Non Athletic Runners UNITE!!!!!!

Posted by Heather's Starting End on November 5, 2013
Posted in: health, Humor, insanity, life, sanity, sport, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

stock-cartoon-of-a-sweaty-business-woman-running-by-ron-leishman-1640

I run. I really, really, REALLY run. Why can’t I give myself any recognition and call myself a runner?

I run all day, every day.

I am an extremely diversified runner at that. I run in my slippers….to the bathroom, to the mailbox, for the phone, to over boiling water, to arguing siblings. I run.

I run in my car….to the grocery store, the gas station, the post office, the mall, the dry cleaners, the butcher, the bakery. I run.

Geeze! I even run out of breath!!!

I am unclear on the other sport of running. Running there and back again accomplishing nothing more than a sweaty body and aching muscles. Egoistic. Running without filling it up with an errand and doing it just for yourself, taking up precious time of day. Running in the wind, sun or rain just to do it. Imagine that!

I am very curious about this loner “sport”. To fill my inquisitive mind, I went to the local Gym yesterday. Shiny cold metal everywhere. Muscle bodies waiting to occupy the next available machine that promises strength or endurance. Treadmills all lined up in a row for people to spend time on racing like a hamster on a wheel. Some heavy, some lean…inspiring.  “Is this how it all begins”, I wondered? Shall I trade in my slippers and car and go to the dark side in sneakers and a short towel to soak up my sweat and attempt the variation of my sport? Trust that aching muscles will feel good? Maybe be able to run a half marathon with my Partner someday in the VERY distant future? Very interesting.

HUGE decision.

Signed on the membership dotted line and will lace up my sneakers next week (without procrastination)- I will attempt to  and will someday, have the respect of being an athletic runner in some way, shape or form.

Maybe if this is a success, I will try swimming next,…..

since I swim already. In bills, laundry, stress, housework……..

Think I Burnt my Candle

Posted by Heather's Starting End on November 4, 2013
Posted in: candle burning, Family, health, Humor, life, Moms. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

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I “burnt the candle” at both ends when I was a younger version of myself. My Mom repetitively told me NOT to do it. Warned me that I would burn out. This was in the days when “burn out” didn’t even exist. Not in my life and also not in medicine. Up all night and up in the morning. No problem. None.  Days when School and work were roughly as the song stated “9-5”. This mind you, was also in the day when my Mom knew nothing. And I had energy!!! LOTS of energy.

Something has caught up with me. I am beginning to feel burnt.  Just what did she know after all? And just how much?

I think our clocks have permanently changed. 9-5 doesn’t exists. The days begin and seem to never end. Burn out is now a medical term. But how could a life of endless party keep me going and now I burn out by just looking at the piles in the washroom? It could be age, but it could also be  Karma. Maybe it was the falling off of an easy going fun life and falling into Adulthood reality that struck the match? Reality really can suck. (Parties usually don’t.)

Does anyone remember going out on Friday till the wee hours and not needing till Monday to get over it? If I never went out till the wee hours when I was young have saved my energy for Today?  I think not, but my Mom is not here either to confirm or disaffirm that.

Mom knew everything about burn out, she was just a good 35 years too early to try and teach/warn me about it. Now I could surely use a tip or two.

And that bigger Candle.

The Unobvious Happy Place

Posted by Heather's Starting End on November 1, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

happy-places-01

Spontaneously I just Google image searched “Happy Place”. Don’t ask why, I could never give an answer. I came across this sketch of the girls eyes. I forgot all about the sunshine, sand and crystal blue waters that dominated the page. My mind went off in all directions. “Happy Place”. What and where is it really?

I thought about my 3 Girls. I know their Happy Place. The place at the moment that sets them free. For one it is the Ballet Studio, the other it is School, at Home feeling secure is the oldest Child. Then I thought about me and the whirlwind began.

When I was younger it was Home. Sitting in the Den watching football with my Dad. Accompanying my Mom who loved to play Bingo. Going to the park with my Dog. It was first as I got older that my need for “meditation” on the water grew. The one place I found solace. My “Happy Place”.

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Cancer. I fought for strength and inner peace with two visions of what would be called my “Happy Place”. Yes, one just happens to be my favorite sandbar in the Gulf of Mexico, but the other was a Tree. Not just any old Tree, our massively beautiful Weeping Willow in the backyard of my home where we lived till I was 9. I went through boxes and boxes of photos until I found a photo of my Tree in the background. I would close my eyes and pull myself back to the time when it was my Happy Place. The place where I would lay down carelessly and watch the branches sway in the wind. I would contemplate how to navigate to the top in my bare feet. I would get lost in the time….peacefully…..the world was mine and mine alone. But I didn’t know  then that someday, half a lifetime later I would rely on that Tree for spiritual power.

If I only think of the Oceans as my Happy Place, I will miss the place of the moment. Out for a walk breathing free in the Forest air, the few and in between cars rides with goofy, funny conversations with my Daughters, Reading with my Partner on the terrace with sun in the sky. So many moments that the Happy Place is also just when the heart is in tune with your soul.  

. And eyes.…..Looking into the eyes of my Loved ones.

Don’t get me wrong…..I’ll still yearn for the beach as I am holed up here in Switzerland but now, thanks to this image, I will not forget to be aware that Happy Places can be found  within.

Public murder of my multitasking….right here.

Posted by Heather's Starting End on October 29, 2013
Posted in: Humor, insanity, life, love, Men, multitasking, Partner, Teenagers, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

 

multitasking-woman

Convincing myself each morning that my “tasks” would be finished by nightfall is something I can no longer lie to myself about.

I once thought I did a pretty good job holding my Kids and their three very different schedules together. (If you are a Mom reading this, you know what the word “schedules” entails, if you are a Man, ask your wife.) Cooking three different meals for the Vegan, the Carb lover and the Salad freak. Making sure they all had their favorite shampoos and conditioners plus toothpaste in stock. That their “one and only jeans” were fresh washed.Yes, I have three Girls.

I thought I did it all pretty good until I was shocked to learn that yes, we multitask, but Men task with avengance and ease.

At the end of a day recently, My beloved Partner once again achieved success. He had finished his hours of office work, had the car washed and vacuumed, tended and perfected the acreage around the house which included pruning grapes on our intimate vineyard  for pressing our own Grappa. Stepped into his atelier to touch up a painting. He has a dinner menu already in his mind to cook and wine already selected. His clothes are already resting in his draws and closet…

I, on the other hand have multitasked my brains and arms out. And as a result, beds have been stripped, but not freshly made, the vacuum is out but the stairs still threaded with dog and cat hair, the last load of wash is wet in the machine, 3 loads still to fold and one in the drier. Lunch was made but Breakfast dishes are still in the sink. I drove my taxi miles with the car on empty. The windex has now dried untouched on the bedroom window. I took a shower without washing my hair. Last weeks newspapers and glass made it to the garage but not yet to the recycling. And yes, single socks are invading my home, multiplying on a daily basis.

Unbeknownst to him, he has shown  me how smooth life can be if we just lost our talent. Our Multitasking Talent.

Thank you, My Darling!!!!!

The Power of Adversity

Posted by Heather's Starting End on October 28, 2013
Posted in: belief, Family, health, love. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

We are amazing. Amazing how we adjust and come together as Families, Partners and Friends. With each a past with a stone or boulder set in our way to navigate over or around.

My Children lost their Father when the oldest was 10 and my twins just turned 6. I last “saw” my Birth Mom when I was 3 days old. Was this a root we lost , or just a restructuring of how our tree would be just a bit different, our way, not traditional.

When faced with the eye of a future that will not be as one planned, we have a choice. We can fall down broken, or come back fierce and rebuild a life that once again, thrives on harmony and balance. We chose the latter.

Friendships light the darkest hours, love is reborn with the right partner…our tree grows. Grander and stronger than we ever dreamed possible. We are not traditional in the truest sense, but we have been there and back again, and wouldn’t trade what we have for the world.

Adversity. Without it, we would never have the fortune of learning our souls.

Life is good. Again.

Detox and Jesus

Posted by Heather's Starting End on October 28, 2013
Posted in: detox, health, Humor, insanity, wine. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Oh my!!!!  And to think I held on to what was to be my most revitalizing experience ever. My recipe for a guaranteed sweat it out detox bath.

For 3 weeks I patiently waited for the moment when I had the ingredients, 20 minutes minimum  required time, the quiet atmosphere, and a clean kitchen to sink myself guilt free into my potion of restoration. I opened up the faucet of my king size whirlpool and let the water flow as hot as it would come per instruction. I emptied first my jar of pharmacy bought Epsom salt, continued on with Baking Soda and closed with fresh ginger. Simple, easy. Hot, stinky.

The bath itself was actually quite uneventful. I fought to keep myself in the steaming bath with water dripping walls for the full 20 minutes. What I didn’t expect were the days that followed.

I have never in my life felt so awful! It was as if everything toxic went it, instead of coming out.

My head pounded for days, my bladder introduced me to a new level of pain. I countered the detox attack with thousands upon thousands of milligrams of Vitamin C, Cranberry pills, uva ursina, green tea, white tea and as a last resort….drank the baking soda  mixed with a few shots of apple cider vinegar. Slept, woke, and visited the bathroom umpteen times in between.

Today, 1 week later I am fine again. I am back to drinking my wine that I so enjoy but feverishly tried to pull out of my body- back to enjoying an after dinner drink and by no means will ever “detox” again.   Jesus must have turned water into wine for a reason. I  have chosen to accept that. I have now found religion.

Raise your flag, Ladies!

Posted by Heather's Starting End on October 25, 2013
Posted in: Family, health, Humor, insanity, life, perimenopause, red flag, white flag. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Which flag do I put up today? Yellow, red, …white? No, never pulled the white one….yet. Ravaged with hormones in a physical war on my body and mind, I am at the mercy of my 3 daughters who seem to hold all the cards to my emotional stability. They are winning this war. 20 years ago came the first, 4 years later my double pack. I think I have been fair throughout the years, fair enough to tell them when they were old enough, that “Mommy is having a Mommy day”. That could mean a yellow flag, but could also mean a red. In short, the culprit is our god given blessing of menstruation.

Yellow flag days are days when we eat chocolate, STEAL our childrens chocolate, cry at puppies and kittens in commercials, see the beauty in our childrens pig stye rooms because those kids are “ours”. Tears, in a nutshell just plain old tears. Ouch…my breasts are tender.

Red flag days we cry at weight gain, our brain explodes with the dropping sound of a feather and we are passionately surfing google for home made childrens rooms exposives. There is no beauty….mirrors should be outlawed on these days. Rage, in a nutshell just plain old rage. I’m doubled over with cramps.

As we get older, we accumulate our flag days. No longer the two or three days a month we have become the master of. We have now been introduced to the back up militant of the menstrual war…Miss Peri. Miss Peri Menopause.

She is a tricky one and a very good one at her mission. Her strategy is not letting you know when she is at your back door. Sometimes she stays away for a month, then she will come and relentlessly hassle you for perhaps, lets say, 63 days or so keeping you flipping your flags sometimes on a minute basis for days on end. And then, she’ll leave, just disappear…for 16 days and come back yet again.

I am not sure who to feel more sorry for, me or my three Girls? After all, at least they can escape me and Miss Peri. Something I myself, have not yet magically mastered.