Getting Ready for the New Year

Yesterday, I went to San Marcos for the Eye of the Tiger Practice. Check out Christina's blog for pictures and details about said event. It was really fun and I am definitely getting better at the arm balancing poses. Here's a picture of me after falling out of one. Christina and I are pretending to be tigers if you can't tell from the picture.

I'm getting ready to go upto Waco for a couple days. hang out with Lenore and Henry for New Years and catch up on some personal and professional things.


My colleague Daniel is doing a bit better according to the most recent email update. He is going upto the Mayo Clinic for additional treatment. Do continue to keep him and his family in your prayers.

more later.

Fun Times in Austin

Well, it is Friday night and I'm actually watching Cold Mountain on TV, but somehow even that is more fun in Austin. I've had a great past couple of days. Went to Mandy's class Thursday morning and then met a former student of mine, Ashley Hayes for lunch at Hyde Park Cafe. Totally yummy. want to go back there many times. Then, the yoga marathon, or 2/3rds of it. Ari and I went to see Sweeney Todd instead of doing part three of the marathon..

This morning, I subbed class at Yoga Yoga and took Dylan down to San Marcos to visit the hounds while CT and I practiced.

Got a great manicure at Polish, bought a cool shirt at Kick Pleat and went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, pretty much the total Austin experience.

I came home and found a distressing email...

On a more sober note, a friend and colleague Daniel Payne is hovering at the edge of death with Whipple's disease. Please pray for him and his family.

The Misplaced Keys

Sometime during Phase V (waiting in DFW) I realized I had left my car keys and my house key in my back pack in Lavonia. How might you ask did this happen?

Well, in many ways it really has to do with the "free gift with purchase."

I've been on the market for a new computer bag for sometime (I bought a Prana one from Michelle, but for a variety of reasons didn't like it and so I was back to using my old black leather one, that has seen many many better days) . Christina and I really liked the Vera Bradley bags at Moonwater when we were visiting for Grandmartha's funeral. So we decided to go shopping for them for possible Christmas presents to each other. Well, I ended up getting a whole matching ensemble. Bag, hand bag, check book, wallet and when I was checking out, there was a free gift, but they were out of the key chain in my pattern so I got a cute little notepad sticky holder.

We wrap up all the presents and open them Christmas morning. At various junctures during the DHW marathon, we transferred our old purse plunder into their new homes, Sort of the grown up equivalent of playing with your Christmas toys... Late last night in the guesthouse, I did transfer the plunder from my old computer bag, but i did not take the keys out of the mesh inner pocket where I always keep my keys when I'm travelling... (so if only I'd gotten the key chain free gift).

We are off, admiring our bags much of the way. But for some reason just as we are in the midst of realizing we can get on an "earlier" flight to Austin, I also realized what I had done. So, Christina calls mom and Dad to get them to check down at the guest house for the keys.. but we still have the problem of me being locked out of the house (But decided that CT could fit through Dylan's dog door if necessary) and me being without a car for two days until the fed exed keys arrived. So CT called Kelly to come rescue us and she was going to loan me her new car (is that sisterly dedication or what?)

All this is going on via cell phone as we are boarding so our fellow passengers heard the tale of woe and got a great deal of enjoyment out of the story.. particularly when Dad made me get my suitcase down from the overhead bin to make sure the keys were not in my old purse.. Then when the "plane broke" okay, it didn't really break, but the auxiliary engine did... the guy behind us goes, "maybe he's lost the keys to the plane and he's looking behind the seat for them." Very funny.

We sat on the run way some time and in one of those travel hell take your chances lottery , our original flight actually got to Austin slightly before the earlier flight we boarded with much enthusiasm.

On the way home, it occurred to me that I might have a key to the back door in the Odyssey and so I could get triple AAA to come it turns out I'd left the Odyssey unlocked and also that the spare key for the Odyssey was in the glove box, so that problem was solved unfortunately, I didn't think of that option soon enough to keep Kelly from making the trip up.

But all is well. and I"m here in Austin. getting ready to have lunch with a former student and then do some Christmas shopping for Lenore, Henry and H.W. (we are exchanging presents at New Years instead) and then hitting the yoga marathon.

It is great to be back.

Heading Back to Austin

Christina and I got up early to walk one last time in the woods. We saw a lot of deer in the woods this morning. We leave in a bit for leg one of the long day of travel: the two hour drive from Lavonia to Atlanta.

PhaseII: navigating the Atlanta Airport post-Christmas, Phase III, Flight to DFW Phase IV: long lay over in DFW unless we get on an earlier flight Phase V, Flight to Austin Phase VI, cab ride to Bridle Path Lane. Christina then has Phase VII ahead of her, the drive to San Marcos.

Merry Christmas

Good morning all.




Christina and I are getting ready to go walk in the woods. Then, we'll go down to the main house to open presents. More later I'm sure

Little Cabin in the Woods

A couple years ago, my parents bought a small "guesthouse" just down the road from their lake house. Some time last year, after much hounding from the elder daughter, Dad, (aka AP1, Aged Parent 1) agreed to get high speed Internet access installed in the guesthouse. So Christina and I are sitting here this morning, checking email, Facebook, and doing the blog rounds, eating breakfast, and just generally gearing up for the big day ahead.

The big day includes: A walk in the woods, lunch, a bit more shopping, a forward bending practice, the Christmas Eve service, dinner, and opening presents after midnight. oh yes, and some Desperate Housewives. We did procure additional DVDs in case any of you avid readers were worried about our supply.

Desperate Housewives

Just that little sentence from yesterday's blog, "went down to watch Desperate Housewives." Little did we know 24 hours later, we'd be completely addicted. It started out innocently enough last night, watching the pilot and one additional episode, but last night one episode turned into four and only with great difficulty and much laughter about our state of desire did we manage to rise from the living room floor and go back to the guesthouse. We assessed the number of episodes left from their Netflix batch and we have determined it is not enough to last, must go in search of more episodes today.

Actually, it is quite fitting that we would entertain ourselves in this way today. Today is Christmas Eve Eve. When Christina and I were little, we would be so desperate for Christmas to come by this point, that this day was the breaking point, the longest seeming day before all the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities, so we called the day Christmas Eve Eve. For years, we would call each other on Christmas Eve Eve and laugh about our private sister joke.

In Georgia for Christmas

Christina and I left Austin early this morning for our Christmas visit to Georgia. For a day of travel in holiday season it was not so bad, long lines and a few minor delays and we ended up in rush hour traffic in Atlanta, but we got here around dinner time. Had a great black bean soup that Mom made, sat around and talked, tried to convince Dad to get acupuncture for his arthritis, he says he will "first of the year." so we are going to hold him to it. Christina and I then came to settle in in the guesthouse and then went back down to watch Desperate Housewives. Life in the fast lane in Lavonia.

Since I slept so much on the plane, I'm not all that tired now.

Two Great Bumper Stickers

"I'll be a post-feminist in the post-patriarchy."

"Why are you driving so fast? You are already in Austin."


What a great place.

Off to teach restorative yoga at westgate.

Mid Week Update

Well, I've been having a fabulous time in Austin this week. Sunday, I drove down in time to take Mandy's advanced class. I subbed a yoga class Monday morning and took Devon's class Monday afternoon. Devon and I went to dinner at Vinnie's afterwards and then I met Mandy, Meg, and Jessy at Chuy's. They all took Charlie's class. Yesterday was a fun filled day. Christina wrote about it on her blog so if you want more details of the venue looking, chocolate eating extravaganza, click here. I did several drop backs unassisted in Christina's class last night, quite exhilarating and my padmasana has really come along lately as well.

Right now, I'm taking a break. I've actually gotten a little bit of work done today and plan to do a bit more. I had a great conversation with Devon about Plato's Agent and James and I had a good talk about it last night, so I need to get all the ideas down on paper, so to speak. This afternoon, I'll go to Devon's class and then sub a restorative class at 7:30 at Westgate.

Buying Art

I bought a great work of art today. I met a young artist, Caroline Wright, a year or so ago, and loved her work and today I finally bought something with some of the inheritance I got from Grandmartha. Very exciting.

In Austin for a good long while now

Well, it was a weekend of beginnings and endings in Waco. Friday night I went to Jessy Jordan's wedding. It was really a lovely event. Jamie's dress was beautiful, the church was lovely, decorated for Christmas. I had a great time! At the service, I was struck by the fact that weddings are both a beginning of a life together and the end of previous phase of life.

Saturday morning: Christa's graduation, more on that on the teaching philosophy blog. but also an ending clearly of a long educational process, but a beginning as well, a commencement of a new life.

So both those events seemed quite appropriate to my current state of new beginnings and endings.

Saturday night: I went to the philosophy department Christmas party. Fun event. My second encounter with Rudy's BBQ, went there for lunch with Christa and Mike and Joanne had it catered. Then I also went to Pam's holiday bash.

Great weekend in all, a nice ending note to leave Waco behind for a while. I'll be down here, until New Years when I go up for Skye and Cole's wedding and then back down here til school starts.

Today, I went to Mandy's advanced class, did inversions, and went to see Craig for acupuncture and whole foods where the mac and cheese had just come out of the oven!
YUM.

Friday Morning, Post Marathon

I had a super day in Austin yesterday. Beautiful weather. I drove down for Connie's class but it was canceled, just as well as I actually had time to get my car inspected. Fourteen days late on it. I feel like I really live in Austin now, doing that sort of domestic task. I also went to the Seattle's Best right near my house. It is a very nice coffee shop, a bit more of a coffee shop feel than the Starbucks. I also walked Dylan for the first time in a couple weeks. He has been sleeping over at Reggie's a lot.

The yoga marathon was lots of fun. Actually, I found it less tiring to teach three classes in a row than I was anticipating and unlike when I'm taking the classes, I didn't sweat. It was a lot of fun.

Ari and I went to Whole Foods for dinner afterwards.

I'm off to Devon's class in a bit and then up to a fun-filled weekend in Waco.

Rainy Morning in Waco

The weather is State College-esque. For those readers of the blog who are not my family members and long time friends, briefly explanation may be in order. It rains all the time in State College. Cold, wet, dark, damp rain. I didn't know I was Kapha then, but it explains a lot of why I was so unhappy and lethargic there. Anyway, today is one of those SC days. Imagine this for a month at a time.

After a few years I got over feeling depressed whenever it rained, sometimes I even like it now, at least I have a context for appreciating it (avoiding August water bills).

Anyway, one of the things I've been doing in my new phase of life is listening to more music. I've really enjoyed Robert Plant and Allison Krauss' Raising Sand. I was thinking to myself and musing to a friend that Robert Plant is a rock god and lo and behold, check out this morning's NYT review of the Led Zeppelin reunion. One great line, "the band found much of its former power in tempos that were more graceful than those on the old live recordings. The speed of the songs ran closer to that on the group’s studio records, or slower yet. “Good Times Bad Times,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Whole Lotta Love” were confident, easy cruises; “Dazed and Confused” was a glorious doom-crawl."

love that a glorious doom -crawl.

off to give my last final.

Monday Morning in Austin

Wow, what a fun filled weekend.

I went to Devon's class Friday morning and then to Whole Foods and Waterloo records. Got the Robert Plant and Allison Kraus cd, House of Sand and Jennifer Gentle and The Subdudes. All great picks. It is really fun just walking around that hub of Austin. Friday afternoon I drove down to San Marcos for the Noah Maze workshop. What fun. I'm sure Christina will write an update about that on her blog, so I'll just say, I really enjoyed it. Noah is a great teacher and it was really neat seeing how another Anusara teacher besides Christina teaches. (More on that on the teaching blog at some point). I really liked meeting Meg and Chris and Maple also. Meg is currently studying with one of my Iyengar Teachers, Chris Saudek, small world.

Anyway, it was a weekend filled with great yoga, great conversation and great food.

Saturday night I went over to Pam's party and that was really fun as well. the YYTT07 group are a delightful group of people, fun, enthusiastic, exuberant even.

This morning I went over to the open practice at Peggy's studio and took advantage of the rope wall!

Well, I'm off to Waco later this afternoon. Various obligations await!

late night update

Just finished grading World Cultures Questions. Long day. I worked at home in Waco this morning, then I drove down to Austin. I had coffee at CM with Nancy a YYTT student and then Christina and I met there for gelato. Dark chocolate flavor most excellent.

Then the yoga marathon, or at least two thirds of it. Next week I'm subbing all three classes of it.

Looking forward to the Noah Maze workshop tomorrow in San Marcos and it is nice not to be driving back up to Waco in the morning.

Oh check out clearspringstudio.com

My upcoming classes Friday's 9:30 to 11:00 are now listed along with the cool pictures of me above.

Wednesday Morning in Waco

I'm doing my various blog procrastinations, getting ready to put some writing time in. I did write a bit yesterday, clearing off notes on my desk and worked some on Plato's Agent, not the most productive day I've ever had behind the computer, but at least I put the time in and started getting the momentum back in place.

Last night was the annual feast of the lost Parthian lamb. The world cultures one faculty has an end of semester dinner party where we bring food from the various cultures we study. One year a classicist was going to bring Parthian Lamb (a roman dish) and he never showed up, so we figured the lamb was lost...

It was a really nice evening. Great food as always.

Getting Motivated to Write

Or deciding to write anyway. Okay, so I've made a vow to myself that I am going to work on my book everyday of the break. I was talking with Christina on the way upto Waco yesterday morning and she was talking about her own motivational strategies about writing and I decided I need to just hunker down and finish writing. So it is day one of Christmas Break and nine minutes until I'm starting to write for the day.

Not too much to report from yesterday besides what I wrote on the teaching blog. Mostly, I was pretty involved with a variety of Baylor tasks.

Jade seems to be missing Sam a bit. She is even more clingy than usual. Understandable. Poor cat has to deal with a missing beloved companion and a frequently absent owner. She does have a very indulgent pet sitter, but still.

Korean Food

I have a former student, Pete, who lives in Austin. Pete was a BICer and then was in the PhD program for a while. He left and went to teach English in Korean, married a woman Daun, over there and they live in Austin now. Tonight, I had dinner at their apartment and Daun cooked Korean food, my first real experience with Korean food. I have to say I've really not had food a lot like it, a really different set of spices and textures than I'm used to, but I really enjoyed it and I'm proud of myself for being so adventurous in my eating (okay, I had mac and cheese for lunch) but still....

I really enjoyed subbing the flow class today. A really receptive group and I went to Mandy's advanced class again, my arm balances are really coming along.

I also worked on some Baylor stuff today. Tomorrow is the last class day of the semester, the last day, I'll get up early to drive to Waco for at least a while. I am ready for the semester to be over.

Loving Austin

I know I sound like a broken record (skipping CD I guess now) but I really just love living in Austin. There is so so so much more to do and so so so many more people like me.

Last night, I drove back down to Austin. Ari and I went to a movie. This is the first movie I've gone to as an Austin resident. We went to the Alamo Drafthouse and saw Romance and Cigarettes. The whole thing was so non Waco. It is great to have real food and drink while watching a movie and the movie was surreal, campy, and great fun.

I slept late, did meditation and pranayama and chanting and went to J-Mo's 10:30 class at Kula. Again, it is just so great to go to a regular Saturday morning Iyengar class. Then I headed up to practice at Christina's Immersion at YY NW. good to see all my new yoga pals up there.

I just got back from the Austin Kula Christmas party. I'm on the sub list at Kula so I got invited to the party. Great vegetarian food! Really nice people.

Tomorrow, I'm starting off another fun filled day by subbing at YY N at 9