October - Already?

So I join the ranks of those who are surprised that it's October already. It's 78* outside, and while I can see trees changing color, the temperature is telling me something else. 

Yoga

My last "formal" training session at Prairie Yoga is this weekend. Hard to believe it, but I'll just have a few workshops to finish, one sequence that I need to correct, and a thesis to produce. A 200-hour certificate is the end result of all of this. Oh, and I have to teach one "karma" class (to an under-served population) and 2 private lessons. Got those mostly covered. 

My thesis will be a video production of a sequence for hand yoga. Brought about for couple of reasons, obviously. First off, I have arthritis in my hands. Second off, the kids asked me.Kid #1 is a welder, and often holds a heavy torch for long periods of time doing precision welds. That hurts. Kid #2 plays bass guitar and practices for long periods of time. That also hurts. 

And the video? I looked in Prairie's stash of thesis documents and didn't see a video. I talked to my teacher and she said nobody she knows has ever done a video. Hubby is a video guy... And I can write a script. There you go!

Will begin research soon. Also, I have to read a number of books (4, I think) and write a short paper on each. The challenge will, most likely, be to keep it short. 

Also, down to teaching once a week. Thankfully. I love teaching, but with a full time job, it got a little hairy there - I was subbing for a couple of weeks, and it was 3 classes/week: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't realize how exhausting that was.

Anyway, my teacher wants her Wednesday night class back, which is fine with me, since that's the class I usually take -- I taught it for her while she took a small sabbatical. Glad she's back!

Also, waiting on a reply for donations we took up. We asked, since September was National Yoga Month, for donations of mats, blocks, etc. We have a bunch of stuff; I e-mailed the contact, and I'm waiting to hear back. Hopefully, it'll be soon. Otherwise, I might have to start calling around the few prisons our governor has left open - to see if we can get the things to the institutions which might have a yoga program. 

Politics

Really. A shut-down and the spin on the (R) side is "if Obama can negotiate with Syria, why can't he negotiate with us?" Well, as Jon Stewart famously said recently, "...perhaps HE is not the problem."  Check this video out here and see what I mean. 

Not surprisingly, the right is frothing. And finally - FINALLY - the Average American is waking up somewhat to the high cost we'll experience if we sit on our rear ends and do nothing. The Huffington Post did an analysis of the cost for the poorest folks who use the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. See here -- $34... So no wonder the Republicans are scared. It's working. And they're petrified. 

They lost an election. So they're having a tantrum and insisting that the last "administration and a half" be wiped off the books. If some of the more hard-core folks had their way, history would be re-written to just make President Obama's two terms "disappear." 

They want to "negotiate" on points where there's no negotiation needed. The Affordable Care Act is the law. THREE distinct branches of the government said so. You don't get to hold the entire US economy hostage just because you don't like that the Black Guy is in the White House. And you don't get to make our nation a laughingstock. 

But that's what you're doing. You're deliberately doing it because some rich white guys are pulling strings in the background, hoping that Americans are too involved with the Kardashians or Real Housewives to pay attention - or that they're too fed up. Robert Reich wrote an interesting piece on that. Check it out here.  

The Democrats need to just sit tight. Caving in to the Teabaggy demands is not necessary. They didn't win the election. They don't get to make the rules.

Knitting

The Charity Afghan goes well. I'm on the next-to-last square. After I laid it out, I figured I needed 1 more row... so, here goes with 2 more "approximately 12x12" squares. I may crochet the last one. The squares will be put together via crochet, and I'll have to fudge it a bit, since some of our people had kind of a generous idea  of what 12x12 really is. Pictures will come as I do it stripe by stripe.

The Fluffy Scarf Project is proceeding. I'm almost done with the first one. I did remember, thanks, to bring a crochet hook to work. I can stitch up the ends on each of them when I get them home. I find that while the Starbella directions only call for using a crochet hook, I feel more secure if I just take a couple stitches at each end to anchor it. Since most people fluff the scarf by shaking the heck out of it, I don't want the things unraveling.

At some point, I want to get back to my socks, start a sweater for myself and work through some stash. Also, starting an alpaca shawl. I have the yarn, a lovely worsted-weight silvery-grey. 

Estate

Waiting on a call for the home inspection. I have to go turn the water on. I had a bad dream last night and woke up gasping, with a pounding heart...not good. I dreamed that the Nephew (the bipolar/schizophrenic one) was at the house waiting for me. I don't usually go to the house by myself; my brother or Hubby are with me, but in my dream, I was there by myself, because "all I was going to do" was turn the water on. Anyway, in my dream he ambushed me and I had to defend myself. Then, in another version of the dream (not sure where I was having 2 versions, but apparently I didn't fully awaken from one of them) my other brother had a gun... Suffice to say, it wasn't pleasant in either iteration of the dream. 

So at some point, Hubby will talk to Brother and determine the location of the water switch thingie, and we'll take a ride out there to turn it on. Once the inspection is done, we should be able to proceed to closing. Yay... 

Garden

My friend D will have plenty of "fried green tomatoes" material! I've also pulled a dozen carrots for my friend G. We should still have plenty to use for Thanksgiving Roasted Veggies. I may put a carrot or two INSIDE the organic turkey. 

Usually, when I make my turkey, I put in the following: 1 apple, 1 stalk of celery, 1 orange and 1 carrot. I quarter them all up and stuff the cavity. I also shove some fresh rosemary under the skin. We've ordered an 18-lb. organic turkey and I've already alerted Hubby to not have an attack when he sees the price! 

I think we're done with pickles. Finally. 

So Here's the Thing...

I just took a look at my schedule for the next few weeks.

Yikes.

Last night, I had pity on myself since I was still a little in "migraine hangover" territory and I didn't assist at the Basic Yoga class.

Today, I taught my normal 9 a.m. class. Tonight, I teach a community class at Prairie Yoga. Tomorrow night, I teach my normal Yin class at 7 p.m.

I realized that even in the midst of teacher training, I'm actually present and either teaching or assisting at THREE yoga classes a week. FOUR if I'd shown up on Monday. Mind you, I do have a bank of sequences lined up; and I think I'm pretty good at adjusting on the fly.

But I'm wondering how in the name of Virasana (Hero Pose) I got myself into teaching that much right off the bat.

Ok, the community class is part of the training. I have another one near the end of July; I wanted to get them over with. And during that, I'm only actually teaching 1/2 hour of the 1.5 hour class. But it's prep time as well.

The Tuesday class, in all honesty, may not hang for the full summer. We really need to get more folks in there. Yin will probably go forward, because those of us who really love Yin will always show up.

Just a little overload.

And the blue Chandelier Lace? Frogged. AGAIN. There's some serious Karma here, people.

The yarn can't decide if it really wants to BE that scarf. But it's gotta be something. Maybe I'll look at a different lace pattern.

I really like knitting lace. Truly, I do. It's beautiful. And I'm fairly good at it. But for some reason... hmmmmmmmmmmmm - stress???? -- it's not turning out like I want it to.

So I started on the Trekking XXL yarn. I'm doing a Really Easy Sock pattern. And it really is easy. I am starting, on the advice of Doris, my sock-knitting guru, with 3 rows of plain knit. I have "biker calves" and I also cast on tight, even using a needle a couple of sizes larger. So Doris suggests the 3 rows of knit, to ease the top of the sock. The sock starts, then, with a k1, p1 cuff of a dozen rows.

Then it goes into a 3x2 rib. I've got the teal for Ovarian Cancer Research, and I'm not participating in the toe-up KAL. I don't want to. But I did want to knit something in this yarn. I think it's going to be lovely in the wide rib. Of course, that's the whole leg, and across the instep. The foot is a fairly straightforward flap heel and then the toe decrease. We shall see if we get the "elfin" toes again.

And I think that once I'm on the leg, I'll go back to the blue silk yarn. By then, perhaps, it will have decided to behave, and I'll be a tad calmer. But I do need to get to it by the end of this month; it's a Christmas gift. And yeah, it's only July.

Speedy Knitter I am not. Off to go grab my decaf tea and work a little more on that cuff.

I feel as if I've gotten a bit more rest in the last day, though there's still something "off." Maybe it's nerves about this class, which is odd, since I've been teaching for a few months. We will be getting evaluated, and all I can keep repeating is "they're not going to throw you out!"

Will let you know how it turns out. What's your summer knitting looking like?

And So I Begin...

So this past weekend, I started my teacher training - the 200-hour certification for teaching Yoga, at Prairie Yoga in Lisle.

And it was a doozy of a weekend! There are about 20 of us in this class - their largest so far. We're crammed cheek-to-jowl into a fairly spacious studio, and I kind of say that in jest because my local teacher tells me that in India, you're lucky if there's a whole 3" between mats. This weekend, we had nearly a foot between mats! That being said, I also learned what to pack: a light lunch, but not just a granola bar, thank you. And bring your own tea mug. I settled on a green smoothie and some almonds. Just enough because you can't -- or at least *I* can't - practice yoga on a full tummy.

It was a very intense weekend, but not without its humor and lots and LOTS of Yoga and learning. I'm up to my eyeballs in homework, and waiting on login instructions so I can submit it.

I've been subbing for my regular studio and it's been fun. I'll be assisting my teacher, as we have to assist & observe for training.

The training is fairly tough. This isn't one of those "learn to teach yoga in a weekend" seminars. It's a 10-month program. On top of the cost, there's just the sheer amount of work. We are there from 11:30 - 6 p.m Saturday and Sunday of the trainings, and then we have extra "master classes" we have to attend. A textbook about 2" thick and a number of other books, including those on theory and anatomy.

Oh, and we get to learn Sanskrit. And I did more downward dogs (excuse me: Adho Mukha Svasana) than I'd done in a long, long time. I guess it's a good thing I grew up speaking Polish and we use Latin every week in church!

I really do enjoy the teaching aspect, and I love the fact that we can make Yoga accessible to all who are willing to try it.