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Chris and I spent all day on the scooters and It. Was. Great! We started the morning at Coffee Slingers where we lingered over our coffee and a pastry and loosely planned out our day. The only scheduled thing for the day was to deliver a computer bag to Zelda and meet some friends for lunch.
Then we ruined it all by going to see Food Inc. More on that later. In the mean time enjoy some pictures of the day.
I am, and have always been really, a person of routine. The routine is very important to me and I get a little frazzled when the routine is disrupted. I feel like for most of the month of August, the routine has been off. I've subbed yoga classes. We've taken an unexpected trip and for most of this month I feel like I've been playing catch up. I'm holding on to things by my fingernails, just barely finishing normal chores like laundry. Just getting by.
This week, I didn't sub any classes and things look like they are starting to fall into place. We've been trying to re-instate family walk night for months now and thought Monday's would be a good night for that. Then I started all the subbing, but this week we finally managed to take the dog to the park.
So, on this Thankful Friday, I am thankful for the routine because the routine brings me peace. I am thankful that I'm finally finding a rhythm to the day and finding a place for the big and small things on the list. My meditation journal has consecutive dates instead of random moments of hasty meditation. I am thankful for the peace.
Have a wonderful and peaceful weekend. Happy Thankful Friday.
The walking track I do outside takes me through a neighborhood. I'm always distracted by this one section of sidewalk. There's a little foot in it. See it?
I like to make up little stories about how that little foot got to be trapped in the pavement. My favorite theory is that a little gnome was running across the street to get to the beautiful green yard on the other side of the walk. On the way, his flip-flop came off of one of his feet and he ended up leaving his little gold foot print on the sidewalk. 'Cause every one know that gnomes tend to have gold dust coating their feet.
So, Love Thursday is about finding the magic in the smallest and simplest things. It's about holding onto that imagination we tend to loose as we grow old. You know? The Finding the elephant in clouds kind of imagination.
So, this was probably funnier yesterday and the first round of the waffle description was better. I made Chris run through the whole spiel again because typing all that up would have been just too much work. The first time around, he fixated more on the sugar part of the description. He said they used beet sugar and I said "what's that?". Then he went on to say he had no idea, just that it was really big sugar.
This is a typical evening in our home.
I think I mentioned that my mom's cat escaped from the camp trailer while on the camping trip over a week ago. My poor mom is heartbroken over the whole thing and not quite ready to give up. There was a sighting of the cat on Monday of last week somewhere in the cave and there have been just enough visitors around that have seen "a calico" cat to give my mom some bit of hope in finding Foxxey (the cat).
I have to say that the park rangers at Alabaster Caverns have been wonderful through this whole ordeal. They've kept my mom informed on sightings and they've told the visitors to keep an eye out for Foxxey. They even let my Mom have free range of the cave to look for Foxxey as long as she had two other people with her and a hard hat.
So, you can guess what Chris and I did on Saturday. We met my mom and sister in Enid at seven AM on Saturday morning and then we all made the final trek back to Alabaster Caverns together to spend the day hunting for the cat. Janell, Mom and I had cave detail while Chris hung around the campground with some of Foxxey's favorite things like a banana (her favorite treat), her sleeping basket, and a roast beef sandwich. Wait. Now that I think about it, I think the sandwich was really more for Chris then the cat.
I'd like to say that we came home with a cat, but unfortunately that just wasn't the case. Janell and I searched just about every nook and cranny of that cave. We all scoured the campgrounds; we even waited until dark to see if she would come out. But no, nada, no cat. It was sad for Mom, but Janell and I had lots of fun exploring the cave. We got to explore places of the cave that the usual tour group never gets to go. I found a horse skeleton and we saw loads of bats. Just no cat.
Mom's still hopeful. She's already talking about going up and staying at small hotel up there. I kind of think that Foxxey is kind of pulling a Homeward Bound and is headed home. Either that or she's just having too much fun in the wild and doesn't really care to be found.
I was prepared to write a thankful Friday entry dealing with how thankful I'll be that this week is over. How I was looking forward to a weekend of cleaning (yes...looking forward to that) and sleeping and finally taking some time to come up with a more inspiring food plan. Meals of late have been ho-hum. Instead, it looks like I will be heading back to Alabaster Caverns on Saturday to look for my mom's cat.
As Chris and I discussed the prospects of climbing through caves searching for a cat, I looked at him and said "tomorrow's Thankful Friday". He just laughed and said that I better "dig deep". So, this morning, I plugged in my iPod and headed out for my daily walk and to think about what I am thankful for today.
I had also asked around on facebook and twitter about what you may be thankful for today. It turns out that we are pretty much thankful for similar things. Some days it may seem like a challenge to be grateful, but even the simplest thing is something not to be taken for granted.
Have a great weekend! And a Thankful Friday.
Well, Duh right? I mean how easy is it to do a love entry about your husband? I only decided to do today's Love Thursday entry about Chris because of something I experienced on our way to Alabaster Caverns last Friday.
We were driving out into the Oklahoma panhandle, surrounded by fields of corn, sunflowers and nothing. I had the iPod hooked up and playing Ingrid Michaelson, singing along. Then her song "You and I" came on and I continued to sing along, when all of a sudden the lyrics in that song hit me like a brick. That song is us. And I'm singing along and I turn to Chris with this big grin and I look at him and my heart swelled. It swelled so big, it filled all the way up to my eyeballs. And I was happy, truly happy.
Listen to that song (the video I chose for it is pretty cute too). Then go hug that person you want to build a house with. Happy Love Thursday!
After our last camping trip, I made a vow never to let the camping lapse again. I planned this weekend's trip with the meteor shower in mind and it's the main reason I chose for us to go to Alabaster Caverns. I also thought it would be fun to invite friends and family out, but our only takers turned out to be my parents.
Chris and I and some friends had been out at Alabaster Caverns this time about, oh, eight years ago. There was a big group of boy scouts there all working towards their camping and spelunking badges. I just remember being surprised by how beautiful that part of the state is. And not much has changed. Our tent started out looking very lonely out there on the prairie, but by the end of the night we were surrounded. By boy scouts.
We had a really nice time. Did the cave tour, saw some bats, and got to see a couple of meteors. There were only a couple of down sides. My parents got there on Wednesday and Thursday night, my Mom's cat got out of the trailer. We hunted, but she hasn't been found. Dad was pretty upset. Another down side was realizing that Dad is getting old. He didn't do too much of the hiking with us and complained of the heat constantly. Both of my parents seem really out of practice with the whole camping thing and were even a little overwhelmed with the idea of cooking outside. Chris and I pretty much just steered them in the right directions. Sort of like "See? This is how you roast a marshmallow".
And speaking of marshmallows. Chris and I decided from the last camping trip to start trying different candy bars in our smores. Why limit yourself to just a plain old Hershey Bar? This trip we used Reeses Peanut butter cups. I think this is my favorite so far.
By the time you read this, Chris and I will be on our way to Alabaster Caverns and our second camping trip of the summer. That's right. I said SECOND CAMPING TRIP. In one year. That's a record people.
I am thankful for the opportunity to get away this weekend. I am also thankful for the few family members that took us up on the offer to meet us out there. Well, OK. Turns out to only be Mom and Dad, but still. It's been ages since we've all camped together and I'm really looking forward to it. I am thankful for the promises of beauty this weekend holds with a meteor shower and bats and campfires and smores.
This weekend is a weekend for wishing on stars. Be thankful for your wishes and have a lovely weekend!
A couple of years ago a friend of mine gave me a Dumbo figurine that sits on my desk at work. His ears flap whenever the sun hits a little solar power sensor on the front. I love him because he always looks happy to see me.
The figurine came with these little cards that you could wedge into a holder. At the time I didn't want to bother, so I just tossed them in my desk drawer and forgot about them. Then, last week I was rummaging through the drawer looking for a make shift bookmark and I came across this card. I had forgotten all about the good messages on the cards, but this one came to me during a moment of doubt. I found it right around the time I was starting the new classes at the Y and I was worried about not being the type of yoga teacher they wanted.
Well, I'm still not sure I'm the right teacher for the morning class, but the evening class was great. I just feel that the people that come to the 6 AM class have different intentions for their yoga practice then my intentions for their yoga practice. And that's OK. But that little card reminded me that I can do it. I can teach with integrity and devotion to my practice. I can teach people to be safe in their practice. I can teach people to be joyful in their practice.
It's just a little reminder that you are enough. Happy Love Thursday!
I'm going through a dreaming phase these days. I can remember going weeks with out dreaming, being so tired that I'd be asleep a second after laying my head down and waking up in the exact same position I'd started out. But these days, I dream.
The other night I dreamt I was playing field hockey with a cricket bat. I kept wandering around the field going "what am I supposed to do with this bat again?". There was lots of running and lots of chaos. The coach was clueless and just kept yelling at all of us on the team to "buck up", what ever that means.
I get it...the dream. I get that I feel unprepared or I have all the wrong tools and skills for the job I'm doing. I feel unprepared for lots of things, like the new job I start in December (not willing to blog about that, lets just leave it at I will not go unemployed). I have all these ideas and plans, but I feel like I'm lacking the ability to get any of them done. I know. It sounds crazy. Me. The original Lisa Simpson can't figure out how to use that cricket bat.
And I think that's the real problem. I don't need a cricket bat to play field hockey. So what I really need to do is drop the bat and pick up the hockey stick. All it takes is a little bit of letting go.
I started a new teaching job this week at the down town Y and there were a number of things that worried me about taking this job (besides the fifty or so pages of paperwork that I had to fill out). First of all, the schedule is a bit crazy. I teach a six AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 5:30 PM Tuesdays at the Y. Plus I still have my classes at the YHOT studio (7:30PM Tuesdays and 6PM Thursdays). I worried that it would just be too much in one day particularly on Tuesdays. But it turned out to be not so bad and I have Mondays and Fridays off (unless I choose to sub for someone, which I will be doing for the next two Mondays....No! Means NO!).
Another thing I was worried about was taking over for a class that up until now had been taught by a yoga Nazi. There are a lot of people in those 6 AM classes. A lot of people attached to a certain teacher, a teacher that I disagree with. I have taken this person's classes before and listened to people endure pain in this class. I have also listened to this teacher encourage them to endure the pain, a philosophy completely opposite from mine.
I start to get into some conflicting thoughts on teaching in a fitness facility. Yoga in fitness facilities is a bastardized version of yoga. Those people want a work out, want to feel the burn, with a no pain no gain mentality and they expect no less from their yoga practice. It's no different at the Y. I was really worried that I'd have to compromise my beliefs and my yoga style to please these people. But you know what? I didn't. I went in and taught like I always teach. I feel really good about how I taught this week and how the classes went. Now, I don't know how the students felt about it and I may not be teaching there long if they start complaining. But I feel good about it.
I'm thankful for my practice and for having the integrity to stick to my beliefs. I am thankful that I had the chutzpah to refuse to teach in a way that conflicts with how I believe we should practice yoga. I am thankful for the path I have chosen to walk.
What's a ballsy thing that you're thankful you did this week? Have a wonderful weekend!
I'm a sucker for dessert. I tend to avoid buffets just because I usually only end up eating off of the dessert table. There's only been a few times when I've ever turned down dessert. Actually the only time I can remember saying no to cake was when we were in Seattle. I turned down chocolate cake for a giant Honey Crisp apple. What can I say? We just don't get fruit like that here.
When a friend of ours told us about a new cupcake place called Green Goodies, I couldn't get there fast enough. I'm not talking about just any old cupcake. This place has gluten free cupcakes and vegan cupcakes and organic cupcakes. Some of you may be thinking "big deal, so what?". That's because you probably live in an area where you can easily get gluten free and vegan things. I live in a state where the majority of the people living here think that being vegetarian means you just don't eat beef and chicken and pork are vegetables. I'm not kidding.
The friend that recommended Green Goodies has a daughter that has Celiac Disease. Imagine what it must be like for her to attend a birthday party and be the only little girl that can't even eat a regular peanut butter sandwich let alone any birthday cake. I thought about that little girl as I savored my chocolate gluten free cupcake, the moistest yummiest cupcake with the most perfect icing. I couldn't help but think about how we take the simplest things for granted.
Happy Love Thursday! Enjoy the sweet things the day brings.
Last week Chris informed me that he was going on a special diet to jump start his work-out routine. This was after I had planned on making lasagna. I made that lasagna any way and ate on it, and ate on it, and finally finished it off on Thursday.
You can usually tell the type of week I'm having by the food I'm consuming. Last week was a bad one. I never recovered from the whirl wind of a weekend and I really didn't plan meals past the lasagna. My eating habits where so bad last week that I even scrounged change for a candy bar from the vending machine. TWICE! I don't know why or how I let it happen. When I eat poorly not only do I feel bad physically, the affect it has on me mentally is astronomically bad. The guilt...oh the guilt.
Glad to say that I'm back on track this week and I started with brining back the Sunday dinner. I roasted red potatoes with a fo-turkey loaf. The potatoes where fresh from my CSA basket, so fresh I had to scrub the dirt from them. I also roasted fresh corn with garlic, pepper and butter. the corn was also part of last weeks CSA basket. I remember shucking corn from our garden as a kid and always being freaked out by the corn worms that get inside the husk. I found one in one of the corn cobs as I was shucking it and laughed out loud. It was just so nice to be eating something so fresh and pure.
I have plans for the rest of the week. Left over fo-turkey will end up in sandwich wraps with the fresh arugula (again CSA basket, I love you). We'll have spaghetti with squash and egg plant and a quiche another night. We'll make our own pizza on Pizza night and breakfast night with fresh blueberry pancakes. So any night you want to come for dinner is fine with me, with the exception of Tuesday (new teaching schedule, Tuesday is now fend-for-yourself night).
I am truly thankful for this weekend. I never had a chance to recover from the last weekend. And even though I agreed to sub a class tomorrow morning (must learn how to say "no"), I have nothing planned. I'm going to clean out the fridge and inventory the vegetable stock, grocery shop, wash clothes, and sleep. There's going to be lots of sleeping this weekend.
Also, I had to rush out of the house early this morning to run an errand before work (not thankful for that). This put me in the car early enough to hear Story Corps on NPR. I haven't heard a Story Corps story in months. I like to call them Story Cry and todays didn't disappoint. I am thankful that I was able to hear the story of a man who lost his hearing at the age of ten and his love of baseball and how he got to meet Babe Ruth. Beautiful. I encourage every one to listen. And if tears don't prick your eyes when Brooks Robinson speaks to the man in sign, then you have a cold dead heart and I'm sorry for you.
As always I am thankful for Chris and the laughter we share, my health, my weekly veggie basket (We got blueberries this week!), and our hilarious dog. Take a moment to find gratitude in your week and enjoy the weekend!
Recently I dreamed that J was still alive (there's been a lot of dreaming lately for some odd reason). In the dream, J had been alive this whole time. He was just hiding, like playing a game of hide-n-seek. The thing is I can totally see him playing hide-n-seek for four straight years.
I thought for sure that there would come a day when J would no longer visit me in my dreams and maybe that day will come. I am thankful that I no longer have the nightmares and that those ended a few years ago. The dreams that come now, which are few and far between, are simple ones just like J himself.
Through some round of miscommunication, I found myself at the 4-H alumni dinner this weekend. 4-H is celebrating 100 years of service this year and my county extension office thought it would be nice to get the old faces together. And it would have been interesting if anyone I had known from my 4-H years had bothered to attend.
The dinner was the biggest dread of the weekend. I was not even interested in the idea of going. But it turned out to be not so bad (other then the food...I'll get to that later). I think the main reason I dreaded seeing people from the past was because by the time I ended my 4-H career, I was so burned out and jaded that I didn't care to get involved with it ever again. But I had a pleasant enough time and it made my mom happy.
OK...so about the food. A few weeks ago I told Chris about a dream I had where I attended a dinner and there was nothing for me to eat. I found myself eating a chicken leg. It was so vivid, I could even feel the grease on my fingers and the entire time I was consuming the leg, I was wracked with guilt. Well, turned out the alumni dinner consisted of salad (iceberg lettuce and tomatoes), corn on the cob, and fried chicken. I did not eat the chicken. Mom and I later laughed about this and I told her of the dream and the one I had about Hooper peeing in the house (which he did when we got back from the camping trip). Mom said "You know, we get that from Grandma Tucker". What? The ability to dream of the most useless things to come? If it's an ESP thing, why can't I dream us up winning lotto ticket?
I'll just end with this. I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country and my world. Not a bad pledge really if you think about it. Totally amazed that I even remember it.
I don't think I could have fit more into this weekend even if it had included an extra day. The short list: dinner with the family (all of them), yoga conference at D-Fest, 4-H alumni dinner, Cake concert and a car break down involving a vehicle being towed. And...I'm home.
This year they decided to attach a yoga conference to D-Fest in Tulsa and I agreed to volunteer. I had no idea what to expect, but the conference was great. To be surrounded by so many positive and joyful people all day long, well...it was Awe-some. What I didn't realize or plan on was that I would get access to all the music venues too. For Free! Cake was really the only band I wanted to see and when I found out that they wouldn't be playing until 11:30 Saturday night, I was a little torn. That is way past my bed time. Then I smacked myself on the forehead and said "Cindy! You have a chance to see a band you really really really like. A band you've never seen before. A band with a lead singer that you've always wanted to know what he looks like. YOU ARE GOING TO THAT CONCERT". And I did.
I've never been to a concert by myself. And I kind of did a stupid thing by parking sooooo faaar away from the concert. But I'm cheap and I didn't want to pay for parking. I realize it was a risk, but I made it safely to the concert and even ran into a friend from high school who just happened to be on police duty down town (Karma). I was also able to score a spot in the very front, kind of to the left, of the stage. So, yeah, concert was Totally Great!
The only down side was that my car didn't make it home. I think there's a coolant leak. So we are driving my mom's van. I have more to say, but golly I'm tired. Plus my brain is crammed to the brim with things that need to be processed. But I can now mark off find-out-what-the-lead-singer-from-Cake question from my list and he looks good.
I stared blankly at the screen for about twenty minutes, which is crazy. I have things I'm thankful for. I do. But it's the usual stuff like Chris, dog, scooter, things you've heard before. Nothing crazy spectacular happened this week and if it did it rushed by way to fast to get a grip on.
I am really thankful to be finished with yoga teacher training. One and half years of teacher training. I am thankful for the compliments and praise I received from my teacher regarding my teaching skills. I am thankful for my students from my evening work class. My last class with them is next week. Part of me is sad to end the class, but I had to let something go. That class, as much as I love my students, was more stress and hassle then it was worth (which apparently was nothing, since I had zero support outside the class). It has been so rewarding to watch my students grow in their practice and I will miss them.
I suppose I am also thankful for how uneventful the week turned out to be. My weekend is chocked full. So I needed a low-key week in order to prepare me for the coming crazy. Whether your week was dull or crazy busy, find something in it, any thing, that you are thankful for.
Have a fabulous weekend!
I travel down this road every day to work. It's not a very pretty road. It's not even well paved and tends to be a bit bumpy on the scooter. It's mainly an industrial road that passes by a couple of refineries. People tend to dump their trash out there, things like old mattresses and couches.
But there's this one spot where the road crosses the Canadian River that's very pretty. It's my favorite part of the drive, particularly in the mornings. Often, when the water is low like this, you can see dozens of white cranes dotting the river. In the mornings, the swallows are swooping back and forth around the bridge and some times you can even see a kingfisher hanging out on one of the telephone wires that cross the river.
In the middle of all the garbage there's this small oasis of beauty. I love being able to find beauty in the most unexpected places.
Happy Love Thursday