never thought this would be me

I used to get so aggro at people who just went away for long periods of time without blogging and now I am one of them. Wow I suck. Come to find out, opening up your own business takes up alot of time and energy. Things are going well at the studio and I am now finally able to pass on some classes to other instructors which gives me a more normal schedule, but when I am not there, I am at home still dealing with the phone calls, emails, and the occasional ass bag who calls to yell at me. Fun stuff.

In the meantime Bri and I have bought a house. Well we bought a plot of land that will eventually be a house and we are super excited to do it and will hopefully have a place to live come summer time. Its all good though.

I have to be honest. I have MAJOR triathlon envy. I am so jealous of my old teammates in SD who are about to head back to Hawaii for the lavaman, and ESPECIALLY for those who are going to get to train for a full ironman with the TEAM in New Zealand. I think that is probably the only way I would do a full IM is if it was with the support and guidance of the my TEAM.

In the meantime there was a small triathlon added to the area in Nahant. It is on the anniversary of my mom's passing so its a must. Since its a sprint tri and I have never done a mini TRI I am going to try to get some people to train with. The idea kicking around now is to field it out to some of my clients to see if they are interested. The only problem is I need a pool to train at and am PETRIFIED of masters classes because everytime I went in SD people got aggro with me cause I was too slow. Hey it takes a long time to pull these long lanky arms through the water!!!

I am hoping that if I get going training and set up a schedule of events to train for that I will start to feel a little more normal.

I do miss sharing some ridiculous life stories so here are a few:
-my husband who will remain nameless came home the other day and had an egg on his head. apparently he was in the shower and experienced an "aggressive sneeze" and slammed his head against the wall. WOW

-driving home after a super long day the other night I was in the left lane at a red light when an MBTA bus decided I was too close to him to make a right hand turn, but instead of waiting for the green light he instead honked at me before driving into my buggy and ripping off the right side of my car. Oh and then he made his turn and kept going. It was awesome. I think my car hates me at this point, first she is covered in snow every other day, then covered in soot from all the crap on the ground and now she is covered in black white and yellow from MBTA's finest!

So if I still have any readers left I apologize for going MIA and cannot guarantee I will be any good with this but I will try!

1-1-11

I really am a terrible blogger as of late. Come to find out opening your own business makes one extremely busy. The funny thing about the New Year is it causes you to look back at the year and take it all in for all its guts and glory. This year had a whole lot of ups, and some fun downs that make you want to throw your arms up and pretend you are on a rollercoaster.

One things for sure I did not think we would be back on the east coast this year but life happens and you gotta ROLL WITH IT!

Highlights of 2010:
-Began with the Rose Bowl with our friends and cheering O-H-I-O to a victory (sorry bri).
-shortly thereafter we started many swims in the pacific ocean training for the Lavaman tri.
-training in general was a blast, i had bri by my side for this one and so many fun teammates and an unreal coach from whom i learned so many lessons from.
-in march we got to go to Hawaii and race together and again raise a ton of money for the LLS. We also got to race along and then get extremely intoxicated with world class triathletes.
-then a bunch of weddings happened, which meant alot of travelling.
-the stress of all that hit me and resulted in some stomach "issues" and my first colonoscopy also known as "the coolest shit i ever took." and a day spent high as a kite. Luckily everything the dr's thought was not true and since then I have been ALOT better (no more poopy stories for ya folks!)
-had my first primetime debut on network television but was TOTALLY jipped but still fun nonetheless.
-shortly after we made the decision to move back east and to start my own business. which meant ROAD TRIP!

I guess in just a year it was quite alot. A welcomed change that I am so thankful for. And now here we are ringing in 1-1-11 with snow on the ground, living across the street from our old place and just a slight headache because I could not indulge too much last night because I have to get to the studio to teach some pilates classes. WHAT?!?!? seriously life is too much! Life is funny you just never know what the day will bring you, let alone a WHOLE YEAR! Here is to a New Year. May it bring everyone the peace and change they wish and hope for.

2011 or bust!

justice for all

all i have to say is if you are not from the boston area you are missing out. yesterday the news ran a bit all day that made me so very happy.

it was of a woman at a convenient store, she was in line and just all of a sudden drops her pants and tinkles on the floor. gets back up and pays for her stuff.

it was awesome. she is obviously not a triathlete cause she would have just leaned to one side and peed down her leg!

the store released their surveillance video for "justice."

ahha.

Other than that bri and i have pretty much been like an infirmary here all week/end. we have now had to sleep in two different rooms for two nights now because neither of us were sleeping with all the snoring/coughing going on. pretty sad. i think we have been sick more in the two months we've been back than the entire time in san diego. i think i just have to get used to the allergies and heat being on and what not. fun times!

i have discovered the netipot which i have been doing like any chance i can get. although today i am super stuffed up so it all went down my throat and i pretty much puked it up. fun stuff!

all i know is if you want to make it onto the news, pee on a floor and act like its normal

not my first rodeo

I'd like to say this has never happened to me but it has....multiple times.

I was at the studio in between getting my haircut and highlighted (could have had a child in the amount of time since my last haircut) and seeing clients. My space is done but everything else is still under construction as are the bathrooms. Since there are lots of construction guys I can only assume that the womens room is probably the room where the guys drop a deuce, leaving the mens room for a quick number one. However there is rarely anything to wipe with so I bring my own tp. I think they must be wiping with sand paper...

Okay so I went to the bathroom and yes women do shit, and if you are new to this site then you should be lucky that I am not fully describing this said shit. THANK GOD it was a normal BM or things could have gotten really ugly. Anyways I go, I wipe, I flush and the water just filled up. Now I should have known better but whats a girl to do at this point when there are only men using this facility? leave my brown friends floating in the toilet? NOPE I flushed again BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG mistake. The feared water rising happened and I quickly turned the water off (glad I learned that one) and grabbed the mop that was in there and started mopping. Thank god the poops did not float out cause thats happened before. I'd like to say I have matured cause the last time this happened I threw some paper towels down, closed the door and pretended it wasn't me.

This time I decided to yes close the door, but to call the contractor to let him know what he was walking into. I am sure he was amused. I would like to say that I was lady enough to drop in some "easy drops" before pooping. This stuff is genius. you drop a little of the oil in the bowl before you poop and no matter what happens in there it smells divine! It has been tested quite a bit. As I said to the contractor it was not my first rodeo with a crazy toilet and I am sure it won't be my last!

11/11

Thursday was Veteran's day which also is my mothers birthday. She would have been 59. I honestly think the thought of being that old would make her puke, but i'm sure she would rather be here with us than an eternal 50 year old. I spent the day working but had some time with my niece. At one point we were dancing in the living room and THE SONG came on. This was THE SONG, the cry in the shower song, the song that I heard after my mom passed and it moved me, the song that still if i hear it to this day it can rock me. The song came on and E-beth just looked at me and said "it sounds like a beautiful butterfly song" and started floating around the room. Presh. I have always connected with music, there are songs that can not only get you through a tough time but can connect you back to that time and bring all that emotion back. When I know I need to connect to that time, I will listen to that song. I miss music, for most of my life music was always on. I grew up with lots of music, granted it was always michael bolton type stuff that my mom liked. I went to my first concert at a young age and have attended hundreds of concerts. I have been slacking in the music dept. I don't love itunes or downloading music but i LOVE pandora. Actually pandora is where i first heard THE SONG. I played all my moms favorite music for her while she was in the hospital, I remember wanting her to connect with all those times and songs that made her happy and to take away the fear and pain that i am sure she felt at that time. Then we played all her favorite music at her funeral, odd to some but it just felt right. I miss her tons and it is still hard to imagine life without her.

I was walking with my doggie and contemplating things a bit. I was thinking about what has brought me to this point in life. I NEVER imagined opening my own business, and I was wondering how i could ever put into words what got me here. but now i know. it was my mother, it was her death, her absence that truly changed me. Obviously loss like that will change a person, but how did it change me? it was that loss that prompted me to start training for endurance events. the reason was my mother, i wanted to help empower families and people who are diagnosed with cancer and hope & pray that maybe one day there will be a cure. i do not know where i would be at this point in life if none of that happened. i realized that being healthy, and exercise could save a person. it changes you, changes how you feel, it destresses you, it forces you to breathe when sometimes its hard to do.

these events gave me courage, strength and confidence. but the best part of it all was being able to connect to my mom. whenever i was out on the roads or on the bike or anywhere it was like connecting to a good song. i found a way to honor her life but to honor my own and to hopefully inspire and help others along the way. i still find it funny when someone tells me that i am the one who inspired them to participate in a race. so here i am opening my own fitness studio. what a gift. a gift to be able to change other peoples lives, make them feel stronger, more confident and to connect to whatever it is they were disconnected from.

it is no shock that my actual opening day will be 12-11-10. who knows how this all worked out that way, but the fact that i will start on the 11th of the month once again connects me to my mom. i owe her a big thank you, thanks for this opportunity. i will take none of it for granted and will hopefully be able to make more of a difference in peoples lives now. all i can say is, on 11-11-11 when she would be turning 60 we are going to do something awesome.

outta my head

so I think that perhaps some of the stress of starting a new business up may be hitting me a bit. i have had a migraine for about 2 days now and the only medicine that helps makes me want to vom all over the place. pretty awesome. i do however think it is a result of tmj which i have not really had any issues with since i got myself all riled up around the vineman tri. i have had random twinges of pain in my face and ear area which is typically how it starts for me. oh and my shoulders and neck are super tight! man i miss my masseus!

whatevs. as the dr told me a year ago "find some namaste" so that is what i am going to do! and fortunately i can do it with one of my fav's from san diego! our friend from our tri team flew out last night and is here a few days so i am very excited. we are going to eat our way through boston pending that i do not hurl all over the place.

the rain is not helping. its not helping ANYBODY. especially when i went to the studio yesterday to let the mirror guy in and saw that yet again it rained inside the studio again. the puddles are back. son of a gun. so thank god i told them i needed the place done in november because i would likely have been screwed if this were all happening in december. as of now my machines get here december 1, training will be december 7-10 and i hope to open on 12-11-10! cool date if i do say so myself. not going to waste anytime!

do it

http://bostonpilatesplus.blogspot.com/

Check out the blog for my pilates studio! Pass it around, like it, friend it, whatever the kids are calling it these days!

the potty train

I had to run out for a bit today to pick up some stuff at a Staples. I remained calm in line despite the fact that i was in line over 15 minutes with only one older woman in front of me that needed a price check on all items she bought. As I was waiting there was an older woman yelling at her grandson "go to the bathroom!" It was loud and obnoxious and I can imagine embarassing for this kid who was clearly just trying not to piss himself.

I finally get out to my car and hear her again "go dammit go just go!" She had him taking a leak ON MY CAR!!! He was mortified especially when he realized it was my car. Grandma could car less she continued to yell and draw further attention to him "just relax and go hurry up! She don't care she's not looking at your little thing!" yup it was awful. To top it off there were no other cars around me! I mean come on lady have him pee on your own car!

Frigin massholes

that hurt

I felt like pounding pavement the other day so that is what I did. I took the dog with me despite the fact that since we moved back east she has had the constant runs. And everytime i take her on a run I have to stop about 10 times and uses all the poop bags and then i have to run back out to the other spots that she leaked on to pick it up. Anyways the run was going well. its kind of good having the dog with me all pissed off cause she holds me back and makes me run slower than my already excruciatingly slow pace, but then picks it up the second half of the way after she realizes that she is on my time.

Now I try to be friendly, and I like to say hi to people. Sometimes I make extra eye contact especially if its a sketchy guy. I give him a "yeah I could draw a picture of you from this mental picture i just created in the event that you try anything on me" kind of look. But mostly I just want to not be a douche and actually look at people. I guess my fellow bostonians are not on the same page. On the way back I decided to pick up the pace and forget about my heart rate monitor for a while and had a good pace going. A woman was running towards me but seemed to be refusing to make eye contact with me. Of course I tried staring her down all the while with a big smile on my face. Well she never looked. As I am looking behind me at this point I failed to notice the low hanging branch and clotheslined myself. Stupid bitch, she never even stopped despite me yelling a quick obscenity and moaning a little bit.

I will not give up on my fellow americans and i will continue to say hello even if you blatantly try to ignore me.

H 2 Oh shit

We all know how I have been dragging my feet when it comes to choosing the color scheme for the pilates studio. I have been agonizing over this decision more than the original decision to actually change my life and do this. I have finally narrowed it down to my colors, now I just have to pick where to put them. Sooooooo yesterday after doing some interviews I called the owner of the building so I could check in and just figure out what I needed to do. Well we got in and in front of me was our first major snaffu.

Its been raining pretty hard here and there was water that leaked into the space. I actually kept my cool, I mean we haven't done any real work there yet (and by we I mean the contractor) AND this probably buys me a few more days to figure out the paint situation. The owner is obviously taking care of the problem and at least it happened now and not when I am trying to run a business and cannot afford to have someone come in and take down the wall.

Things like this are bound to happen so I move on. Monday I am meeting with the contractor and am going to put up some paint so I can make my final decision.

On the workout front I reconnected with my kettlebell. I figure until my machines get here I need to do whatever I can so that I do not die during training. It actually went pretty well.

Now we are off to check out some fall foliage! My how I missed the colors of fall.

nothing special

The weeks seem to be flying by. Hard to believe we have been home for over a month. There is something about home that gives my dog the runs though. It has been rough on her intestinal tract. She literally had no issues at all in San Diego but something about being back here makes her a little leaky. It has made for some long nights as well as long runs when I decide to take her. Poor thing.

I have been trying to get some workouts in and they have been bike trainer sessions, lots of runs with the pup and some good ole walks too. I have been continuing to interview people so I have been taking some of their classes as well. I spend so much of the day on the coach cranking out paperwork and cranking out numbers for the business so I need a good amount of exercise each day so that I don't wither up here. I just filed an application for the Boston Triathlon Team. Hopefully that works out because I really do not know many people out here in the tri world (move home LG) and its not easy finding fellow slow pokes to talk about peeing and pooping with.

I was super psyched to watch this years world championship ironman in hawaii via the live stream on the computer. I pretty much spent about 13 hours in front of the computer watching. The same fella that we got super drunk with while we raced in Hawaii actually pulled out a win at the big dance. It was amazing to watch others that I have trained with through the years in San Diego compete in that race. Made me start to search for another half iron. I did come across an inaugural race that is in Italy in June, but with the business opening this year I am just not sure if it is feasible. I will have to do a local race towards the end of the summer.

I think I have finally chosen some colors for the studio but still have to fiddle with them a little bit. I kind of just wish we could fast forward to December's opening. Enough talking about it lets just do this already! Until then all the pieces of the puzzle will continue to come together.

color me....

This is what my living room looks like right now. Lots of swatches, so many choices. I have to choose a color for the floor, for the walls AND for the ceiling. I have to live with it everyday so its not a decision I am making lightly. The color has to SPEAK to me for the studio. It has to say "yeah I like this place, I would love to spend lots of money working out here."

I think I need a life coach, I am kinda okay with people making decisions for me. OOOOHHHH maybe its time to call the psychic!

Bruising arms everywhere

I have been lucky enough to be able to ride with my top down nearly every day since moving back to Boston. While there are LOTS of difference between San Diego and Boston one MAJOR difference is that people are crazy about the "punchbuggy" punch! I never really noticed people doing it on the west coast. Here if I so happen to drive by a school when its being let out it is like mayhem. I wondered today "why are these kids all fighting and hitting eachother" then I turned my music down and realized! How fun! I want to purposely let a headlight go out so I can be a pididdle punchbuggy!

I attended a class today to check out someone for the pilates studio. I am psyched by all the interest in people who want to instruct. I REALLY need to get some muscle back though so its good timing to be "interviewing" people at the gym. I do need some hot guys though, afterall I am on the market for a gay husband or two....i'm just sayin....

domestic diva

First things first this is my new store front for the studio. We will be the one on the left. There has been lots accomplished this week but still lots to do of course!

I have been getting back into a regular workout schedule. I also posted job openings to craigslist to find some instructors so I am checking out some of their classes in the next few weeks. If you know anyone who might be a good match to teach here then pass them on to me.

Apparently my stomach is back to 'normal' and normal as in being sick all morning but hopefully that is a flukey kinda thing.

Even more exciting is that I finally found a good yoga studio! After some recommendations I ended up at Prana Power Yoga. They have a bunch of locations and it is clean, just the right temperature and very similar to the corepower yoga that I loved in San Diego. Like with any working out I always feel like a different person after doing it, yoga especially. Rumor has it a yoga place will be opening in Lexington Center as well which I am very excited about.

So yes money is tight right now and I am lucky to have an understanding husband. Fact of the matter is there is no way I could have a job right now with trying to get the studio going. I am seeing clients 4 times a week which is nice to put my speech hat on but even that is tough right now. Its nice not having to be out of the house by like 645 to get to work though. So instead I get up hang with the pup and make my husband some coffee. Oh AND I have cooked dinner a few times and kept the house really clean. Best of all the puppy is MINE again! We spend the first year of her life together then she spent all her time with Bri since he worked from home. NOW its all puppy Jodes time and its WONDERFUL! Except for the 3 days that she had runny poop, that kinda sucked. Maybe I got it from the dog????

suckram yoga

I fell in love with power yoga out in san diego. After the moving and packing and unpacking and driving cross country my back was a mess. Not to mention the core strength I gained with pilates out in SD is nowhere to be found since I haven't done it in oh so long. Since getting back to Boston I have been trying to find a yoga place to stretch out and get some core strength back. It has not been easy. I found a so so place but the moaning is just too much. I went with my friend that I giggle too much with and it was kind of embarassing how much we were laughing. Like that trying to suppress your laughter and it gets even worse. But really people there is a difference between deep breathing and the shit you are doing which is borderline pornographic.
So I tried another place after many people recommended it. BUT it was bikram yoga. I have never done it and can say that I will never do it again. It was hotter than hell. My water bottle was hot to the touch. The tissues I had with me were hot to touch. I was not sweating like I should and that is not good when it is 120 degrees. When I am out doing an event in heat I just pour water over my head since I don't sweat like normal people and that cools me down. There was no reprieve. THe heat brought on major vertigo and dizziness and I couldn't do anything. I could not stand, I could not lay down. So I left the room to compose myself. Of course the instructor who was really nice and trying to be helpful stopped me in front of the door and asked "are you sure you want to leave? you could just sit down...blah blah blah" BUDDY I have alot of pride so if I didn't feel like I was going to pass out I would stay. I said "believe me I need this" and upon feeling the normal temp air yelled out "sweet relief!" I composed myself in the bathroom, cried a little bit inside and headed back into the room. At this point everything was spinning and I still had a gd hour to go. UGH! I just sat down for most of it. It was embarassing, but I really didn't care, I looked HORRID. I made it through the class, I have no idea how. I am pretty sure yoga is not supposed to make you feel super anxious but when you feel like that it is pretty unsettling.
It was so bad that at the end of the class a woman went up to my friend and said " was that your friend? he really should have let her go...she did NOT look good." AMEN SISTA! I honestly still felt like that a day later.
So bikram yoga, not for me. I like to leave yoga feeling like I worked out because of what my body did, not because of the heat. I am not knocking bikram, I know alot of people love it, but it is most certainly not my thing. So I am off again on the search for a good yoga place. There is going to be a yoga place opening right by my pilates studio so lets hope that is a good fit, that would be convenient afterall!
However, there were no moaners, that was good. Oh forgot to mention that it was carpeted, and stunk like the armpit of a sweaty man. brutal.

It's all happening!

This week was pretty exciting and exhausting all at the same time. I thought I was going with one space at the beginning of the week, and that did not happen. I am always a girl to go with my gut and sometimes people will show their true colors and fortunately for me it was before I entered into business with them. So I started my search again and was brought back to the original space that I was drawn to. It is in Lexington Center. Today I signed the letter of intent which is like an agreement, and then they will give me the lease. At that point I will have my lawyer check it over to make sure I am not screwing myself or anything like that. Lord knows I am no good with the fine print so i'd rather pay someone who can sift through the bs. So if all goes according to plan I will have the space by next week!
I had my LLC formed and my official name is Boston Pilates Plus LLC. I kept going back and forth with names, and this ended up being one of the only ones available for use so that is what it is! I also got my tax id number today so i'd say all in all this was a pretty successful week.
One thing is for sure, I have to get back into shape before this all starts up. Its a good thing I have no job right now.
I am going to start putting the word out there for some cool people that want to be instructors. I figure that is also a good way to get back in shape if I try out their classes (not my idea but i'll take it anyways) to see what their teaching style is.
All good things.
I created a facebook page for Boston Pilates Plus as well as a blog. I will likely use that blog for all the good stuff: www.bostonpilatesplus.blogspot.com

where to begin?

I honestly have no clue how to start this post. I will break the last three weeks down for ya.

Cross country trip:
Utah: gorgeous, saw so many rainbows and awesome scenery.
Utah to Colorado: I cried, a few times, it was so damn pretty. I want to back to the breckenridge area in the winter, I cannot even imagine it. Ate really good steak at a random "restaurant" that was really a house in the middle of nowhere with a giant tree growing through it.
Colorado to Nebraska: BOOOORING! Oh and we took a wrong turn so we ended up in Kansas for a while instead of Nebraska
Omaha: We arrived to our hotel along with about 100 police cars, apparently someone tried to steal something from a nearby mall, ran down the cop, and the cop shot them. We ate yummy steak yet again.
Next stop Chicago! I have to go back there, what a cool city. The hotel we stayed at was super pet friendly and was pretty ridiculous with dogs everywhere and happy hours that were free. LOVED IT! It was interesting watching Belle try to find a place to do her business in the city. Highlight was her peeing next to a homeless man and me yelling for him to move....was probably unnecessary since it already smelt of urine, but really its his home too!
Chicago toooooooooooooo Boston...Really? thats a long time, but we did it. At this point we were DONE with the driving. I got slightly batty at one point and pouted big time but it was the right call to just get home.

Since the arrival we have been at my dad and apples house until today. Weddings, sleepovers with little ones and TONS of unpacking. I have also managed to get many steps closer to being a small business owner. But I have come to realize that ALOT of things have to happen in order for this to happen. Thank god I am unemployed right now because this has been more than a full time job. Patience my little grasshoppers.

Belle is settling in and has fallen back in love with grass since she hated it in SD. We are at our new place which is across the street from our old condo. THis came in handy these past few days and we owe SO many favors. I have to say its really nice to be welcomed back to our old neighborhood and see so many familiar faces. We did not get to know hardly any neighbors in SD, which was sad for me :(

That is it for now. I am hoping to get my bike put back together because my body is falling apart. PLUS there is a ride this weekend with the boston tri team called "concord to cakes". YUP a ride specifically to go eat cake.. I LOVE IT! Only thing missing is LG!!

Thank you SD

Dearest San Diego,

I never thought we would be so close. I think I had a hand in sending at least 10 people your way and I knew I would have my turn someday and boy am I glad I did! A few things I will take with me about your lovely city.

-Your jacarandas are quite possibly the prettiest trees I have ever seen.
-The smell of the eucalyptis trees that I would always say a "yoooooooouk" in honor of the red sox each time I smelt you.
-Your countless dog parks and dog beaches and many restaurants that allowed Belle to sit with us.
-Your endless sunshine, I mean really that was too much.
-Your coastline, especially the 101 where whether I was biking, running or driving took my breath away each time.
-Your vineyards
-Your canyons and trails, gave me such a break from the roads(until I got too scared of rapists and killer bees)
-Your wonderful people who I got to swim bike run with, work with, and play with!
-Your crazy chargers fans who liked to yell at me many times for wearing anything patriots related.
-Your sunrises and sunsets
-Your many outdoor pools that were always nice and warm
-Your fish tacos, sushi and many breakfast nooks, and Croce's which was like a second home at many times.
-Your silly porn shops and smoke shops on just about every corner, kind of like a dunkin donuts
-Your palm trees, lily's, and hibiscus flowers
-Your crazy helicopters letting us know what killers were on the loose
-Your driving rules because it made everything so much smoother
-People who do not incessantly honk their horns
-Not letting me get eaten by any sharks or swept out to sea because there were a few questionable moments.
-your avacados
-and last but not least your CUPCAKES!

The list could go on dearest San Diego. Thanks for the good times and the memories. I hope we will be back, what a great place it would be to retire. Until them please take care of my wonderful friends I made along the way and I can't wait to see you again soon! I am so sad to leave you but I know there will be another time we will be together.

Love The Merrill's

its so haaaaaaaaaaaard to say goodbye to sun diego

My first week of vacation was fantastic. I probably would have been pretty bored if my college buddy did not come out to visit from the east coast. We had some silly times with too much wine and way too much food and very little packing. When you move 6 times in about 4 years you get to be pretty good at packing though so I am not nervous. At this point we are mostly packed up. All of the breakables are wrapped and what not and we are going to be good to go for our next move after this one with all the extra boxes that we have.
My car was picked up today and I have to say it was pretty sad seeing her go. While I know it will be there when I arrive in Boston, she will not be the same when she is covered in ice and snow. Ugh. I do have to say I am slightly looking forward to the changing weather, but talk to me in February.
In the meantime we had a super fun barbecue with lots of SD friends. I know we'll be back for visits but its still hard to say goodbye to such wonderful fun loving peeps.
Now its all about packing and cleaning. Not only did I have to say goodbye to my car today but I am bringing my bike down to the shop so I can have it safely packed so it doesn't get smushed in the treck back east. Not sure if I will have time to post again before our cross c0untry trip on Thursday but we will be sure to update as we drive across country. I am going to try to document all of our car fights. Its really the only time we fight and it is always because I yell out "brakes" or slam down my imaginary brake and hold onto the side of the car when Bri is well aware of whats going on. Then I have to tell him what a great driver I am, but not good enough to drive the full 10 hours a day that we have planned. I'll try to keep it zipped but its not easy when you are such a stellar driver and great trash talker like myself. OH speaking of trash talking I got into a fight with the traffic cop at the airport the other day. They do not like when you pull over to text and then say "come on what am I supposed to do, I can't text while driving and you guys won't let me pull over?! should I just have my friend DIVE into my moving car when she comes out?!" then they gave me a ticket. SUCK IT CALI COPS YOU are not getting my money!


I feel like this blog needs some direction instead of my random spatter.This always happens in the "off season" hmmmn any ideas?

moving on

Our time is dwindling. It is all about goodbyes right now, which sucks but I am so grateful for the lifelong friends I have met (yes you LG). Luckily alot of the people I have met have east coast ties.
Today was awesome. The weather was perfect when I woke up, which has not been the case here in Coastal Socal as of late. I got up early and drove to southern Orange County to check out a pilates studio that is using the new machines that I will use at my studio. The ones I am used to are the older model. The owner of SeaFit Studio in San Juan Capistrano was so welcoming and helpful to me today. What was even better was hearing from the loan guys that things are finally moving on that front. I have been apprehensive to share too much because I did not want to jinx anything, but I am getting really excited to bring this awesome workout to the Boston area. It will be epic. I forgot what a tough workout it was until I was shaking all over and sweating my buns off.
I got to chat to the owner and got some pointers from her. After that it was top down weather all the way down the coast until I stopped at In n Out burger. I mean it feels kind of gross after, but I know once I am back east I will hope I had more of it around.
Todays awesomeness also included a final massage from Roz my masseuse extraordinaire. She has become a great friend and is so knowledgeable on anything and everything especially when it comes to the body and how it works. I am so grateful for her and for helping me to realize the potential of my body when I take care of it.
My other awesomeness of the day came from a book. Right after I lost my mom I found myself in the good ole grief section of the book store. I wanted to empower myself and learn as much about the grieving process as I could. I recently found myself on Amazon and found a book that was the sequel to the one I read years ago. Although it does not really relate to me at the moment (its about raising your kids without a mother), it is the topic that scares me to death. After just a few pages I found it does relate to me, there are other motherless daughters out there who like me know what a tremendous loss it is, and are apprehensive about starting our own families in fear of how that loss could be magnified. I need to find these other freakshows and maybe just maybe I can get over it. Anyways in this section I was reading it mentioned a social worker who happens to run groups in Boston so I AM IN LUCK!!! I already emailed her.
While the fitness and training and fundraising has been like a therapy for me, I guess its time for some professional help. YAY ME! So please people, stop asking if I am having kids. You have no idea how messed my head is. God bless my husband.