Wow, it’s been two whole months since I’ve blogged about yoga teacher training. Well, that’s because we haven’t had a teacher training weekend in almost two months. Last weekend was Module Five in my teacher training classes and I was a little nervous about jumping back into things. I started panicking about a week before about my homework assignments and what to study for quizzes. But there was no reason for worry. My teacher loved my book report and I only missed one question on the quiz.

This session focused on balancing postures. At first I thought “sweet! I totally rock balance postures!”. Then I went to pick up our hand outs and saw that the first balancing pose was Crane pose. I have never ever, ever, ever been able to get myself into this pose. Worst of all, I hold my breath while trying to attempt this pose. Number one rule in yoga: Hold the pose and not the breath. I’d like to tell you that I finally mastered this pose over the weekend, but I didn’t. I did learn ways to help me achieve this pose in the future and I did do the pose, just with my head resting on a stack of blankets. Most importantly, I learned that it’s OK not to do the pose. It’s all about the journey. I also learned that I should never muster through knee pain while in tree pose (because of the q-angle thing) and how to do this pose in a way that’s better for me.

Yes, balancing postures (with the exception of Crane) have always been easy for me, but in normal doses. Not FOUR hours of standing balance postures. My body did not want to move this morning and it still doesn’t. Worst of all, I had to teach my yoga class today at work. I’m tired.

Chris and I have become addicted to the new Planet Green channel. It’s a really great channel with the exception of Adrian Grenier’s show Alter Eco, which would be great if they would reduce the cheese by a factor of 20. The other day I was watching a segment on G Word about a guy who saved his garbage for a year. At first you might be thinking “Hoarder!”, but this guy was really neat about it. He rinsed out and washed stuff and neatly organized it.

He said that the first thing he realized was that he bought a lot of prepackaged foods. Well, Duh! Don’t we all? Since this show, I’ve become slightly obsessed about my trash. I take wrappers and bags home from my lunch at work and the more I think about product packaging the more annoyed I get. I try to buy healthy, organic foods, but I’ve noticed that many of the packaged organic foods do not have recycling information on them. Shouldn’t your organic food come in recyclable packaging or at least some sort of information on if you can put it in the recycling bin?

The information is out there, but it’s not easy to find. The same is true on where to take CFC light bulbs. I hunted for recycling drop-off places for light bulbs for an hour yesterday. I came across a story about Wal-Mart collecting them for one day only…as a promotional stunt. You can purchase a recycle kit from Waste Management for $25. It holds up to 18 bulbs, but the thing is I don’t want to wait around. I have two bulbs and it will probably be another year before I have one more to add to the pile. I have enough crap sitting around in storage as it is. I just want to take the two bulbs with me when I’m out and about and drop them into a box on the way into a store, like Wal-Mart, or Lowes, or Target.

People are willing to recycle if it’s made easy. It shouldn’t be complicated. I shouldn’t have to hunt for information on whether or not it’s safe to put a product in the recycle bin.

10:18 AM me: Heather’s up for happy hour on friday
10:19 AM She said that if Scott can go play golf two days in a row, she can go to happy hour and have a couple of drinks with us.
Mickey Mantel’s?
10:21 AM Chris: cool
sounds good
10:22 AM me: Ask a vet online says that Hooper can have “cold tale” caused by tremendous wagging of the tail. Basically he threw out his tail.
10:23 AM It says that if the tail seems painful in any way to take him to the vet. I felt allup and down his tail Monday and he didn’t seem at all like it hurt him.
10:24 AM Chris: what???
he wagged his tail too much?
me: They see this often in labs
labradors
Chris: it’s sad
but why am i laughing
10:25 AM me: I know.
It can also be called “frozen tail”
Chris: i hope that’s all it is
10:26 AM he does wag his tail more these days
me: so do I. It says that if their anus seems swollen, we need to have the Vet drain his glands. Gross, but not a big deal. Check his anus tonight to see if its swollen
Best chat ever
10:27 AM Chris: uh, no
he’s your dog
ha-ha!
me: he’s totally your dog and you know it
Chris: let’s ask him
10:28 AM me: I see this conversation. Us talking Baby talk to Hooper: “Is your wittle anus swollen puppy?”
Do your glands need a squeezin’?

Yesterday I started a re-organization process of the garage. I’ve decided that it might just be a good idea to rent a storage facility. I think this would force Chris to actually sort through his crap and decide on what he’s keeping and what needs to be donated/trashed.

Chris’s mom came out to the garage to “help”. She stood there for a while and then said “I just don’t know where to start”. I told her to start with the laundry area and asked her where she puts her dirty clothes. This was a trick question. See, I already had some idea of what happens to her dirty clothes. I just wanted to see her take on it. She got this totally confused look on her face and she cocked her head to the side and said “dirty clothes?”

Yeah, I knew she didn’t have a designated place for dirty clothes. Clothes get left in little piles here and there. Often she just tosses dirty laundry out into the garage like she setting an animal free in the wild. Her laundry baskets are a mix of dirty, clean, and hangers. The same three t-shirts have been sitting on top of the drier for over a month, neatly folded, covered in dust and cobwebs. As I stood there watching her struggle with the concept of a dirty clothes basket I had an intense moment of clarity.

All of Chris’s habits make perfect sense. I understand why he leaves his socks on the living room floor or his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. It’s because he didn’t have a “wire-hanger” mother and actually, Chris is way better then his mom. When Chris showed up that evening, I told him all of this. He said “See! It’s not my fault!”. I know it’s not his fault and I know he tries. I love that he tries, but most of all I love that he recognizes that putting clothes in the dirty clothes hamper is the right thing to do.

For Memorial Day weekend, Mom, Janell, Amanda (my niece) and I took a trip to Eureka Springs. On MEMORIAL DAY weekend. You would think that this would have been horrible foresight on my part, but it was the only weekend we were all free at the same time. And actually, it wasn’t that bad. We had a really great time, did some shopping (I bought TWO hats!), ate some really good food, rode in a limo. We also did a ghost tour at the Crescent Hotel (as seen on Ghost Hunters). We didn’t “experience” anything, but I did manage to take a few pictures of orbs (aka dust). The only scary part of the tour was when the tour guide made a pass at me. Anyhoo…enjoy the pics!