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March 12, 2011 – Not Sure What to Say

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I’ve seen the footage from Japan. The devastation is unbelievable. Much like Indonesia so many years ago, the sheer magnitude can never be truly quantified by Richter scales or seismic anomalies or geospatial measurements.

A half-world away, the debris in the swirling surf contains remnants of houses, vehicles, roadways, bridges, and entire trains.

All I can think about is were the families who lived in those houses home when the tsunami hit? Did the people in their cars make sure to say goodbye to anyone they loved? How can we ever know everyone who decided to ride the train that day?

It seems so unreal and reminds me to be grateful for all that we have and don’t have in my tiny little corner of the universe.

But it is real.

And for now, all I can do is pray and contribute whatever amount I can financially.

Imagine if every single person not directly affected by the earthquake did that – pray and contribute.

It won’t erase what happened but it could go a long way to repairing the devastation we can see and healing that which we cannot.

March 10, 2011 – When Benefits Outweigh Sneezing

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I am finally back on some sort of regular exercise routine. And, as suspected, it has helped my mood get through the day as well as getting my ass into some jeans without crying.

However, there is a major drawback that has resurfaced.

When I exercise in the morning, in my house, on my mini-elliptical – all seems fine.

When I exercise over lunch, at our local gym, on the treadmill – I am struck with an exercise induced allergy attack that lasts THE REST OF THE DAY.

Yes, I used ALL CAPS, bold, and italic to stress my point – something I usually consider an egregious attack on the reader’s senses and intellect.

I finished a quick 2 miles on the treadmill at 1 p.m. today. It is now 9:45 p.m. I have LITERALLY been sneezing and blowing runny snot out of my nose ever since.

WTF?!

Doesn’t the Universe have any idea how much overtime that sweet little mouse on the spinning wheel inside my brain has to work in order to get my butt up early without an epic battle against the evil internal voices chanting “five more minutes” allied with the lingering affects of a late night antihistamine dose; or actually make it to the gym during my lunch hour without succumbing to the mind-numbing, ass-widening, spirit suffocating forces emanating from fryer vats at McDonalds, which, incidentally won’t make me sneeze but might give me a greasy food-high?

Here is where I should interject how I plan to triumph over the sneezing by continuing on a path to health and happiness through exercise recognizing the physical manifestation of a metaphoric challenge presented before me to continue to do what is best for me despite freaky obstacles thrown in my path or up my nose.

Instead, I will blow my nose, again, hope the benedryl kicks in soon, and pray I win the battle over all of it again in the morning.