12.17.2010

Ode to Joy...

So,


I went to the gym tonight and when I finished I was dog tired...I spent the day with my family doing the picture thing...then we all went out to eat. They ate pizza..I ate a chicken philly sandwich without cheese and a diet coke.....and I was okay with that.
I really enjoyed my time with my family..and getting dressed up for our family portrait was actually fun.
I liked the way I looked.
I did my makeup and my hair and wore a dress.
I felt pretty...So anyways,
back to the gym.
I slogged through that one folks.
Some days you are a burning ball of energy and
some days
you are a slug like creature sloughing your way through the gym.
ten minutes on the arc trainer 100 calories...(I like this thing)
23 minutes on the treadmill at a 7 incline and 3.5 mph speed 130 cal. (I hate this thing)
20 minutes on stairstepper 170 calories (meh)
1 mile walk on the track 100 calories ( meh)
100 situps (according to my personal number cruncher I am more likely to burn calories licking stamps so I don't count these towards my burn anymore)
done...and
I walk out to my vehicle and start it (while trying to avoid another Mariah Carey and/or obnoxiously earnest 80's Christmas song fest)
...right now the Christmas music has all the charm of a dog whistle.
Driving off post and flipping through the radio when I hear "Ode to joy" on the classical station.
and start to listen ...
It is my favorite classical music...plebian, but so be it.
and that is when it hits me...
BAM.
I am so lucky to be alive and to have two healthy kids...one of whom talked to Santa today.
If I wiped it right there and died..
THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING ME LIFE.
I lived today and I lived it all the way.
I enjoyed it.
I found joy in it.
The joy of the lord is my strength.
(these are my thoughts)
As one of my friends likes to call it...I had a burst of
MILITANT OPTIMISM.
If You had just ONE DAY..only ONE.
What would you do?
What if that was your gift..
an angel came down and said...
You have one day left.
You can do whatever you want...
What would you do?
I used to think I would do all this fantastic stuff.
But I think my last day would have been me with my family..my mom and brothers and kids and husband (If I could get them all here) just hanging out and being together.
Then at night I would just lay in bed with my husband and do what we used to do a few years ago..read to each other.
Maybe Calvin and Hobbes...or the house at pooh corner.
Here is an excellent example of something that makes me laugh...

piglet..
"Help, help," cried Piglet, "a Heffalump, a Horrible Heffalump!" and he scampered off as hard as he could, still crying out, "Help, help, a Herrible Hoffalump! Hoff, hoff, a Hellible Horralump! Holl, holl, a Hoffable Hellerump!"

eeyore
"Eeyore, what are you doing there?" said Rabbit.
"I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the answer."
"But, Eeyore," said Pooh in distress, "what can we - I mean, how shall we - do you think if we -"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "One of those would be just the thing. Thank you, Pooh."


and last but certainly not least


Things that make us laugh..
Things that bring us joy.
What would you do?
And why aren't you doing it?
hugs
Chris
So you know me and you know when I reach my limit.
the food logging.
it's boring and repetitive and takes up space. from here on out it's generalities because quite frankly I don't want people picturing corn in my poo...
in other words...it's nobody's business except for the calorie count.
1456 and yes I ate my veggies. lol.
I am 147.5 at night and about 146 in the morning.

13 comments:

Maria Bloodwell said...

I know what I would do on my last day! Since there's 1440 minutes in a day I would get to spend about seven minutes in every country because there's 194. That's what I would do... spend seven minutes in the prettiest place in every country. Since I'm including America I would spend my last seven minutes on my front porch with my family including my dog and my cat.

Karen Butler Ogle said...

If I knew when my last day would, I would spend it with the people I most and I would tell them over and over how much I love them and would remind them of all the good and admirable thing about them until I was sure they were convinced that my love for them would live on after me and they are all of great value to the people in their lives and to the world. I would want to leave them with a strong sense of value and self worth so that they could move on after the loss the be the people they were meant to be,

Mary Ellen said...

Wow, I'm more influential than I thought...I'm not sure if that's good or bad, however. ;)

"Ode to Joy" is the ultimate sound-track for militant optimism in my opinion--especially how most choirs (including the orange-clad kids in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit") sing it (as opposed to how Whoopie's kids sang it in that movie). :)

@ Bloodwell: Does that include the micro-nations that you discussed in your blog, or are you going to skip those? ;)

Maria Bloodwell said...

Ah I'd have to skip them otherwise I would have to detract time from the major countries!

Anonymous said...

You are truly amazing. Just putting that out there for you.
And Ode to Joy?
Hello, favorite classical piece, EVER.
Here's an idea.
Get the Immortal Beloved soundtrack (the Beethoven movie-he's my all time favorite composer); turn off all the lights, turn up the stereo and just listen to the Ode to joy section of Symphony 9.
It. Is. JOYFUL.
Makes me cry, too. But don't tell anyone. I'd hate for people to think I'm soft.

Maude said...

I love that saying - militant optimism. I'll be using that!

Gratefulness is just so important. It makes everything else easier. I think many of us have so much to be grateful for, and it can be easy to focus on the negative sometimes. Thanks for the reminder!

Putz said...

yep everybody is correct <><><>><><><>what ele could there be????surey not eating or sex or wine<><>><,.surely not

Putz said...

what a bummer your blog is ruinning my comments I said< ode to joy and talking to santa or having some else close to yoou talking to santa is all there really is to life<><>now let see if this will print<><><>read this first and then comment above me

Retta said...

Muppets and Ode to Joy... my first belly laugh of today!

Last day on earth? I think I might write a love letter to everyone I care about, telling them of their worth, how they are beloved of God right now just as they are, and that they are also like treasure chests waiting to be opened... discovering what jewels and potential are within.

Or sumpthin like that...

Loretta
=^..^=

Robin said...

Loved the Muppet video. Great laugh. Really liked the Pooh quote. One of those would be just fine. Of course, he hadn't suggested anything yet, but that kinda was the point. Loved that.

outdoor.mom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
outdoor.mom said...

oops!! i was commenting on another blog and had too many windows pulled up :-) haha with beeker - i remember him as a kid!! Sounds like all is well and that you are staying on track. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season (other than the 80's Christmas tunes) - lol!!

Joy said...

I would spend my last day with my family, playing games, talking, and just having fun!! Of course there would be a ton of hugs and I love you's to go around!!