A little over a year ago, I posted this photo of Zora eating her lunch (see original post):
And then I took this one a few days ago. Notice any resemblance?
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Our Camellia
After 5 straight weeks of filling our yard waste bin with the branches and leaves from our camellia bush, today was finally the last load. This story is probably told better though, in pictures...
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| Zora hugging her beloved "climbing tree" early this fall. |
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| The camellia is the big shrub in the background. |
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| Zora climbing her tree. |
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| Her favorite spot to sit. |
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| And then it snowed, and sleeted and camellia snapped in two :-( |
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| Alex got to work immediately cutting branches off the downed portion. |
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| Shrub carnage. |
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| Split in two. |
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| Doesn't look too good. |
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| A little lopsided. |
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| Alex with a chainsaw! |
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| Bernadette and Marcel helping out too! |
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| The downed portion was left behind to see if it would grow. It is now a favorite little fort. |
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| And this branch is a train. Or a bus. Depends on the day. |
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| We'll see how she does through the spring and summer before making any final decisions. |
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Om
To my delight, Zora has gotten to see me practice yoga pretty regularly lately. She's usually running around playing, arranging toys, looking at books, and sometimes crawling under me or on top of me in postures. The other day though, I stepped up to the front of my mat to do the opening prayer, and Zora asked "Can I chant with you?" Then she busted out with the prayer (in Sanskrit). I guess it shouldn't have been too surprising, as she's been hearing me chant it for awhile now, but it still took me awhile to learn it myself. She definitely has her father's brain when it comes to memorizing things! This morning I managed to catch her on tape. And yes, that's Zecky cleaning himself in the background ;-)
Friday, February 24, 2012
4 Things I Learned This Week
1. Just because you know how to use a pair of scissors doesn't mean you know how to cut hair.
2. Cutting hair is difficult, and cutting bangs is difficult-er.
3. A three-year-old will not only forgive you for giving her a bad haircut, she will adore the haircut, and still love you crazy hard.
4. Zora can rock any haircut you throw at her. This will be handy in life...
2. Cutting hair is difficult, and cutting bangs is difficult-er.
3. A three-year-old will not only forgive you for giving her a bad haircut, she will adore the haircut, and still love you crazy hard.
4. Zora can rock any haircut you throw at her. This will be handy in life...
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| Way shorter and crookeder than I intended, but you can see her beautiful face! |
Saturday, December 31, 2011
A Shift
A little over a month ago, Zora and I went in for our yearly physicals. I wasn't too surprised when I stepped on the scale to find that I had gained almost 10 pounds over the past year (we don't have a scale at home, so I never weigh myself). Zora is still nursing, but far less frequently, and I probably haven't adjusted my diet to match. What really hit me though, was when my ND asked me what kind of exercise I was getting. "Um, none really". This was the first time I have ever had that answer, and it felt kind of like a kick in the stomach to me.
I've always been pretty active, and when I started my Ashtanga practice (it will be 8 years this March!), it was the first yoga practice I had that was so physically rigorous. It felt like I was exercising as well as doing yoga. I should probably stop here, since I know a lot of people do consider yoga to be exercise, and it certainly can be. I am not intending to discount or belittle that in any way. It's just to me, the reason I did yoga was not for exercise. Sometimes it was for physical reasons--it did make my body feel better. Mostly though, it was a way for me to calm my mind, my spirit, and be present in both. Exercise was always a separate endeavor for me. When my Ashtanga practice started to be 2 hours, 5-6 days a week though, it seemed like a bonus to be able to count that time as exercising as well. And I think somewhere along the way, I became attached to that. Attached to my yoga practice exercising my body.
I've chronicled here, on this blog, the journey I've had with my Ashtanga practice. My practice has gone up and down. I stopped for awhile, and started up again, only to stop again. I've felt all kinds of frustration over not being able to do certain postures, and having such severe wrist pain that I could no longer do vinyasas. I tried making my practice public a little, to keep myself accountable. I tried practicing in "secret", without Alex even knowing (only Zora knew, since she was there). I think all of these things were symptoms and consequences though, of my attachment to my yoga-exercise. I wanted that rigorous practice back. That was what I was working toward. To do any less than that, I would not be getting the exercise I needed. But I wasn't even close to achieving this goal, which just led to more frustration.
So I completely stopped again. And it sucked. Then, somewhere along this path of no-yoga-at-all, there was a shift. Something clicked and I realized that, even if I was exercising my body during my yoga practice, that was not what I wanted my practice to be about, and I needed to let go of that attachment. I decided to start off again, with sun salutations as a goal, and that's it. So far, every time I've practiced, I've gone beyond the Surya Namaskaras, which is fine, but I'm intentionally not trying to build up to something. I need some time to get to know my practice again, for what it is--yoga.
For now it's taking place in the middle of our living room (not in the yoga room), because that's a place where I know I can exist peacefully for 20 minutes. Sometimes Alex is there to interact with Zora, and tend to her if needed. Sometimes I am alone with Zora and my practice is interrupted briefly a couple of times. For the most part though, Zora seems cool with me yoga-ing in the living room.
I'm using these 20-30 minutes a day as a way to reacquaint myself with a practice that I don't want to lose completely. Even in the middle of my living room, with the noise and activity going on around me, I'm able to find little moments of calm and clarity. And really, that's all I ever would get even when I was practicing in a room full of Ashtangis surrounded by all kinds of wonderful yoga energy, or alone in our yoga room at home, before Zora was born, with nothing to think about but my practice. Little moments.
And exercise will be separate. I'm finding ways to exercise that will fit in with all the craziness and business of my life. I just started hooping. We'll see if it sticks. I hope next year when I go in for my annual exam, I will be able to say "yes, I am exercising regularly, and I have my yoga practice". And the scale can shove it, since I really don't care what it says!
I've always been pretty active, and when I started my Ashtanga practice (it will be 8 years this March!), it was the first yoga practice I had that was so physically rigorous. It felt like I was exercising as well as doing yoga. I should probably stop here, since I know a lot of people do consider yoga to be exercise, and it certainly can be. I am not intending to discount or belittle that in any way. It's just to me, the reason I did yoga was not for exercise. Sometimes it was for physical reasons--it did make my body feel better. Mostly though, it was a way for me to calm my mind, my spirit, and be present in both. Exercise was always a separate endeavor for me. When my Ashtanga practice started to be 2 hours, 5-6 days a week though, it seemed like a bonus to be able to count that time as exercising as well. And I think somewhere along the way, I became attached to that. Attached to my yoga practice exercising my body.
I've chronicled here, on this blog, the journey I've had with my Ashtanga practice. My practice has gone up and down. I stopped for awhile, and started up again, only to stop again. I've felt all kinds of frustration over not being able to do certain postures, and having such severe wrist pain that I could no longer do vinyasas. I tried making my practice public a little, to keep myself accountable. I tried practicing in "secret", without Alex even knowing (only Zora knew, since she was there). I think all of these things were symptoms and consequences though, of my attachment to my yoga-exercise. I wanted that rigorous practice back. That was what I was working toward. To do any less than that, I would not be getting the exercise I needed. But I wasn't even close to achieving this goal, which just led to more frustration.
So I completely stopped again. And it sucked. Then, somewhere along this path of no-yoga-at-all, there was a shift. Something clicked and I realized that, even if I was exercising my body during my yoga practice, that was not what I wanted my practice to be about, and I needed to let go of that attachment. I decided to start off again, with sun salutations as a goal, and that's it. So far, every time I've practiced, I've gone beyond the Surya Namaskaras, which is fine, but I'm intentionally not trying to build up to something. I need some time to get to know my practice again, for what it is--yoga.
For now it's taking place in the middle of our living room (not in the yoga room), because that's a place where I know I can exist peacefully for 20 minutes. Sometimes Alex is there to interact with Zora, and tend to her if needed. Sometimes I am alone with Zora and my practice is interrupted briefly a couple of times. For the most part though, Zora seems cool with me yoga-ing in the living room.
I'm using these 20-30 minutes a day as a way to reacquaint myself with a practice that I don't want to lose completely. Even in the middle of my living room, with the noise and activity going on around me, I'm able to find little moments of calm and clarity. And really, that's all I ever would get even when I was practicing in a room full of Ashtangis surrounded by all kinds of wonderful yoga energy, or alone in our yoga room at home, before Zora was born, with nothing to think about but my practice. Little moments.
And exercise will be separate. I'm finding ways to exercise that will fit in with all the craziness and business of my life. I just started hooping. We'll see if it sticks. I hope next year when I go in for my annual exam, I will be able to say "yes, I am exercising regularly, and I have my yoga practice". And the scale can shove it, since I really don't care what it says!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Zora's First Surya Namaskara B
Sorry it's sideways. When we're recording, we always forget that our video editor can't rotate...
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Things I Miss About New Orleans
I haven't blogged in a long, long time (house-hunting, house-buying, moving, nesting, long trip out of the country, and most of all, laziness), but with another anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, I of course have New Orleans on my mind, and I wanted to write something. In all honesty, I have New Orleans on my mind every day. I wonder if I will ever stop missing it. Probably not.
As I was falling asleep last night, I started thinking about particular things I miss. I woke up this morning and wrote 25 of them down. They're in no particular order, and I'm sure I left out plenty (including some I was thinking of last night), but here they are:
1. Kiran's 6am Mysore (yoga) class
2. Andy's Thursday afternoon phone calls letting me know what not to miss in terms of music during the (extended) weekend
3. The music, when I managed to make it out (see #1)
4. Sharing an office with Amy and getting to watch her interact with her students (then debriefing on the interactions once they would leave)
5. My scooter, Typhoon (seriously), who I had for exactly 4 months before the failed levees completely submerged her in water and rusted her to a crisp
6. Living downstairs from Pam & her kitties
7. Not having a car
8. Riding my bike in the pouring rain (including tropical storms!)
9. Beignets (though they'd be off the menu now, due to the veganism)
10. Biking along the levee on the weekends
11. Exploring the city on our bikes
12. Movies at the Saenger Theatre
13. Post-yoga breakfasts at Surrey's
14. Living close enough to my brother and his kids to visit regularly
15. Jacques-Imo's (even though they had just one vegetarian option--it was delish!)
16. The "wild" parrots who lived in the palm trees in our neighborhood
17. Biking along Bayou St. John at night
18. Riding the Street Car at night in the summer
19. Watching thunderstorms from our front porch
20. Getting to miss work because of hurricane warnings (except for that last one!)
21. Having King Cake at work every day between Epiphany and Mardi Gras
22. Our community garden plot (or P-patch as they're called in Seattle). We tried, really we did…
23. Chit-chat in the math department main office--Lisa and Elaine!
24. Conversations with bus drivers and fellow passengers
25. Our CSA veggie box. Our porch was the drop-off spot, and every week we had at least one that didn't get picked up
But most of all, I miss the people, the people and the people! Those of you who are still there (holding down the fort), and the many who are no longer there.
As I was falling asleep last night, I started thinking about particular things I miss. I woke up this morning and wrote 25 of them down. They're in no particular order, and I'm sure I left out plenty (including some I was thinking of last night), but here they are:
1. Kiran's 6am Mysore (yoga) class
2. Andy's Thursday afternoon phone calls letting me know what not to miss in terms of music during the (extended) weekend
3. The music, when I managed to make it out (see #1)
4. Sharing an office with Amy and getting to watch her interact with her students (then debriefing on the interactions once they would leave)
5. My scooter, Typhoon (seriously), who I had for exactly 4 months before the failed levees completely submerged her in water and rusted her to a crisp
6. Living downstairs from Pam & her kitties
7. Not having a car
8. Riding my bike in the pouring rain (including tropical storms!)
9. Beignets (though they'd be off the menu now, due to the veganism)
10. Biking along the levee on the weekends
11. Exploring the city on our bikes
12. Movies at the Saenger Theatre
13. Post-yoga breakfasts at Surrey's
14. Living close enough to my brother and his kids to visit regularly
15. Jacques-Imo's (even though they had just one vegetarian option--it was delish!)
16. The "wild" parrots who lived in the palm trees in our neighborhood
17. Biking along Bayou St. John at night
18. Riding the Street Car at night in the summer
19. Watching thunderstorms from our front porch
20. Getting to miss work because of hurricane warnings (except for that last one!)
21. Having King Cake at work every day between Epiphany and Mardi Gras
22. Our community garden plot (or P-patch as they're called in Seattle). We tried, really we did…
23. Chit-chat in the math department main office--Lisa and Elaine!
24. Conversations with bus drivers and fellow passengers
25. Our CSA veggie box. Our porch was the drop-off spot, and every week we had at least one that didn't get picked up
But most of all, I miss the people, the people and the people! Those of you who are still there (holding down the fort), and the many who are no longer there.
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