The Magic Shoes

Today I ventured out in brand new walking shoes!
(For those who care about my health -- it's weird that I have bronchitis, but I don't feel sick (I did the first few days last week), just not quite 100%. So I have been doing some walking. And shopping. :) )
Anyway, the shoes are wonderful. My hip didn't hurt! (arthritis/bursistis thing there). My heel didn't hurt! (old bone spur thingy) My big toe didn't hurt! (it's kinda crooked). I felt like I was walking on air. It was a beautiful fall morning and I enjoyed the warm sun on my face and chatting with a couple of neighbors.

Now, I hated giving up those old shoes. I held on to them way longer than I should have, because I loved them too. I've heard one should get new ones every year, so I was about 6 months overdue. With all the walking I do, and if you count the miles on the elliptical at the gym, those suckers could have 800 or even 1000 miles on them! I have no idea what the "life" of a walking shoe is supposed to be, but I think I exceeded it. But they wore out so gradually that at first I didn't notice that they weren't really supporting my feet (and knees and hips) anymore. So I am proud of myself that I was able to give them up (well not entirely. they will become my yard shoes) and attached myself so quickly to a new pair.
The new ones are so wonderful they feel like magic shoes for sure! I hate to take them off.

Magic Places

Tomorrow I leave on a two week journey, first to the Alsace-Lorraine area of France for a week, and then to Prague for five days. Some of the pictures I've seen depict areas that are quite quaint and beautiful. I am excited to be going. I LOVE me some French food, especially the wine! We will be introduced to French beer (who knew?) -- the A-L area is where most of France's beer is produced. It will be interesting to learn what the Czech's eat and drink. :)
The ensuing food binge aside, I am also looking forward to sharing time with my hubby, sisters, and one brother-in-law, and several friends that I have traveled with before. I expect to have fun no matter where we are or what we're doing! Ok, the overnight flight to Paris in coach will be a pain, literally, but then we get to ride on a high speed train to Strasbourg (the one in France, not Germany). We will spend one night in Strasbourg, so will have one morning to see some sights there before we head off to the river barge.
So I bid "au revoir" to good ol' HOT Aiken, and head for the hills of France!

Magic Doors (Please!)

"When one door closes, another one opens". This saying implies that the new door that opens leads to something much better -- better job, life, health, whatever.
In some ways I believe this is true. Sometimes the better thing isn't realized for a while. For instance: Gus & I lived in nothern Virginia, and we both worked for the same company and loved it. We both got laid off at the same time. Yikes! Very bad! Slam! But the seeming catastrophe eventually led us to Charlotte, NC, a place we enjoyed living, and ultimately led us (through neighbors who came here) to our wonderful retirement community in Aiken, SC. If that door hadn't closed back then, I wonder where we would be now. Perhaps it was our karma to be here, and we would have found our way here anyway. Who knows.
I've been thinking about this because both of my children are currently undergoing change in their lives. Doors are closing, and the new doors haven't opened yet. This causes a lot of stress and worry for both of them, and of course for their parents. I would like to create a "magic door" for each of them to enter that would solve all their problems and lead them to a wonderful life. I wish! Since I can't do that, I will mentally send a little "magic" their way, and hope for the best (and TRY not to worry too much!).
There's a game show on TV (well, there used to be one) which at the end has a contestant pick Door #1, 2 or 3, behind which there were prizes of varying values. I remember once there was a goat behind one of the doors.
For both of my children (spouses included!) I sincerely wish for a wonderful, good, magic door to open. No goats, please!

The Magic Bell

On a recent walk I was passed by a man on a bicycle. I waved and said "Good Morning!' . Rather than reply, he rang the bell perched on his handlebars. It had a nice cheerful "Briing-ring-ring" sound. That got me to thinking about bicycle bells I had as a child. I remember having a bright, shiny, new one (on my used, refurbished bike) and having fun ringing it, just for the fun of ringing it. At time passed the bell eventually rusted out (our bikes were stored on the side porch, out of the weather, but not the humidity!) and the lever was hard to pull. When I could manage to pull it, the bell gave out a sort of "Bri-unk!" sound. Not pleasing at all.

Then I got to thinking about all the bells, whistles, chimes and chirps we hear today in comparison with the relatively few we heard back then.
Then: bicycle bell, school bell, doorbell, life-guard whistle, gym teacher whistle, telephone.
Now: All of those, plus elevator doors, train doors, trucks backing up, cell phones, wind chimes, digital clocks. I'm sure there are lots more. Our lives are much noisier than they used to be!

But I will always remember that shiny new bicycle bell!

The Magic of Home

Today as I walked (4 miles!) in my development, I enjoyed, as I always do, the beauty of the sights and sounds around me. As I walked and breathed in the smells of the blooming jasmine and sun-baked pine straw, and listened to the raucus cries of the bluejays and the other more cheerful birdsong, and the bullfrongs croaking in the pond, and watched from a distance a cat carrying a kitten in it's mouth, I felt comfortable and at home. I had time to ponder why I felt that way, and realized that most likely it was because these were the sights and sounds I expericenced (but didn't appreciate then) as a child.
As most of those who will read this already know, I grew up "just up the road" from Aiken in Florence, S. C. . Like Aiken, Florence was gorgeous in the spring -- they even had a driving "Beauty Trail" that took you through streets where the most beautiful gardens were! So, as you can see, I grew up with beautiful and bountiful growing things. The sounds of blue jays and doves awakened me on summer mornings, when the humidity was so high the bedsheets were slightly damp -- this in the days before air conditioning. Thanks goodness I don't have to suffer that now! My walk recalled to me memories almost too many to mention, but here are a few -- see if you can identify:
-- Bare feet and sunsuits
-- Eating ripe figs, just picked (with blue jays protesting loudly) from the fig tree outside the back door.
-- Eating homemade popsicles that melted and ran down your arms and got you all sticky.
-- Easter Sunday with new dotted swiss dresses and patent leather shoes.
-- Catching lightning bugs on summer nights (I don't see them much anymore. Wonder why...)
-- My grandmother watering the azaleas with the hose, at night.
-- Drinking from the hose, the first taste sort of stale and hot.
-- Crossing an asphalt street barefooted on a hot summer day - tiptoe! hurry!
-- Walking downtown to the movies with 15 cents on Saturday mornings. That got you into the movie with a nickel left for candy.
-- Walking to the swimming pool at the park and stopping at Aunt Tee's house on the way back for cookies. Or, if we were lucky enough to have a few pennies, stopping at the general store for penny candy. You could buy just one piece, then. Though a penny often got you two!
-- Walking to the library and feeling so grown up to choose and check out books.
-- Mother worrying about her Sesanquas (camellias) and Crape Myrtles and azaleas.
-- Waking up to the sound of the farmers in their horse-drawn wagons rolling down the street crying their wares: Butter beans! Blueberries! Blackberries! String Beans! Roastin' Ears! (that's corn, do anyone who may not know. :) )

Isn't it amazing that one short walk and few sounds and smells can evoke all that! I have to say that I enjoyed my stroll this morning, along with my stroll down memory lane.

Plateaus and Challenges

Spring is a time of new beginnings -- we all get the urge to clean out closets, spruce up the yard, etc. -- so it's a good time for personal beginnings also. This past month I reached a plateau in my weight loss program, with only a few pounds to go to reach my goal. For a few weeks my whole body felt out of balance. I wasn't ill, just not "quite right". I finally mentioned my lack of weight loss to my nutritionist, who suggested tweaking my exercise, mostly by increasing the time I spend. I think she forgot that I told her I exercise 8-10 hours a week as it is! What to do? I decided that perhaps a slight increase in intensity would help. Yesterday instead of 45 minutes on the treadmill, I did 30 minutes, then 30 more in the cross-trainer, which is definitely a higher intensity. Most of the time on the cardio machines I don't select a "program", but just go in manual mode letting my joints and music from my I-pod quide me. Today on the elliptical, I chose "aerobics mode". Oh MY! Within 10 minutes I was breathing hard, and at 20 minutes I was in a full sweat (it usually takes at least 30 for me to get there), and at 30 I wasn't sure I could get to the end (45 min). I stuck it out and barely finished. Guess I'm not in as good shape as I thought! Whew! I'll keep this up for a bit and see how I do. So far my joints aren't complaining and the scales moved a tiny bit.

I also have felt recently that I have reached another plateau, this one with my music. I complained to my teacher that I keep learning different pieces, but I don't feel that I'm advancing in any way. She assured me that I am way better than I was four years ago (hard to believe it has been that long!), but I want to look forward to where I CAN be, not where I WAS! On to a new challenge! I rummaged through my music and found an exercise book from long ago that has exercises for the "virtuoso pianst". Ha! My teacher agreed that perhaps working on these would be helpful. Um, who is the teacher here? She also tasked me with looking at other music and listening to pieces and to come back in two weeks (no lesson during Spring Break) with some ideas about what I want to learn. To date, I have pretty much let her choose the pieces, (with a few exceptions) since she is the expert and that's what I'm paying her for, right? But this will be a challenge for me, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Stay tuned for updates on how I progress!

Magic Genes? (or not)

Today I was reduced to tears by a post on my daughter's blog. It gave me an insight into my daughter that I can't say that I never knew about, as I did know about some of it, and suspected a lot of it. As a mom, I wonder if there was something I could have done to make it easier for her: I often wonder that about both my children, you know, are there things I could have done, said, etc. to prepare them better for life? I guess mom's always want to spare their children pain, and wish they had done a better job of parenting. Or maybe it's just me.
And, I wonder if my problems with MY self-image were somehow passed on to my daughter, whether genetically or by my actions.
I thought I would share where I am coming from, and why I think I may have had something to do with her lack of a good self-image. When I was about 8, I got fat. I was never obese, but was what my mother smilingly called (and oh, how I hated it!) "pleasantly plump". When I wore shorts, they would ride up between my legs because my thighs rubbed together (you've all see the fat kids that looked like this, haven't you?). My classmates teased me unmercifully: "Fatty, fatty 2 by 4, can't get through the bathroom door, so she did it on the floor!" Ever heard that one? I did. Alot. I was already kind of shy, and so I retreated from making friends. (Fortunately, I did have one best friend - oddly, she was the tall, skinny misfit). My mother sent me to Girl Scout camp (I was a Brownie) when I was 8 or 9, hoping I guess that I would get some exercise, make new friends, etc. My mother was a single mom with 3 daughers, so I am sure this was a stretch for her on her teacher's salary. I had only one set of "Brownie" shorts and t-shirt. All the girls in my cabin had a set for every day of the week, and remarked to me 'You only have ONE?!?". I wanted to crawl under my cot. At swimming they had a buddy system - everyone had to have a partner to swim with. The counselers had to ASSIGN me a buddy every day. Nobody wanted to buddy with the shy fat kid. I was SO glad when that week was over! Same thing happened at school in PE with softball, basketball, or whatever -- always chosen last, and grudingly. Somewhere around 7th grade, I think, my mom insisted that I join the basketball team. I sat on the bench for every game. Once they put me in at the end, when the game was won.
Even though I slimmed down when I got my growing spurt, I was still heavier than my friends, and always, always, thought of myself as fat. Even though I ended up with a wonderful husband, two great children, and in my 40's began a challenging career, inside I was always the shy fat kid. To some degree I still am. I have struggled to overcome the shyness -- I sometimes have to force myself to connect with people - and most of my friends now don't see me that way. But it was hard. I have always struggled with my weight. At one point in my 50's I was actually obese, tipping the scales at 208! Now, finally, I am 78 pounds lighter (after some yoyo-ing), but still struggling, and still thinking of myself as, if not fat, still too heavy. Just 5 more pounds! Please? But I have declared this my last diet! Geez, I'm old enough, don't you think? From now on I will eat right, and exercise, and maintain a healthy weight, and not obsess about it. I hope....

So did I pass this self-image thing on to my daughter? Did she pick up on my agaonizing in front of the mirror over the years, and internalize it? If I did contribute to her problems, then I apologize, profusely. Perhaps it was just her karma, and the fact that she got her dad's tall genes instead my short ones. One difference is that she was always tall, slim, and beautiful, but just didn't see herself that way. I actually WAS fat, in between the slimmer times. But now I am just glad to see her happy and if not "over it", much better than before. I think her "Candyman" has a lot to do with that! My hat is off to my strong, beautiful daughter!

Magic Bird Seed

My hubby filled the bird feeders yesterday -- usual stuff, he thought. But is it? Today while we were in the kitchen fixing lunch, we observed a wondrous sight! All kinds of birds at our feeders, all at once! There had to have been 30 or more birds flying around, on the feeders, and in the bushes. There were several beautiful bluebirds, cardinals, yellow finches, the usual little sparrows (8 of them filled up a feeder), and a bird with a red head that I didn't recognize and have to look up. A red-headed woodpecker landed on one feeder to check it out before retiring to a nearby tree to try his luck there. This went on for quite a few minutes, and was a sight to behold! Must be something Magical in those birdseed.....

Nature's Magic

Sounds like a boring subject, yes? Please don't yawn. I've been on this earth for 67 1/2 years (I'm always amazed at THAT -- how time flies!) and the magical rebirth that occurs every year in the spring just delights me. Plants and trees that appear dead, magically sprout! Every year! Without fail! This is especially magical here in the south, if you can stand the pollen that goes with it. Right now it's just starting -- daffodils up, crabapples trees in bloom, lenten roses popping out. Soon we'll have the irises, the Bradford Pears and Dogwoods, then the azaleas, daylilies.... Well I could go on and on. If you live here, and have lived in the south, then you've seen it and know what I'm talking about. If you don't know, then you should plan a visit to the south in April just to see it.
I am so looking forward to sitting on my porch (soon! soon!) and enjoying nature's bounty. Happy (almost) Spring!

Makeover Magic

While I was sweating away on the elliptical at the gym today, there was a program on that was showing makeovers. There was no sound, and I was too far away to read the closed captioning, but here's the gist of it. They went into the street and picked a woman out of the crowd for a makeover. It appeared that when they did the makeover -- hairdo, makeup, clothes - that they didn't let the woman look in the mirror to see the final look until she went before the camera. Now I know the the "picks" could be pre-planned, and it could all be a fake, but if it is, these women are good actors! At first I was prepared to just blow it off, and take my eyes to another TV, but here's what got to me. There were two women. The "before" picture for each was pretty sad. When they each came out on stage, their family and friends were there and they all applauded and cheered. THEN, the woman was allowed to turn and look at herself in the mirror. One of them literally burst into tears! And she looked GREAT! Both of them did! And I could just tell from their faces how happy and good they felt.

I had just talked to my daughter a short time before about the Fairy Godmother project in Nashville (http://fairygodmotherprojectofmusiccity.com/) that collects dresses and accesssories for underpriviledged high-schoolers so they can go to their proms. It made me think of the fact that any age, we all like to be the best we can be, and look our best. It gives us confidence to face the world, knowing that we look "beautiful"! Right?

Magic Momma (or the Bionic Woman)

I am continually amazed at the "magic" of modern medicine! On my last visit to the eye doctor, I mentioned that the vision in my right eye had become fuzzy. He checked and declared that a film had grown on the lens behind the lens that the cataract surgery replaced (there is a techincal name for this, which I have forgotten). This had happened with my left eye also ( it occurs in about 45% of people after cataract surgery). At a subsequent appointment he pointed a laser into my eye, zapped a few times, and Voila! Magic! 20/20 vision (with glasses) at my follow up on Friday.
That's just the most recent amazing thing. The cataract surgery was special too, in that I am way, way less nearsighted -- I can see the clock from the bed without glasses! Without all this and the meds that keep my glaucoma under control, I would probably be blind by now. Scary to think that there are many people in the world who don't have access to this kind of care.
Then of course there's the metal in my shoulder and my ankles that allows me to use my joints normally and the surgery on my finger that lets me use my hand normally. I truly feel like a Bionic Woman!

The Magic of Love

It's still technically the Valentine month, so why not talk about the magic of love? Just a little...
As a junior in college I was having a run of bad luck with dates, and my roommate kept pushing to set me up with her friend "Tuss". His picture in the yearbook left me umimpressed, so I declined. Then, the following September he came to Florence as her date for an off-to-college dance. He walked into my house tall, tan, slender (ok, SKINNY!), in a white dinner jacket. I was a little impressed, but I didn't see stars or hear bells or anything. That night my date was yet another dud, and I asked my roommate to ask Tuss to ask me to dance. I was so brazen back then! The dance was a short one, as the music ended. Later, back on the USC (that's South Carolina folks!) campus, I had a dud date (yep, I was on a roll) at a fraternity party. Everyone at my table got up to dance, leaving me alone. Not liking THAT situation, I spied Tuss at another table, with his date. I brazenly walked up to him and said, "You owe me a dance". He graciously agreed. As we danced he said "I'd like to ask you out, but I have very little money". And brazen me responded, "I'm easy to please!". Our first date was to a $.25 drive-in movie. Yes, that's 25 cents! A car! From then on it was magic.....It will be 45 years of marriage in June! Happy belated Valentine's Day!

Magic Food

As my family and many of my friends know, I have had problems with my weight all my life. I was a chubby kid, and they say that once those fat cells are in there, they scream to be fed for the rest of your life. I believe it!
So in my quest for weight loss I have tried many things (NutriSystem, Weight Watchers (twice), Akins, Dr. Ornish's whatever, and on and on and on. As my family and friends also know, when I find a diet that seems to work, I can be a bit overbearing trying to convince everyone else that they should be doing whatever it is/was that I am/was doing, because it is/was so wonderful! I admit I did that about 3 years ago when I finally went to a nutritionist. The eating plan she gave me worked (for a while) so I pushed it on anyone who would take it. Then my plan stopped working, so I went to yet another nutritionist. THIS one seems to be a real nutritionist. The first one was young (VERY) and didn't explain that this plan was not for life, but temporary until I reached a certain point. Sooo, now I am having success again, but guess what? I'm not going to push anything on anyone. I have Finally (and why did it take so long?) figured out that everybody's body is different and responds differently. I have also figured out that what I've heard for many years -- eat right and exercise - works! It's just figuring out the "eating right" part that can be difficult -- and MAGIC once you do.
It seems almost magical doesn't it that I have lost over 40 pounds, and am now working on that last pesky 10, and brought my cholesterol down 56 points!? With NO meds! No anything special, except that I exercised regularly and ate (and continue to eat) "right". There's the magic formula! Why did it take me so long? Just proves that there IS magic in the world if you look for it, and that a person can learn at any age. As my sister said recently on her blog, quoting some of our older family members, "Praise Be"! Happy Magical dieting my friends.....

Margaret's Magic

Back when I was a working lady, I worked "behind the scenes" in the IT departments of various companies, and wore a number of hats: database administrator, helpdesk manager, and computer instructor to name a few. In most of these jobs, I was constantly bombarded with user questions and problems. Some were easy to solve, some were difficult, but to the person I was helping it always seemed like magic to them that I knew the answers and could fix stuff. Sometimes I'd go to their desk to help and say "Show me what's broken". They would attempt that, and lo and behold! it would work! They would give me a questioning look, and my reply was always "Margaret's Magic!" Those were the really easy ones....

What is Magic?

Main Entry: 1mag·ic
Pronunciation: \ˈma-jik\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English magique, from Middle French, from Latin magice, from Greek magikē, feminine of magikos Magian, magical, from magos magus, sorcerer, of Iranian origin; akin to Old Persian maguš sorcerer
Date: 14th century
1 a : the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces b : magic rites or incantations2 a : an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source b : something that seems to cast a spell : enchantment3 : the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand

There are some who believe in magic, but I believe all seemingly magical events can be explained. I do, however, believe that there are moments in our lives that are definitely magical, and this is what my blog is about: the wonderful, magical moments in my life that I want to share with friends and family.