The Life of a Super Model (tongue planted firmly in cheek)

Got up at 5am yesterday to prepare for a full day in the city. Caught up on business stuff in the am and had a nice late breakfast with Barb at Helen's Grill on Main & 25th. I was soooo cold from working in the back room at the store and the lovely owner did everything in her power to warm me up from sitting me right in front of the heat vent, turning the heat up and bringing me a steaming pot of tea. I felt very taken care of (and oh so much warmer).
That seemed to be the theme of the day - being taken care of.
At 1 pm, we were scheduled for our photo shoot for the cover of the March issue of Today's Vancouver Woman - read Barb's account here. We were surrounded by strong, intelligent, competent women (including our own manager, Brandy) who's sole purpose was to help us look our best. It was pretty fun and also, as Barb mentioned, hard work. Not complaining here - I'm honoured to be given the privilege of having this experience and live to tell the tale:) You really do start to feel like somethin' special tho', when you've got so many hands available to you - hair, make-up, buckling my shoes, smoothing that crease! I can see how this might go to someone's head - not mine of course! I was brought back down to reality pretty quickly as I was tearing off my fake eyelashes in the car on the way to catch the 7:30pm ferry.
Once we arrived home, exhausted and pretty hungry, George decided to surprise me by heating up the split pea soup I'd made the day before. Unfortunately, the elements on our new stove are waaay hotter than in our old house so the soup quickly became a burnt, stinky mess! I love that he cared enough to surprise me - and he cleaned up the kitchen so I didn't even have to deal with it (see the being taken care of theme here?) I'm so lucky. I can and do take care of myself - no concern there - but how nice to be thought of kindly, whether it's a cup of tea, the hot bath run for you, a gentle foot rub, or the truffle and glass of port delivered with a kiss at the end of a long and interesting day - yup, he did that too!!! My reality seems to suit me just fine - thank you very much:)

Bootcamp Blues...

Our bootcamp days are winding down. We finish with the group next week until we start up again in the spring. I love our group. We've all become good friends and it will be fun to do other things besides sweating together but I love that too! Everyone is so positive and good at celebrating each others' success. I definitely feel better now than when we started and I'm starting to see some clear results in how my clothes are fitting. There's even a bit of visible muscle in my arms and legs! Woo hoo!
The best part is that our trainer is so enthusiastic - not just when we're working out, but for life in general. It's such an inspiration to hang out with someone who is always seeing the cup as half full. It helps to put things into perspective and encourages me to look more on the positive side.
Still waiting for confirmation on my 'news'. Will hopefully know something by the end of the week! Hope all is going great for you. What an amazing day - what a beautiful city - what a great life!!!

Thanks!

After a weekend filled with delicious meals, I have to give thanks for the abundance of food in my life. How blessed are we that we can celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, romantic evenings, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and so many more occasions with a bounty of food choices at our disposal. When the big decision becomes whether you're going to have turkey or ham on your platter over the holidays, it's certainly a time to take note and give thanks when so much of the rest of the world has to be satisfied with the bare basics just to survive.
We received a note and photo from one of our sponsored children in Sudan at the end of last week. I couldn't help but think of him and his hardworking mother over the weekend and wonder what they might be having for their dinner. I'm trying hard to appreciate my full life without going to that other place of guilt or not being deserving. There is definitely enough to go around...but...Do we do enough to help those who are not as fortunate? Do I? This year and next, I intend to try harder. There are so many ways to give back. What are your thoughts? I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

The Milnes (G's folks and uncle) enjoying our ham, mashed potatoes, baked yams, corn and beets dinner