My Way of Living:
art of living

As the Gingerbreadman vainly tried to fight off overly emotional baristas and egotistical, surly flight attendants, his tribulations soon got lost as he entered the airspace of the world's largest city, a southern paradise beckoning to him like a sub-zero Coke on a sweltering summer afternooon.

So before it came to this... ..

He had to pass through this... ...

Davao Cab from Airport. GBM. I can't believe I'm finally here. Haven't been here in a year. It's been too long. Last time it was work work work. Now I want to have fun fun fun. Cab driver is conversing with me in the vernacular. Only my proficiency in Cebuano is equivalent to that of a 3rd grader. Okay he's frowning now I think I just said something offensive. Why do I even try? I'm here early, stupid Cebu Pacific had no flights nearer to my boat ride. Wow they still have non-airconditioned taxis here. How... arcane :) Wha.. What's that Mr. Cabbie? Dapit na dong? What's a dapit? What's a dong? Are you cursing me? !@$%%

I find t hese Manila people to be extremely strange With nothing to do until 1:30, GBM was prevailed upon to check out the local sights to burn time. Quickly googling "fun davao spots" unfurled the premiere shopping place in Davao... . Aldevinco Center, GBM Wow, what will I do with sarongs and earrings? And tribal headgear? Next! This is not my place... . Further queries brought about Crocodile Farm, a sortie which did not quite pick his fancy because he had already visited the previous year. In addition, an inherent disdain for 1,000 lb crocodiles ensured that no return trips would be commencing in the near future. Running out of options, a familiar jaunt emerged as a safe haven amidst this unfamiliar land. SM Davao, GBM Wow! I'm in civilization! The SM here looks so... . so... .. the same! So many Mang Inasals! KFC! Kenny! Just like... .. Manila. Hmm... . Nothing spectacular here. Well at least it ain't hot here, it's sweltering outside. Hey they have bottomless greaseless chicken! Did you hear that? Who would have known there was such a thing! I AM IN HEAVEN (@,@) It's the greatest thing ever! I am not making this up. Yum. I heart Davao. *burp*

Best Deal in Town

YUM YUM YUM Davao Marina, 1:30 pm. As the hour neared, his belly filled with greaseless chicken amidst the respite of a cool summer breeze, our protagonist reached the designated pick up point where he would be taking a boat ride to his late summer getaway. A simple wharf was expected, but instead this was the sight that met him... .

Great, they have their own mini-resort as a holding area. Amazing. Very impressive. Okay so now the boat is here. Not a yacht, but the speedboat aint bad at all. So now the journey to paradise begins... .

UA&P, GBM's desk. Present- Day Hi there my dear reader/friend.This is Luis right here. Yes, Gingerbreadman. GBM. Whatever. And yes, I'm talking to you. Breaking the 4th wall again. Thanks for the support in following the story up to this point. I know your time is precious and valuable, that's why I make it as entertaining as possible for you. As you're immersed in our narrative, you do know that here in The Gingerbread Report we try to do things differently. We try to share experiences in unconventional ways. So what usually happens at this point is I would relate how wonderful my vacation was, or how awesome the beach was blah blah. Yeah. That's the norm. But hey, just in the spirit of differentiation that we oftentimes espouse, I'll just stop there. I won't bother telling you about our living arrangements... .

Or their fancy floating bar...

I will not regale you with stories of how close the beach was to my place...

Nor will I bore you with canned anecdotes about how awesome the scenery was... .

I will not even attempt to tell you about that cool electric cart we used...

Or share something irrelevant, like how I am a new infinity pool convert... .

I will not even BEGIN to say how much it rocked to just bum around.

And above all... .. How much it rocked to run on the beach...

I won't even go into any of these things, for the simple reason that... .. It would've been infinitely more special if you were there to share the experience with me. :)

The soothing line of the Carpenters classic reverbrated through my mind as I drove out Sunday morning. The rain was steadily pouring over the pavement as I pulled out of my condo, the pre-dawn serenity of a Sunday morning punctuated by the incessant rain. I was thinking, will the run be cancelled? Then I realized the amount of preparations that are put into organizing a race. Moving it would be tantamount to a logistical nightmare. So I figured, the show must go on!

On Rainy Races and Alcohol-Free Uncles I picked up Erick at Shaw Blvd, about 5 mins from my place. We picked up a groggy and thankfully not drunk Tito Caloy a few minutes later. Apparently, he had begged off from an inuman party with the kumpadres the night before just to prepare for the race. Absconding from free beer? Now that's what you call dedication! So the three of us were talking shop as we reached Mckinley at 5:15, 15 minutes before the announced race time. There was some confusion as to where the parking area was, so we had to ask around. Two marshals, one sleepy guard, and one crabby guard later we ended up in the open parking area. Note to self : 15 minutes to race time! Hurry! Warm-up running in the rain towards the starting line, I saw that the race was still surprisingly well-attended despite the inclement weather. I saw Takbo.ph gals Cherry and Ross walking around, pointed us to where the team was hanging out. The usual suspects were there, along with a morose-looking Sam akaThe Running Ninja in blogging parlance. I thought he was intensely focused on his strategy, little did I know that he had run over someone the night before. Hang in there buddy, things will be resolved soon. Takeshi's Castle Fun Times The organizers soon announced that the race would be starting at 6 am, or 30 minutes later than the announced time because of the weather. Tito Caloy was wondering if it would push through, a 16k virgin's typical anxiety in play. I nodded somewhat unattentively, my wandering thoughts fixated on my strategy for the race as the "peloton" of 3k, 5k, and 16k were gathered en masse for a common start. 10 miles. 16 something kilometers. It's my first time to tackle the distance, first crack at the famed Mckinkley Hills. I have no idea if my pace would hold here. I feel like I'm out of shape. I lack mileage this week. I should stop working and just run. Okay maybe not. This kid next to me is really loud. Did I bring enough money to eat later? Oh crap I left my camera in the car. No pix for the blog then. But then again if I brought the camera, where would I put it? What's the true meaning of love? It's starting to rain... oh great it's pretty hard ... . my Garmin's gonna get soaked... .. Wow I feel like I'm in the Takeshi's Castle starting grid... . Oh great here we go... The starting gun jolted me back into reality. Suffice to say, it was a riot. Bundling together the 16k runners with the 3k and 5k runners wasn't the high point of an otherwise well-organized race. Truly, the Takeshi's Castle analogy was not far-fetched. It was virtual bedlam. I think that the fact that the rain started to pour a few seconds before the starting gun went off contributed to a rock-concert like atmosphere, which in turn elevated the adrenalin levels of pretty much everyone. Not only did I have to contend with the rain and the slippery road, I also had to deal with rowdy kids who were jumping (yeah, jumping) on the road. By the time I had extricated myself from that mess, I figured I had lost about 10-15 seconds worth of pacing. Prior to the race, I had no idea what was a good target time for 16k . Coach Pojie said a 1:30 would be nice. Personally, I thought it was a stretch given my propensity to fade late. But I took solace in the training runs I've had lately, so might as well give it a shot. The first kilometer registered 4:53 on my 305. Right on schedule! For 10k's my preferred opening would be a 4:30, but into the great unknown that was the 10-miler, I was guessing the aformentioned pace would be sufficient. At the 3km mark , I began to pace with Docs Eric and Pinky. Doc Eric is a sub- 2 hour 21k runner, one of the strongest in the group. I thought it would be prudent to pace with him, at least get myself acquainted with the level that I am training for. Doc Pinky was actually pacing faster than us, and it turned out she was competing in the 5k. Her breakneck pace was good enough for a 5th place podium finish wohoo :) Congrats Doc Pinky, terrific run. So me and Doc Eric ran together until the 9k mark. The hills were harder than I expected. The course was living up to its billing. I accelerated in one of the steeper extended regions heading to the Heritage Park region, and once again I was alone. There were numerous water stations available, and I crossed the 10k mark at 53:50, just 10 seconds off my 10k PR. I thought to myself, I have a real shot at this. Just keep your head in it. As I sprinted downhill towards the 11k turnaround point, the daunting uphill climb to my left was a grim reminder of the tribulations up ahead. So this is what Sisyphus must have felt like Let's just put it this way. If you have no hill training at all, kiss your PR goals goodbye for this course. The return uphill stretch went for something like 3 km. My pace went down from 5:25 to 5:30. Soon Doc Eric caught up with me, a friendly face ready to boost me up in what seemed like an endless uphill battle. Even when I thought it had ended, it was still haunting me.My hammies rather. Finally, we had started our reentry into the Mckinley area proper. 4k to go! The Garmin showed us at 1 hour something! Wow! We have a real shot! Doc Eric told me that we should just go for it, and we did. We were sprinting the last 4k at a 5:05 - 5:10 pace. I made the mistake of going LT on the 15th kilometer, and I faded a little towards the end. I also saw amiable Happy Feet/Takbo.ph habitue Mon towards the homestretch, last saw him during our Baguio run. When all things were said and done, I happily crossed the line at 1:26:03, 4 minutes below my target! Final pace was 5:32., about 20 seconds behind locomotive-like Doc Eric. I was so happy, because I realized that if I maintain that pace for at least 5k more, I could do a sub -2 hour 21k! That's my secret (well not anymore) dream! Yeah! As the group congregated, the rest of the gang started to pile in. Sam came in injury-free at 1:40. Speedy, comebacking Migz got 1:32, his first since his injury. "Wala ako sa kundisyon" Erick got a strong 1:30 finish, a testament to his run-walk strategy. Tito Caloy logged in at an estimated 1:50, a wonderful time for the 50-year old 16k Virgin. Wilnar, Girley, and as mentioned earlier Doc Pinky took podium finishes in their respective categories. Overall, was a good day for the team! Afterwards, the factions of the group met at Mcdonald's Net One for a wonderful post-race celebration of sorts. Lots of photos, laughs, and goofing around :)

All's well at Earth Run

Doc T wins!

Wilnar's 5th place finish for the 5k

Coach wins too!

Rico aka Sheer Will with his "medal"

Girley aka Pepsi with the real thing So with all things said and done, suffice to say do rainy days and Sundays always get me down? With runs and friends like these, not really :) Tito Caloy Quote of the Day :

"Napasarap ung kwento ko dun sa mag-asawa, naligaw tuloy ako!" - On following Neil and Rach to the 5k route

Why do we run again? It's for times like these. Times when you try to fall asleep at 8 pm on a Saturday night so that you'll wake up at 1am for an out-of-town run. 1am? Most of the nocturnal denizens of the metropolis are still in Fiamma or Emba at this time, the booze overflowing at every corner. It sort of reminds me of my old lifestlye. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be adhering to this spartan way of living I would have given you one of those incredulous, you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me looks. Alas, I have been locked in to the wonderful world of running, and there's really no turning back. The parameters of last Sunday's run were relatively simple. We drive to Tagaytay, then run 34k to Mhel's house. Mhel was kind enough to once again open his home to the Takbo.ph team, the first time being after the Greenfield City race. So how did my weekend adventure begin? I woke up at 1:00 am and basically sleepwalked my way into preparing for the run. I wanted to be on the dot for this , so by 2:30 I was at the place of my uncle, fondly called Tito Caloy by the group. He was joining the long run after only having a 5k prep run at Botak the week before with no prior running experience. Apparently, getting hooked runs in the family hehe. He told me that he had no sleep at all because my cousin was badgering him to death about coming along. So he strived to get as much shut-eye as he could in my car.

Tito Caloy dreaming of PR's in the carThe highway laid out at a utopianesque standstill, we picked up Rod and Gab at the Sucat exit at 3:00 am as per our arrangement. With Tito Caloy half comatose while riding shotgun, we could hardly contain our frenzied excitement for the run despite the ungodly hour. We arrived at our meeting spot in Paseo de Sta Rosa before 3:30. Sam and a shnoozing Rodel who came directly from work were already there (excited) . In a few more moments Doc Topher and Mhel arrived as well. An unfamiliar face soon showed up, and we were happy to see that it was actually forum habitue Mond aka Pawgee that we were meeting for the very first time.

The first four Doc Eric, our kind host/organizer for the Tagaytay leg, came in at about 3:40 am. He said he woke up late hehe :) With the looming problem of how to transport everybody to the start point, it was decided that some cars would be left at Paseo, and some would help Doc Eric transport the gang to the start point. For some reason, we went with my car, inspite of the fact that it was lowered and could only accomodate so many people. We crammed five dudes in there! As a result, I could only drive at "punerarya" pace. We got to Doc Eric's Tagaytay house and was happy to find the whole gang there. Carbo-laden goodies were strewn across the dining table. After some niceties and last- minute preps, we ventured out at nearly 5am, an hour later than our estimate. The sun was rising , and we had to make up for lost time.

The Takbo.ph team at ground zero After navigating our way out of a dark, mongrel-infested route (read: crabby, hungry looking Askals), we made it to the main highway. For most of the initial route I was designated as the pacer. I was following Doc Eric's prescribed pace of 8:00/km if we intended to make it there on time. As I soon found out though, this pace was a bit too fast for the group to stick together ; 9 - 10/km was more appropriate. I relinquished the pacer role and engaged the gang in friendly banter, took time out to take some pictures. Mhel took on the pacer role at this juncture.

Smiling so that the doggies would go away

At least Sam's happy

And so we begin

Tito Caloy aka "Enduro" is tired already?

Why do we run again? It's for times like these . Running in the cool Tagaytay pre-morning breeze was so relaxing for me, such a transcendent , preternatural experience that it reminded me of why we sacrifice so much. No amount of money could replicate that exact, precise moment for me. At just before the 10k mark for us Takbo.ph head honcho Jinoe and BDM 102 finisher Jerry aka High Altitude joined us. By this time, the group had splintered into several groups, with Mhel and Jerry leading the first group. I had the privilege of pacing with Jinoe for several kilometers, only stopping at the Rotunda because the last group was way behind and we didnt want anyone lost. Picture taking galore ensued :)

The Takbo.ph boys!

Rodel and Boss Jinoe running... . in place

May view may view picture muna!

Hagibis reunited? Why do we run again? It's for times like these. Me and Jinoe wanted to get a good workout from the whole thing, so we upped the pace to 6:30. Before long, we caught up with the lead group on walk break. Jerry was still the pacemaker, so when he broke away he followed suit. An interesting sidelight about Jerry - I kept on talking to him in the vernacular, and he would only give what I made out to be a look bordering on confused and snobbish. Turns out, our BDM ultramarathoner was Indonesian! And he was anything but snobbish. Once we got the language barrier out of the way, he was extremely helpful and gave so many tips on our ultramarathon dream next year.

Ultraman Jerry aka High Altitude. Tito Caloy and Sam mugging inthe background As amiable as he was off road, he was just as intense on it. For what was hyped to be an LSD, we were pushing it at 6:00 - 6:30 from the 10k to 20k mark. There were several of us in the breakaway lead group - Jerry, Jinoe, Me, Mhel, Mond, and lo and behold Tito Caloy who was lagging behind. I had to keep on coming back for him just to check up, and I was repeatedly shooed away hehe. Old people :) Also, the heat was starting to catch on. With not so fond memories of my Botak meltdown, my confidence was shaken in extreme heat. My Garmin analysis later showed a 31 degree high with 70% humidity, even hotter than that ill-fated race day. Alas, with the right will and determination we reached the first stop, 20.2 km down. The rest of the group who were running the partial route were waiting for us as well. We entered to the warm cheers emanating from familiar faces More friends! Alright! :P

Fun times with the whole gang

Buying P12 Gatorade in bottles.Hmmm...

Mond taking a breather

Age doesn't matter... ... Aray... ... .
Having recharged our batteries (P12 bottled Gatorade was all the rage, and special thanks to Mhel who lent me some cash after I lost mine) the group braced itself for the next push - a 7k jaunt to "nearby" Paseo de Sta. Rosa. The heat was getting to be pretty bad at this point, the ill effects of starting an hour late. I think pacer Jerry felt this as well, so instead of slowing down, we took off maintaining a 6:00 - 6:15 pace for the distance, leading a pack that included myself, Docs Eric and Pinky, Mhel, Mond, and Quennie (who got sucked in by the pace). We were left wondering - what LSD? This feels more like a 27k tempo run! By this time, the heat was sweltering. The heat would have made the Gobi Desert proud. As the group started to trickle in one by one, we came to the realization that we could go no more in this heat. It was another good 7k to Mhel's place. I decided against running any further, and so did Tito Caloy. A few brave souls ventured to go the full distance - marathon man/coach Pojie on "taper" mode, comebacking Carly, Mhel, Jerry, and Mond. We salute your dedication! Ayos!

27.56k ... . is... ... enough... .

We'd rather take the car!

Why do we run again? It's for times like these. At Mhel's house, the group's camaraderie was in full swing. Like road weary Spartans coming home from their latest victory, you could feel the vibe of contentment and happiness in the air. It's an unexplainable, magical feeling that runners alone can empathize with. Forget the aches and pains. We just cleared a distance greater than a half marathon! The food was overflowing, the laughter pervading. Nevermind the hassle of going back the entire distance to get our cars in Tagaytay. Forget the 50k ride back to Manila. We accomplished something, something that no one can ever take away from us.

Manokan Express with Chicken Arrozcaldo

Poj and Quennie with our kind hosts

Power couple Rach and Neil

Busog!

Happy Camper

All in a day's work!

Takbo.ph rocks!

Why do we run again? If you love running with a fervent passion... ...

Then you'll know that it's for times like these.

The world is made up many different types of people. In my simplified version, there are Bloggers, and Non Bloggers. It's my blog, I can do that here. There's also a secondary group consisting of Background buddies… long suffering non blogging friends, and loved ones who get to know much more then they ever thought possible about the blogging world.

Gotta love anyone who can listen to a Blogger ramble on without their eyes glazing over after the first few minutes. I love mine, bless his non- blogging heart. While he doesn't quite understand the difference between Word Press, and Blogger, or why one over the other, he does try to be as supportive as possible. When I finally wander down to the TV where he is sitting in our matching recliners, sigh… bleary eyed, and half mind-edly still living in the blogging world, he always asks how it is going, sweetie that he is. Working behind the blog stuff doesn't interest him either, tweaking, sorting, and decisions about plugins, widgets, and themes are not something he finds interesting, but he's good at listening. For a little while at least…as soon as I see him nodding off, I change the subject.

As bloggers. It's ingrained in our lives. It's as much a part of how we see ourselves, as anything else in our makeup, we live and breathe blogging. It's our identity along with the myriad of other wonderful things that make us uniquely who we are. And we couldn't do it without the support of our background people. The ones who tell us it's all going to be fine, when no one else reads our posts. When something doesn't work right in our blog. The one's who offer to track down the person who left a mean comment on our blogs and give them a hey, that's not nice take that back kind of talking to.

Let's celebrate the background people, the ones who are"the situations we blog about, who make the funny comments we repeat on our blogs, and sometimes even become our slightly unwilling photography models." Where would we be as bloggers be without our background people? You rock our blogging worlds background people…you keep us
blogging on! PS: Dedicated to my background guy, the one who will listen to my blogging post when I read it out to him, give me his honest opinion, and then not be offended when I ignore it and hit publish anyways. And never say"I told you so." I have another post coming up at the end of this week about blog hero's. The techy, and knowledgeable people who so happily give us advice, show us how, and help us out when we need it. Thank goodness they are all part of our blogging worlds. The WP move…for those of you that are interested. Going along smoothly, almost done, it's down to widgets, plugin's, and final tweaks. I'm still trying to fix a few things, and then we will be taking this baby for a test drive. It's pretty, and bright, with lots of white space, you all know just how visual I am. I'd like something clean, uncluttered, and easy for you to read. I want my new home to be a fresh, beautiful place, sparkling with laughing light.

We all talk about seizing the day living each moment to the absolute fullest, squeezing every drop out of life.but that’s sometimes impossible to do while living a real life. There are jobs, chores, obligations and emotions that demand more then their fair share of any conscious moment of living. If somehow you manage to live each second to it’s absolute fullest, my respect for you is enormous,… me I’m just trying to live in a given moment, appreciating it however brief that might be, and know I am being handed a gift so rare, that it should be gently cupped in my hands and looked upon with awe.

Yesterday was one of those rare days perfect warmish weather, birds chirping, sky a shimmering blue, the scent of spring keeping it’s promise.

My husband and I worked together in the back yard, we accomplished so much, my husband the muscle, me the cheerleader. We built a composter out of old pallets, and he moved the massive pile of leaves, dirt, and rotting garden treasures that was hulking in the corner, using it as the base for a new bed, besides the chain link fence. There will be pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini growing in that this summer.

We built a raised wooden bed out of recycled materials for more veggies… well he did, I cheered him on. Go Gardener, go gardener! Of course there is little I can do, but my back is healing, and each day is a little better than the last.

It’s not so much what we accomplished, as the beauty of the day, the feeling of moving forward together after a winter of looking out on a snow covered backyard, planning, dreaming, wishing, seeing it come true bit by bit. A day to forget daily life, and live only in the feel of the sunshine on our heads, birdsong in our ears… and blue sky in our hearts. A day so rare, I held it in my hands with awe.

To those of you who are spring starved… don’t get too excited about these photos, they are all from last year, mostly taken in early April if that makes you feel any better.

What is it about Men, and their recliners?
That love/love relationship they have with big comfy chairs.
Overstuffed, overly large, comfy, cushioned, clicker hiding, reclining comfort.
Usually delegated downstairs to the “man cave” along with the big screen TV, so as not to add a note of discord to the beauty of the feminine decor that inhabits the main floor in many houses.

Years ago, one of the biggest choices, and compromises in our then new marriage was the choice of furniture for our new home. The experts will tell you it’s all about children, where to live, money… but it’s furniture, trust me. His stuff, your stuff, how to combine our stuff… big time.
My husband came without baggage, other then a absolutely tasteless off white vinyl Swedish modern, IKEA knockoff, footstool equipped Sears special.
He declared undying love for it. I declared undying love for him, but not for the chair.
A tie breaker? A deal maker? Would it be him, or the chair, or would I have to live with the evil step child of a chair in order to be happily ever after with Prince Charming.
We compromised, and went shopping.
Thus began the search for “I’ll know it when I find it.”
Months later, and more stores then I ever want to visit again, after numerous discussions, disagreements, compromises, and bargaining, he happily settled into a beautiful, clean lined recliner that we could bo th live with. It cost as much as a few mortgage payments but we were happy.

Finding something that pleased both of our tastes was a lesson in subjectivity. But we finally learned to live happily ever after with this new step child, both of us coming to love the chair that took center stage in our living room.
Time marched on, we moved up here the chair took a beating from the moving company that manhandled many of our precious items. It started to grow metal springs like curly hairs from it’s back, transforming from a gentle well behaved piece of furniture to a squeaking, sagging, jolting beast shedding foam chips, and black greasy dust every time someone sat in it.

We gazed with dread upon flyers, and catalogues… how would we ever find a chair that would fit into our family without discord.
We searched, he sat, I encouraged, he declined, I sighed. Chair after chair, store after store, there were contenders, close calls, and compromises. We were rather rusty at choosing, it had been more then a decade since we last adopted a step child chair.
Then one snowy blustery, the first day of spring he found it. He spied it sitting in a row of 20 or so like minded chairs, he sat, he reclined… and declared it the one. Like true love, he knew instantly.

I’m not sure what the future will hold, it’s his true love, I am merely the [wicked] stepmother… but you know, it might grow on me like the other one did. Tell us about your recliner stories… especially if they are the horror story ones… lol.

All of these images were taken circa Summer 2008/2009

This post started off with my wanting to share some old photos of my last garden at the condo. How when we finally get some spring my new garden is going to have some big boots to fill in order to have color, and texture of the old one.

But as I went through my archives looking for some of my garden images I realized that there was a huge shift in my style of photography as soon as I got my DSLR a few years ago.

I moved quickly from living large, wide angle shots that the little point and shoots could do so easily, to macro, or close-up shots that the DSLR specializes in.

The ability to clearly capture the tiniest detail is fascinating to me, and a good 100 mm macro was soon on my list.

While the DSLR did change the way I see, the way I shoot, and it did make me a much better photographer, it’s a journey, most of life is. But I do regret not taking the little point and shoot out once in a while for a joy ride, it would have been interesting to see what I could have come up with at the same time.

After all what is a camera but a tool to capture what, and how we see. And now I see differently. And I would have liked to be able to more clearly document that.

Winter has returned to the dark hole it hibernates in to avoid the other seasons, the snow is nearly gone.

It feels as if it was never here. Invigorated by the warm breeze, we, and I use the term we loosely, had just finished raking the entire yard. And surveyed the cleaned up brown patches flecked with emerging green with a sense of accomplishment. One item ticked off of the spring cleanup list. A hour later the wind rose up in a fury.

Gust swayed the tall Fir trees, cracking branches with a terrible bangs, blowing dust, gusting from every direction. The tidy landscape changed to a full on scattering of enormously long branches impaling the soft ground as they fell from 40 feet up. Too dangerous to stay outside we retreated inside. And watched with dismay as all of our hard work was undone.
We were out there too soon, and have to cleanup once again. We could view it as a chore, something that had to be done, reversed in a matter of hours. But in that sweet moment we were living life, the warmth of sunshine on our pale seasonal skin, air fresh in our lungs as we called out to neighbors walking by. The breeze mingling in the strands of our hair, jackets thrown to the ground, green blades of grass revealed with each raking, that moment can't be taken away from us. Laura at Simple Serene Living wrote a encouraging post about bookmarking life, living the moment as it comes. It made my heart sing, and it was a good reminder, despite our best intentions, we sometimes rush through life, missing moments when they come by. Being outside in the spring sun, that was a"bookmarked" moment that made the work worth while, despite the outcome. Do you find yourself rushing, ticking off items on your to do list, or do you tend to live each moment as it comes? I think it's truly hard to keep living in the moment, but oh, when you do…it's sublime.

PS:
My move to Word Press, and a new URL, is on the back burner for the next little while. That's OK, because thanks to Brenda at Cosy Little House, I just figured out how to resize my images properly, so I will have some time to practice. Like the spring storm, life can have a way of throwing things at you. You have to be able to move with it, stay flexible, and move forward, so that's what I'm doing here. The new URL will go live, just not this week, or maybe not the next week either. I'll make sure to let you know what to expect when we are once again, closer to that date. For now I am encouraging you to live those fleeting moments, things change rapidly in life. More PS's: Have you checked out our The Over 40 Blogging World facebook group? If you are over 40, it's a wonderful place to hang out with fellow bloggers who are supportive, and passionate about blogging. And…one last thing. My World Wednesday isn't on for this week, look for my next post on Friday, see you then.

That hint of desperation that was in my voice is gone now February is over, and March is well into it’s self, but we are still snow blinded. A good gardening hint, never buy a house during the time you can’t see the yard for the snow. If you are adventurous, then go ahead and give it a shot. We only saw the yard during the few moments that it took to enter the house the first time, and it was getting dark outside, the next time we viewed the house it had snowed… a lot. And it’s never gone away, so the front, and back yards will be a surprise.

There are areas of the garden that I have heard may contain perennials, but I have yet to see them through the snow. This morning we had another inch, most of it’s gone, now there are just the snow banks left behind. Knowing where the snow banks hang out is a good thing, because I am surely going to be moving some plants when spring rolls around, they are completely hidden all winter. Living under a huge mound of ice, salt, gravel, and heavy snow all winter can’t be good for those poor plants. Straight snow would be a good insulator but the snow banks will have road salt in them.

Oh, and I am planning on building some sort of hedge between the neighbour with the huge poops dog and us. He also delivers the newspaper 3 days a week, and cuts through the garden as a short cut, not once but twice each time, and his dog runs all over my front yard!!! There are plants growing in there, stay out of my garden. So my theory is if there is a prickly hedge between us then I can remain on good terms with him, and his dog won’t be as inclined to come and visit to do his business. Right, I know, maybe a bit of electric fencing added in will act as a incentive?

The other morning he wandered by my office window as I was reading blogs, it was 6:30 am, I had my housecoat, and the light on, the blinds wide open… shocked the heck out of me. There is a running joke here, that one day he is going to see more then he bargained for. I thought we had gotten over the neighbours walking past our windows when we moved from the condo. A well placed hedge, and a small fence might convince him to go the long way around. So here I sit looking out my office window snow blinded, but knowing that some day soon it’s going away. Meanwhile I keep thinking I need to start some seeds, but it’s hard to know when.

I think we burnt ourselves out a few weeks ago, our high expectations of getting it all done just weren’t working after we moved in. We were trying so hard to pull it all together that we lost interest in doing much of anything. It took two weeks of just leaving the mess, not hanging the curtains, not tidying the drawers, and not placing the pictures to recover. And now we are approaching this move-in in a more slow, and methodical way. Planning what we would like to have accomplished that day, and then going and doing it.

It’s been difficult because it seems we are never home together, one of us is out, or driving my parents to a appointment. My Dad is going in for a hip operation this week, and I am hoping that all goes well with him. So far this week we have removed both glass sliding shower doors in the bathrooms, hung new shower curtain rods, complete with shower curtains. Put new curtains up in the office, the studio, the bedroom, and the living room. I’ve hung some pictures up, cleaned off some counters, and now our home is starting to look like ours. Our new sofa is on it’s way in a few weeks, and I found some rugs for the living room, and the office.

It’s amazing what a draped piece of fabric can do to a room, the cosy feeling curtains give, and how they pull the room together. Moving in is like that, everything has to find a home. I still have drawers that are empty, and they might stay that way for a while. Since we upsized in terms of space, I feel grateful for having this much room. After 17 years of living in 800 square feet, 12 of them married, it feels… odd but good. And it’s important that we keep that feeling of gratitude. We are fortunate to own a house, and we understand that.

It’s also a lot of work, there are now two bathrooms to be cleaned, and more square footage to vacuum. Seems that each direction we turn there is another unfinished job to be done, gradually we will get them accomplished. The windows will have to wait to be cleaned, there is still snow on the ground, and it’s too cold to wash them. I am so eager to have color in the front yard, and garden beds in the back. It’s a big list, probably we will need to approach this over a few years… But it’s a fun list.

Where I live now there are more piles of snow dotting the landscape then there are patches of grass. We expect snow in Winter, but when it hangs on too long there are some pretty antsy gardeners.

My well meaning friends back where I used to live are sending me photos, and telling me that spring is 6 weeks early, when it seems that mine is later then ever. Have you ever been in this situation? Every time you get a email it's someone s haring sprouted green leaves, and avenues of Cherry trees dripping with blossoms. Meanwhile the only thing dripping at your place is your nose. Nothing can make you ooze sap faster then a pruned rose bush in May then photos arriving on your ice cold computer in March. Lush blossoms sprinkling the virtual page, when all around you are bare, dark branches and patches of snow. It's not that we don't love the photos…it's the sentiments attached, they seem a little thorny, spiking jealousy in our gardener's hearts. Here's my list of top 5 things not to say to gardeners with sodden, frozen, soil, hidden under a avalanche of snow at this time of year. After all, I should know, at one time I was one of those obnoxious gardeners who sent friends pictures of snow drops in January, and look where I live now. Talk about garden karma. 1. Spring will come to your place eventually, did you know that ours is earlier each year? 2. Shall I send more photos to make up for your long winter? 3. You can garden inside can't you, start some seeds, you can plant them outside in a few months. 4. You could take up crocheting, all gardeners love to crochet. 5. I'm sure there are nice greenhouses where you live, you can visit them until spring comes along. Oh yes, as soon as they plow the driveways, and shovel the snow. Or maybe I can take the huskies, and the dogsled out for a run. No, really, stop making us envy you spring will come to us, just stop rubbing it in. To pass the time until spring arrives, check out the new Facebook group that Laura, from Simple Serene Living and I have created. The Over 40 Blogging World is a FB group for woman bloggers providing positive support for each other no matter how big, or small their blogs are, or which platform they use. It's a fun group, and we would love to see you there.
We'll have virtual, calorie free cupcakes too! Chocolate, and vanilla. PS, just a reminder I'm moving my blog this week, so expect a few glitches.
I'll still be the same blogger, showing my photos, weaving my stories, it will just be at Word Press, and under a new name www.thelightlaughed.com. You can read about the change here.
I'd would love to have you come along as the journey continues.