On Sunday I went up to Collingwood with Steph and Amanda to this gorgeous spa near blue mountain. Amanda came over at 7:20 am bright and early Saturday morning and after a quick stop for coffee, we were off to Guelph to meet Steph. The sun rose higher in the sky as we drove. It was beautiful.
We got to Steph’s place and switched cars and we were off. We went to this gorgeous hot baths spa. It sounds strange but you just self-pace through three cycles: hot, cold and rest. Think outdoor hot pools, steam rooms, saunas and then the cold was either the snow or COLD pools. Then you spend some time in an indoor deck area with loads of magazines and muskoka chairs (with foot rests!).
It was a WONDERFUL day. It’s a quiet environment so you’re not really supposed to talk. The silence was really refreshing. So was the drive up. Really, the whole experience was great. It felt truly restful. And the company was fantastic. I was thinking on the drive home how grateful I am to know amazing women. I think female friendships are invaluable. And I know really, really inspiring women. I have friends that are so real. Broken, lovinging, flawed, selfless. The older I get the more I value the depth of my girlfriends. No longer do I spend time with people people I want to impress or people that I think I should be friends with. I hangout with women that challenge me, make me laugh, stick by me and know me…really know me. I have friends that have made giant mistakes and have had my back when I didn’t know what I was doing.
And I have friends that invite me to the spa. Because I can tell you with 100% assurance that Matt would have enjoyed the spa for less than an hour. Then he’d be ready to do something else. We “spa-ed” from 10-5 with a break for a delicious lunch. I can’t wait to go back!
My brother Evan moved to Australia on Saturday to go to school for 18 months. We went to the airport to see him off. I really love my brother…and as glad as I am that he’s going to have an amazing experience, I’m definitely going to miss him (stop crying, mom)! And as weird as it’s going to be that I won’t see him for almost a year (or more) I am grateful that he’s going to have this chance to see the world and have an adventure and I am glad that I get the opportunity to miss him–because I’m reminded that I’m LUCKY to have family that I actually miss when they’re not around…because not everyone is as fortunate; not everyone has an amazing family. And I never want to forget that I do.
Last year for a late Lent project, myself and a few friends gave up ALL drinks except water… we’re not just talking alcohol. We’re talking EVERYTHING except H2O. You can read about my experiences here and here or here and if you’re really keen, here. The premise is simple. Drink only water for 40 days. Donate the money that you WOULD have spent on different drinks (daily coffees, beers with friends, cases of diet pepsi, etc) and give it to Blood: Water Mission. If you’re AT ALL intrigued please please go take a look at their website. They are doing amazing work building wells and providing people with clean drinking water.
Two things happened today that reminded me of last year’s water challenge. First my friend Karmyn and her husband Ben just led their youth group in the challenge and used it as a fundraiser for their upcoming mission trip. They raised $1000. Karmyn is an excellent writer and a pretty inspiring person. Go check out her blog here. Seriously. I really loved what Karmyn’s learnings were because they SO closely echoed my own. When you only drink water, you pee A LOT. Also, not drinking nice warm drinks (coffee, for me) makes greasy breakfast, weekends, work meetings and early mornings WAYYYY more brutal.
Secondly, I got an email from Blood: Water Mission today letting me know that water challenge starts in just two weeks. That’s where you come in. Trust me when I say that this simple exercise changed my life. It taught me lessons about privilege but at the same time it cost me more than simply saying no to non-water drinks. It cost me dollars. I love that this “challenge” is two-fold. Yes, I learned a lot and perhaps those learnings would be substantial on their own. But more importantly, the money I donated (and it’s fully up to you how much you donate) was used to give water to people who do not have any.
Please please consider taking on the 40 days of water challenge. Trust me, you won’t regret it. You’ll probably only do it once and it will most certainly make you uncomfortable and it will definitely cost you something, but you will be making the world a better place.* With one small change for only 40 days, you can be change in the world.
*I won’t be participating in 40 days of water this year because I think one year is enough, but I will most definitely be making a donation to Blood: Water Mission with great appreciation for the important work they do.
I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
Slow Family Living is a revolution in the way we think about, embrace and implement family living. It was born out of our belief that family life is being hijacked by society’s messages that more is better, faster is greater and that you and your children are at risk of being left behind, unless you buy in NOW.
It is about allowing family life to unfold in a way that is joyfully and consciously connected. This means slowing it down, finding comfort in the home, and creating the space to see and honor the family as an entity, while simultaneously keeping sight of each member as a unique and valuable individual.
We believe that family life can serve as the incubator for deeper compassion, creativity, love, harmony, humor, appreciation, respect, fun, ingenuity, conflict resolution, peace, friendship, growth, communication and,perhaps above all else, true, unending and powerful joy.
As we intentionally give value and space to family life, we are thereby creating a force — with a sum greater than its parts — that can then flow out into the local and the global communities.
We hold this as truth, that the peace and the harmony we want to exist within the world, can be created within the family first, by bringing it home and lovingly, consciously and intentionally slowing life down.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. How’s your weekend been so far? I’ve had a pretty great time and it’s already Saturday morning. Last night after work I went to pick up a few things for my valentine exchange partner–so fun! It felt like I was filling a stocking for myself. I also popped into a health food store to pick up a few things including my beloved LaraBars. I don’t generally buy them because they are PRICY–$2.29 each and it makes Matt want to shout Swedish curse words at me. A few weeks ago I made my OWN “Lara Bars” at home. Victory! But yesterday I saw Cinnamon Roll AND chocolate…so I had to by them. Hi my name’s Cait and my special treat is a LaraBar. Sigh.
I also picked up some cashew butter. It’s like peanut butter but a million times better. SO.GOOD.
We went to waterloo for a last minute dinner with a group of friends. We drank wine out of juice glasses, ate a delicious meal and laughed a lot. Did you know that researchers think that on average children laugh 300 times a day? I think I laughed at least 300 times last night.
Our plan was to head out for our long run today, but my knee has been really bothering me since the end of last week’s long run. I managed to run hills Monday, but took Wednesday off for good measure. Because it’s not feeling 100% I am going to take today off too. I’m scared of getting an hour out there and deciding I can’t run any further and being stuck walking home in minus 10 weather. Not a good idea. So, no running until our ultimate game tomorrow. Boo.
But of course that does free up a couple hours–so I am going to work on a craft for my package, eat some more toast (with cashew butter, naturally) and drink tea…a photo taking walk might also been in the cards.
Tonight we’re heading an hour and a half into the boonies to see other friends…with a hot tub. BONUS.
To sign off, here is a photo of Matt from Monday night after an ordeal of locking the keys in the trunk at the place where we run hills. Our car has no trunk pop anywhere inside the car. We also have only ONE set of car keys. Matt lost the other set. Needless to say, took about 3 hours and endless calls and missions to finally get someone who knew how to get keys out of a trunk without being a locksmith that cost over $100. I think Matt was tired at the end of the ordeal.
Hell, I don’t know what the church is. Jesus said something about the fact that He was going to build the church. He did say that nothing would prevail over it . . . even the gates of Hell, but He didn’t ask me to build it. And He certainly didn’t ask me to define it. I believe the church is at work in the world only because of my faith in this Jesus person. Trouble is, I don’t know what Jesus is up to or where His church is. That’s good because if I found the church then I’d give it a name and start running it.
Will Campbell, “Interview with The Wittenburg Door,” in Writings on Reconciliation and Resistance, 71-72.
