Plan B

 We had an amazing 10 days in Wyoming this August. For me, on leave from teaching due to my concussion, it came right on the heels of 10 days at the beach. I was off of the internet, disconnected, living only in the moment with my family, for a full 6 weeks. I kept a paper journal during this time, and I can see the way that my mindset changed during this time. I can literally see my writing voice changing, joy creeping back into my heart. My time at the beach included taking classes almost daily at the wonderful studio owned by my friend, at Balance….not being in the car for 10 days except for our one excursion to Ocean City for the rides. We walked, we biked, we sat. We played on the beach, we read, we relaxed. We played golf on the beach, corn hole, we found crabs, did gymnastics, played football, baseball, younameit. We spent long, long days unwinding on the beautiful beaches of Cape May, and after the stress and chaos of the previous two months, it was a gift. When I was 19 I moved to Seattle, having never been there before. I loved (loved) living out West. I travelled all over, spent so much time climbing and hiking and exploring all over the Pac NW and really all over the western part of the country. Though being here has been the perfect place to start our family and have the support of family and friends, when I think about being …..West….again my heart aches with happiness. The community, the diversity, the love of the outdoors, the food co-ops, the ability to have world class skiing, and snowshoeing and climbing all within minutes has me over the moon. I've missed it. I think that I've so come to terms with being away from friends and family at this point that I'm not sad anymore. Now it just seems like one big adventure and I'm able to focus on that part, rather than the sorrow of leaving those that I love. 

This has been the treat of fall. Jake is in full day Kindergarden. He gets off of the bus at 2:55. We immediately go upstairs and take a nap together. We have one hour of bliss. I close the blinds, he wraps his arms around me, I put my book down, and set my alarm for 4:00, and always, always fall asleep with him. I love hearing his breath change, it happens in about 4 minutes ~ he's just done. I follow quickly. My alarm wakes me on my wrist so that it doesn't wake him, and I get up and get the big's off of the bus at 4:05. I think that this started when I was still in the depths of the blues, but now that I'm feeling better it has kept up. He's' a natural snuggler and I know that this won't last much longer ~ I'm taking my snuggles while I can get them!

This is who over 4,000 pounds of food looks like. Here is what I have learned. It is SO SO SO good to donate to your local food pantry. BUT. You know what is better? To slip them a $20. Or more. Can you envision the labor that now has to go into the sorting, dating, and then shelving of all of these random bags? Cash means that we can buy what we need when we need it, AND not need to worry about expiration dates or storage. It frees us from the hours and hours of manpower require to date check and sort and store random food. It also allows us to guarantee our clients consistency in what we can offer them. That said, ANY donation is a good donation, so I don't mean to sound picky. Our goal for our food drive is 5000. It's ambitious for sure. That's any combination of 5000  ~ $5,000 or 5,000 lbs of food or whatever combination we can get. I'm nervous and excited to see how it goes! The Boy Scouts were so cute and proud as they carried in bag after bag, and the hours flew by as we worked hard. 

This morning I was up at 6 to run through some ideas for my 8 am class and have breakfast. It was a big group this morning and everything flowed nicely, we had some fun trying some new things like a Dancing Ganesha and a really fun seated core sequence in combination with a hip opener at the end. As Nate and I were up late last night I'm planning on a big fat nap in front of the fire during the Eagles game today. Each week I think that I will go work out with Nate after teaching, and each week I come home from teaching 3 classes and all I want to do is take a nap. Teaching is tiring! The 8 am class has definitely evolved over the past two years and is decidedly a power flow class at this point. It's different every week, and I work hard to find new things to bring to the class each time. I always get good ideas from Sue's Friday morning class, and I have taken to looking at Jill Miller's Yoga Tune Up's for some inspiration now and again. Over the summer, when I didn't want to drag the kids to the gym, I had been paying for a subscription to Bryan Kest's site. I just ended that this week, and I'm thinking of paying for a subscription for YogaGlo. Anyone use it? I just saw that I could have a free 15 day trial subscription. Anyone have a site that they like to do online yoga with? Due to sports I can't get to any nighttime yoga these days, and my daytime options are limited. 

Do you do yoga with a teacher online?? Recommendations?