Don't Feel Bad or Month-End Review, November

"Open" on S. Grand Business District

Didn't mean to disappear... Went to my brother's for Thanksgiving along with four others and it was a comedy of errors as far as communication went.

Rode with my uncle and his woman friend. Less than a mile from my brother's, we got pulled over by a cop who was concerned that my uncle was driving slow in the left lane. The cop told my uncle, twice, that In Missouri, we don't drive slow in the left lane. Just ridiculous and unnecessary statements right now.

Rode Amtrak back and, about three hours into trip, Chiquita texted me to say that she was at hospital with aunt and somebody had just coded. As we rolled into downtown St. Louis and I spotted the Scottrade Center, I started to think Be it ever so humble,,, but couldn't finish the sentiment because it didn't really feel nice to be back in St. Louis...

Asked Alison if she was up for going to Rooster after yoga then checking out the artwork on the boarded up businesses. I have been eating out a lot but, ironically, I've lost 10 pounds (of the 20 that I gained back). However, I don't feel bad about eating at Rooster or Lulu's for that matter. Hard to feel guilty about Lulu's sweet potato black bean burger. Don't feel bad about the decadent foods I had for Thanksgiving either since I missed several meals while traveling...

Savory crepe: goat cheese, mushrooms, spinach, tomato jam @ Rooster

Missed a few days of exercise and didn't do nearly enough yoga but, for the most part, I managed to stay on track in November:

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workout
*Upper Body, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Knockout Body Blast!
*Knockout Body Cardio, 2 x's

Climbing, 2 x's

Ellen Barrett Live: Super Fast Body Blast!*, 1 x

Dance Off The Inches: Dance It Off & firm up!*, 4 x's

Dance Off The Inches: hip hop jam*
*Cali Pop, 1 x

Just Walk: 5 Mega Miles
*Mile 5: Ab Walk

Just Walk: mix + match: walk blasters*

*Dance Walk, 1 x
*Light Walk, 1 x
*Walk & Kick, 1 x

Just Walk: Walk to the Hits: Party Songs
*Mile 1, 5 x's
*Mile 2, 5 x's
*Mile 3, 3 x's

Latin Cardio Party
*Samba!, 1 x

Personal Training with Jackie
*15-Minute Upper Body Circuit, 1 x

Swimming, 2 x's

Weight Watchers 15-Minute Boot Camp Series
*15-Minute Cardio

willPower & grace, 1 x

Yoga, 5 x's

Zumba, 6 x's

Zumba Fitness, 1 x


Money has been raised for the small businesses in the S. Grand district where so many windows were broken.

The Eye Guy -- Peat Wollager

*Disclosure: I received this video without charge.

The Glass House

Got several emails last night including one from the 'Fugee with a sad face and one from Alison wanting to know if I was safe.

I'm close to the area where Vonderrit Myers was killed and it's also been a gathering place for protests.

As I pushed the trash cart out last night, saw police blocking off a street and the soundtrack for last night was helicopters.

Woke up feeling sad and wasn't good for much today as I couldn't concentrate on anything.

As I headed to work saw many businesses that I like, including Rooster which Alison and I just went to on Sunday, boarded up. Rooster recently opened and it's practically a glass house.

A call went out to artists and they painted the boards of the businesses...

Went swimming tonight and, besides a student/teacher, I was the only one in the pool. It was nice to stretch out and calm my mind...

Turning scary, boarded-up look into neighborhood art project! Love @SouthGrandSTL pics by @PlantDoctorUS #CityStrong pic.twitter.com/U6ACsakgrJ
— Debbie Monterrey (@DebbieMonterrey) November 25, 2014

"Break Eggs Not Windows" Stop by @RoosterSGrand to view in person #STLTogether #ThisIsCommunity pic.twitter.com/0KGWfbULwS
— South Grand (@SouthGrandSTL) November 26, 2014

When Gloria's Away

Gloria's still away so Alison and I went to Maury's yoga class again and, after class, we went across the street to have breakfast at Rooster. The owner has several restaurants including the one I visited during jury duty to get that yummy chickpea burger.

Thought about trying a Finnish pancake or pancakes with caramelized bananas but I went the a la carte route and got eggs, potatoes and toast. The woman next to me wanted to know what kind of bread was on my plate and I offered to share my whole wheat bread (made by Rooster) because I knew that I wasn't going to eat all of it. She'd already eaten so she declined but she did tell me what a fabulous bacon shake they have at the downtown place...

Went to see Motown the Musical with Chiquita last night. We both enjoyed it and now I need to get busy putting Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and lots of others on my iPod.

There was a really funny and sweet moment during a Diana Ross scene. Just about the entire audience held hands and sang Reach Out and Touch. The audience was prompted by the actress to participate but no one had to prompt the audience to respond when the actor sang Marvin Gayes' Inner City Blues song and reached this line:

Trigger happy policing...

Released

I was released from jury duty yesterday. Pretty much said that I didn't have the emotional stamina for another murder case.

When I told one of my colleagues that I would be out on Monday for jury duty, she said Again? and yet another colleague kept telling me not to get picked which is why it was so funny when the prosecutor said All of you trying not to make sudden movements and not talking doesn't mean you won't get selected...

The prosecutor started off by telling us that she has Bell's palsy and that because we take so many of our cues from people's faces, she wanted us to know that she's not smirking or laughing at anything inappropriate but she just doesn't have control over one side of her face...

Don't mind doing my civic duty but I'm still haunted by the murder trial that I had to sit on about ten years ago plus the three month grand jury stint when one day of the week was set aside for sexual assault and domestic violence cases.

On a really silly note, the attorneys tell you the order in which they'll field questions: jury box, seats, right, left... As the prosecutor was deep into questions (like the seventh page), the more she said right, left, it made me think of this silly Zumba song and I have Zumba earworms all the time now.

Went to Zumba tonight and Shawny didn't disappoint. She had me cracking up when she said that her thighs have a mind of their own. I ain't no small girl. Y'all know that...

Pausing Between Flights

Got a summons to report for jury duty in August but asked for a deferment and, of course, I had to report on the coldest day of the year.

On Monday, sat until I couldn't sit anymore and just as I got up to walk around, this woman did too and she started stretching. It took everything in me not to start doing yoga.

Had to report this morning at 9 and there was not a peep from the overhead system for two hours. Read a chapter of Open Heart then walked while listening to Fresh Air's With Age, Joan Rivers Learned To Say Anything: 'It Has Freed Me Totally'.

Had forgotten how much I used to love Joan Rivers. Asked for a ticket to one of her shows when I was a teenager. 

Rivers said that her parents didn't like her then joked My mother wanted to have an abortion up until I was nine.

Didn't realize that Rivers really wanted to be an actress and she took a comedy gig because at, $8 an hour, it paid better than a temp job. Fresh Air played footage from a show when Rivers got upset with an audience member and Rivers goes on to talk about how long it took to get the audience back.  I fight to the end she said about trying to entertain her audience...

Finally got called for a panel and once we were all accounted for, lunch followed. Went to this restaurant that I've never been to before and got a chickpea burger. Climbed six flights to get back to the courtroom. Haven't done significant stair climbing in a while. Let's just say that I had to pause between flights.

Chickpea Lemon & Basil Patty...Kale...

We almost made it through the Voir dire process but not quite. 

The No-Issue Zone

Feeling unprepared for many things including the cold weather.

Went to Macy's yesterday even though I just wanted to nap all day. Haven't been to the mall in ages. After fumbling around in several areas, I went to the Jones of New York area because I know that brand fits decently. Almost found one top that I like but...

Left the mall after one store since I never have a lot of stamina for the mall and I headed to Trader Joe's, World Market, a filling station then decided to try Marshalls. Found a dark top even though I want to start wearing lighter colors and, of course, found a really cute, colorful workout top...

Hoping Silver Jewelry Will Help

No Help Needed

Went to Gloria's class this past Wednesday and I was grateful because I found out that she was going to be out of town and, since Gloria's away, my yoga curiosity got the best of me and I went, along with Alison, to another studio -- a place where Gloria briefly taught.

Gloria -- Still On The Wall

Alison and I were the first to arrive. What do you need today? Maury inquired. I'm so unaccustomed to that question that I almost got whiplash.

I like Maury a lot. He told us You're the diva on your mat and This is a no-issue zone. He may or may not have referenced The Real Housewives reality series.

Maury went on to explain that it was a community class, that he was doing such a class because yoga can be expensive. We were free to donate what we wanted but Maury said that he was worth more than a Big Mac. And he totally is. I really enjoyed his class. When I commented to Alison that Maury is a nice visual reference when he gets into poses, she said Yes, he moves like a dancer.

Before I headed to yoga, watched a bit of CBS Sunday Morning and enjoyed several segments including the one on Katey Sagal (of Married with Children fame) and one about Jason Brown, an NFL player who voluntarily retired in his prime.

P.S. 'Fugee, see what Brown says about love...

What Fun Looks Like

We've been dressing down on Fridays at work because of an upcoming move and a couple of weeks ago one of colleagues told me that I looked fun. I laughed. He's right though. My workout clothes are much more colorful than my regular clothes.

Another person did a double take today. Guess I need to stop buying black and white (and brown) clothing...

Part of the Fun

Went to Zumba last night and think my mojo is back. I'm almost finished with my second bag of cough drops (Burt's Bees). Had no idea just how huge Burt's Bees is until I stumbled upon the Burt's Buzz documentary...

Finished A. J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically this morning. Wasn't sure that I'd stick with the book and felt like the author when he had this moment while dancing with his son.

Without my year, I wouldn't have been open to that feeling I got on the dance floor. And for that alone, all the craziness and Handy Seats and locusts and snakes might have been worth it. (326)

Out of 332 pages, this part of the book stood out in my mind:

I've never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day. (269)

Did you see the list of 55 books that will make you happier? I've read five of them. Kind of in the mood to check out A.J. Jacobs' Drop Dead Healthy.

Deliciousness

No yoga on Sunday.

No swimming on Tuesday.

Tonight, yoga instead of climbing where I found reclining twists comforting.

Wondered why I struggled to do 30 minutes of exercise yesterday and remembered that I had a cold which explains the energy zap, duh...

Decided to do different cardio this p.m. because I feel like I've been doing the same things over and over so I pulled out willPower & grace which I hadn't done in forever.

Did 15-minutes of upper body work yesterday and my armpits are sore. Even though I've been slacking on the strength training, my pectoral muscles stay tight. One morning, had to look for stretches and found relief with bow pose and a doorway stretch...

Someone asked me what I do after work and I told her that I usually do some type of workout. Oh, that's why you look good, she said.

Told her about my seesaw struggle but she told me that I know what I'm doing. This someone knew me when I was living large and didn't realize how large I was living.

You look delicious, she said. I laughed because she managed to say it without innuendo. She is from another country and, kind of hard for me to explain, but I knew that she was sincerely applauding my efforts.

Grab and Go

Please bring me a Pepsi Max Chiquita texted before I headed to the ER to meet her.

I threw an orange, energy bars, mints and cough drops in my bag and headed out. The gas station that I stopped at didn't have Pepsi Max so I grabbed a regular old Pepsi with a frightening amount of sugar. No caffeine in the mix but I was sure that the sugar would do the trick.

A couple of weeks ago when I headed to the ER for a different relative, the security guard asked me to put my bag on the belt and she was like We have oranges, tortillas chips... She found the contents of bag amusing for some reason.

This one family in the ER tried to decide where to eat and this one woman said that she couldn't go to nearby Popeyes. I don't eat fast food, she said.

Chiquita and I decided to go to Chipotle where we both tried to pay and said You pay next time at the same time.

I have no idea what I'll be eating tomorrow as I've had no time to meal plan or no time for much else either...

Picked these up on a whim.

I've never tried honey for a sore throat so thought it'd be nice to try these drops. Good decision.

Stay Tall

Finally got into a groove after three laps. Diving mom was at the pool again.

You're already leaning; stay tall. Reach...reach; see how that gets you higher? At one point, diving mom demonstrated something to diving kid and her alignment was special and had she lifted her leg in the back, it would have been Virabhadrasana III a.k.a. Warrior III.

I swam 20 laps and headed to the locker room where this woman came in with a hood over her head. Aren't you cold? I chuckled. Knew that she was Bosnian and Bosnians don't swim in certain conditions including chilly weather. It's never the weather that I'm concerned about. It's the water temp in the pool but, thankfully, the pump has been fixed and the water is not as frigid as it has been.

The woman was really cold because she had been sitting outside watching a soccer game which had gone into overtime.

This other woman told me that she and her daughter were watching me swim since her daughter wants to be on the swim team and she needs to work on her strokes. Her poor daughter. She better watch someone else swim. Nevertheless, it was nice for the woman to tell me that.

As I headed out the pool house door, I saw a line up of about forty cars. The soccer game had let out.

Yoga After All

Struggled to get to yoga even though I had extra time. Others struggled too because there weren't many people in class until right before it started.

When there was still plenty of real estate, this guy put his mat precisely in front of mine. I adjusted my mat and tried not to be annoyed because it is yoga after all. It's the same way that I try not to be annoyed with the guy who works out before yoga but waits until after the class has started before he comes in.

Of course, both of those guys help to make up the troupe that creates such nice energy...

As we were in child's pose, Gloria said something about how you bring all of your energy centers to the earth. I forget about stuff like that. Can't remember the sequence but it was definitely a kind of earth salutation.