Sunday, July 26, 2009

I'm Free!!!!!

For 2 whole days!!!!! having finished subbing all those classes (27 in 2 1/2 weeks) and a 2-day yoga workshop (more on that in a bit), I have 2 days of FREEDOM!!!!!!
Yes I just completed the YogaFit Level 1 teacher training, and it was AWESOME! It's 2 days, 10 hours a day, including full classes. Saturday I was SO tired, but today was REALLY fun. OK, both days were fun, but I was a bit more rested today. We also did some practice teaching, which was terrifying and then enjoyable.
And I must say, it was nice to focus solely on yoga after all that pilates, lol! I love pilates, but I was burning out a bit. (Although a friend has asked me to sub 2 of her post-natal reformer classes, and I might just have to do it, because the ladies all bring their babies!!!!! How cool would that be?)
I think I'm going to do the 200-hour training. It's not necessary in order to teach, but I really love it. I always feel so good afterwards. Not just physically, but my whole outlook is so much better. We have to take a few specialty courses, as well. I think I'll take pre/post natal yoga, so I can teach pregnant ladies and Mommy & Me.
Anyway, that was my weekend. But BlogHer took place this weekend, and I cannot wait to hear about it!
Any news from the convention?

Friday, July 17, 2009

Good Lord....

....I'm tired!
But it's a GOOD tired. I've taught 17 classes in the past week and a half, with 10 more to go in the next 6 days, then on to a yoga teacher training next weekend. Plus, I'm PMS-ing.
Yay.
But I'm learning A LOT, making a nice chunk o' change, and CANNOT WAIT to start teaching yoga!!!!! I love yoga!
I just wish I could make peace with my ample body. Part of me is actually dreading the yoga teacher training because I always feel like people are looking at me, wondering why someone who looks like me thinks she can be a fitness instructor.
Of course, I already AM a fitness instructor. My reformer classes are full, my mat classes are very well attended, and I've received a lot of compliments from clients.
But I'm just so...BIG!
Bigger than I've ever been. Yes, I've said it before: bigger than ever other than my pregnancies. But I have to wonder, other than celebrities, who the hell looks the same at 40 as they did at 25?!?!?! Especially if, at 25, they were anorexic?!?!
But I HATE being this big! Especially in the boobs. Pain in the neck! Or back, actually.
OK, they're not THAT bad. But I want to find peace with food. It's a LONG process, and part of me feels like I should be there already, lol!

OK, so on a much brighter note, LG turned 8 on Tuesday, and we had a really fun, mellow party for him. He got a new pair of swimming goggles, which he put on and wore around the house for an hour. He also, as it turns out, has a crush on one of WG's therapists. her name is Kristin, but her calls her Christmas. Actually, he calls her "My Christmas." When he's not making googly eyes at her, sitting on her shoulders, or asking her for tickles.
Stud!
WG seems to be feeling much better. She's sleeping well, waking up happy, and is very playful. She's kinda like a puppy.
And neither one of them cares about my big tummy. Nor does Hubby.
It's just me.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Judging a Book By Its Cover. Literally.

I REALLY need to learn how to post links!
In the meantime, next time you're in a bookstore (or on Amazon), check out the cover for "Secrets to Happiness" by Sarah Dunn. It's actually a novel, not a self-help book. But looking at that cover sure helps me!
Maybe that could be a new form of therapy...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Vomit, Gluten, and Sleepless Nights. (Or, WAAAAAAY TMI!!!!)

This morning Hubby and I were awakened to the dulcet tones of WG puking. It was about 6:15 AM, so it was time to get up anyway. (Who needs an alarm clock?)
We cleaned her up and started getting her ready for school. After all, it was only a little bit of vomit, and she seemed to be feeling much better.
Then she did it again, so I went outside and told the just-arrived bus driver that she would not be attending school this day. He said "Oh, poor thing! We'll see ya tomorrow?" To which I optimistically replied "Yes!" I thanked him, and off he went to pick up non-hurling special-ed students for summer school.
So we started getting LG ready for school. He came downstairs mostly dressed, except for his pants. (He doesn't particularly like pants, and removes them as soon as he gets home from wherever place he's been that requires the wearing of pants.) So when Hubby told him to put on his pants, he replied with "No pants."
Because, in a new development, LG has learned the word "No." He has learned, I should say, to USE the word "No." He's heard it often enough (my B-I-L insists that LG's middle name is "No," because we say it after his name all the time.)
But now he has learned that he, too, can harness the Power of No.
And, boy howdy, does he!!!!
"Time to get up for school." "No!"
"OK, let's brush your teeth." "No!"
"Turn off the TV" "No!
You get the idea.
All kids go through this. I understand that. And it's great that he says "no" instead of "All done." And I suppose I should get annoyed when he says it, but it just cracks me up! (Talk to me in a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll be over it, but for now...)
Our kids are stubborn. VERY stubborn. (Must come from Hubby. I was a perfect little angel. No, really! Why are you laughing?!?!?!) And I LOVE it! Even when I'm tearing my hair out, I think their stubbornness is a GOOD thing. They definitely have personality, and they know what they like!
They're also INCREDIBLY sweet. The other day LG was eating an apple and I asked him to get one for WG. So he walked over to her and gave her his. He also sings to her when she's upset, and when we cut her nails (which she HATES), he tries to take the nail cutter away from us. Because it makes her cry. She, meanwhile, gives hugs to all her teachers, therapists, and even LG's teachers, and is a rapt audience for her brothers' dramatic, live-action renditions of "Elmo's World."
So, anyway, we got him dressed and off to school. After another bout of throwing up, WG went into the tub. She's feeling better, and has her color back (she was awfully pale this morning!), but not much of an appetite. So we're trying to figure out if the vomit came from gluten withdrawal G's therapist told me that one kid she worked with started, I kid you not, FOAMING AT THE EARS!!!! Thank goodness we've only had throwup!) or from her field trip yesterday to a water park, where she was caught drinking some of the water!
Could be a combination of both.
Although she's been having tummy troubles all week (waking up at night, every night, with stomach aches.)
I guess only time will tell.
Oh, and in other new words/phrases from LG, the other night he said "Tickle my butt!"
I have NO IDEA where THAT came from!

Monday, July 6, 2009

I've Been Thinking (Again)

I just read a post on MySpace by Kyra Davis, who is a writer (she writes the AWESOME Sophie Katz series {"Sex, Murder, and a Double Latte" was the first one}, and she wrote a novel based on her marriage to a man with bipolar disorder called "So Much For My Happy Ending"). Of course, being a writer, and a really great one, her blogs are always fun and interesting. Today's was about reader reaction to another article, written by Sandrah Tsing Loh, about her divorce and her feelings on marriage. (Let's just say that, at the moment, Ms. Loh isn't a fan of it.) In the article she only writes about her own shrtcomings, not her husband's, but she does make some remarks that are meant to be funny. She is a humorist. But some people, apparently, aren't laughing. Which is fine, but some of the things they're saying...
One reader compared Ms. Loh to a Nazi.
WHich I thought was a bit extreme.
(As I wrote on Ms. Davis's page, there's a big difference between having an affair/ getting a divorce and rounding people up and putting them into ovens.)
So the question brought up my Ms. Davis, or ONE of the questions, is one I've been thinking about for at least 5 years. It's about Sides. Not the "You want fries with that?" kind of sides, but TAKING sides. Us vs. Them. If you're not with us, you're against us. Putting people into convenient categories, rather than letting them be the complex, multi-faceted individuals that they are.
There are a couple of things that got me started in my thinking. One was finding out that a close childhood friend of mine vehemently disagreed with me on the subject of abortion. Now, this happened many years ago, when we were still in our teens, in college, and knew everything. Part of me thought "Oh no! I can't be her friend anymore!" Then the saner, more rational part of me piped up with "Screw that! You guys have been best friends since 2nd grade! get over it, already!"
So we decided to agree to disagree.
And we're still friends.
About 4 years ago I was watching the news (I know, big mistake!) and saw a story about a courthouse in Atlanta (I believe) that has a statue with the Ten Commandments on it. Some people objected to it and were threatening to sue if it wasn't removed. Others wanted it to stay, and were protesting. One of the protesters said "This is a Christian nation. You have the right to be a Jew or a Bhuddist or whatever, but we are a Christian nation!"
And I got PISSED!
First of all, IMHO, if the statue offends you, don't look at it. But, even more importantly, we are NOT a Christain nation. We are a nation of incredible diversity, and that is one of our greatest blessings. We were the first country to welcome anyone from anywhere. Sure we had our issues (Remember "No Irish need apply?") , but people just kept, and keep, on coming.
And, ah, we also have that whole religious freedom thing in the Constitution.
My point is that there are usually MORE than 2 sides to every story.
We try to make thing simple, which is understandable, but in doing so we pigeonhole and, even worse, demonize anyone who is different from us. Whether they look different, think differently, or act differently. We make them less than human, which makes it easier to abuse them. Whether it's the title of a book ("Godless"), shooting an abortion provider and justifying it, or simply calling someone a "Jesus Freak" because they happen to believe in God and maybe read the Bible.
Every time we make fun of someone else, we ourselves become less. When we stereotype someone, we eek away a bit of our own humanity.
Please feel free to disagree!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Random Thoughts for a Long Weekend, or, Welcome to My Brain. it's a Scary, Scary Place!

Well, first off, I'd like to report that, thus far, the GFCF diet is going well. WG has been sleeping through the night, waking up happy, and even adjusting well to summer school! She was a little clingy and cranky this morning, but I think it was because a) she was hungry (we all slept in this morning) and b) Hubby's out of town. That always freaks her out a little.
We're s-l-o-w-l-y getting LG onto the diet, as well. Thank goodness for gluten-free noodles! I've been talking to their teachers and therapists about the diet, and many of them have mentioned that autistic kids often become addicted to the foods that are harming them. So it may take a little longer to get LG on the program, but I'm determined to do it this time.
The only drawback is that Whole Foods makes these gluten-free, frosted, chocolate cupcakes. LG won't touch them, WG likes but doesn't love them, and Mommy LOOOOOVES them!!!!! They are seriously yummy!
I'm going to have to avoid them in the future. After all, cupcakes aren't on the food pyramid. (But oh, how I wish they were!) And I'd like to keep my teeth.

Last night i got caught up in a Bravo show called, I believe, "The Fashion Show." It's hosted by Isaac Mizrahi and Michelle from Destiny's Child. They have a group of designers who have to put together fashion shows in , like 24 hours, each one with a different theme. I think. I'd never seen the show before. but this one was about designing for "real" women ('cause, y'know, models are fake). So each designer had a client that they had to create an evening dress for. And, seriously, you would have thought they'd been asked to eat their young!!!!!! The complaints! "Oh my God, I've never been less inspired in my life! She's so big! I'm just not used to designing for someone like her!!!! Wah wah wah!!!!" These are actual quotes, including the "wah," because one of the designers ACTUALLY STARTED CRYING!!!!!!!!!!!!
At one point Isaac took the cryer aside and told her she was being sizeist. Which she was. Although I would have substituted "sizeist" for "a complete bee-yotch." This girl is 22, lives in New York, just graduated from fashion school, and, naturally, takes herself WAY too seriously. But is still a complete jerk. Not just to her client, but to her fellow designers. The sad thing is, she's quite talented (and actually won the fashion show challenge that night). But I liked that Isaac also told her "in the real world, this is the type of woman you will be designing for. Size 14 and up, so get used to it." Boy, did THAT piss her off!
At the end of the show, Isaac called the designers in and said "The show wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. Did you giys understand what this fashion show was about?" Againn, that made me happy. Because if we can get well-known, respected designers to go on national TV, mentor younger desiners, and get it into their heads that WOMEN ARE NOT MATCHSTICKS, then maybe, just maybe, there is hope.
Of course, there are other parts of the show that depressed me. part of the "challenge' was to "fix" or hide "flaws" on these womens' bodies.
So maybe there's no hope after all.
*Sigh*

OK, on another note, I'm reading a few books that are interesting and/or fun and inspiring. One of them is my yoga teacher training manual. Yes, I take my first weekend og YogaFit training on July 25/26!!!!! I decided to go with them because I can do a weekend at a time, like I've done with my Pilates training, the workshops are at a gym that is literally a few blocks away (I'm going to ride my bike there!), and I used to go to their studio when I lived in L.A and I really liked it. In fact, when we first moved to L.A., I planned on doing the teacher training, but was too scared. And also thought I was too fat. because I was 27 and INSANE!!!! Now I'm almost 40 and 35 pounds heavier. But at least I'm not crazy.
I'm also reading "Julie and Julia," which is one of those books that's been sitting on my shelf for, oh, about 2 years. I'd been "meaning" to read it, but never got around to it. then i saw a preview for the movie, realized I REALLY want to see it, but not before I read the book. So I'm reading it, and it's really fun, and i NEVER want to eat French food again as long as I live, lol!
OK, let me re=phrase that; I never want to eat CERTAIN TYPES of French food again. Fresh fish? Sure! Cheese? Absolutely! Foie Gras? Never touched it, never will. ESPECIALLY if it comes from force-fed geese, which is just too cruel. I saw footage of it once, it's horrible! Plus, geese are my buddies. I feed them, I don't eat them.
I must admit to a conundrum. I'm feeling more and more guilt about eating animals. I've considered going back to being vegetarian, but it would have to be for just me. I don't know how I'd get my kids to eat ANYTHIG if they were GFCF AND veggie. (Alhough it might be easier with LG, who doesn't really eat meat as it is.) Hubby would go along part-time, but he loves meat too much to give it up entirely. So it means preparing about a dozen different meals every day.
Maybe I could puree some beans and put them in pasta sauce? Hmmm. I'll need ideas.
Anyway, the other OTHER book I'm reading is called "The 4-Day Win." I'm not a HUGE fan of self-help books, but this one is about changing the patterns in your brain, which I'm a big believer itn. It's ostensibly about weight loss, but it really works in all areas of life. Anxiety, depression, etc. She writes in the book that "not a single second of your life has been wasted." Everything has brought us to where we are now, and it has all had a purpose and a reason.
And that is a HUGE relief!!!!!
OK, I mentioned to the kids that we'd go swimming, and LG just showed up in the room wearing his swimm trunks and rash guard. So I guess that's my cue to sign off.
Have a happy 4th!!!!!!