Mexico!

Seven days from now I'll be living the high life in sunny Tulum, Mexico. I haven't been to Mexico in probably 20 years, and I couldn't be more excited. But, also nervous....because it's been 20 years. I haven't flown internationally since before 9/11. Haven't been to Mexico since the time when you barely needed a birth certificate. Ah, yes, it will be a new experience.

But, I'm going with my yoga peeps....about 40 in total...for six days of amazing yoga practice. It's going to be an absolutely incredible experience!

I'm baaaaack!

Last week I took a hiatus to Chicago to pretend that the whole world agrees that there's nothing more important than yoga. It was a yoga vacation. I ignored the museums, the sightseeing, the plays, and the restaurants (nope, didn't even have Chicago-style pizza while I was there) and concentrated on filling my days with the yoga.

I attended 13 classes in 7 days. Would have done more if the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) had cooperated. Most of the classes were at CorePower, but I did branch out a bit to two other awesome studios: Tejas Yoga and YogaView.

I met amazing people, and got to know some people I already knew were amazing a little better.

Now I'm home and...a bit nonplussed. I knew that going to that many classes would leave me open, vulnerable, and probably weepy. But I'm questioning *everything*. My yoga, the yoga of others, my mentors, my goals, the way I run my life...it's all up in the air.

So, look for a post in the next few days about how I plan to address at least one of those aspects. Right now, I'm going to go have a cocktail.

Chi-town, baby!

This girl is going on vacation!! Been two years since I've packed a bag for other parts of the region, and it is high time I do it again. So, I'm heading to Chicago to go play yoga for a week. I'm excited to see some former students, hopefully bond with some new friend-types, and learn some more about my yogic path.

34 and all is well

So, celebrated a birthday for the 34th time last week. So far, it's going just fine. Summer school, grad school, taking the dog for walks every night, doing some yoga, teaching some yoga...that's life right now.
I'm exchanging my Seattle trip for a trip to Chicago...I'm dying to get back out to Seattle to see my fabulous family and eat seafood that wasn't flown or trucked in, but I'll need to wait since times just didn't line up. Chicago will hopefully be restorative--lots of yoga, sightseeing, shopping, and pizza :-)

Snap back to reality...

I'm home from the camping trip (a.k.a. best fucking week of my whole entire life) and will write about it when I find the words to do so. There was so much that happened, some that can be blogged about and some that can't, but all of which contributed to a magical ebb and flow of a weekend that I will remember forever. And makes it very hard to be home right now. Going to stats tonight. Going to work tomorrow. Everything has gone from being very easy to being very hard. Ebb and flow. Ebb. And. Flow.

Becoming one with Mother Superior

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on a camping trip to rest, rejuvenate, and mentally prepare for what's coming up for the fall. Molly, me, and four other fine rays of sunshine will spend five days and four nights (or maybe six days, five nights...who knows) hanging on the North Shore.

For me, I need to revise a story I wrote four years ago that I very much believe in. I haven't done so much as peek at it in two years and I feel that I can look at it now with eyes of a reader and not eyes of a writer. I think my greatest weakness I have as a writer at this time is that I tend to turn my writing into a group activity. I have many communities of writers--very good writers--and I am extremely well supported. This is both good and bad. Good because support is always better than no support...bad because it's easy for me to start to take the views of other writers and write their words rather than my own. At least one of my stories has been ruined by "too many cooks in the kitchen". None of the people I'll be with for the next almost-week are writers. I'll have several days where the only support I have is myself, and I think that's exactly what I need.

When I get back, I'll finish writing about The Weekend Was So Big I Need to Break It Up Into Parts, mainly the Idina Menzel concert (sorry Troy!!), and the Olympics and, of course, the goodness of the camping weekend.

Seattle-bound

In an attempt to not discuss the total and utter drama of Big Brother 8, and because I'm still massively riding the waves of last night's trip to the drive in, I will discuss instead the fabulous amazing weekend that is coming up.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm flying to Seattle with my parents to celebrate my great aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. My parents are staying at a hotel and I'm staying with my kick-ass cousin Maureen and her husband Erik and their kids. I haven't seen Maureen for about three years and I'm SO EXCITED to be out there to spend some time with them. Maureen is also training for a half-marathon so we're also going to try to fit some runs into the weekend. It's a quick trip--we'll be back Sunday night--but it's going to be a blast.

Okay, and I need to say something about Big Brother. Jen needs to stop being such a Class A bitch, especially since she doesn't have the intelligence to back it up. She needs to take off her sunglasses inside because she's not on the World Series of Poker. And Amber...I want to see one episode where she doesn't cry. Just one.

Sufjan, the rain, and political ads

Greg, his brother Mike and I all traveled to Milwaukee on Monday to see Sufjan Stevens at the Pabst theater. The trip was great--there's nothing I love like a good road trip (especially when I'm not driving!) and the concert kicked all forms of ass. He had a 17 piece band with him and the sound was incredible.
The opening band, My Brightest Diamond, was also really good. I almost never like opening bands, but the lead singer for My Brightest Diamond is also in Sufjan's band, so there was a nice carryover of style.
The only downside was that we missed the Saints game, although we did catch some of the pregame show. It was awesome to see the highlights of the game, and OBVIOUSLY I was glad to be at Sufjan rather than sitting in a bar watching the game.

It's been raining since last night. I love the rain, it feels totally thrilling (especially big storms), but when I'm alone then the rain makes me feel sad. I feel sad today.

Part of the sadness is the onslaught of political ads. I can't stand watching people sling shit at each other. And the worst part is that I just saw one that was supported by Patty Wetterling. Patty Wetterling, who I hold in a place pretty close to my own mom as far as respect goes. She has worked tirelessly to both find her son and make sure that kidnapped kids come home, and to see her supporting an advertisement that doesn't explain how amazing she is but rather tears someone else down, well, I just didn't expect it from her.

Summer is drawing to a close

I know, it's only the end of July, but my summer is definitely on its last legs. The trip to Belize has jump started my brain on everything that has to get done in a short amount of time. I'm stressing over my passport, stressing over new classes I might be teaching (last night I dreamed I was teaching all 8 periods and they were ALL new classes that had never been taught before by anyone in our building), and stressing over my writing. All of this stress can only mean that school is upon me.

I've been trying to get into a habit with my writing. Its been working, sort of. But, like the running routine, as soon as school starts in the fall all of my routines jump out the window and they don't look back. Oh well. At least I'll lose some weight when school starts again. It's the NOS (Name of School) Diet: eight hours of standing or walking with no time for lunch, and walking up and down at least one flight of stairs at least twenty times a day. Always trims down about five pounds. Which should be just enough to help me fit back into my kick ass jeans.

Close random post. Thank you, and good morning.

Belize

Well, I'll be going to Belize September 16-26th for the Zoetrope All-Story short story workshop. I'm blown away that I got in. Even though I have no idea how many people that applied and I'm sure they're more than happy to take my money. I'll get to workshop with Charles D'Ambrosio and that just kicks ass.