Finding Something Normal

The last four weeks for The Orracle have been kind of crazy. As I look back, my schedule has looked something like below (hang in there through the list - the point of the post is down there somewhere).

• Sunday July 10 - Fly to Fort Lauderdale -work there all week


• Saturday July 16 - Fly back home with one week at home planned and then back on the road


• Friday, July 22 - my Father in Law, Dan passes away


• Friday, July 22 - still have to DJ a wedding after such a bad day. Do this with Ashlie since Jess needs to go up to Duluth


• Take care of 'home' while Jess is in Duluth. Friday, July 29 is the funeral in Duluth


• Saturday, July 30 - DJ in the farthest reaches of Northern Wisconsin - work around funeral by staying up north, bringing kids to wedding.

NOW IT STARTS TO REALLY GET FUN!

• Leave the wedding at 1:35 AM to drive home - arrive in New Richmond at 4:15 AM, unload truck, shower, pack remaining toiletries in my bag and head to airport. Fly to Fort Lauderdale on the early flight via Cincinnatti on July 31.


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  Work all week and fly home on Friday, August 5.


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  Saturday, August 6 DJ another wedding. Get home in the wee hours of the morning. Actually SLEEP this time for 2-3 hours and then get up to head back to the airport.


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  Sunday, August 7 - morning flight to Fort Lauderdale - stay there all week and fly home Saturday, August 13.

YOU HAVE REACHED THE PRESENT TIME

• Monday, August 15 - actually go to the office here for 1/2 day, then flying to Richmond, VA.


• Thursday, August 18, 6 AM flight to MSP via ATL. Back in the home office by 1 PM.


• Friday, August 19 - meeting with a company in Minneapolis


• Saturday, August 20 -another wedding! This one is in New Richmond thank goodness!


• Sunday, August 21- Friday, August 26 - back in Fort Lauderdale


• Sunday, August 28 - Friday, September 2 - back in Fort Lauderdale

If you look at this schedule, throw in a family death and all of the travel, you can see how personal events and a train wreck of a personal work/life schedule can put fitness and wellness on the back burner. The truth of the matter is that fitness and especially healthy eating is the one thing you can actually have some control over. This needs to be the one piece of 'normal' in your life. Let the the variable pieces do what they will. Know where the places where you might be in a tough spot with food and plan ahead if necessary. Find the 20 minutes needed for a good thermal walk at a minimum which is also a great time to clear your head of the other turbulence. If you can squeeze in a workout, better yet. Knowing you have maintained a healthy eating regiment through this is the piece of sanity that you can lean on and be proud of your strength to get through anything. I owe some thanks to my Wellness Coach, Jeff Ford also because he gives me that outlet to give up my thoughts and also something to look forward to. Do I want to let him down? No way!

So many of my friends at Hilton Head Health incurred weight gain because of taking care of a loved one or because of a death (and me also going back to 1991 when my mother passed) . These are the hardest times for us as loving, caring people but I wonder how we might cope differently if eating and wellness was not the first thing we chucked to the side of the road. We all know how much better we feel when we eat well and I think that might be true of our strength and emotions as well. Let the good food and fitness be our outlet. Don't cave in to the what we call comfort foods and fast food because it just plays a bigger role in bringing us down.

Wellness is the one thing you can do anywhere and any time. Like the song says, "Let The Rest Of The World Go By".

Die Online

Before we hit the morbid subject today, I just realized that I launched this blog on 8/4/07 so happy birthday to The Orracle ten days ago. Now the subject of the post....

I was just watching videos on CNN.com because the data analysis I have on my plate is absolutley boring me not to mention that I have 1 program manager and 2 project managers asking me for status on it (nothing makes me want to work slower than repeated PM "what's the status on this?" email)....but I digress.

Back to the video on CNN.com. Downard Funeral Home in Pocatello, ID, has a new service. If you cannot make it to the funeral, you can watch it online. This can happen real time or after once it is archived.

Genius. Let's talk about Al. He is a great guy. I love him like a brother or something like that. We always have hit it off and there is nothing I would want remotely close to Al's funeral. Since he lives in Pocatello, I am compelled to use him as an example (plus it ups his reference count on my blog).

Given my need to save 14 grand for my first class trip to Dubai on the A380-800, I will not be able to make it to Pocatello for Al's funeral. I now can watch it from work and can legitimately track my time to that activity as "bereavment". Ultimately, the "kicker" here is that everyone wins (except Al because he is no longer with us hypothetically).

I think weddings should go this route too. Imagine you have hit your capacity at the wedding but still have people that you want to invite. You can send them a coupon to Chic-fil-a or McDonald's for some McNuggets (all weddings have chicken) and a bottle of beer with the link to the ceremony and reception video. Problem solved!