Srsly?

Mom's day

It was a nice Sunday today. Took my parents breakfast, then my mom and I went to coffee. She got to meet a little more of the Village and see people she knew and likes and doesn't get to see very often. She reported that she had fun, and I believe her (I did, too). We got to spend some quality mom-and-daughter time while Maggie dad-sat (he and I got some time in over lunch, too, don't worry). In the afternoon I went to a friend's graduation party, which was at this brewery in town which is pretty unique. All they serve is beer, so they actually encourage you to bring food in - so we moved in with our pig-pickin' and potluck (which was originally scheduled to be in a park). And they advertise themselves as a "kid and dog friendly" establishment, which meant I got to bring Maggie. She ate some pork, got lots of love and attention, met some other dogs, and thoroughly wore herself out.

All in all it was a good day, with family, friends, and even some time with my own "baby." Can't beat that...

Sage advice

So my trainer tells me this morning that what I really need to do to lose weight is decrease my stress. He tells me there was a big article on hormones and weight gain in The Journal Of Really Fit People or one of those fancy publications he reads.

Yep, Buddy. True that.

What he didn't tell me, however, was how exactly I'm supposed to accomplish that. Especially with my life. 

Thoughts? Short of magically generating siblings, marrying rich, or being a bad shrink, of course...

Whoops.

Since I missed Wordless Wednesday, I give you this, which I just love. It's a photo essay on dogs in the military. The pictures are awesome, but the copy is useful too. Did you know war dogs in Vietnam were considered surplus equipment and left behind when the war ended?? Shameful. Fortunately, the military has since seen the error of their ways (at least about this; there's always room for improvement).

Hard to know....

It's an historic day here in America.

When I went to bed last night, I noticed that someone on Facebook commented the president was about to give an address. Weird, I thought. What I should've thought was, weird, I should probably pay attention to that. But I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I just went to bed. I tossed and turned for several hours, and at no point did I think, let's check Facebook. Let's read CNN. Let's turn on the TV. I finally fell asleep after 11.

When my alarm went off at 5, I had a text from Mike saying simply, "Osama is dead."

For real?

That's when I hit Facebook, CNN, and the TV.

I don't know how to feel about this.

I'm glad we made this big gain in the war on terrorism. I do not mourn his passing. I'm glad for the spike that's about to happen in Obama's popularity, what with next year being an election year. I feel compassion for the families of the 9/11 victims who report having closure and feeling like justice has been done.

But at the same time...I cannot celebrate his death. I don't know that we really had a choice, but I believe killing is wrong, whether done in the name of a perverted distortion of a religious text or in the name of vengeance and justice. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. And furthermore - there's going to be backlash from the remains of al Qaeda. I'm frightened for the safety of Americans, at home and abroad. And I hate that bin Laden died a martyr.

What impresses me is that we could've easily defiled the body, kept it in a freezer somewhere, cremated it...all a final "fuck you" to the man that gave us a huge national black eye and nationwide PTSD. Instead, we were respectful, handling the body in the Islamic tradition. That's classy, America.

I am somewhat hopeful, too. I do hope that when the dust settles, we'll be able to bring our troops home. That the world will be a more peaceful place. That maybe, ultimately, one day, the world will be a little safer.

And one final feeling...I am, as always, proud of and indebted to the men and women who serve to keep us safe. I may not always support the war, but I always support those that fight it.

It's an amazing thing, this. We'll see how it pans out...

More weekend, please.

It's been a nice weekend.

Had a good ride yesterday. Went down to the motorcycle shop nearby looking for a cargo net (they were sold out) and took the looooong way back. I did much better on this ride. I'm definitely doing better than I was, say, 200 miles ago when I bought the bike. And it was really nice. There were a lot of other bikers out on the road, too, which was cool. I need to keep riding. One of my biker friends just sent me a link to a map of a ride they take often, which I need to try out one of these days.

Had a nice visit with Olga last night, too. She's recovering nicely from her pneumonia and her bedsore is healing. It's such a long road for her  - it's been 10 weeks since the fire, and although she has a long way to go, she's come so far. She's so awesome and amazing. I'm glad we're friends.

Went for sushi last night with some coffee friends and friends of theirs. Met some fun new people. Hung out with some fun folks I already knew. Ate some really good vegetarian sushi (I love me some good vegetarian sushi). Had a really good time.

Today was a little more laid back. Coffee with the Village, lunch with the girls. Worked out with my trainer. Tried to take a nap (didn't work). Dishes, laundry, blah, blah, blah. Can't complain about today except that it's followed by a Monday.

I start consults tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to the lower intensity. It'll be nice to have a little change of pace....