Man, this whole work thing blows. I'm just working all the time. I'm working at home but I'm just working like you wouldn't believe. I have never worked this hard in my life and it, well, it sorta sucks. For awhile there I had this idyllic lifestyle. I was a mom, I worked about 15 hours a week, life was good... I sorta feel like I've taken a huge downsing in lifestyle... I'm not sure life qualifies as good anymore or just busy.

I went to the doctor this morning for the thing on my head. He confirmed it was a pilar cyst... then explained to me that I'd clearly been doing some sort of repetitively "hard" thing with my head and that I burst it... hence the "hard bump" that's been there for 20 years, is now this soft mushy thing that becomes periodically painful. He said it's not dangerous but it's going to continue to be painful til they take it off :( So, while the first thought that was going through my head was "Geez, how do they TAKE SOMETHING OFF YOUR SKULL????," the first thing out of my mouth was "Will I be able to put my head down?" When the answer was No I thought "FOR HOW LONG?" Apparently, two weeks.... cyst removal, stitches, the whole shebang. Damn. He wanted to do it today but I was literally dressed for practice and I thought I didn't want to take my two trips over the next two weeks with that on my head (or off, as the case may be). So I made an appointment for the 3rd. Now, to think of all the poses where I can't put my head down, have pull on the stitches, etc. And, more importantly, try not to think of how they actually get SOMETHING OUT OF MY SKULL! Yoga, it's good for monkey mind.

After that I went straight to yoga. I practiced with Kiran at the club. I always feel bad when I'm the only one practicing Mysore in there. I miss The Chinaman when he's not here. One of the huge advantages, however, is getting to hear Kiran teach the class. It's interesting and I think everyone walks away amazingly happy. In class today was this girl who came to her first yoga classes last week. She told Kiran this but told it to me tonight and I really thought it was amazing. You rarely meet people, especially people who live here in SuburbFreakVille, who just let it hang on their shoulder but this lady really did. She told me about all these overwhelming feelings she had her first day in class, feeling it was too hard, she felt so angry and the anger was just welling up in her, at Kiran, at the class... and finally at herself. She said she realized then that it was "Hey, you have to do the work." I don't know that she necessarily meant "do the work" in a physical sense either. She had that dangerous buzz about her... one of the ones the Ashtanga net catches.

As for my own practice, eh.. it was so so. Decent, steady... I stopped at one point to help said New Lady in Mari C. She is uber flexible, really flexible but has no strength at all. No chatarungas, no upward dogs, etc. But, Mari C, she was no issue. I knew that helping her get into it wouldn't challenge me and Kiran had her hands full so I helped her. She was loose in my hands, just there to mold into shape. It was fun. Kiran asked her if I was good or not :) Like she'd said No outloud :) I tried to do some shoulder opening for Kapotasana... but I don't feel it in my shoulders... it's definitely my back... my back.. my back...

After class New Lady stopped to talk to me for about 30 minutes. She asked me all kinds of questions about yoga and Ashtanga. She told me a bit about herself. It was really interesting.

It looks like my boss has decided to do "After Hours Party Time" at some point in NYC... I can feel the practice window slipping already. If I didn't feel naked without it, I'd leave my mat here. Therefore, I will overcome, I will overcome... I will.. I will, won't I?

I have been eating like crap lately. REALLY freaking crappy. Yesterday all I had was a big cup of Yerba Matte and Soupplantation at like 6pm. Today I had a Starbucks Grande Mocha, half a bowl of pasta, 3 pieces of Sushi and a plum. This kind of eating is becoming my norm. Moreover, I'm drinking nothing. I got lightheaded a bunch in practice today... I HAVE to find a way to slow down... my excuse is I'm too busy and that simply sucks.