37 Year Old Self

I’m up this early on my Friday off because (crazy me) was out of bed at 5:15 this morning to hit the gym for 6:00.  (I need time for coffee before I do anything.)  When I pulled into the parking lot at 5:54 am, I started thinking that it wouldn’t be so bad if this morning’s FitCamp was cancelled.  But it wasn’t.  So there I was, still yawning and picking the crud out of my eyes, getting ready to sweat my little arse off.  I love it!  It’s a new thing I’m trying – FitCamp.  It’s total craziness but it’s a challenge (big-time) for me and I almost always (almost) feel like a million bucks when I’m done.  Thank you Tina for asking me to go with you all those weeks ago.  Now I’m hooked.  There are worse things to be addicted to right?  (Do I have too many addictions now?)

This week has been a great week – a week of reflection.  (Insert eye-roll here!)  Seriously though, I’ve been feeling very grateful.  If I thought really hard, I bet I could come up with a few hundred things I love about being me – including, but not limited to, the people that surround me.

I’m a strong believer in we all choose to be who we are.  Yes, the ground work is laid when we’re young by our parents.  And most of our parents do a good job.  (Mine did.  Love you guys.)  But you hit a certain age when you’re just old enough, smart enough, aware enough, independent enough, etc to just decide who you are and/or who you want to be.  Then you work towards that.  I’ve come across people who mostly sit around and feel sorry for themselves because they’ve been challenged in their life or it hasn’t been a perfectly smooth road.  So what!  Bumps build character if you’re smart enough to use those bumps as lessons and grow.  Forgive me if I don’t feel sorry for them or have patience for them.  Maybe that makes me blunt, or cold, or a bitch, or something but… seriously.  Life’s too short.  How much time do you want to waste on the Poor Me train.

I decided a long time ago who I wanted to be. I think that we have a pretty good idea of who we want to be when we’re in our late teens.  Maybe some of us don’t consciously know it but it’s there.  It probably took me 15 years before I had a clear picture and another five to become that person.  But I can honestly say that I’ve arrived.  It’s freaking awesome!  It’s been a tough ride but it’s been so worth it to be able to sit here and say that I love my life.

I was driving up to Ottawa on Monday night after the super-foods workshop (which was awesome by the way) wondering what I thought my life would look like at 37 when I was 17.  Isn’t that a funny thought?  I think I probably thought I would be married, have a couple of kids, have a cute house, work in an office – something generic like that.  Back then, 37 was so old.  Did I think I would be old by 37?  Cause I sure as hell don’t feel old.  My body aches from my workouts but that’s a good kind of ache.  I never thought I would only have one child, not be married and perfectly happy about that, be tattooed (awesome), love my job, doing yoga, travelling as much as I can, still making new friends and still learning.  I could go on.  It’s sort of a strange and funny thing to have been thinking about.  It put a smile on my face.

So, here are a few pics from my week.

The workshop at Renew by Heather Hughes.

I hit Chapters (for a Starbucks Chai) and found this book which is now on my reading list.

Did some shopping for our Cali trip.  Not sure why everything is black and grey.  Definitely not a reflection of how I feel.  Just the colours (or non-colors) that I appear to be attracted to these days.  Hmmmm.  I did purchase some dark teal yarn to make a big chunky knit cowl.  Does that count?  (I know I wasn’t supposed to buy more wool but I’m weak).

Did some shopping with France.  Almost bought these shoes.  So deliciously vintage.

France took me to Fratelli’s for my birthday dinner.  I really love spending time with my sister.

Steve got me a new external drive for my Mac for my birthday.  I crocheted a cozy for it.  THAT’S how geeky I am.

Now I’m going to go wash the salty sweat off my body, put some big-girl clothes on and hit the road to visit Michelle this weekend!  So excited.  I think she has a lot of crafty things planned for us to do.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

10 more sleeps to Cali!!!!