Me Me Me

Rick is out of town this week, and though I miss him, I'm also enjoying some quiet time, doing things at my own pace. I'm doing something I almost never do. I'm taking care of myself, and I'm finding that I actually deserve it. What a surprise.

So what am I doing that's different from my usual routine? Well, yesterday, day one of Camp Kim, I wandered around the house for a while wondering what to do. Then I threw in a load of laundry (we now have a washing machine, thanks to a little miracle, an anonymous Fairy Godmother, and a strong friend who helped Rick muscle the beautiful beast into the house), and while the wash was washing, I vacuumed up some dust and dog hair. Clean house, clear head, I was ready to go.

I spent the day testing out two new DVDs I bought for myself last week, in honor of my kids' birthdays. It occurred to me that 25 years after my youngest was born, I still had not gotten around to taking care of mommy-me, and losing that "baby weight." High time I got to it. Beginning Yoga and Pilates are hard for me, which only shows me how badly I need to do this. After that bit of torture I spent some time in the studio, banging out bracelets and hairpins. Enough work done for a Saturday, I headed for the driveway with my hula hoop and iPod, and spent some time spinning and dancing, with Michael Franti singing encouragement, and drums and bass keeping my feet in motion. I know I look silly out there, but it's fun, and at 53--I don't care who knows my age--I also don't care if my neighbors drive by and laugh at me, as long as they don't top to interrupt my happy hooping.

When the sun goes down here, the solar heated house cools off fast, so firewood piled in the corner, woodstove stuffed and lit, I was ready to settle in for the evening. Warmed up veggie-rice was a good dinner, along with a glass of wine. The rest of the evening was just relaxing and lovely. I talked to Rick for a bit on the phone, and then put on some Mozart and Joshua Bell, and took a nice hot bath, something I rarely take the time for. I miss the hot tub we sold, but this will do.

Back in the living room by the fire, I opened up the Kind Diet for a second read. I feel like after almost a year of veganism, I need a refresher course. I've gotten lazy about my food in the last few months, and I remember how great I felt when we first started this and really did it right. The reasons for going meatless are many and varied. The biggest one for me is health, but I'm re-shocked to re-read true stories about the "meat industry", and enormous toll our meaty American diet is taking on the planet, not to mention the suffering to the animals. Once you know these things, you can't un-know them, but it's easy to let them filter to the background where unpleasant realities are more comfortably kept.

I feel like I'm in a time of waking up and paying attention. Maybe it won't last beyond this week, at home alone, but I'm grateful for this time, this jump start, this opportunity to take care of me. If I don't do that, nobody else will. It takes me a while to figure things out sometimes, and it's about time I got this one right.