A new project

Sometimes life-changing decisions are made after much thought and great care. Others are made so quickly and with such certainty it isn’t until afterwards that one realizes the ramifications of such decision.

I just registered for my first 5K.

Earlier this morning I was preoccupied over a disagreement and feeling rather blue. My ears perked up when I heard one of my co-workers excitedly talk about her first 5K race this weekend and how she woke up in the morning and ran three miles. Three miles!! Without even thinking I rushed over and completely butted into the conversation. “A 5K this weekend?! How did you do it?!” She laughed and said that it wasn’t so bad. She’d never done anything like it before and it only took her five weeks to go from running a half-mile to three!

I was inspired. Truthfully, I hate running. But I’ve always been amazed my people who do run and love it. I’ve always wanted to run a 5K, but am the best excuse maker for not pulling the trigger. I’m scared of running that far. Since college, besides a four month fat burning, body transforming stint to get ready for a Hawaii vaca, I’ve not really challenged my body to see how strong it really is.

But were there any 5K races left in Denver? It’s nearly Fall and most races are done over the summer so I thought. “Race for Cure is coming up in like three weeks,” she said. “If you get training now, I bet you’ll be ready.”

Without thinking, I texted my sister-in-law and asked if she’d be interested in running a race with me. She texted right back with a yes! She and my brother have been running everyday so I thought it might be up her alley. Yay, running buddies!

But a 5K? 3.2 miles?! Yikes! I am so out of shape, that seems impossible and when I learned that a lot of the race is uphill I started to feel a little faint. Too late! No backing out now. I’ve registered, added a personal “donation page” and am dedicating my race to my aunt Debbie, who lost the fight to breast cancer in May. I miss her.

Right after work I headed to the gym just to see what I was working with a mere 19 days from the big race. I struggled to run a straight mile without stopping. I did it, but slowly. So day 1 of training ended in a mile run and a mile walk. My goal is to get to two miles running by the end of next week. Wish me luck!

I’m hopeful for this new endeavor. It’s not a major undertaking, yet it gives me a new hobby, a new goal, something new to think about. My mind has been so focused on the future, I need to concentrate on the here and now. Plus doing something just for myself feels really good.

xoxo

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storyteller

I’m reading a book by Donald Miller right now called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years that goes into the idea of living your life as if it were a story. There’s the main character, yourself, and he or she is wanting to accomplish a goal, but first face a series of obstacles in order to achieve said goal. I want to be a character worth cheering for and I want to be a character who overcomes obstacles with grace, dignity and incredible strength. But sometimes I feel like a weak character. Sometimes I feel so exhausted from the adversity I face I wonder if the goal is ever within reach or if I’m doomed to be slaughtered in Act II before my story is even over.

I’m a storyteller for a living. In fact, it’s my job to create a beginning and middle and an end for a new television series based on real characters and their trials and tribulations within real estate. I want to ensure that each story I manage has a happy ending. That the characters, even in the midst of their strife with financial woes, looming deadlines and brittle emotions the ending, more often than not, ends well. In fact I don’t even have to make it up. It just tends to work out that way. I remember talking to one of my characters on the telephone and she was upset that a sale on her home fell through. Devastated, she couldn’t get out of the idea that she’d never sell her house and thus be stuck forever. It was my job to assure her everything would be all right, but it was also my experience at working on the show for so long to really believe it would be so. Three days later she sold her house at a higher price than before.

With that said I should learn to trust that there’s a happy ending in store for me as well. In the midst of pain, insecurity, impatience and confusion I know I must have faith that God will guide my story to a happy ending. (Although as I’m writing this I’m still trying out the whole God word as opposed to my former The Universe, and I still don’t have the comfort that I feel one should when referring to Him. I hope this changes, but that’s for another entry.) That’s the frustration though with being a character in your own story. You must hope and have faith that it will end with parades and celebration and for me what I want most of all, true love. I want to do my story proud. I want someone to tell it someday and keep it on their shelf where it sits proudly with other classics like The Great Gatsby and Oliver Twist. I want to overcome the obstacles set before me and I want be brave and trust that I will live out my happily ever after. It’s too bad though that I don’t have a copy of the book so I can skip ahead and read the last chapter to find out what happens…c’mon it’s not like I’m the only one who’s done that before…

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all a matter of time

Today I woke up feeling rested as opposed to flu-like. Today I felt competent. Today I did my job and felt confident in my decisions and insight. Today I made positive progress. Today I felt like I could actually run a 5K without running out of breath. Today I felt good.

Last week was an entirely different story. Sick, defeated, lost, sluggish were adjectives circling my soul and weighed heavy in my heart.

Time has a funny way of changing things so sneakily and yet so dramatically, the only certain thing in life is that change is happening all around us and that the best thing to do is embrace the times that are in your favor as use your strength to get through the times that prove nearly too much to bear. Yes, this may sound very cliche, but even so I suppose it’s best to take comfort in change because even when it seems that change turns your world upside down, time won’t allow it to remain that way. Enjoy the roller coaster friends, I hope we’re all in for a long ride!

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La vita è bella

Flowers. Chocolates. Homemade gifts. Phone calls. Well wishes. Candles. Good Italian. Streamers. Butterflies. Sangiovese. Cupcakes. Cards. Friends. Family. Health. Feeling pretty. Surprises.

26 is off to an amazing start.

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Joy

I am joful. I am blessed. I am at peace. I am living in the present. My family is here and all is right with the world. We’ve spent the last 36 hours tumbling and rolling in Parenti hysterics laughing so hard that we’re wiping away tears. My heart is so full. Last night we closed down yet another restaurant after hours of Italian cuisine, vino a custom graduation cake and even a glass full of grappa! Today we’re off to another celebration at my bro’s. He and his wife have transformed their backyard to resemble a Hawaiian Luau, tiki torches and all!

Did I mention that I am blessed?

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Next chapter

I’ve spent the last 22 + years as a student. From learning to speak French from Madame Joanne at age two with the aid of puppets Jaque and Claude to just finishing my very last presentation on counterfeiting brands and their effects on identities, I don’t have much experience with life as a non-student.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to say I finished a Masters degree while holding a full-time job, but wow a part of me wonders what I should do with all my free time from here on out? I honestly hadn’t thought much about this until someone brought it up the other day that I’ll have quite a few slots of availability to fill. Hmmm but what to do? A part of me kind of wants to bask in the idea of having loads of free time to just breathe. Relax. Veg. Denis and I did some serious vegging over Memorial weekend when I wasn’t working on my final paper/presentation and I gotta say, it was heavenly. However, I can only imagine basking in relaxation might only be a good thing for a short while.

So what then? After the relaxing and the basking is over? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt my wallet or my waistline if I actually spent more time exercising. Perhaps I’ll get back into pilates or learn to run an entire mile without gasping for air. The idea of being really fit and binki-ready really exictes me, that is until I actually realize how much work that’ll be. But I guess that’s how I felt about getting my Masters degree three years ago. It seemed like so much work.

I think I’ll get started on the basking and relaxing right away and contemplate how more workouts will fit into my schedule.

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Jizz in my pants…a rebuttal

Sing it ladies!

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MPDG

Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Four words put together in such a way that startled me when I read them. Wikipedia says:

“Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the phrase after seeing Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown, describes the MPDG as “that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” ^[1] MPDGs are usually static characters who have eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish. They invariably serve as the romantic interest for a (often brooding or depressed) leading male protagonist.”

If I could play any role in any movie it would be hands down a MPDG (minus the shallow part).

Some of my favorite MPDGs…

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InDenverTimes.com SIGN UP!

While it’s no secret that the Rocky Mountain News is no longer in service (missed its 150 year anniversary by a scant few weeks) I am proud to say that a few folks in Denver are determined to see the paper live on and evolve into a paid online subscription. If 50,000 people pledge to pay a pitance for online access to news and commentary by some of the most famed Rocky reporters (at least 30 former employees have agreed to write for the online paper) the voices of Colorado that have rung throughout the state can live on. SO for 16 cents a day readers can bring back its beloved paper. 16 cents people?!?!?!?! I find 16 cents a day walking down the street or checking the couch coushins! If 50,000 people can pledge their pennies then the online paper dubbed InDenverTimes.com can deliver the news that has been so missed since the Rocky‘s closing on February 27, 2009. PLEASE visit http://www.InDenverTimes.com and pledge to subscribe. We have until April 23 to reach the goal of 50,000 subscribers. Together we as a community can determine whether big corporations like Scripps hold the fate of our beloved paper or we can band together and decide to make a difference and take responsibility for the revival of the hub of our Colorado news. And trust me, the world is watching us. If we can prove this model works, who knows who will follow suit.

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HELLO James!

Ok, those who know me understand that I’m not a very religious person; however, I KNOW that there is something after this life on earth. The Universe has its way of showing us that those we care about even after they’ve past are looking out.

I was hastily getting ready for work this morning and as an afterthought decided to pack a gym bag at the oh-so-slim chance I’d head to the DAC in the evening. I haven’t been to the gym in an embarrassing  four months and did not have a gym bag in sight so I went for the first large tote within reach (stuffed behind a wall of purses and scarves). I quickly grabbed my gear and was about to shove it in the bag and run out the door when I noticed  a copy of the Rocky Mountain News, nestled inside the bag.

I got a chill and lifted the paper out of its resting place. The dateline read July 12, 2008. Another chill. I carefully opened the paper and turned each page, hesitantly not quite believing what I was holding. Then on page 6 there it was “QUITE BY ACCIDENT” a story of two women brought together by an organ donor written by James B. Meadow, the last story I ever pitched.

James, I don’t know why you decided to show me that everything is OK when you have so many loved ones in need of comfort, but I thank you for letting me know you’re doing your thing wherever you are with your shiny earring and mischevious grin.

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