I Did It! I Did It! My 5X5 Night Entry Is Complete

I was truly moved by the 5 x 5 night idea presented by Rick DeVos/Pomegranate Studios yesterday. 5x5night.com. It made my day. I tweeted about it, and shared it to my FB profile and my work page. Oh what a cool thing for GR!

(Don't tell anyone.....but I think it is even cooler than Art Prize.)

And then I mentioned it to my husband at dinner. His reaction was very positive, and ended with a "well you'd better submit your idea right now."

What? Wait. No. I'm not ready, I stammer. Maybe I will wait and see how the first 5 x 5 night goes on Feb. 22 and then I will prepare my idea for submission.

And then Sadie piped in from the bathroom, where she was straightening her hair, with a big: Yes!
(As in, yes you need to do it.)

So a decent night's sleep, an inspiring reminder that life is too short from my Yoga "girls" at Gilda's Club this morning, and a few tears in the tanning booth, yes I said tears. (And before you ask, I have no idea where they came from) ......

.....and my 5 x 5 night submission is turned in.

Why not me?
Why not my idea?
Why not now?

Be brave.
Take a chance.
Make life happen.

For crying out loud, live my own advice. So I did it!

Idea submitted. Pillow Talk For Girls. Done.

P.S. Even if I am not selected for this first 5 x 5 night (and chances are great that with already 80 submissions in less than one day---I won't be), I can say that I tried. I stepped up to make life happen and not let it happen.

Kinda proud of myself. Thanks Mike, thanks Sadie! You guys are my inspiration.

When Crap Happens...

"Watching your children make mistakes is one of the hardest parts, if not the hardest part of being a parent." --- Me  

(Unless someone else said it first).


When I see a mistake in the works I have a really, really hard time not jumping in to fix it. Depending on the severity of the mistake, I sometimes can't stop myself, and I do get involved. But knowing a mistake is in the works, no matter the size or scope, makes me so jittery.

It's like torture.

In Studio Jewel's blog post today, my friend Lisa asked everyone to come up with one word we were thankful for this week. See it here http://bit.ly/eBdOk5. When I paused to consider her request, PATIENCE  just popped into my head. (Kind of like thinking up an intention at the beginning of a yoga class, so I went with it).

PATIENCE.

PATIENCE.

PATIENCE.

Sorry, I was hoping that if I repeated it enough times, I would magically get more of it. I seem to need a lot lately.

I am doing my best to make good on my word, by not only being thankful for what little PATIENCE I do have, but also by using it.

Not gonna lie. It's really hard.

Seeing mistakes continue to happen makes me feel; a little bit helpless, a lot worried and super dooper tired.  But, I am working on letting it all go. And saying a little prayer that wisdom will come to those who need it.

When crap eventually happens, I guess the best anyone can do is be there to pick up the pieces and offer a hug.

What are your thoughts?

Three Things...

I was invited to check out a new blog by Carol Hendershot, owner of Expressions of Grace Yoga, the other day. In it she tells about a ritual of three things she does at the beginning of each new year. Here is an excerpt from that blog:

"Each prior New Year of my life I have spent trying to figure out what I was going to change about my imperfect self and imperfect life. This was different, it wasn’t about beating myself up or pushing myself into a totally new universe from the one I inhabited.

This was looking in a new direction; it was softer and somehow friendlier. I didn’t have to claim any defects of character or charge forward with resolve to make a huge shift. All I was asked to do was to gently relinquish something that wasn’t serving me and pay attention to something that was already in my life but somehow had been under appreciated.

Now I have a new ritual in my life, and it is called three things. No more resolutions that will give me one more excuse for feeling like a failure in two months. Every New Year I find three things that make me happy and that I want to do more of and three things that make me unhappy. " See the full post at http://onemindfulbreathyoga.com/?p=33

This really started me thinking. I already have the three resolutions that I set for each New Year, so why not take it a little further. Release three, embrace three.

I decided it was a great idea.

Here is what I chose to release in 2011:

• Worrying
• Control
• Negativity

And here is what I am going to embrace:

•  My Age
• Change
• Acceptance

Thanks Carol for such a great idea!

I encourge each of you to think about the three things for yourself.  Oh, and I'd love to hear what you come up with...pretty sure Carol would, too.

Truth Be Told... I Love These Games

I'm a gamer. I grew up in a family of gamers. At Christmas time I am always on the look out for something different to play during our holiday get togethers and to get us through the cold winter months. This year I bought Bezzerwizzer, which is a trivia based game and my sister bought Truth be Told, which is more of a personality based game. Both are my two absolute favorite kinds of games to play on a snowy evening with friends by the fire.

Now I am not normally someone who gives product reviews... but because I 100% believe in the importance of  "game nights", and having good games to play during them, I decided I'd share my thoughts with you.

BUY them both!

Even if you are not a huge trivia fan, Bezzerwizzer is still a fun party game. It is best played in teams (especially if you don't consider yourself very trivia-wise). The variety of questions appeal to all. We played it with teenagers, late twenty-somethings and middle agers, and all were able to come up with answers. It moves fairly fast and isn't so intense that it makes your brain hurt trying to think up an answer. There is also some strategy play involved, making it a bit more challenging. I highly recommend adding this to your stash of board games as an easy and fun trivia based game for a party.

Truth Be Told is really, really fun!

So much fun, that when I saw it on sale at Kohl's (60% off right now), I bought the three they had left at the Alpine store. One for home, one for the cottage and one for Alec to take to MSU. All ages can play as long as you can write, and no trivia brains are needed. It does help if those playing know each other. Keep in mind, it would be difficult to play this with a group of strangers. 

And as I have learned, the better people know "you",  the harder it is for YOU to win the game. Yes, I am a wee bit competitive.

As in, when I read the question....Truth be Told, I get stressed when __________ .

and everyone came up with an answer that fit me immediately, like...

• my counters are messy 
• when Mitch bugs me  
• when there is too much noise
• when my kids don't do their homework
• when people don't wear their seat belts

it becomes super hard to get the group to choose MY correct answer. (Which I would then get a point for). Geesh, who knew I was such an open book?

Although all the answers fit, my actual answer was when there is too much noise.
 
I love, love, love this game. The questions are not too intrusive, so you don't have to feel like you are giving away your deepest secrets, and you get to learn about others, while laughing and having fun.
 
Please come over and play it with me soon!

A Moment In Time

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the number of moments that take our breath away.

--(anonymous)

This picture of my niece, and a magnet with the above quote, hang on my refrigerator. It never ceases to bring a smile to my face when I see them. It was a spur of the moment snapshot, of a summer day at the lake, surrounded by family and friends, and filled with nothing special and everything important all at the same time.

It truly is the littlest things in life that make me happy!

A Walk To Remember.... Oh, Wait... Did I Tell You This Already?

So the other day my husband looked over at me and said...
"Good thing you plan to walk more in the New Year."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Instantly thinking that he must have caught a glimpse of my flabby butt.

"Here, read this",  he says, handing me the Parade magazine from Sunday's paper.

The first line of the article by Emily Listfield says... Walking isn't just good for your waistline--it benefits your memory, too.

Oh the memory thing again.... see my earlier blog post entitled Pretty Sure I'm Losing My Filter.

Maybe I'd rather have it be about my butt....

So the article says that a new study shows that walking 6 to 9 miles a week may stop your brain from shrinking as you age.

Cool. I so need that. I can't stand much more shrinkage or I won't remember who I am.

According to the article, exercise increases the amount of blood going to the brain, which means more of the important nutrients necessary for the brain to function are distributed. Hmmmn. Some loss of brain matter is normal with age, but with increased exercise, the parts of the brain that support memory function are spared. Okay this sounds kinda good. The earlier you start exercising, the better, but it's never too late. Any amount you do will help.

Perfect. I need to do whatever I can to help stop the memory shrinkage.

So, I can work on New Year's resolution # 2, to add more cardio to my life, while whipping my flabby butt into shape, and improving my memory. All I have to do is take a walk!

Well, several walks I guess.  I will never have the time for a 6 to 9 mile walk in one night.

Awesome.

Now to find the time.

2-3-1

So...2 fruits, 3 bottles of water and a vegetable, all in one day. It might just be a record for me.

Oh yeah and it might just be a record day of trips to the bathroom as well. Yikes. Who knew what all that water does to a body! Geez.

First work day of the new year. Back to work, back to getting up early, back to showering, back to doing my hair, back to reality.

And...
actually, it wasn't that bad. The day got considerably brighter when my new yoga classes were full of many familiar faces. And some new ones. First time yogis. YES! I hope they love it as much as I do.

The best news about the familiar faces, it means I didn't scare the students away last session.

Awesome.

Now the big question,  will I be able to move tomorrow?

We will just have to see.

How's your New Year starting off?