Contemplating My Navel

by Annie Anderson

The Big Apple!

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Five years ago for my 40th birthday, I decided a bucket list item needed to be checked off. Here is the story of my adventures in New York City! Come along on our trip.

I’m leaving on a jet plane…. (sadly I know when I’ll be back again)…. Start spreading the news… I’m leaving today… I’m gonna be a part of it, what’s that you ask? Let me tell you…. NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!! Can you tell I am a WEE bit excited?!?!

OK…here is my version of the days events….

We drove through to Calgary last night and the roads were bare! It was lovely. I had my nails done for my trip by Kari J McQuitty…and they are fabulous! We then picked up Josie Dahl and headed up to Cross Iron Mills for a little bit of shopping to deck me out for NYE in NYC. My two fashion consultants, Josie and Joni Romans-Turton, give me sage and wise feedback about my purchases, and several dollars lighter, my wallet and I left the mall.

We then headed into Calgary to meet up with my in laws that were there. Carole Nielsen Anderson was unfortunate enough to have her car break down that morning, so like a knight in shining armour, I don’t take the answer that “there are no cars available till Tuesday” as the truth and moments later, had a rental lined up for an hour later. Unbeknownst to me, the damned City of Calgary decided to do road remapping and never got my approval, nor even notified me of same, so when we went to go to the airport up Barlow Trail, we ended up in a construction zone and suffice to say another 30 minutes and 18km of detouring was necessary to get us where we needed to be. Mayor Nenshi will be hearing from me when I get back!!!

Josie then lived up to her last name, and being the doll that she is, escorted my MIL through the rabbit warren of rental companies to finally get to the Enterprise desk. She then turned into a human navigator to deliver the two of them to meet us at the Olive Garden for a very late supper.

Our supper was delicious, however, both Josie’s and I’s sauce had separated and had become quite oily. Our meals were completely comped, as well as our replacement meals, and desserts for the whole table!!! We were all very happy campers then!

We parted ways with Carole, and headed back to Strathmore to spend the night before our awfully early departure time today. A raging blizzard forced me to drop to 70kmph at times, with a stop on the side of the highway to lick our headlights clean to improve our visibility as well. The debate of whether we would be better to turn around and get a hotel room in Calgary to ensure our departure wouldn’t be stopped by a road closure was cinched when we flopped on Josie and Ryan Dahl’s couch and a cup of tea was presented…. we would risk it and spend the night with friends.

This brings me to today.

Well, it started VEEERY early. 4:05am to be exact! Joni Romans-Turton couldn’t sleep, so apparently I wasn’t allowed to either…lol. We got up, started the car, and headed out after a hug with Josie Dahl who was on her way to work. After our mishaps driving yesterday, we zipped over to the airport lickety split and hopped on the shuttle to the aerodrome.

After being searched practically to the bone for contraband drugs, body cavities and all, we were cleared to go through the xray scanner. With my bionic heart and all however, I had another complete patdown before I was released through to our gate. I discovered that to my horror there was no first class lounge to wait in while in Calgary, so we had to join the unwashed masses in the line up for coffee and a bagel. 45 minutes later, we were able to go to our gate.

The wench at the gate apparently prejudged us as not worthy of first class, presumably due to a lack of Louis Vuitton purses, or not dripping in jewels, for when I asked her if we were boarding she said “No”. Seconds later she took the boarding pass of another first class passenger….We went back up, with our first class boarding passes, and she suddenly realized her error, and was saccharine sweet to us.

We boarded and immediately made friends with the others in our cabin with our rendition of Frank Sinatra’s song….playing on You tube. We all had a good laugh. Poor Joni was strung as tight as a fiddle and managed to knock her complete cup of orange juice all over the floor in her excitement of getting settled. We had a good laugh at that. Moments later, the last of the recovered juice was spilled a second time. I, errr…I mean we, laughed even harder that time. Fast forward an hour or so later, and my glass of water went flying into her lap and on her cell phone. Her coat and sleeve were drenched and I nearly peed myself…..how much of this could be attributed to our 8am drinking of mimosas….? Who knows….

One movie and breakfast later, our flight attendant was sweet and gift wrapped a bottle of wine in a napkin for us for NYC celebrations~yay us! We landed without further incident.

In Chicago at our connection, we bought lottery tickets, so if our trip is extended a few days, you will know why!

We then made our way to the first class lounge where I was able to load my pockets with cheese, crackers, shortbread cookies and slurp free cappachinos! Sadly Joni lost her camera somewhere along the way, so it will be phone pics shared to record this bucket list event.

We arrived in NYC without any further wetting of clothes, or wearing of juice. United Airlines however has lost one of our pieces of luggage…the one with all our NYE party clothes, and Joni’s weekly wardrobe. Fortunately we have insurance, but hopefully we don’t need to use it, and while we slumber our bag should be delivered.

Once we checked into the hotel, we were very happy with our room. It has a mini kitchenette (and most importantly, a wine corker!) with a moderate view, and all the amenities we could want. We did a quick tour around Times Square tonight and even though the temperature says -3, it is freaky cold with the wind!!! We have already supplemented our wardrobe with extra scarves and mitts from what we already bought into double layers. Brrr….

So far, the excitement level here is through the roof, and we have met people from Liverpool, Spain, Brazil and Scotland. It is everything I have wanted it to be and the pics we have are awesome!!!! Stay tuned for an upload and another update tomorrow or the next day!

Here is Joni’s version of the trip so far.

So it is 10:30 pm in New York City and there is 1000’s of people walking everywhere in Times Square, (all tourists). So far we have met people from Spain, Liverpool, Brazil, and Scotland.
Only issues so far:

  1. Because we are young and having fun too early in the morning, we “randomly” got selected to have our hands, belts, and shoes “wiped” for traces of drugs”
  2. We learned from the locals that walking in Times Square is safer than the airport.
  3. We then learned that there is a 2 block line up for a taxi’s and that it was faster for us to walk to our hotel with suitcases in tow. (so we did)
  4. United air has kindly “Misplaced” one of my suitcases and it was supposed to be delivered to the hotel tonight. Of course this was my luggage bag, and it also contained ALL of Annies new purchased clothes from Calgary including receipt.
  5. And it is WAY colder here then we thought. We already bought a scarf to go with our mitts.
  6. Oh Yeah, and Annie Marchi Anderson is trying her hardest to get on TV and I am sure she is going to be successful.
    P.S. Thanks mom Randy-Cindy Romans for teaching me to have a spare set of clothes packed in my carry one bag.

Thanks Dara!

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Well folks,
I love my friend Dara. I have for years, and today even more than before. Here’s just one of the reasons why. I think she figured out how to stop me from spamming you all with emails every day!!

I am the first to admit that I am a bit of a technosaur and I have been struggling for weeks trying to (unsuccessfully) figure out how to get my blog site to send an update email to my subscribers…. Without spamming everyone on a daily basis.

Sadly Dara was on vacation as was her assistant and I am the first to admit I was drowning. This morning I believe a lifesaver was thrown in my direction when Dara gave me some suggestions as to how I can fix it.

I am hoping it isn’t a premature celebration, but fingers crossed, I have fingered it out and the spamming will stop.

I appreciate everyone’s patience and look forward to exercising my writing muscles in the new year as I am working on becoming a (well) paid published author in 2019.

Again,
Thanks for not only subscribing but for hanging in there through all this.

Happiest of days to you!

Annie

Exercising my muscles

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Here I am.  Building my muscles.  Flexing them. Admiring them.  Looking around to see who else is watching me.  I am told I should be doing this everyday to develop them, however, I wonder if it will actually happen.  I have purchased new equipment to assist in this department. I had other stuff I could use, but as I get older, sometimes I need something that will accommodate the aging process a little easier.  I never thought I would be saying that. I also never thought I would be wearing reading glasses when I do people’s nails either….and before the recommended age of 40 that the paper insert told me about when I opened the plastic package to get the glasses out of.  I was only 37 at the time. I am now 45. Ack.

“They” say it is easier to keep going once the initial inertia has been overcome.  I’m not sure how my back will feel tomorrow after this; it might be sore. I was sore the other day after doing four sets of nails.  All that sitting and hunching and leaning over my table made my back sore where I had hurt it 25 years ago skydiving. Once I had healed from that all those years ago, I figured I was golden!  Who knew that now I would be paying the piper. I had an X-ray done a few years back that showed some degeneration and the chiropractor told me to make sure I keep moving and keep limber so as to prevent issues when I really get old.  I have heard three times in this past day about something called DDP yoga. I’m not entirely sure what that is compared to regular yoga, but if keeping limber and strong is what I need to do for my back, I should consult with MIsty and see if she can shed some light on what it is.  Or perhaps Google is my friend in this department.

I have been exercising my muscle for about 14 minutes now.  I still feel a bit like I am at the inertia stage and not quite hitting my stride yet, so I will keep going.  It feels like way more, but at the same time, way less. I haven’t quite decided how long I am going to commit to exercising each day, but for some reason 30 minutes seems reasonable, especially in the beginning.

My friend Sheri said sometimes it helps to do it with a partner.  You do one bit, they do one bit. You wait for them to be done their bit, evaluate what they did, then you take your turn.  They wait for you, then evaluate what you have done and take it from there. It is supposed to help keep things fresh and creative, and based on where they take the muscle building, you build on that.  She has offered to be a partner for me in this endeavour. I have to say, I was quite impressed with the idea, and sad that I hadn’t thought of it before. It is amazing to me how often someone else’s opinion/insight/experience completely blows my mind and opens more doors that I had previously thought about.  I love it. A lot. Kind of like when I considered the bottle of “Fiji water” I saw on the shelf at the Co-op years ago. That water came from a place I have never been. It has seen things I have never seen, not unlike the pineapple that comes from Hawaii. I love that different perspective when I take the time to break it down.

17 minutes.  This is going well I think.

I took a class last year taught by an expert in the industry, one who had considerable muscles but was quite disappointed when it was over.  Perhaps I didn’t follow the instructions right. Perhaps I missed something when the information was given to me. Either way, I showed up, watched the leader in action, and felt let down afterwards.  I did not feel inspired or motivated despite my high hopes. Another friend, CJ, suggested another expert in the field who was giving similar teachings, but I have felt less than inclined to go down that path based on my lacklustre experience last year.  I know that every teacher is different, and I should not paint them all with the same brush, but I feel like there has been a transparency overlaid on my experience I just can’t shake. Sorry CJ.

I must stretch my neck.  A hot bath will be in order later for sure.  I can use my new Christmas present my husband and kids made me that holds a wine glass and a book while I soak in the tub.  I have debated for a while if the investment of one of those massage chairs would be a good idea. I think it would be, but $5,000 is a lot of money to spend.  A regular massage would be helpful, especially if I could have 30 minutes of THAT every day!

While I am exercising my muscle, I notice how strangely quiet my house is.  It is just my noises I can hear. The kids are suspiciously quiet. I realize their bedrooms are both in the basement, but there is no fighting, no TV, no music.  Perhaps they are asleep, and now it will be hell tonight getting them to bed if they fall asleep now. I call out and tell Jack he will be having a bath soon. This will make sure he is still awake, and that when I am done exercising my muscle, he will have something to do.  I think an 8pm bedtime is in order considering his sleepover shenanigans last night. Heck, I think one will be in order for me too! He doesn’t seem to complain about it. He must be playing on the “idiot box” as my husband is prone to call electronic devices. He answered right away.  At least I know he hasn’t been eaten by his 3 foot T-Rex toy Santa got him for Christmas, nor is he sleeping already.

Now to check on Jeff.  He is awake, cranky and also likely needing an early night based on his sleepover shenanigans also!  Everyone had sleepovers last night. Everyone had shenanigans no doubt.

25 minutes.  I am almost done the random time limit I assigned myself.  Or was it assigned by some random stranger, or doctor of some sort.  I have survived and I actually feel pretty good about it. I have exercised my muscle for the day.  My writing muscle that is. I feel better for having done it.

Perhaps I need to try the treadmill next.

Innocuous conversations

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It’s funny what we remember from our childhood and how they manifest years later. Seemingly innocuous conversations and comments at the time, that grab hold and take root to find a place in your life as an adult that you never even realized were growing into something larger and having influence on your life. I remember very clearly something said to me by a girl in grade 8. “You are never going to get a boyfriend. Boys don’t like it when girls are taller and bigger than them and you are taller than everyone.” Couple this with the fact that in gym class there were more girls than boys so when it came time to learn how to two step I was assigned to take the role of the man, simply because I was taller. To this day, it takes a very skilled dance partner to out lead me on the dance floor as I wasn’t given the opportunity to learn the female role on the dance floor.

I remember my Grandmother saying to me around about the same time, “Annie, you need to watch what you eat, or you are going to grow up to be fat too.” I wasn’t ever fat as a child, or even into my teen years. Not even into my 20s. I would say not until my early 30s do I remember having a problem. Somewhere in there though, the seeds had germinated and not only was I single (Divorced by a man shorter than me) and starting to put on weight. I could never understand how someone could get to be 50, 75 or even 100lbs overweight. Why didn’t that person notice it?? One day I woke up and realized I was the victim of a sneak attack and all of a sudden I was packing around an extra 100lbs. I had all sorts of excuses and justifications. Maybe some were legit, most were not, but those ones weren’t acknowledged. I hung on to the ones that were socially acceptable, and I was miserable inside.

I had some serious health scares in my late thirties with my heart that were a bit of a wake up call, and I lost 70lbs. Then something deep in the recesses of my mind took over again and I gave up on me. I gained ALL my weight back over one year and there I stayed for the next 5.

Every year at work my uniform order at work went up a size, and my closet was shuffled around to make room for the new clothes I needed to buy as I was unable to do up the pants I had from the season before. I wasn’t happy, but I also wasn’t doing anything about it. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. With that analogy I must have been insane.

Fast forward to last fall when I met up with a friend and colleague who absolutely had me speechless and gob smacked when I saw her. It was seriously like a golden light from heaven shone down, the angels played harps and the rain stopped where she walked when I saw her. I grilled her for nearly 2 hours on a drive we took for a seminar, and again on the way back. My world had been rocked. I had known her for a few years, and she had been significantly overweight then. I saw her exercising, eating what I thought was reasonable when I did she her eating, and I felt terrible for her because there was no payoff, ever. I watched her try multiple approaches, with fasts, cleanses, shake this, stretch that with no success. Then I saw her Nov 22, 2018 and I was blown away. I don’t think I would have recognized her in a crowd had I not been planning on meeting her that morning.

As the clichés go, my life changed that day, and again a month later when I saw her even smaller than she had been that morning. Enter cliché number two. New Years Eve. Resolutions. I decided to jump in. I took my measurements, I took the photos and I started my Keto! journey. It is now 5 months and 20 days later, and I have lost 45 of my 100llb goal for the year. I might even make these next 5lbs to be exactly on track with what I wanted to achieve.

Lots of people are asking me now how I did it. I am going to document and dialogue here with all that want to follow along. Ask away. Join in. Watch from the sides. Whatever floats your boat. 🙂