Imagine the hottest, most scorching day in August.

Then imagine a violent late afternoon thunderstorm on that day. Then imagine that the sun comes back out after the storm is over, raising clouds of steam from the pavement. That is what it felt like in the hot room last night in the studio, where I went for a hot 90 at 6:30.

I had a good practice, though. James mixed things up a bit, doing a vinyasa of ardha chandrasana, trikonasa and dandayamana bibhaktipada janushirasana early in the series. Trikonasana was easier in one sense, because it was earlier in the class and I felt stronger, but also harder, because I was not as warmed up.

During poorna salabhasana, he came and sat on my legs. Man!! When he did that, I really flew up in that pose. It was awesome! Today the muscles in my mid back are sore, but in a good way.

Yesterday morning I went to the dermatologist because I was worried about a couple of spots on my left forearm. They weren't moles, but instead lighter spots with a pink center. One spot had been pink since the summer, and the other two had turned pink within the last month. I had myself in a state, imagining I had skin cancer. She said they could turn into cancer, so she froze them with liquid nitrogen. It stung some while she was doing it, but I did my yoga breathing and it helped. The three spots have now blistered and while they don't hurt, I get the willies if I think about banging my arm against something.

Today has been cloudy and disgustingly warm. My hair is really big and curly and looks like crap. Tonight a bunch of us moms are going to Ikea to eat dinner and shop. I'm looking forward to it!

Tomorrow morning we're all meeting for coffee after dropoff, then going to help Beth with xmas Decatur bag checking. Brenda is coming tomorrow afternoon, and tomorrow night I am working a shift at the Oak*hurst table at the Marketplace. Saturday morning we are going to the parade; I think Robin & Gloria and families are going also.

Good day at practice.

Bad afternoon with Will.
We have a little breathing room, I think, WRT the job.
Lee has a couple of leads for other jobs.
Out.

Busy today.

First thing I did other than the usual coffee-paper-breakfast-etc. routine was go to a 10am Bikram class at BYD. It was packed, like packed enough that for poorna salabhasana I had to move so that I wouldn't touch my neighbor. It was a good class.

Lee took the boys for haircuts this morning, then took them to B'ville for baby Spencer's birthday party with the rest of the family. When I got home, I helped Lee get the boys out the door to the party, then I:
- took a shower
- gave myself a quick pedicure
- did a load of laundry
- folded and put away a load while that load was running
- bagged up stuff for Sally Ann's
- bagged up stuff for the spring consignment sale
- unpacked my travel kit from the other night
- collected up all the trash and took it out
- cleaned out the fridge and freezer
- loaded the dishwasher
- ate lunch
- swept the downstairs
- checked on the hermies
- pruned and watered the plants on the front porch
- did a little bit of eBay research
- photographed two items to list for sale on Monday
- responded to an eBay email
- dealt with all my Mypoints emails
- checked the PTA email
- packaged a sweatshirt order
- checked the boys' backpacks
- researched the price of Crocs for Lee for xmas (REI is definitely cheapest)
- went through all the stuff I have bought for xmas so far (I don't need to get much more for Michael)
- downloaded and listened to the podcast of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"
- downloaded a KT Tunstall song from walmart.com
- searched for a few recipes on epicurious.com for dinner this week
- updated my to-do list and calendar
- dealt with a credit card transfer form which included making a phone call to clarify something
- talked to someone from Sierra Club and pledged a contribution before the end of the year
- dealt with the arugula beginning to wilt in the fridge (I trimmed it and ran it thru the salad spinner and it perked up)
- planned dinner for the boys (some kind of veggies in pizza sauce pasta) and us (aforementioned arugula with bacon, garlic & white wine over pasta)
and....I think that's it. The boys will be home soon. I have lit a few nice candles and the fireplace, and I'm going to have a few moments peace with an "O" magazine Brenda gave me, before the boys get home.

Since Tuesday.

Tuesday night I went to the silent 75, taught by rebecca. It was my first silent, and I enjoyed it, though I did not get there in time to get close to the front mirror, and my stomach growled the entire time.

Wednesday the boys were out of school, so we hung around here in the morning while I got some stuff done, and Wednesday afternoon we went to the zoo for a few hours. I was expecting it to be very crowded, but it was not, and the weather was perfect.

There is some yucky job stuff going on w/Lee that I do not want to think about, but it is in the back of my mind. That went down on Wednesday. I think it requires action on his part soon.

Anyway...Wednesday night I finished my cooking. Thursday monring we got up and went to Macon, stayed there all yesterday. It was another beautiful day and we stayed on the back deck most of the time. We had a ton of appetizers and red wine, plus a big meal. After everyone had left and it got dark, me, Lee & Brenda sat outside by the fire and drank a nice bottle of champagne. There is some family drama going on that has Brenda worked up, and we discussed that a bit.

We headed back this morning...the boys have had too much bad television...Rugrats, Sponge Bob. Stuff I never let them watch. Their behavior showed it this afternoon, too. Mom & Dad were here visiting for the afternoon, and the boys were kind of at loose ends, squabbling a bit, being destructive and loud.

Mom & Dad brought sausages for the grill, slaw, potato salad, and beans, and a red velvet birthday cake for me with a "40" candle, even though my birthday is about two weeks away. Dad also gave me $250 for birthday & Christmas.

Tomorrow Lee is taking the boys to his niece's son's 1st birthday party in B'ville, and I am staying here to go to yoga and do stuff around the house. Tonight I paid bills and dealt with some online banking. Tomorrow needs to be tidying, collection stuff for sally ann's, and planning a few meals. I also need to do some ebay research - more posting on that topic later.

Much, MUCH better yoga class today.

I concentrated on drinking a lot of water last night and this morning - normallly I don't drink much water first thing, but I downed my nalgene bottle full before class.

I felt myself getting a little bit head rushy between standing head to knee and triangle, but I concentrated on keeping my breath steady and I got through it with no trouble.

The hardest thing is not the exertion so much, but the change in position, from when my head is down to having my head up, for example, moving from standing separate leg stretching to triangle, and from tortoise to camel.

I kicked the freecycle list to the curb today. I keep wondering if I way overreacted....I sent in an offer of a 12 pound bucket of oxyclean and it was rejected because I wrote "offered" instead of "offer" in the subject line. That really chapped my hide! I sent a snide email, the moderator replied, I sent a second, more snide one and then unsubbed from the group. Who cares? I'll sure have a lot less mail in my inbox now.

Dinner tonight.

Almond crusted chicken. Mashed celery root and parsnips (totally yummy!). Crowder peas. Baby field greens. Canteloupe for the boys.

I am absolutely addicted to Smuckers low sugar raspberry jam. I love the way the tiny seeds crunch between my teeth. The other Smuckers low sugar jams are probably good too, but raspberry is the only one that does not contain food coloring. It is SO good. I just ate two big spoonfuls out of the jar.

I'm trying to drink a whole lotta water in preparation for yoga tomorrow. I really want to have a good class!

Off day.

I haven't struggled so much in a yoga class since I started. There were a couple of new people there today, so we wound up holding some of the early poses longer. I also think pranayama took longer; by the time we were done I was pouring sweat and my neck was tired.

I held on through standing head to knee; at standing bow pulling I had to take some deep breaths and go easy. Instead of two sets of trikonasana she did one set of warrior II and one set of trikonasana. I had to keep my arms down most of the time and during the second set of trikonasana, I had to sit down. During tree I really thought I was going to faint, so during the second set, I sat down.

When we finally got to savasana I just collapsed. I felt weak and faint and not even strong enough to keep my eyes open. I felt a little better as we started the floor series, but when we got to camel I just got into the pose, stayed for a second, then came out into child's pose.

Man, I was wiped. I guess I was dehydrated. I'm trying not to beat myself up for it. It happens, right?

It's a beautiful day today and Lee has gone somewhere with the boys. I'm going to finish assembling a pot of chili in the crock pot, then take a shower and walk to the CD store downtown, where everything is 20% off, and buy Lee the new JJ Cale/Eric Clapton CD for Christmas.

Blah.

Cold and windy today.
Too many carbs for me, starting with Thanksgiving lunch with Michael at school.
Been packing t-shirt orders on and off today. Why the hell couldn't people preorder? Now that people are seeing the shirts, everyone's got to have one. I'm not sure I have enough, yet two big boxes of sweatshirts are sitting here in my dining room.
I pulled ten long sleeve tees for Erin to give to the Lowe's volunteers on Saturday.
After Michael did his homework, we walked over to the park. I was freezing.
Will fell off the top rung of the play structure ladder and hurt his ankle. I had to carry him - all 62 pounds - back home. It's nothing serious, because he is his normal rowdy, loud, rambunctious self otherwise.
He ate a ton for dinner, complained of a tummyache, then threw it all up in the shower. UGH.
After he went to sleep, I paid a few bills, dealt with some PTA emails, packaged an ebay thing to send.
I checked on the status of the Dansko clogs I sent to Switzerland - god love the Swiss. The package was delivered on Tuesday, and tracking shows its every move.
Tomorrow - drop Will off; Kroger; hot 90 at 9:30.

When it rains, it pours...

and it is pouring this afternoon, windy and dark.

Actually I also mean it in the "when one thing happens, a bunch of other stuff happens too" financial sense. Our county property taxes were due today....Bob the Builder was here last weekend and told us we need a new roof, some work done on a floor joist under the back door and god knows what else. Lee took my car to get an oil change today and they called to tell me that my front tires were bald....now what I want to know is, how could those tires have only lasted 15,000 miles? They are the original tires, and I just now have 15K on my car. One would think they would get more miles out of them. I had been noticing my traction was not so great lately...so I'm glad I've got some new ones. But still, that was $250 I wasn't planning for.

Also, next week is Thanksgiving, which means lots and lots of groceries and wine...even though we are going to Brenda's and only have to take a couple dishes plus wine, it still gets expensive.

Anyway. I went to Bikram on Monday and then again today. Today was a 75 minute class. Since it was shorter, I went all out. I sweated like an absolute pig and I thought man, I need to do this in the longer classes. This is some workout! Then when the class was about 2/3 done, James checked the thermostat and said "no wonder everyone is struggling, it's 110 in here."

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving lunch at the schools. Lee is going with Will and I am going with Michael. I love Michael's school so much. Yesterday he and I were distributing all the bags of spiritwear to the teachers and we walked through the auditorium where the second and third graders wait before school in the morning. Mrs. S, the third grade parapro, had put on music and she and all the kids were doing the Electric Slide. Today was an "80's" theme for "More Books, Please" week and the principal of the school had on a gigantic afro wig. Actually, now that I think about it, it might have been her real hair. HA!

I won't make it to Bikram tomorrow, but I will Friday, maybe once this weekend, and then on Monday. I might try to make it Tuesday night too. Then it won't happen again until Saturday.

It's very cozy and snug here right now....I've got the fire lit, the boys are watching a video called "Eyewitness (or "eyewiznet" as Will calls it) Volcano" and Michael is wearing his new yellow rainboots which came today from Lands End. He can't wait to wear them outside.

It's a great day to be a lib-rull!

Everywhere but Georgia, that is.

I'm tired today. I knew I wasn't going to make it to yoga beacause it's my volunteer day, so I got up and walked early this morning.

Will told me that he got sent to another classroom for rest time because he was not following directions.

Lee told me that he's got a bunch of past due bills from Mc*Donald's to collect on...the last time this happened, it was truly awful for us and for him at work for a few weeks.

The spiritwear orders were delivered here today....four very large boxes. Rachael has submitted to my bribe of wine to help me sort and process them one night this weekend.

Our camping trip this weekend has been cancelled. Brenda & Ted are too tired to go. (hmph.) I had already rsvp'd to Noah's mom that Michael would not be at his party this weekend, but I called back and asked if it was not too late, if Michael could still come. I have not heard back from her yet.

Last night I made some pumpkin curry soup for dinner along with some chive and cheese whole wheat muffins...the boys didn't like the soup and Lee said he had such a late lunch that he wasn't hungry. I swore that I was not cooking tonight but...I am. I am making a batch of homemade macaroni and cheese with whole wheat penne. If I hear one word of complaining that the stuff in the box is better I am going to go postal.

Blogger never remembers me.

Very annoying.

I've had two great Bikram classes in a row. Yesterday I went to DHY and took Jenny's class. (Debbie indicated that she was probably going to add morning classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which will probably eliminate my need to go to BYD.) Anyway, I felt like I went further in standing bow that ever before though I will never get my pulling leg straight. I was absolutely starving by the time I got out of there by the time we finished pranayama my stomach was growling audibly.

Last night we had a Health & Nutrition committee meeting which turned into a big hen session, not suprising since the other members of the committee are all good friends. We did address some of the issues, though, while the systemwide committee person was there. We also indulged in several bottles of red wine and some desserts from the wine bar (we were meeting at Julie's video editing studio). Anyway, I didn't get home until after 11:00 so I thought I'd be hurting today in yoga (at BYD). I had another great class though. Somehow I've made a breakthrough with breathing through my nose for 95% of the class.

I'm eating some whole wheat pasta leftovers right now; in a few minutes I'm going to dry my hair, go vote, and run to the grocery. It's a dreary, rainy day so we won't be staying on the playground this afternoon.

The trees around here....

are mind-blowingly beautiful, like they haven't been in recent years. There is a red maple just up the street that is a brilliant, stunning red-orange. And there are trees like that everywhere - brilliant yellow ginkos, yellow maples, japanese maples with pale yellow leaves, flaming orange maples and reddish-brown oaks.

I went to Bikram this morning, even though I woke up with a wine headache from one dinky glass of wine. I had a cup and a half of coffee, two ibuprofen and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese and off I went. It is amazing how much better my balance is on my right than my left...most notably in dandayamana dhanurasana....because my balance is so good on my right, I can go pretty far in the pose, but not nearly so much on my left because the more I extend, the more I wobble.

I had an awesome toe stand today - again, on my right - and stayed there the whole time, no wobbling.

I am really struggling with endurance in trikonasa, though. That's been going on since I had my little cold.

I was starving by the time I got home...Lee & the boys were gone off somewhere. I decided I wanted to get a pedicure, so I made myself an appointment, wolfed down an apple and cheese quesadilla, & got in the shower. I went and had my pedicure, then came back home, starving again and with my headache back. I ate some roast chicken, a piece of cheese, two spoonfuls of peanut butter and a Dr. Brown's diet cream soda. Lee & the boys got home, they watched a video, and we all got on our bikes and went for a ride. I'm afraid I messed up my pedicure - but that's why I always bring my own color. It was such a beautiful afternoon and we had a good time. On the way back we rode past Carpe Diem and the smell of sauteeing garlic was about to make me swoon. Alas, we have no money for eating out at the moment.

When we got home, Michael played on bionicle.com and Will played in the sandbox. I cleaned out the cabinets and fridge. I dumped a ton of stuff - half-eaten boxes of stale cheddar bunnies and TLC ranch crackers...some tins of teas that mom & dad brought me from England at least three years ago....dried out dried fruit....dregs of stale grains from the bulk bins....a few questionable leftovers. I found a cup of short grain brown rice waaay back in the pantry, so I cooked it, thinking I'd use it in a recipe this week, but when I saw it cooked up kind of creamy and starchy, I found a half jar of Newman's Own pasta sauce in the fridge, added it to the rice with some salt and parmesan cheese, called it risotto and fed it to the boys for dinner.

Lee & I had another combination of leftovers, over whole wheat rotini with the last of a bottle of gewurtztraminer (sp). I love using up a bunch of assorted leftovers...it makes me feel very Little House on the Prairie.

WHOA, I'm tired.

Stayed up too late last night and Will spent the night in our bed, kicking me and stealing the covers. (Uncle Ted wsa sleeping in Will's bed.) I got up at 5:30 to go to the hot 75. I drank a cup of coffee and felt fine despite sleeping so badly. I have felt great all day until the last hour or so. I"m really drooping now and I still have to pack lunches, reboot the laundry, get the boys in and out of the shower, into pajamas, brush teeth etc. I'm going to shut this computer down when they're in bed and start on the stack of books, catalogs, PTA newsletters, today's paper etc. that is next to my bed and try to get through it all.