Notes from the Cafe

The blogging community is huge and very diverse. I have been fortunate to be a part of a very loving and giving part of that community. When I got going with my original blog at 500miles, I started it as a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life a couple of years after HalfBrainBoy’s surgery to remove his brain tumor. And the blogging community that surrounded us came through and very generously gave to our team by opening your wallets and pitching in with donations.

This week, I would like to ask you to open your hearts for Jeni. If you do not know her, by all means, go meet her. She is a beautifully courageous cancer warrior and some of her Blogger Friends are running a Bloggers for Jeni Auction this week on eBay. The proceeds will help pay for medical expenses that insurance won’t cover and provide a trust for her little boy (he’s 6), Jack. There are beautiful things for sale at the auction.

Beautiful things for beautiful bloggy hearts.

Playing catch-up around here after too long doing other things once again. My Mac still looks like this. I have not taken it in to the doctor. It is working just like the champ that I would expect it to. Because it is a Mac. (I don’t know what that means. I simply wrote what my fingers told me to write.)

Continuing on in the reverse-aging process. Have done several things on the list to turn back the clock and in another couple of months I will retake the test to see how I’m doing. Normally I would be chomping at the bit to retake it and see if I’ve already made some improvements to my ate, but at this point, I’m sure they haven’t been as impressive as they’ll be in a couple of months. So I’m good to wait. But since I originally took the test, I’ve added a multi-vitamin, omega-3, calcium, vitamin-C, increased my vegetables and fruits, grains, potassium, added breakfast and regular flossing to my routines. I also gave up coffee (*gasp!*) and switched to the occasional green tea. This happened more as a necessity back when I had the influenza and I couldn’t get out of bed to get myself to the coffee shop so I sucked it up and held in there through the ‘woe is me’ phase (a couple of days’ worth of missing my flavored syrups mostly) and that was that. With the increased sunshine and warmer weather, it’s just a matter of days before the aerobic exercise is regular once again. So I figure I’m pretty much down to at least my actual age now and once I get some decent exercise happening I’ll be moving under that. I don’t expect to hit the early 30’s or anything (even though the site told me I could be at 34 or so by mid-June if I followed all of their advice…), but aging back to pre-40’s would be kinda sweet.

I caught up on Eli Stone tonight. Anybody else watching this? I <3 this show. It’s one of those feel-good programs that will probably not survive beyond this season. There is enough negativity in life, I’m hoping to see more shows like this and Pushing Daisies get through a single season.

Writing with Marge again tomorrow. Then it’s time to dash off to Chan to pick up HBB. And dash back home so he’s in town for his massage. Then it’s the weekend! For me anyway. I have a few tasks to do this weekend. Like that one website which needs work. Yeah. That. And it’s Earth Day weekend around here. Our sub development is having a  little volunteer cleanup that we are going to be involved with. A bit of a ‘meet the neighbors!’ kind of thing, too. And we’ll close down the weekend with a brief Relay For Life team meeting.

What’s that? I haven’t been going on and on about Relay For Life? OH! You’re right! Well, you all know the drill by now. If you love me… (I jest) … Have you been touched by cancer? Is there anyone who has not? The American Cancer Society has some fabulous programs in place for people going through treatment, and their caregivers and families. And they fund those programs through donations. Their flagship fund raising campaign is the Relay For Life. We’ve been doing it for six years now. Because HBB had a brain tumor removed back in 2001 and it’s our way to give back and celebrate his survival. If you’d like to donate, we’d love to take your money. Money is down due to the economy and all sorts of other things. So believe me, we’d appreciate it. And so would the cancer warriors who are out there getting treatment and using the services currently. I’ll provide links to our team fund raising site at the end of this post. Check it out.

Done a little reading. Finished two books I received through ARC. Wrote up a couple of reviews for those over at my book blogging site. So I’m moving (plodding) along in the 888 Challenge. But I am behind again in the ABC Challenge - I need a G. I’m thinking Green as it is my favorite color. And it’s spring. Must get on that. And then H. Which is obvious. And easy. But I need to catch up. And speaking of being behind (x365)…

Aside from the above, I’ve mostly been helping the kids prepare for their summer adventure across the country. I envy them. I didn’t do any adventure post-school. There wasn’t any big travel time or anything for me. I haven’t seen much of our fair land. So I hope to live vicariously through them. And watch the photo collection grow. And hear about all of their adventures. I’m sure they’ll learn to live frugally as they do a good deal of backpacking and camping. Ahh, youth and the spirit of adventure… wish I’d had more of it when I was in it!

The Keith’s Brain Trust Relay For Life Team Donation Site

Keri’s personal donation site

Keith’s (aka HBB) donation site

Am feeling extremely grateful that HBB was a wise and generous soul when he purchased my MacBook last year.

• Used our friendly GPS to find the church for Aunt Phyllis’s funeral on Saturday morning. We were there in no time. Those who relied on my mother’s directions were not.
• Saturday afternoon we drove to Chan and cleared out the rest of the boxes from HBB’s storage garage. If we can get the trash out over the next couple of days, we’ll be completely free of one more monthly bill and have a little more peace of mind.
• On the way to Chan we drove down 35w and detoured around the bridge collapse. Didn’t see the site, but I don’t know what is left of the area to see anymore anyway. At one point traffic came to a standstill as we passed under a bridge full of protesters holding large banners for Earth Day promoting peace and asking for sanity in Iran. I’m all for that…
• Saturday evening we turned out all of our lights at 8 in support of Earth Hour. This took a little extra effort than simply flipping off the light switches in our new house. We weren’t provided switches for turning off exterior lights as the townhouses are supposed to keep the exterior lights on at all times, so we had to actually remove the lightbulbs from in front of the house (thankfully they were only at about 6 feet high) and the one over the garage door we could flip the garage breaker to shut off.
• Today was my Uncle Howard’s 80th birthday. He’s shown in the above photo of my mom’s siblings… center, obviously. He spent several days over the past week in and out of the hospital for an infection and here’s hoping he is now fully recovered.
• Still reading! Currently working on Listening is An Act of Love, A New Earth, Life of Pi, and Bloodsucking Fiends.
• Kel has been taking a lot of photos with her new lens. And they are beautiful. I hope some of you stop at her flickr site and check them out.

Now I need some serious sleep.

Super-arched lower spine!

So I’m getting dressed and writing the check for my massage therapist yesterday, and she’s telling me that things look good but that she thinks I should work on plank pose to strengthen the muscles in my back to help pull my shoulders back. Since we’re talking yoga I casually mention that I like plank pose just fine but I hate me some cobra pose big time because it hurts my lower back. And she says, “Well that’s because you already have such an overly arched lower spine that when you do cobra or any pose that accentuates that area and makes those vertebra arch even more, it’s going to be uncomfortable for you. You should be concentrating more on flat back like table and cat pose and not do cobra.”

Well I could have kissed her. I may just have done that. Certainly hugs were exchanged in my excitement. No wonder I hate cobra. And I no longer have to feel like a yoga loser. It’s just a pose that doesn’t work so well for me and my spine. I can live with that. I’ll do things that do work. And I’ll love them all the more.

Just finished a fabbo lunch of soup that was a hodge podge of veggie broth, hot and spicy v-8, couscous, chickpeas and seasonings sitting here beside my sweetie, HBB. It is snowing again. I will certainly be glad when Kel and Michael return from their drive to Chicago to pick up Serena and Kelsey. I thought the weekend was supposed to be warm and dry and clear up yesterday’s storm. I guess I was wrong.

Tomorrow we’re off to my folks’ for brunch, just us two. It will be a quiet and somber occasion. Mom is in the process of losing her oldest sister. She will probably be gone by this evening. I’m glad she was able to be with all of us for Christmas.

Phyllis is on the left and mom is beside her…

More of a sister than a friend you were truly my BFF back in those days. Met you in Montana and broke your heart in Florida over a boy. Shoulda let you have him. Bonding over the Bible, beer and boys. Skipping school for afternoon movies and shopping at K-mart. (dear dog we lived in the sticks back then) Dancing to the music of Prince and Madonna at The Oz on Wabasha. My first real running buddy. First person I ever knew my own age who lost both parents. Things like that just weren’t supposed to happen. 42 words are honestly not sufficient for the suffering we’ve put each other through. I miss those two naive young things.

x365: Glimpses of people (some fondly remembered, some not) who’ve made up our lives. Celebrating the past; enriching the present.

CursingMama did her own copying of a meme today and because I am still alive and just want to put that word out there, I am doing the same.

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 (or more) pages.
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (online class on chapter three is at 8 central tonight)

2. Open the book to page 123 and find the 5th sentence.

3. Post the next 3 sentences.
People unknowingly sabotage their own work when they withhold help or information from others or try to undermine them lest they become more successful or get more credit than “me.” Cooperation is alien to the ego, except when there is a secondary motive. The ego doesn’t know that the more you include others, the more smoothly things flow and the more easily things come to you.

4. Tag 5 people.
Like CM, I don’t do this part.