Remembering Why I Made this Decision

Today I was walking to Court.  Sun Shining.  Birds singing?  Perhaps.  I didn't have an important role, but I was going to Federal Court as opposed to the State Court where I usually practice these days.

The walk reminded me of a place I was almost 6 years ago, when I first walked into Federal Court in South Florida.  I remember walking to Court in January, 80 degrees, hot in my suit.  Thinking about the cold back "home," I wondered why I didn't live in Florida, too?  The client, a Florida transplant, said, "I don't know why.  I love it here."

In that short conversation he planted a seed.  That seed twisted, turned, found a nice warm home in the soil and grew.  As it burst through the soil to the daylight, it gained strength, became fertilized, and took on its own true life.

That growing seed met the Captain, who watered, nurtured, and coaxed the seed to find its own true life.

As witnessed today, that question, perhaps rhetorical but answered nonetheless, became reality.

And I stopped in the street, looked up at the Court, and smiled to myself.

Happy to be where I am.  Grateful as you cannot begin to comprehend that I am where I am, with the people in my life this day who bless me beyond what I could possibly ever hope to have asked.  And so grateful to the many many friends and family who encouraged me to dive into this unexpected, daring and rewarding adventure. 

Passive Aggressive Love Letters November (Linky?)

My friend over at How to Survive Life In the Suburbs is sponsoring a monthly linky where we all share our "Passive Aggressive Love Letters" - things we'd like to tell people but don't, so we write a letter and then never send it.  Why?  If you have to ask that question, you've never tried it.  Heck I think most of my early blogging was one giant letter to the Ex!!  (of course he eventually read them when he found my blog which totally cracked me up until it didn't!)

Anywhoo, I thought I would join in.  Try to get writing on a more regular basis.  And feel part of the blogging community once again.  Of course, this will require me to figure out how to link myself!  Whatevs.

Dear Aggressive Driver,

Why yes I did see you in my rearview mirror on my way to work today.  And I also saw the elderly gentleman in front of me going verrrry slowly.  I know you also saw the driver in front of me who was going reallllllly slowly.  I know you saw him because you attempted to zoom around all of us entirely too fast, without the use of a signal and with your "ME FIRST" attitude.  And I know that you know that I saw him, too, because just before you attempted your swerve move, I put on my signal and started to move into the left lane.  Thus we both moved into the left lane at the same time - you behind me.  I had plenty of room for the maneuver and you saw it coming.  So why the honking and yelling and hand motions for the next 1/2 mile down the road?  Because you didn't get in front of me, too?  Me, the person ultimately going straight, passing the loooong line of cars turning left onto the highway - the line you had to get into?  Yeah, allowing me to safely pass the elderly gentleman really slowed you down.  NOT.

Share the road babe.  We all have places to be.  Let's get there safely ok?

Sincerely,
I Can Handle the Elderly, it's the obnoxious I want to run over

Another Thanksgiving Dilemma

Once upon a time I [thought] I had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving and was in a dilemma.  That one worked out just fine, as things usually do.

This year, all the sudden it appears to be Thanksgiving again!!  I don't know how this happened, but somehow spending 2 weeks in Spain in October have tossed my internal calendar overboard, and I can't grasp that Christmas is just around the Corner, and Thanksgiving is about to run me over.

I [wrongly] assumed that we would head up to the Captain's mother's for Thanksgiving.  His brother and family live up there and that's what his family tends to do.  Hmmm.  But apparently brother and family are headed out of town, Mom wants to serve dinner at her church for homeless people.  I have no desire to cook a dinner - and I hate turkey anyway - with all the trimmings for 3 people (Yes Son is home until Christmas).  Yes I asked the Captain to ask Mom down here, and we would even pick her up, but either that didn't happen or she really wants to volunteer at the church.

I would like to see Mom, and am trying to get the Captain to inquire as to whether the Church needs us to help, too?  That would be a cool thing to do and Son agrees.  Captain has another brother - single - and we need to figure out his expectations.

Captain also has a grown son who is local who might be looking for a meal (with his girlfriend/housemate). 

Meanwhile, I have company here from out of town today, another to pick up at the airport tomorrow, another coming in Friday, company this weekend expecting to go sailing on a boat who's galley and refrigeration system are currently all over the patio being repair/painted, so I can't really think about next week.

NEXT WEEK??!!!  OMG.

So what are you doing for Thanksgiving? 

I Have become My Neighbor

When I was a kid, the family across the street had a very observant mother.  She always knew when we came home, who was there, and even if we were celebrating a special family dinner in the dining room which overlooked the street.

When I moved into my house in Maryland where I lived until last year's move, the kids were 6.  A lovely lady/family lived across the street.  Her kids were mostly grown.  She often commented on how she loved to watch the "comings and goings" at our house.  AKA the constant chaos of moms and kids on the go.  When we divorced, I kept the house, and I was always comfortable knowing that my neighbor was keeping a very watchful eye on things at my house.  OK well mostly I was comfortable with that.

Now, I am the older lady who lives across the street, with grown children off at college (more or less) and I delight in watching the "comings and goings" of the family across the street.  They have 2 teenage girls and a darling, energetic 9 year old boy who can usually be seen running wildly and gleefully around the yard/neighborhood.  I know precisely when they are leaving for school every morning, because just like my Son at that age, they have to yell and scream and then just start backing out the driveway before he finally gets his act together and gets in the car.  I accept packages for them from FedEx, offer advice (when asked) about teenagers and computers and privacy and such.  But mostly I watch the comings and goings and the chaos I once knew.

And I realized, I am my neighbor.  I am that older woman with no kids living across the street.  And it made me a little sad. 

My First National Election in Florida....

I was so excited to vote in Florida- finally my vote would "count."  In Maryland where I lived it was decidely democratic so it really didn't matter if I voted.  But in Florida we were a "swing state" so I was determined to wait out the lines no matter what - plus of course there are the important local elections in which some of my new friends were running.

Silly me - "my vote counts."  LMAO.  They had already called the election for Obama and people in Miami were STILL in line waiting to vote.  Rumor has it the last voter voted at 1am.  Yeah for you for sticking it out!!

And quite frankly it's a good thing they didn't need Florida.  Oye vey the stories and things I have seen.

How do they vote in Florida? 

1. Wait in line for 15 minutes or 8 hours or something in between;
2. Show Driver's license (isn't that unconstitutional?!);
3. Get GIANT voting cards, mine was 4 pages double sided (aka 8 pages);
4. Go to "Privacy Booth" to fill out cards by filling in circles with black pen;
5. "Privacy Booth" is not large enough to put cards side by side, so shuffle shuffle flip shuffle, try like hell to locate the page numbers, find said tiny page numbers in upper right hand corner that I can't read without my cheaters which I didn't bring, try to figure out if you've filled in all the squares on the 8 proposed amendments and ridiculous (unconstitutional??) "confirmation" of state supreme court judges;  recheck your work 3 times;
6. Go wait in line for "scanner" which will read your card and count your vote and lock up your card after it reads it for safekeeping;
7. Get a sticker and go home.

Apparently a coworker was trying to vote when the scanner broke, so the voter police (one person alone) opened the scanner and took out the cards without anyone else monitoring and no accountability.  What? 

Other voter tallies and voter cards mysteriously disappeared when counts went from 2000 to 1000 (cards vs. scanner counts) in early voting.

So yeah if you were depending on Florida it would've been another 34 days of fighting in courts.  Thank God the rest of the nation figured out how to vote and get it all counted and such.

BUT I VOTED.  Hope you did, too.  If your candidate didn't win, regardless "we" have a President.  I vowed my support for whichever candidate won before the verdict came in, and I hope we can all get behind this President this time.  Fighting each other clearly didn't work the first 4 years.

God Bless America and THANK YOU to the millions of men and women who have sacrificed their time (and some of them their lives) to give me this right to vote.

Turning over (another) new leaf....

Helllllloooo out there.  Yes I am the absentee blogger.   Not to be confused with an absentee voter.  But I did vote in person today (in Florida - in Broward county - will it count?  that's another post....)

As you know, I have lived in paradise for a year now.  Truly paradise.  The Captain continues to be amazing.  We have an amazing time living together, talking, sailing, laughing, entertaining an endless stream of visiting family, friends and children (and I was afraid the kids wouldn't come!! Silly me).

But along with this happiness has come an unwanted 15 pounds, an unhealthy partying lifestyle, and a lack of attention to my health.

I rationalized the first 5 pounds.

I denied the second 5 pounds.

It's the third 5 pounds that caused me to buy some new clothes.

And finally, the Captain, seeing my sadness with myself and unable to face it by myself, joined forces with me this weekend and we BOTH committed to a healthier lifestyle.

Yeah, we've done this a few (half-hearted) times over the last year.  But today?  I put my MONEY where my MOUTH is (oh and a cupcake but wait, I can explain....)

Today for the first time in my life, as a 20 year soccer athlete and marathon runner, I joined a gym AND hired a personal trainer.  I almost fainted at the cost, which promptly led them to show me a much more reasonable program.  Then came the body measurements.  Talk about humiliating.  I told him "JUST WRITE IT IN THE BOOK, I do NOT want to hear them out loud."  They'll take them every month to chart progress.  Accountability.

1 year.

Lose 15 pounds.

Lose 5% BMI.

Get back into the clothes that fit.

Rock the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon with my Brother for his 50th in March 2013

Shock my classmates at my 25th college reunion in June 2013.

Smile on my 47th birthday next September when I am back to my healthy lifestyle, avoiding the high cholesterol, heart disease genes just waiting for me to eat that cupcake.

OH right that um the cupcake ... it's like this - my personal trainer and I talked food - briefly. I know more about calories, good fat, bad fat, carbs, proteins, what when how and why than a dietitian (ok almost more).  But DOING it is another thing.  SOOOO he said, "Just avoid the white carbs - there are good carbs."  So as a farewell to those bad white carbs I love so much, I finally gave in and ate one of the cupcakes I brought in today to celebrate our American Rights.

Adios chubby!