Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The UBBT

What has the UBBT done for me?

When I was approached about the UBBT, my initial reaction was WOW! this is really exciting. Then I went home and had time to think more about what would be involved, and what a commitment this was going to be. Thinking back, I feel the timing was perfect as I was really needing something new and challenging to focus on and the UBBT certainly has been that.

One of the biggest hurdles I have been faced with is public journaling. I am a very private person and to share myself publicly is a very uncomfortable and vulnerable position to be in. I have constantly struggled with this and although I have improved, I know I have more work ahead of me in this area.

The UBBT has been a blessing to me in simple ways that I have never really thought about until I had to put my thinking cap on and reflect on what is different from last year. For starters, it has helped me manage my time a little better as it has meant that I must factor into my schedule time for me. Although five minutes here and there may not seem like much, at the end of the day or week, it really did make a difference. It also made me realize that I was not being selfish to schedule some “me”. It has helped me to be less concerned about doing things because it is what others expected of me and now am happy with the outlook of “take me as I am”.

I have a whole new respect for vegetarians. The random acts of kindness made me become more aware of the little things that I was already doing and never thought about before, but also helped me to be more conscious about what was going on around me. I also become more aware of those instances when I am receiving an act of kindness from others.

I have also progressed to the stage where I no longer dread doing push-ups. I injured myself several years ago doing them incorrectly and after that even the thought of push-ups would make me cringe. I have had a couple of injuries this year, making it more challenging, but I must say I have tried not to use that as an excuse to stop doing them as that would only put me behind. I think the UBBT has shown me that one needs to be creative during an injury and that you don’t need to give up, you just need to adapt.

It seemed to give me a new focus, I was again excited to come to classes and was more engaged. I may not be where I hoped to be, but I have changed and that is definitely a step in the right direction and I plan to continue moving forward.

Eva Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Don't Assume

I read a brief article this morning that I really think sends a powerful message and wanted to share it. The article read as follows:

A brand-new Little League baseball coach called a friend for advice. The friend, who had coached everything from soccer to track with his kids, told him, “I always started by numbering the bases.”

The new coach was surprised. “What do you mean?”

The friend explained that the first year he coached Little League, he laid out the bases and had the kids line up. “To warm up, let’s have everybody jog around the base path. The first four kids too off towards third.”

“Ever since,” he said, “I’ve numbered the bases and explained that you have to run them in order. You’d be amazed at the number of kids who go from first to third by cutting across the pitcher’s mound.”

The moral: Never assume people know what’s obvious to you. Explain what they need to know.


This concept certainly is not relevant only to baseball, but to all aspects of our lives. It certainly has given me food for thought.


Sifu Dennis www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain, Alberta

Friday, September 11, 2009

Summer Projects

I can’t believe that it is already September. What happened to our summer???

Our project for this year was to refinish the outside of our house and garage. In the past we have been able to put the stain on with a spray gun, but this year we bought a different type of stain and the sprayer did not work. As a result we have been applying the stain with a brush. It is taking a lot longer and a lot harder on the arms.

One coat did not do the trick so we have had to put on a second coat. Although I have been spending every spare moment on the weekend and after work painting (weather permitting), the house and deck are not quite finished yet. Hopefully that will get done this coming weekend.

Having a two storey house means that I get the pleasure of climbing way up to paint the top of the house and fireplace chimneys. I must admit that I really, really don’t like heights and in fact as I get older, it seems that my fear of heights gets worse with each passing year. I am having to deal with that issue this year as there has been no choice if I want the top half of the house painted.

The garage isn’t started yet, but I guess I should look at what we accomplished, not what we haven’t. I can only hope we have a very long fall. I am determined that it is getting done this year so who knows, I may be painting in the snow.

I will keep my fingers crossed.

Summer Project

I can’t believe that it is already September. What happened to our summer???

Our project for this year was to refinish the outside of our house and garage. In the past we have been able to put the stain on with a spray gun, but this year we bought a different type of stain and the sprayer did not work. As a result we have been applying the stain with a brush. It is taking a lot longer and a lot harder on the arms.

One coat did not do the trick so we have had to put on a second coat. Although I have been spending every spare moment on the weekend and after work painting (weather permitting), the house and deck are not quite finished yet. Hopefully that will get done this coming weekend.

Having a two storey house means that I get the pleasure of climbing way up to paint the top of the house and fireplace chimneys. I must admit that I really, really don’t like heights and in fact as I get older, it seems that my fear of heights gets worse with each passing year. I am having to deal with that issue this year as there has been no choice if I want the top half of the house painted.

The garage isn’t started yet, but I guess I should look at what we accomplished, not what we haven’t. I can only hope we have a very long fall. I am determined that it is getting done this year so who knows, I may be painting in the snow.

I will keep my fingers crossed.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Round Four

Am I lucky or what? On Sunday morning I was up early as I had a very busy day ahead. First on the agenda was to feed the dogs and what did I come across, but one of the dogs (Sasha) had gotten into a porcupine. Again!. This must be a real good year for them (or a real bad year, depending on how you look at it) as this is the fourth time, and I hope the last time, that we have had to deal with this. This is the third time for Sasha.

She is a big dog and it is a real challenge to keep her down if she doesn’t really want to be there, especially as she had a very good idea what was going to be happening. My husband took the first shift of keeping her still and when I took over holding her down, I knew from past experience it was going to be a challenge. At first, I didn’t really think about how I was able to keep her still, but after a while I noticed that I was in a half guard position and my arm was such that she could not move her head and we were able to get the job done quickly. Kung fu is absolutely amazing and does play a role in all aspects of our lives, whether we realize it or not.

Sifu Dennis www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Time Out

I have great admiration for those who have scheduled a "down time or time out" into their week. That is one thing I keep planning to do but it just doesn't seem to happen.


I work full time and don't get home during the week until quite late in the evening, the weekends are when I try to catch up on everything I missed during the week. As the time passes, my list of things to do keeps getting longer and longer, as I am sure many people can relate.


The only way I will get some down time is if I schedule it into my week and stick to it. If I don't, time will keep passing and each spare moment will continue to be filled with another task.


Recently two of my sisters have had some very serious health issues and I know this is something I really need and recognizing it is half the battle. Now I just need to take that next step.


Sifu Dennis www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Excited

During the past few weeks I have been learning the Tai Chi Broadsword form and am really, really enjoying it. I live for Tai Chi and adding the broadsword form is just making it that much better.

Several years ago, I was learning the Tai Chi Broadsword form and I recall how much of a struggle it was for me. I can’t really put my finger on what the problem was, but I have heard many times to be patient and when the time is right, things will come together. This time, I am really amazed at how the form is making so much more sense and I can’t wait to learn the rest of the form.

Sifu Dennis www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Changing Roles

Isn’t life a strange? I was thinking about the different phases and changes in my life from childhood to the present. I remember many years ago when my parents were responsible and made decisions on many of the things I wanted to do, where I went, etc.

Now that my dad has passed on and my mom is in her mid-eighties and on her own, I find the tables have turned. She now calls me regularly for guidance and asks what I think with respect to most things in her day to day life. She is still capable of making her own decisions, but she doesn’t always consider the consequences of her actions and there are times when I have to come to her rescue and soothe some ruffled feathers. It is a lot harder now than when my sons were growing up or maybe it just seems like a lot more work. Who really knows.

Life is short and if it is within our power to make a difference in the quality of someone’s life and peace of mind, I feel it is our responsibility to step up to the plate and do whatever we can.

Eva Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Rest and Relaxation

I can’t believe how excited I was for the long weekend to come as I had great thoughts of taking time out and doing absolutely nothing but enjoy the peace and quiet. I have been feeling extremely drained for the past while and thought this might be a step in the right direction.

I visualized the weekend starting with one of my favorite things – Tai Chi and do whatever I felt like after that. No matter how I am feeling when I get to the Tai Chi class on Saturday, I always feel energized and ready to tackle anything at the end of it.

Well, my day started on track but after class I received a call and found out that I needed to do spring cleaning where my mom lives, so that covered Saturday. Oh well, I thought, no big deal as I have Sunday and Monday.

Early Sunday morning I was awakened with a wonderful surprise … Porcupine Quills!!! Our Irish Wolfhound, Misty, had found a porcupine or maybe it was the other way round, I am not sure. We have already had one encounter with a porcupine this year, but it was with one of our other dogs. I truly hope this is not a trend for the rest of the summer.

All I could think of was, I hope Misty doesn’t give us a hard time as there is no way we would be able to hold her down while pulling out the quills. She is almost three feet at the shoulders and weighs around 176 pounds, so she could certainly give us major grief if she wanted to. All I can say is she was absolutely amazing. Although she didn’t like what was happening, she laid quietly the whole time.

After that, there wasn’t any point in going back to bed so I went outside for the rest of the day and worked around the acreage. I must say, I really enjoyed the time out in the fresh air as it was a lovely day. That was until later when the weather turned nasty. First the rain and then the lovely snow. My, I love our unpredictable Alberta weather.

All in all, although it was not as uneventful as I had hoped, it still turned out to be a nice break.

Sifu Eva Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Monday, April 20, 2009

vacation

Taking a Break

I am so excited! I am just now finishing my packing as my son and I are leaving for the airport at 9:00 p.m. tonight and flying to Florida for a holiday. We will be going on a short cruise to the Bahamas and returning to Orlando, Florida where we will be spending several days before returning home.

My ride just arrived an hour early so I must run.

Sifu Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

VACATION

Taking a Break

I am so excited! I am just now finishing my packing as my son and I are leaving for the airport at 9:00 p.m. tonight and flying to Florida for a holiday. We will be going on a short cruise to the Bahamas and returning to Orlando, Florida where we will be spending several days before returning home.

My ride just arrived an hour early so I must run.

Sifu Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Time Passing Quickly

Life certainly seems to be changing before my eyes and the years are passing by rapidly. There seems to be too many things I would like to do and not enough time to do them in.

It doesn’t seem like it was that many years ago that I was run off my feet trying to balance getting the boys to whatever sport or event they needed to be at, attending school meetings, keeping the household functioning and working full time. Well, the guys no longer need me to get around, but I still don’t have a lot of extra time. It seems like other things just seem to fill in the gap. I now have elderly parents to shuttle here and there and ensure their needs are being met.

I realize my injuries don’t heal as quickly as they used to and some of the injuries I had years ago are coming back to haunt me now. I am trying to stay positive and keep trying to work out a way to better manage my days so I can include some of those things that I really what to try before I am too old or no longer have the energy to enjoy them.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

What a Start

April 1st started out very interesting. I am normally up by 4:00 a.m. and this morning started out no different than any other morning. My routine starts with letting the dogs out and around 4:30 they usually want back in. When I let them in the Irish Wolfhound cross who prefers to stay outside was the first one in the house and that should have been my first clue that something was up. My son, who gets up around the same time I do, asked me what the dog had on her face and when I looked, what a surprise .... she had had an encounter with a porcupine.
As we recently adopted her, I had no idea how she was going to react when we started pulling out the quills. She is not fully grown but is about 29 inches at the shoulders and weighs over 100 pounds so she could be a real handful if she put her mind to it. I was just hoping she was not like our border collie, who is a real sweetheart but when it comes to removing porcupine quills .... watch out. Although she certainly didn't like it, she didn't give us too much trouble.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that dogs keep away from the porcupines.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Filling In

Very interesting work experience this week. One of the largest senior facility sites where I work undertook a full day training for all their staff. Normally staff training takes place in smaller groups settings due to staff coverage. This site alone has close to 50 staff and to try a full day training with skeleton staff covering and I might add, some of the staff (me included) have not worked or used some of the large kitchen equipment used in these kitchens.
Strange enough, I was really looking forward to seeing and doing first hand what some of the staff do and experience on a daily basis. We had to show up at the site for 8:00 a.m. for an orientation and training on the various equipment, depending on where we would be working. I chose to work in the kitchen so I had to have a clear understanding of the health and safety issues, proper food handling, equipment use, which sanitizing chemicals to use where and How to use the equipment. I was instructed that at 10:00 a.m. after the breakfast cleaning rush was over, I needed to drain the dishwasher and take it apart and give it a thorough cleaning. As instructed, at the appointed time, I started to take the dishwasher apart and one of my co-w0rkers was totally amazed that I appeared to know what I was doing. I must say there is an awful lot that one must know and practices and procedures that must be followed for each and every position.
It was an extremely hectic and very physically demanding day. I found out first hand that one needs to be extremely organized and constantly on the move when working in the area I was in. I wish I would have had a pedometer as I bet I walked many, many miles that day.
I must say that the staff are totally amazing and very caring people and I now have a new insight and appreciation for how hard they truly work.
The experimental training day turned out to be very successful and who knows, maybe I will have another opportunity to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
Sifu Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Monday, March 16, 2009

On the Move

I work for a non-profit organization that provides housing to seniors with a very fixed income. The facilities are well taken care of and the residents enjoy excellent meals, activities, outings and much more. One of our sites is undergoing some major elevator renovations and the residents are required to temporarily move while this is going on. Alternate accommodations have been provided and all moving arrangements are being taken care of for the residents with the least amount of disruption in mind.
There are a number of us who have volunteered to help the seniors in their transition from their home to their temporary home-away-from-home.
A lot of thought and effort has been put into ensuring the move for the residents is conducted with the least amount of disruption. The temporary site was decorate to welcome the residents upon their arrival. It kept us on our toes ensuring no one left anything they will be needing behind, setting up their new rooms and ensuring everything got delivered to the proper room. Each resident was provided with an orientation of the new site, shown how everything worked and where everything was located.
The main objective is to ensure the residents settle in comfortably. Most viewed the move as a "vacation" and made the transition quite well. A few had a bit of difficulty with change and extra care was required to ensure they settled in.
Once the renovations are complete, the residents will be moved back in. A couple of other sites will be undergoing the same type of renovations so the residents at those locations will need to be temporarily relocated in the same manner.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Progressing Wisely

I thought last Friday's class was really super. I have been having a lot of issues with my hip, especially over the last while, so have been cautious and pacing my kicks. Well, on Friday I was feeling pretty good (or so I thought) so I ignored the subtle signs my body was giving me and gave it my best shot with the various kicks we were doing. I paid for my enthusiasm all weekend and throughout this week. I have been going to bed as soon as I get home from work and that just not like me. It's very difficult to hang back when surrounded by such an energetic group who "can fly through the air with the greatest of ease" so to speak.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Helping Hand

I was really looking forward to taking some time out during the Family Day long weekend to do a bit of relaxing, spending time with my family and getting some of the things done that I have not had time to do.
Shortly before the weekend someone I met through a friend is expecting a baby very shortly and as she is single, she wanted to move closer her family for support. When I heard that she was moving into an apartment that needed a lot of cleaning up and she, along with her mom and dad, were going to do it alone, I volunteered to help out. I know her mom and dad are not very healthy and could use the extra hands. When I got there on Saturday, I was speechless to say the least as it was far worse than I could have ever imagined. There was no way anyone could bring a new baby into the apartment in the condition it was in.
I spent the next couple of days disinfecting and washing out every corner, wall and fixture I could get my hands on. I do not even want to think about what was encountered when cleaning the freezer and fridge, but I must say the end result was worth every minute of scrubbing that went into getting it clean. There is still a lot of work, like putting up shelves, etc, but it looks so much better.
At the end of the weekend, my hands were raw and sore from scrubbing and my body ached from the workout it got but it felt really good to lend a helping hand.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Working Together

Once again last night's Black Belt Promotion ceromony was very inspirational and gives one food for thought. Many thanks to those who made this year's event the success it was. These events take a group effort and it was wonderful to see how, once again, the "Silent River Kung Fu" family pulled together when needed. Sure, every event has its malfunctions, but if everything went perfectly and without a hitch, I don't think we would appreciate the outcome nearly as much.
I am very proud to be associated with such a wonderful group of individuals. Way to Go Team!
Eva Dennis
Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta
Canada

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Patience

As I read through other blogs, I find myself really relating to them, but there was one that really spoke to me at at this particular time due to some personal health and injury issues I have been trying to work through. Some of those injury issues are as a result of, for many years, not list


I accept when others have injuries and take care while they are healing, but I have very little patience with myself when it comes to working wisely through an injury. When I was younger I didn't pay attention when I heard those words of wisdom ..."if you don't slow down and take care of yourself, you are going to pay for it when you get older". I now know what they were trying to tell me, but I wish I would have listened then. I am having hip and lower spine issues that are getting far worse, rather than better. My hip is not the only probelm area, but it is the one that is screaming at me the most right now. I find after classes, I am guaranteed that I will have very little sleep for at least a couple of nights following. I do not traditionally get a lot of sleep at best and these restless nights are definitely taking their toll.


I admire how those around me are in such good shape and working so hard and in my eyes, seem to be able to do anything. I often hear myself saying "I should be able to do that, I could before". No one wants to admit that they are getting older and their body, in many instances, may not be able to do what it did years ago. As my father used to say "you are not getting older... you are getting better. The key is to never give up and enjoy the challenge of finding what works for each of us." What a wise man he was.





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