Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pre-Retirement OJT

This has been a pretty good week. I haven't accomplished many of the projects I thought I would, but I've been able to get out of the house a lot and have enjoyed myself. It's proven to me that I can be ok not working ... which I look at as 'on-the-job-training' for when I retire. The clock is ticking.

I got a pretty clean bill of health on Friday. There are a couple of issues they want to follow and I still need to schedule the appointment with the gastro doc to get the colonoscopy biopsy results. But it's nice to know my cholesterol is good (that was really a shock) and I don't need to be on any meds. They did give me a B12 shot, but I'm going to discuss that with my nutritionist on Friday.

I've taken the month of May off from the nutritionist. Too many things happened this month and I got myself into a funk so I decided to hang it up for a month. I went back to all of my bad habits and I'm ready to start eating healthy again. Maybe I can even take 20 pounds off before Camp Widow.

Camp Widow ... the name makes me smile and has made friends laugh when I mention it. No, we're not camping. It's at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina in mid-August. There are some fabulous workshops and it will be wonderful to meet some of the widows/widowers I've met online at Widowed Village. And who doesn't love San Diego?

Widowed Village ... if you're a widow reading this and you haven't yet joined WV, I would encourage you to give it a try. I just had a wonderful chat with two of my favorite widows: Tracy in Calgary and Dawn in Australia.  Isn't that fabulous that we can make connections with those who live so far away? We have so much in common and can support one another when we've hit a low spot along the way. It's a lifeline and I'm very grateful I found that wonderful place.

The Journey by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

3 comments:

Susie Hemingway said...

Good strong words here by Mary Oliver and I am so glad to know how well you are doing now - with such courage and with the "Power from Within".
Our dear men would be so proud of us and the strength we are finding.

Boo said...

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Am I Truly A Widow? said...

What an awesome post! Very uplifting! As for the Vitamin B12, I learned how to do this myself, and it is amazing how much better a simple vitamin is making me feel. Of course it takes me 20 minutes cause I look at the needle and look at the spot. LOL.
It's great to hear such a wonderful uplift! Thanks for sharing!