Love means never having to say you’re sorry –Ali MacGraw in Love Story
Love means having to say you’re sorry every fifteen minutes –John Lennon

My husband and I are celebrating 11 years of marriage in 2 weeks. When I married him, at the young age of 19, did I think we’d make it this far? Of course…I didn’t have any doubts about that. But when I look back now, and see that we DID make it…well, I have to give us a little pat on the back! The story of how we got together is typical - girl meets boy at work, girl flirts shamelessly, girl and boy date. Girl and boy break up (wah!) and boy writes girl a romantic letter and wins her heart for good.

That was 14 years and 3 children ago. I don’t get romantic letters anymore, but he did bring my flowers this week (my favorite, tulips!) and he supports me in everything I do, or want to do. He washes my car, and changes the oil. He plays with our kids, and washes the dinner dishes. Now, that’s romance! But I realize some people make want a little something more, and if that’s the case, this romance website is for you. You’ll find inspiring love letters that may just inspire you to pen your own, or dating tips to help you meet just the right person. Or romantic ideas to give your relationship a little spark…something as simple as holding hands can show someone how you feel.

Now excuse me, I’ve got to go show someone how I feel!

Jim tried to entice me into taking a walk with him the other night, but by the time we did dinner, lunches, laundry, and then the kids went to bed…well, I was pooped. That’s the trouble with waiting til things calm down at home to walk…by the time we’re able to do it, I’m too pooped to move. Pretty soon it’s going to be getting hot, and the nights will be too muggy and buggy to walk. I’m not looking forward to continuing my training this summer.

If you’re a business owner in my fair homestate of Florida, you’d be smart to have insurance on your business. With the hurricanes a few years ago in my area, and the recent tornado that struck just north of here, a lot of people who though Florida business insurance wasn’t something they needed are hurting right now. You insure your house, your boat, your car - why not your place of business? Can you risk to lose your computers, expensive tools, or equipment if disaster strikes? Probably not, so don’t risk it!

I was on a conference call tonight with my 3-Day coach to get info on being a training walk leader. Unfortunately, I had to leave the call about halfway through, because it was dinner time in our house. (Why they scheduled a call for Florida people at 6pm…?) Anyway, all that’s left to do now is plan my route and get it listed on the training calendar for our area.

I’m not even through this year’s 3-Day walk, and I’m already thinking about where I’m going to walk in 2008. If Sindy is in for 2008, we’ll probably do Detroit - it’ll be her turn to walk on her home turf. I love the idea of doing it in a different city every year too, it makes it that much more fun. And it may be the only way I get to visit and see some of the cities that the walk is held in. For instance, I’d love to go to Seattle, but I don’t know anyone there, and don’t plan on visiting the state anytime soon. But if I had the 3-Day walk as an excuse…BINGO! One things thing about walking in Philly is that not only did we walk through the city, but through the suburbs too.

Depending on where the next Washington state 3-Day is held, Sindy and I may get to check out out the homes in some of the suburbs, like the Marysville real estate nestled at the bottom of the Cascade Mountains. Sindy took 101 pictures of the homes in Philly in 2006, so I guess it would be my job to document the Marysville homes we pass if we walked in Washington! I’m sure the weather would be much cooler than here in Tampa (hopefully not as cold as it was in Philadelphia). I’m assuming that mountains = hilly terrain, even if you’re not IN the mountains. That sure would give the ole leg muscles a workout! I love the idea of walking somewhere I’ve never been, and being able to take in the sights and sounds on foot. It’s so much nicer than seeing things by car.

The past month has been pretty stressful for me. I’m not really sure why - nothing has changed at work, home, etc…my kids are healthy and happy, but I’m feeling weighed down by stress. I guess just everyday life can do that to you - running kids from point A to point B and dentist and doctor’s appointments and throwing a yard sale for charity…it’s tiring, people!

I ventured online looking for a few ways to relieve stress and ended up at HealthAdel.com. Did you know you can change your diet to relieve stress? (I know that spicy Mexican food I had for lunch last week wasn’t doing me any good!) The article has some great tips that may seem like common sense, but most of them didn’t occur to me. I notice I feel more stressed when I don’t eat right - a lot of fast food and such doesn’t do my tummy any good. I also don’t feel as good when I have to rush my meals. Relaxation and different types of massage can also help you to let go and de-stress.

Another thing that can stress you out? Worrying too much about what other people think. Building confidence and self esteem can work wonders for your state of mind. Learning to let go of certain things is still a biggie for me. Being a woman especially, you want to have your hair just so, your house just so, wear just the right clothing…sometimes I’m tempted to say screw it, and let my roots grow out and wear pajamas all day!

The site has lots of great articles like the ones I linked above - it’s a little bit of everything, all in one place.

If you read my post about my mailbox surprise last week, wow, do I have a story to top that! This morning my oldest came and woke me up - it was about 10:30am and I was sleeping in. She told me a man was at the door…and knowing I wasn’t expecting anyone, I wasn’t in a hurry to get downstairs. I figured it was someone trying to sell me something. I told her not to answer it, and got up, went potty, brushed my teeth, and wandered downstairs. I noticed he was still at the door, so I went to find out what he wanted. Turns out it was a neighbor a few house down who had gotten a copy of my yard sale flyer. (I passed them out to every house in my development) He handed me a check for TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS and apologized for not being able to help with the yard sale last week.

Wow!

I told him thank you about a million times and than ran inside to get one of my donation forms. I got the check in the mailbox today to submit to the 3-Day people so it can be applied to my account. Technically, this means I made almost $700 with my yard sale. Once his donation is applied to my account, I’ll be just over $1500.

Double wow!

I was going through some old magazines and came through an old issue of Reader’s Digest. It’s one of my favorite magazines, so I put it on my nightstand for a little light reading before bed. Last night, I read about an Africa girl who was circumcised (female circumcision) and then almost married off to a man old enough to be her father. She ran away from home and eventually wound up in London, where she became a model. Years later, she was able to find a doctor that specialized in surgery to correct the horrible surgery she received at a young age…I was just entranced by the whole thing. Far me it from me to diss long standing customs of a nation, but man oh man…this female circumcision thing is crazy. I’ve read about women seeking asylum in other countries to save their daughters from the surgery. There are doctors in the US now who can correct it, and the same doctors take care of other vaginal surgeries, like vaginal tightening, and labiaplasty.

(Beware - mature content / pictures at links - all medical, but still not for children)

Surely you’ve all heard jokes about the woman having her last child, and either she or her husband asks to be “stitched up a little tighter”, right? It’s no joke - it’s a legitimate concern for a lot of women, and not something that’s usually talked about. Can you imagine not wanting to have sex because of the way you looked? Because you were embarassed? I can’t.

I made my yard sale donation to my 3-Day account last night, which boosted my total up to almost $1300. I’m over halfway towards my $2200 goal now, and I am certain I will be COMPLETELY done fundraising before the walk this year.

As a reminder, I am taking donations from all of you - and you get something in return! By donating $20 (go right here to my 3-Day page to donate) you’ll get your name listed over there —> til October, when I make the walk. This is a PR 4 site, so it’s it’s worth your while to be linked, and your $20 definitely goes to an excellent cause, if I do say so myself!

When I was a teenager, my grandmother gave me a book that was called The Watershed. The story was about a troubled teen who used his cistern to flood the town. At the time, I didn’t know what watershed really meant - I assumed it was another word for cistern. I know now that the author of the book was using the word “Watershed” to mean a moment separating two distinct periods of time. Pre-flooding, and post-flooding.

One might also apply the term to drug or alcohol abuse. You have your time when you’re using and abusing, and the time when you get help. That’s probably where this drug rehab program got their name. They want to be the watershed for people who need help. They want to give people that moment where a life is changed. One of my friends I grew up with had his moment, and now he’s clean and getting married this weekend. I can only hope that the right program can help others like that, to find their own moments.