Vivid

Had a vivid, short dream that I received a holiday card from one of my college friends with all kinds of details and pictures so I sent her a card along with a few others; I'm not really the holiday card sending type.

After our unexpected day off due to inclement weather, an AmeriCorps came to my office and we exchanged pleasantries. She asked me about the off day and I told  her it was nice to not have to go anywhere plus to check a few tasks of the list like cleaning the fish tank, an overdue task.

She said similar things about how she'd had apples in the refrigerator for so long that she didn't want to touch them but, go figure, they made great applesauce. She also said that she'd cleaned her cat's litter box which was also overdue.

We are not alone in struggling to keep up...

Provided sound for a restorative class last Wednesday.

I also went to a sound event with singing bowls and harp on the Winter Solstice. Spotted at least six yoga teachers, including myself, which made me think of something Dianne Bondy said when she was here: I don't know about where you come from but where I live, you can throw a quarter in Whole Foods and hit 15 yoga teachers... 

One of the yoga teachers at the Winter Solstice event.

Got to work today and there was an email about a colleague whose wife had died "after a long battle with cancer" the day of our holiday party and I kept thinking how could the battle be long because my colleague looks like he's 28-years-old... :(

You or Me

Because of the forecast, decided not to make my usual Sunday afternoon trek to Illinois.

At some point, woke up in the wee hours of the morning and saw a text message from work that we'd be opening on a delayed schedule. Quickly turned my regular alarm off and edited another one for a different wake up time. What an unexpected gift.

My coworker messaged me to say that she didn't feel comfortable driving and almost immediately messaged me to say that we were actually closed as she had spotted the message on Facebook.

There was some type of glitch with the alert system and after checking the automated message decided to check my work emails and communicated with the people that I needed to and then I shut down all work stuff...

With my extra time, I cleaned out the fish tank, exercised, read and, otherwise, chilled out. Couldn't believe how sore I was from the 10 minutes of kickboxing which makes me feel like my workout regime was in need of shaking up.

Took another bubble bath tonight and did more yoga. Reached out to a friend to tell her that one of my cousins and an aunt are off tomorrow and she said, "Yeah, I don't think that's going to be you or me tomorrow."

Nice

Had our work holiday party on Friday and it's sad how many of us were looking forward to a  half day away from our desks.

Thankfully, the party veered from the usual structure and we had more fun. I also continued my streak of winning a door prize and got a gift card. I have treated myself to plenty in November and December so not sure what I will treat myself to.

Alison messaged me while we were having our party and I sent her a picture of my plate in response to her "What are you doing?" and she responded back: starch fest. Indeed. I am still thinking about the lentil samosas; they were so perfect...

Checked my Saturday Zumba teacher's social media and found out that they are closing all classes at this particular gym. This is the second time that they've remodeled a bigger space and another gym has been affected. So, goodbye to two Zumba teachers. One of my classmates seems to think that they are pushing their Les Mills classes...

With the exception of going to out to get ginger, I've been in the house, due to the weather, all day and it's been nice. I pulled out my workout DVDs and did a segment from a Leslie Sansone DVD and also did kickboxing plus just moved around the house. It looks like there's going to be a change in my exercise routine.

Understatement

Bought way more than I expected post-Thanksgiving. Planned to acquire at least one more singing bowl and did my usual back and forth about the necessity of purchasing more stuff.

My sound equipment arrived on Wednesday which was the same day that I was collaborating with Jocelyn to do a restorative, sound experience so I took my new bowl along after testing it out. 

This woman, Lisa, approached me and shared that she is a St. Louis native, does sound healing but now lives on the West Coast. When she comes home, she likes to check out the sound scene.

Lisa and I talked plus exchanged Instagram information after class and was surprised when I saw that she followed me on Twitter until I remembered that my Twitter information is on Instagram but I was even more surprised when I saw what Lisa tweeted; it was so moving (understatement).

I experienced doubt about my purchase and about sound therapy and Lisa's generous tweet was a sign that I needed.

Comfort

What time will you be here? That was my question to my nephew, D, who wanted to know what time I usually wake up. 

D told me his estimated time of arrival was 6:00 a.m. so I set my alarm clock and heard his knock on the door right around that time. 

My aunt G said that she was bringing breakfast. When she arrived and pulled a dozen eggs out of her shopping cart, I realized that she was bringing the materials for breakfast. We are not the best at communicating in my family.

By the time that my aunt arrived, I knew that my nephew and his companions were hungry so I started making omelets. My aunt didn't like the way that I added raw vegetables (mushrooms, bell peppers, onions) and she also told me to slow down because she usually does eggs last. 

My aunt likes to cook her bell peppers and onions before adding them to omelets; you learn something new every day. Despite our different techniques, it was nice to stand side-by-side with my aunt and cook. That saying about too many cooks in the kitchen totally popped into my head though. 

Everyone got fed and, as I passed out coffee, thought about a picture in the office of a massage therapist that I used to go to. It said something like: As we provide comfort, we are comforted... 

On Saturday I was totally confused about the whereabouts of Friday. What had I done? Where had the time gone? 

I barely moved on Thursday and Friday and I don't remember the last time I moved so little...

Decided to take extra days off and I'm glad that I did. I was not prepared, at all, to return to work. So much energy and work goes into the holidays. It feels like, at a minimum, we should devote a week to Thanksgiving. Everything just feels so rushed... 

Reached out to Alison about going to Gloria's yoga class. That 60 minutes of yoga felt so good. Haven't been doing much studio yoga lately. Kind of looking for a yoga home again. Once upon a time, thought that I had found one.  For now and for the most part, I'm content to do yoga at home. Also, everything is messing with my head, including All My Relations and White Women Killed Yoga.