Cancer.
In my family there has been a lot of it. My grandfather...my Dad's 2 brothers...close friends...their parents...sisters...brothers...fathers.
I see the faces of people every day who come in for chemo. For some, it's a relapse and they're ready to fight. Others, for the first treatment are nervous and twitchy, waiting to see what they're in for. Moms trying to comfort their kids...kids trying to comfort their moms. Some days it gets to me. Other days the strength and humor of the people I meed staggers me and feeds me.
Every year we have a breast cancer run here in town. This year it's this sunday. I'll be out there in the rain with a lot of great people, remembering the people we've lost and celebrating with the survivors. The funding raised helps the families of those diagnosed with breast cancer...and helps fund research of people like me who are trying to figure out how this whole cancer things functions anyways, so we can try and figure out how to stop it. I didn't raise as much as I'd like, but I know it helps. Awareness helps. Everything we do helps.
I've had people ask me why with all the money they donate and we receive for cancer we haven't cracked it yet. Why we haven't found a cure?
I wish it was that simple. I truly hope that in my lifetime (maybe even in my lab) someone will make the link that will allow us to treat cancer effectively. You have no idea how much I want that.
My big concern about it all lately has been prevention. I know, genetically, some people have the deck stacked against them...but we can do some things. Little things. We can make smart choices and look after ourselves. We can force companies to stop putting chemicals and "food like substances" into us and our children.
Most importantly, we can live every day fully...try and make things better. Live. Love. Be who you want to be. Every day.
I truly believe cancer can be beaten.
Let's do it. Together.
kids today
For our pledge drive local businesses donate prizes and gifts to give to the people who donate to our pledge drive...it is a way of saying thanks to the donors for us, and a bit of free adverts for them.
One of our donated gifts this year bothers me. Deeply.
It is THIS:
Yes - it is a kids "first fitness" exercise walker. I'll say that again so you can feel how creeped out I am:
A kids exercise walker
Jesus, Mary and Joseph on a pogo stick...
The company also makes a an indoor exercise bike for kids...Awhah??
Now, I should clarify that they're not all bad...they have a Rainy Day playset...which is a swing you can mount in a doorway. That IS cool. I get what they're trying to do, I just look at it and think...do kids need this kind of forced exercise? Are we really that terrible of role models that this is the only kind of exercise we can show them? Are we that paranoid or just lazy about our kids that we can't put them into scouts, soccer, ball or...go for walks with them or something? If nothing else we can shove them out in the yard or on a bike or into a park to play a bit. Gods...I even know someone who took their kids to ballroom dancing class just to get them out doing something. To teach them this WE have to be doing something...
I think one of the reason this bugs me so much is I grew up an overweight kid. I would have been horrified to have been given this. I'm sure all the softball, soccer, volleyball and track teams I got stuck on to do a bit of activities hated me being there...I pretty much sucked at everything except volleyball and figure skating. I wasn't even remotely a top athlete...but my home town was so small we all had to play all the sports or else we didn't have a team. And I played them all. I really hated broomball so I got to finally quit it, but I did have to at least try it out before I quit. My mo
m sent me to day camps and summer camps, took us swimming and walking and even got me a "Mousercise" exercise LP. We skipped and biked and played hopscotch. We played "near and far" with Grover on rainy days running around the living room. Plus Mousercise was AWESOME. It had dance around exercisey type stuff to do to Disney songs...it was fun. My friends came over just to do it. Mom tried, I'll give her that!
Thing is, I was an active kid...I just ate WAY too much. Mom worked nights so Dad & I fended for ourselves or ate what she left...and I learned to eat as much as my Dad, or eat quick before he ate it. Dad's a big guy. I had no sense of portions and he never took food away from me or was able to limit my snacks much...had I had some lessons in food portions and healthy food eating and I'd have been much thinner...I think a lot of issues in kids being overweight is less activity, but also WAY more food for ALL ages.
If my Mom had brought this home to try and help me lose weight I would have been HORRIFIED. It wouldn't have been fun. I wouldn't have used it and I likely would have hated the elliptical that I now (for whatever reason) love to use when it's blizzardy or rainy...I wouldn't have realised fitness could be fun or know the rush I get from a good run.
When I see something like this I want to gather parents together and go NONONONONO! Be examples to your kids! Be more active. Teach them how to PLAY! Give them good food. They will be what we let them be.
Help me out here? By giving our kids this aren't we teaching them to live sedentary lives with bursts of planned exercise? I'm not dissing the exercise, really I'm not. I just don't see how you make active adults starting out with this...? Everyone I've asked at the pledge drive says they would never give this to their kid...it's more $$ than a bike, so they'd get them a bike and some skates or skis instead...I don't have kids so I largely feel like I"m talking out of my ass but it just seems so very very wrong to me :)
What do you guys think?
I leave you with this dance track I like to run to...partly as it has lines in it I sang when I would double dutch skip singing Hot Dog as a kid...you know...playing? :)
(yes the video is lame...the song? Good...)
One of our donated gifts this year bothers me. Deeply.
It is THIS:
Yes - it is a kids "first fitness" exercise walker. I'll say that again so you can feel how creeped out I am:
A kids exercise walker
Jesus, Mary and Joseph on a pogo stick...
The company also makes a an indoor exercise bike for kids...Awhah??
Now, I should clarify that they're not all bad...they have a Rainy Day playset...which is a swing you can mount in a doorway. That IS cool. I get what they're trying to do, I just look at it and think...do kids need this kind of forced exercise? Are we really that terrible of role models that this is the only kind of exercise we can show them? Are we that paranoid or just lazy about our kids that we can't put them into scouts, soccer, ball or...go for walks with them or something? If nothing else we can shove them out in the yard or on a bike or into a park to play a bit. Gods...I even know someone who took their kids to ballroom dancing class just to get them out doing something. To teach them this WE have to be doing something...
I think one of the reason this bugs me so much is I grew up an overweight kid. I would have been horrified to have been given this. I'm sure all the softball, soccer, volleyball and track teams I got stuck on to do a bit of activities hated me being there...I pretty much sucked at everything except volleyball and figure skating. I wasn't even remotely a top athlete...but my home town was so small we all had to play all the sports or else we didn't have a team. And I played them all. I really hated broomball so I got to finally quit it, but I did have to at least try it out before I quit. My mo
m sent me to day camps and summer camps, took us swimming and walking and even got me a "Mousercise" exercise LP. We skipped and biked and played hopscotch. We played "near and far" with Grover on rainy days running around the living room. Plus Mousercise was AWESOME. It had dance around exercisey type stuff to do to Disney songs...it was fun. My friends came over just to do it. Mom tried, I'll give her that!Thing is, I was an active kid...I just ate WAY too much. Mom worked nights so Dad & I fended for ourselves or ate what she left...and I learned to eat as much as my Dad, or eat quick before he ate it. Dad's a big guy. I had no sense of portions and he never took food away from me or was able to limit my snacks much...had I had some lessons in food portions and healthy food eating and I'd have been much thinner...I think a lot of issues in kids being overweight is less activity, but also WAY more food for ALL ages.
If my Mom had brought this home to try and help me lose weight I would have been HORRIFIED. It wouldn't have been fun. I wouldn't have used it and I likely would have hated the elliptical that I now (for whatever reason) love to use when it's blizzardy or rainy...I wouldn't have realised fitness could be fun or know the rush I get from a good run.
When I see something like this I want to gather parents together and go NONONONONO! Be examples to your kids! Be more active. Teach them how to PLAY! Give them good food. They will be what we let them be.
Help me out here? By giving our kids this aren't we teaching them to live sedentary lives with bursts of planned exercise? I'm not dissing the exercise, really I'm not. I just don't see how you make active adults starting out with this...? Everyone I've asked at the pledge drive says they would never give this to their kid...it's more $$ than a bike, so they'd get them a bike and some skates or skis instead...I don't have kids so I largely feel like I"m talking out of my ass but it just seems so very very wrong to me :)
What do you guys think?
I leave you with this dance track I like to run to...partly as it has lines in it I sang when I would double dutch skip singing Hot Dog as a kid...you know...playing? :)
(yes the video is lame...the song? Good...)
The end is nigh
Two more days of insanity and double shifts and a weekend of hurry hurry.
Then I sleep.
Then I can workout in the morning like a regular person again...
My lovely J is minding the pledge drive for an hour tonight so I can sneak away to my first tribal bellydance lesson of the fall. I can't wait. It's at an actual dance studio this year...I haven't kept it up over the summer, so expect there will be much to relearn in muscle memory, but it will come slowly...
I just have to stay awake for it :P
Then I sleep.
Then I can workout in the morning like a regular person again...
My lovely J is minding the pledge drive for an hour tonight so I can sneak away to my first tribal bellydance lesson of the fall. I can't wait. It's at an actual dance studio this year...I haven't kept it up over the summer, so expect there will be much to relearn in muscle memory, but it will come slowly...
I just have to stay awake for it :P
September taught me something
I'm beginning to thiknk there is something to this breakfast/time for yourself business.
All month (well OK 95% of it) I've made a point of getting up 10 minutes earlier and having a yummy hot breakfast (usually oatmeal and fruit) and taking a few minutes for myself to just sit, relax and pet my cat.
And wouldn't you know it? I feel great. Last year when I volunteered for the pledge drive at night and worked all day...well, I was stressed to the max and exhausted. This year I feel way better. According to J I still am stressed out at the pledge drive (he rarely sees me stressed and doesn't like it). But, to me...I feel better. I'm learning to let out my stress and take time for myself and not keep it all in. I'm learning to delegate.
Cuz I'm worth it :)
There's a lesson for me in here somewhere...:)
All month (well OK 95% of it) I've made a point of getting up 10 minutes earlier and having a yummy hot breakfast (usually oatmeal and fruit) and taking a few minutes for myself to just sit, relax and pet my cat.
And wouldn't you know it? I feel great. Last year when I volunteered for the pledge drive at night and worked all day...well, I was stressed to the max and exhausted. This year I feel way better. According to J I still am stressed out at the pledge drive (he rarely sees me stressed and doesn't like it). But, to me...I feel better. I'm learning to let out my stress and take time for myself and not keep it all in. I'm learning to delegate.
Cuz I'm worth it :)
There's a lesson for me in here somewhere...:)
Busy times at Casa Geo
So yeah...um...I'm rediculously busy. I've been volunteering evenings and weekends, and it'll soon be over, but man. How the sume doth get sucked into a whirling vortex...
I long for bellydance classes and regular workouts and a more level pace.
Soon.
I just have to survive until after the Breast Cancer Run on Sunday and then I'm done...I have embarrasingly few pledges this year. I'm trying to drum up a few...I don't think I'll do as well as in the past though. I have to actually see another human being to solicit a pledge from them, so it's not going so well...:(
I long for bellydance classes and regular workouts and a more level pace.
Soon.
I just have to survive until after the Breast Cancer Run on Sunday and then I'm done...I have embarrasingly few pledges this year. I'm trying to drum up a few...I don't think I'll do as well as in the past though. I have to actually see another human being to solicit a pledge from them, so it's not going so well...:(
Yay me!
I'm so proud of myself. I just went to a protein purification and data analysis seminar (it was really interesting honest) and they supplied pizza, chips and pop for all attending, as it was over lunch.What did I have for lunch? Turkey breast and cheese on whole wheat with lettuce and mayo and an apple, and some water. BOOYA!
I had a healthy lunch already made, and I didn't ditch it for the junk filled meal...I happily ate my lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't even sneak anything...not one chip.
Yay me! :)
image source
So far so good
Again with the oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and a nice long brisk walk to work, complete with happy vibes. I can see this being a very good routine indeed.
It's a 2 shift day again, work all day and volunteer at the pledge drive all night, but with any luck I'll get through it all and still have a grin on my face. Tomorrow J's work is having a staff BBQ, for which they're flying us all (!!!!!) to Calgary (????) for the day for a BBQ and concert. Can't figure out why they can't just do it here, but we'll take it. I could use the mini break :)
Have a great day all!
Music to walk to work by: Chemical Brothers - Surrender
It's a 2 shift day again, work all day and volunteer at the pledge drive all night, but with any luck I'll get through it all and still have a grin on my face. Tomorrow J's work is having a staff BBQ, for which they're flying us all (!!!!!) to Calgary (????) for the day for a BBQ and concert. Can't figure out why they can't just do it here, but we'll take it. I could use the mini break :)
Have a great day all!
Music to walk to work by: Chemical Brothers - Surrender
A beautiful day, without a cloud
"Some try to paint away
All the colours of the rainbow
Your smile lights up the way
Wake up, it's a beautiful day..."
Walking and biking to work has given me a great way to reset my morning. Take days like today: where I slept in, burnt part of my breakfast and generally started off on the wrong foot...but then, quick breakfast and I'm out the door, crossing the river and watching the mist on the surface of it. I walk along the riverbank path watching the sun rise over a field of wheat, with each grain head lighting up like a beacon as the light hits it. This morning the orange faded over the field and the clear blue sky brightened up, making the jet streams streak and gleam overhead in a cloudless sky.
As I walk I meet the "regulars"...all the others out on the path every morning with me. I smile and say good morning with genuine good wishes to the man with the happy dog (and of course happy dog), the old Austrian man with the white combover and thick accent, the man I call Pauley (he looks like like Pauley from the Sopranos, track suit and all), and the two older ladies who are often out watching the geese at the weir. Other joggers puff by...and slowly I calm down.
I count pelicans.
I watch gophers and critters scamper about...and suddenly I'm happy...it sneaks up on me and I'm singing along to whatever I'm listening to on my iPod and grinning.
This is my daily reboot.
I will greatly miss it when it gets too cold to do this. It really makes my day start off right...
Music to walk to work to: Orb - The Dream
Crossposted
All the colours of the rainbow
Your smile lights up the way
Wake up, it's a beautiful day..."
Walking and biking to work has given me a great way to reset my morning. Take days like today: where I slept in, burnt part of my breakfast and generally started off on the wrong foot...but then, quick breakfast and I'm out the door, crossing the river and watching the mist on the surface of it. I walk along the riverbank path watching the sun rise over a field of wheat, with each grain head lighting up like a beacon as the light hits it. This morning the orange faded over the field and the clear blue sky brightened up, making the jet streams streak and gleam overhead in a cloudless sky.
As I walk I meet the "regulars"...all the others out on the path every morning with me. I smile and say good morning with genuine good wishes to the man with the happy dog (and of course happy dog), the old Austrian man with the white combover and thick accent, the man I call Pauley (he looks like like Pauley from the Sopranos, track suit and all), and the two older ladies who are often out watching the geese at the weir. Other joggers puff by...and slowly I calm down.
I count pelicans.
I watch gophers and critters scamper about...and suddenly I'm happy...it sneaks up on me and I'm singing along to whatever I'm listening to on my iPod and grinning.
This is my daily reboot.
I will greatly miss it when it gets too cold to do this. It really makes my day start off right...
Music to walk to work to: Orb - The Dream
Crossposted
Yes, this will do nicely
This morning I walked to work - a nice brisk 45 minute walk. I got to watch the sun spread over the field and make it turn colours and met the happiest dog ever. I had yummy oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast and am now ready to get at things, coffee in hand.
Good way to start the day I'd say :)
Music to walk to work to: Coldplay: Viva La Vida
Good way to start the day I'd say :)
Music to walk to work to: Coldplay: Viva La Vida
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