth.  I'm going for 12 classes, and then I'll re-evaluate whether to stay with it or change up my game plan.

Saturday at the gym was a glute/ham day, and I showed them no mercy.  Still feeling the effects two days later.  It was a productive workout, as well as extra 20 mins of cardio tacked on at the end.

Here it is January 14th, and so far I'm feeling good, positive, motivated.  Things are going well, and so far I've made a lot of strides in cleaning up my eating and regaining focus after the holidays.  It being winter, it's a lot tougher to "hang on."  But so far, so good.  Onward.

I'm wearing out my Pandora app for Cardio/Dance music lately.  Now if only they had an app for virtual sunshine for those of us in withdrawal.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

If Only You Knew the Rain


On the brink of winter
as she plays
hide-n-seek behind the clouds
the air heavy
with misty rain

Running
in exalted solitude
I breathe

inhale
and
exhale
each breath
in rhythm with my heart
listening
with my soul
seduced by the January rain

Do you know it?
If only you knew...
you would never let go
Never
ever
let go.


Friday, January 11, 2013

Watch Closely Now


Some songs we just never grow tired of.  I remember hearing this song for the first time in 1977 while watching the movie, "A Star is Born," starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.  

Awestruck.
I was mesmerized ... 
by her performance, 
by the emotional resonance of the song within the movie plot, 
and 
-- to this day -- 
by the lyrics that continue to resonate with my own heart.

Out the door this morning, I blindly grabbed a few CD's to listen to on my drive to work.  I'm heading down the road, and I popped in a CD I had burned a few years ago from downloaded MP3 favorites.  This song happened to be among them.  There's no telling how many times I have listened to this song, and yet each time, it's as if it's the first ... I simply cannot listen and not get chills, not FEEL the emotion.  The lyrics are branded forever on my heart.

They belong in this blog.



With One More Look at You/
Watch Closely Now

With one more look at you
I could learn to tame the clouds
And let the sun shine through
Leave a troubled past and I might start anew
I'll solve the mysteries if you're the prize
Refresh these tired eyes
With one more look at you
I might overcome the anger
That I learned to know
Find a piece of mind I lost so long ago
Your gentle touch has made me strong again
And I belong again
For when you look at me
I'm everything and more that I had dreamed I'd be
My spirit feels a promise
I won't be alone
We'll love and live more
Love and live forever
With one more look at you
I'd learn to change the stars
And change our fortunes too
I'd have the constellations paint your portrait too
So all the world might share this wondrous sight
The world could end each night
With one more look at you
With one more look at you
I want one more look at you...
Are you watching me now?
Watch closely now.
Your eyes are like fingers
Touching my body
Arousing me so.
I'm riding the passion arising inside me
How high can I go?
You're coming with me: I'm gonna show you how
And when it's scary, I won't look down
Are you watching me now?
Watch closely now.
I see the hunger arise in your eyes
And it's urging me ...
urging me...
uring me on
higher and harder 
and it's faster and farther
than I've ever gone.
Your pleasure is part of the secret
Of flight that I found
When I feel like an eagle
My soul has no place on the ground
Born out of madness
I'll double the danger with no net at all,
If you don't look away I'm secure
In the fact that you won't let me fall
Watch closely now...
Are you watching me now?
I'm the master magician
Who'll help you escape
From the lies you've been told
When they're breaking your back
Bring the last straw to me
I turn straw into gold
I break chains made of boredom that others have lived with for years
I leave good news on doorsteps
And laughs where there used to be tears
I'm gonna need you later
When you're not around
But I can take it
I won't look down
Watch closely now
Are you watching me now?
Watch me now
Are you watching me now?
Are you watching me now?

encore