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.

How I Spent My Tuesday

Came home from work, ate a few apple slices, put on sunscreen and headed out the door.

When I returned from walking, picked up yard debris and heard the subtle motion of water. My neighbor was in his new pool floating around in a plastic chaise longue. It's swimming day but my pool is closed for renovation.

I contemplated offering my neighbor a cold beverage so that I could float as well. Instead, I took the trash container to the curb then went inside to eat.

At some point, I moved my dinner bowl away from my legs, read the introduction of a book that just arrived then went prone. I got cold but could not be bothered to get under the covers. Stayed in the same position for almost two hours...

Think that I go TKO'd by the heat. Even though the humidity was low, we went from light jacket weather to 93 degrees.

Dandelion in the Middle

I Brake for Cardinals But They Don't Brake For Me

Dot, Period, The End

My cousin Chiquita is fond of saying: dot, period, the end. She does not like hemming and hawing and is pretty decisive. I was thinking about Chiquita on the way home.

I'm exhausted. Dot, period, the end.

I went to Kate's class, my Tuesday usual.

I'm exhausting myself with all of this yelling, she said. Then, I told Joy that I'm mean when I get tired. Thanks Joy for not sharing that piece of information with your classmates.

You know how people snort when they really find something amusing? Well, Kate has this sinister saucy laugh and she was doing that tonight. I think she knows when she's delivering a good butt-kicking.

I think the cardio stints were longer because we didn't do anything different --same ol' high knees, fast feet, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, engaging of the abs etc. but I wanted to splay out on the floor (about 15 minutes into class) and take a nap.

It was a technical knockout, y'all, and my pace for the rest of this afternoon is going to be on par with Teddy Pendergrass' Love TKO -- s.l.o.w.



P.S. I stood my thick self (in a sea of petiteness) smack dab in front of the glass door to the classroom since it was the only spot left in class when I squeaked in at 4:59 p.m. I'm becoming less self-conscious and I'm going to count that as a non-scale victory.

Graham Cracker Technical Knockout (TKO)

I am notorious for going to the grocery store for one item. I try to be environmentally responsible and, most of the time, when I make the rounds, I really make the rounds while my engine is all warm and efficient.

Well, I was jonesing for graham crackers and peanut butter which I have not had in awhile. I usually have a small apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter for a snack but I exhausted my supply of Gala apples, Aldi's was closed and I refused to pay the other stores' prices for apples.

I headed to Schnucks to get the graham crackers. At first, it took me awhile to find the Schnucks' brand. Then, not only did I find the Schnucks brand, I also found low fat written across one box. I've gotten in the habit of reading the nutrition facts and was deeply annoyed when I came across high fructose corn syrup. This stuff is so pervasive; it's like a weed or mint when it's not contained.

I decided to pony up more money and go with a name brand. Well, Nabisco and Keebler also have high fructose corn syrup in their graham crackers. For a while, I kept going back and forth down the cracker and cookie aisle like a pummeled boxer who is clearly out-matched and keeps getting knocked down to the mat but refuses to stay horizontal. I just kept going back and forth hoping that I had overlooked a brand. I wanted the cookie à la Hammy in "Over the Hedge" and, surely, because I wanted the cookie, there had to be a brand somewhere on the shelf for me.

Schnucks has an organic line called Full Circle but I didn't see any FC graham crackers. In the end, it was a TKO and my trip to the store for one item was all for naught. When you go to find an item, have your taste buds set for that unique treat and have to walk away empty-handed, well, that is the ultimate disappointment. No, that's not completely true. The quickness with which Monday morning arrives is the ultimate disappointment. But then again, I had a teacher who said Americans put too much stock in Friday. I have a feeling, though, that that teacher had not been in America long and, if he is still here, probably puts a lot a stock in Friday now.

After seeing the way high fructose corn syrup was made in the documentary "King Corn," I try to avoid the stuff. Here's a trailer from "King Corn" and a very brief scene from "Over the Hedge."