Let's Dance

In yoga we are encouraged to quite our minds and stay present in the moment.  Tonight my mind was running through a laundry list of things, some accomplished and others not yet.  Inevitably, (even before the initial breathing), I was thinking about what to write about.   
"Let your thoughts be just that, let them go, come back, be present."
That is when I decided to write about my dreaded moment (and minute to follow) in bikram yoga.  
Thirty minutes in...sixty to go.  

So far my mind says...

breath in,            breath in,                breath in 

(six seconds) 

You can do it, no let it go, no hold it you can do it. No I can't. Don't say you can't, you can do it. Okay hold it, hold it,                        release.

breath out,            breath out,                breath out

(six seconds) 

 So far instructor says...

"Lock your knee, hips level, tack that hip down, breath breath breath, 

half-way. Looking good, one last breath at the top 

and                        release."

And then the dreaded words.

"Okay, let's dance."

Crap, I HATE this one.  Left arm up, right arm out, release the shoulder grab ankle.  Arch back and kick up.  KICK UP KICK UP.  Lean forward, engage the left leg, lock the knee.

Ugh. If I just pop up my hip a little bit.....

NO CHEATING!

Tack the hip down, tack it down, kick up, lean forward...

"THAT'S HALF WAY."

How is it only half way, please don't pop knee, please don't pop! Forward, forward and oh UH OH!

One last pop up before I fall...up up up. 

and I fall out.

Breath in, slow it down.  Breathe in one, two, three, four, five, six

out for six slow slow slow.

"And release, now for the other side."

And repeated on each side after that.  I can't do, Yes I can, I can I can I can I can. 

And I do, every time.  

Sometimes really well, other times not so gracefully. 

Even when I think I can't, I do.

(and man do I feel less hypocritical telling my students to not say "I can't!")

Friends for Life

I grew up on a block called Silver Circle.  My parents built the house when I was two and we moved in when I was three.  That was when I met Bre.  Bre's family lived on the other side of the block and we were instant friends.  For sixteen years Bre and I had adventures together, some more mischievous than others.  Although we were a year apart in school, we were in dance classes together, we were on ski team together and we played volleyball together.  We traveled on school trips together, survived high school classes and produced yearbooks.  For all of those years we lived a quick bike-ride around the block from each other and our friendship was a constant.
Like many young girls we used to play 'grown ups.'  We would fight over would have the name of Karen.  We would pretend to be our teachers whom we loved.  We would pretend to work at banks, grocery stores and other businesses.  We would pretend that we were grown up (20 years old!) and were married, and had kids.  Bre and I were definitely not lacking in imagination. 
I got an invite from Bre last week to a St. Patrick's Day dinner.
Not much has changed in our friendship except that now we are both married, we are way older than twenty and eek, we both have real jobs.  We are also, once again, a quick bike ride away.  The Silver Circle loop has turned into navigating the western streets of Washington Park but I absolutely love that I can say (to Jack) we are riding our bikes to Bre's (and Mark's).  

Not Friday?

We were out of coffee today, so I had a triple latte.  My energy was high all day, I think I even matched the kids.  I felt like my A-Game, the kids were engaged, creating, excited, a little squirmy.  I left school right at three but came home and read In Pictures and In Words for school.  Well, I started out by reading my school book but as I sat on the front porch with Gracie at my feet and cool white wine resting on the Adirondack...I was persuaded to pick up my novel.  I read for over two hours and didn't fall asleep! Either it is an amazing book (which it is, Steven King's 11/22/63, I would highly recommend it) or I am finally getting over the time change.  Around six Jack and I hopped on our bikes to head to Lala's for dinner.  Although Logan is very different from Mountain Avenue in Fort Collins, we braved the fast and aggressive drivers in order to enjoy cruising in the beautiful weather.  After a delicious meal I lie in bed reading and listening to the NCAA games trying to ignore one itty bitty teeny weeny icky gooey annoying detail of a thought.

HOW IS IT NOT FRIDAY!

It feels like a Friday. It seems like a Friday.  It tastes like a Friday. And yet...tomorrow I will have to survive a Friday!

Moon

"A broken piece of moon hung in the sky." From 11/22/63 by Steven King

My mom always used to say that her Grandmother always saw a little boy and a little girl sharing a kiss.

My dad always used to say that he had been trimming his toe nails and one flew high in the sky.

My sister and I were always fascinated by the one seen in mountain skies.

I felt the need to tattoo a version of one on my body.

James Taylor asked if you could feel it. 

It is the subject of a final goodnight in that book I love.

I always perk up when that glowing lune is mentioned in text, song or conversation.  I am not sure what exactly I am drawn to, but I always think I will see that little boy and little girl.   

A Very Bad Driveway

Dear Rushed Driver,
Please do not follow me so closely, you see, my blinker is not staying on extra long...I live right here! I know,  I know, you are so excited to be off Speer and you have places to be. But you see, the driveway, no really! Look at the driveway.  Do you see the miniature cliff, on each side of the driveway that is only perfectly wide enough for a car to get in or out at a straight angle.  If you don't get that angle you will hear the horrible noises on the scraping on the bottom of the car. I KID YOU NOT!  You see, Sir, there was a car coming the other way and I could not swoop out far enough to get the right angle.  And NOW. AND NOW! And now you are stopped inches from my bumper and there is nothing I can do but to back out and try it again.  OOOH you are getting mad, but you have to back out, for me to back out! Oh Sir, I don't like the driveway either but you will have to talk to my landlord about that!
I back up, try again AND...
VICTORY! I am in!
And you Mr. Rushy McRusherson are now on your way!
I just got done with yoga, so you see.  So other drivers (slow, fast, crazy, texting, etc) DON'T REALLY BOTHER ME!
Regards,
Sarah
(from the house with the really horrible driveway)

Wedding Dress...oh wedding dress.

I thought I would piggy back on Jamie's story.  I liked the theme and am totally at a loss for ideas tonight!

When it was time to start looking at wedding dresses, I started in Fort Collins and was quickly frustrated.  I had dreams of finding the perfect little dress at a tiny little shop...not even close.  David's Bridal did not offer me a spot without an appointment (also three ladies milling around!) 

Eventually my sister convinced me to make an appointment at Anna Be.  It was an experience! The grand staircase, the exposed brick, and dress after dress, after beautiful dress!  My third dress was 'the one.'  It was exactly how I had pictured I would look in my wedding dress and luckily, on the scale, my mom with a glint in her eye gave me the excited yesitisexpensivebutitisyourdressanditisperfect nod.  I have a great mom. 

We moved forward and soon I was back at the shop for a fitting, and finally I got to take it home.  We had to make a few adjustments.  A few inches off the bottom (thank goodness, how else is one supposed to make three white flowers for their hair!).  The straps were originally crossed and we decided have them uncrossed.  Great, wedding dress checked off the list!

It is the day of my wedding.  I spent the early afternoon getting ready amidst my bridesmaids, my mom, my aunt, my grandma.  Beautiful pictures, a box of costumers tape to ensure the front of my dress stays in place, borrowed pearl earrings and we are ready to go.  My aunt, mom and grandma had left a little early to go make sure everything at the venue was set up.  It was just me and the girls making our way through the hotel, walking, giggling and making sure we had everything.  And then...disaster.  One of my straps breaks! The back just came off.  Under most circumstances, I would have FREAKED OUT!  Luckily, thankfully ohmygod what would I have done otherwise, one of my bridesmaids is a master seamstress.  She has worked on Hollywood movie sets with costuming and wouldn't you know she just happened to have a needle and thread in her room, a room that was right down the hall.  She sewed me up, we took one last look in the mirror and we were off for real.  In the elevator I was trying to tell Carrie how grateful I was and what a disaster we had avoided!  She smiled, lifted her arm to show that same little needle and a string of thread strategically places near the seam of her dress and said, "don't worry, I got you covered!"

Thankfully, we did not need any more 'mending' that evening.  AND the dress held up well enough for our kiss. 

Chores

Jack was making fun of me the other night because of the way I stack all of our bed pillows on the floor when it is time to go to bed.  I told him that not only was it not funny, but it is, perhaps, the ONLY thing I do consistently day to day.

If there are four load of clean laundry on our guest bed and not in drawers, I stack the pillows.  If the dishwasher is full but clean and the kitchen a mess, I stack the pillows.  If there is junk mail and 'stuff' all over the house, I still stack the pillows.  If the automatic coffee maker is not set to go the night before a school day, I stack the pillows.

Oh glorious Saturday.  Laundry done, AND put away. House clean, kitchen clean, 'stuff' in the right place, and a trip to Starbucks.  AND I will stack the pillows!