I RESOLVE TO . . .

Daily Exercise - Day 243

Another no work out day!  Every now and then you have to take a couple days off, which I did this week. My body said, 'chill' and I had a lot of things to do, other than work out, so I listened.  But I'm feeling good, so will be back at it in the pool this weekend for my laps.  And 'rain' is on the way!  Lots of it.  Hopefully my plants will be less stressed and I can get outside to do some mowing and trimming on Sunday or Monday.  I'm really looking forward to getting out in my yard and garden beds soon.  Such a great way to relax.  I've missed it the past couple of weeks during this long, hot, dry spell.  Well, relief is on the way.  As is a great work out, or two, or three :)  Until then . . .

Patience . . .

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."

St. Augustine

Daily Exercise - Day 242

Alas, no exercise for me today!  This evening I'm feeling a bit like a watch with a low-running battery, ticking a little slowly.  Which I can understand.  I've been burning the candle at both ends for much of this year.  Eventually you have to slow down just a bit - and I will do that this weekend.  This evening, in fact . . .  I'm going to hit the sheets early, a good move.  Busy day tomorrow, and I have a lot to do this weekend, but I'm going to space it out - practice a more measured pace, and make some time for me in between! :)  Until then . . .

Change . . .

"Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor."

Robert Frost

Daily Exercise - Day 241

Sunny, rainy, busy! Good description for the day. Thank goodness it finally rained a bit again today (seond day in a row!).  My plants, yard & trees can certainly use the moisture.  I made good on my promise to hop in the pool today for 30-minutes of laps, which felt great.  It's my time to just chill and think - or 'not think' as is often the case, as I swim laps.  I focus on my breathing!  In any event it felt great, and I plan to get out there for 40-minutes or so of laps tomorrow.  Now that it's raining a bit this week, I'm looking forward to getting out in the yard to tend my grass and shrubs.  I've been holding off on mowing and trimming the past couple of weeks (way too dry, stressed plants) - maybe this weekend I can get out and do some gardening!  Until then . . . :)

Life . . .

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."

Mohandas Gandhi

Daily Exercise - Day 240

Crazy, busy day!  Least it was a nice weather day!  Kicking into high gear again as we near the Labor Day weekend and September events.  Alas, client projects kept me too busy today for a good workout (no pool time), so I'm planning to hop in the pool tomorrow for a good round of laps.  :)  Until then . . .

Laughter

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion.  I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."   

Kurt Vonnegut

Daily Exercise - Day 239

Sunny, hot, humid - summer continues!  I made good on my pledge to get back into the pool for laps, 25-minutes this afternoon, and I plan to do another 15-minutes later this evening.  Clouds are starting to roll in - I'm really hoping it will rain tonight.  I watered some of my poor parched plants this afternoon, but can only hit so many each day, or I'll run my well dry.  Such a long hot summer :( I don't mind the heat, but the lack of rain is really becoming a problem.  I think I need to learn a rain dance!  In any event, I'll be back in the pool later tonight and again tomorrow.  Until then . . .

Blessing . . .

"Humor is mankind's greatest blessing."

Mark Twain

Daily Exercise - Day 238

Summer hotspell continues!  I made good on my 40-minutes of laps today, which is good news.  Staying pretty much on track with my exercise resolution (at least 30/60-minutes of exercise each day).  I also took time to take a nap, and tonight I plan read a bit from my pile of newspapers and watch a few HBO movies, which will be fun.   A little  chill time is necessary before I  hit the work pile again tomorrow - and the pool for another round of  laps!  Until then . . .

Humor . . .

"Humor is just another defense against the universe"

Daily Exercise - Day 237

Another hot, sunny day - so what else is new?!  But I'll take it.  After two days of walking, while shopping and sight-seeing with friends who are visiting the D.C. area - I decided to work today, so as not to get too far behind.  I did make time to get into the pool for 20-30-minutes, which was nice.  Have definitely had my share of exercise this week:  walking, cleaning and swimming.  This weekend, I'm going to shoot for 40-minutes of laps on both Saturday and Sunday.  Until then . . .  :)

Laughter . . .

"You can turn painful situations around through laughter.  If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it."

Bill Cosby

Resolutions - Day 236

Just 130 days until New Year's Day 2007.  Amazing!  I've said it many times before:  this year is passing so quickly!  I think it's time to begin reviewing how what I've accomplished in 2006 with my resolution to exercise each day for at least 30-minutes.  And I need to take a look at my resolution book project.  I've been so busy, of late, with work and my TourPath tours, that I've been neglecting this blog and my writing project.  It's ime to get back to both - start posting again each day about my book project, and develop my outline, sample chapters, sample columns, etc. (I would like to try to sell a column to my local newspaper).  Lots to do - more importantly, it's time to take this project off the back burner soon.

That said, I have made huge progress this year with business/work, my creative projects, and I've been exercising pretty religiously - if not every day, at least 4-6 days each week (walking, swimming, biking, yoga, stretching, and weights - not all at once, but different sports/exercises during different seasons).  So, bottom line, I need to review what I've achieved, and what I hope to achieve for the rest of the year, hence a new action plan for my top goals and creative project.

If you're not working on your dreams and goals, never too late!  Start today:  One resolution, one day at at time for one year.  Let's 'go for it' in 2006!  :)

Daily Exercise - Day 236

You guessed it:  sunny and hot again.  I'll take it!  Though I have to admit, I'd really like some rain soon for the sake of my poor lawn and garden beds!  Forecast keeps calling for rain, but a drop hasn't fallen for a few weeks!  Hope that changes soon. 

On the exercise front, I definitely got my work out - walked miles and miles it seemed, showing some old friends the sights in D.C. today.  Lots of walking, and shot lots of photos.  Was a great day.  Really enjoyed it.  I'm a little pooped, so the swimming is going to have to wait until tomorow, and over the weekend, which is just fine.  I need to do some work this weekend, but I'm also going to make some time for me!  Until then . . .

Life . . .

"Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued."

Socrates

Daily Exercise - Day 235

Another sunny, hot day.  Ran all over today with some friends - sightseeing in Fredericksburg, shopping at Potomac Mills and Ikea.  Definitely got my share of exercise.  Did lots and lots of walking.  Capped off the day by hopping in the pool for a bit.  Did a few laps, but no real work out.  For now, the walking is fine.  Will get back to my swimming routine later in the week.  Until then . . .

Believe . . .

"Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact."

William James

Daily Exercise - Day 234

Definitely lots of activity today!  Spent most of the day cleaning my house in advance of the arrival of friends from the Midwest.  Love house cleaning - both for the exercise, and for the great feeling you have when you finish and have a sparkling clean house!  Also hopped in the pool for 35 minutes and faithfully did my laps, which also felt great.  Definitely a good workout day!  More of the same later this week - least lots of walking and definitely some swimming!  Until then . . .

Simple Living . . .

"My formula for living is quite simple.  I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night.  In between I occupy myself as best I can."

Cary Grant

Resolutions - Day 233

Kind of cloudy today - thankfully, since I'm crashing on some work projects both running around DC and in my office!  I've made some huge progress this past couple of months with all my work and creative projects.  Great news!  Am starting to feel somewhat caugt up - still a lot to do, but have completed a huge pile of work of late.  That should leave some time in upcoming weeks to finish my TourPath Tours, work on my resolution book and maybe chill a little bit.  Really looking forward to just sitting down with a book at some point soon!  That said, I don't mind all this hard work.  These new creative projects have really infused some energy into my work/personal life - all good stuff! For now, I need get off here!  Better 'get to it'.

It Goes On . . .

"In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life:  it goes on."

Robert Frost

Daily Exercise - Day 232

A working Sunday, but a great day!  Cross e a few more projects off the list, so this coming week should be manageable.  Alas didn't make it into the pool, but worked for a couple of hours in the yard, toting hoses around, trying to water my parched plants.  Tomorrow, definitely back in the pool, probably early evening - after I've worked on my TourPath Tour Photos - a shooting day, so I'll defnitely put in some walking time!  Until then . . .

To Live . . .

'To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else."

Emily Dickinson

Daily Exercise - Day 231

Busy day, but definitely a 'good busy day'!  I stared out with 40-minutes of laps since I missed two days of work outs due to work and home projects.  Felt great to get in the pool.  I really have to try to do laps everyday. It's not hard on the body, and it really makes me feel great both physically and mentally when I'm done.  A goal to strive for.

I also ran around for about five hours shooting photos of Fredericksburg for my TourPath Tour  Check it out, it's a great site!  Still have a lot more photos to shoot during the coming week, so I'm sure to get my exercise from walking and swimming (at least an hour each day!).  Until then . . .

The Present Moment . . .

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

Daily Exercise - Day 230

Crazy Day!  So, what else is new :).  Today was a mix of regular work and home projects.  So much water has been evaporating from my pool of late (give the extended heatwave, I had my pool contractor check for leaks, and nothing was found - so I'm losing lot of water to evaporation - guess I need to look into solar blankets, and method of reducing evaporation, as I've been putting an awful lot of water in my pool).

I digress.  I spent a lot of time today working on my pool, but didn't have time to 'get into my pool'.  No laps for me.  Had too many work projects to attend to after I finished with the pool.  Defnitely going to do 40-minutes of laps tomorrow (missed my work out yesterday too!).  Until then . . .

Alive . . .

"Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive."

Mel Brooks

Daily Exercise - Day 229

Gorgeous weather again today, starting to cool down just a bit - yeeaaaa!  Heading out soon to spend the day with a client, so no time this morning to get into the pool, but tonight I hope to do laps for a half hour if I'm not too tired.  Maybe a little stretching and light Yoga if I am too pooped to get into the pool.  But tomorrow is a new day - Friday - almost TGIF!  So will definitely be in the pool, cleaning, working in my yard, and maybe shooting some photos for my TourPath tour!  Busy weekend.  Until then . . .

Experience . . .

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."

Oscar Wilde

Daily Exercise - Day 228

Yeeaaa, another gorgeous day - what a gift!  Will be heading out this afternoon to take my Mother to the airport, but plan to do 20-minutes of laps before I leave, and maybe another 20-minutes this evening.  Time to increase my work-outs, and my gardening time.  Saturday will likely be a marathon cleaning, gardening day, which is fine - looking forward to it!  Until then . . .

Life . . .

"Life must be understood backwards; but . . . it must be lived forward."

Soren Kierkegaard

Daily Exercise - Day 227

Another gorgeous day!  And another busy day.  Didn't make it into the pool until around 8:30 this evening, but I did do my 30-minutes of laps.  That's the good news.  Hoping in the next couple of weeks to increae my lap time again to around 45-minutes.  Only six week left until my pool closes :( . . . guess I'll need to start using my health club membership - really want to keep up with my swimming.  So, in the near term . . . back in my own pool tomorrow!  Until then.

Said Before . . .

"Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again."

Andre Gide

Daily Exercise - Day 226

Busy, busy day - alas no work out.  Lot's of running around, lifting, walking - so guess I got some exercise but not an aerobic workout. So, definitely back in the pool tomorrow for at least 30-miutes.  Looking forward to gardening and cleaning this weekend!  Until then . . .

The Years . . .

"The years teach much which the days never knew."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Resolutions - Day 225

Only 141 days until New Year's Day 2007!  I can't believe how quickly this year is passing by.  Even when you try to live each day, one day at a time, just flies by.  Amazing.  With that in mind I've been working to make the best of each and every day this year, and succeeding most of the time I think.  That's the good news - and well, there is no bad news!  I'm still working on my resolutio to exercise for 30 or more minutes each day - and most days I'm doing just that. 

I've fallen off a little this summer on this project - my book to help people to achieve their New Year Resolutions.  That's due to a new project that I've been working on that has been chewing up an awful lot of time - TourPath Multi-media tours.  Has been interesting and fun putting together my DC Tour, and soon I'll be working on tours for Fredericksburg, Arlington, Alexandria, and Montgomery County in Virginia.  A lot of work - I hope it pays off down the road!  For now, as with my resolution project, just taking it one day at a time, one small step at a time.  The work will get done, and it will work out for the best. 

Faith, hope, optimism, hard work, passion, creativity - all are important ingredients when you're working toward a dream, goal, or resolution.  Is your resolution still on the frontburner - or collecting dust?  Never too late to start - the trick is to stop procrastinating.  So, make today the day.  One resolution, one day at a time for one year - Let's 'go for it' in 2006!  :)

Daily Exercise - Day 225

Another gorgeous day - can't ask for better weather and in August!  The past couple of days have been a nice break after the recent heatwave.  My pool water is starting to cool off just a bit, so it's a little more invigorating while swimming laps - for awhile the water was really warm, not very refreshing on a 100-degree day!  As I had hoped, I was able to do my laps first thing this morning, 30-minutes worth.  The rest of the day spent with friends and family at a picnic, pool party.  Nice day.  Think tomorrow, since I'll be in DC all day, I may have to hold laps until the evening - maybe just do light stretching and a short work out.  See how it goes!  :)  Until then . . .

Boredom . . .

"The life of the creative man is lead, directed and controlled by boredom.  Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes."

Saul Steinberg