Busy times

March at a glance....

• Miraloma Coop auction:  It was an awesome time again.  We spent too much money (basically giving money to our daughter's preschool in exchange for some cool stuff!)
• Starr King Elementary auction:  Different vibe.  Different school.  But super-cool day.  I love, love Simone's new school.  Plus, I think it's awesome that she has the opportunity to learn another language at such a young age.  Love her school, her teacher, her classmates and their families.  Overall awesomeness!
• Work Trip to Chicago.  I miss my old town.  I was at an IR convention where I got to mingle with my customers, catch up with co-workers, and eat out at fabulous restaurants.  Bonus: I got to have dinner with my Aunt who happened to be there on business too.  That's my kind of town, for sure.

This may not seem like a lot, but March sure was a busy month.  I'm glad to be getting back to a somewhat normal schedule.  I want to do more knitting, more exercising, and finish my spring cleanse!  See you around.

Why I want to teach yoga?

I’ve practiced and studied yoga for 14 years.  During this time, I’ve thought a lot about what I wanted to do with my life.  I’ve considered medical school, business school; I’ve wanted to be a high school science teacher, work in development for a non-profit, and also to be a yoga teacher.  Of all of these professional pursuits, the only desire that has remained consistent over the years has been that of being a yoga teacher.  I love yoga.  I love sharing yoga with others.  I love studying yoga.  It has offered me a path, an experience, a way of living that has stayed with me throughout all of the exploring in my 20’s and continues to inspire me throughout my 30’s.  This isn’t a fleeting passion.

Being a yoga teacher will allow me to continue my deep exploration of yoga and to learn   from others who are on the path.

At this point, I’m not interested in teaching several classes a week in different studios across the Bay area.  I’m interested in weaving this desire to teach into my life more organically.  I would love to set up a class for friends maybe starting once a month.  As my confidence and knowledge about teaching increases, I trust that the universe will present more opportunities.

Calm

Ahh, spring.  Thank you for making your way here.  Even though I'm dosing up on echinacea, herbs, honey and tea, I still think that I'm coming down with a cold.  Perhaps it'll be fleeting.  I sure hope so.

I feel like I need to follow up my last post with an update.  All is well.  Really.  This week was back to normal.  I went to work, attended our monthly preschool meeting, practiced yoga.  Besides the small illness, it was perfect-ly normal.  I'm beginning to enjoy that.  Really.  :)

Last week, I visited with a childhood friend.  While I was there (she lives in SoCal,) I asked to make an appointment with her friend who is a hypnotherapist.  My friend suggested it several times over the past couple of years because of my desire to end my CPD (I promise not to talk about that in EVERY post, but it couldn't be avoided.)  This time I was ready.  As I previously stated, I want to end my addiction and this is just one tool in my arsenal to equip myself. 

I didn't know what it would be like.  I didn't discuss the details of the session prior to getting there, nor did I do research about it online.  Part of me wanted to experience it with a fresh, open mind.  I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but I was in the most relaxed state that I've ever been in.  In.  My.  Life.  I don't feel the blood pulsing through my body any more.  If I begin a nervous habit, when I catch myself, I can stop it.  By no means do I want you to think this was a panacea for all of my issues.  Ha!  If I could be so lucky.  But it now provides me another option for relaxing.  I feel like it was a missing piece of the puzzle.

Life does feel more calm.  This too, I know, is a part of life.  Just like the craziness.  Calm.  Crazy.  Calm.  Calm.  Calm.

Craziness

I'm not quite sure how to write everything that has been happening coherently, so I'll give it all to you in bullet point.

• I made it to day 12 of tackling my CPD.  Then I failed, and failed again, and failed again.  But now, I'm back on track.  I'm on day 2 today, Friday.
• I noticed that my triggers to CPD are anxiety, worry, nervousness.  I found out last week that a cousin was in the hospital because she OD'ed.  I was crazy worried about her and her 3 children.  Yes, 3 children, the oldest is 14 years old.  It's hard for me because I live thousands of miles away from my family, but I feel like I should still be able to do something to help.  Someone tell me what to do and I'll do it.  Honestly.  I somehow want to ease the burden, for her and for her children.
• I was also worried about my Grandma.  Her sister passed away last week.  And while I knew my great-aunt, I knew that she'd likely pass away soon.  My Grandma isn't taking it too well.  She's also ill herself; she has kidney failure and needs to be on a strict diet to get well and feel well. But she's not doing it.  I worry for her.  I want her to feel well and be healthy.  I want to ease her burden.
• During this time of worrying, my face broke out and a test of all of my will came to the surface.  I just could not stop touching my face in habitual nervousness.  I couldn't stop thinking about the pimple on my face.  I know it's gross; it's not a topic to discuss, but it's very serious ya'll.  I got a dose of what it's like to be an addict.  Thankfully, my addiction is only CPD, it could be worse.  And trust me, I understand it.  It's by far the hardest thing that I've had to try to change about myself...everything else seems easy.  I know this sounds so dramatic and I guess in a way it is, but it's my life.  Every little detail and every BIG detail.
• One would think with all of the yoga and meditation that I do, I could relax.  But, I can't.  I'm consciously aware of just how up-tight I really am.  Good lord, what would I be like without my yoga and meditation practice?  Om Namah Shivaya! :)
• On a happier note.  I know this is all a phase.  The worrying, the stress, the nervousness.  This too shall pass.  Just be in it, touch it, feel it and let it be.  Then, let it go.  I just sometimes want it to happen sooner than the emotions are ready.... sigh.
• My darling daughter will be 6 years old tomorrow.  Wow, I can't believe how quickly she's growing up.  She's a kind-hearted, beautiful girl.  Happy Birthday ESW!

Knitting

I've been knitting for a few years now.  It doesn't seem like it has been that long, but if I really think about it it's probably been 3 years or so.  I love knitting.  It's relaxing and calming to my nervous system.  Even though I follow others patterns, I still feel very creative and inspired when I knit.  It's pretty darned amazing that I can take a piece of string and turn it into something beautiful.

I knitted and felted* this bag a couple of years ago.  I lined the inside of the bag and the strap with fabric.  I used the bag for a few months and all of my stitches started to come out.  When it started to look too ragged, I put it in my closet and vowed to fix it later.  Later never came.  I decided to employ my local seamstress and asked her to repair all of my stitching and to add the fabric flower to the front.  I love how it came out!  I finally get to use my bag again. 

*I know that it's technically not called felting.  But I can't remember what it IS called.  A quick Google search wasn't coming up with it either.

You can see a little of the lining and strap in this photo.

I recently took photos of a few other projects too.  Here they are:

Bonus:  Knitting occupies my hands, keeps them busy, so I don't continue bad habits like my CPD!  Today was the 6th day of my habit changing challenge.

Up next on the habit-change list

I've been reading a lot from Leo Babauta about changing habits.  Have you read anything from him?  One of his blogs, www.zenhabits.net, is all about it!  He's changed a laundry list of habits over the past few years; he stopped smoking,  lost weight, and changed his eating patterns and became vegan.  I'm impressed at how he's been able to create the life that works best for him.

Last month, I was trying to stick to a $100 personal item spending budget AND tried the 21-day Yoga challenge.  I didn't practice asana yoga for 21 consecutive days, but I was pretty darn close.  And, as stated in my last post, I kinda-sorta made the $100 budget goal.  Neither were total wrecks, but neither are they "habits" for me.

According to Leo, there are 3 steps to change a habit:
1)  Write down your plan.
2)  Identify your triggers and replacement habits.
3)  Focus on doing the replacement habits every single time the triggers happen, for about 30 days.

Certainly seems easy enough.  After going through my laundry list of habits I'd like to change, I decided that there was one that I was ready to tackle head on.  I debated for the last week, if I'd have the courage to actually type it and reveal it here.  You see, it's very personal and the more I read about it, the more embarrassed I become.  This bad habit I have has a clinical name, a very scientific sounding name, Dermatillomania.  Compulsive Skin Picking.  CSP.  It's embarrassing.  I want to quit.  I hate that I have been doing this to myself for the last 25 years. 

It was only in my latest research that I realized just how many other people in the world have this same problem.  That I'm not alone.  The first time I voiced my problem in public was about 4 or 5 months ago when I was on a meditation retreat.  We got together with a partner and our instruction was to have one person listen while the other person stated all of the things that they were afraid of.  When the talker paused and didn't think they had anymore to say, the listener was to say, "thank you.  What else are you afraid of?"  We did this for about 4-5 minutes each.  In the first few minutes, I said I was afraid of dogs, big open spaces of water, etc.  It was in the very last stretch that the "real" fears came up.  I said without really thinking about it that I was afraid I'd never be able to stop picking at my face.  It was a deeply personal fear and one that I had never spoken to anyone about.  Not like this.

Since then, I've spoken about it with others.  I mentioned it in another small group discussion a few weeks ago at a retreat and one of the other women said that she had the same problem in the past, but that she did overcome the habit.  She had gorgeous skin!  My wheels started to turn again.  I, too, could defeat this.  I needed to come up with a plan and gather support to help me conquer this addiction, bad habit, horrible thing that I do to myself.  So here it is.

1)  Write down my plan.  I will STOP my compulsive picking.  At my face, my arms, chest, and back.  I will not get my face or body close to a mirror.
2)  Identify my triggers and replacement habits.  Triggers:  boredom, stress, anxiety.  When I find myself with my hands on my body, scratching or picking, I will remove them.  I will rub hand lotion on my hands.  I will pick up my knitting.  I will read a book.  I will engage in conversation with my children.  I will also place a note on my mirrors of how many days that I have successfully NOT picked as encouragement.
3)  Focus on doing the replacement habits every single time the triggers happen, for about 30 days.  OK.  Today is day 3.  I have successfully completed 2 days.

Thank you for supporting me.  This is a very difficult thing to do and more difficult to share and talk about.

Changing Habits

It's hard to change habits.  I've been working on two this month.  The first was to spend only $100. (The second was to build a daily home yoga practice...more on that in another post.)  When I started, I gave myself all kinds of rules.  Co-pays, doctors visits, yoga, ayurveda, meditation....none of those would count towards my $100 allotment because they were all health-related.  Is there really a price tag that I can put on my health?  But as the month went on, I started to talk myself out of that rationalization.  I can rationalize anything.  And I seriously mean ANYTHING!

The reason that I wanted to write about it and share it with the few of you that actually read my rantings is to be held accountable.  Here is how it's shaking out so far:

$6.56  almond oil:  This is a carrier oil for the essential oils that I have.  Not really an "essential" health item, though I could conjure up a good argument!
$7.00  burrito & taquitos:  By not planning, I bought this food out one night.
$2.00 muni fare:  bus ride home from the yoga journal conference..luckily Larry dropped me off and picked me up most days.
$10.00 class chage fee:  I changed my mind and decided to take a second class with Cyndi Lee at the YJC.  This was money very well spent.
$1.00 parking meters:  I could rationalize this too, but decided to include it in the end.
$58.00 meditation retreat:  Again, I wanted to discount this, but decided in the end not to.
($100.00 meditation retreat:  This one is debatable.  I received a surprise $100 gift card in the mail from work because we were above and beyond our targets for last year.  Technically, I spent it on the retreat, but I'm giving myself a freebie here since it miraculously showed up at my door a few days before the retreat!)
$4.00 muni fare:  unexpected money spent on the train during the meditation retreat
$9.80 lunch with friends:  at the last minute I decided to have lunch with friends even though I brought my lunch with me.
$25.00 dharma talk:  I post-dated the check to next Friday so that it wouldn't count in spending for this month, but Larry says that is cheating.  Argh!  I thought I was being smart:)

Total spent: 
$223.36
- $100 from my magical gift card = $123.36
-$25 from my post-dated check = $98.36 spent

So with all of my justifications, I'm doing well.  I still have $1.64 left.  Without it, I failed.  Habits are hard to change.  But changing my bad habit of justifying everything is proving to be more difficult.  I'm going to let this info sit and stew within myself for a few days and come back with more of a game plan. 

 What do you think?  How have you changed habits?  Do you have any tips for me?

Yoga Journal Conference

               Seane Corne: kind, accessible, full of love, compassionate, activist

Sharon Gannon:  committed, passionate, unique, activist

 Gary Kraftsow:  intellectual, wise, focused, "Om Jyoti Aham - I am light"

 Sarah Powers: eloquent, mindful, soft, "Om Mani Padme Om"

 Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa:  light, love, bright radiant energy, ecstatic dance, movement, amazing

 Cyndi Lee:  integration, humor, love, kindness, accessible, mindful, aware

I am grateful to Zobha for the opportunity to attend the Yoga Journal Conference this past weekend.  It surpassed every hope and expectation that I had prior to attending.  I am filled with inspiration and love after soaking in the wisdom and energy of all of these wonderful teachers.  I took a picture with every one of my teachers as a personal photo journal of the weekend.  At times, I was embarrassed to ask for a photo, but now that I'm looking back and reflecting on my weekend, I am glad that I did.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

More Yoga

I spent the day today at the Yoga Journal conference.  I am amazed at how lucky I am.  I got to meet and attend an all day intensive with Cyndi Lee.  Here's a picture of us:

 I especially wanted to meet her and take a class with her because she has studied meditation and Buddhism in the same lineage that I have been studying for the past year and half.  It was a grounding experience for me.  Yoga and meditation practice may sound like they go hand in hand (and they do), but it was especially interesting to hear both practices taught together.  Really, it was pretty special and also normal and inspiring.  Like being in awe when you meet a celebrity, but then realizing that they are just like you.  Well, it was kinda sorta like that, expect Cyndi is a bit further along the path than me.

Tomorrow I get to take classes with Seane Corne, Sharon Gannon and Gary Kraftsow.  Can I just say again how lucky I am?

Checking in on my 2 challenges I posted about a few days ago:
1)  21-day yoga challenge.  I've yet to follow one of the online classes that Yoga Journal has been emailing me daily.  I can't get them to play on my computer and I don't have to patience to try to figure it out.  I practiced asana every day this week except for yesterday.  Since essentially this is a 21-day yoga asana challenge, I've already broken the challenge.  But, I'm gonna let myself slide and make sure that I keep it up from now on.
2)  Since the last post, I've spent $2.00.  And that was because Larry didn't want to come and pick me up tonight, so I took the bus home.  This is going to be exceedingly more difficult as the weekend progresses because there are sooooo many cool things that I want from the Yoga Journal marketplace.  Books, clothes, a new mat, essential oils, jewelry.  You know most of the stuff was easy to walk away from, but the books....ah, that's another story.  I'm going to stay very far away from there for the next 2 days.  I even brought my lunch and snacks for the day.  It was delicious, convenient, and clearly easy on the wallet.

More yoga tomorrow....yippee!

Two January Challenges

That's right.  I've committed to two challenges this month.  

The first started January 1.  I'm going on a spending hiatus.  I've allowed myself $100 in spending money for them month.  That includes any money for going out with friends, any eating out, MUNI fares, basically anything that I don't *have* to buy!  So far, I've spent $7.00 on a burrito and taquitos (I was out with the family, but still didn't think that I needed to buy it) and $6.56 on carrier oil for some essential herbs.  Neither were necessary and now, I'm slightly worried that I'll not have enough for the next few weekends.  You see, I'm going to the Yoga Journal Conference next weekend and to a meditation retreat the following weekend.  To make it through this challenge, I'll have to bring food from home AND refrain from buying stuff.  Argh!  What was I thinking?

The second challenge started today.  I'm participating in the 21-day yoga challenge from Yoga Journal.  I went online tonight and tried to watch the first sequence.  Unfortunately, it was taking forever to load, so I abandoned it and did a short sequence from a Cyndi Lee book that I have checked out from the library.  It felt like cheating because I know I didn't challenge myself.  But, I did practice for 15 minutes.

If anyone out there is reading this, did you give yourself any challenges this January?  How's it going?

How would I use free yoga gear in 2011?

Well, to practice yoga, duh!  :)

I purchased 3 pair of Zobha pants a few weeks ago: the evolve pant, essential pant, and wide leg pant.  I couldn't be happier with my purchases.  I wear the wide-leg pants several times a week to pick up the kids from school, run errands, basically, I wear them everywhere!  The evolve pant is my preferred pant over the essential, not because I don't like the essential pant, but because that extra seam/stitch highlights just the right area:) and I feel amazing in them.  Is it okay to say they make my butt look great?  Well, they do, and I swear it's the pants...hehehe.

I did notice that the long pants make me way too hot in my yoga class.  I aim to take at least one vinyasa flow class at The Laughing Lotus Yoga Center weekly.  It would be cool to get the evolve pant in capri.  Then, all of my problems would be solved!  So that answers question one.  Capri evolve pants = much cooler in yoga class!

Next up, I love the look of the Vivien tank.  Not only is it stylish (I could say that about every piece offered by Zobha) but I like the higher neckline.  I don't like to feel like the girlies are going to fall out when I'm upside-down!  The Annette tunic (or asymmetrical ruched pullover or asymmetrical zip pullover) would round out the outfit to stylish perfection.  Just what I need in transport to and from class.

The carrier and eye pillow would be the perfect lagniappe! (in Cajun-speak that means "a little bit extra") 

 Everyone knows that I talk and talk and talk about things that I love.  I've enjoyed the quality and style of my Zobha gear and would enjoy sporting any of these pieces.

If any of you friends out there reading this think you'd like to try out Zobha gear, you should check them out at www.Zobha.com.  Or better yet enter this contest yourself.  Trust me.  You'll love it.

Focus

A few days ago, I posted my personal intentions for 2011.  The last thing I said was, “My biggest challenge is to stay focused and to live my life right now, in the moment, in this reality.”  I’ve been mulling that over for the past week.  Focus.  Stay focused.  But on what?

What will really make me happy?  More time to hang out and talk to my kids?  A passionate marriage?  Being less stressed, healthy and fit?  Practicing more yoga, more meditation?  Oh, I know, if I could just cook and knit and create, then I will be happy.  I will be satisfied.  I will be content.  But, wait, I’m not so sure about that.

What I’ve learned the past year or so is that I have everything I need.  My life is perfect just the way it is.  The good the bad the happy the not so happy.  It is my life.  It’s hard to see that this journey called my life is happening every second, every minute whether I choose to be aware of it or not. 

I’m trying to recognize those moments and be more mindful of how I’m choosing to spend my time.  Like choosing to actually be with my children or my husband when I’m with them.  It’s amazing to notice the difference in how we interact if I’m fully present with them. 

But back to focusing...

What exactly will help me realize a contented state?  Do I need to make a change?  Do I need a constant challenge?  And is that okay with me?  I’ll keep contemplating and let you know.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I spent most of the day yesterday grocery shopping and cooking just so that we could eat black eyed peas and cabbage for good health and wealth!  It was a lovely day.  My friend DK came over and made the black eyed peas and corn bread for us and I made cabbage rolls and salad.  Mmmmm, it was yummy!  And the best part is that I have left overs for a few days.  No cooking today, just a day watching football!

I'll share my recipe with you.  It changes almost every time I make it (depending on what is fresh in the fridge.)

Cabbage Rolls

Carefully unroll the leaves of the cabbage.  Blanch a few leaves at a time in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Take them out and cool.

Saute onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and kale (I had some so I used the leaves from 2 stems-not too much.)  I added chopped cabbage towards the end.  Remove from pan.

Mix ricotta and tofu.  They will become almost indistinguishable.  Thus masking the tofu for those who don't like it, but adding tons of protein!  I also added fresh chopped parsley.  Next, I separated it equally into 2 bowls because I made a vegetarian and a real sausage version.

For the veggie version, I used 2 Italian Tofurky Sausages and cooked them in a saute pan.  I added water to keep it from sticking but also to make a savory gravy. Once cooked, I added it to a bowl of ricotta/tofu and mixed.  Repeat the same process for the 2 links of real Italian sausage.

I cheated a bit (there was already so much work!) and used jar tomato sauce.  In an 8x8 Pyrex-type pan, spread 4-6 spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Scoop the sausage/ricotta mixture into one leaf of the cabbage, roll it tight, and place it in the pan.  Continue this process until the pan is full.  Spoon more tomato sauce over all of the cabbage rolls and spread evenly.

Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  At that point, you can remove the foil and bake 10-20 minutes more to remove some of the liquid.  I added a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese on top too!  When the cheese is melted (or browned a bit, if that's what you like), then the dish is done.

We enjoyed a lovely family dinner with our guest, DK.  It was a great way to start the new year.

Personal Intentions for 2011

Like most people, at the start of a new year, I try to get organized.  This year is no different except I'm changing the wording of my organization from goal-setting to setting intentions.  Small, yet significant difference.  By nature, I'm a goal-oriented person.  And some of the time that can be a fault.  So this year, I'm setting intentions.  I'm putting them out there so that they are in my consciousness, but won't fret about all of the details.  They will happen.  And if they don't, well, they don't.

This will be the first of at least 4 sets of intentions (personal, family, financial, and house projects.)

So here it goes:

• Attend the Yoga Journal Conference here in San Francisco.  It is a 3-day conference jam-packed with classes from amazing teachers that I've been reading about for years.  Seane Corn, Gary Kraftsow, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Cyndi Lee, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Sarah Powers.  I will be photographing and writing about my experience and posting it for the Zobha folks, who were kind enough to give me a free VIP pass!
• Go on a long weekend vacation with my college girlfriends.  We've narrowed our choices to Chicago; now we just have to plan the details.
• Attend 2 meditation retreats, maybe a 1 week retreat.
• Knitting projects:  3 pairs of gloves, a pair of socks, 2 hats, the Traveling Woman Shawl and learn to knit bracelets.
• Exercise/Health:  Try to exercise 5-6 days per week.  It doesn't always have to be a hard and fast rule, but I'd like to have some variation of Dailey Method classes, Yoga, and Running.
• Meditate Daily.  Not necessarily on my cushion, but it wouldn't be bad if it were.
• Journal and/or blog on a regular basis.  Which brings me to my intention for this blog.  I have so many ideas and interests that I can't narrow it down.  So this blog is about my life, about how I seek contentment.  I'll write about what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, or interesting things I've learned or am learning.  I enjoy knitting, exercising, yoga, reading, meditation, spending time with my children and husband, cooking, traveling, creating, organizing, and volunteering.  My biggest challenge is to stay focused and to live my life right now, in the moment, in this reality.

There you have it.  I've made my intention, wrote it down, and will now let it go. 

Perfectly Content

As I think about thinking about writing on this blog, I'll re-post this article from Zen Habits. I'm not sophisticated with photos and links and such, so this will just have to do. It sums up how I'm feeling now, and it's perfect.

Perfect, by Zen Habits

2.5 months, really?

Has it really been that long since I've blogged? I'm amazed. I've managed to blog a couple of times on our neighborhood blog and also updated the Fiskar's blog (also for the neighborhood group, but I haven't gotten around to updating here. Honestly, I completely forgot about it. Oops, what is that saying about my commitment or rather my contentment?

The family is doing well. I'm in a guilt-ridden stage of not being a good mother, so I've been working on being calm, not yelling, and spending more quality time with my girls, ES particularly. ES is a sweet girl who loves to play with her worm farm while wearing a tutu and high heels. She's all girl, but has no problem getting her hands dirty! CC is talking now. Still mostly baby talk that only I can understand, but hey, my baby is TALKING. Bot = bottle in CC speak. And yes, I'm still giving her a bottle; I just don't want to go through the crying and 3 hour bed time fight like we did with ES, so yes, I'm giving in to the bottle. Surely, she won't go off to kindergarten with it, right? :)

Larry is doing well too. He is working out at a mixed martial arts gym about 3 times a week and he loves it. He's active with the girls so the exercise helps him keep up! He's getting his motorcycle out of the shop in the next few days, so I'm sure I'll be hearing requests for time to go out and ride. He is enjoying his poker games once a month and of course gets out to as many concerts as he can (he's off seeing Green Day tonight.)

I'm doing well too. I've been slacking off on exercise for the past 3 weeks and I feel it! I keep saying I'm going to get back into it, but the motivation has found me yet:) Work is going well; I ended the first quarter well above 100% to plan. That was a huge relief. We are always busy with ES preschool. We are now busy planning the adult social party which will be on Saturday, May 2nd. We have every single weekend booked from now until the second weekend in June. And even then, Larry will be preparing to leave for his camping trip the following weekend. It's crazy, but I've realized that this is just how it is. We are always going to be busy and I just have to exercise to help keep my energy level up!

I'm still finding ways to do "my thing" too. I've read 3 great books these past couple of weeks. I'm knitting; currently, I'm only knitting one project: leg-warmers for ES. I've been trying to catch up on sleep too. And, wow, look at the time! I hope it's not another 2 months before I'm back on here, but if it is, you'll know that we've been busy with the co-op...or planning the next event for GNG (www.gngcore.blogspot.com)...or playing with my girls.

Exercise = Energy

I've been active for one week now. Since my half marathon at the beginning of November 2008, I've barely done anything! I don't know why I go into exercise hiatus after I have a big run, but I always have.

Since I've been thinking of exercising for 3 months, I've finally done something about it. Last weekend, I went out for a walk around the neighborhood. A couple of days later, with a kid on my back, I hiked the neighborhood once again. On Thursday, I took my first class at The Dailey Method. Oh, yikes, it kicked my ass and I was about 3 minutes into the 60 minute class. I am not kidding! This was an amazing workout. I didn't want to lose all of the benefits of that workout, so a couple of days later (Saturday morning) I went out for a run in the neighborhood. My neighborhood is VERY HILLY! I didn't think I'd be able to run for the whole time, but I did. My body is so forgiving! :)

Yesterday, because I was feeling so good about staying active for the week, I dragged the family out to the pool. I only swam a few laps (maybe 10 tops), but it was nice to stretch out and be in the pool after so long!

I wanted to try to get to a 6am class at our downtown Dailey Method Studio this morning, but I couldn't figure out how to sign up for a class online late last night. (It's an excuse, I know, but I couldn't bear dragging myself to the class this morning and them turning me away because there wasn't a space open in the class!) So, I'm going to call today and sign up for tomorrow morning. If I can get myself to that class 2 or 3 times a week, I will look and feel fantastic.

And truthfully, who doesn't want more energy!

Slowing Down

I have been consciously trying to slow down the past few weeks. I've said no to many things just to have free time to think, be with my family, and enjoy the moment. I'm also trying to make time to do the things that I really care about, like knitting, sewing, meditation, yoga, baths, drinking coffee, talking to friends.

It has been interesting. I am enjoying it and looking forward to more quiet, peaceful time.

* This is a recent collage that Larry and Simone made during Craft time. I LOVE it! It has a prominent place in our living room.

The Start of Preschool

About 2 weeks ago, ES started preschool at a Cooperative Nursery School here in the City. She absolutely loves it, so much so that she quizzes us before we drop her off about exactly how long we will be there before we leave! She's only 3.5 she can't want to be rid of her parents already!!!

She's doing very well. She easily makes friends and loves the art projects, playing outside, and show and tell. The only side effect we've been dealing with is her tired and cranky attitude once she gets home! She's there 3 days a week from 1p-5p. Last week was the first week of being there for the whole 4 hours. We are still working on a new bedtime routine to try to get her down fairly quickly (like around 7:30ish)

I love that she is enjoying it. She was so ready!

Relaxing Sunday

I'm very excited to stay home and relax today. Yesterday was much of the same. I have been super busy these past few months and I'm working on letting go of some of these responsibilities and projects that have required my attention. Along the way, I've thought about blogging about them, but when I have a few quiet moments in the evening, I find that I don't want to be on the computer.

I WILL blog about them. I like to share what's happening with all of you, but mostly, because I like to look back at my blog as a history of some of the things we've done.

So for lack of time (I'm already being beckoned by Miss ES) I want to give myself this to-do list:

Things to Blog About:
1) The $100,000 grant my neighborhood group got to remodel a city-owned hillside at the end of our street. I have great before and after photos.
2) Our trip to New York. Maplestone Farm, WinChris Estates, and The Boulevard House.
3) ES starts preschool on Thursday, the 18th!
4) Our family job at the preschool
5) From way back when....the Women in Business Mixer I went to many weeks ago sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
6) Knitting and Sewing projects.
7) CSA Box
8) This cool party I won at Sports Basement.
9) Our participation in the neighborhood garden tour.
10) Our Thrift Store addiction.

That's enough for now. If I get through all of these posts in a timely fashion, I will be very lucky!

This photo was taken on Koh Samui, Thailand during our honeymoon in December 2005.