Oh Friday, How I Love Thee!

I've worked some crazy overtime in the past two days. Good news is that my overtime bank is now full (for extra days off later this fall) and even though I have to get the rest paid out, it will just about pay for one of my Anusara Immersions! If the tax man doesn't take it all, that is.

I didn't get to bed till 3 last night, but I set an alarm for 7:30...can't miss my Friday yoga class (followed by coffee and chit-chat)! I woke up feeling really great at 7, so I got up and am just starting to feel the lack of sleep now.

Today's class was great--we worked on shoulder and skull loop and tried some neat things with headstand and forearm balance (ooh, my shoulders are tight!!). I'm stoked about the workshop next weekend with Desiree and am loving my practice lately. Immersing myself in yoga studies, asana practice and kula (community) has enriched my life in so many ways that I have a difficult time articulating it. All I know for sure is that the path I'm on is true and I treasure each moment along the way.

When I got home this afternoon (yes, class is from 9:30-11 but I didn't get home till 2), I made plans to hike with C. and some of her peeps tomorrow. This meant I had to plan a "summit sammie". Now, I realize that we're hiking to a lake (Rawson), not climbing a peak, but still. I hike better when I know there's good food at the end! Enter the muffaletta! It's HUGE, but is going to be oh, so good! There's the olive spread (with fresh oregano from my patio), ham and capicola (spicy!), provolone & mozza, roasted red, orange & yellow peppers, and roasted zuke & aubergine (sounds so much better than eggplant, dontchya think?). I hollowed out a loaf of sourdough (my Safeway didn't have any other crusty, round loaves) and loaded 'er up! It's now squishing (that's a technical term, by the way) in the fridge.

I had some leftover veggies and remembered the tasty salad I made for Julie's potluck in the spring. Of course, I had no green onions or cilantro, so I had to go back to Safeway. The end product was definitely worth it, though!

Black bean vinagrette + roasted veg + black beans = Deliciousness!

Now, I must finish this cup of herbal tea (cranberry apple zinger, if you're wondering) and get to bed. It's gonna be an early morning!

Oh my!

I'd forgotten how much I love this tea:



I came home from work and made a pot and think that it will make a lovely iced drink tomorrow (or whenever the sunshine returns!)

Lovin' Life

What's not to love? I've slept for THREE (count 'em, THREE) days in a row, the sun is streaming in my kitchen window, Nerm's sitting on the windowsill giving the magpies the what-for and I've got a big mug of chai to sip on.

I had a great day skiing, although the morning didn't feel that great. I wandered around the mountain, not really finding my groove anywhere. I took a break after a few runs on Goat's Eye (right when the kidlet ski racers were eating lunch--it was not a quiet break, by any means!). When I went out again to shred the mountain, a Sunshine Snow Host approached me and asked if he could ski with me. Well sure! The more the merrier, I say and by this time I was pretty bored with the conversations I was having with myself.

We did a few runs on Goat's Eye--ones that I would never, EVER have attempted on my own (and probably not with anyone else, either). Goat's Eye is STEEP. That's it's claim to fame. There are NO green runs off the Goat's Eye chair. Anyhoo, black is my favourite colour, and don't they say that diamonds are a girl's best friend?! The best part of my new ski buddy: he is SEVENTY (or almost). New hero. We skied around on Goat's Eye, then headed over to the Divide chair and skied in BC for a bit! We have a date next Saturday, too! He also lives in my area of town, so I may have a new ski buddy next season! =)

This is what the top of Goat's Eye is like (it's the easiest way down to the tree line from the chair lift):


Last week when I was skiing with my cousin and his buddy, they showed me this video and we laughed all day. I still laugh, so I know it wasn't just the beer and natural mountain high. Enjoy!

Under the Weather

And the weather is finally gorgeous!! I haven't been sleeping well, even with the drugs the doctor prescribed. I woke up this morning just feeling BLAH, for lack of a better word. It didn't get much better...

I had a dentist appointment this afternoon and was convinced that the fresh air and sunshine would take away the blah. Not a chance. And really, with all of the advances in modern medicine, why can't dentistry keep up? Yes, if you continually poke and prod my gums with sharp, pointy metal things, they will bleed! Although not so badly today. My former dentists got praise--apparently all my old fillings are holding up well (half are about 20 years old and the rest 10). Unfortunately, there's a new little one. But I can't complain--I've been seeing this dentist since I moved to Calgary and this is the first work I've needed to have done (we've been watching this tooth for the past two years). And now the time for watching is over and drilling must commence.

After the dentist I came home and tried to have a nap before yoga. Woke up and felt like I'd been slammed by a truck. Body aches and pains, headache...no yoga for me.

=(

A long soak in the tub with a cup of tea (fruity, no caffeine for this girl at this late hour!) and I feel somewhat human again. I'm going to shut down the computer, have another cup of tea, curl up with Nerm and a book and call it a day. Tomorrow I'm off for an appointment with a health study I've joined. Should be interesting!

Rockin' my world!

A few things that are rockin' my world of late:

- the assortment of flavourful herbal teas I've been drinking

- my run this afternoon--today was the day the walking interval got smaller. Yep, I was slower, but I did every single interval, all 11 of them! 44 min, 5.60 km. Check!

- the lasagna that I whipped up with some sauce I'd frozen awhile ago, some extra lean ground chicken, onion, cottage cheese and mozzarella. Mmmmm...I heart my convection oven it cooks things so much quicker!

- my rib cage. It's been hiding under a layer of adipose tissue for quite some time and has recently made a reappearance.

- did I mention the tea?

Back to School Goal Setting

I spent a lot of years in school:
1980-1993 (K-12)
1993-1998 (U of A BSc MLS)
2007-2008 (Athabasca U)
2010 (Jan-Jun Yoga Teacher Training).

I'm one ed-u-ma-cated chick!

September is a better "new" year for me than January. I also feel compelled to go buy stationery. Is it bad that I was literally drooling over my friend Michelle's weekly planner on the weekend? I still want one! Maybe when she returns on Friday we can go on a shopping mission. Although, we discovered that we know how to do some serious damage to the bank account when we went hog-wild at Lulu on Sunday, but really, how much could you spend at Staples? Never mind, don't answer that!

So what's the point to this, you ask? Well, my goals lately (I can't remember the exact day I started, but it's been a few weeks now):

1. Stop eating before 2000h (that's 8 p.m. if you don't do the 24-hour clock thing). Sometimes this may not happen, especially when I work evening shifts, but the intent is to eat dinner and then STOP.

2. Drink more herbal tea. See #1 above. No eating after 8, but who said no drinking?! I stocked up this weekend:

From Teaopia: Coconut Cream Green, Wild Cherry and Pina Colada.
From Banff Tea Co.: Women's Keep Well-Uma & Chocolate Mint Rooibos.

3. Sleep 7-8 hours each night.

Most nights, it's worked just fine! I'm currently sipping some delightful Coconut Cream green tea.

Note to Self:
Drinking wine on a school night is neither in alignment with the above stated goals nor conducive to getting up for work in the morning! But it was good wine and great company!

Lazy Sunday

After yesterday's big kahuna bike ride (19 km each way) from Harvie Heights to Banff, then shopping (I stocked up on this and this at the Banff Tea Co. & bought yummy caramels at my favourite candy shop), walking most of the way to the Hot Springs, soaking for a bit, walking back to the bikes and riding into a head wind all the way back to Harvie Heights (big storm was moving in!), Michelle and I didn't feel the running mojo this morning. It rained all night and is still raining...Did I mention how sore my ass is this morning?!

We did, however, wander down to Lulu to do a little shopping! We found some things while we were in Banff, but didn't have room in the pannier to hold it all, so we were women on a mission (in Mission, hee hee) this morning! And the best part: I scored a yoga class to teach! Lulu has free classes on Monday nights, and I am scheduled to teach the Oct. 4 class at the 4th Street location. Whoo hoo!









I also bought the Revitalize Tech Short sleeve, and a Run Swiftly in grey but Blogger won't let me upload the photos. Thank goodness for a discount, is all I can say!!

The rest of my day is pretty low key: laundry, finish An Echo in the Bone (OMIGOD, I love, love, love Jamie Fraser!), and dinner with my cousin and her hubby.