Update of the past couple weeks

Here's Super Puppy Milo at his cutest.




Hello Avid Readers of Anne in Austin,

I haven't had as much time to write since my life as a dual citizen began in earnest two weeks ago. I like the new BIC director job a great deal. Here's a picture of my new office.
One benefit of driving back and forth to Austin: it is quite easy to see Mom and Dad. Here's a picture of them at our first of what is sure to be many meetings at Starbucks.


Here is a picture of Dad eating his birthday blue berry muffin yesterday at Starbucks.


Last week in Waco, I got to catch up with my step daughter Christa and meet her new puppy Toby.

Here's a picture and Here's a picture of me and Toby. I am wearing the dress I will wear at Christa's wedding at the Renaissance Fair. It is apparently in the Italian style which is appropriate being a Frosolono and note too the green and gold color scheme. Christa made the dress which is quite impressive as well.


Here's a photo of Milo and Spirit at lunch last Friday at Christina and Kelly's house

and here's a really cute one of Milo, Q, and Jeff.



IToday, I spent the day in Austin catching up on some editing and personal errands. Tomorrow, I have a full day of events up in Waco.

More Dog Park Pictures

It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I really have nothing on the agenda for today, I was looking forward to taking Mandy's class, but she's doing a workshop instead and so suddenly there was a whole day where I really have nothing scheduled except for taking Milo for a training session at 4. It really feels quite luxurious, particularly after the action-packed week.

After my two classes yesterday, I wrote for a while, and then Jeff and I took the dogs to the dog park. Then we made garlic pasta for dinner. Yummy and super easy. Make pasta, saute garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil. Add pasta, stir around a bit. Top with cheese of choice.

First Week Back

I survived my first week back to school after my sabbatical. My class went well. So far the new job is not too onerous. I have a great team of staff and faculty who are all working together to make the BIC be great. It was a busy week with a job candidate coming in for both philosophy and BIC. I definitely missed being in Austin full time, but it was good to see everyone again and really the drive is not too bad. Highlights of the week: lunch with Mom and Dad, dinner at Diamond Backs, sitting in my new office, coming back for yoga class and practices..However, I'm glad not to have to make the trip up again until Tuesday afternoon. I'm savoring the 100 or so uninterrupted hours in Austin.

Here are some pictures of Q and Milo from last week.

Dog Park Pictures

Yesterday, Jeff and I took Milo to the dog park. He was the most popular dog in the park, at least with the humans. Everyone wanted to pet him and said how soft he was. As Christina said, he's pretty irresistable. He did well play with the other dogs too. No major altercations. Lots of running around and sniffing.

I did finally get some rechargeable batteries, so the pictures should be of higher quality from now on. I'm off to Waco in a few minutes. Busy day ahead, a BIC staff meeting, Plato seminar. Looking forward to seeing my friends up there.

Walking Milo

I just got back from walking Milo. He is getting better at walking, but still likes to keep hold of his leash in his mouth. This is one of the times he is being a perfect walker! His training overall is going pretty well, a few accidents in the house, the sock swallowing incident, but he's mastered sit and down and has a decent sit stay and down stay. He's getting better at come and better at not jumping on people. He's not a big barker so far. the newest skill he is learning is "go to bed" so he won't be underfoot so much while food is being prepared.

I taught two good forward bending classes today, got a little bit of work done, went to CM, and am going to write a little more and then get upside down.

I've definitely been more productive at the tail end of the sabbatical, but maybe that's the way it goes. the thyroid medicine and herbs and diet really has helped my concentration and focus.

I have some mixed feelings about going back to school. I'm excited about starting a new job and it will be nice to see my friends in Waco more regularly, but I enjoy being down here so much that there's a bit of a sense of possible loss. However, I am working hard and embracing the abundance all around me and dwelling in the present moment.

Hanging rosemary by the driveway.

what a beautiful day

When we were growing up, my Dad would always say, whenever it was a beautiful day, "What a beautiful day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Anyway, to this day I still think of him saying that whenever the weather is truly glorious.

When I was in college, my roommate Julie and I would always say, whenever it was a beautiful day, "This is why we came to college in Texas." At the time, I still was tanning and there's a picture of me sunning myself on the balcony in mid January. Unfortunately, the photo is pre digital era. I had a really cool Ann Taylor polka dot bikini, but I digress.

Anyway, that's mostly what's going on today, enjoying the great weather, getting things organized for school to start back. doing laundry, getting ready to do some yoga.

Here are some more Milo photos for the day,

Play Date with Louie

Lisa, co-owner of Sammy the famous golden retreiver with huge paws, just brought her other joint custody dog, Louie, over to play with Milo. Milo pretty much towered over little Louie, but Louie held his own. It was lots of fun. Here are a couple pictures









Q staying above the fray.


and here's some video footage of the event.

Big Day of Writing

I worked a lot today. I took my car in to be inspected. The Check Engine light was on so they told me it could not pass inspection. It may well be that it needs a new catalytic converter. Sigh. I'm waiting on them to say for sure. Since I don't have a car, I wasn't able to go to Devon's happiness class, which is a bummer as it is the last one I'll get to go to for a while. Once school starts back, I'll be in Waco on Mondays.

Anyway, the upside of car trouble... I spent a couple hours there waiting on it and got a ton of work done, then when I was starving and brain fried, I walked home, ate and worked some more. I'm getting ready to do a bit of yoga and hopefully clear my head.

Above are some pictures of Milo helping me work. It reminded me of my late mentor, Carl Vaught. Carl had a great dog named Otto who always rested at Carl's side while Carl was writing. Carl actually dedicated one of his many books to Otto, which I thought was very sweet.

Sunday Evening Pre Dinner

I subbed two classes this morning for Charlie L, did some practicing and caught up on things domestic. It really turned cold today and Milo was very frisky. Jeff and I just tried to go to the Wine bar A22, but unfortunately it was closed. We've really missed going to it this holiday season. I don't really think gift basket storage was quite as effective a use of space. Oh well. Hopefully, things will get back to normal there soon. It is really a great way to try lots of interesting wines and cheeses.

Here are some photos of Milo, they are back with the phone camera because I ran out the batteries on my new camera and haven't gotten around to buying the rechargeable batteries.

Here are some pictures from today. Milo's newest discovery: flower pots...

Mellow Saturday Morning

I just got back from teaching my 9:00 AM Hatha Class. I'm going to practice in a bit before heading out to teach at 360 and then my workshop this afternoon. Even though it is a busy day, there's a very mellow feeling to the day.

Yesterday, I worked some in the morning then headed upto Georgetown to visit Mom and Dad and my cousin Andy and his wife, Machelle. We had a good time. Then I drove back, dropped Milo off and went to practice at Clear Spring. I made a really good stir fry for dinner and then Jeff and I watched Part One of Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth Series. I show part three every year in Classical Philosophy, but it has been a long time since I saw the first part. Campbell is really one of my favorite thinkers. I love listening to all the cross cultural similarities in myths. This particular interview focused on the hero journey and the inner quest we all must undergo. Inspiring stuff.

Here are some pictures from lunch. Here's me and Andy.

Machelle, Andy, Mom, and Dad

Andy and Machelle
Milo's tail. He stayed in the laundry room /garage while we were eating, but clearly he wanted to be a close as possible to the action. Indy seemed to remember Milo and was very tolerant of his puppy behavior.

Happy New Year

Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year. I just got back from the 108 sun salutations festivity. I've personally never done 108 salutations before. The hardest part was listening to the very slow yoga flow music for an hour and a half. As many of you know, I'm not all that into flow, but at least if I'm going to flow I like rockin' music... I had agreed to lead some salutations but it turned out they didn't need me. But I figured I was there, may as well experience it.

In terms of non yoga resolutions, my resolution is to get the book sent to the publisher by the end of March. I just looked back to last year and that was not my resolution last year, so that's good to learn. The resolving to finish will no doubt do the trick. To that end, I worked some this morning on revising the intro and parts of the first and second chapter.