From California

I just finished a lovely lunch of sushi and soup with my niece (Emma) and brother-in-law (Carey). Such are the joys of being on break.
One of my Christmas gifts was being flown out here to stay. My sister and I have become very close in our maturity (we won't talk about some periods in our childhood, especially one involving a pencil). We would probably be in each other's home all the time if we lived in the same city. So it's good to have extended time together.
What have I been doing? Since I have a predilection for contrast - I'll give the two ends of the spectrum.
Yesterday I had a 1.5 hour facial (another present). I am not one for finding the popular rites of "girl"hood a necessity. I get massages on an infrequent basis, but only to keep my sanity. I don't buy clothes often ( I seem to lack the shopping gene) and I really don't get the whole idolatry of shoes thing. If you haven't guessed it, I was not a devotee of "Sex and the City."
But I have to say that the facial was a little slice of heaven. There are many lotions and toners slathered on, hands and arms are massaged then the hands are put into heated mitts (I could LIVE in them), and then the shoulders and the neck are massaged. So I was a gumby when I got out. VERY pleasant.
In the same day, I had a consultation with a nurse practitioner out here. Many practitioners of alternative medicines out here, and my sister heard this woman talk about how she works with patients to promote health not to fix diseases.(VERY different form most regular Md's I've met)
So I bit the bullet, even though my insurance provider is most likely not going to cover this.
I presume most of you are not interested in reading in depth about my health woes, but society being what it is nowadays, what I am dealing with might be useful to some of you.
I have been on thyroid medication for a long time- with a low functioning thyroid. However, with my symptoms remaining what they were and no apparent interest on the part of the medical community in trying to work beyond what the lab numbers might be, I've done a lot of reading on my own.
Apparently, depletion of the adrenal gland, the one that deals with stress, is becoming an epidemic condition. Our very existence is stressful as we multitask our lives. Then when you add the "biggies" onto it: death, disease, job loss, breakup , etc., , most of us are lugging ourselves around, treating with coffee and other drugs just to get by.
Nobody I talked to wanted to even discuss the possibility and the more I read on it the more I felt that it would be a miracle that I WASN'T in adrenal exhaustion. Running a small nonprofit theatre company is REALLY stressful and the normal type A personality that got me straight A's and a National Merit Scholarship also means that my perpetual means of dealing with the world is "OK , what next?" The closest analogy is that I am always being in "two days before an exam mode." Then with a couple of big stress events..well, 'nough said.
So this finally explains why I sleep. And when I said sleep I mean I can sleep 10 hours if I can, and nap in between. I actually got diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnia. In other words- I sleep a lot and they didn't know why. A result of a segmented medical society.LEt's not look beyond the ends of our noses. (Do I sound frustrated?)
Any - there are a lot of pills in the future - herbs and minerals, vitamins, adrenal hormone replacement (hydrocortisone-not the bad kind) and various other things. And unfortunately I have been ordered (if I want to fix this) not to run- at least long distance. Short burst exercise is fine- but running is still stressful to the adrenal system. So - no half marathon in March.:-(
So to all of you that found my resistance to taking on projects or dealing with certain situations mystifying- this is notice. Stress management is not a joke at the moment - it's a life saver. If you ignore the body in this condition, there is collapse in the forecast. A prediction I'm loathe to admit because I've always viewed my body as being built for long endurance.
No more.
Meditation and yoga. Developing a nonstressed attidtude.
Om.

I've given in.

Well here I am - in the world of the blog.
I swore I would never do this because I am really divided about the whole concept of blogging. It seems a bit self indulgent really. The world seems to me to be filling with this weird concept that the highest aspiration in life is to be famous- or at least to heard by millions of people. It's kind of self aggrandizing to think that the world is dying to watch you in your bedroom (webcams) or to hear every thought you have.
And yet...here I am. I decided it would be easier for friends, relatives and people I haven't seen in years to see what I am up to rather than my writing in a holiday letter (eek!) or individually on each card (even worse).
And I'll announce right now after having gone back on that measly little paragraph and correcting things-that I am the world's worst typist. Even if I am looking at my fingers. I predict I will still have typos even after I check it. So don't say I didn't warn you.

So now to the meat of the matter (I thought I'd start with some Shakespeare since that is pretty much what I live and breathe)...
2007
I have discovered www.freerice.org. It's a website that purports to donate rice to poor countries if you guess correctly at the meaning of a word. And they may very well actually do that. However I am addicted because I am a word junkie. The highest level you can attain is 50. I've hit it a couple of times. I feel a little bad saying that - but the surprise (sham) would be if I didn't. Words are my life (as Emily Dickinson said)- They are my food. So I damn well SHOULD get 50 (apologies to Emma, if you read this).
Let's see also in this year-
Richmond Shakespeare won the Pollak Award for theater- a pretty prestigious award for various disciplines in the arts.
Books- The biggest influence on my life is "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'm on my fourth (fifth?) time.
Practices- I'm way into yoga and meditation now. Yoga was exercise for a long time. I knew the spiritual side was coming- and I've flipped into it. Part of it was the 3 days I spent at Yogaville (yes it's a funny name) an ashram down i Buckingham County. It was my detox coming out of the Will Power to Youth program and without knowing it I crossed some sort of divide there.
Housemates- I have 2 cats- Jean Luc and Isabel (I melded both my francophile and Star Trek addictions). They (the cats) eat almost everything. By that I mean watermelon, yogurt, granola, roasted beets, green beans and probably the funniest of all- fried tofu. Isabel particularly grabs a hunk and runs away protectively, growling as if protecting a newborn. They do say one's animals start to reflect their owners. I will not comment.
Movies- I am SO looking forward to Sweeney Todd being the Sondheim junkie (and I won't comment about Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman) that I am. However right now I am addicted to Love Actually. It's high on my Christmas movies now.
Songwriters/singers- Dan Fogelberg- rest in peace.
Just to catch up - I got a tattoo at 51 and ran my first (and at this moment only) half marathon. My thought is that I don't believe in aging - hence my identification with Tinkerbell. (I also believe in spreading magic) My strategy is that I want to do more as I get older. Not in stressful way - though God knows helping to run a small theater company provides plenty of that- but physically and mentally. I like seeing how far I can go.
Anyway - that's enough for now. Have to get to a -meeting. Theatre is not always glamorous. In fact it rarely is.
You'll notice that I've not talked more about Will Power. That's brought such a monumental change to both me and the company that I will devote an entire post to that.
See you all in the blogosphere!
Cynde