Most boring update.

Been so busy and tired lately that on the days that I don't plan to attend a class, I don't even think about practice. Home practice is going to be out of the question until this silent auction is over.

We had an auction committee meeting the other night. We've got a decent number of donations and the auction is a month away, but still some of the people at the meeting are throwing out ideas for sponsorships, raffles and donations. Really, I don't care which other school got a BMW dealership to donate the use of a BMW convertible for a week, and I further don't care what other school made 75K on their auction with a donation from Jane Fonda for a lunch with her. We're two k-3 schools with a combined student total of less than 500, and at least a third of them are free or reduced lunch and therefore unlikely to bid on any of these items, if they attend at all. So let's not waste time coming up with these fabulous ideas, especially since the suggesters have no intention of soliciting these donations.

The main thing hanging over my head is the timing of the forms for tickets and volunteers, and the printing of the auction catalog. The catalog is my responsibility, but our only copy of Word is on Lee's laptop which usually goes to work with him, and will be going with him to Virginia for three days next week. We'll be at the beach a week from today for spring break week, and when we return there are only two full weeks until the event.

Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit stressed, trying to keep up with everything. Lee keeps reminding me to chill, to take deep breaths. What is he, a yogi or something?

In a change from my usual insomnia, I've been sleeping like the dead this week. I think it might be the zyrtec I started taking for my seasonal allergies. It does not make me feel sleepy during the day, but I sure do sleep hard at night. Today I had to add some claritin to my zyrtec, because I was going to the soccer field which is surrounded by trees. The claritin gave me an out-of-body experience and extremely cold extremeties. Wierd.

Yesterday I went to full primary, well, it wasn't full primary because John spent the first fifteen minutes chatting with someone. We made it through bhuja, then went directly to closing.

There was a wierd energy in the room. There's one woman who, when we get to navasana, won't do it but instead starts doing crunches. John didn't say anything last week, but yesterday he ragged her pretty hard about it but she still kept on with her crunches.

I felt very low energy yesterday, bendy enough, but each vinyasa between sides was an act of sheer will.

Last night we went to a happy hour at my friend Beth's house. It was warm enough so that we were all outside on the deck. We stayed until about 9:15, then brought the boys home and threw them in the shower. I laid down with Will and fell asleep before he did, listening to Jim Dale reading "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". If it were possible for me to have Jim Dale's children, I would, I tell you.

This morning I spent two hours in line at the recreation department, waiting to register the boys for camp. I'm not sure it was worth it; I was registering each for one week of half-day camp. I didn't know it would take that long, so I didn't bring a book, and was reduced to eavesdropping on the conversations around me. One woman showed me her spreadsheet of camps for her kids - she had columns for date, place, friends attending, hours, and items needed (ie, swimsuit, lunch, soccer cleats).

This afternoon we had a home renovations guy who lives in the neighborhood come by and talk to us about a new kitchen countertop. We have a grubby, worn, white contractor-grade laminate countertop that came with the house. About six years ago we had a tile backsplash installed and why I didn't go ahead then & get a countertop then, I don't know. Anyway, I'm so ready for a new one. When all is said & done, we'll have a new countertop (possibly granite), a new slide-in range (we have a grubby gas cooktop and a barely functioning built-in electric oven beneath it), and a new undermounted sink with new fixture. The countertop is going to run us $2000 or so; a row of tile in the backsplash is going to have to be removed with the counter and will be replaced with a new row of trim, in some color to tie together the existing tile and the new countertop. The oven is going to run us at least a thousand, and the sink & fixture, several hundred. Not entirely sure how we're going to pay for all this, but it's much needed, and the guy really needs the work. He has two kids in school with my kids, and he's a really nice guy who comes recommended.

Tomorrow is going to be spent working on the silent auction, sending Michael off to a birthday party around the corner, and then hot flow at 4:30.

Waiting for dinner to cook.

Tonight we're having a totally made up pasta with cheese sauce - a few veggies chopped fine in my food processor, sauteed in butter, then a sprinkling of flour, milk, then some sharp chedder, et voila, cheese sauce - with diced ham, over low-carb elbow noodles, with fruit for the boys and salad for us, plus leftover biscuits (not for me though - I've been eating well today). Waiting for the pasta water to boil, so I'll do this questionnaire that I've seen everywhere else:


1. What is your occupation? Domestic management specialist, also known as full-time mom.
2. What color are your socks right now? Not wearing any!
3. What are you listening to right now? Beck singing "Soldier Jane" and the sound of Will cutting paper in the kitchen
4. What was the last thing that you ate? A spoonful of the cheese sauce I'm making for dinner
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes. I wish I still had a manual transmission car, but Lee hates them. Manual transmission is fun!
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My friend Robin, about PTA stuff
8. What's your favorite yoga pose? I like bhujapidasana, though I can't put my face on the floor without touching my feet down. I love the arm balance part, though. I also am loving urdva dhanurasana right now, because it feels good again.
9. How old are you today? 41
10. Favorite drink? Water, but first thing in the morning, freshly brewed dark roast coffee.
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Swimming.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? If so what color? Never dyed it, but in college, we used to use "Sun-In" while we fried ourselves in the sun.
13. Pets? A hamster and a hermit crab. Are they mine? No. Do I take care of them? Yes.
14. Favorite cake? Oooh, just about any layer cake, except for chocolate on chocolate. I prefer contrast.
15. Last movie you saw? Spiderwick Chronicles.
16. Favorite day of the year? The first day of school. ;-)
17. What do you do to vent anger? Yell.
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Drawing paper & pens.
19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Probably fall, because it means that the god-awful summer is finally over.
20. Hugs or kisses? Hugs.
21. Cherry or Blueberry? Cherry.
22. Do you want your friends to respond? N/A
23. Who is most likely to respond? N/A
24. Who is least likely to respond? N/A
25. Living arrangements? 3br, 2.5ba 2-story house in a cool city just outside Atlanta.
26. When was the last time you cried? About two months ago.
27. What is on the floor of your closet? a bunch of shoes.
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest? My friend Becky, who I've known since my freshman year in college.
30. Favorite smell? Three-way tie between lemon, freshly ground coffee, and the spice combo of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
31. What/who inspires you? My sons.
32. What are you afraid of? Falling during inversions and roaches.
33. Hamburgers? Yep, but without the bun.
34. Favorite car? I'd get either a minivan or a Prius.
36. Number of keys on your key ring? Four - car, house, bike lock, neighbor's lake house.
37. How many years at your current job? Almost ten as a stay-at-home-mom.
38. Favorite day of the week? Fridays.
39. How many states have you lived in? Two
40. What's your dream job? What I'm doing now.

Carbohydrate addicted.

Normally I eat a fairly low-carb diet with no problems and few cravings. I save my bread and sweets consumption for special occasions and my weight and energy level are not affected.
However, lately I have been jonesing to bake, and have been missing a few things I used to eat, like granola and bagels.

This morning I succumbed to my desire for granola and ate a bowl of Kashi high fiber cereal which set me off on a day of insane carb cravings. I won't list everything I put in my mouth today, but it included a handful of gross cheddar chex mix, half of Will's uneaten turkey and cheese sandwich, about six tablespoons of peanut butter along with an apple, and three of these:



I had half a bottle of organic buttermilk leftover from the cinnamon rolls I made on Easter morning (using an easy Cook's Illustrated recipe calling for a buttermilk biscuit dough instead of yeast-risen dough). The buttermilk was callling to me. So I flipped through my recipes and found a recipe for whole-wheat buttermilk biscuits that I tore out of the food co-op's newsletter. They call for whole-wheat pastry flour, so they actually have some nutritional value. The recipe called for a vegan spread instead of butter, but I used butter, so they needed a bit more salt. Other than that, they were spectacular. The boys ate three apiece. I also roasted a marinated turkey tenderloin and made some pearl barley risotto (the boys ate two servings each of that). I did skip the risotto and had a salad instead, but the damage has been done.

The longer I eat a lower-carb diet, the more pronounced the effects of carb consumption are when I backslide. I can't even eat a bowl of oatmeal made from steel-cut oats without a blood sugar crash an hour later. And I can definitely tell a difference in how my jeans fit.

Tomorrow morning during the 6am hot flow, when James, the teacher, asks everyone to look down at their bellies during navasana and make sure they don't look like they've got a meatloaf under their shirt, I'll be feeling my regrets.

Yep, still busy.

I'll spare everyone the recitation of everything that's going on. Most of it is school & kid related stuff. Last Friday night we had bad storms & a tornado nearby, then more torrential rains early Saturday morning which resulted in the cancellation of the first soccer game of the season.

I've been managing to get in practices when I can, either some of primary plus some stretching here at home, primary series on Friday morning with John, or hot flow classes at the hot yoga studio. For the past four or five Wednesdays I've been going to a 6am class. It's a good class because even though it is an hour long, the people that come are regulars, so he can move the class along.

James, the teacher, mixes up the postures with each class, and today we did the prasaritas. I'm feeling a bit of strain in my right collarbone, probably due to overstretching in prasarita C.

James also came and stood on my feet and pushed my knees closer together during urdhva dhanurasana so I couldn't try to go deeper by letting my feet splay out a little bit. Yeah, that made it harder!

Early last week I had a very short-lived cold, for less than 24 hours I felt crummy, but good lord, the congestions aftermath. It's been a week now and I am still blowing my nose frequently, and, not to be gross, but sometimes it's hard to stop. I paused during a vinyasa class on Monday to blow my nose and I had to leave the room! Last Friday John bound me in supta kurmasana and I was dying for a kleenex - I was like, do I unbind and blow my nose or hang out for five breaths?? I've been trying to invert more, trying to work on upper body strength, and I've just been having to open my mouth and breathe through it when I invert.

In about half an hour I have to go get Michael out of school and take him to the dentist for two extractions. Poor guy, he has no idea what's coming. I had many extractions as a child and they were horrible. I hope the procedure has improved with the years. I'm taking my mp3 player for him to listen to, if he likes.

Got some encouraging news from Will's kindy teacher - she told me there was a group of kids in the class who are *over* reading workshop and are ready to read independently, so she had them tested to see where they were. Will tested the highest in the group and is ready for accelerated reader books. His reading has taken off unbelievably in the last month. I always assumed, because he was slower to develop than Michael, just last year had an evaluation for speech delays, and still struggles with small motor skills, that he would be just average in ability. However, in addition to taking off with reading, he's also learned to tell time much more quickly than Michael did. As bright as Michael is, he was still tentative with time-telling at the end of first grade.

Lee took Michael to a chess club meeting last night. A group of about fifty kids, from kindergarteners to teenagers, meets every other Tuesday at a nearby church. Most of the other kids in the club play on school teams and in tournaments, so Lee said that Michael was at a big disadvantage. Despite getting checkmated right away in one game against a kindergartener, Michael really enjoyed himself and wants to go back. One of the chess instructors gives private lessons, so were thinking about springing for a few of them this summer.

Back to backbending.

So last Friday I went to John's morning class which turned out to be almost all of primary. It was one other woman and myself, so we got lots of adjustments and personal attention. I continue to be strength-challenged.

After the closing chant we were sitting on our mats chatting and I confessed to John that I was really struggling with backbending and he said "I noticed". He said, correctly, that lack of strength appeared to be my problem, since I have very open shoulders. He recommended that I work on holding my backbends as long as possible in order to build strength. He also said "I bet you probably have trouble holding headstand, too" (he leaves us to do closing on our own, so he doesn't see my headstand). Correct also - I usually start wobbling after fifteen breaths and have to come down. I also told him about my psoas issues, which seem to be slowly resolving.

I have been working on backbending since that conversation. They are much improved over a month ago, though I still feel like I am crunching in my lower back. Yesterday I did most of primary at home, and after each backbend, lowered onto my forearms in an attempt to clasp my hands behind my head. Before my psoas issues, I was able to do this. On my last attempt yesterday, I was able to touch my fingers together, but I got a cramp in my lower back and had to come down.

I figured out the self-timer on my camera, so I took a picture of today's backbend:



Since I didn't kill myself during my practice, I felt like I had good strength, but though I was pushing into my chest, I still felt crunching my low back. It felt like much more of an arch than it appears.

I also took a picture of myself in headstand, and I continue to have my legs angled more toward the front, due to my fear of falling. It feels like I am more up-and-down than I look. I moved my mat to the wall so that I could work on that without worrying about falling. I need to get used to the feeling of my legs being directly over my hips.

Now, onto another subject: I got a wonderful recipe for caramel walnut banana upside down cake from Yogamum. I made it last weekend, and, oh my GOSH. It is one of the best things I have ever eaten, seriously, especially when it was still warm. It's a rich banana bread recipe on top of caramel and nuts, like what you get on sticky buns.



I served it with plain, softly whipped cream.

I never do things like eat leftover cake for breakfast, because if I eat any sweets or even carbs in the morning, I pay for it the rest of the day with blood sugar crashes, but I had a piece of this the next morning with my coffee. It was worth it.

Last night I invented a soup that was so good, my boys fought over the leftovers for snack this afternoon. I found a recipe for a cheese soup on epicurious, and turned it into a corn, black bean & chicken chowder. First I fried a couple of pieces of bacon, then in the grease (and with a little olive oil added) I sauteed a few finely chopped carrots, an onion, two stalks of celery, and three cloves of garlic (next time I will also add a red bell pepper). When the veggies were soft, I added about a tablespoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of cumin, stirred it around until it was fragrant, then added about three tablespoons of whole wheat flour (turned out I could have used less - the cheese makes this soup quite thick). Then I added about two-thirds of a carton of chicken broth, and let this simmer for a bit.

Then I added some half & half and milk - not sure how much - probably a cup and a half of each, heated this gently, then added two cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese. I think the sharp cheddar is a must - it gave it a great flavor. Any other robustly flavored cheese would be good, too. I stirred in the cheese until it melted, then added about a cup of corn, a can of drained black soy beans (regular black beans would be fine, too, but I used soy because they are very high in fiber) and two poached, shredded chicken breasts. I let all this simmer very gently until it was heated through. I added a generous splash of chicken broth to thin it out a bit at the end.

If I'd had some, I'd have sprinkled it with chopped cilantro. I crumbled up the bacon and sprinkled it on top of the servings, and served it with tortilla chips.

It was totally yummy - definitely a keeper. It had flavor from the chili powder, but not so much that the boys complained. Actually I could probably up the amount next time. The black beans, corn and chicken gave it a nice texture.

Well, I owe Will thirty minutes of computer time for two days of great behavior at school, so I'm off....

The busy season

Spring is always a busy time of year - social events, school events, soccer season, summer vacation and summer camp planning. I've been going from one thing to the other, and I had insomnia almost every night, so I've been operating in a bit of a fog. Let's see if I can recap:

Last week was the Kids' Consignment sale. The date kind of crept up on me so I spent three or four days madly pricing things to sell. Last Monday afternoon Michael had his first orthodontist appointment. After an exam and a set of x-rays, she determined that the first thing to do was pull four baby teeth. The two on top are preventing adult teeth from coming in; one on the bottom has an adult tooth behind it, and the other on the bottom is the mate to the baby tooth. Those appoiments are scheduled for consecutive Wednesdays later on this month.

Last Tuesday was an open house at the 4/5 Academy that Michael will attend next year. After that, my friend Gloria and I took Michael and her daughter (who will also attend that school next year) out to dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. They were highly entertaining and fun to be with. After dinner I had to drop my Kids' Sale items off.

Last Wednesday morning I went to a Hot Flow class at 6am. I expected it to be a bust because I am usually super stiff and creaky first thing in the morning, but it was a great class and I was glad that I went. I got my hair cut that morning, then went and bought tickets for myself and a friend to see Jose Gonzales last Sunday.

Thursday morning I worked the Kids' Sale from 9 to 12:30. Friday morning I went to another Hot Flow class. Saturday I did full primary at John's studio. Our mid-series activity was partner dropbacks. I was partnered with a petite girl who I did not trust not to drop me, so though she assured me that she wouldn't drop me, and that my hands were almost on the floor, I couldn't do it. That afternoon I had to go back to the Kids' Sale and pickup my leftovers. I was happy to see that all of the Thomas the Tank Engine stuff sold, along with almost everything else. I also tried to pick up Will's soccer schedule, but the coach had taken off with all of them.

Sunday I went up into our library and did half of primary. My fingers brush the ceiling fan when I raise my hands over my head in surya namaskars, but I had a decent practice and got through the marichyasanas before I was interrupted. Sunday night was the Jose Gonzalez concert at the Variety Playhouse - Gwen and I think we were the oldest people there.

Monday was a PTA Board meeting. We are trying to recruit some people from the board, but it is hard. The same people keep volunteering. Tuesday I went to a vinyasa class that was just okay - not much flow and lots of focus on alignment. Not my favorite type of class.

Wednesday morning I went back to the 6am Hot Flow, another good class. I had to prepare for a Silent Auction committee meeting last night - our auction is in seven weeks, and we've been conducting a lot of business via email, but we all needed to sit down together and make up a list of things to do. After the meeting, which was at my friend Cindi's house, she and I killed a bottle of wine and discussed what a thankless job being a PTA Board member is (she's on the board at her child's school, which is our partner in this auction). I didn't get home until after midnight. Ironically, I did not suffer from insomnia last night, probably because I did not sleep long enough to wake up and then be unable to go back to sleep.

Today I spent hours working on an agenda and to-do list for the auction, and organizing a teacher breakfast to be hosted by Michael's class in a few weeks. A little while ago. I got an email from Michael's teacher. Some of the kids who generally breeze through their classroom work get to do extra projects, so Michael and another boy researched and prepared a Power Point presentation on the Revolutionary War. The PPT listed various facts, and they spoke extemporaneously about them. His teacher said they did a fantastic job. I'm so proud!

Tomorrow morning is "Community Circle" at school, led by the kindergarteners, then a class at John's studio. I think it is only half primary, though.

Saturday we are invited to two parties, one a surprise party our neighbor is throwing for his girlfriend in the afternoon, and the other an evening cocktail party down the street. We are getting a sitter for the cocktail party and then walking to a neighborhood pub afterward for dinner.

I am also trying to plan a week at the beach in July with two other families, and an initial search for rentals shows that we need to get moving and book something.

Next week is the PTA's Spaghetti Dinner, a mid-week field trip to see "Seussical the Musical" for Will's class, then a teacher workday on Friday, Will's first soccer game, and a dinner party next Saturday.

We're also expecting the return of freezing weather this weekend, after two days of warm, open-up-all-the-windows weather. So many trees are in bloom here, that are probably gonna get zapped by frost.

Geez, I sound really brain dead. This must be the most unimaginative blog post ever.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got some new shoes this week, just in time to pull the wool socks back out:

Bizarrely funny.

I have never cared much about the comic "Garfield", but this is quite funny.

Garfield Minus Garfield: who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?