Metis Sur Mer!

We had an excellent time away in Metis. I can't get over the beauty and appeal of such a remote place: the newspaper arrives 1-2 days late and TV is near impossible to watch. The internet can be picked up at the clubhouse and some parts of the Concessions. It's paradise.

Fun in Chicago and Ohio

I'm at the Dayton Airport now and I must say it's been a great weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Taste of Chicago and took a 6 person bike/vehicle onto the Chicago shoreline bike path. Besides my brother-in-law pedaling like a mad man, cutting people off left and right, it was a lot of fun. After we returned the bike, my sister noticed that her husband's fly was unzipped. It was particularly funny since we'd been riding this bike, attracting a lot of attention, all the while with his fly down! Upon hearing of her dad's faux pas, my oldest niece turns to her dad, in a completely nonchalant tone and said: "Dad, you better not let the animals out of the barn!" I think we all peed ourselves just a little bit.

We spent our last morning in Chicago by taking the elevator to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building. The views, as you can see from the pictures, were pretty unbelievable.

Back in Ohio, I was using the family computer and looked at the Google search history. It was entertaining to say the least. Recent searches included:
Pictures of Justin Beiber
Cute pictures of puppies and kittens
Pictures of fairies that you can find on the Internet

You get the idea.

One of my nieces was so cute and funny. She was telling me how the master bathroom's shower has 8 showerheads (crazy, I know!). She went on to tell me I should shower in it after her and her sisters take a shower... And she'd even let me take a shower alone! Oh my!

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

First of all, I want to upload a picture of the really state of the art Chicago O'Hare Airport - isn't it perty?!


On the way to the aquarium, we stopped into the Taste of Chicago food festival. With temperatures nearing 100 degrees, no one was that tempted to eat in our group! On to Shedd Aquarium to see how best to survive this heat - underwater.

What a week!

Heading into 4th of July weekend and I'm a bit of an emotional mess...but THAT is besides the point! I had a relaxing work week with very little to no activity. I guess people were too busy testing out their bbqs in preparation for Independence Day. Taking advantage of the slower times was not difficult. I (of course) went to Chelsea Piers (again) to hit some golf balls. This isn't perfect form, but I'm getting better!



Going into a different mode now, my question of the day is: What is there other than love? We know we have to live a long life, or hope to at least, live a long life with a partner that we love dearly. Beyond that, what else do we know about this mystery person? When I was in college, my brother used to call me the ultimate idealist. I never saw it as a flaw, or as something that would ever change within me. At that point in my life, there was nothing more than love. Now - I'm not sure. There has to be more - mutual respect, family, goals, paths, dreams, achievements, faults, failings... there has to be so much more. And the fact that all of these aspects can come together and become part of one person is scary and confusing to me. It's going to be a thoughtful and hopefully clarifying weekend.

Motivation-less

Yesterday and today have marked two consecutive slow days at work, leading to my complete and total lack of motivation. This makes me wonder: what is the opposite of being motivated?

Lazy doesn't quite fit the bill since it's not that I'm doing NOTHING with my day. Nor do the words boredom, proscrastination, sluggish, slothful, idle, inert, or inactive work. The thesaurus only has four antonyms: depress, disconcert, discourage, dissuade. Again, none really touch on the lack of being motivated to work on non-work. My study to find the perfect description continues - and that, I am motivated about!

Wall Street Run

Wednesday night was the Annual Wall Street Run, sponsored by the American Heart Association. It was a beautiful, but extremely HOT night. I was just happy it didn't rain! At 91 degrees and over 10,000 runners, it was a little unbearable at times, but we pushed through!



The most beautiful moment of the night was at the very beginning, standing among hordes of strangers, and one lovely voice sang the National Anthem to a completely audience. Behind us stood the cranes hovering over Ground Zero. It truly was a sight to see.

Pictures from the Past Year

I'm getting ready to trade in my Palm Pre cell phone for a Blackberry. Part of that process involved downloading all of my images / video from my Palm onto my computer. I never realized how many photos I have on that silly little phone! Going through the past year's worth of shots, I pulled some of my favorites:

Metis, QC


Gagnon Art Gallery


What?! Gotta love store advertising


My favorite place setting ever (plates are from the 19th Century)


And, my newest NYJL committee, Pegs Closet


This morning, P and I went for a really good run along Riverside Park. The morning proved to be sunny but not too hot - great running weather all around. While I was running, I kept having this nagging reminder that I should do a five-Monday fast. I've wanted to do to this fast for quite some time, but the timing finally seemed right. All day, even though I wasn't deprived of food (I had fruit for breakfast and lunch, and a home-cooked dinner), I kept being reminded of the fast - what you can eat, when you can eat, what you can't eat... It was actually a really great feeling and a reminder that you don't need to consume anything and everything that crosses your mind. On top of that, I felt much more connected to God and a sense of spirituality. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of this enlightenment.