It's All About the Under Armour...

There was a time when being in any store that sold Vera Bradley was dangerous...I would be overcome by the power of pinks and purples and flowery prints.  This is no longer case, which is good.  The problem is, that same giddy feeling I used to have for Vera Bradley I now have for Under Armour.  I see it and I want it.  I was always a Nike Girl...and I talked about the change over...which was peculating...this past summer.  Read Here.

Just like with Vera, I can always justify a purchase.  Actually, with Under Armour, it is much easier.  It is for my health...it wins every single time.  I find workout clothes to be motivating...they do help you work out better.    Especially with strength training and all of my continuing adventures with the Red Ball and a Grey Ball too.  Free movement requires the proper attire.  And now that I'm taking the plunge and adding Pilates to my regime...free movement is essential.  Besides, when you look good...you feel good.  When you feel good, well, you don't really need anything else.

A different spin...

So as 2012 fades behind and 2013 rises ahead...I'm doing a bit of reorganizing and refocusing.  I have said goodbye to the flowery bright of my old blog design and have moved to a more subtle design.  Less Flash (no pink or loud flowers).  More calm (subtle grey, interesting font).  A focus on words and pictures (note new title).  Better accuracy in terms of my interests (no mention of Vera Bradley but instead soccer and my boy Gym).  What I hope will remain are my simple strings of words to express my meanderings in life.  Snapshots of Joy....   

Grandpa...

There was something about the five year mark yesterday that made it different from previous years. I don't know if it was because in some ways five years feels like a really long time and in other ways it all still feels like just yesterday.  There were many tough years of care giving...but those last two weeks that my Mom and I got to be with him...were heartbreaking and beautiful...we were thankful for each and every moment.  I still miss him...every single day.  I think it is in the remembering and with the tears that you feel closer to those who are out and about in the universe watching over you.  They are reminders that the love is real and that it connects you...always.

It is hard to determine what I miss more...his hugs or his stories.  My Grandpa was an open book...he wielded his stories from his adventures with natural arcs that blended to form the exact string of words you needed to hear. A perfect story teller...lessons and wisdom wrapped up in wildly entertaining packaging.  I could sit for hours listening to him.  He enjoyed his youth...cars and lovely ladies...and school...well...it was just the place where he could play his sax and park his sedan.  When World War II came along, he was drafted and it broke him.  His spirit, his lust for life...it was all gone...and it made the rest of his life very hard.  For one, he was one of the lucky ones from the greatest generation to come back...and he felt guilty about it every single day of his life.

He held my feet to the fire.  He taught me how to work hard and never do anything half-assed.  He drove me to my first job interview...I was a high school junior interviewing for a summer student job that I was competing with college students for.  He knew that I had nailed my interviewed and had in turn sealed my future (my career) at the place that I longed to work for.  I'm still there...working hard.  He believed in me.  He always encouraged my writing...he thought my words were powerful...even if he did not always agree with them.  He believed in me.  He still does.      

Other Musings about Grandpa...

That Thing I Do… (Word Count = 50,116)

I’m a few days late…but I am happy to report that I did win National Novel Writing Month this year…with a few hours to spare.  I finished at Panera with many of my writing friends watching.  I tweeted and facebooked my final dash to the finish line.  I had cheers in person and virtually…it felt really, really good.  It was a very different experience this year.  It was the first year where I had to balance my quality time with Gym and manage to consistently write.  It was the first year where I had to be a dedicated sports fan and still manage to write.  It was the first year where I had to balance more than just work.  I think these are all excellent signs that my world really is transforming. 

I switched my workouts to the early morning so that I could write at night.  I spent many a day/night at Panera.  I did pound a few words out while tailgating.  I plotted in the car rides to games, while driving to Virginia Beach, and while walk/running on said beach.  I wrote words while staying with one of my campers and her family…at night after she and her Mom had gone to sleep.  I wrote from the writing cove at the home of two of my NanoWrimo buddies (8K in one sitting).  I wrote from Starbucks while waiting for one of my childhood friends to join me for an always inspirational chat.  To be honest, I don’t know that I wrote much of anything at home.  Instead of clocking thousands of words during a weekend, I would clock thousands of words in a single day (10K, 8K…crazy!!).  It was fun.  Writing is my marathon.  It felt so good to get my fingers moving.  It felt even better to be truly living while writing…that was a first.

In the last hours, I had a personal best.  I wrote 5K words in 2 ½ hours.  At times, I was writing 1K in 20 minutes.  My goal is to write 1K words in 15 minutes…I’m getting closer.  It is good to have something to aim for next year.