TKO Look

I've gotten another weekend of yoga teacher training (YTT) under my belt.  Learned about restorative and yin yoga from a guest lecturer and she was so well-versed that I felt overwhelmed. Have to continuously tell myself that YTT is a learning experience.

I've also finished another yoga book -- Judith Hanson Lasater's Living Your Yoga and I can see how people totally immerse themselves in the study of yoga or other pursuits...

Went to Zumba today and so many of us had that Monday TKO look on our faces. Zumba definitely helped.

One of my colleagues took me out to lunch even though she had gifted me items already for my birthday. I chose this new smoothie and juice bar and had the Ocean smoothie bowl made with blue spirulina. Not even sure what spirulina is but that smoothie bowl was amazing. My colleague also insisted that I get the avocado toast. I usually make fun of avo toast but this was the most amazing  toast in the whole wide world.

Was also pleasantly surprised when one of my former colleagues rounded the corner with her sweet baby in her arms.

I won't mention how my right shoulder blade was so tight this weekend that I had to stand against the wall, to brace myself, whenever I had to sneeze. My shoulder blade tells me that my stress level is higher than it's been.

Visitor

I was genuinely surprised when I woke to discover it was just Thursday.

Was not at work for long before someone told me and another coworker that there was a cute little kitty at the front door. The kitty had gotten in and someone had placed him back outside.

No one in my family ever had cats so I can't say that I'm a cat person but this little guy certainly tugged at my heart strings. He was super friendly and playful and, at one point, he wrapped his legs around my arms -- so cute.

The consensus is that he belongs to someone but one of my coworkers says that if she sees him again, he is going home with her.

I’m glad that I got chance to spend time with the kitty and I hope he’s safe.

E

Coincidence?

It's always "fun" when a customer starts off a conversation with "I have a problem." That's how I was greeted immediately after a Friday meeting... This customer did surprise me by saying "Never give up" twice.

Went to Saturday Zumba which I haven't been to in over a month. The Zumba teacher's mother surprised me by being super chatty. She said that, lately, she struggles M-F and Sunday to get in 10,000 steps. She's been averaging 4,000 a day and she's also been eating way more than she had been eating.

All that to say that "the struggle is real." Her story is a reminder that we all struggle, duh!

I've been requesting a lot of CDs from the library, including Bob Marley's Live! Have I never heard Get Up, Stand Up live or does the refrain Don't give up the fight... resonate with me right now?

Played Damian Marley's Stony Hill while cooking earlier and the lyrics Don't you give up on yourself ... from  Looks Are Deceiving stood out to me. Coincidence?  I think not.

Ha, just realized that the Aretha Franklin CD that I got from the library was due two days ago. There's totally a waiting list.

The Real World

There was a family and friends' picnic yesterday -- spearheaded by the patriarch, Charles, on my father's side of the family.

My sister-in-law visited and I haven't really sat down and had a hearty conversation with her in a while. Saw a cousin that I hadn't seen since junior high school and I was introduced to a cousin whose parents divorced when she was two. Because her mother moved to California, she didn't know any paternal relatives; what a trip -- not much different than my own trip of not really knowing a lot of my father's folks.

One of my younger cousins  said the same thing about not being familiar with many of the people at the picnic. It's kind of weird because I am more familiar with this cousin's sister than I am with her. Oh well, what can you do? As Maya Angelou said: When you know better, you do better.

My cousin, the patriarch, has unbelievable carpentry skills. He made a train for the kids! It was somewhat funny, though, because someone was driving it and she said that my cousin had too many rules about the operation of the train.

There was regular barbecue type food plus popcorn, snow cones, candy apples etc. When the call went out for homemade ice cream, I was like, ugh, but my cousin Chiquita's childhood friend was like Get some. You don't eat like this every day. We live in the real world... 

And the last part of her statement resonated with me a lot.