Posted in 2023, life, thoughts, Writing

Pain or Pleasure?

What could you do more of?

First, my mind always jumps to business when I think about what I do. Second, my mind always jumps to what I think I’m not doing as well as I “should” do. I really have to shift my thinking on a regular basis to realize, it’s not all about the business and what I’m doing already, is pretty good.

So, for me, the questions is what would I LIKE to do more of and that answer is – work out. Yes, I truly enjoy working out. I look forward to getting up in the morning and using my Peloton Bike+ to do strength workouts and ride. I also have the option of Yoga and barre classes and stretching. I put together different classes the night before for 30-50 minutes of work and get started after my morning coffee. If I didn’t have to go to the office, I would work out longer!

There has always been something so rewarding for moving my body. I used to ride my bike outdoors a lot from when I was a kid on through college. When I moved out to California, I had a fancy road bike and my husband, his friends, and I would traverse the hills and canyons of the East Bay and Sonoma County. Unfortunately, the move to Connecticut and ridiculously terrifying drivers stopped that!

I enjoy running and over the years did that pretty frequently outdoors as well. I’ve started up again on the Peloton Treadmill but outdoors has been walking workouts. I entered one benefit run during 2020 but only because it was during COVID so they had to do it on your own! I’m “not ready” to enter any runs and do it with <gasp> people.

When we were in Colorado earlier this month, we road the vast trail system in Fort Collins, and took hikes in Boulder and Fort Collins. It felt so incredible and I really felt in my element.

Yeah, I wish I could do more of all THAT.

Posted in 2023, Goals, Music, Travel

Renewed Inspiration

A conversation with a taxi driver in Lake George NY has prompted me to sit down at my piano and start playing again. Sounds strange right? Here’s how it happened….

We needed a ride from Bolton Landing back to our resort cabin on Friday after we dropped our truck and trailer at the marina. We would spend the day on the lake and then take the boat out of the water to head home on Saturday. We were going to wait for the trolley but given the “well, yeah the schedule says 9am, but you never know”, we got from the gatekeeper at the Sagamore Hotel, we decided to pay the $45 one way. Not the end of the world. It is about a 20 mile ride after all. Next time we’ll definitely find a place to stay that either has a launch or is very close to a marina!

So anyway, we got into the cab, me in the front because my husband wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway (left ear has less hearing than the right!). We started talking, “where you from, trolleys, subways, NYC, travel, California, East Bay and finally, Tower of Power! Evidently he lived in California and saw then in their heyday as did my husband.

We started talking music and instruments and he is a guitar player. He and his friend enjoy playing along to music and recording themselves. He asked if we played any instruments and I said I played the piano but after 5 years of lessons I stopped and I haven’t really found myself playing very much.

He talked about how much he enjoyed playing and how the time went by when he did and how relaxing it was. I realized he was absolutely right! When I sat at the piano, working out a song, or even a section, everything else fell away. I didn’t think of anything going on around me.

When we reached our resort, I thanked him for the conversation and told him he inspired me to start playing the piano again. When I took it up in 2017, it was never to become perfect at it, but to enjoy learning and hearing what I could accomplish. I needed to be reminded and I have a Lake George cab driver to thank for that.

Posted in 2023, Goals, life, Travel, Writing

Big Dreams!

What are your future travel plans?

My husband and I like to travel and we like to think about and plan our trips.

We were busy last year and early this year traveling for fun and family illness and we were both a little burnt out on air travel! We’ll be heading into the next state for a week next month at a lakeside cabin resort and towing our fishing boat. Simple plans!

But! We do have big travel plans to make for a trip to Morocco next late April/early May! My cousin and her husband own a Riad in Fez that I want to visit so much. She is the daughter of my first cousin and we hosted a couple of family get together when they traveled to the US. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen them but I enjoy following their daughter on Instagram.

Have you been there? If you have some highlights be sure and let me know in the comments!