One Green Stripe

Sunshine had her latest belt test. She did awesome. This time, because the class is so small, much of the testing was individual.

Here is a video and a couple photos.

Rain.. Rain.. Rain...

I love the rain. Most rain that is, I don't like the chill you to your bones rain. But other than that, sign me up. Where I grew up we had thunderstorms all the time. Where I live now, we don't get the kind of storms I had as a kid.

When I was in college, one summer I lived in this house and if you laid in my bed you could look out the window into the valley, I would sit there and watch the storms coming up out of the valley, as violent as thunderstorms can be, they bring me some sort of internal peace. I think my love of thunderstorms is one of the reasons I majored in geography.

I like running in the rain, and for the most part don't let it stop me from doing what I'm doing. I think it is interesting as I start my vacation that I have gone for a run in the rain, watched a baseball game in the rain and mowed the lawn in the rain. Not to be too metaphysical, but it is almost like creating a clean slate... the bonus that most of this has been accompanied by small thunderstorms is just sort of ice on the cake for me.

175 Days

Can someone tell me how this happens in 175 days?

S&TC OD?

I have watched 4 seasons of Sex and the City in the last month or so, usually in lump sittings of 4 or 6 episodes.

Now, being a champion over thinker since way back, it has me thinking about love and life and the decisions we make. And today, I have spent much of the day pondering my relationships-- friendships, loves, work relationship you name it. As I watch the women of S&TC go through their relationships, I can not help but wonder about my own failed relationships. In the grand scheme of things, I am sure that my successful relationship are greater than my failed relationships, but it is, as always, easy to look at what I did wrong (over thinker champion and contender for champion self beater upper as well).

Of course this all as I'm reaching the time I need to make that decision I was eluding to and trying to make those decisions with my heart and not my head. And trying hard not to over analyze my failed relationships using my heart and not my head (can you even do that?). And wondering, if the decision will break your heart, even if it feels right in your heart, can your heart still make the decision?

And you know what? I get back from a long walk in the rain with the dog (one of my favorite things to do, run in the rain) and I have 2 email messages for 2 wonderful people in my life and I think... so really about those failed relationships? Is there really a need to dwell on them?

The Water Bowl

We have 2 water bowls in our house for the cats and dog. They are always in the same place, they don't move, when I pick them up to clean and fill them, I put them back in the same place.

So tell me why I have tripped over one of the water bowls 3 days in a row, usually at the most inopportune times like when we are trying to get out of the house or I'm cooking dinner, because of course it turns into cleaning up the spilled water and everyone wants to help with that, animals and humans alike.

It is times like these that I say to myself, you are supposed to be getting something, this is some sort of sign to make sure you are paying attention...

Well, I'm paying attention, but I think I'm still missing it...

Geocaching

A couple of weeks ago I thought I'd take Sunshine Geocaching. Sunshine has promptly changed the term to Geohunting. All you need really is a handheld GPS unit. You upload some waypoints from geocaching.com and then you go seek them out.

We had so much fine, it involves being outside and in some cases a short walk and others a hike, if you choose. With the GPS you usually only get within a few feet of the cache, and then you have to start looking for something that doesn't look natural, or branches or rocks placed just so, like you know a human had something to do with it.

It has been a lot of fun..


Please note the purse is not a requirement, but in our household Sunshine dresses up for everything!

Again with the Coincidences

I've been struggling with a decision in my life.

Let me back up- ever take a Myers-Briggs test? I score 1 point away any time I take it between the thinking and feeling portion. What that means for me is that often times my head and my heart are in constant conflict about what to do in a situation. Being a champion over thinker from way back this can make for the perfect storm of decisions and replaying events.

But, as I have been ponder what to do, yesterday I rediscovered a wonderful quote a dear friend used to use all the time: "Make major decisions with your heart and minor decisions with your head".

I wonder why it is I often forget that one.. probably because my head would be in charge of remembering such things, and really, that quote takes away much of it's power.

Prompted by the quote, I was able to ask a friend I thought would be really honest with me, their opinion and they gave me a good swift kick in the pants which actually jostled me away from my head and put we squarely in my heart...

I'm going to hold the decision in my heart for a bit and see if I feel settled with it (right now I pretty much do).

Not to be so cryptic, but if I do make the decision that is currently in my heart, I'll fill you in.