Exercise Update

It felt GREAT to be back in the pool after having been away for months since the indoor facility was closed for reapirs. Although my back hurts (long term results from a herniated disc operation 18 yrs ago and lack of recent exercise) and there are some sore muscles, it feels good. In my New Years resolution to look at the positive in all situations, the soreness is an indication that I am exercising again, which my middle age body needs to work best, and that I have taken the first step in getting into a shape where there will be less pain. All positive things. Not to mention how the quiet alone time under water helps my mental health too! Yes this is healthy living.

The hard, healthy road of January

In my attempt to drop the few kilos I gained with all the Christmas sweets and lack of exercise I stopped eating sweets yesterday, have kept wine in take to one glass per meal since the weekend, and played padel yesterday and today for an hour. My body aches all over, energy level is low, and I’m exhausted…… is this supposed to be healthy living?

Materialism of our times as seen in modern shopping malls

It is the day before Three Kings, the most important gift-giving day in Spain. A shopping madhouse day like Christmas Eve in the U.S. I read the posts by Absolute Vanilla and Baino on materialism and remembered the below piece in my "draft" box since Oct. Note that my described feelings of over-stimulated and bombarded have been at least duplicated in Dec. and Jan. I don't even want to imagine the sales crowds (which begin Jan. 7th here) when my daughters will spend the gift certificates and birthday money they receive over these dates, and ask for my help.
So here is my humble response to the over-materialism of our times as seen in modern shopping malls.

I had to wait 45 minutes until I had agreed to meet someone at a coffee place at a local mall the other day, so I decided to 'go shopping' by myself (i.e. without 2 teenagers dragging me from one hip store to another) to see the new fashion trends for the Fall, maybe look for new bras I desperately needed, but hated the thought of shopping for. After 50 minutes I couldn't wait to get out!

My senses felt bombarded:

• a different electronic music in each shop, (that awful kind they have found makes us purchase more. I think we purchase more because we can't think straight and can't wait to get out so we just decide to buy quickly to find reprieve from the music - I especially find this in the 'hip' stores my daughters drag me to.)
• bright colors of glitzy stuff on top of every surface, especially in these kiosks now placed along the middle of the mall corridor to sell us more stuff we don't need
• over layered, color coordinated outfits in every shop window that remind me of how out of style all my perfectly fine and color coordinated clothes I already own are
• smells of every ethnic kind of food I never thought I'd be hungry for, from the bi-level food court half way down the mall.

Once the coffee was had and business taken care of, it was a reprieve to get in my car. To close out the noise, the materialism, the feel of frenzy. I drove home slowly, admiring the glimpses of the sea I got between new apt. buildings, restaurants and hotels (more materialism I tried to ignore) calming myself with classical music and the thought of home and the new color coordinated outfits I could pull together from the comfort clothes in my closet, acquired from an array of places, the least of which were shopping malls, over the years.(I'd have to wait another two months before I replaced those old bras)

I did it again

I did it again, I went visiting my blog friends when I had some time for myself, and I spent so much time, reading, commenting, and linking that I didn't do any of my own writing or reading that I had planned to do as soon as I just "stopped by" a couple of favorites. Now my husband has returned, my daughters will soon need to be picked up from their outings, and the calm, silence for reading novels and reflective writing, which I was finally getting to, has been interrupted. I did it again, I enjoyed it, but it kept me from other important activities..I'll no doubt repeat it again soon......
sounds like a possible addiction, what do you think?

New Years Wishes

In my wishes for the New Year I desire for everyone:

Good health

Love

Clearness of what you want

Insight into what you're meant to do

Opportunity, close Support and Guidance and personal strength and will on how to work towards and achieve it

Peace with yourself

Peace with others

Time for reflection, relaxation, appreciation and enjoyment of life.

May you find all these blessings along your path in 2008!

Weekend in Madrid

Madrid was the first city I lived in, in Spain and it is the city I moved back to four times. Now it is the city that I visit when I need to feel sophisticated, urban, in vogue, challenged; perhaps independant and decisive again. I spent the early Dec. long

weekend there with my almost 18 year old daughter, just the two of us. We had planned

on seeing the Prado Friday morning before the shopping district, you know to get at least some culture in before admiring the designer's windows and perhaps buying a thing or two. Then Saturday was to be dedicated to catching up with old friends and family, and Sunday to a photographic session with a cousin for my daughter's modelling book.

All went according to plan except the Prado visit! I haven't seen such lines since....well I think ever! I can't even imagine how long it would have taken, it was 4 or 5 people wide and it ran almost the entire length of the museum and around the corner. Instead we opted to visit the elegant Ritz hotel, take a stroll down memory lane past landmarks that marked my first year in Spain,

pay a visit to the huge nativity scene in the emblematic Cibeles building, have a coffee at Starbucks, which has not yet reached the Costa del Sol (thank goodness!) as we walked our way up to the shopping district.

First stop Mallorca - pastry shop, bakery, delicatassen, caterer - all in one - a gournet's delight...

Second stop Jardin de Serrano elite shopping arcade...I used to aspire to dressing from those

type of boutiques, my times and values have changed - this trip confirmed that - next stops - shops more affordable and attuned to our life style. We acquired a few shopping bags, tired feet, sore backs and a fabulous lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We stayed with long time friends from (our (my husband's and mine) college and early double dating days, who then became our next door neighbors for 4 years in Madrid. It reminded me that some friendships are forever and full of comfort, understanding, comraderie and laughter no matter how much time and distance passes bewteen visits. Our Saturday spent with another friend and her familhy and then my husband's great aunt and cousin continued to fill me with love and laughter and memories of old times and just plain feel good energy.

Sara's (my daughter see above and below) photography session went better than expected by all, I think, and we hope the photos will help her advance her career when she visits the agencies in Madrid in January with her agency rep. from here in Malaga.

Not to mention the great talks that Sara and I shared on the 5 hour drive to and from, in a non aggressive and non-challenging atmosphere and tone. Not always easy to attain in a busy life with two teen agers. I learned things about her, I hope she also learned things about me and life's values too. Those lessons are so hard to communicate but a weekend like this perhaps is a BIG HELP!

So did I feel independant, sophisticated, urban, in vogue, and decisive? To some extent, but in a less invigorating way than I did when I was in my 20's. And I was glad to leave the hustle, bustle, expensive sophistication, noise and cold behind, for my suburban, tranquil, sunny and sometimes indecisive life on the Med.

Fill Your Heart With Thanksgiving

May you count many blessings in your thankfulness today and EVERYDAY.

I found this poem in a book I have been referring to lately for inspiration, meditation and refelction, copyrighted in 1974 that I bought for my Mom around 1998 in a used book store in Reston, Va. It proves that deep truths never get old or go out of fashion. Perhaps we just have to remind ourselves of them more often in this time of harsh media and materialism.

Fill Your Heart With Thanksgiving

Take nothing for granted,
For whatever you do
The joy of enjoying
Is lessened for you –
For we rob our own lives
Much more than we know
When we fail to respond
Or in any way show
Our thanks for the blessings
That daily are ours…
The warmth of the sun,
The fragrance of the flowers,
The beauty of twilight,
The freshness of dawn,
The coolness of dew
On a green velvet lawn,
The kind little deeds
So thoughtfully done,
The favors of friends,
And the love that someone
Unselfishly gives us
In a myriad of ways,
Expecting no payment
And no words of praise-
Oh, great id our loss
When we no longer find
A thankful response
To things of this kind,
For the joy of enjoying
And the fullness of living
Are found in the heart
That is filled with thanks-
Giving.
Helen Steiner Rice