FitBloggin' 13 ("What, not a New Year's Post?!?")

"We write to taste life twice. Once in the moment and once in retrospection."
- Anais Nin, A New Woman

So here I am, half a year later, trying to recap FitBloggin'.  It's harder than I thought it would be, for such a memorable event.  Not sure if it's because I'm afraid of getting some fact wrong, forgetting to mention any of the wonderful people I met, or simply rambling too much.  So rather than give a sequential account of things, I'm going to talk about what I LOVED about the conference and what I would tell another first-timer to the conference.

13 Things I Loved about FitBloggin' 13!

Not necessarily in this order...and each of these would not be possible without the amazing job Roni Noone did: planning the agenda, recruiting sponsors, arranging the conference hotel and menu to suit people with such varying definitions of what it means to eat healthfully.

Yeayyy, Roni!

13.  SWAG!

Roni did a fantastic job in recruiting generous sponsors for the event.  I was avalanched with wonderful goodies on arrival.  I had heard that the swag at FitBloggin' was legendary...and it's TRUE!  At registration, we were given a great Reebok gym bag stuffed with lots of amazing samples and gifts, and just past the registration table, the nice folks at Reebok outfitted us with shoes and yoga tank tops! 

I love mine: I got the purple Reebok Crossfit Nano shoes!  I was really worried about whether they would fit my feet.  However, their wide toe box meant that my feet were not pinched at the toes.  They are lightweight and have good airflow.  Not to mention I get a ton of compliments on my bright kicks! :-)

Purple?!? Be still my heart!

I'd say about half of the items in we received were fitness-goodies (a Humana pedometer, Sweat Pink shoelaces, a Nutrilite gym bag and supplements package, a tech shirt from the JumpSport Fitness trampoline folks), and the other half were food samples.  I especially liked the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts, Blue Diamond almonds, Simply Snackin meat snacks (I got to try the Sirloin with Apples & Cherries - yum!!!), and the sample pack of Lenny & Larry's brand-new Fit Brownies (which I'll be reviewing in a near-future post!).

The swag wasn't just in the bag - sponsors hosted the snack times and the evening events, and they were present in the exhibition area with samples and drawings. I was especially delighted to see The Laughing Cow!  When I was little, my dad was a salesman for an imported deli food company, so I have fond memories of their tiny cheese cubes and Babybell cheeses.

"J'aime bien La Vache Qui Rit!"

Attune Foods and Driscoll's Berries sponsored a lovely yogurt and toppings bar with - hurrah, plain yogurt! - during the Ignite keynote session in the evening.

Before...

...and After (yum!)

My iPhone and I must also thank the Amana folks for the recharging room and the refreshing citrus-infused water stations.

11.  The conference hotel - The Nines! (http://www.thenines.com/)

Groovy Unhipster Meets Hipster

Hip (did I imagine the hipness to be kind of tongue-in-cheekly so?) and swanky in its decor and usual clients (picture the stylishly dressed bar-goers and the athletically dressed conference-goers eyeing each other in the elevators), The Nines also had the nicest staff and best conference food ever!  Breakfasts were my favorite: beautiful fresh fruit, egg dishes, and delicious, high-quality bacon!

12.  The Cheese Guy

He was very knowledgeable about the cheese selections, and we enjoyed a wonderful plate of cheeses, among other delights, at The Urban Farmer restaurant in The Nines.

Words fail me.  I'm distracted by the cheese.

I'm not a big fan of blue cheese, but OMG, the blue cheese + lavender honey combo was amazing!  I also liked the cheese from Cowgirl Creamery...a type of brie, I think?

Another picture: because...CHEESE!

10.  Great Sessions

You mean, it wasn't just a big blogger reunion?  There was that, but also so many good sessions.  Most were live-blogged, and those are posted here: http://fitbloggin.com/category/fitbloggin13/liveblogs-fitbloggin13/

I attended mostly the blogging business-related ones, probably because I was curious about how much social media does/could intersect with my career as a technical writer.  I did attend some of the small discussions as well, particularly Margo Porras' and Jen Sader's excellent "Getting Back from Gaining Back" discussion. Maintenance is hard, and bloggers especially feel a lot of pressure of "what do I talk about?" when stuck or experiencing a setback.  Some good advice shared:  Reframe it as continuing rather than starting over.  Pick a blog name/theme that fits your whole life. (Which I've seen many of my blogger friends over the years do successfully.  My favorite blogs tend to be ones in which the writer shares their weight loss/maintenance/diabetes management experiences, but also shares their interests and experiences beyond those topics.)

Of the business sessions, I liked the video and photography ones the best, even though I don't use video in my blog and do not have a fancy camera.  Both sessions were highly technical, but included tips for improving your skills.  Best video tip: get a decent microphone, video is 80% audio.  (I've created product screen-casts, and yes, poor audio and narration is jarring to the viewer.)  Most useful photo tip for me was the concept of "catchlights," the little pinpoints of light that help the subject's eyes look a bit more lively.  Simply turn your subject's face toward the light until they appear in the subject's eyes, and then snap your picture!

9.  Pin-giving

Earlier on registration day, I was enjoying some of my favorite spots in Portland with my friend Abbie and her sons.  We were at Butterscotch - a favorite shop that sadly, has closed since then - and I perused their bin of cute buttons.  I suddenly had a brainstorm:  what if I bought a batch of pins and gave them out at FitBloggin', sort of like the pin traders at Disneyland?  I was kind of shy when it came to offering the buttons, but most people seemed delighted to accept one and were able to find a pin that "spoke" to them - and each pin found a new home by the end of the conference.

8.  Spontaneity - Dance parties, karaoke, impromptu conversations

I loved how, often as not, each evening's session would end up in a dance party.  This year they also had karaoke on evening #2; I didn't sing, but it was fun to see individuals and groups get up there and perform.  You couldn't ask for a more supportive audience for branching out of your comfort zone, that's for sure.

7.  Ice breakers

First, there was badge decorating, then the official Social Scavenger Hunt (e.g., find someone whose blog you have never read, and leave a comment, then get their signature).  The OMG-I-don't-know-anyone-what-do-I-do-now!?!? panic almost took hold, when Susan Ito (http://www.susanito.com/) spotted me:  "I need you to help me brainstorm for the ice breaker!"  Whew - something to do! 

Speed ice breaking!

Our job was to come up with questions for an ice breaker that was based on speed-dating:  we had two circles of chairs, and one group rotated chairs, so each person got to know a little bit about someone new every few minutes.  Another great one was when Susan had everyone group themselves in zip-code order, so people could see who else from their part of the country was attending.  So fun!

6.  Free time

Most conferences pack in the sessions.  I liked that FitBloggin' allowed time for participants to have a block of free time to enjoy the city together.  You could go on your own, or there were several "offsite walking tours" organized by various FitBloggers.  I went on the knitting one, led by Deb Eber Roby (www.debroby.com).  We went to a shop called KnitPurl, and with help from local FitBlogger & knitware designer Kristine Beeson (http://kadyellebee.com/), I found a locally made skein of yarn.

Note the colorway: kale!  At FitBloggin', even the yarn is healthy!

After the knitting shop, it was food truck time!  Portland is known for its vibrant food truck scene, and I got a delicious Korean BBQ salad. 

5.  Karen Anderson's EXCELLENT "EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, aka "Tapping")" session

Karen Anderson, "The Acceptance Whisperer" (http://www.kclanderson.com/), presented an overview of EFT and asked for issues to address from the participants.  Thank goodness there were several boxes of tissues in the room!  The thing that struck me most:  here we were in a room full of beautiful, talented, funny women, and so many deal with tough feelings.  It made me a little teary myself, and I'm not exactly a leaky dame.  Karen led us with grace and gentle humor through EFT exercises.  I left the session feeling calmer, and it seems to me a nice technique for acknowledging when I'm stressed and thinking through how I might make a shift to my reaction to a situation.

4.  FitMob 2013!

FitBlogger Margo Porras ("Nacho Mama" of "It's Nacho Mama's Blog - Life with Extra Cheese"
http://www.nachomamasblog.com/) organized a FitMob to the song "Fame."  She posted YouTube videos of the choreography so that we could practice in advance, and we had a little rehearsal before the FitMob happened.  Here's a video to "remembah":

(It gets more watcher-friendly by 40 seconds in.  Thanks to Alan Ali of "Sweating Until Happy" for posting this!)

3.  Zumba!

I had the privilege of meeting Sue O'Lear (http://mrsfatass.com/) at the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half Marathon, and I had followed the story of her becoming a Zumba instructor and of her and business partner Samantha Collins (http://simplifyingsam.com/) forming Trio Fitness, so I was very happy that they were leading the Zumba party again at FitBloggin' this year. (Having read about their leading Zumba at former FitBloggin' conferences, being able to attend their class was a dream come true!)

Sam & Sue rockin' the house!

I enjoyed shaking my groove thing with Sue & Sam, and their fellow Zumba masters Gina, Nellie, and Bonnie (http://zombierunningprincess.com/).

*Squeee*!!!

2.  Location in Portland, Oregon

I am in love with Portland, Oregon, so I may be a bit biased.  Books, chocolate, coffee, amazing food, and you can walk EVERYWHERE!  It's like the fairy godcity of food AND fitness! 

Bacon all day? My kind of town!

Some of my favorites:

Devil's Dill Sandwich Shop (http://www.devilsdill.com/): My flight on Wednesday was delayed, so by the time I got to my friend Abbie's house, even the grocery store was closed.  Happily, Abbie had a flyer from a sandwich shop that delivered until 2:30 a.m. Devil's Dill to the rescue!  They had sauteed kale on their side order menu, so I had a good feeling about this.  I ordered the No. 1, 5-spice Pulled Pork with Sesame Slaw and Chili Garlic BBQ Sauce.  I think this was the best pulled pork sandwich I have ever eaten.  We also split a cucumber "Dry Soda" as a cocktail mixer - 11 grams of
sugar in the entire bottle, so pretty reasonable.

Alma Chocolate (http://almachocolate.com/):  Alma was more of a dash-in, dash-out than I had hoped.  We usually linger over a chocolate drink and cake.  But I tried their Chocopop!—A chocolate truffle pop.  Wow, wow, and wow!!!  They do ship their hand-crafted chocolates, and boy, are they tasty!

Ruby Jewel Scoops (http://www.rubyjewel.com/): Most folks were toting pink boxes from Voodoo Donuts, but Margo Porras, Jen "Toledo Lefty" (http://www.perfectinourimperfections.com/), and I wanted to try the Blue Star gourmet donuts mentioned in the in-flight magazine.  So we walked over...to see this:

Sad face, indeed!

Points for humor, though:

On the way back to the hotel, though, we spotted this:

And soon we were nomming this:

South Park (http://southparkseafood.com/): I went here twice, too.  Once with Deb Roby, and we enjoyed their fresh pig cracklings and meatballs, and tasty beer.  The second was with Abbie - I enjoyed their sustainably caught fish.  Sadly, they no longer serve their amazing chocolate crostada, so we went to Ruby Jewel for ice cream.  It was a fun turn of events, because I got to show the local a new location!

Ruby Jewel encore!!!

Saint Cupcake (http://www.saintcupcake.com/):  A stop at the Saint Cupcake Deluxe location on Belmont is my go-to bribe for my friend's family.  I love their mini carrot cake cupcake the best: spices, cream cheese, perfect cake-to-frosting ratio!

Why, yes!  They *are* as good as they look!

Stumptown Roasters (http://stumptowncoffee.com/):  The Belmont location is a mere two blocks from my friend Abbie's place.  Unlike most of the above, you can order their amazing coffee.  They have THE best decaf coffee, and the only better regular I've had is from a small grower on Kona.

THIS Coffee = happy!

1.  Seeing old friends and making new ones!

I didn't know very many people going into the conference, but as you can see from the above, I left Portland with some new friends!  It sure was fun to see again some of the blogger friends I had met before, some I finally met in person for the first time (Carla Birnberg!!! *Squee*!!!), and others that I didn't know well (or at all!) before the conference but enjoyed meeting and getting to know at FitBloggin' and after the conference through their blogs.

Stay tuned for my next post: "Tips from a FitBloggin' First-timer"

2013 Senior Coastsiders Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Run 5k

Well, house painting awaits, but I had to pop in and post about the 2013 Senior Coastsiders Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Run/Walk!  Wow, can't believe it's my 5th event - I ran in 2008, 2009, walked it in 2010, ran again in 2011, took 2012 off...and here we are in 2013!

I love this race - it was the first one I did when I was regaining my fitness, and so it has a special place in my heart. My fitness really plummeted in 2012, so I fired up the 5k101.com podcasts and started training - just finished week 8, day 2 on the Thursday before the race, so this event was "graduation".  I did the supplemental weeks 4-2 and 7-2; the former, because I needed it, and the latter to time week 8 with the race.  So my main goals this year were to have fun, to finish, and to feel grateful that I didn't have any injuries to keep me from running it.

Despite a choppy night's sleep - I always sleep poorly before a race - I got there at about 7:30 and the pre-race was in full swing.  I picked up bib and my race swag: pumpkin and a t-shirt (no, not the one I'm wearing!).   I jogged around a bit to warm up, because it was cold and quite foggy.  (Glad I did - I usually don't, but I noticed during my runs that I don't really feel fully warmed up until about 20 minutes.)  I don't think I've ever attended a sunny one - and the morning weather was clear all during the week until Friday morning!  OH well.

I love this race:  lots of families race it together, young & old run and walk it.  Early on, I was absolutely dusted by a woman with a jogging stroller.  One girl was running with her dad, and at one point they both broke into skipping, and then she turned 3 flawless cartwheels - I cheered, "Bravo!" as much a salute to her exuberant spirit as to her skilled cartwheeling.  You get a lot of serious athletes in this one, too, and then there are the crazy folks who do a 1-mile ocean swim down the coast (BRRRR!!!), emerge, and then do the running event.  I wonder if they plant bikes here and do a bike ride on the way home? ;-)

The route was a little different than in 2011.  Instead of going through the campground for mile 2, the route wound through the Alsace Lorraine neighborhood.  Lots of volunteers and cute pumpkin chalk art on the ground kept us on track.

I feel like my training prepared me very well for the race.  I'm not as fast as I have been in the past, but I maintained a slightly uncomfortable pace for most of it - if it wasn't a little uncomfortable, it wouldn't be a race, right?

There were lots of people in pumpkin hats, pumpkin t-shirts, and one runner in a pumpkin suit, but the run tends to be a bit low-key in the costume department.

Before I knew it, I was passing beneath the balloon arch.  The race clock said 37:xx, I forget exactly what the minutes were, so we'll call it 38 minutes.  I felt satisfied - I met my goals, and I finished faster than my first one in 2008.  (I was unofficially a little faster in 2011, but that's because a late bathroom stop delayed my start by a couple of minutes.)

~~~
UPDATE:  Looking for the race results?  They are posted at Active.com (http://results.active.com/events/pumpkin-run-walk-2013/5k-open) and on the LynbrookSports.com site (http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/RACES/13_pump.htm). 

There are some amazingly fast people in this race, in all age groups.  I am not one of them.  But I was happy with how I did.  My pace was 37:46.7 (12.11 min mile).  In the 5k Run/Walk, I was 300/492 overall and 31/52 in my age group. 
~~~

You know what the coolest part was?  After the race, seeing some of my kids' friends get awards in their 12 and under age group for the 5k!  One of the kids - a girl from my son's preschool playgroup - took first of the girls, and so I got to find them and catch up a little.  I also saw my daughter's Kindergarten teacher, who couldn't believe that some of the kids she had taught were running the 5k this year.  (No, not mine...they were all snug in their nice, warm beds.)  She and her husband and family had just finished the 10k, massive 2-kid stroller and all!

Congrats to everyone who participated in the event this year!  And thank you, Senior Coastsiders and event volunteers, for hosting another event full of fitness and fun!

A happy 5k finisher!

Opposite Life Reboot!

Well, I'm back!

[Picking bits of barnacle shell off of my back.  You'll have that from a keel hauling. Captain Wordswench and crew are none to gentle...]

But where to restart?  Rebooting a blog is kind of like rebooting one's fitness routine, so I guess I just need to dive back in and start writing something.  The "big catchup" seems daunting, just like the idea of getting back into running.  So I guess I'll do a brief re-cap, and hopefully flesh some of those out in the coming weeks.

[I really wanted to post something yesterday, October 2, for so many reasons.  But my first draft was interrupted here by Thing 1, who was having trouble sleeping, and Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, who is desperately sleep-deprived and just wanted to go to bed already...

...It's now October 3.  I will take 5 minutes and post SOMEthing.  Because something is better than nothing, right? ;-D]

• FitBloggin' 13:  I am probably the last of the people who are going to attempt a recap that are actually going to do it. It was, overall, awesome!  I met some wonderful new blogger friends, broke out of my introvert self in many ways, enjoyed my PDX - finding new favorites, when old favorites have gone.  (I also discovered some tasty new things at the conference, and I will be doing a product review and my FIRST giveaway, so look for that in the next week!) FitBloggin' ends with a 1 mile/5k/10k event.  I was going to do the 5k in the morning - walking, I hadn't run in a long time - but I ended up doing the mile walk with friends I met, and it was SO fun!  Like a kid at Christmas, though, I let myself get overtired during the conference days and so some things that didn't quite gel for me made me feel a little more fragile than I would normally let them.  I can't say "I can't wait to tell you all about it," because obviously I have waited.  But I look forward to MAKING some time to do it justice.
• See Jane Run Volunteer!:  I was also going to at least walk the 5k for the Run for Chocolate and Champagne, but I ended up hurting my ankle.  They ended up short on volunteers, so I went and helped out at registration and taking down the registration area...and probably burned more calories than actually participating!  So yes, I ate the chocolate.  I also got to see Susan Ito and her Weight Watchers "Island Girls" tribe!
• The Grandparent Trifecta!  Our summer vacation saw us visiting all 3 sets of grandparents!  We traveled to Tucson in June, Lompoc for 4th of July (and the kids saw real fireworks for the first time!), and Michigan in July/August for a big ol' family reunion.
• 5k101.com program:  I also decided to try and regain my running.  I wasn't excited about it, but I decided to commit to getting through the 5k101.com "couch to 5k" program.  I'm happy to say that I just finished day 2 of week 7!  I have to say, it felt like a drudge until week 6, and now I'm actually looking forward to my running days.  I plan to do one more day, then then supplemental 7-2, then week 8 the week before the Pumpkin Run - week 8 should be a good taper of sorts after the longer week 7 and 7-2 workouts.  This year will be my 5th Pumpkin Run!  I missed it last year, so it will be good to be back.  I don't plan to take my distance longer than 4 miles anymore.  My goal is to become the best 5k runner I can.
• Back to school:  Yes, it's ON!  The kids have been back awhile, so everything is once more in full swing.
• A new Facebook page!  Unfortunately, "Opposite Life" was taken, so I set up a writer page, "Pubsgal."  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but it might be handy for blog update alerts.  Maybe it will become where I blog, because Blogger doesn't work so well on mobile devices, and I've been big-screen challenged lately.  (Which is why I don't comment on blogs as much anymore, either.) 

Um, did I say "brief"?  Oh well!  Hope all you crickets have a great day!

Avast! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ahoy, yeh scurvy dogs!  'Tis Captain Wordswench here, and I be wonderin'...what happened ter that lubber, Pubsgal?  As me trusty crew mounts a search party, I'll be comandeerin' her blog and postin' a wee verse fer yer readin' pleasure....

A Wee Sea Chanty fer Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Rum lasses and lads!
Train yer tongues on t' past,
An' shiver yer timbers,
An' holler "Avast!"

The sun, it be shinin'!
The winds, they be fair!
'Tis time ter sheath our booties
In skull & crossbones underwear!

Yer looks, they be quite puzzled.
"Why this funny talk?" ye say?
Go on t' account, me buckos,
It be "Talk Like a Pirate Day!"

But first, hie thee ter work
Ter avoid a keelhaul.
But later, we can pillage
Our trusty stash of grog.

Arrr!

May Already? You have got to be kidding me.

Happy May!  I can't believe that we're already well into the 5th month of the year.

Where has the time gone?!?!?!

Hope the new year is treating everyone well.  Opposite Family and I have been keeping very busy, with school & work (oh my gosh, the work!) & volunteering & all the life stuff we have to do in addition to the above.

Highlights

• I received amazing news from one of my blogging heroines, the amazing Ms. Shauna Reid:  I won the ticket to FitBloggin' 13 in her Super Sell-out blogging anniversary event!!!  This year, the event is being held on the West Coast, in my very favorite city: Portland, Oregon!  Many thanks to Shauna for hosting the giveaway and to Roni of SkinnyMinnyMedia for sponsoring the prize!  My birthday mojo must have still been in effect, because this happened a mere two days after my big day!  Of course, being neither as fit as I would like nor a terribly active blogger during the past couple of years, I'm probably not the most deserving recipient.  But maybe this trip will re-spark both.  It will be great timing, just after my 5th "healthiversary".  I have to admit that I'm a little anxious about it, too, because I probably won't know very many people and am actually kind of a shy person in large groups.  Any advice on FitBloggin'?
  
• Following that was the holiday weekend, and Lori of Finding Radiance's 3rd Annual Bloggers' Healthy Heart Weekend! My daughter had been sick that weekend, and my plans to do something amazing changed into OMG-I've-gotta-do-SOMETHING!!! So I turned to my faithful exercise bike and cranked out 6.5 miles. It wasn't the greatest-feeling workout, but I got it done and sent in my photo. (I made up for it the next day with an exhilarating outing to the Pillar Point bluffs for an excellent walk/jog.) So imagine my surprise when I won the shower gel/body butter prize! We are all enjoying it. Thanks, Lori, for hosting another great virtual event!
  
• This past weekend, my hula sisters and I danced for the residents at Sunrise Assisted Living in San Mateo, then attended the Foster City Polynesian Festival.  I really enjoyed dancing for the residents, especially the last number: our instructor taught and we all led a sitting hula (noho style) to "Song of Old Hawaii."  It has pretty arm motions, and it was fun to include everyone.  I was impressed by the facility: the staff were very nice, and the ground floor common areas were so pleasant.  They even have a resident dog, cat, and bird. 
   
• Finally, I was excited and happy to see that a group of some of myfavorite bloggers came together to start AIM: Adventures in Maintenance!  They post on the first Monday of every month on a weight maintenance-related topic, and I'm enjoying reading their posts in AIM as well as their regular postings.  Here are links to each of their web sites; click today (5/6/13) to see their latest AIM post:
  Lynn @ Lynn's Weigh
  
  Lori @ Finding Radiance
  Debbie @ debbyweighs in
  Shelley @ My Journey to Fit
  Cammy @ The TippyToe Diet

Lots more goings-on, but that will have to do for now!  I'll be back sooner than I was last time:  I will have my See Jane Run (or, in this Jane's case, "ralk"), plus FitBloggin' adventures to share!

Happy "Renew" Year 2013

Well, it's 2013.  I greeted last year with giddy anticipation, and the year prior feeling "meh".  This year's kickoff was full of significant portents:  "Hey, it's Tuesday, and I'm on vacation! I get to be in my pajamas all day!  And drink lots of my peaberry Kona Christmas gift coffee!  Cool!"

And, being a child of Southern California, I watched the Rose Parade, and for many reasons was tickled that the theme was Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

Where I've Been

Not around here, obviously.  I only posted 8 entries in 2012.  Partly for a good reason:  work has been crazy busy!  I felt like I was stretched, and grew at work: socially, professionally, and intellectually.  The downside of feeling stretched is that sometimes I felt stretched a bit too thin.  Especially when the holidays came around, and we piled all of the school & community events (particularly hula) on top of the usual tasks.  But somehow, we held it together and made it to this vacation oasis.

Being stretched too thin, as many a person juggling career and family knows, means that often something has to give.  That "something" this year were the physical and emotional areas, which I had spent the past few years getting in order.  My "oxygen mask" mask of blogging and healthy eating and fitness habits?  Seems to have gotten sucked out the window and is lying, battered, in a cornfield somewhere.

Although I didn't post it here, I did pick a word for 2012.  That word was "realize," because I liked the duality of it:  awareness and accomplishment.  I think I realized a few things this past year:

• I accomplished and grew a lot in 2012, in a myriad of ways.
• Even if I'm not in the greatest physical condition of my life, I have so many reasons to be happy and grateful.
• However, I can't really consider myself "successful" if I'm neglecting basic self-care.  Part of those above-mentioned "reasons" are my family, and they need me to be healthy.
• I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but I need to "un-slump" myself.  This prospect, of course, makes me want to go take a nap.

Where Do I Want to Go?

Taking a nap wasn't really the logical thing to do today.  I already had a good night's sleep and a stomach full of "spackle".  So I thought, "What other healthy thing do I want to do now?"  It was a gorgeous day, so the choice was easy-peasy:  I went for a hike.  I went to a place I like to go when I'm feeling thoughtful and want to get a sense of the grandeur of where I live, the bluffs north of the harbor. 

 Glad to have nice weather during my vacation!  

(Also glad that Picasa 3 added some cool photo editing effects...it's the little things.)

Beautiful Pillar Point...
...complete with "ice cream cone"

During my walk, I enjoyed the sunshine and fresh ocean air.  The "place" I really want to be, I thought to myself, is "well".  I remember, from my time in a club I was in during high school, that we filled out a sort of self-assessment that had areas like "physical," "emotional," "spiritual," etc.  It turns out that what we had learned about was the "Six Dimensions of Wellness" model by Dr. Bill Hettler.  I think that my next post will be my map for each of those areas for 2013.  I'm not much of a "new year's resolutions" type of girl, but I think having a sense of direction will be helpful, per a good quote I found today:

"Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation." - William H. Sheldon

I have 4 more days to reflect and make my 2013 "Trip Tik"...which come to think of it, is a pretty good metaphor for what I need.  Anyone remember those, or travel using one?  I had one for my road trip to North Carolina back in 1989, and it was great!   It was a bound booklet, and each narrow strip of a page was a segment of the route.  It was handy to have a detailed picture of the next "chunk" of the trip, with clear direction about where to go.

I also saw the following one, but I'm still formulating what my "something to be enthusiastic about" will be, with respect to physical health.  In years past, it was triathlon, and recently it has been hula.  All I know is I want to bring back my quarterly events, even if I'm not the most serious of athletes, because they make me feel enthusiastic and alive.

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about." - Charles Kingsley

More Hula Happenings

Just a quick post on some of the hula happenings...

Our class' title in our city's parks & recreation guide is "Hula for Fun & Fitness," but last weekend we were able to add "...and Service!"  A group from our hula class had the opportunity to perform at the VA hospital picnic in Palo Alto!  I felt honored to be able to do this and to say "mahalo" (thank you) to some of our servicemen and servicewomen and their families, all who made tremendous sacrifices for our country.  I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but it sure wasn't being loaded up with thank you notes, hugs, bouquets, and pineapples!  My goodness!  I was just happy with the good feeling of sharing our aloha and enjoyment of hula. I would love to be able to do something like this again.  (If you're local and will be at the Relay for Life, our group was invited to perform there this coming weekend!  Sadly, I won't be able to make that one.)

This weekend was the Bay Area Aloha Festival over in San Mateo.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I bought way too many hair accessories, cookies, and t-shirts.  But I also got to see some wonderful dancing, because one of my hula sisters was performing there, and she danced beautifully.  It was so fun to see the various groups; there's a wide variety of ages, ethnicity, and styles of dance.  I loved having the opportunity to go to the festival, to people-watch and listen to music and eat a little kalua pork, and even the weather (warm and slightly humid) cooperated to make it almost feel like being somewhere in Hawaii.