So I've been introduced to Plinky and the name alone makes me want to hug it. Remember those entries of "I have nothing to blog about"? Plinky makes those entries a thing of the past. OK, so you're still blathering on about nothing, but now your blathering can have direction!
My Plinky question today was "how would I spend $1,000?". This is going to sound sad, but I'd pay off bills. Maybe, just maybe, I'd buy myself a pair of shoes. But really, I'd put that money towards paying something off like one of the scooters or a credit card. This question comes at time when Chris and I are really trying to get our budget under control. We talked about spending last night and realized that we are spending $80 a month in coffee alone. Coffee! As much as it saddens me, I had to agree that Coffee Slingers has to be reduced to once a week (as opposed to three).
It's time to buckle down and not just because our economy is on shaky ground. But because we have big plans and these big plans (unfortunately) require money. Plus, we're not so young any more. We really should have some sort of savings other then what our company puts into our retirement fund. It's time to grow up a little.
You know, I think I really needed a snow day. We slept in late and had lazy morning sex. Then Chris made coffee and cooked bacon (fake sausage links for me) while I made blueberry pancakes. We lounged on the couch for a while drinking cups of coffee. It was a very pleasant morning.
Chris has been working on getting his office in order all day while I did things like clean the bathroom and laundry. I also walked on the treadmill, but spent some quality time with the TV. The only slightly annoying part of this day has been our dog. Chris’s mom gave him an enormous bone last night. Those things always make him thirsty and he woke me at 4:00 am frantic to go out. I let him out and refilled his bone dry water bowl, then let him back in.
Hooper is an outside during the day type of dog. He has serious patrolling to do out there you know, so being cooped up inside all day has been a bit of trial for him. I don’t know what he has to complain about. He got two (yes…two) peanut butter pancakes this morning and he still had half of that bone left. The bone that has made him fart all day. That dog reeks! And every time you get up to do something he jumps up and runs to a door thinking that we are going outside. For the last time Hooper, I am not going outside to watch you pee!
What do you know, I get nominated for a best writing award and then I have nothing to write about. Chris and I left work early (like noon) because of the ice storm and I’m spending my afternoon cutting recipes out of the ginormous stack of magazines I’ve accumulated. Wow! Step back from all the rip roarin’ excitement. How about some pictures? People love pictures. These were taken at the Melting Pot, where Chris took me for my birthday dinner. It was a very fundo evening.
Apparently I’ve been nominated for an Okie Blog Award, in the best writing category. I’m honored, but at the same time slightly bemused. Best Writing? Really? Moi? Well… um… OK. If you are an active blogger and a resident of Oklahoma, go vote! Who knows. Maybe I can win this thing, which would be even funnier then the nomination itself.
First of all, I want to thank every one for all the Happy Birthday wishes I received today. Each one has brought a tear of joy to my eye (it’s turning out to be sort of an emotional day for me). I really believe that this is the best birthday I’ve had in well over eight years. All day I’ve said to any one who happens to be standing next to me at the time “Can you believe that today is my birthday?”.
My place of employment aired the Inauguration in our big auditorium and on the two TVs in the cafeteria. I don’t know what the cafeteria looked like, but the auditorium was a packed house. I can honestly say that this is the first Inauguration that I can remember watching live. And I sat there, in that auditorium with my boss and fellow employees, as tears of hope and joy welled in my eyes, and watched the 44th President of The United States of America be sworn into office. Never before do I remember hearing about an inauguration that contained this much hope and love. Today, I witnessed crowds of enthusiasm that I’ve only ever seen at a Flaming Lips Concert. Multiply it by thousands.
I listened to our President give one of the most important speeches of his life and he did not white wash things. This country is hurting. It’s a big mess. But, if we all work together, we can fix this. So…Happy Birthday to me. But really, Happy Birthday to Change and welcome back U.S.A.
My family came down yesterday for brunch and a day spent at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. For some reason, this place never gets old for us and the kids really enjoyed it. I took some pictures. There’s even one in there for Lurpy Dog.
The other night I had a dream where I was tutoring Paris Hilton in yoga. Yeah…tutoring. Apparently I was more involved with her practice then just the poses. I was teaching her Sanskrit and philosophy and about dharma and karma. All that stuff. Any way, we were at her house, having class when I realized I had left something out in the car. Paris jumps up (yeah, we’re on a first name basis) and says that she’ll go get it, the whatever it was I left in my car.
No biggie. I tell her it’s not that important, but she insists and then runs outside. I shrug and think “what ever”. But she’s gone for a really long time. So I go outside to look for her and realize my car is gone. Paris Hilton has “borrowed” my car. I’m thinking what in the world could she possibly want with my car. It’s a crappy four door, white, Chevy Cavalier. Suddenly, Chris is there and I tell him what has happened. We decide to get in his car (no, I don’t remember what kind it is) and drive around the neighborhood, looking for her. The entire time I’m going on and on about how I just don’t understand why she took my car. I’m also worried that something could have happened to her (like she’s a lost dog or something). Any way…we finally find her. She’s at a gas station, putting gas in my car. And just as I’m thinking “oh, how nice; Paris Hilton is filling up my gas tank for me”, I wake up.
Yup, I don’t get it either. Maybe I’d like to think that I could even teach Paris Hilton to be a kind, generous, and courteous person. Maybe deep down, I know I’m so good at this, I could teach anybody. Maybe I smoked crack before I went to bed. Who the Hell knows. At least it didn’t turn out to be one of those dreams that wakes you with a start, shivering in a cold sweat.
OK, I’m a spaz. I remember this one time (at band camp) during my under-grad days when my sister called me. I had just finished taking my World Thought Three final and when she asked me about it, I just burst into tears. I knew I had failed. It was horrible. I’m stupid. Blah, blah, blah. I made an 87 on that test, a totally respectable score for this particular class.
So, yeah…I was on freak out mode last week and by Saturday I could barely contain the nervous energy. I made my lip bleed at least three times before Chris could even get me to teacher training. The very first thing on the agenda was to take the written final. Well…I passed. Actually, I made the highest score of the class, missing only one question. And that missed question was a STUPID, stupid mistake. Apparently being nervous about teaching was also stupid. My partner and I did so well, that our teacher had a hard time finding anything to criticize. She said that she was very proud to know that we were out there teaching.
I guess I’m really doing this. I am going to be a yoga teacher. And apparently it’s something I’m really good at. No one is as floored by this as I am.
I think I’m mostly recovered from the yuck, just feeling a little sluggish. I am amazed at my recovery time from this latest sinus infection. I’m used to these things dragging on for days until I finally break down and go to the doctor for a shot and antibiotics. When my usual drug of choice Alca-Zelter made me sick to my stomach, I had to come up with a new plan. The cure combination came down to grapefruit seed extract nasal spray, my Neti pot, and Thera-Flu sinus and cold. I strongly recommend this combination. By the end of the day my throat had gone from serious ouch to merely scratchy.
This sinus infection kind of snuck up on me. I can usually tell when I’m the verge of one, but this one slammed in by surprise attack. I know it’s from a build up of stress. This weekend is the last teacher training for session one. Not only do I have a test, but I also have to teach twenty minutes of a class I designed with a partner. I’m totally surprised at how confident I feel about teaching in general. The classes I teach at work are a breeze. But there’s something about teaching to my peers that has me slightly freaked. Also, as seems to be the case with every teacher training, I feel unprepared. I’ve taught my routine to my class here twice. Both times, it was fine. Chris quizzed me on my study guide last night. I know the answers. I really doubt that she’ll actually fail any of us.
I think I still kind of feel like a poser. Like I have a split personality. There’s the me that still likes to go out and get tipsy sometimes. The me that loves to say inappropriate words like “fuck”. It’s the same me who doesn’t believe in all the voodoo holistic remedies. I know for a fact those detox foot pads do nothing. I am a scientist with a scientist brain. And then I go to teacher training weekends where I become yogi Cindy. And I’m all “Yeah…that salt bath really cleaned my energy man”. I suppose there’s just some part of my brain that says I’m not enough. And you know what? The most important thing I’ve learned from yoga teacher training is its OK. My teacher said once that people who get it, who have mastered the eight limbs of yoga, don’t teach. They live on an ashram or a monastery or a cave somewhere. Though teaching is no longer part of my personal yoga time, it is part of my practice or path to better understanding.
I stayed home sick today. I wasn’t faking it; I really was (still) sick. I figure if I wake up feeling like I’ve swallowed glass, I should get to stay home from work. I am feeling better and predict that I’m on the mend (I won’t go into details about what exactly the Neti pot dislodged from my nose). You would think that with having the day off and all, I would have been a little productive. I guess it depends on what you would call productive.
I took medicine every four hours, like instructed. I read trough my study guide for my yoga teacher final at least once. But mostly I laid around on the couch like an invalid all day. I realize that this is what a person should do when they are sick, but this goes against my nature. It just feels decadent and slovenly. I don’t care if I’m running a temperature of hundred degrees. I should at least be able to clean the bathroom or kitchen or something. I didn’t even knit today.
And I gotta say there just may be something to this whole “resting while you’re sick thing”. I am starting to feel a lot better. Of course this may have something to do with the gallons of Theraflu I’ve ingested today. At least my throat doesn’t feel like I’ve swallowed glass any more, but instead it feels more like the glass wounds have scabbed over.
