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JOIN BODY ELECTRIC AS WE CELEBRATE
THE 19TH ANNUAL NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY!

This year's theme is "More Than a Game," pointing to the many physical, emotional and social benefits of sports participation. The Day is celebrated on the second Wednesday of February each year, but Body Electric celebrates all month long!

• Monday, February 7: Body Electric, in partnership with the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, will award our 8th annual $1,000 Body Electric Athletic Scholarship to a local female high school senior.

Body Electric's volunteer training is just around the corner!

Join us in providing education, advocacy, opportunity and fun for women and girls in south Santa Barbara County!

Help plan and implement Adventure Club activities, our annual High Five! Celebrity Waiter Dinner, or our Women's FitFest.

If you prefer to be in the background, your support is critical in areas like fundraising, PR, writing for The Buzz, helping with mailings, and a multitude of other opportunities.

Call 569-7144 *1 for more details, or e-mail lisa@bodyelectric-sb.org.

We look forward to partnering with you in achieving Body Electric's mission and goals!

ELLEN'S JOURNAL

Part one and the first in a series, the following is an excerpt of the journal of Ellen Durham, a woman who works full time, volunteers for Body Electric, and is starting a new business on the side.

With our journal series we bring you the challenges and accomplishments of an average woman: someone who, like all of us, balances a life full of work, play, friends, family and occasional struggle.

We hope you find inspiration in their daily endeavors, and perhaps decide to try something new and challenging yourself!

Hi, my name is Ellen, and I work too much at a computer sales job that involves a lot more travel than I’d like. I have trouble taking time to myself. I am learning how to balance my life and I think way too much.

I decided to take responsibility for my fitness when I woke up this year and discovered that I didn’t like the way I felt.

My fitness goal is to participate in fitness of some kind and stay with it consistently ­ if I get the perky features along the way, all the better ­ but for my sanity I need something consistent.

I feel like I try new things all the time and nothing sticks, and somehow I want to find some kind of peace with working out and balancing my life and stress.

I want to be healthier for me, and keeping a journal is a good way to keep me honest.

Join me on my journey and let’s see how I do. I have set up an email in case you want to reach out to me: ellen@girlgonegeek.com.

October 18th - No chance to work out today! The dog couldn’t be left with the cleaning lady because she lunges at the vacuum cleaner. I can’t leave her in the yard on Monday because the gardener is frightened of dogs, too.

I am left in the office with the dog, trying to master the chaos of working and ignoring all outside external noises.

By the time the cleaning lady leaves and the gardener wraps up, I shower and head back into the office. Eight hours spent on nothing, when I have still to complete expense reports, testing for my next level of work and trying to infiltrate my latest account while extracting myself from the current one.

No dinner, just quick snack food, and I think I may have eaten lunch twice in my confusion.

October 24th - I have been struggling with work. I am having trouble getting involved with the team and making a difference. I hope that by being in the Bay Area this next week that I will be able to net out a clear direction to take and focus on that.

WEV’s self-employment training program has been getting smoother ­ but it is so hard to change from where I am to where I want to be without as much support as I need from the people around me.

The asthma seems to be subsiding. It’s a huge relief to not wake up gasping.

I am looking forward to rebuilding my strength and getting back into walking and working out. It has been hard to go to the gym and be gasping for air while working out. It feels good to breathe again.

October 30th - I have not heard back from my personal trainer in over two weeks. I think I am going to skip the trainer and try to get more self motivated.

I am not feeling very supported at home, and the comments of “you should go to the gym more” have a double effect. I love my partner and I know he is looking out for my best interest, but I also feel like it is a giant commentary on my body and that it needs work.

November 14 th- Arose at the crack of dawn and took shuttle to airport. Spent the whole day flying.

I arrive in Florida happy to see my family, and though I slept on the plane I can’t seem to get my bearings after traveling for nine hours straight. We had dinner and that was it for the evening.

November 15 th- By the time the family gets dressed and out of the condo it is close to 10:00, and we have breakfast at IHOP.

I dread the fact we are eating there but with so little to go on from the day before and the lack of any recognizable restaurant that is not a chain, we opt for this one. I mean how can you mess up eggs, right?

We leave the restaurant and head straight to the grandfolks place.

We chat and meet and then take them to lunch. Nothing seems to be close to them because it is nearly an hour before we arrive at the restaurant. I have to say I have never been so thankful to see iceberg lettuce as I was then.

I had soup and salad for lunch and then we all went for a walk around the neighborhood. I felt like I was off to a good start by not letting the schedule over take my ability to work out a bit.

November 16th - We went sightseeing - lots and lots of walking. I walked up 286 steps to the top of a lighthouse and strolled for hours around the alligator exhibits.

November 17th - I got up at 5:00 a.m. Florida time to arrive in Chicago around noon. I am handed a turkey sandwich as I arrive and whisked into a large room to start the meetings.

We remain in meetings till 7:00 p.m. and from there are taken to a banquet room where pizza is in the center of the room with salad. It is iceberg lettuce again.

I am now beginning to think that California is the only state that does not use it in the large supply I keep seeing everywhere else.

November 18th - I managed to get up and eat breakfast. They have fresh fruit, scrambled eggs and tomato juice.

The day ends at nearly 11:00 p.m. and I am so tired I am mean. I want nothing to do with being social anymore and my dinner, which consisted of iceberg lettuce salad and pasta, is awful.

November 21st - I am home, home, home! I was so tired last night I have little recollection of picking up the dog. She is here with me and she doesn’t drive, so I must have!

November 23rd - I have been madly packing for NY; Ray says that I will be cold there and I want to make sure I am comfortable.

November 27th - I have spent the day meeting people. I got a short walk in and then got dressed for a wedding.

November 29th - Baseball Hall of Fame day.

I lingered in the women’s section - they have a large room, which is cool to look at, and quite a bit of stuff that the women wore and used. It was nice to see women in baseball getting some acknowledgement that they kept the sport going during the war.

November 30th - Ugh, we drove back to the city. We saw Hairspray tonight, and walked to dinner with friends. I love the walking in the city and I am so happy to be rid of the rental car!

December 1st - We walked over and saw a matinee Broadway show. Great show, and it was nice to be out of the rain. Then we walked to the subway and met some other friends for dinner.

December 2nd - Yeah, day at the art museum! It was lovely - a whole day at the art museum! And more walking!

Despite all this walking I still feel like it is not enough and I long to go back to a more focused walking. The hotel has a gym but they want $25.00 to use it and so we have been just walking.

December 4th - Back home! Laundry again.

December 6th- I went for a walk yesterday and then again today with my walking partner.

We keep trying to schedule time to walk and now we just call and say, “I am walking in ten minutes - can you make it?” The lack of notice seems to work better for us.

We did the hills behind the house and stayed out walking for about an hour! It was nice. Then I had a root canal, and I have been tired and fuzzy since. It’s only 8:30 and I am going to bed.

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