What's Happening?

It has been a long time...and yet not so long.  My last blog included a story about how my place of work raised money to stay in operation.

I cannot tell you where the time has gone or what I have been doing in the interim.  For me it has been all work and no play.

My job at the pool has come to an end.  Some people in a higher place than me decided that it was time for me to go. And do you want to know something?  It was time for me to go!

So here I am.  Not working.  Ugh.

What to do what to do what to do?

Although it appears that I have many options I have made a conscious effort to take some Bee time...

My goals include:

Things to Do:

• heal and strengthen my body, mind and spirit
• update my blog
• be nice to myself
• grieve the loss of my mom
• contact friends and family
• take more pictures
• swim in the lake
• paddle in the lake
• clean my house
• get my daughter's cottage ready for renters
• garden
• sort and purge stuff
• read
• pray
• start looking for a new place to work

Things Not to Do:

• lay in bed
• feel sorry for myself
• overeat
• over drink
• allow negative self talk to destroy my self confidence

In summary, the following picture showed up on my Facebook page and I am re-posting here are a reminder for the future- take from Facebook.com/ChangeYourThoughtsToday

All for now and until next time, 

Bee Rich

Easter Sunday 2014

There is something about the Easter weekend that always fills my heart with hope.  This year's spring time holiday has not been disappointing, especially since we have endured such a long, cold and snowy winter season.

Here it is the twentieth day of April.  There is still snow on the ground and ice on the lake.  The temperature continues to drop below zero degrees Celsius each night and snow tires are still on the vehicles in our driveway.

We went for a walk down the road today.  We heard and then saw a woodpecker high in the trees. We saw black and grey and red squirrels scurrying through the bush.  A chipmunk or two chattered breezily on a neighbour's deck.  We saw some open water on the lake near a neighbour's dock.

Reluctantly, winter is losing its battle with spring.

I have been coughing for almost two months.  Hopefully this virus will also lose its battle with spring.

We are building a small addition on our house.  We decided it was time that we have a place to store coats, boots, hats and mitts.  Once it is completed in about a month I will begin spring cleaning in earnest. Until then we will have to put up with the dust from the saw and other construction debris.

Even at work I am beginning to be more organized. It is definitely a time of year to begin anew.  And that is what I plan to do.

Until next time,

Bee Rich

Success!

The Golden Girls- four of the top $ raisers- Bonnie, Susan, Sharon and Bee!

Sometimes the best laid plans work.  Sometimes goals are achieved.  Sometimes dreams do come true.

Like last Saturday, for example, when the pool where I work held a ten hour relay to raise money for operating expenses.  The goal for the event was $10 000 and it was achieved.  Although the actual total amount has not yet been calculated as more sponsors are coming in everyday, at midnight on the night of the swim, we had raised $10 200!  In addition to that the Board has run a bakesale and thanks to the generosity of the bakers and buyers, another $1100 was raised.

Let me tell you more about the relay.  We had five teams.

The team that I swam with was the Hubsters, made up of staff members and pool patrons. We had youngsters and oldsters (including me)  We wore sunglasses and lifeguard shirts and had a blast swimming and swimming and swimming. Our qualified members life guarded for free!

The Hubsters!

The second and most successful team was the Geezers, made up of a group of people that normally swim between 8 and 9 in the morning.  They wore various costumes with a green (Spring) theme.  Their mascot dressed up as Tinker bell and his nickname is now Tink! They even had a sign, "Bonnie's Geezers and Kool Kids" as the team was named for Bonnie, our faithful 8 a.m. lifeguard/instructor and they raised over $3000!

Bonnie (front row middle) and the Geezers

Tinker Bell- Geezer Mascot!

The third team was made up of aqua fitness patrons and volunteers. These Hub-Bubblers swam and chatted their way up and down their lane of the pool, not counting lengths but enthusiastically putting in the hours and hours and hours.

One of the very dedicated Hub Bubblers

 The fourth team was also from our facility and was composed of members of the Masters swimming team. Now these swimmers were in perpetual motion with sometimes up to four people swimming at one time. Apparently they clocked over 32 kilometres over the course of the ten hours.

Lori- the longest lasting Masters Swimmer!

The final team was the most impressive.  A group from a local gym participated for the entire ten hours, spending most of their time in the water. Some were youngsters who swam a little and others were swimmers who swam a lot.

Zen Dragons spent the day in the water...what a team!

Now, let me tell you about my day!  I left home at 6 a.m. to drive to the pool and open up for lane swimming and aqua fitness.  Our first swimming lessons for the session started at 10 a.m. with over 80 participants. At 1 p.m. the staff set up the pool for the relay and the people began arriving by 1:45. We had a parade around the pool, explained the rules and then took to the waters.

Many people came to watch, cheer and swim!

Between 2 p.m. and 12 midnight each of the five teams had at least one swimmer making forward progress. I thought as the day went on there would be fewer and fewer people, but that proved untrue.  At midnight there were still 20 or more swimmers hanging on the sides, seated on deck or swimming.  My swim was during the final hour. As I crawled my way through the pool with a little back stroke and breaststroke thrown in every 200 metres, I thought to myself, Together we have accomplished this!  We have reached our goal! 

Several quotes from my past came back to me during the meditative swim-

• Success comes in cans, not can'ts
• There is no I in Team 
• T. E. A. M. --> Together Everyone Achieves More

As I drove home and crawled into bed at 2:30 a.m., I realized that although the day was exhausting, it was a grand community building event and I can't wait until next year to do it all again.

Until next time,

Bee Rich

PS  It is now almost a month since the relay.  The fund raiser kicked off a series of changes at my place of employment.  We continue to work hard and the busy-ness has prevented me from writing more regularly. I will try to do better next time!   

Admirations and Appreciations

The Board of Directors that made the pool happen!

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!

I must say that I admire and appreciate anyone with a full time job who can also update their blog on a daily basis.  Some of the bloggers I read update every day.  Unfortunately, I am not one of them.  My job at the pool has evolved to the point that the busy-ness follows me home, even though I am exhausted from the planning, supervising, lifeguarding, aqua fitness classes and teaching of swimming lessons.
For example, yesterday after coming home from a long week of work, I still had four hours worth of swimming lesson scheduling to complete for our next session.  I really did not have to finish it between 7 and 11 pm, but if I hadn't the task would have loomed over my head for the next two days.  Now it is done and I have time to blog!
The job is going well.  We have over 150 children signed up for lessons between March and May and are now taking registrations for the May-June session.  Aqua fitness classes are well attended as are the lane swims for adults. Today marked the first day of March Break with the Public Swim at capacity! People are thankful to have a facility in their town and for the most part are happy with the programming.
Sadly, it has been a very cold winter and the costs of heating water and air have skyrocketed out of control. Township funding, corporate sponsorships and individual donations are not what the organization expected and consequently the facility is not sustainable.  The board members are optimistic and many fund raising activities are now in full swing.
I have been organizing a ten hour Team Relay.  Five teams have been formed with 10-20 swimmers in each and everyone is looking for pledges.  I am captaining the Hubsters, a combined team of staff and members of the facility.  We also have a Masters team, an Aqua fitness team (the Bubblers), a Lane Swimmers team (the Geezers) and a team from a local gym. The goal is to raise $10 000.  The event is on March 22 from 2 pm through until midnight. I am optimistic!
You may wonder how all this activity has affected my personal life.  Believe me, it is not conducive to satisfactory down time.  I am looking for ways to reduce stress and increase energy.  Recently I have even changed my diet to exclude copious amounts of caffeine, fat, sweets and wheat.  I have increased my activity by including daily walks or cross county skis and some swimming.  I am trying to read more, visit with neighbours and just peace out. So far there is not a lot of change, but I hope that turns a corner soon.
My mother used to tell me that this too shall pass.
I met a woman yesterday who was bringing her grandsons to the pool for a swim. She looked tired and worn out and I immediately felt empathy for her.  We chatted and she told me that she would be back to the pool once she had some medical problems sorted out.  Upon further chatting she shared that she is going through testing for cancer and so far it is in her lungs, spine and liver.  With tears in her eyes she explained the it is what it is and that she is going to get through it. We shared a tear or two and a warm hug.  I wished I could have done more...
In the meantime I am grateful to have a job, friends and family members too.
Most of all, I am thankful to my husband.  Without his support I would probably be sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. For now, that is not an alternative.  There is still so much to be done.

Until next time,

Bee Rich

Bee on guard!

Happy GROUND HOG DAY!

February is my favourite month by far!  It is the second month of the year and today is the second day of the second month and sure enough, it is Ground Hog Day.

Exactly what is a groundhog and why does it have a special day?

When I was a lot younger I thought that ground hog was something like ground beef, something that one ate in a meatloaf.  It turns out, I was wrong.  Now that I am a lot older I have the opportunity to check out the real thing virtually on Wikipedia:

Groundhog

Rodent

The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Wikipedia

A groundhog in the summer!

So now you know.  A legend says that a groundhog will come out of its hibernation hole on February 2 (not sure how it knows the date-perhaps it has google calendar).  If it spies its shadow it becomes so frightened that it returns to its hole for at least six weeks, thus delaying Spring.  However, if the groundhog does not see its shadow then all is well with the world and Spring will be right around the corner. 

This morning we went outside before sunrise to shovel the accumulated 15 cm of snow.  Along came dawn but there were no shadows.  I believe that Spring will be upon us soon.  That is good news to an area of the world that endured weeks of sub zero temperatures, icy roads, whiteouts and snow days. 

I googled the phrase "Spring is right around the corner" and found this image:

The panel above demonstrates some people's opinion of the legend or tradition of Ground Hog Day.  That is not me...I am a believer! Happy half way to Spring!  Happy Ground Hog Day!!!

Until next time, 

Bee Rich

January BLUES and NEWS

The day dawns with sunshine, strong winds and snow in the air!

This has been an amazing winter so far.  Cold temperatures, strong winds, blowy and snowy. Drives to work have been fine, except for on icy Saturday morning when the Jeep decided to go in the opposite direction when I touched the brakes.  All in all, not too bad, considering this is only our second winter in Ontario in the past six years.

I am missing my mother.  Just 18 months ago she succumbed to a respiratory ailment.  I still find myself heading to the phone to call her, but I think, She is not at that number any more. Fortunately I still have friends who understand. In fact, many people my age have already lost their parents.

And now I am a grandma, married to a grandpa and we are looking forward to our next visit with our son, his wife and our two adorable grandchildren. Skype calls are great, pictures on Facebook and in emails are wonderful, but there is nothing like the warm hugs of a real live in person child. And too quickly they grow up.

A snowy day

The trees in the picture above are growing, too.  When planted they were teeny tiny baby trees, just over 4 inches in height. Today I look out and see that they are taller than an adult and still growing. Our hope for the future is that they will continue to grow and eventually protect us from the wintry winds.

I am on the second day of my weekend and have accomplished some work, some play, some cooking and some reading. We have had good visits with our neighbours and thankful to be out and about despite the January weather. The good news?  February starts later this week and with it promises longer days, warmer temperatures and the promise of Spring!

Full moon in January!

I think I will take a walk and appreciate the natural beauty that this season offers.

Until next time,


Bee Rich

A New Year- A New Me?

This is me! 

The new year, 2014 is now upon us and I have only one resolution and that is to be myself!
This train of thought began one day at the pool.  I was getting ready to teach one of my first aqua fitness classes in many years.  I was nervous, distracted, worried and wondering, Will I measure up?  Aloud I said, "I am a little nervous and rusty, but I hope you enjoy your class."
One of the patrons said, "Just be yourself."  And that got me thinking about my life and how for many, many years I tried to be someone other than who I am. I wanted to be prettier, thinner, smarter, faster, happier and better. I am slowly coming to realize that I am human with as many strengths as weaknesses.

• I am a people pleaser. I want others to be happy, sometimes to the detriment of my own happiness.
• I am  a perfectionist. I want to be perfectly right all the time to the point that I sometimes ignore the good advice of others.
• I am organized. I usually want everything to go my way so it is better to do everything myself.
• I am often uptight. Many years ago, one of the swimmers on the team I coached gave me this T-shirt displaying "You Otter Relax".
• I am moody. I swing from extraordinarily happy to unpleasantly sad.

The list goes on and on but the point of it all is that I have two choices: I can choose either to change or to accept the way I am. The Serenity Prayer comes to mind:

God grant me 

the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 

the courage to change the things I can and 

the wisdom to know the difference. 

When I reviewed the list above I realized suddenly that balance is the key. So I asked Ask.com the definition of a balanced lifestyle and found this helpful information:

A balanced lifestyle basically means taking a thorough inventory of one's life, managing time and making adjustments where there is a need.  It essentially adds up to living reducing stress levels associated with the demands of life.  One can live a balanced lifestyle by getting sufficient exercise, resting enough, eating healthy and finding time to relax.

And that is exactly what my T-shirt reminds me to do, I really ought to relax because a balanced life is good!

Balance is the key!

Wishing you health, happiness and balance in 2014!

Until next time, 

Bee Rich