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. 

But What’s New?

Swam on Tuesday and couldn't sleep because of congestion and chalked it up to swimming. Went to Iyengar yoga on Wednesday and was just fine but, during the night, my mucus production ramped up. I have a cold -- a low-key one but still...

It has been so sweet having this time off. Got some stuff done (washing clothes, draining the lawn mower etc.) but still have lots of stuff to do but what's new?

On Thanksgiving Day, looked through the sales papers and it's so tempting to buy stuff that you don't need. My sound trainer mentioned that her family went a year without buying anything. They did make a one-item exception for birthdays though.

I did buy items related to the sound therapy training since they also had a Black Friday special and I'm also thinking about buying a sports bra from Enell since they are 30% off. Knew that Gingerzingi had mentioned Enell in her blog before so took a peek to get her opinion...

Took my mother to get eyeglasses today and they had a 20% discount. Wish I had known but, alas, my prescription has expired...

One of coworkers has been inviting me over to her place and since I had extra time, I went on Friday. Holy crap, she had all the Thanksgiving leftovers.

To Coo At You

Yoga at the Rockhouse

On the fifth day of the yoga retreat, I note in my journal that the music during yoga practice was on point again -- very soulful and mild. I also enjoyed the story that Joy told about Buddha's quest to reach enlightenment and how he was attacked by soldiers but their arrows turned into flowers...

We head to Booby Cay Island on the fifth day and stop for snorkeling along the way. The trip on the boat is super fun.

Regarding the election I've been told twice, by now, that it's in God's hands...

Some of us hang out at the resort's bar during the night and I talk with Bezu about how I am reluctant to be photographed and when I tell her why she says So what? She goes on to tell me that maybe it's because she was told so often during her childhood that she was beautiful that she doesn't care about being chubby and, furthermore, the chubbier you were as a child the better it was because people really wanted to pinch your cheeks and coo at you...

When I went swimming on Tuesday, thought fondly about my swimming lessons almost a decade ago and how I was the only one to show for the swimming class the day before Thanksgiving and how it was also the day that I figured out the backstroke.

Also thought about how I sprained my ankle on Thanksgiving last year so I was extra careful moving around today.

On Sunday Chiquita told me that she overheard my aunt Al say that I used to make cakes for her. I was going to wait until Christmas but why wait? Bought eggs, butter and soda at Target last night after Zumba and got myself in the kitchen to make a 7-UP cake for my aunt.

The Grease That Slid Down The Counter

I ate the macaroni and cheese. I had enough sprouted grain bread for one almond butter and preserves sandwich for the ride back home – so I ate the mac and cheese and it was definitely not low fat. There was not one thing about the concoction that had reduced anything.


I ate the fried turkey even after I stepped in the grease that slid down the counter and made a puddle.

I ate the sweet potato pie knowing that sweet potatoes are sweet enough.

I traveled with oatmeal, sprouted grain bread, Chobani, preserves, Kashi snacks etc. but, in the end, I didn’t carry enough.

I did not like breaking my four year streak of not eating fried foods but I’m moving on and, next time, I’ll take more food…

I went on a pre-Thanksgiving Day meal walk and was hungry when I returned. I peeled an orange and asked my sister-in-law if she wanted any of her orange. I got those for you, she said. I also have oatmeal…

The last time that I went she had granola bars for me as well. Very sweet…

When I went for the walk, my uncle joined me…

The next morning I got teased for pretending to be sleep while playing games on my iPod.

Me: For your information, I was watching Men with Kids so that I wouldn’t disturb you early-to-bed folks and I was listening to music to quiet my mind after that.

Debbie, my aunt: Yeah, because you didn’t get to quiet your mind when your uncle joined you for a walk.

Hardy har har, my peeps are so funny…

What's Hot, What's Not: Holiday Edition

Hot

Carrying Around Almond Butter, Instant Oatmeal and Larabaras in Purse


Not Hot



Well, It Was Hot When It Came Out Of the Oven


Hot

Incorporating What You Learned in Bootcamp-like Classes for an Outdoor Workout

Not Hot

Finding Out There's a Fitness Room but Getting Bored by Spinning Bike

* * *

Not Hot

Packing So Lightly That There's No Margin for Error

Hot

Finding Free Laundry Facility at Inn In Case of Packing Errors

* * *

Not Hot

The Relative Who Almost Downs a Bottle of Vodka Right After Turkey

* * *

Hot

Patience

* * *
Even Hotter

One Year Old Niece Who Toddles Off With Water Bottle, Catching Up with Relatives and, You Know, Getting Rest

Nephew After Dinner

Stuff People Say To Me

I'm in a size 10 and they are getting tight; I don't want to go up to a size 12. I started going to the gym. I'm also going to try the cabbage diet and see what I can take off in two weeks with exercise and diet...

That's ridiculous. One my colleagues when I told her that I had spent 80 minutes at the gym the previous night in order to stave off hibernation syndrome

If you're not losing any weight, why do you need to buy new winter tops? Hazira, one of my friends

I've gained 50 pounds but I'm happy. I'm too busy to cook and, when I'm on the go, I eat fast food. I know that I shouldn't eat fast food but Iranian food takes two to three hours to cook....I'm not small but I'm not too big. I'm still at the point where I enjoy dressing up.

Nice teamwork. Sophie to me after I did some drumming on Patti's forearms after she tackled The Gift of Flight a.k.a The Forearm-Killing route.

There's a Groupon for an advanced rock climbing technique class. A hint? from Patti

I have gray matter. I just don't use it. I'm so into my body.

I drink a gallon of water a day -- not because I like water but because my coach tells me that I need to...You need to drink more water.

Thanksgiving is not really that big of a deal to me. I think we should be thankful every day. Also, people see Thanksgiving as an opportunity to be a glutton and I don't do gluttony. A grappler, stepper and yogi.

Anyone said any interesting stuff to you lately?

Nooowwwww, how will you navigate through Thanksgiving?

The big day, Thanksgiving, is one week away and I think about it. I do. If I let my mind go in that direction, I think about how I'll miss German chocolate cake, macaroni and cheese and candied yams. I was recently asked the above question by someone I was having a e-mail conversation with and here's my response:


I really approach Thanksgiving the way I approach any other day. However, I do make an exception for sweet potato pie and, even with SP pie, I've found a lower calorie recipe for sweet potato puree. So, I'm even going to put the kibosh on sweet potato pie soon.

I'll eat the turkey and green beans but I'll pass on the dressing, mac and cheese etc.

There's a feature in Fitness magazine called You ate it, negate it. When I see how long it takes to burn off calories for, say, key lime pie, it makes me lose my desire for that item.

I did 65 minutes on the AMT yesterday and it wasn't all fun and games but I gutted it out.

In general, when I think about how much time I've spent in the gym and on my way to the gym, I don't take food lightly anymore. And every book that I read says the same thing: diet and exercise -- you won't be successful unless you pair the two.

And, now, I don't even feel like I'm sacrificing a lot in the taste department if I eat reduced Swiss cheese as opposed to the non-reduced Swiss version.

As early as this week, I decided to clamp down even harder on casual consumption of food. Even my family has gotten on board, to a certain extent, asking me if I'll eat a certain item. Sometimes the answer is no and it's okay for both parties. I used to feel a bit guilty and a bit like I was missing out on something -- especially when the cook made something that I used to fawn over but, in the end, it's quality time that you're spending with that person and not what dish they made.

Several of us are supposed to go out-of-town and I'm already thinking ahead regarding packing lunch and snacks. I fear, though, that there won't be enough room for my almond butter, hummus, Kashi bars and Lesser Evil veggie sticks.

Insatiable

I had an unbelievable appetite today. I had oatmeal, an Attune mint chocolate bar, pasta, Wasa crackers, Laughing Cow cheese and chocolate covered peppermint sticks among other stuff. I made a conscious effort to drink water hoping that it would fill the void.

I went over to my grandmother's house where Easter dinner looked a lot like Thanksgiving fare: turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, green beans, mac and cheese, rolls, sweet potato pie and caramel cake. Sigh.

I grabbed a saucer and had some turkey, green beans and sweet potato pie (see kryptonite list). I looked lovingly at the mac and cheese but decided that the pie was indulgence enough.

My grandmother kept trying to convince me to eat caramel cake. A little cake never hurt anyone, she insisted. Famous last words g'ma.