Moments D606: Cold before the heat

It's always an exciting day when you know the next day you are going on vacation.  Today was that day.  My last day of work for an entire week.  While there was much to get through, it was easy to stay focused and push through to get it done.  Skip lunch, skip the breaks.  No problem, if it means everything is all laid out for the time I'm away.

And it was all done.  Phew.

And then it was a mad dash to pack for the coming Christmas cruise.  Three hours.  LOTS of time, right?  Nope!  As usual, there were more things to deal with than expected and EQ and I were rushing right to the last moment we had before heading to the airport.

We took his bike to the airport.  Good thing too as the traffic was crazy busy.  On the upside, we were able to use lane sharing to keep us moving towards the airport.  And we arrived there on time! On the downside, the ride into the airport was very cold.  So cold that even with my three layers on, with a scarf and a hat, I was very chilled by the time we arrived.

As we sat and ate our dinner at the gate, I shivered the entire time.  But you know what?  As we were boarding the plane, me still wearing my hat to keep warm, I realized, I was soon going to be in Miami.  I was soon going to be in the Caribbean.  The sun and heat were only hours away.

Sometimes it's darkest before the dawn.    In my case it was coldest before the heat would hit me.

It was a fun moment of realization.

Moments shuddering in the cold.

Moments knowing that the cold will be replaced soon.

Moments D292: Digging the Car Out

Today I had to finally adventure out to pick up a few necessary groceries. Normally, not such a big deal, but after being sick for the past three days, it definitely was a bigger production than normal.

AND to top it off, my car was buried in about 2 feet of snow. Not just the light fluffy snow that fell, but also the snow that the snow plow pushed up aside it.

Twenty minutes later I put the shovel down, finished my coughing fit and hoped I had dug around my car enough to get her out. I said a mini prayer to the universe that it was enough and then we attempted it.

SUCCESS! On the first go. Yes - that’s my moment today. Successfully digging out the car. Why? Because it meant I could finally have some fresh food and not just all the stuff I had kicking around the apartment. It was a good moment and one that made me smile. (Though eating my tomato salad a little later on certainly made me smile too!)

Moments of successfully beating a cold to be mobile.

Moments D273: Cold outside, warm within

Today was the coldest day in the past two years.   A brisk -21 degrees Celsius.   A mere -27C with the wind chill.   Not bad at all for a winter’s day.

As I brushed my car off this morning from the evening’ s dusting of snow,  I realized I was smiling and enjoying the briskness.  My jeans were crisp,  my breath was coming out of me in a billow of mist and my nose hairs were tickling me.  I was smiling.

Yesterday a work colleague suggested he might have been a husky in a previous life.  We discussed the intricacies about why and how that seemed to be the case.  I realized this morning that *I* could have been a husky in a previous life too.  I was loving the cold.

On my commute, I saw a couple of things that made me smile. … each having to do with the cold morning.   Each brought a warmth to my heart. The first was a gentleman brushing off his truck.   He was a tough guy layered with a couple of warm sweater/jackets.   They weren't done up though, after all  tough guys don’t need to do up their jackets. Nor was he wearing any gloves.   As I slowed for the red light we made eye contact.   I smiled and he gave me a sheepish grin and shrugged holding up his hands, as if admitting he was silly to be dressed as he was.   I laughed and promised myself that this was a sign of a good day to come.

A little further into my commute I saw a Mom stop pulling the wagon behind her to check on the toddler bundled up in its bed.  They snuggled faces for a brief moment, then she fussed with the toddler’s hat and blankets, she Eskimo kissed the child and turned to start pulling the wagon again.   It was a beautiful moment to watch.

As cold as it was, I was warmed from within today. Many times over.  As it began, the warm moments collected throughout the day bringing me inner warmth.  A kind email, a deep discussion with my fellow “husky” co-worker, a delightful lunch out with an industry colleague, an afternoon phone call with my “other hand” why is currently fighting the flu….. the list goes on.  Yes,  today there was much warmth being shared.  So much so,  that I never felt the coldest day of the past two years.

Moments watching others from afar.

Moments appreciating people close to you.

Moments - D29; Colds and Working Out

I have had a cold since last Monday.  It knocked me out flat for three days and I still have a lingering cough.

I gave up my workouts last week - I was simply too low energy and sick to consider pushing my body.

Today, even with the lingering cough and low energy I decided to push it.  I was fearful that I'd fall into a coughing fit as our instructor pushed us hard with the aerobic portion of our workout tonight.

MUCH to my surprise, I was perfectly fine.  I may have been a little slower than normal and a little less competitive to be done quickly and in perfect form, but I didn't have a coughing fit.

It was when I was pushing out my 110th push up that I realized just how resilient we can be.  Even though I'm not 100% I am still able to accomplish quite a lot; it just took the ability to get past the fear of failure and some patience with self.

Now really, this kind of realization can be applied to may instances in life, not just post cold.

I love those moments where you are reminded how strong you can be.

Moments of strength.