Be still my beating heart!!

I just saw Pierce Brosnan in the flesh! Not five feet from me. I even said hello to him - though in true east coast fashion I resisted the urge to interrupt his lunch by asking for a picture - and now I'm kicking myself for being so darned polite.  He's much handsomer in person than on screen.  

Any other Pierce Brosnan fans out there? I've been crazy about him since his days as Remington Steele. My favourites of his films are Matador, Dante's Peak, and Livewire - along with smaller budget films like Evelyn.  I even had a boyfriend who was a big fan back in the day. I bet he'd be jealous.

Why oh why, didn't I ask for a picture?!

Running Lessons: Some days turn out better than you expect

I just got arrived back from a fabulous 8km run.

It started with 3 kms around the lake to warm up. 1.5 kms into it, I noticed my legs were feeling especially good - but I had a small stitch in my side. Checking my pace, I was astounded to see I was running a full minute per km faster than I usually do. No wonder I had a stitch!  For the next km or so, I consciously tried to slow my pace in order to leave something for the hill repeats I had planned but it was a struggle. Whether it was the storm blowing in or my new shoes, my body just seemed to want to go as fast as it could.

I needn't have worried about the hill repeats. I completed six trips up and down with relative ease and felt capable of more - though common sense prevailed so I turned to run slowly back to my apartment instead. Once home, I stepped on to the balcony for a long stretch.

On practicing maitri

Lately, I've been rereading a wonderful little book by Pema Chodron which was recommended by a friend. One of my favourite passages talks about the importance of maitri, the Buddhist practice of showing loving-kindness and unconditional friendship towards oneself.

As some of you know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Okay, some might even say I'm a control freak. It's something I've been working to change about myself for years - ever since I realized how unhappy it made me and those around me. For awhile, I thought I might finally have made some progress. Recently, however, I've come to the painful realization that nothing could be further from the truth. The way in which I express my desire to control may have undergone some superficial transformation, but the underlying inclination is still very much a part of me - as dark and destructive as ever.

Settling into the country

As I write this, I’m enjoying a café latte sitting on the front porch of our country house on the last morning of a two week “vacation”.  It wasn’t a vacation in the truest sense of the word because I didn’t take any time off work.  It was a vacation in the sense that Husband (who lives and works in a different city at the moment) was home for two weeks and we got to spend almost every evening sitting on our back deck together enjoying the sights and sounds of the little property we bought just over a year ago. 

The weather was terrific so we had long evenings out there to get familiar with the birds that regularly visit the yard this time of year – bright yellow finches, darting hummingbirds, round red-breasted robins and downy woodpeckers.