Spanish Wedding Q. and A.

In case you ever find yourself invited to a wedding in Spain, you might have some questions before you go....

Q. Are all weddings in Spain in a church?
A. Many, but they are also held in quaint cobblestone village Town Halls complete with piped-in pop music, brides reading weepy declarations of their love and traditional dancers toting swords and a flute. All within a walled city dating back to the 1200's overlooking France.

Q. Is black appropriate to wear to weddings in Spain?
A. It would be highly inappropriate to wear anything but black with nylons. Take blue for instance, without nylons. If you have bare legs you might be asked by a French woman if you are from Leeds. (Ouch).

Q. What might I be handed by said French woman later?
A. Her drink, while she waltzes to the dance floor.

Q. To which I should inquire?
A. "Huh?!"(and proceed to set it down and walk away).

Q. What might she ask me 5 minutes later?
A. Where "the girl who is holding her drink" put her beloved champange.

Q. To which I should reply?
A. "Where I was sitting," describing the far side of the reception hall (insert sweet smile).

Q. What might I be served for dinner after appetizers of tapas?
A. 1. liver pate with bread 2. a phyllo dough seafood wrap 3. a crab stew filled crab shell 4. an entire flounder fish each 5. mojito sorbet 6. an entire rib eye steak with salad and pimentos 7. three desserts plus wedding cake

Q. What might I drink?
A. More vino than you can possibly conceive, water, champange, beer, coffee, Absenythe-looking liquor made from what everyone calls "herbs."

Q. What music might I hear?
A. The essentials. Oye Como Va, La Bamba, and Achy-Breaky Heart in Spanish. And a "traditional song" that sounded Celtic featuring a mean flute solo and head banging.

Q. What challenges might I run into?
A. Finding fresh air. Finding the door to the outside through the cloud of cigaretee smoke to get to the fresh air.

Q. Are neckties-turned-headbands universal among Spanish men ages 20-30 as well as Americans after a significant amount of alcohol?
A. Definitely.

Q. How long will the wedding reception last?
A. This is not entirely known. A guaranteed 12 hours after which jetlag rears its ugly head and time becomes an abstract concept...



Be Well,

B

Part Deux

Once I stopped trying to make every gratitude a big thing its getting easier to think of the small things everyday.

1. I'm grateful doggie daycare is open until 7 because I had time to work, volunteer, and go to an appointment all the while Moose got his play on with his buddies.
2. I'm grateful I got to see a Puggle today. As lame as their name sounds, they are adorable and little Wilson made my day.
3. I'm so grateful no work tomorrow or for the next few days so I have time to finish my report due Monday!
4. I'm grateful the hubby took Moose with him out of our room this morning so I could get another few minutes of shut eye in QUIET!
5. I'm grateful more valuable information came in the mail today that I can use for my report.

PS I'm grateful you are reading this really boring post!:)

Thanksgiving Week Intentions

I want to expand this idea of Thanksgiving to the whole week. I'd love to expand it to everyday but let's be realistic and take it one baby step at a time. I read this week (*ask me if you want the book I'm reading) that complaining "announces your fears." Like if you say "I never find any decent women/men to date" its a complaint, but its also saying "I'm afraid I'll never meet anyone." When you complain you conveniently don't have to solve it, you can sit back and relish in being the victim. Don't we all totally do that at least once in awhile? I do! Ha! Food for thought. You can balance complaints with gratitudes however and focus your energy (we only have a finite amount!) on positive opportunities instead of only complaining and getting stuck. This past year has been alot of complaining for me personally, I'll admit. I must have been through some things that triggered some old fears. I want to start shifting away from that. Happy Thanksgiving Week! (I'm dreaming cranberry everything).

Today:

1. I'm grateful that hubby IM'd me to say he would take care of the dishes when he got home.
2. I'm grateful Crate and Barrell had overnight shipping for a gift. (Albeit 24 bucks- oops, no complaining- dang!:)
3. I'm grateful that I actually found something on the registry that was in stock and could ship immediately.
4. I'm grateful that they had gift wrapping that looks cute because it saved me a trip out to find paper in a hurry.
5. I'm grateful no one threw away my Odwalla in the fridge at work because I had a great treat to come to when I got into work. (Serious Focus is the best flavor they've ever had besides Soy Chocolate Mint- I'm addicted to them!)
6. I'm grateful my favorite take out place was slammed and couldn't make our dinner for an hour (so I came home and had a healthier meal anyway.)
7. I'm grateful a friend thanked me for calling her, it made me feel appreciated.

What are you grateful for?

Be Well,

B

....and we're back! Thoughts on relaxation and hitting people.

Thanks for the nudge, lady. I forgot that I have the obligation to write what's in my head verses assuming you can read my mind. But keep practicing because that would be sweet! As you can see, its been awhile.

Q: So what do a Catholic Priest, A Kung Fu Master, and an M.D. have in common?

A: They've all told me to relax.

Yes, even in Confession, apparently I was too guilt-ridden even for a Catholic Priest. He told me to relax. Maybe he didn't think my sin was bad enough. Then, (I take Kung Fu) and tonight, my Sifu (Master) told me to relax. Actually he said it about 94 times. "Relax! Relax!Relax!" Apparently you can get a hell of a lot more power behind kicks and strikes if you are relaxed until the last second, and then pop! Just like snapping a towel in the men's locker room (or so I heard once). And last, that crazy rash all over my neck that I had before work that suddenly went away by the time I went to the doc? Yeah, he told me to relax, and he wasn't too happy with me either. Something about a strong mind and next time just relax.

None of these were helpful in any real way to me, with the exception of Martial Arts tonight. The guy knew what he was talking about! He really reminds me of the turtle in Kung Fu Panda. Or maybe the crabby one that dies in the end (OH! did I ruin the ending for you? crap.) Funny and he seems to know everything, including what you are thinking and what your body is doing, even when you don't. I didn't know I wasn't relaxing. Instead of kicking a crescent kick and pulling a portion of my hamstring like I did back in August, I pretended (with his direction) that my foot was a brick on the end of a chain that I was whipping around. "It's all in the hip, relaaaaax." Whip! It worked. "Yaaaa!"

Everything I've learned in Kung Fu (specifically Choy Lee Fut) has been counter-intuitive. But its strangely really natural and I've progressed pretty quickly. Maybe because everything that goes into it is ironic and I like that. Like of course something that I really come to enjoy it turns out I'm a complete minority (who's heard of a white woman who loves kung fu? I can't even find a good pair of pants online, there's no market.) And the fact that in order to be powerful and precise in fighting you have to be really relaxed and peaceful. I also like that you spend a bulk of your training learning how to fight but you aren't supposed to use it for beating people up. I used to think all of these martial arts were just bringing more violence into the world or that it just taught everyone to fight with each other. I completely disagree now and I see how much history, honor and respect goes into these art forms. I like the idea that people can fight fairly in a match, follow rules, kick each other's asses, and then hug at the end. It's so strange to me that I love it.

I think the strangest thing about it is that I've personally come to really like hitting people. I get energy from it, a rush of adrenaline that I haven't really matched to anything yet. The hubby didn't believe me when I said "people." He really thought I was pretending the punching bags or kicking pads were people. No, I mean people. Of course I'm one of the few women there, so the instructors are not intimidated and are more than happy to let me actually try it out on them because, well, they are bad ass and can handle me hitting or kicking. For those of you that have never hit anyone, it feels like a transfer of energy from them to you (so backwards from what you'd think) and hurts you more than you might think too. Until the endorphins kick in. By comparison, punching and kicking bags are so soft! Its still such an unusual feeling for me to feel someone underneath my fist, side of my palm, foot, etc. I imagine most women wouldn't like it, but maybe I'm wrong. Who knows, I was definitely wrong though when I thought I wouldn't like it. I think we're (women) raised to nurture things around us, not hit them. My Sifu even said I "must have been a boy" in my past life-- even he found it strange (me strange?).

Every class I leave feeling calm, strong, and well, relaxed.:) It must be doing something right.

Live Well,

B

Are you really as small as the world's greatest religions, God?

I was just thinking the other day, "Man its been awhile since I blogged, maybe I should just stop if I'm not going to be more regular with it." Although this is based in nothing rational, it seemed completely reasonable to me at the time, but dinner with old friends sometimes helps bring an element of rationality to otherwise silly thoughts I have. Case in point, even though we only manage to have dinner with these people twice a year at best (isn't that crazy), its such high quality that it sustains us through needing to have much more. Of course, we would love more, but better to have good quality less often than a bunch of shit all the time, right? I'm applying this to my blog as well. Good reasoning; thanks, I thought of it myself.

Let's have a chat about the Universe. It is Sunday, after all, and I wasn't at church this morning much like I haven't been at church for the last five years or so. My husband tried to buy an entertainingly titled book at Sam's Club last week but I managed to misplace it not in our cart and we didn't end up buying it by accident. But I know the fact that we were both interested in the title meant that we both had an interest in thinking and talking about it later on at some point. I know both of us have a hole in our lives that religion filled at one time, but we aren't convinced religion is what needs to fill it going forward. This we knew we were on the same page about from day one, which was nice. And that's the great thing about marriage; you know you'll always have time to talk about it, and it will come up again hopefully many times through the course of your lives. This date is not ending anytime soon. Luckily it came up at dinner tonight and was an engaging, wonderful conversation.

Back to the book that we didn't buy or read entitled "Jesus, Save Me From Your Followers." I thought, at a glance it had way too many illustrations in it for my taste, which is maybe why I subconsciously put it down instead of in the cart, but I what a great "now talk amongst yourselves" title! Maybe I don't even need to read it, its alot to think about just in the title!

I was raised Catholic and thoroughly embraced it most of my life, even being a Peer Minister of Liturgy in college. I joined the choir at 12 and sang through high school graduation, and then led the college group for a couple years. I was baptised, had First Eucharist, First Reconciliation, Confirmation, dated two men who ended up being Priests (I'm still debating if I was THAT bad of a girlfriend), etc. Anyway, the problem was that what I miss most about it is the music, the incense, and the doughnuts afterwards. And of course, most especially, the community. Essentially, what I miss are the very physical, worldly and human elements of it. Maybe, I thought tonight, that's because whatever else I had, I still have, and really didn't need the Catholic Church to have it. And without the Catholic Church, like when I was in China, I realized that once you take away those worldly things about it, it really didn't fit my spirituality much, it was too small. Yes, as big as the church is, it was too small. I think that's a compliment to a Divine Being really.

Like a wiser, much more red haired person than I once said, "It's like, if you believe that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, etc, don't you think IT is a little bigger than religion?" Bigger than being defined as HE, SHE, OR EVEN IT? I mean really, if you want to believe, as many do, that God can move mountains quite literally, do you think they are able to be defined in anything otherwise known here as Christianity, or any other world religion? Religion is for people, people need it. And yet they act as if they are doing the world a favor because God won't let them have salvation and live without it? Don't you wonder if God is like "um, I invented art and you are trying to tell people that watercolor is the only medium that is legitimate?" Come on people, let's try to think like a Divine Being would. Oh, wait, we can't. We're human. Because of that fact, I have no issue whatsoever with religion in and of itself. Obviously it was a good and large part of my life for a long time. I'm really not your typical Catholic that leaves because out of anger, etc. But a good point was brought up tonight. If people are so confident in their religious beliefs, why do they defend it tooth and nail and often times to the death? To the rest of us who aren't comfortable at this point in life defining small, uniportant issues such as, The Universe, God, Creation, Death, etc through the lense of a man-made institution, it seems like religious followers are being defensive.

But I don't want to focus on that. I want to just throw one more thing out there. The Mystery. As in, the mystery of why we are here, who is God, all those mysteries. Why does religion try to explain them? Why try to put these huge things into something our pea brains can come up with, full of linguistic, historical, and cultural bias? The Mystery was also brought up tonight that I completely agree should be a major focal point of any religious sect and yet is always deemphasized. I guess the only thing I can come up with is that its too big, people need The Mystery explained to feel more secure and to put themselves into a greater context. Paco brought up the fact that, well, when he travels, esp. to developing countries, etc that is when he feels he is put into context, a reality check. I agreed. Why do we need religion to do this? It just creates confusion and hurt. People crave absolutes. Look at science. We feel so much better when we "know" something because its scientifically proven. But the problem is, still no matter what, life throws curve balls at us. People are born with horrible disfiguring diseases, children die, floods happen. at this point what can we say if we've tried to explain away the mystery? Well, they deserved it. Or, God wanted it that way. Or more optimistic, something good will come out of it. How about, "we dont know, that is part of this incredible baffling thing called exsistence."

I can make the analogy to something I like to read about, Traditional Chinese Medicine vs. Western Medicine. Like in accupuncture, energy is redirected and unblocked in an individual in order to reestablish balance in their being. Now in western medicine, there would be symptoms that would point to possible causes and those symptoms and hopefully causes would be treated. Its based in enlightenment, science, evidence, logic. We have x-rays that show broken bones. We have blood tests that can show elevated levels of this and that so we can have a precise diagnosis. However with all this knowlege we have there is still many things we can't explain and have an even harder time explaining how we can transplant organs sucessfully but sometimes people just die and we don't know why. We have to grapple with this fact and its difficult. Now, what if you had a system of managing health that was "invented" pre- Enlightenment, before science? Is it less legitimate? Traditional Chinese Medicine is like 5,000 years old. The Meridians used to locate accupuncture points are not based in anything we can physically find in the body. But somehow, it has amazing success rates in some areas of healing. How can this be? And don't say chance, its above the statistical significance of chance. And don't say magic, that gets us nowhere. Perhaps the most interesting, is that Chinese practicioners are not concerned with the fact that many of the things accupunture claims are not really even provable. They aren't concerned with that, nor are they obsessed with explaining everything. They are at peace with the fact that there is an immense mystery going on here with the human body. Sure, the many things science and medicine have brought us is absolutely incredible. But its not everything and that's ok. That's how I feel about church. And for the time being, that's ok.


Live Well,

Birdie

PS I do miss the community though. Someone suggested we should do things on Sunday morning as groups still, like volunteer, get together for brunch, etc. I think its genius, and it just may become part of a tradition.

Retoxification after the detox

Some have asked about a follow up to the detox diet I did for two weeks. I should clarify that it was an elimination diet primarily, so you could eat more than some detox diets that consist of water, fiber, fruit, etc, but detox was definitely a part of it. You can find it here:

http://www.womentowomen.com/detoxification/detoxdiet.aspx

Now, believe what you may, detox diets are controversial in that some think they are the answer to everything (curing chronic disease, easing menopause) and some think they are actually unhealthy or at least unnecessary. As with many things I'm somewhere in the middle, but my overall opinion is, if you are generally healthy and it isn't too extreme, it can't hurt and you do learn something about yourself you might not otherwise...here's my thoughts post-detox diet.

Pros

Pros for me have more to do with the psychology of eating and my awareness of how food affects my body. It is a lesson in "food as fuel vs. food as enjoyment."

I found that refined sugar actually makes me nauseous most of the time but I tend to eat it because, well, its sugar and its in many things I enjoy. But without it I feel pretty damn good once I get over the cravings the first week. I learned I enjoy a few low glycemic sweeteners like NuStevia for smoothies and in tea with rice or soy milk. I also managed to substitute and feel as though I was getting sweetness in my day without ever getting a sugar high (and subsequent low) with Brown Rice Syrup, Blackstrap Molasses, and Agave Nectar. I decided, if i had to, I could totally live with just those indefinitely. I even made cookies that don't give you a sugar high (and were extremely filling after just one with all the oatmeal and whole wheat flour). The problem is, I dont have to live with those drastic changes, and so my motivation to be ultra strict with it comes and goes. I think over a lifetime those little changes here and there, even if not strictly followed, make a difference. And I'm here for life with my health so I try to never get into the trap of beating myself up for one unhealthy thing or another, I know overall I would rather be inconsistent than have a perpetual bad habit. At least I'm inconsistent with bad habits too:) OK I'm digressing. Next pro...

Of course with a less exciting diet and all that goes with detox you do consume less calories and take in more fluids which makes you less bloated. Any girl knows that's always a plus. But that's temporary.

Also having to be more mindful about preparing food and all that makes more conscious in general of eating, eating patterns, and our body's hunger cycles. Like Paul McKenna says, "eat consciously."

My skin did clear up which is a pro, but it got worse first. Just fyi.

You get to learn about new foods. I learned how to make a tofu cream sauce (after I could add tofy back in again) that was pretty decent and I learned about nutritional yeast and used it in a few dishes. I also now know that some of the sweeteners are just as good as Splenda but natural, so it will be an easy switch from now on. Also, I found I think I actually like Almond Butter (ingredients: almonds and salt) better than Peanut Butter (with preservatives, sugar, etc), and I used to be a Peanut Butter fiend! Knowledge is usually always good.

I think with any ritual, and this would qualify as a ritual in my mind, it signifies *something* (insert what you want) and that can be powerful. Whether you want to signify a new beginning, or moving on from something in your past, a health overhaul can be instrumental.

Last but not least! My PMS was virtually nonexistent. The second week of the detox I should have been in full force, esp bloating, headach, tender muscles, neck tension, and mood changes. Yeah those are typically normal for me and I had very little if any at all. Interesting...

Cons

Expensive! PCC loves me, though!

Limited nutritional value over the long run. Of course when on such a strict diet you miss out on trace this and vitamin that like you get when eating a well rounded diet. I would definitely burn out on it in the long term although some with food allergies stay on it indefinitely. I have a lot of respect for them. But I would miss cheese.

You can't eat out. At all. I tried.

So much fiber! Need I say more.

The best part of it all is, of course, the first day back to normal when you can have what you want. Its like when Scrooge woke up on Christmas Day; you wanna throw open the curtains and....pop open a Guiness with your pizza.

Well that's it. Next topic under health is my pilates teacher certification which is in full force. Til next time!

Live well,

B

Monica's Baby Gift

Ah, baby gifts....definitely fun projects. Since my baby is a dog I can only make these projects for friends. Monica is due in May. She wants to wait to know the sex of the baby which I thought was great, until I wanted to make a project and realized so much of baby stuff is gender specific. I winced and made one yellow project against my will, but the next one will be soft grey with red and a ducky.

My first sewn project besides pillow covers:

Naptime tote bag from Zoe Mellor's Nursery Knits. The quilted outside tote holds bottles, toys, diapers, etc and the side zipper completely unzips and is a reversible flannel nap pad/blanket. Monica is a busy woman and I had a feeling she would be toting her baby around, naps or no naps. She'll love it! I'm still not sure how to feel about yellow but that was as genderless as Jo Ann's had to offer.

Moose would not get out of the way of the camera, he's such a poser now. He HAD to be in every shot.

Here's a preview of what will go in the tote gift, it's still in the process of being knitted: http://www.colourway.co.uk/pwrs.htm?nknits/p03.jpg+420+630+Click_to_close

Hopefully will have it finished one of these days; it's slow knitting (size 5 needles)....

Live Well,

B