Monday's Air

[eric byrne]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Sorry about my absence of late,so many distractions last week,albeit a very busy and enjoyable week,I wrote a post on Friday pm,on completion, I clicked the submit button only to be faced with the LUNGevity log- in page,I didn’t have the time or inclination to rewrite,must remember from now on, its copy and paste from Microsoft word.

Topically,for me anyway, Bud mentioned last week about keeping minds and bodies active,I have my gyming and swimming schedule established,each day from 9am until 1pm,by Thursday every muscle in my body ached,oh the price you pay to feel good,I noticed in my club prog that there is a Yoga class available on Friday mornings,well I know absolutely nothing about this activity,and with all my aches and pains,I thought I would go along,take things easier,a bit of arm waving,back bending,how hard can it be? exercises for women not atheletic males like myself LOL,suspicions confirmed,class is full of women.I am greeted by the female teacher with a smile,short introduction,given a rubber mat and direction to find myself a bit of floor space.The next 1 ½ hours of exercises are absolute torture,there was’nt one I could manage properly,boy, there’s much more to this yoga than I thought,think the teacher is made of rubber and the rest of the class for that matter.I think I have found the perfect class to compliment my gyming and swimming,so I have signed up to attend every Tuesday and Fridays.I found the whole experience fun and relaxing,I recommend yoga to you.

Lets see,what else I have been up to?,Tuesday,lunch with Allan from the Roy Castle,lovely Indian restaurant,buffet-all you can eat for a few pounds,think all my good work in the gym has been ruined.Allan has asked me to work with him on developing their website further to made it more user friendly.Wednesday car into the garage to see if my ipod problem can be resolved,typical Eric,seems I was plugging it into a USB port which is used by mechanics as a diagnostic port for computer problems, my ipod plays now from the jack point provided.

Wed pm,Stobhill LC support group meeting,this one was particularly productive,boxes of new publicity materials for our group and the Roy Castle.org had arrived,Stobhill Hospital have given permission to our group to set up a stall in their main concourse every Friday pm,to raise awareness of our group and of course lung cancer,this arrangement is to co-incide with the hospitals lung cancer clinic.We have lots of freebies to pass out as well as a support group starter pack,so hopefully we can attract new members,or at least provide everyone interested with our contact details.

Thursday,I went into Anniesland college to attend the first meeting of the new choir,I did go in early to catch up with all the gossip from all my former work colleagues,I really enjoyed my visit,did get a wee pang of wanting to go back to work,maybe next year if things pick up a bit with the economy,they may offer me a few hours PT ?.Thurs eve,indoor bowling started,our team were trounced-well it was the first night,we are out of practice and the team we met unfortunately just happened to be one of the top teams in the club.Talking of sport Allan,I just loved your description of the game you went to see in Philly last week,you might as well have written it Greek for all I understood,at my best guess you were describing American Football and not Baseball?am I right?,anyone got a rule book on American Football?.Congratulations on your results last week,I am so pleased for you.

9/11,just to mention,I was in St Enoch’s shopping mall and at New York time 8.46am (1.46pm Glasgow) everything stopped in the mall to observe a one minute silence.I did watch the service of commemoration from New York later on TV,I found the whole occasion very touching,thanks Randy for sending me the New York Police Pipe and Drum Band link,they certainly added to the occasion. Time to go,sorry I have’nt round to mentioning everyone,think this post is long enough as it is,just know each of you are all in my thoughts everyday.Bye for now.

[RandyW]

Eric was thinking bout ya yesterday and wondering where You have been!? Glad your busy and doing well with everything going on !

Katie are those the same ones that torment Your Daughter!? I heard something like that through FB and no more swim parties was mentioned Gotta laugh! Glad all are doing well, and sorry bout all the grief and tears this past week.

[Joppette]

Good morning all! Eric, so good to see you here! Katie too! And Randy. I have to mention all. Eric, your busy life makes my head spin! Wow. Your description of yoga just made me laugh so much. "I thought I would go along,take things easier,a bit of arm waving,back bending,how hard can it be? exercises for women not atheletic males like myself LOL"

Cracked me up. But you are inspiring me to take up yoga. I need to get my body moving more. I've heard yoga is great.

Katie, I understand. All the anniversaries are so tough. Just remembering 9-1-1 was huge for me. Going to the memorial, watching the show last night that re-lived it all, it is just so sad. I refuse to say it was the day that America lost their freedom, I won't give them that power. But it certainly was a day that re-defined what freedom is in America.

I've been having a lot of dreams about going back to work. Just wondering if that is something I should look into? I just don't have enough to do these days. I'm kind of in a "wait" mode trying to see what my next challenges should be. I hoped volunteering for this Wellness group would be it, but what they have me doing is so minute, and small that it takes about two minutes out of each day. Hardly challenging.

Well, I'm off. Hoping everyone has a good day.

Judy in MI

[dianew]

Eric - hearing about your schedule does indeed make one's head spin. I think I am just in awe of all the energy you have. I am a little envious of your support group - I sure wish there was one near where I live, but it seems they are few and far between.

Katie - I can't imagine what an emotional week you have had. The anniversary of my mother's death is in two weeks, and there are a few other sad anniversaries throughout the year, but nothing that comes all at once.

JudyMI - It sounds like your town did a really nice job of commemorating the anniversary. You sound so capable and seem to have such desire to help others - perhaps there would be a job where your compassion for others could really be utilized. I sometimes wish I didn't still work, but the daily regimen actually helps keep me on track. I do some volunteer work also driving for the American Cancer Soc., but it seems that as busy as it gets at times it isn't something I can count on to keep me busy - sort of feast or famine.

I sometimes wonder if I was the only person in the world who was completely unaware of 9/11 - at least for most of the day. We were going camping and loading the RV, etc. and did not ever turn on the TV or radio so were totally oblivious. When someone at the campground finally mentioned it, at first we didn't even believe them it just sounded so crazy. We tried to get some coverage on the TV, but we didn't have satellite at that time and were in an area where there was really no TV reception. It was almost a week before we really knew a lot of the details.

Well I guess I've put going to work off as long as I can.

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

[Joppette]

Wow Diane! That's some story about not knowing about 911 until a week later. Lucky you! No TV and Radio sounds heavenly!

[ts]

I have a book "September 11: West Coast Writers approach Ground Zero" that has a really well written story by Barbara Earl Thomas called "A crack in the earth" about her experience of the day - completely out of touch for 5 days.

There was also a film made of one of her other rafting trips that was wonderful to watch - a tale of a strange mix of women rafting in the Grand Canyon. "Writing Down the River".

She is also an accomplished painter.

[Alan]

Hi you guys, Got a lttle late today. Covered the pool finally. It was an emotional weekend here too. 9-11 was so devistating. Seeing parts of it over again brought it all back again. Now we need to get to NYC again and see that memorial in person. When we saw the Viet Nam memorial up close, It was so much more meaningful. Shenksville is open now too

Eric, you are truly funny. I'm glad you had someone show you which receptacle to plug your music thing into your new car. The cars radio or some cd is all I need. My car has all that stuff too. It's all I can do just to drive the thing. The Yoga is a good idea. We should all be doing it. It's reccomended for survivors all the time. Must releive alot of stress at the same time.

I would like to go back to work too Judy. I tried but my nueropathy wouldn't let me. The physical labor I was used to is too tough now. I need too many breaks, just wouldn't be a money maker. I'd have to do something totally different. That's why volunteering seems like a good alternative. I'm just getting started with that in earnest so I'll see how it goes. I do stay busy and I always remind myself that I gave the career 40 good years and have this retirement to finally do what I want. I never expected to be blindsided by LC, but life goes on.

Hi to Steph Diane Randy and Katie, please give yorself a break.You are truly appreciated and loved here. Annette, where are you? KW Judy, where are you? Kim, You have been through so much, I'm happy to read your posts, you are a bright light. Where is Sara R? OK , I'm done, catch up later ... Alan

[dianew]

Stephanie - thanks for that information. Book and movie sound really interesting and just the sort of thing I like. I will check them out.