Day 18 Love

I woke up with an annoying headache today. I think it is due to sleeping funny cuz my neck was still sore last night. Could also be allergies. I sneezed about a hundred times yesterday. I opted out of a full yoga session and instead headed to the garden for some Nature Therapy.

Things are going well. I plan to make Borscht for lunch tomorrow with all the fresh veg I have growing. The potatoes are wonderful. Steamed and then drizzled heavily with full fat cream. Add some sea salt and a handful of torn dill. Heaven! The sunflowers are just finally beginning to bloom. They are over my head and well over Athena's reach. I planted Evening Sun, which flowers a deep burgundy. We have the yellow Mammoth as well. We also have many many volunteers from spilled bird seed. I was thinking about leaving the stalks standing over winter. Free built in feeders.

Anyway, when we came back inside my headache remained. Not only that but we were molested by mosquitoes. Yes we had spray on but not on my face. I am happy to report I have a quarter sized mark from a bite on my left temple. Awesome. I lay down in Legs Up the Wall pose for about 15 minutes, took an antihistamine and it got better. Good news because...

Today is our 26th Wedding Anniversary. 26 years. More than some of you have been alive I might guess. We were high school sweethearts. Married at 18 years old. Most thought it would never last. Some even had the nerve and poor manners to tell us straight out, including the Catholic priest who married us. We had 3 daughters by the time we were 20 and 21. Later on, we were given the gift of Athena. We have 3 lovely Granddaughters as well. Very very blessed we are.

I love this man. I don't think he knows quite how much. I further think that I take him for granted a lot. He has been a wonderful husband (most days ;)) and an excellent provider for our ever changing family. His hard work has allowed me to stay at home to raise our children. Truth be told, I don't think he could handle it very well if I had a full time job. He likes it the way it is. So do I. He is so so good at his job. Far surpassing others in his field. He is well liked by all those with whom he does business. More importantly he is trusted.

He is a good man. A man of his word. A man of honor. He is decidedly NOT a girly man. He is not soft and sensitive. He isn't the best listener either. This man loves fiercely. Cares deeply. Laughs easily.

Happy Anniversary Paul. I love you. M

Day 17 Stop and Smell the...Asphalt?

Again today I did the beloved Yoga Practice for energy. Yesterday, I skipped out of Upward Bow, or back bend, and replaced it with Bridge pose. Today, even though my arms were already tired from Sun Salutations and I knew better, I attempted to push up into Upward Bow. I did it and I hurt my neck on the right side. I knew better. I didn't listen to the wisdom of my body. Darn it. I couldn't even lift my head after that.

I finished my practice, which was otherwise very good and went out of the studio (I love saying that!) into the kitchen and took a couple of aspirin. I told Paul that I hurt my neck so be aware of signs of stroke. Not kidding. In case you are wondering, he is a First Responder as well as a Fire Fighter so he would know what to look for and what to do. Minutes later, I got Athena bundled up (it was only 15 degrees Celsius with looming rain and strongish winds) and we walked almost the entire circumference of our town. We needed to pick up the mail, stop at the C0-0p and get milk and then come home to make lunch. That walk lasted exactly one hour.

Big town? Nope. Just so many flowers to smell. So many mysterious paths to walk down, so many things to check out, like the feel and smell of new asphalt. True story. Ever see anyone kneel down and smell the road? You would have today.

Every day for her is "The Best Day Ever!" She wakes up with a huge smile every morning. Life is good. Indeed it is. I hope she never loses the wonder of it all.

Day 16 Curry Anyone?

Oh yes. Back to my old stomping grounds. Back to my old stand-by Yoga workout. Rodney Yee's Yoga Practice for Energy. My all time favorite video.

I can't extol the virtues of this yoga practice enough. It is all encompassing for me. It has a great mix of vinyasa flow and hatha instruction. Enough Sun Salutations to make one sweat a bit. Lots of twists, back bends and standing poses. In other words, I love it.The whole tape is 50 minutes long. 60 with a nice Savasana. On a sour note, just as I prepared for Savasana not one but two neighbors decided to mow their lawns. Not too relaxing.

My focus for this week is again to practice yoga 5 times. You may have noticed this is Tuesday's post and I missed yesterday. Too much to do.

I got so much done today and it felt really good. All the laundry, all the ironing ( I really like ironing. Call me crazy.) and I finished the first of Athena's dresses. It is too big but not too big that she can't wear it. I'll make the next one in a size 5, which may be too big too but there is just too much effort and time put into these things that I want them to last as long as possible.

After that, and I am talking at 4pm here, I managed to muster up the energy to make a wonderful Indian meal. Beef curry, Chana masala , some basmati rice and Naan bread.

I wasn't too keen on the beef but the rest of the dish was good. The Chana masala was fantastic. So easy. I could eat it every day. Yum.

I really like Indian food but there is some effort involved. About 10 different spices for each dish but the flavour is beyond compare. Which reminds me, when I was 14 years old, gosh, that was 30 years ago, my family moved in to a townhouse complex for a few months until our new home was finished being built. My parents told us that Indian people lived next door and that awful smell coming from their house all the time was curry. I didn't know what curry was or who Indian people were either, but I do now.

Day 12 Close But No Cigar

After yesterday's funk I really needed to get with the program. I had very high hopes. Actually, High apple pie in the sky hopes. So... I put in an 80 minute extrasuperduperhard tape.

I fared better than I thought, in hindsight. Okay, okay. I only lasted about 45 minutes before I pressed rewind on the VHS and went straight into forward bending and Savasana. Still the belly in the way in Revolved Triangle. Still the belly flops in Chaturanga. Still the shaking thighs in an extended hold Proud Warrior. But... I ATTEMPTED THE THING!

Even though I did not finish the tape, and even though I faltered in some areas, I got on the mat and I pushed myself more than I had in over a year, possibly two. And for that, I was quite pleased with myself. Yes, thank you.

Shortly after I came out of the studio, (I now call it the studio cuz just how cool is that?) dear Husband asked if I wanted to leave a day early to Regina for the family BBQ. Yes, yes I did.

So we packed up rather quickly (forgetting some essentials) and headed off for the weekend

Tons of fun. Went out for supper with my Mother. Athena almost scarfed down an entire plate of Calamari herself. Went swimming in the hotel. On a bad note, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror with my bathing suit on. Not good. Visited my sister Keri and her family before they headed off on vacation. Then off to the party at my other sister Tamara's house where my brother Mike and baby sister Dana were also in attendance. Good food, good fun.

Headed home on Sunday to a cool rainy day which was just the right medicine for in Regina it was cooking hot. Not a fan. Not at all as previously posted.

I have good intentions for the week to come.

Day 11 What The Heck?

Today has been just dreadful. It gets worse. It is only 12:38pm.
It started off with a Breakfast of Champions. White toast with... get this... Cheez Whiz. Darn it that Paul ate the last of my yogurt! I wanted to get my housework done so after I talked with Jen on the phone, checked emails and my blogroll, I got right to it. I was interrupted about a million times by Athena who always ALWAYS says "Mommy, howbout you saw a robot and his name was Tiny" And then I have to say "Oooh, I see a robot. Is your name Tiny?' . I hate that game.
She does this every day with variation. Could be a deer, a dog, Davey or Goliath. Each time she says it to me I cringe, then I smile and do as she requested. Not today. I could hardly speak to her without some sort of annoyance coming through. Then I would apologize and the next thing out of my mouth was the same. I had no patience. None.

So, while I was cleaning on of our 3 bathrooms (I had the nerve to wonder why in the heck we have 3 stupid bathrooms anyway!) I wondered why I always had so much to do. Why indeed?

Every day I have a list of things an arms length long to do. I sill have not finished knitting my Mother's slippers. They were her Mother's Day gift for Pete's sake. I now have sewing to do. I did finish weeding the front beds but should really be weeding the back too. I have a stack of books up to my knee that I haven't even cracked open to read. I have the pantry to clean and the fridge should really be wiped up a bit.
It is not that my house is messy. It isn't. It is very tidy, very clean. Mess just drives me insane so I spend time cleaning it. I don't work outside the home, I don't go visiting friends all day, so why oh why do I always have so much to do?

I haven't practiced yoga yet today. I am expecting a call from my sister any minute now and the last thing I want to do is practice. And to top it all off, it is hot outside. Always good for another dose of grumpy. For me anyway. I would much rather live in Alaska. Add to that pile is the fact that Paul is away again. Agghhh! Why must I be married to a man who travels so much? It is getting hard to handle these days. I think I might just snap.

So there you have it. Miss Grumpy Pants. I hope the day gets better. I feel a little less irritated now that I ate lunch. I better smarten up though. I always say people who are grumpy are spoiled brats who don't get their own way.