S14: The Balance

My new friend Emily read my book a few years ago.

Okay, Friday night.  Just had a grand old time at Truffles with good pal KVS.  We missed Ms. Lewis who had sinus surgery today.  KVS (Judith's sister) and I talked about school and kids and people who insist on wearing perfume even though it gives us a headache and we basically solved all the problems of the world.  Today was weirdly warm. So pleasant.  I'm in week 6 of the C25K.  Legs?  Hurting.

Guess who we saw at the restaurant:  The Creator of the Sankalpa Challenge!!!  Love our one woman.  And she's helping change my life with sankalpa.  THANKS, OWA! What did I let go today?  The idea that I don't have enough time.  I have plenty, btw.

S13: The Club

Wah.  Didn't exercise today.  That's why I was getting stressed out, but book club turned me around.  It was phenomenal.  We ate and drank wine and discussed State of Wonder which I had read quite awhile ago. I'm pleased with my memory. I remembered a lot about the book and offered many good points to the discussion.  If you haven't read it yet, is it because you don't feel like it?  What's going on?

S12: The DVD

When I woke up today I did a little yoga DVD.  It was difficult to very difficult.  And I was actually sweating, standing in these odd positions.  But the yoga was something to brag about during the work day, so that was to my advantage.

We have 2 music teachers.  I love both of them.  The old music teacher is just one of the best on the planet and I love her very much.  The new music teacher is young and v. dear.  Today I walked up to him in the lunchroom and said, "What's going on with the yoga that you said we might have after school?"  I asked him this because he's our new wellness coordinator.
"Well I think we might have a nutritionist come to talk about weight loss."
"No. I want the yoga," I told him.  "I did a 40 minute yoga DVD this morning, and you said you were organizing yoga."  Then I jabbed him a few time with my finger right in his sternum.
"Well we  may have zumba."
More poking into the sternum. "Look.  Get on the yoga.  That's what I said I wanted when we voted last fall.  Let's get it done."
He's young and kind and smart so he just said, "Okay, I'll look into it."

On another note, here's a pretty good power point about sankalpa.

S11: The Napkins

Because it's the dawning of a new semester, it was time to review procedures in the lunchroom.  I'm a natural at this.  "Say you want a napkin.  Do you jump up and run over to Napkinland???? No, you don't.  You raise your hand and ask one of these handy adults to help you out." Not every class listened attentively so some people will be reviewing procedures again tomorrow.  That's okay.  It's not that big a deal.

I'm entering data this evening so I don't have much to offer in the Sankalpa department. Did release a few books from my book shelves.  Did keep an okay sense of balance at the school site.  Did complete week 5 of C25K.  Legs are hurting quite badly right now, but that's neither here nor there.  Back to EXCEL, which I wish I could excel at.

S10: The Stars

I think second semester is always a little nicer than first semester.  We're halfway through, and we pretty much know what's what. But I had a bad stretch today, on my first day back. I packed a bag of exercise clothes this morning thinking I could take a little slog at lunch time since today was a work day without kiddos.  Well come to find out, I left my shoes at home.  Can't tell you how much this irked me and got the old soundtrack playing in my head, "You'll never exercise now, blah blah blah."

But come to find out I left school at the end of the day and headed out for the C25K once I got home and found the missing shoes.  As I slogged, I noticed two stars over head. It was pleasant to let go of the constant thoughts and give myself a break and see those first stars.  Thich Nhat Hanh says it best, "People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don't suffer any more." It took me awhile, but I let go of my views for a very brief time and felt okay.  Tomorrow, kids come back to Artful School.  I can not wait to see them. I'm even kind of looking forward to the lunchroom gig.  Kind of.

S9: The Movie

After finishing Week 5 Day 1 of the C25K program, I headed in to work and spent 6 hours there.  And the world did not come to an end. Nothing crashed down on my head.  I'm still the healthy person of well being I've always been.  And now it's time for the last film of the vacation.  Heading to Bear's to see a French Film and I can't quite recall the title.  C'est la vie.

S8: The Fire

#1 Son and #1 Dog

First, some good words about Sankalpa:  Sankalpa teaches us that we are both being and becoming.  There is that part of us that doesn’t need anything and a part of us that comes into life with a purpose and that is always becoming. Rod Stryker, founder of ParaYoga says “It’s vital for happiness that you walk both paths simultaneously.  Direct your energy with intention, but be mindful that your nature is unchanged whether you achieve your goals or not. Live as contentedly as possible in between the goal and realizing the goal.”

These are good words for me since I had every intention of going into the work site but ended up building a rip roaring fire in the fireplace, drinking tea, and reading The Round House by Louise Erdrich.  So though I did not achieve my goals, my nature is unchanged.  Today I let go of my nervous pre-work jumpiness and decided to enjoy my day in a quiet house.  I was not productive, but I am a productive person.  So there you have it.  Tralala.

S7: The Adults

Goodwoman's Work

I'm trying hard to let go of thinking that my kids need or want or even listen to my little tips for living.  It's so hard to not give suggestions at every moment.  I can see they get annoyed.  I am trying to let go of their child identities and forge new adult relationships with them.  Tough stuff, when you come to think about it. I'm sure it will happen in time.  Because I AM the parent of two adult people.

20 Something's off on an L.A. adventure.  Feeling better, but not totally up to snuff.  Our vacation's over.  #1Son packed up all the Goodwill stuff so bags of clutter have left the building.  Yay.  I let go of a lot of great clothes I used to wear when I weighed less.  I've been hanging on to them for so long.  Not sure why.  Having clothes that don't fit in my closet was getting me depressed.  Say good bye and wish them well.  Another thing I've gotta work on is restaurant eatery.  I spent a ton on restaurant eating last month.  My next Sankalpa, possibly:  I am a person who eats at home?

Feeling sluggo now.  Missing 20 Something.

S6: The Spoon

It seems to me that physical health might be easier to work on than emotional health.  I get turned around and lose focus in the emotions department when work starts rolling.  I like this advice for following the path over here on a site for drug addicts.

Other odds and ends floating through my monkey mind:

Have done a fine job decluttering but getting the stuff over to the Goodwill needs to happen soon. Now I have a massive ton of junk that I want OUT, but I want #1 son to help me with this.  Jury's out on when/if that will happen.

I'm at Runcible Spoon.  Have a project to work on.  I met an editor at NCTE who will read some of my stuff if I get it all together and send it to her, in the hopes that a book proposal might emerge somehow. Have been putting this off and making it too high stakes in my mind.

Upcoming work worries me, but this break has been a miracle for helping me remember the stuff I love about my job.

Loved slogging thru Day 1 of C25K Week 4, but am nervous that I will quit next week when work starts.  I know that sounds lame, but that's how I'm feeling.  Maybe Miscellaneous's group challenge will keep me on track. Who can say?

Husbandman and I both are going to miss having the kiddos around next week.  We love having the quartet back together.  I am remembering that they are adults now and have their own exciting lives out there.  Something to celebrate.

Happy to have some moments here to fool around the internets, all on my own.  I am just doing what Gandhi recommends according to this yoga site:  Renouncing.  Rejoicing.

S5: The Gender

20 Something told me today about an incident with a Greenpeace worker that made me pretty happy and proud.  She said she was already in a bad mood one day when a Greenpeace worker stopped her and her friend and asked, "Do you 2 want to help the cute cuddly furry animals?"
20 Something asked him, "Is this your approach when you solicit men?"
Greenpeace Guy, "So now I'm the sexist guy?"
20 Something, "Could you answer the question?  Do you use this approach when asking men for donations?"
Greenpeace Guy peevishly answered, "Yes, I do."
20 Something replied, "Just wanted to know." And she and her pal kept on walking.
I asked her if I could blog the story and she said it would be fine.  I love how she stopped sexism in its tracks in this incident.

As for my healthy beginning to the new year, I did something that I wish every person on the planet could do ASAP.  I had a massage today. Haven't had one in eons, and it was extremely delightful and calming. I was going to do some work today, but I let go of my guilt and anxiety about work and relaxed with the fam. Sure there's a little naggy get back to working feeling, but mostly I'm pleased as punch at how this break's going.

S4: The Pi

The only time Life of Pi plays in 3D in this town is at 11 am and 11pm.  So come  to find out, Husbandman and I trekked over to the theater this morning to don the plastic glasses and enjoy this tale about a guy who sails the Pacific in a lifeboat with a bengal tiger.  I read this book a bunch of years ago and did not enjoy it much.  Still, I wanted to see Ang Lee's 3D version with the tiger, the meerkats and the whale breeching in the night time sky.  Lots of fun visually, but the movie's not the best, imho. Still, there was a Sankalpa moment in the movie where the character says something like (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Life's full of letting go, but it's hard when you don't get to say good bye."  Something like that.  The thing is (SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE IF YOU CARE ABOUT THIS RIDICULOUS STORY), the kid in the movie is sad ("heartbroken") because when the tiger leaves him at the end of the voyage, the tiger doesn't even look back at him before heading off into the jungle.  KID, it's a tiger.  What the heck do you expect?  And I admire the guy's care and compassion, but I really can not grok that scene where the tiger jumps off the boat and then wants back on and the kid (PI) helps him get back on. Who would do that?  I'm sorry the tiger's going to drown, but the kid gave up his one chance at some peace of mind. Of course at the end we learn that there probably was no tiger, so it's all a moot point.  If you want to see Life of Pi, go ahead, but I would recommend the 3D.  The way they filmed the digital tiger is quite amazing, so you may want to read about that before or after you go.

Today I finished week 3 of the Couch to 5K program.  Week 4 is going to be tough, but it is my heartfelt intention to complete it.