Walk a Mile in My Shoes

From March 5th to April 20th Fitbit says I've walked 250 miles which works out to 402 kilometers. Impressive if I do say so myself.

Wouldn't say I'm quite ready to walk the El Camino de Santiago in Spain yet, but oh, how I would love to do that! One day maybe.

It's on my Bucket List along with a helicopter ride through the Grand Canyon.

Fitbit also informs me the most steps I've made in a day is 15,000 and my average sleep night is 6 hours and 20 minutes. Plus, I've shed some pounds which is a good thing for sure.

Oh yes, I said I'd say more about my crazy day yesterday. It consisted of a mad dash into Grande Prairie, 2 hours each way, (well maybe more like 1.5 hours at my speed), to run around and pick up a few items, old and new, to furnish what will soon be my new Falher office!

Yes mam! By next week, I hope to have it ready enough to welcome my first clients.

The advantage of this place?

I can use it any time of the week instead of only on Mondays, it is a huge space, I don't have to share it with another practitioner, and it comes to me with love.

Yup! No problem. I can handle that! I bow in gratitude.

180 Degrees

Yup, that's what my morning did. It took a 180 degree turn. Life's like that sometimes.

The writing I had planned to do didn't happen at all and I had a crazy ass day. But hey! It was all good and got lots accomplished. More on that later.

I did take time to snap a pic of this guy basking in a beam of sunshine. I think I just might have something to learn from my little feathered friend.

A Grand Old Time

Made the 8 hour drive from High River today. Got home around 6:15. It was such a beautiful day to be travelling. Almost had me wishing I was sitting in a roll down top to cruise down the highway. Seemed a shame not to physically be outside even though I had the sun beaming down on me.

My time in High River started off with an open mic night in a new coffee shop that just opened. A variety of local musicians gathered to play some bluegrass and rock and roll. They were amazingly good and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening with my two daughters Brenda and Jody and two granddaughters Carys and Jesse.

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Saturday morning we visited a few local shops and stopped in at the museum to see the Superman display. Did you know that most of Superman 3 with Christopher Reeve was filmed in High River?

But of course we couldn't make our way out the door until Carys and Jesse had time to play dress up.

It was hard to convince them to get out of there in time to go to Kayben Farms on the outskirts of Okotoks. It's a delightful place to take kids for a fun day in the fresh air.

 Well adults can have fun too. Nothing like a good fast slide to make one feel like a kid again.

Yup! That's me.

My two younger daughters and me.

The grandchildren and me.

Time for a good hearty lunch after all that play.

Maybe some farmers around here should think about getting a little creative with their grain bins.

Birthday Fun

Today was my official birthday. Went to meet my sister, brother in-law and 10 other people for breakfast - a $3.99 special at the River Cree Casino. I got there early so I could have my first walk of the day on their huge grounds.

Had an enjoyable breakfast and nice visit. Stayed until the noise level got to be too much for me and decided to go for another walk around until they were ready to leave.

Made a short stop at Costco then headed to Ft. Saskatchewan to do a bit of shopping and meet up with my sister's granddaughter before going to our hotel room.

Venessa, took me to a park where there are miles and miles of hiking and biking trails by the Saskatchewan River and by a man made lake stocked with fish. We both walked for a little over 2 miles then all of us went out for a 7 pm dinner at a 50's or 60's retro restaurant called "The Downtown Dinner." A great place with awesome, tasty, unique, food. Well worth going to. Came back to the hotel swam in the pool and soaked in the hot tub.

It was pretty windy out there as you can see.

The Downtown Diner

Everyone went from the pool straight to bed - me, of course not.  I'm enjoying my quiet time and who knows how long I'll be up. I'm answering emails, reading my book and an article about my favorite actress Meryl Streep, swearing at my computer mouse that keeps malfunctioning, writing on my blog, and listening to music while drinking a Pepsi. Yup, life is pretty good at the moment.

The only thing that would make it better would be to have my honey here with me. Unfortunately she wasn't able to make the trip. Her fall in the house 10 days ago resulted in a cracked rib which has been causing her a lot of grief. She stayed home to recuperate and wouldn't hear of me cancelling my plans. Fortunately her granddaughter and daughter are spending time with her which she's enjoying very much.

Tomorrow morning I hope to leave early (if I get to bed and get some shut eye soon), to make my way down to High River for a visit with my other two girls and 3 grandchildren. I'm looking forward to the next leg of the journey!

Early Celebrations

I went out for a mile walk at 11 pm tonight in order to work off the piece of birthday cake and scoop of ice cream I had after supper. While I was out there I got to admire the bright crescent shape moon, the stars and the beam of Northern Lights dancing across the sky. Beautiful!

What a fun evening. Some friends took me out for supper and after supper they came to our place so we could have some of the birthday cake they baked for me. I also got to open some early birthday gifts - even one from friends in Quebec. What a fun evening with lots of laughs. I feel very spoiled but I can take it!

It was an early birthday get together as I leave in the morning to go spend a few days with my girls. First a stop in Edmonton to see my oldest daughter, then on to High River to see my other two daughters and all my grandchildren of course. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Plus, as a bonus, I get to see my sister who is flying in from Kelowna and landing in Edmonton on Thursday morning. We will spend the evening together and I will make the remainder of my journey to High River on Friday morning and make the 8 hour drive back on Sunday.

A quick short visit and a busy time. It will be tiring but lots of fun too.

Oh, I almost forgot. I also got a letter in the mail from my youngest grandson Finnley.

Stuff

So Thursday night was the book presentation in French. Good feedback on that.

Friday and Saturday was a book display at the Farmer's Market in Peace River. Made for long days. It's hard for me to sit still in one spot unless I'm counselling.

Sunday was a day well spent helping out some friends. That's always rewarding in it's own way.

Monday back in the counselling chair. Makes it difficult to get my walks in when my job requires me to physically be still. It often means walking in the dark even though there are more daylight hours now.

I've been using my Fitbit for close to 6 weeks. It's helped me stay on track with getting fit, or at least fitter than I was. Takes determination to stick with it but it's rewarding to see results.

Here's a pic I snapped when I was walking by the canal about a mile from home. This is when the water was running full swing with the snow melt. It's about as close as I can get to the sound of a creek. Unfortunately it only flows that much for about a week or so. It's down to a trickle now.

And this is on one of my walks in Peace River by the Heart River bridge. There are some neat rock formations in that spot.

Don't you just love how the days are getting longer. I thrive on sunlight. I don't think I would last long way up North when it's their winter season with almost no light at all. On the flip side though, I would love to be there when they have 24 hour days. Don't know that I'd ever get any sleep though.

Let me introduce you to the next little Picasso, alias grandson Finnley, in deep concentration working over his art piece.

And absolutely not. Our cat never jumps up on the kitchen table. Especially not when I'm having my breakfast and morning tea. Never!

Meeting The Challenge - Lancement de livre en Francais

A month and a half ago when I was asked to do a book launch in French, I thought, what the heck; I'm always up for a challenge. But two minutes later I was questioning my sanity and secretly hoping for a good solid case of laryngitis for April 7th or for the village of St. Isidore to suddenly vanish into thin air never to be heard of again. 

Neither one of those things happened. So, as promised, I showed up and I delivered and I must say, it went surprisingly well.

Twenty or so women gathered around the tables at the Centre Cultural eager to hear me read and share my story.  I read excerpts from my book, they asked questions, I responded, and encouraged open floor discussions.

For two and a half solid hours, we laughed, cried, questioned, and remembered. The challenge was met, but more than that, connection was made, truths were spoken and Oneness was lived.

And that to me is the purpose and the reason of it all.

An Enchanted Evening

It was drizzling and raining all the way to Peace River but it didn't dampen our spirits any as three of us headed out for a special dinner together. A wonderful evening and a delicious meal in good company. What more could a person ask for?

The wet stuff was still coming down when we left the restaurant to make our way home. We were lucky enough to spot three beautiful white tail deer munching away on the hillside. Then, as if to complete the evening, when we got to Falher to drop off our guest, we were gifted with a bright rainbow against a darkening sky followed by a spectacular sunset as the sun made its descent below the clouds.

Yes, I miss the mountains and the creeks and lakes but moments like these are the moments when I am grateful to be living on the prairies.

You Are My Sunshine

This is what my relationship with the sun looks like. This is what the sun makes me live. This is what I would do if I listened to my heart.

I would throw my arms open and embrace the light of the world.

I do throw my arms open and I do embrace the light and love I feel inside but often I put a muzzle on it, subdue, subjugate, suppress, what wants to come out.

I feel it but I keep what I feel inside.

I say I am authentic and that I live my life authentically but maybe I have to call myself on that.

How authentic am I when I hold back?

To be fair, I don't always hold back but I wish I could throw caution to the wind more often then I do now.

I am getting better at it. Maybe in another decade or so I'll have this fear of overwhelming people with the intensity of what I feel figured out.

If I close my eyes for a minute, an image of my 3 or 4 year old self feeling shamed for running up on stage and breaking into a jig to the beat of the violin player comes to mind.

For shit sake! It's high time I get over it and move beyond. But shame is insidious. It crawls under your skin and draws the shade on spontaneity.

I know me.

My spirit won't rest now. Not until I find a way to pull that shade and spontaneity becomes a regular part of my life.

Yup, another decade or so should do it!

Oh let the sun shine in........

Catching Up.

One thing is for sure. I have to toughen up my butt cheeks before I go on a big bike ride. Took out my wheels today and went for a couple of spins around. Went for only 10 km and I was feeling it already. Oh but what a good feeling to get back in the saddle regardless of sore muscles. I might of gone a lot further had it not been for the 30 km wind. Heading East was a breeze (pun intended) but the minute I turned to the West it was a heck of a lot more challenging to keep moving forward.

Andree's nephew got married on April 1st (yesterday). It's not an April Fools joke, nor is the baby that's due to arrive in June. She got to attend the wedding along with her little sister Mia. It was a very small and beautiful celebration with a good time had by all.   

Don't they look proud those three!

I got kind of tired of sitting around and decided to go for a walk after a scrumptious dinner. The sun was making it's way down by that time and casting an interesting shadow of myself as I tried to get in as many steps as possible to burn off some of those calories. 

This keeping in shape and losing weight is demanding a lot of my time but I'm seeing results so that's good.

Kinda freaky looking!

Hey, the geese are out and about and that's a good sign too. Spring must be here! We've had some nice weather that's for sure but it's still rather cool especially when that wind decides to come out in full force.

The other night I walked until the sun went all the way down. There's nothing that gets in the way when it comes to seeing the sunrise and sunset on these wide open prairies. It's a sight that I truly love and appreciate. Still, I do miss the mountains. Can't have it all I suppose. Dang it all anyway!

Alright. Time to move on to other things. Grabbing some dinner then my honey and I are making our way to High Prairie to sit back, relax and watch a movie. Miracles In Heaven is playing tonight. We don't have a TV but we do enjoy taking in a movie once in a while.