May 2002

Wow am I sore. Not mad sore, but exercise sore.

Last night, Earl and I went to see Spiderman with Tobey Maguire. What an excellent movie! As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been on a “health and exercise” kick lately, and seeing Spiderman last night just put me more so in that frame of mind. On Friday night we watched “Pleasantville” on DVD, and then Spiderman last night. Boy did Tobey Maguire buff up for Spiderman. And I figured, if he can do it, so can I. So I’m concentrating more on my health kick. I dusted off my bike and did a 6 mile ride today, and got out the Ab Roller and rolled some abs. I also picked up the Ab Roller Plus which is suppose to be good for you and a couple of 12 pound weights. I just spent the last 30 minutes working out with all my gadgets. It’s something that I plan to do each morning before going to work. Then after work I’m going to continue my gym routine, because I really like doing that to unwind after a long day at the office. I must admit that I was getting a little bit burned out going to the gym twice a day; I think this change in routine will mix it up enough for me to keep me interested. My goal is to be able to run up the side of the barn and flip over by Memorial Day weekend. I did that four or five years ago, let’s see if I can do it again. If you’re looking at my webcam, you’ll see me working out every morning between 7 and 8 a.m. EDT. That should be a kick.

I’ve been doing more reading on my spirituality. I find it all so fascinating. There’s a couple of websites with message boards I’ve been following – my favorite being Gnostically Speaking. I think the concept of a Father AND Mother God frightens the majority of Western culture, but it really shouldn’t since they are simply two halves that make up the whole of “God”. If you think about it, it really makes sense. I remember being a kid and going to Sunday school classes to the church down the road from our house. I believe it was Baptist church (I don’t know why we were going there – we were all Methodist, and it was usually just my mom and us kids) and being so confused about things. I mean, why did the minister have a special “in” with God, was he more special than I? Why was there a “King James version” of the Bible? What if he made a mistake while he was editing it? Why did the kids in Sunday School tell me that I wasn’t really baptized because I just had holy water sprinkled on me as a baby (per the Methodist tradition) rather than being dunked in a bathtub that had been installed in the front of the church? Why is God white? Religion can be so confusing! But finally, reading these books by Sylvia Browne and Edgar Cayce, and doing research and meditating and thinking, it’s all beginning to make a lot more sense to me. In a way, I wonder why I waited until I was 33 to start this quest, but then I realized that I must have been building up to this all along.

Let’s see, what else is happening. The washer is still rattling. Good ol’ Sears sent us a dryer heating unit instead of a brick for the washer. So I took a half day off from work for nothing. That was kind of crazy. But it made the weekend extra long I guess.

We went shopping at P&C today and picked up some stuff. I’m trying to go a little more natural and not spread so many chemicals into the household. I picked up some really good cleaning products from Citrus Magic. I also ordered some stuff from ECOS, which is all natural laundry detergent and such. I’ll let you know how they work out.

Tonight is the last installment of Survivor: Marquesas. I am really looking forward to it, and I hope that Kathy wins! At least she made it into the final four, but I hope she goes all the way!

Well I’m finally able to sit down and write a bit in my journal. My family just left from a festive Mother’s Day celebration this afternoon. Earl made a WONDERFUL chicken salad with roasted vegetables for everyone, along with some wonderful desserts. It was great!

Where to begin. This morning Earl and I took our first bath and shower in the new bathroom. The bathroom isn’t quite completed yet, as Lowe’s hasn’t delivered the vanity top nor the cabinet and vanity top for the laundry area, so our contractor Mike has left a few touch ups to do when comes to install those, whenever they arrive. They were suppose to be here the end of April and here it is mid May. We shall see what Lowe’s actually knows. The bathroom is absolutely beautiful. The shower is great, the whirlpool whirls nicely, we are very, very pleased with the end result. I’ll be posting pictures by the end of the week.

Our new washer and dryer are installed as well. They are working wonderfully, except the washer is making a rattling noise it shouldn’t be. Apparently this model has been recalled because the bricks inside that stabilize the drum crack and break apart in shipping and this is what my washer did. So we’re waiting to get that fixed. Here we had a week off and now I have to ask for next Friday afternoon off as well. I hope that this doesn’t create a problem at work; I don’t think that it will.

Earl and I did see John Edward last weekend in Providence, R.I. We didn’t get a reading, but we witnessed serveral and we heard what John had to say about his mediumship and how he came to where he is today. It’s quite an interesting story. And it was absolutely fascinating to see him at work doing what he does. He connected with quite a few loved ones for people in the audience, and they were obviously emotionally moved, so he must have been doing his work right.

I feel like I’m continuing to grow spiritually. I had a wondeful meditation last week where I met my spirit guide. I’m looking forward to continuing my meditation and such, especially since the house is getting back to normal and I can relax enough to go ahead and do that. I did pick up an additional Native American flute CD while we were shopping yesterday. It’s called “Sacred Journey” by Billy Whitefoe… very relaxing. I find the Native American music the most spiritual and inspirational for me, especially during meditation. Plus, I’ve always been big on incense, especially Sandalwood.

This past Thursday through Saturday we went to Bristol, Pa. to see Earl’s family. It was great, since we haven’t been down there since New Year’s. We went to the Philly vs. the Diamondbacks Friday night at Vets Stadium. I really like the Sports Complex area of Philly. It’s so well organized. And it was a great game as well. I really enjoyed it.

While we were down there we went to Chick-Fil-A, TWICE. Once Friday afternoon and once on Saturday afternoon. It was great both times. Earl is so patient to allow me to go to Chick-Fil-A whenever we’re near one.

We went shopping at Wegman’s in DeWitt on the way home to pick up stuff for today’s get together. Mom really wanted to spend time with us at home for Mother’s Day, so that’s what we decided to do. It was a wonderful get together; Mom seemed a little more energetic than the last time we saw her, and that was great.

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written in my journal. A little over a week as a matter of fact. I didn’t mean for it to go on for this long, but life has been hectic. We are still in the “construction phase” of the bathroom project. Translation – the bathroom isn’t finished YET! We’ve been promised that it will be completed by Friday. After it’s done we’ll take the final pictures and I’ll post them on the site here so you can see what we started with and what we ended up with.

The new washer and dryer are allegedly being delivered tomorrow. They were suppose to arrive yesterday, but apparently the directions that the salesperson at Sears typed into the computer were missing the house number, so they didn’t know where to deliver it to. I guess they’ve never heard of calling for directions before. Oh well.

Last night Earl and I purchased tickets to attend Sylvia Browne’s lecture in New York in October. I am very, very excited about this. This year must be a “spiritual year” for us, because on Sunday we’re going to see John Edward in Providence, R.I. and now Sylvia Browne as well. My soul is resonating with truth these days as I read more and more about Gnostic Christianity. It’s absolutely wonderful. I haven’t felt this good, spiritually, in years.

I’m also feeling pretty physically fit. I’m not a jock by any means, but I’m feeling much better in this body. I began working out 3 weeks ago. I weighed 217 at the time. On Monday I weighed myself, even though I said I wasn’t going to, and I was shocked to see the scale say 199! That seemed like a very, very big jump. But I’ve received many comments about my gut being gone, or at least smaller. The ego enjoys the stroking, I will admit, but at the very least I feel better about myself. I look forward to keeping up the exercise regime.

Earl and I decided to donate our old computer to the gym. It’s a not-for-profit agency and they also have a tutoring center, so I’m sure the computer will be put to good use.

We’re looking forward to vacation. A week off beginning on Saturday – I’m very excited about that. We plan on going to New England this weekend, spending some time at home during the week and then going to Philly next weekend to visit Earl’s family. We haven’t seen them since Christmas, so we’re overdue for a visit. I’m going to be writing more journal entries on my Palm Pilot as we’re traveling. I always enjoy doing that.