The World is Quieter Now

I just received an email from some dear family friends in England.

A little background - D&W were both fabulous equestrians and actually met at the Olympics - he was riding for the US and she for Great Britain. They had 3 children who are all in their 30s and 40s, with kids, etc. They are a fabulous family and all really talented. W passed away years ago and he has been missed. Their youngest son, B, was in his 30s. A year ago he was riding his motorcycle and was hit head on by a 19 year old who came out of a roundabout too quickly and didn't even see B as he hit him head on and killed him. One should never have to lose their child.

Their daughter, V, has been married to a wonderful man, JW, and they have three gorgeous children. The kids must now be in their teens. According to the email I just received from D, in August JW hung himself. Apparently he had clinical depression for two years and they were not able to successfully treat it.

This was a man who was so full of life. He and I would pal around anytime I was over. He would take me to the pubs and get me drunk. I used to tease him that one day I would marry one of his sons and be his daughter-in-law. He had a wicked sense of humor and brought joy to so many people. My heart goes out to his wife, his children and the entire family. They have endured so much in the past year.

I'm a bit surprised at how distraught this has left me. I hadn't seen/talked to him for I guess about 2 years...since my last trip over there. It's just so sudden and shocking. Nothing quite like bawling like a baby at your client site.

The world is more quiet now. The sun shines a bit less brightly.

JW, you will be missed.

This moment of sadness was brought to you by the letter H and the number 1.

OWWWWWWWWW! Quit it!

Wow, what a weekend! I couldn't find a decent fare to Kansas City for the baptism which turned out to be a good thing since they cancelled it anyway. Instead of going up to Folsom Faire, I decided to have a weekend at home. It may be the last weekend I have that isn't booked between now and the end of the year. Yikes! What started out to be my nice, relaxing weekend at home turned into this:

Friday afternoon: After getting a new laptop at my Cupertino Office and lunch with BC in Menlo Park, I took a little trip to Dark Garden to purchase a new corset for Dickens. WOOHOO!!! Can't wait to pick it up at workshops.

Friday night: Poker. Good times, good company, good winnings. Bed at 3:00 or 3:30am

Saturday afternoon: Slept in a bit. Met Kristine for brunch in the Haight and had some bloody marys. Washed my car by hand, scrubbed the tires, cleaned the windows, cleaned the interior and armor-alled, etc. Had grand intentions of also waxing the car, but was a bit beat.

Saturday night: Got conned into heading to Fremont for Twitch's birthday party. You were supposed to come dressed as your favorite rock star. I chose Tom Petty so was in jeans, my playa boots, white t-shirt, plum suit jacket, red top hat and blue sunglasses. I didn't have a blond wig though, so most folks thought I was Slash (which works too). We ended up leaving much later than anticipated. Bed at 4:30am.

Sunday: Up at 9:30. Met Allen at Mission Cliffs for my first climbing gym experience. Had a blast, but let's just say there's lots of mental and physical issues to overcome. Next time though, that wall is MINE! Hehehehehhe. :-) We were there for a couple hours. Then hung out at Allen's pad and enjoyed the beautiful weather and views for a bit.

Sunday Afternoon: Left Allen's and headed to Golden Gate Park for some volleyball. Stopped at Safeway to pick up some gatorade and a sandwich for some fuel. Played 2 or 2.5 hours of grass volleyball which was really fun.

Sunday night: Went home and started laundry. Sat down on my couch - HUGE mistake. Could hardly move and was almost falling asleep as I sat there. Made some dinner and crashed out.

Monday morning: Hit the gym and then into work.

What does all that add up to? Well, in addition to being a great weekend, it adds up to a tired and sore BH! Ow quit it! I normally love being sore, but what bugs me a little bit is my knees are a bit sore. I assume it's from climbing since volleyball normally doesn't hurt. Then again, I did do some diving while playing so who knows. One of those Catch-22s - my knees will hurt less if I lose the weight, but doing things to help lose the weight sometimes hurt the knees. Is it going to stop me from climbing? Not a chance. For some reason I'm all about conquering that fear these days.

This moment of pain was brought to you by the letter W and the number 4.

Taking Control

I have decided it is finally time to start taking control of my life. What do I mean by this? I mean it's time to get myself healthy and start my own "Project Goddess". I'm tired of being the size I am. I'm tired of not being comfortable in my skin. I'm tired of being unhealthy. I'm tired of not liking what I see in the mirror. Let's face it, I'm tired! (It's not a good day until you can throw in a Blazing Saddles reference!)

I am 29 years old and this is the time to do it. It's time to take control and make a change. It's time to get in shape NOW!! It's time to regain control over my life and make it what I want. It's time to put aside any chances of getting diabetes one day. It's time to realize that I need to be more careful than others about being healthy considering I lost both of my parents to cancer. Most of all, it's time to start liking what I see looking back at me. I've been doing a lot of work on the inside, now it's time to extend that to the outside.

With that in mind, I finally got my butt out of bed the past two days and hit the gym. I'm also trying to clean up my dietary habits. It's a long road and I know it isn't easy, but when it all comes down to it, it's about being in charge of my own destiny. That thought makes it a bit more manageable somehow.

The current goal - by my 30th birthday I want to be at least 50lbs lighter than I am now. That's 7 months from now. Will I get there? May be hard to tell since I don't really weigh myself. I tend to go on how clothes fit and what I see in a mirror. However, I know what I weigh now and I think on my birthday I'll weigh myself again. Then follow it by a celebratory bottle of single malt that is older than I am. Hehehehehehe.

So yeah, that's the plan. If you see me stuffing something in my face I shouldn't, please remind me I need to stop and think first. Sometimes we all need a little help. :-)

This moment of decision was brought to you by the letter C and the number 1.

Of Single Malt and Friendship

What a night! Accompanied by two fabulous friends - Chris and Allen - I attended my first D&M Liquors sponsored Signatory single malt tasting last night. Nothing like leaving work early because there's a bottle of whiskey older than I am with my name on it! Arrived at my second home and Chris and I hopped the bus to head to the tasting. Met up with Allen on our second bus and we headed into the Presidio. D&M knows how to arrange tastings! The food was wonderful - veggies, pate, cheese, etc. The whiskey...well, the whiskey was phenomenal! Here's a list of what we tasted:

Rosebank 86 Pf. Lowland 1991 14 YO
Edradour Un-Chillfiltered So. Highland 1995 10 YO
Glen Rothes Un-Chillfiltered Speyside 1994 12 YO
Pulteney 86 Pf. No. Highland 1989 16 YO
Macallan Un-Chillfiltered Speyside 1990 14 YO
Clynelish Cask Strength No. Highland 1990 15 YO
Mannochmore Cask Strength Speyside 1991 13 YO
Laphroaig Un-Chillfiltered Islay 1999 7 YO
Highland Park Un-Chillfiltered Island 1992 14 YO
Bowmore Cask Strength Sherry Cask 1970 35 YO

My favorites:
Mannochmore, Laphroaig, Clynelish, Edradour and Glen Rothes

Many laughs were shared and future events planned. Even a pact was made and pinky-sworn upon.

Of course they offered a "discount" price for that night only. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny last night! We stayed a bit later to drink our fill. Jessie was kind enough to pick up our slightly inebriated asses. She dropped Chris and I at Geary and we hopped the 38 back. Ended up hanging out and having one of the best conversations to date. I love random events like that.

As much as I tend to get frustrated by life and by disappointments, I really am a lucky, lucky girl!!! Single malt and new old friends. What more could anyone ask for?

This moment of happiness was brought to you by the letter W and the number 3.