Epi

My cell phone rang repeatedly tonight. I hit Ignore repeatedly. If I ignored your call this evening, it’s nothing personal. Hurts to talk, you see.

The pollen is driving me insane, even with the aide of the neti pot and the daily dosages of claritin. And now the left gland in my neck is swollen and tender. My throat aches. It’s tough to tell if I’m sick or if it’s just allergies…

After 4 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy Season One and half a half-pint of LaLoo’s dark chocolate goat’s milk ice cream (aka dinner), I think it’s time to call it a night.

29

Every 6 years or so, my birthday falls on Mother’s Day. This year is one of those years.

No yoga practice as our Mother’s Day brunch reservation was unexpectedly moved up into my practice time. Ah, well. The husband gave me a pair of running shoes as my gift, so I went for a run this afternoon instead.

In my twenty-ninth year, I plan to cultivate several things: a (more) committed yoga and meditation practice,  stronger relationships with those I love, a stronger and more deeply rooted sense of self, and greater drive to accomplish my goals.

Food Porn MEME!!

Yogamum tagged me for this meme… Thank you, YM, this is a fun one! I guess I’m sort of a shoe-in, given my frequent raves about food, wine, food, veggies, food and wine. Yes, I am obsessed. However, recently I discovered a group of folks who are even more obsessed than I when I joined our local Slow Food convivium. Oh my, these people are some SERIOUS foodies.

Anyways… on to the meme.

1. What food do you consider the best “date” food? In other words, what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around?

I don’t often think of food as “sexy,” believe it or not. Even though I can’t think up a good “sexy food” (besides the obvious clichés: oysters, strawberries, etc), I do think sharing food can be a very intimate and special occasion. I think any meal that can be shared is good date food. Think “Family Style” for two: Platters piled high passed two and fro. There is something about the whole “the lady will have the lobster and I’ll have the filet” routine that I find so tiresome. I prefer Tapas, sushi, a big dish of paella… One of my favorite local restaurants has “Date Night” every Wednesday: A fixed four course meal meant for two. I think that creates more of an opportunity for discourse. Besides, I always end up wanting what my husband orders anyways.

2. What well-known person would you like to share a meal with?

Probably Michael Pollan. Or Michael Ableman. Mind you, these are only well-known people in some social circles… If we’re gonna talk Hollywood mainstream or whatever, I’d go with Robin Williams or John Cusack. The first because I think I’d be laughing the entire time, the second because I’ve been secretly in love with him since I saw Say Anything twenty-some-odd years ago.

3. What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls?)

I’m pretty easy to please. Coffee is a must, and nothing too sweet. Maybe a frittata with broccoli rabe and smoked mozzarella or something. Some fresh pixie tangerines, maybe? Oh and if you could maybe lug my bed out on to the deck on a bright sunny morning, that would be great. I love eating breakfast outside!

4. What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?

I love whipping heavy cream together with Marscapone, a touch of sugar, and a little vanilla. And then serve it over strawberries with a reduced balsamic vinegar. Then stick a hunk of shortbread in the top. Yum.

5. Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?

Funny, I just tweeted about my three “desert island foods” the other day. Villa Creek carnitas tacos, Noi’s Pad Kee Mow, and Heidi’s Spring Vegetable Minestrone. HOWEVER!!! I need some wine, right?? So I’d also grab a case or two of the Billecart Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne, and a few bottles of crisp white “porch pounders.” I recently discovered this obscure German import. Fleurant from Ernst Bretz is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Sauv Blanc and Sylvaner, lightly frizzante, good acid, but a surprising soft mouthfeel. It’s my new favorite. And maybe some Vinho Verde or something. Again, little bubbles, high acid, low alcohol. Summer in a bottle.

The Rules…
“Answer each of the five questions. Tag five bloggers you would like to pass the meme to. Have them link back to you and to this post as the source meme. You and they can take the graphic from here if they like.”

Okay, so I am tagging Andrea, Julie, Vanessa, Owl, and Cody, because I’ve witnessed the foodie in all of you at some time or another. But anyone else who would like to jump in, please do!

chicken

The following is a list of completely random tidbits.

-I should be reading about salt, but this darn computer is sucking me in again.

-I totally chickened out of the haircut. The night before the appointment, I thumbed through a whole bunch of those cheesy hair magazines… and I just wasn’t excited about it. Really what it boils down to is that my hair is currently longer than it’s been in 12 years and I’m afraid that if I cut it, I’ll never grow it out again. For some odd reason, this feels like my final opportunity to have long hair. My last long-hair hurrah. Strange attachment.

-I did ask my stylist to cut off the dead stuff, which meant about an inch or so. She put in some layers also, so that I hate the cut unless I straighten it. I’ve never been one to “do” my hair every day, but I guess I’ll have to start… for now, anyways. Otherwise, my hair dries naturally in just this special way that screams out “POLITICIAN” or “BAKE SALE COORDINATOR.” Unsettling, quite. Here’s the new haircut:

-Eh, I’m sure that after 2 solid weeks of 100+ degree temperatures here in Paso summertime I’ll pull that hair back in a ponytail and just chop that tail right off. I’ve done it before…

-All this talk about hair. It’s really just an excuse to not talk about yoga. I didn’t practice at all this week. And I didn’t teach, either. Two of my students are out of town, one is sick, and one was a no-show.

-I’ve been sort of down lately. Tay has been gone for the past couple weeks and I haven’t been sleeping enough. The good news is that I’ve found a ton of new friends here in the new town… it’s easy to find someone to come over for dinner or meet for a glass of wine or a cup of coffee any day of the week. In fact, I’d venture to say that it’s easier up here than it was back in the old town. Not quite sure why, though.

-I’ve started twittering at least once a day. I figure, if I can’t blog, at least I can twitter. It’s my new obsession. But for some reason, I can’t get my twitters to post to my wordpress blog, so if you want to read my “tweets”, you have to follow me on twitter.com. I follow Cody and Kai as well… any other twitter-yogis/friends out there?

-The chin-up project is coming along swimmingly. On a good day, I can do one pull-up. It’s taken me two months, and I can do ONE f-ing pull-up. Oh well. By next year, maybe I’ll be able to do two. IN A ROW.

for your consideration…

I’m thinking of a few things right now.

For instance, I’m thinking of cutting my hair off. I’ve made the appointment, now it’s just a matter of finding a cut. We all know I’m not afraid of short hair… I was thinking of something like this sienna miller cut. Any other suggestions?

I’m also thinking of renting space at a dance studio for a weekly yoga class. Since I started teaching personals, I’m getting a little overwhelmed with requests. I really only have time for four or five clients a week, unless I start teaching in the evening as well. I’ve got three weekly clients secured, and four more have asked to start with me as well. Add to this the dozens of people who have asked me to let them know if I ever start teaching group classes… Obviously there is a need for yoga here. I found a studio a few blocks away from my house where you can rent time for $30/hour. I would probably charge $15 per person per class or something to that tune…

There is a yoga studio a few towns away, but I’m not sure I want to be on the schedule at a yoga studio again right now. I’d rather not have the affiliation, for some reason. Feedback, anyone?

San D

We had a lovely 4 day weekend down in San Diego. I managed to escape from the family 3 mornings out of 4 for yoga at AYC. Tim was out of town, so I practiced with Rich and Kiran. I saw some folks from the teacher training, which was such a great surprise. It’s always lovely to see the familiar faces at the shala, although I do wish I could have seen more of them. I missed Julie completely and only saw the others very briefly. However, this was primarily a family trip, so spending time with my new niece was high on the list of priorities.

Led Primary with Rich on Sunday. Kiran asked why I hadn’t gone to led second as she was teaching. I wanted to, but was a little apprehensive about my energy levels and the complete lack of endurance I had at Mysore on Friday. Sure enough, led primary was more than a challenge for a reason I didn’t quite understand until Ladies Holiday showed up yesterday afternoon. Even my hands felt weak grasping for a toe or a wrist bind.

And yesterday’s practice was just as exhausting… add in the pre-Ladies Holiday lack of bandhas, and that makes for one long hard stretch of what felt like moving furniture. Heavy protesting unyielding body.

Sunday night was a premiere party for Tay’s most recent project. The party was a success, the bar was packed, the press was there from a few different magazines and tv stations. Those in attendance were mostly freestyle MX athletes and their gaggle of (ahem) surgically enhanced girls wearing tiny skirts and tops, tottering on towering heels, looking like they just stepped off the cover of FHM magazine or something. To say that I felt out of place is a bit of an understatement, but it made for some top-notch people watching. At one point I walked in to the women’s restroom, and two young ladies were standing at the full length mirror, comparing their birthday gifts. “My boyfriend just bought them for me last month. Do you think they’re big enough?”

While I was washing my hands, I saw another enhanced girl twirling back and forth, looking doubtfully at her dress in the same mirror. “That dress looks great on you,” I said.

Her face lit up, “Really?! Thanks so much, I needed that.”

I felt better after that. I wasn’t the only one with insecurities.

I’ve Fallen In Love!

Potterwatch

I took a break from the Harry Potter books a few years ago. I think I stopped on book 3 or 4? Just recently, I caught the fever again… borrowed a few books from my friend’s 13 year old daughter and buried my nose in them as often as I could for the past 3 weeks or so. I just finished the last book yesterday. Didn’t start work until well after 10 a.m. because I was so busy reading!

And now I face the very sad fact that I don’t have a Harry Potter book waiting for me next to my bed when I climb under the sheets tonight.

I miss Harry.

In other news, the yoga won this morning. It beat the crap out of me. Isn’t it funny how that happens sometimes?

little things

I was thinking about shared lives this morning while in the shower. I grabbed for the shampoo, and squeezed the bottle only to find conditioner in my hand. Which makes me think of my husband. Which makes me laugh.

Those little things we do, our idiosyncrasies, our habits, both bad and good, our annoyances and complaints… all adding up to a marriage or a partnership. The things that make him himself and me myself and us… ourselves…

Silly things like his aversion to odd numbers: The way he sits on the edge of the bed with his feet hovering over the floor and his eyes glued to the digital clock, waiting for the number to change from 3 to 4. Will not set a foot on the floor while that clock reads an odd number, no matter how much I push, pinch and tickle.  Or how he used to panic when I would change the volume on the television and the level was at 13 or 15. “14 or 16! No odds!” He would admonish. Now I know better then to leave it on an odd number.

And me personally? I’m all about the odd numbers. Odds and primes. There’s something special about them. My favorite numbers: 2, 7, 11, and 19. His favorites: 2, 4, 6, and 8 and really any combination of those.

Or his shower combo: shampoo and conditioner mixed together in the palms before application. “Saves time,” he says. “You know, they make a product for that purpose. It’s called Pert Plus,” I tell him. “Yeah, but it’s not made for hippies, so you wouldn’t buy it for me,” he retorts. Yes, this is true. He knows me so well.
Of course, I have my issues too… my glassware problem for example… half empty glasses of water strewn about the house, and every morning it seems I lose my coffee mug somewhere, only to find it later that evening on a closet shelf or in the pantry cupboard. He used to get so annoyed at this, but now shrugs his shoulders and chuckles as he gathers the 4 or 5 glasses I’ve left on the dresser, on the nightstand, on the bathroom counter, in the microwave…

I leave cupboard doors open when I cook, so that by the time I leave the kitchen to put the meal on the table, 90% of the doors are open. He shuts them all before sitting down to eat, shaking his head in wonder.

His unabashed love of ice cream.

My unabashed love of vegetables.

These are a few of those little things that make up our marriage…

What about yours?

Too new

Two new physical breakthroughs on the mat today. I came in to bhujapidasana from a handstand without touching the feet down. I’m sure it wasn’t the prettiest thing, but it was fun to do. And then a dwi pada entry to Supta Kurmasana. Again, not pretty… but it was the first time I’ve pulled it off successfully.

Maybe both of those were there all along and I just never believed enough to try… I’m surely not any stronger or lighter than I once was. And I can’t believe that I’m that much more flexible, either.

Or maybe it was just a fluke.