Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Tweet Others As You Would Like to Be Tweeted

This weekend was filled to the brim, but not with coffee. I'm on another "dial down the caffeine" (like, a million notches) kick. I love coffee. I can hear you and yes, I love it so much I would marry it. However, I know that consuming copious amounts of caffeine on the daily, has many negative benefits. One that my stubborn nature gets tired of tolerating is, addiction. Yep, that's right, I get a killer migraine and am achy all over if I don't have my morning fix. After a day or two of suffering, I'm right as rain, again...and shockingly, I have plenty of energy. What's that all about?


Anyway, back to the weekend. It started off with some much needed exercise. Hooray for warmer Flo-rida weather! Then, I was off to volunteer orientation at one of my favorite nature preserves. I'm one step closer to checking off the "volunteer my time" goal, listed in my last post.


Sunday, I stumbled upon a huge group of people. All of the vibrant colors, especially hot pink, that they were wearing caught my eye, so I decided to investigate further. They were all walking with such purpose & I needed some exercise, so I thought, what the heck? I'm kidding of course. I was meeting people downtown to check out the anniversary of the women's march festivities. In the online information, there was nothing about an actual march, so I sorta did stumble upon it and...oh my gosh, some of the chants were hysterical. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter" was one of my favorites. While, it's not my nature to talk politics with strangers and I'm more adamant about not talking politics with friends (because...story about my dad #33 - if you're curious, I'll tell it to you), I will admit...reading Trump's tweets or listening to him speak is the equivalent of hearing G Dub say, "nuc-u-lar" or talking about how gynecologists need to be "allowed to practice their love of women." Do you remember that? So many "face-palm" moments. I mean, I see Trump's face and his mouth is moving, but all I hear is "nuc-u-lar."

The march and gathering afterward was all very positive. There weren't any people protesting the march, either. While I do get the gravitas of the situation (but I wanna keep things light-hearted, here), there were so many funny signs. Every two seconds someone was laughing and pointing, "look at that one!" From, "there will be hell toupee" (I just giggled typing that) to this:


I'd vote for her...

Friday, January 12, 2018

Looking Back on 2017

Wow, what a year 2017 was. I've been known to say that odd numbered years are better for me. This odd numbered year was different. It was wonderful and not so great at the same time. I've named it the bipolar year. The bad: Family drama, family members passing away, late night trip to the ER (my leg swelled so much that I thought I had a blood clot...turned out to be a bug bite. Whew!) and hurricane Irma to name a few. Many people experienced much worse than I, so I really can't complain. It was quite a roller coaster ride, nonetheless.

Now, on to the good:

I went sailing & snorkeling in the Bahamas (and put a check mark beside my, "let's get out of this country once a year, goal.") I had never seen such beautiful water. It changed from deep sapphire to crystal blue:





Celebrated warmer weather with my closest friends:















Watched many beautiful sunrises:










Even caught the occasional, gorgeous sunset:


Went hiking with friends...a lot:












Played, "where's Martie?




I even found the end of the trail, along the way.


Kayaked some:




Made sure to obey street signs. It's the law, after all:


Didn't walk, but went running in Memphis:


Had a business trip to NYC and spent the weekend to play:




Out of respect, I "Andy Warhol'ed" myself.





And became a Skimm'bassador!


At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to travel more. By November, I thought, "I'm good, I want to stay home for a bit." I've been at home for almost 3 months now, and am itching for a trip. Oy vey! Who wants to meet me in Savannah or Peru to hike the Inca Trail??

All in all, it was a good year and I'm excited to see what 2018 has in store. I've set some goals for myself in 2018:

Give back to my community by volunteering my time
Travel!
Go snorkeling at Egmont Key
Read one book per month
Hike a 14er with friends
Gratitude Jar!
Kayak more
Always find time to play!

What are your goals or resolutions for the year?