Random musings

I feel I need to talk a little about your comments to my last post. Had I known you guys were going to be so sweet, I would have been writing similar posts more often - you should see my huge grin now - I am such a sucker for a good word, and yours made me tear up - thank you all. But honestly, as much as I love them, I did not write that post to earn your praises. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on priorities in spending money. It is true, I have not considered that photographers and their families need to eat too. I am only hoping that the majority of the photo fee I paid goes to them and not some administrative nonsense. After all, they were the ones standing there for hours while we were having fun running. 

One of the first blogs ever I started following was Jody's Truth2BeingFit. If you are looking for a source of commonsense fitness or nutrition advice, some personal reflection, some laughs, and a lot of inspiration, hers is the blog to follow. Jody starts every week with a gratitude post and every Monday she makes me stop and think about that, which I am grateful for. Sorry, Jody I have not commented on your last post -- I am still thinking, as you can see. :-) 

The time between my birthday and New Year has always been a period of reflection for me. I never plan it that way, it just happens. I look back and try to look ahead so I can figure out where I am. 

This, by far, has been emotionally the most difficult year for me ever. Over the past number of years I have gone through a lot of difficulties, my father's prolonged illness and death, my mother's Alzheimer's, illness in the family, deaths of quite a few close family members and friends, even my breast cancer - nothing prepared me for the emotional turmoil this year had brought. Let me spare you the details because what I do want to focus on is gratitude - how else would I deal with trying times? So here is my comment to your post, Jody. I am grateful for my real and virtual friends, for their support and their sincerity. Most stuck by me without knowing any of the why's and how's. They put up with my roller coaster moods, they found time for me, they emailed, called, made a true effort to be there for me. But I am also grateful to those less true and less sincere ones. They taught me invaluable lessons in understanding, patience, and staying true to my feelings no matter what.

And Jody, as you might have guessed, my hormones did not help this year at all. Sorry, guys, this is the female thing very few of you seem to be able to comprehend. :-) 

I am done with C2's Holiday Challenge and I am very, very proud of myself. See, you can praise me some more. :) But seriously, this is the type of a challenge I like because I am truly not good at all at raising funds so running for charities does not work for me well. Makers of Concept Rowers are going to donate $ to one of the charities of my choice if I rowed 100k before Xmas Eve. In case I have not made it clear in my previous posts, I hate indoor rowing. I do it because it is a good workout, but no matter how much I row, I cannot make myself like it. This is unlike outdoor rowing, which I love. Hey, I even used to be on the rowing team for a short while but had to quit because of frequent trips to Poland. Anyway, the charity I picked was Vermont Disaster Relief Fund. One of my friends hiked in Vermont just last month and was saying there is still a lot of horrific damage after Irene. 

Now I will keep on rowing because for any km over 100k, Concept2 will double their per km contribution. Love that.

So as I said, I am not good at raising money so if any of you hear of challenges that will help others and only require me to sweat, please, let me know. I am sure I will have plenty of extra calories to burn this season. My friends need to stop baking all those sinful cookies.

Tiny, tiny world. - This is the last story, I promise.

So one of my virtual JMT friends posted a slide show on Facebook of some of his virtual friends. About 5:40 minutes into the show I saw something that looked very familiar, a Have a Good Hike writing on the trail. See, I wrote a message just like that in Evolution Valley. So I dug up my picture of it and sure enough, it is my writing. I just love how some things go in circles. This certainly made me smile. 

BTW, the slide show is worth watching especially that it has not only beautiful scenery but pictures of beyond sinful pies at Vermilion Valley Resort. Mary, it is a small detour but if you don't stop there to for their pies and free (1st) beer, you will regret it for the rest of your hiking life. 

This fits my mood perfectly these days: