Wednesday Was Busy But Productive - Thoughts All Over The Place Today

I actually managed to get quite a lot done yesterday, which astonishes me a bit. I did the grocery shopping, and brought everything into the house. Keeping everything in the portable coolers that I use for my groceries, I hopped back into the car and went quickly over to the church where the memorial service for my swimming partner Rosemary's husband would be held. I wanted to show her my support, but I couldn't stay for the actual service - it conflicted with an 11:00 am Zoom call already scheduled. But I gave her a hug, told her I was keeping her in my thoughts for the day, we chatted a little bit, then exchanged one more hug and I was out of there. It was already after 10:30 am, and I had the live call with Eric Edmeades scheduled for 11:00. 

I've gotten very used to Zoom calls over this year. Now I'm 
getting requests for different types of calls - discord was 
under discussion yesterday. Also, after having used Facebook 
comfortably for years, other resources are being discussed 
as an alternative for FB. I'm not against change, but it's just 
one more piece of software to download, one more icon to 
have populating my screen, and one more set of sign-in 
codes to keep track of. So ... not a big fan of change. 

Returning home, I quickly put the groceries into the refrigerator, switched the laundry into the dryer and started the next load washing, set up the laptop, grabbed water to drink, and joined the zoom call. I was very glad I was able to schedule in the call - it was excellent. If everything falls into place, he'll have three different books coming out in 2022. Apparently his publisher doesn't want to have three books released in the same year, so they are "discussing" that aspect. Given that it's Eric, I highly suspect he'll prevail and it will indeed, be three books in 2022. 

Meanwhile, while Eric is fighting to get 
his publisher to agree to release three 
different books next year, his father just 
released this one. I have it sitting in my 
B&N shopping cart right now and 
will probably finalized purchase with 
my usual holiday gift card from DH. 

Eric is currently in Estonia, visiting his wife's relatives. So he's back in the ice and snow so familiar to him as a person who grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Within a few days, he'll be returning to his home in the Dominican Republic (quite a bit warmer - LOL) where he will have a second holiday celebration, and continue work on his resort. He apparently has purchased a resort on the island and is outfitting it for the physical and mental balance he espouses through WildFit, WilderBody and his other programs. I'm not sure if I could ever convince DH to go there with me, but I would love to book a week at the resort once it is open and functioning. 

Planning is important, but plans can be (and 
often need to be) changed. Flexibility and the 
ability to switch direction quickly is essential. 
I'm pretty good at that, DH isn't. He's very 
methodical and he's stressing about all of this 
way too much. 

So there are a lot of plans and possibilities abounding for so many people. My friend Rosemary continuing in her life without her beloved husband. Eric's building plans for a mini empire based on WildFit principals, and my own plans to be able to close the shop successfully, selling all of the materials and inventory from it. I'm not worried about the beads - although we have a TON of them, there's always a market for beads. The Native American collectibles, on the other hand, are much more problematic. That's the aspect that's keeping DH awake at night. We'll just have to see what happens and do our best. But he stresses about all of it. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I have my final writing prompt for Idol Minor, so might get a chance to work on that today, and I have a lot of things in the warehouse that DH wants me to look at or shrink wrap. It'll be a busy day in the basement today if all goes well. 

Yesterday I cleaned, and Cleaned, and ... Oh Yeah - I Cleaned - LOL

I actually accomplished quite a bit yesterday, and I'll get rid of other things at work today. I have recycling in my car that needs to be put into the recycling bin at work - my recycling bin at home will be quite full by Wednesday's pick-up, without the addition of cut-up boxes. I also have a hugely heavy large box of old magazines that I'm putting into recycling, although that one will take several days to get there. The box is WAY too heavy for me to carry and lift to the top of the large bin at the shop. I'll be taking this over bag by bag. 

Sharon's room is almost ready. I need to vaccuum, then 
pull out the sleeper sofa, inflate the air mattress I 
purchased for her several years ago (it makes the 
sleeper mattress much more comfortable), and 
make the bed, but the boxes are almost eliminated and 
all things considered, things are fairly clean. 
You can barely see the edge of my largest 
spinning wheel on the left. I love my Rio Grande 
wheel, but it demands space which I have here, 
and don't have in the den downstairs. 

I did a lot of things yesterday, including a Zoom call with the other members of Wilderbody. It was our "graduation" call, and the program has been interesting and life-changing for many. I didn't get as much out of it, although it did introduce me to other methods of exercise that I enjoy. One thing it did emphasize to me was how much I enjoy movement. I'm normally a pretty active person in general, but being more aware of movement and taking small opportunities to increase that in my life was wonderful. It wasn't as life-changing as WildFit for me, but I think it could be transformative for many people after a few tweaks. 

Wilderbody was an interesting class, although I think 
it would benefit by spending longer on each of the 
three movement types it introduces the students to. I think 
one week per movement is too fast. 

We were the introductory group for Wilderbody. In total, there were a bit over 800 people in the class, most of which were there at no-charge because they had been invited to join as a recent graduate of WildFit. That's a huge number of people for an introductory class. Eric (Edmeades, the founder of the class) stated that WildFit had started many years ago as a class of eight, and here he was, with another new class, but with a class of 800. It was a bit mind-boggling for him. 

This coming weekend is "Bold North Vikings" 
weekend, but our focus will be on the annual 
longbow competition. It's always fun to watch 
the archers try to hit their targets, and see how 
far they can shoot accurately. 

So today I work, and tomorrow I go to Renaissance Festival. Hopefully the rain will hold off until late afternoon or evening on Sunday. There aren't a lot of indoor places to hide during a downpour at Fest. At least we're finally getting some rain, and we're grateful. We've gotten more than 3 inches in the past two days, and our grass and trees are giving sighs of relief, soaking up the moisture they've been missing. 

Have an excellent weekend and enjoy yourselves. I'll be back on Monday. 

WilderBody is Starting, Finding an Old Friend, and Beautiful Owls

It's 5:40 am and I'm behind schedule. How ridiculous is that?!?!? I really don't have a set schedule. My store doesn't open to the public until close to 10:00 am, so I have plenty of time, but I like to get some personal computer time in on my early mornings - gaming or catching up on personal projects or reading what my friends are up to. 

This week starts the premier broadcast of 
WilderBody. This Quest, which was open
to 500 WildFit graduates at no charge, is
being offered to us so that we can both
participate and critique the course. We're the
"test cases" for this new program. I'm delighted
with the concept and excited about
the course. Linking up with an old friend 
is a bonus I hadn't expected. 

Speaking of friends, I have a new group I was invited to join - WilderBody. WilderBody is a six-week program designed to make us think about when and how we self-sabotage ourselves when it comes to physical activity. It's structured to give us psychological tools to make exercise fun again. I'm really looking forward to it but the reason I'm bringing it up today is two-fold. 

I started doing Zoom meetings with WildFit. I'm sure glad 
I purchased VooDoo earlier in the year, since my main 
computer doesn't have a camera, and FrankenSmaug's 
camera was a bit dodgy. 

One, I have a weekly live Zoom call for the program at 11:00 am my time. Of course, I'm at work on Tuesdays at  11:00 am, but if Chickie can handle customers for an hour, I'll participate as much as possible. It won't be as quiet and relaxing as my Zoom calls were from home, but I'll have to live with it. If I miss something, the calls are recorded and I can watch them later in the week. 

It was such a pleasant surprise to see EllenSue's name 
in the check-in list. I hadn't seen her for quite a while 
(Covid, you know ...), but we always got along really 
well. It'll be a lot of fun having her along for the 
WilderBody ride. 

Two, when checking in on the WilderBody app yesterday, we were listing our names and locations and I noticed an old customer/friend I've known for many years pipe up. EllenSue and I haven't seen each other for a few years, (Covid got in the way), but we always got along very well. We texted for almost an hour last night and "friended" each other on FaceBook so that we could stay more in touch now. It's fun having a local person who not only loves WildFit, but is also part of WilderBody. What a treat. 

I fell in love with this image as soon as I saw 
it. The owls are the owls of Serbia, and they 
are beautifully illustrated. I had to order the 
shirt right away. It's too pretty to not have 
in my t-shirt collection. And, because I ordered 
a Medium, it'll even fit! Whoot! LOL

The International Owl Center has a new t-shirt available for pre-order and I fell in love and ordered one immediately. The image is entitled "Owls of Serbia" (Sove Srbije) and it's stunning. If you love owls as much as I do, or love the image, you might want to consider pre-ordering a shirt for yourself. Just search for International Owl Center (they're located in Houston, Minnesota, USA), and order one. I'm in the process of updating my t-shirts - many of mine are Large, but I'm wearing a Medium again - so I'm downsizing my stock. I'm looking forward to this one arriving. 

So, it's a busy day. Nothing new there - LOL. I hope your day goes well, that all is smooth, that your cooking is successful, your writing goes smoothly, and your pets get along and don't piddle in the house (except in the litterbox, which is an appropriate people-approved container). Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow, and please ... be kind and stay safe. 

Time Trial and Champe-Elysees for the Weekend, WilderBody for Next Week

Today is a short, intense time trial for Le Tour de France, and tomorrow is the final stage - the ride into Paris and sprint race around the Champs-Elysees. Yesterday the breakaway managed to keep away from the pack for the entire run, and the peloton seemed uninterested in going after the chase. As a result, nothing really changed in the standings, and Mark Cavendish remains tied with Eddie Merckx. 

Mark Cavendish and Eddie Merckx had a chance to have 
a short conversation before the race began yesterday. They 
also spoke after the race had ended, while Mark stood on the 
rampway of the team trailer. 

I hope you had a chance to see the wonderful meetings between Cav and Eddie Merckx both before and after the race. They spent a nice amount of time together and hugged. Both men were gracious and complimentary toward the other, all in all, a nice "Kodak" moment for everyone. 

There's something nice about two men getting along and 
being comfortable enough to give each other a hug and 
wish for a good stage. Eddie has a ton of TdF records, 
giving one over, or just tying with that "upstart", Mark 
Cavendish, really isn't a problem. 

It's going to be a hot and sticky weekend, and I really didn't feel like firing up the outside grill or heating up the kitchen, so I'm making sweet and sour meatballs in the slow cooker for Sunday's dinner. I changed the recipe a little bit - honey instead of sugar, ground up pork rinds instead of bread crumbs - but it's a pretty basic recipe with most ingredients not being a problem for my nutrition program. I'm hoping they turn out tasty and I'm willing to take a chance. 

I have an orange pepper instead of a red one, but 
with that exception, I think this recipe will work 
out just fine. I made the pork rinds into crumbs 
in the food processor yesterday, so I'm ready 
to start mixing and shaping the ground beef first
thing Sunday morning. Le Tour. It should be a
nice Sunday morning. 

Monday starts the first day of a new 6-week pilot program called WilderBody. WilderBody is an unknown - I was one of many people invited to be in the first test group. It's a concept by Eric Edmeades, the person who invented the WildFit program many years ago. Those of us who have graduated from WildFit and joined Living WildFit, were invited to join WilderBody and the first 500 people were accepted at no charge (a $399 savings). I'm totally stoked. I think this will be a wonderful addition to the program and for the health of all of us. Free was just another serious plus for me. So that starts on Monday and I have my second tattoo session on Wednesday. It's going to be a very busy week. I think I need a relaxing weekend. 

The competition will ramp up now that the bottom 
half of the competitors have been eliminated. Now 
we'll get to see some really good golf. 

Oh - and don't forget, there's some great golf this weekend too with "The Open" playing on at Royal St George's in Southeastern England. The course is gnarly - they haven't mowed their rough for more than two years, so balls in the rough are a serious problem. The cut yesterday was at one over par, so it will be a tight competition for the next two days. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy yourselves. I hope for good weather and a relaxing two days for all of you. I'll be back on Monday.