Memorial Day

My tummy is full from noshing on juicy, seedless watermelon. =)

Yesterday's barbeque was a lot of fun. I forgot how much I enjoy playing volleyball - even sand volleyball. Thanks to yoga, I woke up this morning without feeling too sore. I do, however, need to schedule a massage when I get back to Austin.

Made my way to Ashtanga Michigan this morning despite the insane amount of construction on the freeways. It was a good practice. I was a little tight, and I had left my black mat in Chicago, but I made do with a loaner mat and practice all of first and worked on second through bakasana B. Decided to forgo eka pada sirsasana, and skipped grabbing the ankles in drop-backs since I was still so tight from taking a few days off and all the traveling. I ran into Novi's Memorial Day parade on my way back, so I parked myself at Panera's on Novi Road for awhile and ate brunch and had some quiet time.

While at Panera's, I saw a father outside in the parking lot with his two sons. The older son was around 9ish, with big Asian glasses, while the younger was a sweet, carefree little 4 year old. They were playing by the trunk of the car. The father had forgotten something in the car, so he told his older son to watch the younger one as he went back to retrieve whatever it was he needed to retrieve. The older son took this responsibility seriously. He protectively wrapped his arms around his brother and stood erect, eyes darting fiercely around watching for incoming cars. The younger brother, unaware, continued to play with his pockets and sing nursery rhymes.

Strangely, that struck me as a picture of marriage. Maybe it's because I am a single woman with a string of failed relationships, most of them involving men who didn't look out for me or cherish me as Christ does, but I could not help but think that while on this earth, it would be nice to have a man who had a fierce sense of responsibility to protect me and to love me, and to want for me what my Heavenly Father wants for me. Not, that I can't take care of myself, but it's nice to think that until I am reunited with my Father in Heaven, he sends down someone physically tangible to watch out for me. And I, him.

I'm contemplating spending the rest of my afternoon outside somewhere since it's supposed to be raining the rest of the week. Maybe I'll walk to Blockbuster's to rent some more movies. It's only a little over a mile away, but I'll probably be the only one walking outside since I'm in the middle of the suburbs. ;)

Vacation count so far -
Movies watched: 2
Forbidden Kingdom
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Book read: 1
A Thousand Splendid Suns

A weekend of reunions...

I remember when I was in college, going home was so boring. There seemed to be nothing to do and nowhere to go... The time home would end up melting into a week of watching TV until my brain was numb.

Maybe I only go home now at "peak" vacation times, but last few visits home were busy and full. I got home tomorrow afternoon, collapsed in a heap on my parent's couch (my parents are gone for another 2 days). Finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns (excellent book!!), wiped the tears from my eyes, and headed out to meet up with old youth group friends. Novi is developing quite the night life - I was pleasantly surprised.

This morning, there was church, then I had lunch with Che - it was nice catching up and hearing about what everyone's been up to. Now I am contemplating doing a few rounds of sun salutations to burn off some of the food I've eaten in the last few days before heading out to a reunion barbeque.

This is going to be a good week. The reunions will probably end tomorrow, and my parents left me some cash as well as their library card so I can catch up on movies and pleasure reading until they come back home.

Chicago Weekend

It has been a weekend of food.

My Friday began at 4:30 AM with me frantically packing and getting ready to drive to the airport around 6. Boarded the plane shortly after 7 and slept the entire flight to Chicago. I have never flown Southwest before and I was completely baffled by the fact we could choose our own seats. The free-for-all seating left me a little disoriented.

Arrived in Chicago to see Brian at around 10. I immediately realized I forgot to pack a jacket for the Midwest (which is currently 30 degrees colder than Texas). We mosied our way to a eco-friendly, organic pizza parlor and had some amazing gourmet pizzas. I then rushed to Union Station where I made my way to Vernon Hills to see old friends Jeff and Lisa, their daughter Emma, and their new baby Jesse. After a few hours of catch-up and visiting, I headed back to Chicago, changed, and met up with some of Brian's friends for an insane amount of Sushi. Then it was off to a wine bar for wine and cheese, before chilling at a hip-hop lounge.

Slept in this morning despite aspirations to work out in the morning, ate at Joy Yee's and took home Bubble Tea for the drive back to Michigan. Now I'm finally back at my parent's home.

It's been fun, but I'm so tired that I'm a little confused to whether certain conversations actually took place this weekend or I hallucinated/dreamed them. Looking forward a nice long week of rest and relaxation, as well as a rededication to my yoga practice with my Michigan guru.

Exhausted...

I am hoping that this is my entrance back into the blogging world. This semester is finally over and I have spent the good part of the week running around getting my non-school life back together. I have clocked almost 9 hours in the car shop this week (with one more trip to go before the end of May for an oil change and inspection) and am less hundreds and hundreds of dollars. And I am in the process of redecorating my room which involves more cleaning and organizing than I anticipated. With having to pay some tuition in order to TA this summer (spending money to make money?) as well as taking a week and a half off teaching yoga tomorrow in order to vacation in the Midwest, I am left with only one thought:

Life is expensive. Sheesh.

But finances aside, these past few months have been a whirlwind. I've laughed; I've cried; I've laughed till I cried; I've cried till I laughed; I've had highs; I've had lows; I've fallen head over heels; I've walked away from potential heartbreak; I've felt the most loved I've ever felt; I've felt the loneliest I've ever felt; I had to finally confront past demons and vices; I escaped from reality to the Caribbean beach.; I felt lost and confused; I dreamed prophetic dreams; I witnessed 2 people dear to me return to the church; and I watched friends turn their backs on God; most importantly, I've transitioned from being a cat person to a dog person. (That last point was in jest).

Lots of thoughts swirling around in my head. Lots of lessons to process. I teach one more yoga class tonight. Depending on my packing progress, I might go salsa dancing tonight before heading to Chicago early tomorrow. Hoping to blog soon...