Desperate Times.....

.... most definitely call for desperate measures.

I only have 45 days before we leave for Hawaii and somehow, during those 45 days, most of which will be spent on the road, I need to make 15 pounds disappear. 15 pounds that are clinging to my body for dear life.

This is not a vanity issue, however, but rather a practical issue. As of today, despite eating less than 1200 calories every day, doing cardio (hiking, biking, walking, running), weight training, AND 5 sessions of Bikram yoga this week, my weight is slowly climbing UP. How is that even possible?? As such, I cannot wear any of my shorts. None. Oh, wait a minute, I have a pair of extra large sofie shorts that I can wear. That ought to look good for a night out on the town in Honolulu.

When the scale started moving in the wrong direction yesterday, I will admit, a wave of utter panic swept over me. Followed by anger. Frustration. Irritation. Jealousy. Did I mention anger??

So tomorrow we move to plan B. The only thing for sure that has worked in the past is keeping my carbs under 20 per day. The reason I was hesitant to use this secret weapon as I was truly hoping for a long term and lasting solution to the ongoing battle with my weight. And I know the low carb thing only can last just so long and the first time I look at a piece of bread, the scale jumps up a few pounds.

But at this point, I'll be hanging in Hawaii in a moo-moo... so no carbs for me. And I'm going to put some trust in my Mio and follow the calorie recommendations it gives me.

The Netherlands

Yep. My job sucks - NOT. Gotta go to The Netherlands to deliver a class (WOOHOO!).

So today we finally started doing some planning around our trip. We will fly out on Saturday morning, September 25th, flying Phoenix to DC to Amsterdam. I was (foolishly) thinking that we would get automatic upgrades to 1st class, like I do on the domestic flights, but not so. But I think we will be fine. We have our two seats together and hopefully we'll sleep on the flight like we did on the way to Paris.

We arrive in Amsterdam on Sunday morning and will take a train from Schiphol airport to Eindhoven. Looks like about a 2-hour trip and the train station is right there at the airport. Nice and easy!

We will be staying at the Eden Crown Hotel Eindhoven which is just down the street from the train station. Monday through Thursday I will deliver class and hopefully enjoy a bit of Eindhoven in the evening.

On Friday we will take the train up to Rotterdam and spend two nights at the Hilton Rotterdam Hotel. There is a walking tour highlighted in our tour book, so something we will most likely do.

From Rotterdam, we will travel by train up to Den Haag. We were able to snag reservations (for a great price) at a little family-owned boutique hotel called The Boulevard, situated right on the ocean. We'll stay in Den Haag for two nights and then make the 30-minute journey, by train, to Amsterdam.

We will wrap up our trip with a 3-night stay in Amsterdam at a little hotel called Hotel Freeland. I tend to be a creature of habit and fail to venture out of my comfort zone when traveling. But I'm trying to change that and challenge myself a bit when we travel and explore smaller hotels, different modes of travel, etc. So I'm really pleased with our hotel choices on this trip!!

Remembering Stacie

Today she should have turned 40. It's hard to imagine or believe.

But to me, she'll forever be 21.

Stacie was taken away from us far too young.... gone in the blink of an eye by the careless act of a drunk driver. The sadness never goes away. Life moves on, people come and go, but no one will ever take her place to me.

I try to picture what she would have been like, what our relationship would have been now. I see her with soft wrinkles on her face, around her eyes. A touch of gray perhaps in her hair. I can still hear her laugh. I like to think of her raising her two daughters she spoke about when we were little girls. I'm sure we would be friends on Facebook. And when I traveled on business, I'd be sure to stop in and visit her, wherever she ended up.

Her memory makes me smile. Picturing her life and all that it could have been gives me a sad satisfaction, a bit of peace.

Normally Kim and I take a pilgrimage up the east coast of Maine, driving down Rt 1, spotting the occasional moose and the all too frequent (and too slow) tourists making their way through the picturesque towns that dot the coast. We would come upon the cemetery, finding her head stone, and sit and talk with her awhile. We'd clean off her grave and sit and marvel at the silence and peace of the location. Tears don't come as frequently, but the pain is not gone. This year, I could not make the trip, but soon I will take that drive once again.

I use her birthday as a reminder. I used to be so angry that I lived and she died. It didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair. She had so much to live for. But now I try to use that anger to motivate me to be a better person. To appreciate every minute I've been given, because it truly is a gift. And just like that, it can be taken away. With no warning.

I love you and miss you Stacie... rest in peace.

This Bikram thing...

The mind is a powerful thing. And it's amazing what it can do under stressful situations - it's either your best friend or your worse enemy. As Bikram said, it's the difference between being Hitler or being Mother Theresa - all about how you use your mind.

My mind has been on an interesting journey through my Bikram classes. At first, it made me painfully aware of my pear shape and large thighs. It told me I've never been flexible so why in the world would I even try to do these postures? For a number of classes it obsessed over food. What was I going to eat when I got out of class, when was I going to eat, where should I go, how much should I have... food, food, food.... Two classes ago the food thoughts vanished. So did the big thighs. Now my mind is telling me that I'm strong. That I can do it.

And now the best thing it does is actually be quiet.

I have never been able to quiet my mind... to be able to lay still and think of absolutely nothing but breathing is such a beautiful release.

Class tonight was by far one of my best classes. Even though I wasn't totally enthusiastic about going, I'm so glad I did. Limited only by my very sore quad (thanks kickball!), I felt like a superstar.

D and I realized another huge benefit from Bikram - our recovery time from weight lifting is next to nothing. Woohoo - no soreness!

A perfect Sunday...

Devin being assigned PowerPoint at church is always such a blessing... and a motivator. If not, we would definitely have slept in today, but instead we had the benefit of attending church, chatting with Pastor Ray, singing some great songs (they played all of my favorites today!) and listening to an awesome sermon (as always). Yep. That was where we belonged.

Bikram was good today, and I'm so glad. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous heading back into the Bikram's torture chamber after our very rough class on Friday. But it was good - able to do all the postures and I'm starting to most definitely notice a change in my reflection. Great backbend today and my half moon is most certainly improving.

Weight training went well, and even though it's only our fourth session, it's definitely working - can't wait to see the condition we will be in for our trip to Hawaii in September! (I can't wait...).

D's hockey game tonight topped off with a special treat - ice cream cone from McD's. Yummy!

The challenge of the challenge

Apparently I'm a little challenge challenged. I had hoped for 23 Bikram classes in 23 days, but that lasted for only four days. We had every intention of going today, well, I did anyway, but the thing with Bikram is that it's not just about surviving the class, it's about the preparation before the class. You can't eat within 3 hours of the class, but you must eat before going. Thus, you have to hit that 3-4 hour window. D and I were so wrapped up with our puzzle (yes! I finally did one of my puzzles) and our movie (Up in the Air), that we forgot to eat. So we ended up spending some time lazing around in the pool. :-( Back to class tomorrow afternoon.

Sue and Tom came over for dinner and of course, it was wonderful! So blessed to have the best in-laws!!

Tomorrow: church, weight training, Bikram, and Devin's hockey game. Should be a fun day!

Fabulous Friday

Woohoo! Happy to say that I wrapped up another class at school today. The final was tougher than I had anticipated, which is pretty bad, since I anticipated it being tough. Normally I'm great at BS'ing my way through any test. Toss a little logic at the questions and I normally do very well despite minimal studying. Thinking today may have knocked me down a few pegs. Good lesson for me - definitely need to be more engaged in my studies. Hopefully it's enough that I pass the course. Two week siesta before the next class!

I spent the morning studying... between answering emails, checking Facebook, checking out the news headlines. I swear I truly have the attention span of a gnat. I remind myself of Dory. "Hi... I'm Dory...." Just imagine how much more productive I would be if I could just focus on something for more than a minute or two.

Food modification plan is going very well, I'm happy to report. We've come up with a lot of tasty new things in our diet and we're tracking all of our calories, carbs, protein, and fat. I'm definitely not feeling hungry at all or like I'm "dieting". Which is the goal, I suppose. Permanently modify our eating for long-term health and weight loss.

Of course, being a typical American, I crave immediate gratification and the weight loss is never fast enough. But four days of work and 3 pounds gone. Hopefully never to return. I've done Bikram four days in a row and I've been a little bummed out that I can't participate in the 60-day challenge. Birkam recommends that all students, especially beginner students, try to take 60 classes in 60 days. He promises a new mind and body. And I have to agree, just with the dabbling I've done. The mere fact of the strength, willpower, and determination that would be required to get through 60 classes in 60 days is awe-inspiring. How could you not be changed mentally after that. Talk about believing that you can do ANYTHING!

BUT, I think I have at least a partial solution. I probably can't do the full 60-day challenge until December/January but I'm going to try and go every day until we leave for the backpacking trip. This includes my five days up in Seattle with Brooke. Lucky she's totally cool with trying it out and going every day with me. =) (Poor sucker doesn't know what she's in for...)

Have to admit, I had a hard time getting motivated today. I still have yet to just sit still and build a puzzle. But then again, not sure if our card table is any condition to do a puzzle on. We had done three days of weight training, 4 days of Bikram, and 2 kickball games in three days, so I think I was just a bit burnt out. That, and I know I have 2 Netflix movies just begging me to watch them (and did I mention that I have two new puzzles to build??).

But we did it! Got up the determination to go to Bikram tonight. Neither one of us can say it was our best class. As a matter of fact, I can safely say it was probably my worse class. Not sure why - too many workouts, not enough water, psychological failure. Started off pretty good, did my breathing, moved on to half moon - still good, awkward pose - still good, then with standing head to knee I started to feel pretty woozy. And it just got worse. I stumbled through some of the remaining standing series and sought the sweet relief that always comes when we switch to the floor series. But it never really came... As a matter of fact, part way in, I actually started getting the chills. Now how does that happen? 105 degree room, sweating my ass off, and I have chills. Then my brain starts sabotaging me and I start thinking about what bad press it will be for the nice people at the studio if I die in the room. I swear I will never put myself through this again.

But we do survive, despite both having the chills. Some coconut water, talk with our new friends, and we were feeling better before we even left the parking lot. By the time I get home I'm already thinking about how I could possibly do the 60 day challenge... how can I squeeze it in? Insanity.

Signing off for the night.

Thursday already?

Time is going by way too fast.

After spending an hour scrubbing my card table and chairs (only to realize that they are pretty much ruined - grrrrrrrrr), cooking dinner (yummy - tilapia and sauteed veggies!), and lifting weights for an hour, I didn't get to sleep until almost 11:30. So when the alarm went off at 5:15, my body just couldn't respond.

I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:15 - gotta have some food on-board before the 9:00 a.m. class. Problem is, you are supposed to stop eating 3 - 4 hours prior to the class. So I had an apple and just trying to chug as much water as possible.

On the docket today:

• Bikram
• Pool
• Strategy meeting on the business
• Weight training
• Kickball
• Movie
• oh yeah.... forgot I need to study for my final that's tomorrow. Oops. Gotta squeeze that in there somewhere.
  

I wish I could figure out how to get more hours in the day!

21-day challenge

In looking at the calendar, it appeared as though I had six glorious weeks off of teaching. Which to some people might translate to six weeks of vacation, however, that is not really the case. Now I am squeezing in a little bit of vacation, but we have so much to accomplish any time I have a break from travel that I need to be putting 100% effort into the business.

It seemed appropriate, given that I'm going to be home for six weeks, that I throw a good portion of energy into working out. In my mind, I pictured energized days, doing Bikram yoga at least five times a week. But we took it up a notch and D and I decided to do a 21-day challenge. Essentially between now and the time we leave for the Wyoming backpacking trip, we are to eat completely healthy, monitor all of our calories/fat/carbs, etc. AND do some type of significant workouts every day.

Our challenge actually kicked off yesterday. So far, so good. I should hope so given that it's day two. Our menus are planned out, the food is actually delicious, and if we have a problem, it's with not getting enough calories.

Yesterday: 60 minutes of weight training, 90 minutes of Bikram (about a C- performance), some swim time in the pool and then we capped the evening with our first kickball game (YAY!!).
Today: slept in (oops), 90 minutes of Bikram (about a B performance), and then weight training tonight.

I know it sounds silly, but I already feel stronger and maybe there is something to the fact that Bikram makes you crave healthy food.

About Bikram: It's the craziest thing anyone can choose to do. But crazy = amazing results. Bikram (the founder) calls it his "torture chamber". 105 degrees, 40 - 60% humidity, 26 postures, for 90 minutes. You learn phrases from the carefully memorized scripts such as: Japanese ham sandwich, pearl necklace, lock your knees, lock your knees, lock your knees, go back, way back, fall back, more back. And you think constantly that you are insane for even doing it.

But it reminds me of childbirth. Somehow, once you walk out of the studio, you forget the pain (the nausea, the dizziness, the all-over body pain sensations) and you just revel in the major accomplishment you achieved over the last 90 minutes. I really want to do the 60-day challenge (60 classes in 60 days) but my time on the road prevents it. But wherever I can, I will take a class on the road.

It's late - 11:18... and the alarm is set for 5:15 a.m. so I can eat prior to the 9am class. And tomorrow night is our 2nd kickball game - can't wait!

Boston Class Day Two

My day so far:
Slept amazing... too amazing. Alarm went off at 5:15 (I had glorious plans of getting up early and working on my paper). I shut it off. I woke up at 6:15. Bummer.

Getting ready to head down to the classroom to kick off day two. Class went well yesterday despite the fact that we have people at different levels of readiness. Today is the toughest day, though. Only two lessons but a lot of critical information - including precedence relationships and critical path method.

Had a great time visiting with Kristen last night... so much needed catch-up on all of the events of our lives! =) Happy that she's in class with me this week.

But tonight it's head-down, lots of work.

D and I need to focus on infrastructure over the next six weeks while we have a break from classes. I'm hoping we get a lot done and make the best use of our time. Our goal is to move from being so reactive, to more proactive and controlled with our time.Can't continue to burn the candle from both ends. Quality of our programs is our primary concern!

Oil

I am seriously and profoundly impacted by the oil spill in the gulf. I look at these animals suffering and I can't even deal with it. My heart hurts... my heart aches... so I decided that since I have the next few weeks off, I want to go help. Who knew they had too many volunteers? So as much as my heart hurts, it rejoices in the fact that there are people out there who care, who give their personal time, their energy into helping something they had absolutely nothing to do with. We are not politicians. We are not oil company benefactors. We are US citizens and we do care.

I guess in the world today we lose sight of these simple things. We are so de-sensitized by the daily injustices in life that we don't fully "get it". And maybe it's wrong that animal suffering catches my eye, my mind and yet all over the globe there is human suffering. But to me life is life. Animal or human. I want to help.

30-Day Challenge

Inspired by some friends, I have decided to undertake a 30-day blogging challenge. A blog entry for 30 straight days... I guess it will be interesting view into my crazy life.

So day 1. It's Sunday, June 6th and I'm currently writing this from the Hampton Inn - Boston Logan Airport. Arrived about 15 minutes before a hell of a storm broke out - tornado warnings in place. Absolutely crazy weather and ultimately responsible for the very bumpy flight across the country yesterday. From my hotel window, I have a view of the water, peppered with old pylons, most likely remains of a dock many years gone. Across the water is a wind mill... not the nice, antique-y type, but the creepy white kind that they have in California. Not sure why they creep me out so bad, but they do!

Tomorrow I'm kicking off one of our boot camps. Should be a great group - because our classes are always awesome!! (Truly!). Bags are ready for each students, course materials, stress ball, some other goodies, and of course... a good supply of Red Bull.

So tonight my focus is on finishing up a new course module.... I'm thinking of ordering Chinese food in. =)

Did Bikram yoga this morning in Nashua - I'm so addicted. Bummed that I won't get back to class until Friday. So my goal is to hit the gym every morning this week. Must get this weight off!

Slacker!

I know, I know... totally slacking again!

Well, it's Saturday and the day will be spent working on our new Leadership module. I took my final yesterday for my BU course. Two down, nine to go. Not too bad! I start another one in a few weeks.

Business is picking up like crazy. We have added more training companies to our client list and we are getting great feedback on our materials.

Life for the next six weeks is going to be crazy:

• Leave on Tuesday, teaching for the PMI chapter in RI on Wed - Fri
• Virtual class the following week
• Drive down to Baltimore for a week-long project management fundamentals and leadership class
• Drive back up to Boston for an on-site class.
• Fly home for 1 day, do laundry, and fly up to Denver for a class.
• Home for a week!
  
• Back up to Boston for a class
• Drive to Baltimore for another class
• ... and then home!

I love it!!!!!!

Brooke is getting settled in at Bremerton. A major shock when she learned that her "room" was actually just a bunk on the ship. Definitely is going to take some getting use to.

Rainy Day

Woke up this morning to rain - I absolutely love it when it rains, although it dashed my hopes of getting in a good bike ride. D and I were lazy all morning, working on our silly farms. But I wanted to stay true to my goals, so I just did my EASports workout. I forgot how much that kicks my butt - especially the jump squats and jump lunges. Ouch!!

Healthy lunch - ham, cheese and the flatbread, heated in the toaster oven. Next up? I'm thinking a good post-rain hike up White Peak. Maybe I can even convince D to go with me and Sierra!

Oh - good news! I met my first week weight loss goal.

And more good news! Brittany got a much-deserved, long-over-due promotion! Woohoo!

Enjoying the desert (really!)

Ah, this is the time of year that I absolutely love living in AZ. Of course, you will need to remind me of this frequently round about May or so. The temperature is absolutely perfect out - warm during the day and chilly at night. Now that we know for sure we're keeping the house, D and I have a renewed energy towards enhancements and improvements. With no budget, however, we are certainly limited. But we managed to take a lot of joy in just working in the yard yesterday. D focused on trimming the grass (we actually have some) and fixing the drip system and filling in the holes that were dug by our beloved boys. They may be gone, but their damage remains. Still made us miss them terribly. I was assigned bush trimming. Thing is, I tend to get a little carried away and before I know it I have a pile of clippings and some naked little bushes. But they look nice and clean and ready for their spring growth.

Other than the yard, yesterday was fulfilling in that I went shopping and literally bought us a month's worth of healthy meals and snacks. We were on a mission to drain our pantry and freezer and we did pretty good, so it was time to re-stock. We also got our first-run print of our flash-cards - they look AWESOME! Minor mix-up from the printer, but they've got it fixed now.

I'm actually home for the next 6 weeks, possibly. My goal is to spend a good deal of time losing weight and getting in shape. Seems the holiday season, travel, and the grieving process assisted me in putting on 14 pounds since September. That's a hell of a lot of weight. Especially on my 5'2" frame. Yuck. Grossing myself right out. I don't want to go anywhere because I can't fit into my clothes - even my fat clothes!! Who knew that eating like a pig, drinking wine, and not exercising would lead to weight gain???

Simple goal: 7 weeks - 2 pounds per week. This is the perfect time of year to do it. I decided not to do the psycho protein deal. It works but then as soon as my body smells a carb, it goes right back on. So I'm doing the sensible 1200 calories balanced food. Oh, and the pisser? No alcohol. No wine.... And let me tell you, with some of these beautiful sunsets out on our patio, nothing would make it better than a nice glass of wine. Oh well. I'd rather wear my skinny jeans!

The sprint triathlon is in 5 weeks / 2 days. Can I possibly get myself ready in that time?? I feel pretty good about the biking portion, ok about the swim, but horrible about the run. I'm hoping my blog will keep me honest. If I blog every day for the next 5 weeks about how I trained, it should keep me on the straight and narrow, right?

So today's training: Hiked White Peak with Sierra and worked out for an hour on the Wii. Hmmmm.... strangely not looking very "tri" related. Tomorrow I'll start the day with a bike ride and then maybe a run mid-day. The thing is, the girls are competing against me, and even if I don't win, I need to have a strong showing.

Some tips for people watching their calories:

Flatout flatbread is great - 100 cals, multi-grain with flax. You can make wraps or even pizza with it.
I love the veggie straws from Costco. Definitely hits the salty cravings. But watch portion size. I brought the bag home and divied it up into single serve bags that were the right portion.
Jello sugar free - 10 cals and hits the sweet craving
Green tea - we make at least a pitcher a day, if not two. We use 6 green tea bags and two herbal tea like Rasberry Zinger or Orange Spice. Yummy!

On another note, class last week in Phoenix was great - amazing people, as always. We have another three companies interested in our courseware and I have a feeling the self-study program is going to really take off, as well. We have a couple companies interested in on-site programs and a lot of exciting plans for the website.

School is going well - only a couple more weeks and I will have successfully completed my first class!

Please hold on. Please set luggage cart brakes to on.

Hanging out at one of my favorite airports - SFO. I wonder how many hours I've spent here over the past 10 years. It's nice and clean, laid out well, and there is always great people watching.

As I hoped, I slept in this morning - it was desperately needed. I saw a couple of inspirational stories on the Today show this morning. The first one was about a young lady from the US who had been in Haiti teaching English. She had been trapped by the earthquake and ended up losing her leg. Despite that she had the most beautiful, genuine smile on her face and she stayed focused on the blessings not the tragedy. Just incredible strength, faith, and courage in such a young woman.

The second story was about four young men who decided to create a bucket list and are traveling around the country achieving their top 100 items.

We have so little time on this earth - we should always be in the mode of prioritizing and focusing on the right things. We waste so much time on trivial meaningless activities. I guess it's a little late, but that's my new year's resolution - learning to better focus my time on the things that matter most.

Missing my boys...

SF class wrapped up today... what a great experience. As always, just incredible people! One student is taking the exam tomorrow at 1. I become very personally involved in their success... I'll be on pins and needles until I get the call from her in the afternoon.

Having a tough time still with the boys being gone. It just hits me like a wave... like a big, drowning wave and it hurts in my heart. I think of laying on the floor next to my Sam Bone, giving him a big hug and snuggling with him. He would come up to me throughout the day in his lazy, slow-paced style and paw at me with a big, heavy foot. I will forever hold the image of him laying in the kitchen, chin up on the divider between the kitchen and family room.

I think of Bangara, that very first night in India. Falling in love with him and knowing in my heart I would bring him home with me, no matter what it took. I think of him flying all that way, wild yet tamed. Unpredictable yet consistent. He would dance when I came home off the road, always happy to see me.

I try to tell myself that I gave them both time. I gave them both love and kindness that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Sam would have died that day, had I not rescued him. Bangara would probably have only lasted a week or two. I gave them a few years and I have absolutely no doubt that they knew every single moment of every day how much I loved them. I was there when they got a 2nd chance and I was there when they took their last breaths. And I just want them back.

Addicted to Chaos

Today is day 3 of my San Francisco class. I only have two students, but it's so fun! We are in a boardroom and it is definitely very intimate. Because it's just the two of them, we're able to take time on the topics they may struggle with and move at their pace. One is taking her test on Friday and the other would like to take it within the next few weeks - still working on his application. As with all my classes, I end up having great encounters - this was no exception. Both of my students are Christians and we all attend very similar churches. It was great to have spiritual discussion and talk about the challenges of walking the walk in our day to day life. I thank God frequently for the people that He puts in my path!

I am looking forward to heading home on Friday - two weeks is a long time to be away. But I do have to say that it definitely helps the marriage. I miss Devin a lot when I'm on the road and it really makes me appreciate the time we are together. And we are WAY past due for a date night, so it's on this weekend! I can't wait!

And on that note - we make one hell of a team. The craziness has continued and he has stepped up and taken on a huge role in our company. I could not do all this without him. We have a lot of irons in the fire, not to mention the newest course book (which, by the way, is being sent off to print today!!! YAY!!!!).

I'm thrilled to be starting classes at BU today... not sure how I'm going to squeeze any more time out of my day, but I will do it and I will be successful. I think it's important for me to have not only the practical / real world knowledge but also the academic side. And I just love higher education!

So my primary goal is going to be much better time allocation during my day and a better prioritization of what's important. One critical thing? EXERCISE. I cannot believe how much weight I've gained and how quickly it went on. Ah, the beautiful joy of being 5'2", 40 and post-menopausal. (Wow - that makes me sound really freaking old!!!!) Can't have that.

Yummy, yummy vegetables!

A new year has started and I can honestly say I'm definitely looking forward to it. If the past two weeks are any indication, it's going to be a huge year for us and our business! I guess "doing the right thing" does pay off in the long run. I feel great knowing that we have a growing loyal fan base out there. Although 2009 may have ended on a low note, a wise young woman frequently reminds me, everything happens for a reason. And it seems like we will not only survive, we will thrive.

So to sum up 2009:

1. Brandy got stationed in CA
2. We decided to author our own courseware
3. And got crazier still when we decided to launch an extension to our company - Passionate Project Management
4. Delivered classes in over a dozen cities
5. Brooke graduated from high school, boot camp, and got stationed in Pensacola
6. I got to spend two weeks with my niece, Sinara Dawn :)
7. I was able to continue the annual ritual of a drive up Route 1 in Maine with Kim, with an incredibly relaxing overnight visit to Camden and a stop in Bucksport to visit with Stacie
8. FINALLY went to a Red Sox game at Fenway (Thank you Kim!!)
9. We backpacked RMNP (and I survived a massive gluten OD in the back woods - with very little style, but a lot of humor!!)
10. We went to the Dominican Republic with K & T - and learned that four friends CAN share a small hotel room... and still be friends.
11. Devin experienced his first Fryeburg Fair and autumn in New England
    
12. We did our first home exchange - to Paris! It was absolutely amazing - a great place to celebrate my 40th birthday!!
13. We officially welcomed Celia to the Fremouw family (I have the most amazing nieces!)
    
14. We made the hardest decision of our lives... and lost our two boys. We will love them forever...
15. We learned a very hard and painful business lesson.
16. We celebrated two holidays with no major family drama.... (wow? really???)

I remember last spring thinking how crazy July through October were going to be, with back-to-back trips. Now I realize, that's not crazy, it's just my life. And I wouldn't change it for anything!

I'm in Boston this week - spent the last two days with Kim, went to the Bruins Legends game at Fenway in a snowstorm, and was reminded why I moved to AZ! The snow is beautiful, but can't imagine having to drive in it or shovel it.

Got the call moms always dread - Brandy was in an accident, dumped her bike. Her bike is totaled but we are very grateful that she is alive. She has a lot of road rash and a sprained ankle and sprained knee. Poor kid. Just so happy it wasn't worse.

Class tomorrow here in Boston, off to San Fran on Sunday, Atlanta the following week, and then two back-to-back Phoenix classes. Let the fun begin!!