Just Breathe (& Sign Up for Met Con Blue)

Do you ever feel that if your brain had legs, you could run a marathon every day? Do you find you feel like that during one of those types of holidays when extended family is coming to your house for dinner? Like, say, Easter weekend? I feel like that right now. Although I must admit, I don't feel as frazzled as I have felt in the past, because our Easter family get-together is small this year. The closer the arrival time comes, the faster my brain works, spasmodically firing off signals to its owner: "Vacuum floors; clean bathrooms; clean cat litter; clean guinea pig cages due to nephews' allergies and, well, just because they SMELL; get turkey in oven by 2:30; buy coffee; buy spinach for green smoothies so children get proper veggie intake; make up spare bed; ensure enough wine for adults (plus extra); get blog post written before family arrives (I have one hour).

Added to the "To Do" list today were a couple of one-of-a-kind extras:

1) Sign up for Met Con Blue Mountain Adventure Race (with teenaged daughter! Friends, if you are reading this - early bird deadline is March 31 - THAT'S TOMORROW - for this June 15 event at Blue Mountain! www.metconblue.com)

2) Lastly - a first ever in my life, let alone on Easter weekend: pick up dead cat at emergency vet clinic. (No worries, this is how I grieve. I make sick jokes.) Yes, we decided to give said kitty a home burial instead of a communal cremation (if you didn't happen to catch yesterday's post, and are horrified to think we are picking up a dead cat in lieu of the traditional Easter turkey,  rest assured we are not. Our pet cat died yesterday.) But we need to wait for the ground to thaw. So he will remain a triple-wrapped Popsicle for the time being. Alas, I digress.

So I got to thinking, as I was rushing around Martha Stewart-like making sure all the "To Dos" on my list were done, how important it is sometimes just to breathe. Just taking nice, deep breaths when your mind is running on chaotic mode is such a great, simple thing to do. At the end of a yoga class, you just lay there and breathe. I love that. And you don't need to be at a yoga class to do it. You can deep breathe anywhere, anytime! (Especially during family get-togethers!) Like when your young niece or nephew tells you they hate pretty much everything you've cooked for Easter dinner, for example, put the rolling pin down, smile, and just breathe! When you realize you drank the last bottle of cab-sav BEFORE your guests even arrived, just breathe! (And immediately send your partner out to the liquor store. Hurry! You have about two hours if you live in Ontario!). I jest. Sort of.

What I would have loved to have done today was go for a run. What a gorgeous, crisp, sunny spring day out there in Simcoe County! I'll bet many of my friends ran, walked, cycled or perhaps caught a spin class. I did do a little cardio at the grocery store. Almost felt like I was back in last weekend's 30K event when my husband and I went to pick up a few last minute items. Parking lot was jammed, frantic shoppers everywhere doing just what we were doing (except they probably didn't have a frozen dead cat in their trunk.) As I entered the store, I found myself moving swiftly and easily around the slower paced customers, constantly looking for the smallest opening to dodge through and get ahead. I think I may have even passed a pace bunny. My husband was impressed. He says now all I have to do is learn to drive that way.

For a little inspiration for today's post, I grabbed a handy book of mine that I really should take time to actually read, called Sanity Secrets for Stressed Out Women by Sue Augustine, author and a popular international motivational speaker whom I met at a women's conference here in Simcoe County a couple of years ago. Seeing as the next thing on my To-Do list today, before guests arrive, is to sign up for Met Con Blue AND the

Summer Solstice Run in Alliston hosted by Thrive Fitness (great run, JUST DO IT. Find info at www.thrivefitness.ca.)

I thought this quote was very fitting:

"Plan Time to Play: Sometimes adults become so grown up we lose our sense of adventure and become too serious. We need to recapture our childlike senses of awe and wonder. We need to have leisure activities: fun personal times as well as time with family and friends. Schedule play dates into your weekly calendar to balance heavy matters." While the author went on to say how she treated a friend going through a difficult time in her life to a spontaneous visit to a playground, where they had a great old time howling with laughter, I think I will look forward to rolling in the mud and jumping over fire pits in June, hopefully with my daughter and friends!

Enjoy your day-before-Easter, if you are celebrating this weekend and don't forget to BREATHE!