Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

20 Years ago "On behalf of my most beautiful wife, Sally and myself, I'd like to thank you all for being here today. Special thanks go to all those of you who have worked very hard to make and arrange this event and to those of you who have traveled very long and very far to be here today. You may have noticed, on the outside, Sally and I are very different and have different backgrounds; but on the inside, Sally and I are very alike. We can relate to how each other thinks and feels - which is why we are here today. So, on behalf of my wife Sally and myself, I would like to thank Allah for bringing two like souls together despite the outer appearances, and I would also like to thank both our families for accepting the new family member so kindly despite the outer differences." True then as it is now. The paper he is holding? My hubby's hand-written notes from 20 years ago: But you want wedding pictures right?  Outside the mosque, be...

Short post! What health and fitness advice is there for ME?  Do you ever feel like there is a lot of wellness inspiration and information for much younger men and women and also for much older people, but maybe not so much for those of us who are not quite either of those? Fit couple  I don't fall into this category of fitness. This is something else. Senior couple But neither to I fall into the category on the left - I am not quite that senior. Is it just me who thinks there no middle ground of health and fitness practices between the ages of 30 and 60? And I am talking about photos, health goals even exercise regime for those of us who are not the 20 or 30 year olds with rock hard abs, nor are we in the 60 plus age group...yet. I started thinking about this when my friends asked me about my regime after I posted out my fitness photoshoot. See that post here It seems that a lot of advice is tailored to either end of the spectrum b...

Will the bears find the answer in that book? Dunno, but we should all be reading. Question of the day   I am a big fan of my local public library.  They rotate the books from other branches, they get new books all the time, they do events for the community like storytime, steeped in books, book clubs, French storytime, amongst other things. They do the best they can with what they have but since I am very greedy I want more! More magazines! More recent books! More space! But, I can't complain because we just opened our magnificent Central Library downtown Austin. Back to my question. I recently went to my public library website to place a hold on a new dystopion science fiction book by a popular author, not known for this genre. I noticed something quite eye-catching. 2 holds on 26 copies (Physical book) 74 holds on 25 copies (ebook) A whole lot more readers were interested in getting the book for their eReaders than a physical copy. I like my eReader becau...

First post of 2018 Making the leap into 2018 The year in review This will be a short post. Nothing earth-shattering in this post except to say that 2017 has been quite a year. As a Muslim immigrant woman of colour it was an emotionally disturbing, frustrating and stressful year, and continues to be. I have learned many things about people, attitudes and the political system in America. To be sure I feel much wiser than I did before, in the vein of "the scales have fallen from my eyes." There has been so much human suffering from natural disasters and mass shootings;  war; international tensions; weather extremes and increasing schisms in American society and worldwide. I  am very glad to leave 2017 behind and I worry about what I am leaving for the children of the world. What will 2018 bring? I don't make New Year's resolutions, at best I may have an idea of big swathes of what I would like to accomplish but usually nothing specific. This year, I cou...

Kids doing pushups. It's hilarious. I'd put pictures but it would be of other people's children, so I am thinking that would not be so awesome. Instead I had my son pose. From my observations of those new to our karate class and warmup, the kids' pushups fall into a few different categories: The bottom in the air What not to do - pushup with bottom in the air That's what the top of the motion looks like when they do this. The bottom of the motion is closer to more what the start position should be! The hip on the floor In this one, the hips and top of thighs stay on the ground but the elbows bend. So that's good, the elbows bend? It's not correct, but at least the elbows bend? What not to do - pushup with the hip on the floor The head bob I don't have pictures of this one. Liam got tired of doing pushups incorrectly and was highly suspicious of me taking pictures so he declined to do more. "Mama are you going to show peo...

Last year marked 5 years since I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer and since I am currently a household officer/ I made a list of things I'd been thinking of doing, but never got around to. I really like lists! The past year was about: Being purposeful Experimenting.  I think I'll just continue that way. As I explained in my original post,  50-things-to-do-this-year   , these are not so big, not so small, and not too many. My list of 50 things to do this year (Partial) Completed In progress Not Started, Recent changes in red Visit Enchanted Rock. Climb Mt. Bonnell steps. Sunset while dining at Oasis. I hear the view is great. Watch Sound of Music with the family. High Tea. Celebrate with friends I've made through work. Celebrate with sister survivors. Celebrate with my mommy and neighbourhood friends. Celebrate with my Zanshin (karate) family. Celebrate with friends I've made through my husband's work. Get some fitness photos-  ...

The kind that only interracial couples encounter. Awww mixed race couple   I've been married now for quite some time, so I do forget that we are in fact a mixed race couple and some people may be surprised when they see us together. Child without an owner When my son Lucas was young, we lived in a suburb St. Louis. The winters were cold and long. What to do with a small child? Take him to the mall and let him run around of course! Picture it when Papa took him: one little coloured child running around with no coloured person in sight. The people in the mall were befuddled. They did not know what to do with this child who had no owner. Should they intervene? Grab the kid? They certainly did a lot of looking around and swiveling! This was a predominantly (white) suburb, so not many coloured folks out there to even assign my child to a random but like-coloured stranger. It happens all the time. If our sons wanted to pretend like they did not know their dad, they could ...

Fitness after stage III breast cancer Plank on ball in silhouette Why a fitness shoot? I am not a fitness model, nor am I ripped like one, but I wanted to do a fitness shoot for a few different reasons: 1. As a reminder of how far I have come At the 5-year anniversary of my diagnosis of stage III breast cancer, it seemed a good time to remind myself how far I have come since I went through the trauma of diagnosis and treatment. That no matter how low I felt at the time, I came through it. Not all my sisters made it and many are still struggling today (shout out to my IV-leagers - those living with stage IV,  EVERY DAY). 2. As a reminder of how much the body can do It is a moment for me to acknowledge that while there are things I still cannot do, there are things I could not do when I first started lifting weights, that I can do now and THAT is amazing to me. When I first started weight lifting maybe I could do shoulder presses with 7.5 lbs, now I can do more t...

Retargeting? Remarketing? It's all in the cookie. Sponsored Ad for Kirkus Reviews Ads following you? I am sure you have noticed that you are on one site and then next thing you know the very thing you were looking at starts showing up as "Sponsored Ads" on other websites you visit. Facebook is a prime example of where ads follow me. I had just been looking at where I could get a review of my book, you know the one I've been talking about writing since forever? Well, since I encourage myself to dawdle and delay and not actually WRITE, it seemed a good idea to look at how to get a Kirkus review for my non-existent book. Retargeting or remarketing, regardless of what you call it, it seems creepy to me. Interest-based advertising This is the world of interest-based advertising apparently. You show an interest  in something and then pay the price afterwards.  Everywhere that Google Ads are served is fair game to give you that "nudge" to buy...

Pigeon Point, Tobago - My new profile pic! Blogger vs Google+ ? Creating a brand? My head is spinning! You may notice that I've updated my profile picture, both here as well as on my social media accounts. I've also moved away from the CEO Human Capital blog name and embraced the persona "Austin Trini". Please update your bookmarks accordingly (because I know you have my site bookmarked if not subscribed to receive my feed the instant I post). Why change? When I first started as CEO, Family Human Capital, I had just become the stay-at-home parent/homemaker/domestic executive. I was in charge of the family human capital: my children. By now, I have to admit to myself (and yes to the world), that I have succumbed to the twin evils of laziness and selfishness. Laziness because I am not improving their human capital at all (and if you ask them, I am in fact doing the opposite of that). Frankly, as my children get older, I am less and less able to inf...

Starting Martial Arts as an Adult? Have you been thinking of starting martial arts, but think you are too old? Already in your 30's ? 40's? Don't worry about it, just start! It does not matter if it is jiu jitsu, taekwando or any other flavour of martial arts. Here are the top 6 things I've learnt in my 2+ years. 1. Find/Keep the courage It is not easy to get started and/or it is easy to talk yourself out of the idea. I mean, how many adults do you see now starting out? (Not many.) I started in my 40's and there were only a few adults learning karate. I believe it is more common for practictioners to start as children and continue through to adulthood rather than start as an adult. I am part of a family program of a mix of adults and children so I can do the class with my kids, in addition to separate "Adult" classes. (In the adult class,  I appreciate not having to do extra pushups because a student didn't say "Yes Sir" or ...

Driving in a 3rd world country On my last trip to Trinidad, I was finally able to articulate why I am so reluctant to drive there. When I first moved to the U.S I did drive in Trinidad whenever I went back, but after a few years, I would always go back during the summer school vacation and my brother, who is a school teacher, would graciously drive us around. This time, school was in session, and while I could have borrowed the car, I declined, choosing instead to ground my sons and I.  In a hot house. Why? Ahhh.. De Reflexes an' de Roads Long story short - I feel I no longer have the reflexes required to function safely and successfully on the Trinidad roads.  Yes, my reflexes have been dulled by the well-behaved Austin drivers, smooth roads and relatively well-organized transportation system. Also, you drive on the left in Trinidad. So now I move into a little Trini to capture the essence of my adventures. Picture it. Yuh drivin' along, an' yuh busy try...