At Least She Waved...

...with her WHOLE hand. 

The lady who actually used her signal, I mean, as I let her get between me and a school bus on the ride home today. 

That courtesy, which my grandfather taught me 'lo those many moons ago when he was teaching me to drive (wave a "thank you" when someone lets you in) has gone by the wayside. 

Usually, the wave consists of one particular finger. 

I drive a good 40 minutes to GET to my part-time gig with the chiropractor and going home can be nearly an hour due to traffic. It behooves us all to be nice to each other. 

That "full-hand" wave was the first I've gotten in a long, long while. It helped that she also used her turn signal to let me know she wanted in... 

That's another thing: the stick on the left-hand side of your steering wheel is an important thing. It's a TURN signal and lets people know what you're doing. Try it. It helps. 

Summer Toes...

Finally, after almost 3 years, I broke down and got a pedicure. It's an OPI color, something about the Seventh Hill. All I know is that it's a rose gold and I wanted to do that rather than the jade-ish turquoise I had brought from home. Ended up at Diva's Salon because the place about 3 miles from my house is STILL "working on the remodel" of their pedicure section. I wonder how much business that has cost them... They started this remodel about 5 years ago, gutting the shop and putting in a new hair styling area, removing a "spa" area that was really not a nice area, and renovating the front entrance. Then they began working on the pedicure area. And working on it. And working on it. I'd call a couple times a year, and they're "still not ready."

Wow. 

Anyway, being a yoga teacher, I like to have my feet looking decent. I was kind of dreading the "sanding" but according to the pedicure lady, I have the equivalent of "baby feet." I guess she's worked on some real hard-core feet. 

The Garden Grows...

It's spring. Finally. Our garden is blooming. The Monster Bleeding Heart is back for the 31st year. Yes, thirty-one years with the same plant. It takes over the northwest corner of the porch. I have to have Hubby put down more pea gravel in the front bed there. It's remarkably shallow, and aside from The Monster, nothing else grows there. There's a hanging hook (double) and a couple of solar lights. And a cement Virgin Mary. Oh, and a garden flag. Otherwise, I've never had any luck at anything growing around The Monster. 

To the left of The Monster are our hostas and a plethora of Lily of the Valley. I mean a super-plethora. Hubby pulled two of them out of the crack in the sidewalk! I should actually say the seam in the sidewalk, but it is slightly cracked. Not sure how everyone manages to get along, but this year, we do need to thin out the lilies. 

He took up some of our day lilies out front and put them in "pineapple" planters in front of the yoga studio.  I mean, the planters are large ceramic planters, deep red, and they have a pattern embossed on them where, with the tops of the lilies, it looks as if they're large red pineapples! At least that's what the students are saying. If we have spares, we'll put more at the Vicarage for a maintenance-free garden spot for whenever we get our permanent priest.


The Icelandic Poppy has again migrated. I swear. I planted it in the tip of the triangular garden and every year, it comes up in a different spot. I have no idea how or why. This year, it's looking particularly lush and I'm looking forward to those fuzzy heads popping up. The flowers are a delicate ivory-blush and they last for about a minute. But it's a glorious minute!

I'd like to find another one, but so far, I've been unsuccessful in finding a decent-looking plant to add to that spot in the garden. I have to check on my butterfly bush - to see if it survived the winter. That was a late addition last year, so hopefully, it stuck. 

One minute, the lilacs were just turning green. The next, there were buds. 

And then, WHOOOOOOOOOOOF -- we have lilacs! And the smell?? Wow, I can smell it in my kitchen. I love that. Hubby keeps them to about 6' high, and the pair of them flank the front sidewalk. To either side of them are the day lilies, and right under the left-hand one, the bee balm is coming up gangbusters. I don't know why it never took on the right side, but I'm willing to wager it's because of the lack of sunlight when the afternoon hits. 

The Prairie Blazing star is back. The cone-flowers (purple, of course) are back. The dill is back, teeny little sprouts. I think the lavender is back. And all the stuff in the front flower bed is also back. Just have to figure out what's what. 

I want to get to Eastside Greenhouse this weekend, if I can, for the veggies. They're selling singles of heirloom tomatoes. Unfortunately, the seedlings didn't do well...so I have to get the plants. 

Reading...

Oh my. I picked up a couple of books, ostensibly for the trip to see Kid #1 in Colorado, but I started one. It's called "The Couple Next Door," and it's by Shari Lapena. It's got enough twists and turns for anyone, and I'm gobbling it up. 

There's also an Anne Perry that I'm re-reading, and I have a few Louise Penney books in my Kindle. Likely, the Kindle comes with. Not the "real" books...

There's nothing to report knitting-wise. I haven't done any. I'm scoping out music to play on the guitar for services when our organist isn't around - I need 4 hymns and service music - about 7 pieces in all, that I have to have down cold (with the music in front of me, thankfully) and ready to go at a moment's notice. So the hymns likely won't match the readings, which is the usual procedure. But it'll be music, and that's what the congregation wants. 

Yoga...

Thank you, Universe! The private sessions have been popping lately, and I love that. I love teaching my open classes and I've had several students since the first day I'd stepped in front of a class. That makes me happy. 

But private sessions are great for folks with issues, or who don't know a lot about yoga, or who want a refresher before they step into an open class. And I've had a string of bookings, which is a nice thing. If I can get several steady private clients, I'd feel like I'm doing well. 

Here's a little inside scoop on the yoga biz. About 99% of the time, your yoga teacher isn't making a whole lot of money. And no, honestly, we're not in it to give away yoga. We ARE doing our jobs. We are putting a lot of money into training so that we can give you the best we have. And we do deserve to make a decent wage for our services. So private sessions are where most yoga teachers can get to the point of making a living teaching. That and workshops. Or teacher trainings. And I need my own 500-hour certification before I can feel like I can reliably teach people who want to teach. 

I'm happy with the private sessions; I know the business waxes and wanes. And while it's waxing, I'm going to give my best to my students and enjoy it. 

Random Picture...

This greeted us after tonight's class. Can you see what's in the picture aside from the gorgeous Midwestern sunset?

A couple of the students were out in the parking lot before class looking at it, and then after class, as I was closing up, I saw it, and ran to grab my phone (which was in the bottom of my purse, as it usually is). I managed to get about 6 shots off, and Hubby was kind of astounded at this. 

He was also complimentary on the fact that I really did get a nice picture of the sunset, light poles and stop signs notwithstanding. That's the nice thing about living in the country-burbs. We're close enough to the Big City, but we have space. And sunsets.