I'm about to be single again

So has come the time of year when my wonderful husband up and leaves the country for weeks on end. Starting tomorrow he will off to Japan, Austria and Australia all before the end of October!! Craziness, right? BUT, after he goes to his conference in Australia guess who gets to fly over there and meet him? Can you guess? IT'S ME! WOO HOO!! I leave November 7 and get to spend 7 full days in Sidney. I couldn't be anymore excited! So, until that time arrives I will practically be living by myself for the next month. The silver lining is that it will give me a chance to miss Rich. Then, when I see him in Australia I will be that much more excited! There's ALWAYS a silver lining, people!

I'm not as young as I once was

Why do hangovers hurt so much more as I get older. I drink higher quality beer, wine and spirits now so, in theory, that should help the hangover situation. Nope. It doesn't. I used to drink the cheapest shit I could find and NEVER got hangovers. Maybe I should go back to that. HAHA Yeah right! That stuff would kill me now! Still had fun though. Will probably do it again this weekend with my rugby buddies. Long live Excedrin and McDonald's!!! They will cure what ails you! :)

Stupid Elbow

As I sit here icing my elbow and forearm from an injury I got 5 months ago, I am considering my options. So far it seems like this:
1. Keep doing what I am doing which is mostly natural and making SLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWW progress in getting better. A few Advil here and there help but it is mostly two steps forward and one step back. Frustrating to say the least.
2. Stop exercising. This is a difficult pill to swallow as I have lost 13+ pounds in the past year and feel like I am on a roll I don't want to give up. I love my gym. I love my workouts.
3. Seek medical advice and most likely get a cortisone shot. I am leery about this since I feel it will only mask the pain and not deal with the problem itself.
Obviously, I will not stop the chiropractic, trigger point, laser and acupressure work but this slow and steady pace is steadily stressing me out!

Past and Present

We were up in New York this weekend for Rich's 20 year High School reunion. What a trip down memory lane! It was kinda cool to see him reminisce with all his old HS buddies. It gave me a glimpse into his life as a teenager. Before college, before real life, before me. I like that. It made me feel closer to him and understand more about where he came from outside of his parents' home. He was so excited to see some of his old friends. He was smiling the whole night and, once he got past the dreaded "Am I going to remember anyone?" fear, I think he wished the night could have gone on longer. I hope he keeps in touch with some of the people he thought were forever in his past. I think it's good to have those people around who keep you grounded in the present by reminding you of where you came from. Good times!

Conquering a fear

So I was in California last week for work but had some play time to do some new things. I decided that I would try surfing since I had never done it and had the opportunity with a group. Ever since I can remember I have had this recurring dream of being taken under by a huge wave and not being able to get to the surface in enough time. Usually this dream happens when I am very stressed out or there is a situation that is out of my control (go figure). Anyway, I was totally prepared to get out there, have one wave crash over my head and sit the rest of the day on the beach. But once I was out there with the instructors and the other people in my group I was completely comfortable in the water! I shocked my self and even though they were just baby waves, I felt a sense of accomplishment! Here's me hanging ten in the Pacific....

The only problem I ran into was the motion sickness. You have to paddle through a lot of waves and go over them while laying on your belly. This caused a bit of a **blech** feeling in my stomach. By the time I couldn't take that anymore we only had ten minutes left in our lesson anyway. So, I dragged the board out of the water and posed with it until it was time to go back to the hotel. I know, I'm a little narcissistic but oh well, it made for a cute "surfer dude" picture!

Here's to conquering our fears!!

One Crazy Summer

Wow! Has it really been almost a month since I have last updated this? Sheesh! Time flies when you are having fun...or when you are so unbelievably busy you can't see straight. I can't remember exactly how the saying goes. Anyway, just been another crazy summer. I can't believe August is right around the corner. We have reunions and gatherings and work and work and work...
But the project I am working on now is going to be great if it goes according to plan. I am taking a group of 50 people to Laguna Beach, California and spoiling them rotten! Which, by the way, means i get to take part in the spoils too. At least a little bit or it wouldn't be fair! We are staying at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and I am stoked because I have never stayed at a Ritz! Drank at the bar of one. Went to a birthday party in a suite at one. But never stayed there. Exciting stuff, I tell you! AND I get to take surfing lessons which I am actually quite excited about. Never thought I would have any desire to do that but it sounds fun! So I thought I would give it a whirl.
Hmmmm, what else, waiting for conference call now so I have a couple minutes of free time. Oh! I know...we went to Charlotte this past weekend for a fraternity reunion with Rich's old frat buddies and their families. It was really fun and I think Rich is happy he reconnected with some people he had lost touch with over the years. It was cool to watch him interact with all his old friends. I like getting little snippets and insights into what his life was like in college and before he met me.
Gotta run...phone's ringing....

Being a Dancer

Every year when So You Think You Can Dance comes on I tune in to be entertained by the try-out episodes. It never fails to make me laugh! But the stand out performances are the one that touch me as a dancer. Not that I would have every been good enough to be on a show like this but taking dance for so many years instilled a love and an appreciation for all types of dance and creative movement. When you can get chills from watching someone use their body to create art or even be brought to tears, you are a dancer. Even if you have never set foot on a stage, donned a tutu or worn holes through the bottoms of your dance shoes and then wrapped them wit duct tape because the new ones just didn't feel the same, if you can feel a dance performance in your soul, you are a dancer.

So, as the show goes on and the dancing goes from great to phenomenal, I soak up every second of artistry. I cry more and more with each show as I learn each dancers styles and strengths and watch them perform and grow. I love being a dancer!