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October 25, 2003
Bionicle Cool
I'm still here but... Samhain is approaching and I'm deep in the throes of surprising my oldest with a special costume... a Bionicle costume to be exactly... I'll be back when it's done (with pictures)....
Posted by shanti at 10:02 PM
October 20, 2003
The Great Outdoors
We had such a wonderful weekend. It started off with a halfway shameful practice on Friday night.. I was so tired but dragged my butt to the first series class anyway. It was only halfway decent, my practice, but I did manage to jump through most of the seated postures. I get really tired about kurmasana and can't do it anymore... my arms are beat and my ass WOWWEEE... it'll be nice when I'm not landing so hard.
Saturday the kids spent the night with my sister for the first time. I have to say, we really restrained ourselves from telling her what to do with them... she took them to Chuck E Cheese, the movie store... and, I was quite proud, invented the Dream Fairy who left gifts by their beds for bedtime. My kids were in seventh heaven and The Husband & I recited over and over "Once in awhile won't kill them..once in awhile won't kill them." In our own version of "being bad" we went to dinner at Savory with 8 of our neighbors. It was very very fun and we came home to our purple passion party bag ;0
Sunday we spent even more time with our new neighbors who are just awesome... we took the kids to our neighbor's office building to watch the Miramar Air Show (which they were disinterested in in about 10 minutes), then to the pool at our club, then to dinner -- Mexican which I'd been craving. Our kids get along really well and I truly enjoy talking to them. One of the things that came up over dinner was that the wife is very outspoken and direct...both things I am accused of being all the time and likely the reason why I get along with her. I generally don't do well with women but she doesn't seem to have those qualities with which I generally don't do well.
I feel like I spent the majority of my weekend outside with family and it felt really good. I always remember why I live in So. Cal on weekends like this -- 75, nice breeze, pure sun -- and it's October!
So the topper to this wonderful weekend was to get up this morning and take The Daughter to the park...where I met up with some women from a previous playgroup I did and we did yoga. One of the girls has a beautiful second series practice and it was really awesome to be out there, outside, mats on the ground practicing. It was slightly distracting...The Daughter had her own mat (my purple travel mat) and I found her trying to do some of the postures now and again or she'd lay in it and roll herself up inside it... she needed help now and again so I had to break up my practice but all in all it was really nice and I had a halfway decent practice out there. They meet every Monday morning so I think I will try adding that to my classes and see how it goes. I heard that one of the senior ashtanga teachers from the ashtanga center might be going every now and again... that would be cool.
Posted by shanti at 2:54 PM
October 15, 2003
Mat Sat On Sam
I have a reader! When I got home from my Atlanta trip The Husband told me that The Son's teacher had sent home a "first book." Apparently The Son had approached his teacher, on his own, and told her that he wanted to take a book home to "read." When she asked him if he meant that he was interested in learning to read, he said yes. She sent home Book 2 of the BOB books. Tonight, my son, read the whole book to me!!! I can't believe it. It seems so wierd. It seems nearly surreal to have a child who can read a word let alone a whole BOB book. It is really cool and he was so excited and proud of himself. Moreover, this is yet another public school surprise for me. He wasn't asked to learn to read, he wasn't forced to learn to read... none of the kids in the class who aren't reading (some are) are being "taught" directly to read... but the teacher, when my son showed interest, took that interest and worked with it. So very cool... I have a reader.
I was able to do my jump through in my practice tonight again :) WHOOHOOO it wasn't fluke. About Navasana I started to get tired and missed every other one of them. It was either that I was tired or that the instructor sorta stopped us to instruct me on the jump through ;) and I got out of synch.
But, alas, I can't describe my practice tonight.. I have too much work to do. Namaste.
Posted by shanti at 9:21 PM | Comments (1)
October 13, 2003
Yea Baby
Tonight I think I pissed my boss off. The managing partner asked me to dinner with he and his wife... at 8pm. This meant I couldn't make the 6:15 Atlanta yoga class but I could make the 5:45 OnlyYoga class. At 5 I asked my boss if I could leave, he wasn't thrilled but I was so desperate in need of a good hot practice that I went anyway.... and I loved it. I loved that the instructor gave us our own breath during sun salutations. Throughout the practice he wasn't constantly talking but really giving you your freedom while still being a led class. He called out the postures and sometimes he counted down but, for the most part, it was a led mysore class if you will. I really enjoyed it. Moreover, yes, I was able to jump through on wood floors and in a room of people I didn't know. In fact, I was able to jump through nearly the entire practice... I was using my new Manduka travel mat and, sadly, it was still slippery from lack of wear and for awhile I had a hard time finding stability with it but, all in all, a good practice that I thorougly enjoyed.
Had lunch with the partner at my firm. Wierd experience. As people love them... but never know quite where the boundary of appropriate is. I have found that working in the bible belt is sorta touchy..like do I say that I actively engage in Buddhism? Do I say that I don't get God in the Christian sense... I have no idea... and perhaps I broke the boundaries tonight by admitting so...it wouldn't be the first time.
Posted by shanti at 7:53 PM
October 11, 2003
Completely And Totally Stoked
Here I am in Atlanta.... I got here late last night, ordered room service, watched some TV and went to sleep. Got up this morning after a night of freezing (for some reason the temperature control in this room has one mode -- cold), went to the drive-thru Starbucks (to date, the coolest thing about Atlanta -- do we have these in California?) and then to work. Decided to come back to the room and do some yoga since I couldn't find a class this afternoon.... my practice started off really well... I noticed I was feeling really strong and my jump backs seemed pretty good in comparison to those days when I'm completely unmotivated and sorta flailing.... Got down to the floor and did the jump through for trianga... Looked around and realized I had this nice carpet under me and decided to try the real jump through... and OMG...
OMG
I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so stoked. I couldn't believe it. I sat on my ass for a few seconds bewildered... stunned and then said "Oh my fucking God" (not nice but that's how I felt). I surely thought it was years until I could do this. Now, mind you, it's not so lovely and it certainly doesn't sound light... in fact, its more like a thud when I land but, by golly, my butt hits the ground, my feet go through... So I tried it again...and again... and again.... and it wasn't a fluke. I could actually do it.... wait let me get up and try again.... yep I can do it. Every third or fouth one I bomb out... but I've also done about 15 of them (yes I didn't even finish my practice I was so excited to try). Sometimes my feet sorta coast through on the ground but, hey, first day :)
I called my friend yoga friend, B, to say OMG I DID IT!!!! If I had a skywriter, I'd have written it in the sky... I don't so I'm using my blog instead.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to get to the Level 2 class at Atlanta Yoga...it will be interested to see if I can do it in a class and without carpet under me....
Posted by shanti at 3:14 PM | Comments (4)
October 9, 2003
Atlanta Bound
I'm leaving in the morning for my second business trip away from home. This is the actual rollout of the project I was working on a couple months ago and it's a big deal. Preparing for this trip I've become acutely aware of just how wonderful it is to have my children's father so intimately involved with their lives. There really is no separation in our duties as parents. We do not have the typical distribution of parental roles since we are both home full-time and work together to create a balanced homelife. My kids are as attached to their father as they are to me and there is no way I could have my career without him. I'm really enjoying my work and everything that I'm learning. I'm looking forward to this trip and it feels good to know that everything at home is going to be perfect because we've spent 5 years building a family life that provides our kids with two full-time parents. It hasn't been easy..our marriage has taken many hits due to our lack of hats and the very few intimate moments we have together. I'm starting now to see the light at the end of the baby tunnel and I'm really really feeling completely at ease with it.
Posted by shanti at 1:09 PM | Comments (1)
October 8, 2003
Houseful of Housewives
Last night I had a (good thing my website has a no crawler file in it) S-E-X party at my house. No, no, no... it is sorta like a Tupperware party but instead of plastic organizational tools for food and whatnot, displayed, explained and sometimes sampled are lotions, potions and some plastic though in much different shapes than regular Tupperware and usually battery operated. It is apparently one of the newest rages in suburb America. I had never heard of them until a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to host one and I agreed. I spent the whole day preparing -- buying wine (Menage A Trois from Foile A Deux -- a perfect choice considering), picking up my
I'm hoping to make yoga tonight. I had to skip the Ashtanga Center because, frankly, I was a big too hung over or just plain tired from being up all night (mostly from cleaning -- my little purple bag was, sadly, somewhat empty... and not because I didn't order things mind you, but I was the last to order and her stock was fairly cleaned out at that point!). Maybe I'll start to feel somewhat clearer here soon...
Posted by shanti at 4:53 PM | Comments (2)
October 6, 2003
Entry # 2
For some reason, I screwed up this entry..but it's okay... on it goes.
Sunday we took the kids to the big huge pumpkin patch. It took an hour to get there, it was hot... the kids wanted more and more of everything. Bigger pumpkins, something to eat, something to drink, a ball, a fairy wand... I want, I want, I want. I definitely HAVE forgotten what it is like to be five and two and want everything... What really thrilled me though was that my five and a half year old son wanted the fairy wreath-- the one with long streamers and he wore it... and he's worn it in front of his friends at home. When something like this happens I remember that all my hard work to raise my children in some semblance of an alternative environment that doesn't focus on "this is okay for boys...that is not" for example is actually working. I'm not perfect but I do do some things right and that's rewarding.
When we got home, I was so exhausted I very nearly passed out in the car (after I parked it in the garage). The kids wanted to go to a restaurant for dinner...I knew I couldn't. I ended up passing out on the bed and being woken up by my husband to tell me that my neighbor had seen me and had so sweetly invited us to share their dinner she could tell how wiped out I was. I had thought we were in trouble with the kids with the restaurant thing but WHAT could top dinner at the new neighbor's house! It was great and I'm blessed to have such wonderful people living next door.
Over dinner we talked about how The Husband & I are home with the kids full time. One of the things I walked away with is how different it is -- The Husband is SO integrated into our children's lives. It really is unusual..and what a blessing that is. I am blessed with many things... and it's good to be reminded of them sometimes.
Posted by shanti at 11:03 PM
Heat Freak
Tonight I went back to my first ashtanga teacher for class. I needed the heat. Even the great classes at my gym lack heat. I love the heat. I love to sit next to the heater. I swear the heat makes me strong, makes me flow more... does something to my spiritual essence. I've successfully been able to do my jump throughs cross legged although I feel like it must be ridiculous looking. It feels ridiculous looking. I was unable to bind tonight in Supta Kurmasana even though I felt like I had my shoulders under my knees. I think it must have something to do with how far out my feet are.
I'm going to Atlanta this week for work and I found a yoga class I think I'm going to be able to make. A Level 2 class at Atlanta Yoga on Sunday... and I think I can probably make a Primary Series at OnlyYoga on Monday night. Now I have to decide to bring my big mat that I know doesn't slip or the travel mat that isn't worn yet and probably will slip. Oh the decisions :) Anyone ever been to either one of those studios?
Posted by shanti at 10:41 PM
October 4, 2003
Mom's Taxi Service
For some reason I had this impression that when school started my life would get easier... that having one child in elementary school and the other child in preschool 2 mornings a week would give me some down time... could I have been more wrong? I've turned into a taxi. I get up in the morning and have to get one child to school, 2 days a week the other child to school. Pick up one child, pick up the other child... take first child back to school for enrichment class 3 days a week. It's insane (and fortunately the elementary school is only 3/4 a mile away). One day a week I'm in the kindergarten classroom. The opposite Friday's, in the preschool classroom. In between all that I have a full-time job and the odds and ends of a regular mom job. I'm going insane. Yesterday I purchased a new pocket pc because I'm so confused as to when and where who goes and what I have going on. What happened to that vision of a few free hours a week?
In today's practice I managed to jump through cross-legged without having to shorten my stance at all :) :) I also jumped through leg back again :) Hooray... It isn't the quiet as a cat landing but it works for me for right now. I've had a really off week first having my moon and then my mom in the hospital for surgery and some wierd stomach thing going on... hopefully I can make first series tomorrow.
Posted by shanti at 7:41 PM
October 1, 2003
I Don't Know Why I Do It -- oh yes I do
I recently read this book called "I Don't Know How He Does It" which is basically the story of a working mom. There are chapters and pages of that book that are my life, my feelings, my world. One of the things the mother in the book is frequently found doing is baking at midnight (usually fixing up some store bought cake or pie to make it look homemade). With pleasure I read those passages and thought "Well, I surely don't do *that*!" ... and I didn't... until last night. The Son's class has been reading a lot of Gingerbread Boy books, drawing Gingerbread Boys, doing math exercises with them.. all sorts of activities surrounding Gingerbread Men (and women). The Son has been asking me to make gingerbread but said he really wanted to make them for his class. Being the working mother that I am, I originally was going to simply order them from Dancing Deer since I had just ordered a tub of their sugar cookie dough and a huge stock of their all natural (no chemicals!) food coloring but the cost of 2 day shipping was prohibitive. Actually, I was originally going to order them on Friday but then thought gingerbread men activities were done... I didn't find out until Monday that they were actually doing it this week too and the teacher was into the idea of decorating the cookies in class and, as you can imagine, the shipping on gingerbread men from Tuesday -> Thursday was either impossible or simply too expensive. So, guess where I was at midnight last night? Rolling out gingerbread and praying my one batch would make 21 cookies, cursing when poor gingerbread men lost their heads (3 total and one lost a leg), confused as to why I started this process in the first place. I took organic licorice candy and pushed it through the hole in a can opener to make perflectly-sized gingerbread man eyes then individually wrapped the eyes in saran wrap. I took Sundrops and color coordinated them and individually wrapped them for buttons. I printed out labels for instructions (since I hadn't told the teacher I was doing this -- just in case they took them home). I assembled each one in a bag, cut ribbon... finally crashed into bed sometime early this morning then got up at the crack of dawn to make the icing, fill 20 ziplock bags with icing, wrap up each bag and very carefully (so as not to have any headless gingerbread men wind up on someone's desk) put them in a basket and carried them to school.
It was so cool that the teacher was excited and wanted to do it in class. Right before snack we opened the bags, cut holes in the edge of the ziplock and let the kids decorate their own gingerbread man. How cool it was! How impressed I was when the kids took so much time to put the eyes on, the buttons, paint smiles and clothes. Some even made hair and feet (I brought organic sprinkles too). I kid you not each and every child in that class gave me a glowing THANK YOU. That was worth it.
I'm tired..but it was worth it.
Posted by shanti at 12:55 PM | Comments (1)