It's been a whirlwind of a month! The kids are back to school and teaching is really taking off. I'm teaching gentle, power, and sculpt. I have a big audition on Sunday morning for a new studio that is opening in November. I already got through the interview portion, and now am on to the audition. I'm glad that I took time off from teaching when we moved here. I needed to get my family and myself grounded before I could move on to helping others.
It's been a great transition to school for the kids. Everyone seems to have wonderful teachers and good friends.
My parents come to visit next week. To say that I can't wait is an understatement. While I love living here and am so grateful for the lifestyle that we enjoy in Colorado, being away from family never seems to get any easier.
I took this past week off from golf as I was teaching a lot. We had a ton of fun at the Member Member a few weeks ago. My partner and I got off to a good start on the first day, emerging in second place. That meant the on the second day we got to tee off on on #1 with the twosome who was winning it all. We played well on the front but then really came on as a team to go up 6 strokes on the back after a 2 stroke deficit on day one. We won it all! It was really fun and a great way to kick off my new appointment to the women's 18 hole board. Its a two year term and I look forward to getting involved in a more meaningful way with the women's golf program. It also reminded me why I love playing competitive golf. It was so much fun to really study each shot, to focus, to work with my partner to read puts and to implement strategy. My handicap has come down significantly in the past couple of years and my goal is to get into the single digits next year.
Teaching has been great. I'm working hard at expanding my horizons and forcing myself to stretch as both a yogi and a teacher. Teaching sculpt is intimidating, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable and natural teaching it. Its also really hard to control breath (no one wants to hear me gasping as I teach), to learn skills like counting down reps (more like a HIIT class than yoga at many points) and playing a super upbeat playlist has been a fun challenge. I'm definitely from the school of preferring more traditional yoga music, but I have found very few places out here where that is in demand. People listen to current music, it seems, for everything. Exploring new playlists and new ways to play music has been fun.
Making the transition to fall foods has been happening this week. While I always miss the fresh berries and peaches of summer, I look forward to chili and soups and roasted vegetables in a big way this time of year. I had paleo meals delivered from SunBasket three times a week this summer. It was a nice break and a chance to expose everyone to new dinner ideas. Its wonderful for a while, and then you get to the point where if you read the words "grilled peach and tomato salad" again you want to vomit. I cancelled it and look forward to finding some new fall favorites. I added the InstantPot to my arsenal, that thing is amazing! The weather has been beautiful, it's in the low 80's during the day and in the 50's in the morning and evening. We take a lot of "sunset walks" with Auggie and the evenings with the sun setting over the mountains have been absolutely breathtaking.
I don't know about anyone else but is finding clothing IMPOSSIBLE these days? I went to the mall last weekend to try to stock up on clothing for an upcoming trip, and I walked out empty handed, again. I feel like I have no idea where to shop lately. Its SO CASUAL out here that I rarely dress up, but this has meant that my wardrobe has reduced to athletic clothing, jeans, and t-shirts. Its okay with me to invest in my athletic wardrobe as those are my "work" clothes in addition to being what I prefer to wear most weekdays. I tend to get up really early, put on workout clothes, and change into other workout clothes between teaching and actually implementing my own workouts/hiking/running with friends. But cute clothing to wear out? I feel like I don't even know where to look these days. I tend to get a fair bit of stuff at Sundance, but 80% of their clothes are wayyyy too long for me so my choices are limited. Madewell has gotten so trendy, no, believe it or not I don't want 300 t shirts that are cold shoulder denim or have a pre fabricated hole or knot in them. Anthropologie is producing clothing that feels like its mocking women. J Crew is ugly and their quality has gone down as their price point has gone up. I enlisted the help of a professional at Nordstrom to find something cute for an upcoming family photo. She found me these two amazing DVF dresses.......I was so happy! Then I realized that they were $600 before tax. Each. When you feel like you need a lot of stuff you aren't spending that on one thing! I've accepted that certain things are not my strengths. I'm okay with that. I admit though, trying to up ones style at 42 isn't the easiest thing. I look back at photos of all of the weddings and events and dresses I used to wear and just feel like I'm fashion lost nowadays. The Lily and preppy bright colored stuff doesn't work out here, but I haven't found what DOES work. SOMEONE PICK ME UP AND JUST DRESS ME FOR PETES SAKE.
This weekend is busy. Yoga this morning, then I'm having lunch with my running buddies to celebrate a birthday today, and we have three kids sleeping over tonight. Tomorrow we are back on the hamster wheel of soccer, with three games, then we head into Denver with friends to go to Il Posto for dinner. We have definitely fallen into the trap of not planning and implementing date nights. Colorado people don't seem to notice it, but I feel like we live in a wasteland of chain restaurants out here in the suburbs. I so miss the charming town center of the West Chester Boro and all of the wonderful restaurant options we had at our fingertips. Nate and I really used to prioritize date nights when our kids were young. We had a standing babysitter on Wednesday nights and used to go out a lot. Out here? When we first moved we didn't have sitters. We found it wonderful, to spend so much time together as a family every weekend. What the past few months have taught me is that it is critical that I schedule time alone for us to get out, get dressed up (in the no clothes I like) and head out as just adults. Nate's travel schedule is very.....dynamic? This means that it takes more work and planning to line up sitters and get the kids and their sports and school schedules to align. To this end I've gotten strategic about it. This sometimes means lining up these nights out months in advance, where other couples are involved, but its worth it. I'm so looking forward to an escape from Suburbia and a really good meal!
The food pantry that we were volunteering at as a family just sent out an email on Wed letting us know that they were closing! That sucks, as we had it all set up and we enjoyed it, they did a great job of involving kids in the helping in a meaningful way. We are on the hunt for a new place to invest our time as a family.
I'm having fun planning my parents visit. They arrive Wed morning and leave Sunday. We have some adults only golf lined up while the kids are at school on Thursday, Garden of the Gods and 9 holes with the kids on Friday, and lots and lots of soccer on Saturday. I'll cook Wed and Sat and we have reservations to eat out on Thursday and Friday nights. Its a visceral thing, this missing family. My sister is having a baby in late October, and it makes my heart ache to think about not really truly knowing this little one. I miss hugging my Mom so much it hurts. We talk a few times a week, but man it just isn't the same. I tear up every time I think about them arriving at the house in just a few short days!
Last year I really struggled. I felt like I was the one holding the family together as Nate was under extreme stress at work. We were thousands of miles from friends and family. I took too much on myself as a parent and as a wife, and I suffered as a result. Its been a long time since I decided to stop drinking alcohol. Roughly, oh, 104 days or so? It's amazing how my perception has changed. I'm not willing to run around like a crazy person, doing 1000 things at a time. I wake at 5:30 every day and meditate. I feel grounded and present in a new way. It was 100% the right decision for me.
We head to beautiful Maui in a couple of weeks. (Can I add swimsuits to the things I can't find at stores list?). I'm really excited, this has been my baby in a way as I've been in charge of setting up our itinerary. We have some fun thing planned like Sunrise at Haleakala, The Road to Hana, a snorkel trip to Molokoi Crater, a luau, and lots and lots of beach and pool and hiking and spa and relaxing. The kids have never been there, so I have kept them busy by tasking them with creating a report on Hawaii and coming up with what they think we should do while there. I learned a lot from their sweet collection of foods, traditions, and places to see. I can't believe that it's my oldest last year of ELEMENTARY School ~ its just so wild having these three people with such unique personalities and thoughts and hearts......I'm a baby person through and through. I could have and nurse and care for a thousand newborns. I was always worried that I wouldn't be as patient with actual KIDS vs babies, and I'm so grateful to say that it really is all equally wonderful, just wonderful in new ways. Seeing them set and achieve goals, to realize their strengths and weaknesses, to talk to them like the unique and interesting people that they are is a really amazing thing. Being a parent is a privilege and one that I spend every morning being grateful for. Life is short, and being able to be present for their entire childhood has been a really transformative experience for me.
Shit. I just realized the kids have choir and have to be at school in 30 min. DOH. Take care.
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