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So my girls have made it back to their school in China, not without some serious hassle in Hong Kong getting their visa's and passports lined up for another year but they got back on the 1st of February. They tell me that the internet is down at the school so I'm not sure if we will be talking by next Wednesday but I hope so.

I got a cold probably thanks to the airplane travel but I have been sick this week and struggling to keep up my committments. Doing my situps and pushups 30 at a time rather than the usual marathon but still getting most everything done.

I have my Alpha Mind Training refresher course this weekend (one of my I Ho Chuan committments) and the next and will miss Tai Chi for the next two weeks and the I Ho Chuan meeting on Saturday which is a drag but I am not the person scheduling the program so I don't get much say.

Today I am grateful to be alive and breathing through my nose although I still sound like a frog.

Sick and grouchy so I will sign off and hope you all have a great week.

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Lots of cool things went down at this years Chinese New Year & Black Belt Promotion Event and I must admit this is one was hugely relevant to me personally.  Alot of the people promoted are people I have trained with and admired for a long time.  Congrats to all.

Dean, Brandi, Melanie and I had a great time in Kauai ... I got the zipline done and it was terrifying and exciting and fun.  Did not get the snorkeling done due to the fact that I broke some bones in my left foot and it swelled up and turned black & blue and I couldn't get anything on the foot except flipflops ... so I am going to have to figure out how to re-arrange for snorkeling. 

Attended a seminar for "Managing Emotions and Thriving Under Pressure"  on Friday which was totally cool and I learned lots of stuff ... in addition I got a whole bunch of reading materials and workbooks so I can continue to learn and improve.  Note:  have not raised my voice this week ... chewing out of employees was done in an even tone and without as much stresss and anxiety on my part... might be partially because I was still all mellow and relaxed from vacation I guess we will find out as the year goes on.  So as a result the jar on my desk sits empty ($10 if I raise my voice or get angry).

I am still struggling with writing things down and have asked my husband to ask me at the end of the day if I have documented my stuff.   I hope to make this a total habit so I don't need a reminder it will be like brushing my teeth ... just something you do before you go to bed.

Really enjoying the graditude journal ... 5 things to be grateful for everyday.  Makes you realize how blessed you are ... even if the day has been stressful or things are not going entirely as planned.

Talk to you next week.

1st for 2012

I have been implementing my new requirements for 2012 into my daily schedule ... again settling into a routine with some different stuff.  Its been fun switching some things up and I am really looking forward to the new I Ho Chuan format and working on some different forms ... nothing against the form I worked on last year.  Planning for the 1000 rounds of sparring is the most challenging and I will be taking advantage of open training and anyone that is willing to spar on Saturdays.   Same as last year actually documenting all this stuff is the hardest part,  its not that I don't do alot of this stuff its that I fail to record it.   I am a technical writer from way back and you think it would be a piece of cake but not so far!  One of my requirements is to reduce the amount of plastic in my home ... so the first thing I did is an inventory ... there is a massive amount of plastic in my house and its in the kitchen!  Food and plastic seem to go hand in hand.  It comes in plastic, you cook it and then save the leftovers in plastic and then you dispose of it in plastic.  Yikes!  Think about this ... the entire inside of the fridge is plastic, all the food storage containers, grocery bags, cling wrap, ziploc bags, freezer bags, grocery bags that become garbage bags.  I am being overwhelmed by yogurt containers alone!  I had already started with reusing glass jars for left overs and had to call my sister on how to use glass jars to store food in the freezer without breaking them.  I am currently looking for a source for wax coated containers and or freezer wrap ... will let you know what I find. 

On Monday Dean and the girls and I are going to Kauai for a two week vacation before the girls have to head back to China ... its going to be awesome.  A couple of my personal goals will be completed there ... first the zip line which the girls have been trying to get me to do for a long time.  I may be wearing 'depends' but it will get done.  The second thing is snorkeling ... its been on the books for awhile as well.  Last year I learned how to swim and got alot of practice in thanks to my I Ho Chuan requirements and now I am going to put that skill to the test in the pacific ocean.  Wish me luck!

18th Post. All is well with my world!

My girls are home!!!!      

I have known for a long time that the most important thing in life is the people you spend it with.  I have the girls home, the hubby is doing well and spending a lot of time with us, everyone got together for the holidays except for my one brother (he's still in China).  Could a person ask for more!  At this point the only thing left is 'World Peace' ,  so thanks to the universe for these moments and let me share all these good feelings  and graditude with the world.  

17th post

So the reminder on my desk top has been bugging me all day and I finally have a moment ... can't claim that I got much accomplished since my last post as the MOVE has been happening.  Worked all weekend and long hours for the past 10 days.  Have to get my requirements revised so I don't have time to share ... just glad the move is over.  Hope my team members managed to pull off a better kungfu week than me.

16th Post

So we are moving, not the house, the business, to a new location.  What chaos, but in a way kind of exciting.  We are  going to have so much room ... and because we bought this one we can redesign to suit our needs much better than a lease property.  The thing about moving is that you have to deal with all the junk that you have accumulated since the last move ... and when I am stressed out my solution is to re arrange the furniture (at home) some how it makes me feel better.  So purging out the junk that we have accumulated is a hassle and a relief, and I get to work out some serious stress by arranging furniture.  There are some metaphors in this that address emotional, spiritual movement as well which are very relevant to myself and probably many others.   I will let you figure out how it applies to you ...

Have good week

15th post

Things to keep track of ... government!

I subscribe to a newsletter from the David Suzuki Foundation.  They send me email newsletters with all kinds of cool information.  Some of the issues they track are very important to me ... human rights, the environment.  Its a great newsletter because some persons with more time and  access to information (than me) lets me know about the idiot things that various ruling bodies in the world are planning to do.  Now admittedly if you want to know these things you can do your own research, but the David Suzuki Foundation has not led me wrong so far.   I do care but I also have to work, eat, sleep, and study kungfu and the research is very complicated these days with all the information and mis-information that you have to sort thru ... so I get their newsletter. 

Apparently the canadian government is trying to wiggle out of its committments in regards to the Kyoto accord and is encouraging other countries to do the same.  I am not a happy camper and sent my email off to Ms. Ambrose.  Now whether you agree with the accord or not ... it certainly does not enchance our image with other countries to be thought of as the type of country that does not keep their word.  Secondly if the canadian goverment no longer thinks the accord is  effective/ equitable/ affordable ... then they have a responsibility to try for changes to make it effective/equitable/affordable.  That would be the mature and responsible way to handle this, five year olds are allowed to stomp off and sulk, not governments that have the responsibility of representing and doing its best for the people that put them in power.  Maybe they need a timeout in the corner to think about their behaviour.

If you are also interested check out the information below ...

David Suzuki Foundation 219-2211 West 4th Ave., Vancouver, BC, V6K 4S2 604-732-4228 | contact@davidsuzuki.org