Chakra Aligning 101

...yes, as you can tell, I've started taking yoga again. The last time I did any sort of yoga practice was almost four years ago, but I ended up stopping when my hubby ended up in the hospital. Then I got pregnant and we all know what an adventure that turned out to be :-P

So I've joined this studio close to us and I have to say that it's precisely what I didn't know I needed. That is, it's not a gym bunny class; there are no rail thin teenagers who can do lotus position for six hours. It is, however, a safe, comfortable, nurturing place to learn this ancient practice. The women (and it is mostly women, though the studio does have a few male students) are of all ages and physical conditions--some are largely healthy but overweight (like yours truly,) some are battling MS and CFS and a whole host of other conditions, and some are just trying to live a more healthy life.

Something the instructor said during the meditation part of the class today struck home: "What can you let go?" It sounds like a simple question, but it's not. She talks of yoga practice as a system to understand your body from the outside in, and that means letting go and forgiving and understanding your body as it is. So when she asked what I could let go, I thought of all the drama around the wee one's birth. Our daughter is healthy and happy now, but I was angry at my body for a long time because I couldn't carry her to full term. Irrational, I know, but there you have it. ;)

So I 'm trying to let that go, to let go of the feeling that my body had betrayed the both of us, despite doing everything I was supposed to do. With any luck, I'll get pregnant again and I want to start that process cleanly and positively. And positive, for me, means letting go of some garbage.

Namaste. :)

I love the smell of chutzpah in the morning

No, not another IA story. :)

A little background, so you don't have to go back and read all my posts on this debacle: back in May (it seems so long ago now!) we nearly bought a house. The deal fell through for one really big reason: the first time homebuyer's program that we were told by our broker that we qualified for, decided that we didn't qualify after all. And looking back, nearly 99% of that disaster could have been prevented had our broker called the county agency which administered the program to find out what their guidelines were.

But he didn't. And so, we trusted that he knew what he was talking about...and lost $2000 (between earnest money and the appraisals/home inspection on the house) that took us forever and a day to save up. This is not counting that we also lost a house that would have suited us very well, had things been as they were represented to us.

Yesterday afternoon, the phone rang. It was our broker. Lovely. Apparently, he's changed jobs for the third (fourth?) time in a year and wanted our contact info so he could contact us again when we were ready to restart our loan process. :-O

Yeah. We'll call you five years after hell freezes over, buddy.

(And I don't think it's entire coincidental that his wife---who was our real estate agent---wants to meet me for lunch next week. After all these months, I can't quite believe this is purely a social call. But we'll see---I only get a half hour for lunch so if this is some sort of sales pitch, she can only ruin my day for 30 minutes.)

The chutzpah, it burns....:)

Sure. We'd love to lose our jobs for you. Not.

A bit of work-related hilarity, here. Those who know me IRL know I have a co-worker I will call IA (for Idjit Attorney.) He reminds me each and every day how lawyer jokes got started because he's the punch line for most of them. (On a personal level, he's not that bad. On a professional one...yeah. Not so much.)

At any rate, IA was on vacation this past week. His wallet got lost (or stolen) and without an ID, he couldn't board his plane. Instead of doing the rational thing and fixing his problem himself, he called his paralegal. At work. When we're all so swamped that even if we had an evil twin and a clone, we'd still be short-staffed.

His request? IA wants us to go into the DMV computer system and print out his driver's license photo so he can board his flight.

Um, no. For one, those databases are restricted---that is, unless you have a damned good reason to be there (like a pending or current criminal investigation) you don't go playing around in there. Them's the rules and breaking them means termination. (Yes, we're civil service and all that, but there are some rules you just don't break. This is one of them.)

So the paralegal pretty much handed his hat to him and told him to contact HR to see if they could fax over his work ID or something. And then she hung up on him...because, you know, she was busy.

There are a thousand IA tales in the Naked City. This has been one of them. :)

Happy Lammas/Lughnasadh!

Tonight is the holiday of Lammas/Lughnasadh. In the medieval Irish calendar, it was one of the four main festivals, marking the first harvest and was traditionally a time for handfastings, market days, and family reunions. It's generally celebrated on August 1st, but since the old calendar started the holidays on the night before, it is now, officially, Lughnasadh.

In some of the Wiccan/neoPagan traditions, Lughnasadh is the first of the three main harvest sabbats (the others being Mabon, in September, and Samhain, in October.) There are rituals aplenty to thank the lord and lady for their bounty, or the god Lugh for the rain he allows to fall on the crops, but I have to admit, as far as rituals go, I'm a slacker pagan as yet. We are, simply, crunched for space and time, so most of my celebrating, I do in my head or in quiet times snatched between more mundane activities.

I choose to celebrate this Lughnasadh by counting my blessings. To my friends, those I've met in real life and those I've met through the internet, thank you. You helped me immeasurably during the rough time I had with my cat Sochi this past week, and in many other ways and many other times before. Maybe you didn't know you were helping, but you did, and I thank you.

To my husband, who keeps me grounded and keeps me from taking myself too seriously, thank you. I had to go online to meet you (and to find out we lived a few blocks away from each other) but you're still the best thing I ever "downloaded" off the internet. :)

To my daughter, who keeps me from obsessing too much on life by reminding me to find the joy in silly things...thank you. You're three feet (or a little more) of miracle---demanding, laughing, feisty, and loving ---and a miracle nonetheless.

You all have been my harvest of blessings. Happy Lughnasadh, my friends, and may your own "harvest" be plentiful.

Doing the happy dance because it's Friday...

Oh, what a week.

Right now, I've got the sinus cold that will not go away---which means I'm coughing and hacking and sounding a lot like a plague victim. I'm more or less feeling better, but the whole coughing thing is not fun. If it's not gone by Monday, I'll be calling my doc (yes, I know colds are caused by a virus, but I have a bad history with bronchitis and pneumonia too. Eeep.)

On the upside---and there is one---Sochi seems to be on the mend, or at least as much on the mend as a 17 year old cat is likely to be. He's eating, and using the litter box and grooming (not easily, but he IS grooming.)

And tomorrow, I'm meeting a couple of people from the Beauty and the Beast TV online group for lunch. I'm not entirely sure how that's going to play out, but the last time I went to meet someone for lunch that I hadn't ever met before, I met my husband. :) So I'm thinking it'll be fun--and who can beat lunch at Panera, anyway?

Anyway, if you're reading this, have a wonderful weekend. :)

A picture of Sochi...

This picture was taken in January this year. I use it as proof that Sochi and the wee one do, somewhat, get along. :)

A Left Turn at Albuquerque....

...and I know it's just delaying the inevitable, but...

My friend J and I took Sochi to the vet today. The vet---a good country doctor, much as J said---examined him thoroughly and said the only real problem that he could see with Sochi (aside from old age) was that his kidneys were smaller, which is not uncommon with older cats. So we talked about options, treatment expenses, and Sochi's quality of life.

And bottom-line it, I just couldn't put him down. Not today, though I know it's coming; I don't fool myself there. What the vet suggested was a course of fluids, a change in his diet, a cortisone shot for his arthritis, and bloodwork--all of which are not expensive. But if the treatment gives us six months where Sochi is feeling at least somewhat better, I'll consider it worth the little bit extra. He's never going to be completely well, and I know that. At this point, I'll settle for the cat not being in pain and eating.

Conversely, though---if the bloodwork turns out something truly, imminently fatal (like cancer)...then I'll make the decision once again. At least I will know we tried everything reasonable to make Sochi's quality of life a little better in the time he has left.

So, we have time. I don't know how much more, but you can either curse the river or accept what it brings. In the meantime, we have today.