Abiding...

Spontaneous blogging women!

Over the past two days some fast, exciting plans have been made. It all started with Bobbie telling us her vacation plans. She'll be in the Ontario, Canada area next week. My in-laws have a house on Lake Ontario. It's empty most of the time because they spend a lot of time at their other two residences...Pennsylvania in the summer and the Florida Keys in the winter. Lynne (Mike Todd's sister), Erin and Connie all live within driving distance of my in-laws house. So guess what? We're going to have a little blogger slumber party next week! It will also be a Linwood House reunion of sorts. I just know it's going to be an absolutely wonderful time. Bobbie commented this morning that if we had tried to plan this a year in advance it probably wouldn't have worked out. Let's hear it for a group of spontaneous women! I'm sure there will be stories and pictures to follow.

A pathetic cheerleader

Jeff and Jordan are training for a triathlon. The nice thing for me is that as a result I've increased my level of exercise. I'm running farther and faster and working harder on strength training. The bad thing is that triathlon training can become all consuming. I completely support Jeff and Jordan and actually I hope to do my first triathlon next year. However, I think I'm beginning to falter a little in my supportive wife/mother role. The training, the reading, the supplements, the wetsuits, the equipment for the bike, the...the list goes on and on. This morning Jeff sent me an instant message to tell me that he was going to go swimming. Usually I say nice things like, "Good luck!" or "Swim hard and fast!" This morning my only words were, "Don't drown." I think I need to work a little harder on this cheerleading thing.

All we have is our story

It's good to be home although we did enjoy Seattle immensely. If Jeff had his way, we would be living on the West Coast. We first fell in love with area when visiting Vancouver two years ago. It is a beautiful area but I'm an East Coast gal at heart.

On Thursday of last week I had the wonderful opportunity to meet fellow blogger, Chuck Sigars. I mentioned in a comment on his blog that when we met, it was more like greeting an old friend instead of meeting someone in person for the first time. Chuck is also in recovery and he truly inspires me in many ways. I was also able to meet his wife Julie (who was absolutely wonderful) and some members of his recovery community. I attended a meeting that Chuck started some months ago. What a great group of people! Chuck had asked me earlier in the week if I would be willing to share my story at the meeting. I had never done that before so I was a little hesitant to agree. After thinking about it for a day I emailed him and said I would share an "abbreviated version" which he assured me would be fine. And it was. When I finished sharing there was still time for sharing. One of the older gentlemen who attended the meeting thanked me for sharing my story. He then went on to talk about a few things but several times he came back to the idea of story..."all we have is our story" he would say.

"All we have is our story." I've thought about that comment several times over the past few days. There have been many times when I desperately wanted to forget my story. I used to put huge distances between myself and others because I didn't want them to know anything about my story. I felt ashamed, guilty and hopeless when I thought about my story. But that was then. My story is different now. The past is still a part of my story but thankfully it's not the end. In some ways the past is just the beginning. There's so much left to write. I can't tell you how good it is to know that.

So Chuck...thanks for being a part of my story now. And thank you for the meeting last week. I think this recovery thing is going to be a constant theme as the future chapters in both our stories unfold. 

We ♥ Seattle!

We're having an amazing time here in Seattle. It's truly a very beautiful place. Here are a few sites we've seen so far.

Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. A VERY cool place. It came complete with a little old lady who welcomed us by saying, "Welcome to the Hoh"...something I think I'll avoid saying once I arrive back home.

One of the many pictures from the Hoh.

We were really hoping to see some wildlife while visiting the rain forest. This is the closest we got. The Ranger told us it was Elk poop. He did however have a very strange, startled look on his face.

The Pacific Ocean. Very beautiful and VERY cold.

A very cute resident at the Seattle Aquarium.

Another very cute resident at the Seattle Aquarium.

The Pike Place Fish Market

There are so many pictures I'd like to post but the internet connection here is slow. And I'm tired and therefore not very patient. I am by the way actually working. Some. It's just so beautiful here and there's so much to do. Conferences should be held in places like Camden, New Jersey where no one wants to go outside.

Now for the highlight of the trip...tonight I met Jen from Something to Sustain Me. She's amazing! We had a great time. I really hope to see her again sometime soon. (And Elizabeth too when she returns from Montenegro!!) Thursday evening I'll be meeting Chuck. I'm so looking forward to that. I'm even going to be able to attend a meeting with him. That will be very cool.

More soon...

Heading west

Jeff and I leave this afternoon for Seattle. I have two conferences to attend for work AND we have a lot of sightseeing to do. I've been looking forward to the trip but now that it's time to go I feel uneasy. That happens to me a lot...all the hassle of packing, making arrangements, etc. take a toll and I begin to wish I were just staying home. I know that once we arrive all will be well and we'll have a great time. At least that's what I'm hoping for!