Things you may not know....

about me!!!  I am always trying to spend the little bits of time we have together to find out more about you. So, know I have you captive I'm going to tell you some random things about me. Some you may know, some may surprise you (I hope!)
-my favourite colour is pink (although it used to be black)
-favourite food - Dairy Queen Blizzard (preferably Oreo)
-place of birth - Wentworth, Essex, London, England
-I don't often cry and have been accused of having broken tear ducts
-am extremely goal oriented, and somewhat of a perfectionist
-LOVE to read - and will read almost anything once.
-wish I could sing:) and desperately wanted to be Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. Used to practise "the Hills are alive..." everytime I saw a suitable rise of green grass. OK, I still do.
- think that dancing is the most pure form of personal expression - because anyone can do it and it's always beautiful.
- have battled with my weight, and dropped over 100lbs after my second child was born
- I believe that each one of us can change the world in our own way
- love horses. love every single thing about them - they are magnificent animals. Worked all my life with them before getting married and settled down.
- dream trip - to go to Israel, Egypt and Palestine
- would like to go on a Mission trip to a third world country
- I don't love Christmas
- exercise keeps me sane, calm and centered
- have shook hands with Cher, seen Gordon Ramsey and  Shaggy up close,and talked to David Cassidy.
- have two children (aged 5 & 7) and would love a couple more
- am afraid of heights
- have two cats and a bunny
- am the youngest child , two older brothers
- if I won the lottery I would give most of it away
Well, that's a little bit of my craziness - and next time I see you, tell me something random and interesting about you!  Because I really want to know.

My Goals - How are they going??

Well, not so well. I am still hopelessly attached to Diet Soda, going without for any period of time has me drooling rabidly and mumbling "aaaasppartame" incoherently everywhere I go.  I still haven't had another massage (although I have had some "me time" today with a warm blankie and a good book). My plans to cycle the Ride 4United Way with hubby would be best served if I actually got on my bike. And I have so hopelessly overscheduled myself that the hope of enjoying time with family and friends seems more a dream than reality. 
So I'll have to restart my engine, and prepare myself to attempt to follow through on my goals. All of them will change my life in small but positive ways, and all are totally achievable. One stumbling block? Me! I have to let go of the fact that these small changes aren't in the bag already. I like checking things off my list, getting my stuff done.  And in this rare instance, I have not lived up to my own lofty expectations.  Time to forgive myself and move on - something I hope that we all can do if we haven't yet achieved our New Year's goals or resolutions. Not give up, but forgive, move on and grow stronger.  Cause if I can give up aspartame - you can achieve anything, trust me!!

Go for it this year friends!

Sharing the Light

this was a strange week in many ways.  Snowmageddon took over the GTA - it's bark was way worse than it's bite, thankfully. Some of our classes were cancelled just in case.  I have been very tired, and feeling the effects of the winter blahs, probably much like many of us are feeling at this dark and bleak time of year. I have been tempted a number of times to wrap myself in a blankie, watch a talk show and eat ice cream direct from the carton.  We can rarely afford the luxury of some pure, unadulterated sucky me time.
So, feet dragging at times, I got myself up to the classes I had running. It was at times a difficult task to remove myself from the couch, but I constantly preach that often the times we least want to do something, the more we truly need to do it.

There are two moments that I would like to share with you from this last week in my CORE life. I was hired to teach a ZUMBA class to a group of women of all ages on Tuesday night, and the ladies were ready to party!!  It was an energizing, rowdy and all around amazing hour of ZUMBA fitness. But the moment came as the opening strains of "Let It Be" started our cool down routine. As I often do, I closed my eyes at the beginning of the song to ground myself and relax into it's familiar tune.  I realized that something this time was different.  Above the CD recording, I could hear the voices of the women in the room, singing along, raising the ending of the class from fitness cooldown to spiritual moment.  It is perhaps not public knowledge, but the choice of Let It Be is of great significance to me. You see, I knew a little girl. She was amazing. And I saw her dance - before I ever knew that God was going to make her His angel so soon. So each time I play this song, I model my movements after her, and blow her a little kiss to heaven.
It was an unparalleled moment, so completely unrelated to that little girl, and yet it created in that room the most beautiful rainbow, with its colours connecting us all in that moment.
Today I taught a class and there was a girl with Down Syndrome. She shyly hung out at the back of the room, unsure of what was to come. As the opening strains of music played, and the class settled into it's familiar rhythms, I could see her face.  She was alive. The music sang out from inside her. She was glowing. By the end of the song she was front and center, and giving the rest of the class a lesson on "Feeling the Music 101".  She left the class at the end, stopped at the door, and turned around to shyly smile at us all before she left. 

We all know life has some unexpected things in store for us.  We never know who's life we may change, or who may change ours. And we never will, if we allow ourselves to stay wrapped up, comfortable and avoiding the opportunities we are presented each day.