Social Butterflies

Hey everyone! How were your long weekends? Ours was pretty nice. We were, indeed, social butterflies. Saturday was generally uneventful. I made cookies, cleaned house, and cooked dinner at home on my first non-yoga Saturday of my short break. The cookies came out YUMMY. They were Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip, and if anyone's interested I will post the recipe, as it is officially my new 'use up the brown bananas' favorite.

Sunday, we were invited by a sweet gal in my yoga study group to her house in Santa Fe for Indian food. She invited the whole study group plus significant others and (my) kids. Her husband is originally from India, and they are devout vegetarians, so the food was not something I was familiar with at all, but everyone else there was raving about it, so I assume that for vegetarian Indian food, it was excellent. They have a darling little house outside of Santa Fe in an old rural area (one of the oldest land grants in the country, according to Allena, not that I really know what that means), and it was a lovely long afternoon of getting to actually socialize with the people I'd been studying with for 4 months. I'm going to miss seeing those guys on a regular basis, and there are definitely a couple of them that I am determined to continue to see socially.

Sunday, we were invited by a friend of Clark's from his AA group to a pool party/bbq at his house. Normally I'm a little wary of AA friends, since we sometimes don't exactly speak the same language, but I had such a nice time, those worries were totally unwarranted. Clark's friend and I sat and chatted at length while Clark played in the pool with the kiddies. He seems like a great guy, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know him better. The food was FABULOUS (and familiar this time, teriyaki salmon, hot dogs, potato salad, etc., super yum), the weather was perfect, and I had actual conversations with people I didn't know at all. Those who know me will know that this is not always easy for me.

Two parties in one weekend, one might think we're starting to find friends in Albuquerque. Will wonders never cease.

The Yoga Post (and stuff)

I'm almost done with the first session of my yoga teacher training course. I was initially only going to do this session, and then stop, but I have since decided to continue on for another SIX months to complete both sessions and the whole 500 hour super cool certification. I haven't decided yet if this is stupid or brave.

I've been having such a great time. The people in my class are all so cool, with just enough eccentricity and ego thrown in for color and texture, and to rile things up once in awhile. My study group KICKS ASS. And the teachers. Wow. I could seriously gush about my teachers. People have moved to Albuquerque for the sole purpose of working with these teachers. I think I'm currently in the best shape I've ever been both physically and emotionally, and I attribute a lot of that to them.

It's so great to feel like a part of a community. To have a place to go where people know who you are. I never realized how important that was to me until I didn't have it for awhile.


Some things I have learned:

When you can live in your body with your femurs grounded, the world seems to exist mostly for your own amusement.

Stability is absolutely as important as flexibility.

A flat belly just ISN'T a happy belly.

Intensity x Duration = Force

I'm still not ready for headstand, but I'm getting much more comfortable in handstand, which used to scare it right out of me.

3 hours of backbends is a few too many backbends.

Trianga Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana means Three Limb Face to One Foot West Side Stretched Out Pose.


In Other News:

My vacation pictures came out!! WOO HOO! I sent in one roll just to check and see if they maybe weren't entirely ruined, and they came back ok, so I sent the other roll, and they weren't ruined either. A few shots are a little grainy, but I'll take it! One of these days I'll figure out how to post pictures again and throw a few of them up here.

One more week left of school for Madeline. I have a couple summer activities lined up for the kidlets. Both of them are doing swimming lessons for a couple weeks in June, and Madeline has nature camp in July for a week. I finally found a preschool for Zach in the fall, and I'm thinking about picking up a few days at least of their summer session just so he can start getting used to it before September. I'm a little concerned about swimming lessons, as they were a bit of a fiasco with Madeline last summer, but I'm trying to remain optimistic. My current plan is to drop them off the first day and leave. Hopefully that will cut out some of the whining and putting on drama for mama.

On the professional front, Clark's boss has officially resigned (THANK GOD), so it looks like things should be getting better for him at work. As far as workload and stress go, it may get a little worse before it gets better, at least until the soon to be ex boss officially leaves the building. I guess I could dish on the dirt about him now, but I think I'll refrain. Honestly, I'm so relieved that he's leaving, I don't even want to think about him any more.

Other than that, we're pretty much cruising through here at the Krause House. I'm looking forward to a couple weeks off between yoga training sessions. Maybe I'll even catch up and do some more of this blogging thing. Oh yeah, I got my hair cut. (I know, BIG news) I decided to go for the bangs. I'm getting it colored today. I'm thinking of going darker. Wish me luck.