Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Dosha quiz

http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/quiz/
Take a little time to learn your doshas and how to balance them:)

8 days of freedom!

I am over the hump and do not crave coffee anymore!!! I am going to bed early and feeling rested when I wake up. I do have to say that my late night computer antics have suffered and my emails are piling up. I barely have time to blog or play on Itunes during the day, so I usually update everything after the kids go to bed. Now I am in bed too!

I have to say that this week is flying! I am having a huge party next Saturday and have so much to do. I went to Ikea and bought a ton of glass storage jars to put all my beans, grains and flours in. I cleaned out my kitchen pantry, organized everything and now I can actually find everything! Oh Martha Stewart would be so proud! An old friend once compared me to Martha Stewart, when my sister heard this she couldn't stop laughing and literally choked on her drink...Hmm who knows me better? My sis definitely, I think this old friend was a bit competitive and insecure. Just a thought! I am hoping to get my entire house completely organized this year, I mean everything! It's been seven years in this house, and I have never had a chance to totally organize everything...long story about how we moved in in one day...so a lot of things in storage never got properly sorted and my kids have grown out of their "baby" stuff. I purged the upstairs and now on to the mudroom pantry and the garage! I watched a DIY show about organizing and this guy said that you can waste up to an hour a day looking for stuff. An hour that I could be doing something else! Time to get busy!!

Hop to that task that you have been putting off. Even if it means that you only can spend an hour or two on it. Little bits add up!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Blogging from a 8 year old's perspective

I asked my 8 year old what I should blog about today..his recommendations are...

1 Please wash your hands
2 Please don't sneeze on me if you come to my class
3 Please pray for the young Scottish couple who got the swine flu on their honeymoon

Hi is such a caring little guy! We were just reading the news online and he said that he would ask his class to pray for that couple. When my kids say things like this, I feel that I have done something right!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Quote of the Week

Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

Rude awakening!

I have been painfully coffee free for 6 entire days...144 hours...8640 minutes...518,400 seconds. I have a slight understanding of the grip of addiction. I have thought about coffee a lot, I actually had to tell myself to leave the store when I was at Trader Joe's today. I mean I literally, loudly told myself to leave the store. Why you ask? The coffee smelled so good, they were brewing a fresh pot. That is when it hit me, my habits perpetuate my coffee addiction and I have to be aware of what triggers my craving. I used to drink about a pot to a pot and a half a day. All day long, every time I got tired, I had a cuppa joe, or tea. Now I am down to two cups of black tea a day and lots of herbal teas and water all day long. Talk about a huge change. I went to bed at 9:18 last night! I used to stay up until 12:30 or 1a.m. My sleep patterns are what triggered me to understand why I couldn't give the coffee up. I had a blazing headache for days last week, but feel fine now! In case you were wondering, I skipped the two little cups of coffee at TJ's today. I felt victorious!

Vic is giving me a hard time about kicking the coffee habit. I think he is upset because he knows that I will never make it for him. Now that I don't drink it anymore, he will be on coffee duty forever....Ha Ha Ha...

Friday, April 24, 2009

A week free of blogging

I literally had a week free of computing, I mean I did not turn it on! I check my emails via Blackberry and have been too tired and busy to sink into the trap of computing. One site leads to another and before I know it, it's three hours later!

I have been trying to get to the root of my coffee addiction and it dawned on me that I need to go to sleep earlier. I am so tired when I wake up I need coffee. On Tuesday, I began my anti-coffee life...it lasted until lunch at Panera with Deanna...I slipped twice. I have habits I have to break (I'll get tea next time). I have to wean myself off!

Last weekend was busy with 2 lacrosse games and a family party. I subbed Erin's class on Sunday, she always subs for me (good karma comes and goes around). I went to Johnnie's class on Monday, it was amazing! It was so hard but good. I taught in Northville, and got a chance to discuss the Donation yoga in the daytime, at the studio. We'll see when we can start it up. I crashed at 10:30.

Tuesday I had a nice lunch with Deanna and then we went to her sisters to care for the triplets. I got to hold George and Lainie, I also fed her and gave her a bath. I miss having babies! They smell so good, her eyes so clear with innocence. They are such adorable and precious blessings! My class went well later that day and I crashed at 10:15!

Wednesday's two classes went wonderfully and still coffee free! I have been eating brown rice bread, instead of wheat. Last weekend I developed hives after eating a bagel, and crackers. I got the bread at Trader Joes, my kids were tossing it around it's like a brick. It is very dense but moist. It tastes good toasted with pb&j. No coffee or bread!

I woke up with a splitting migraine on Thursday, so I had to miss Corrinne's Yinyasa. I am so sad:( The nausea was terrible but I had to pull myself together. My class for the team was killer hard and I think they developed a new appreciation for finding their edge! I had Bunco at 7:30 so I took a nap, hoping to get rid of my headache. It partially subsided, but came back on when I found out that one of our school families was in a huge roll over accident while driving back from Florida. I haven't cried in a long time, but just imagining how this mom felt as she looked back and her kids were on the highway. I lost it. They are all right, Alex's classmate had to be taken to a hospital on a helicopter. They are alive because they drove a big SUV ( it flipped front to end a few times). The mom may need a shoulder surgery. I am so thankful that they are all right.

I'm still coffee free and ready for bed! Bonsoir!

Another long weekend with another family party, a class in Brighton and two Lacrosse games!

Friday, April 17, 2009

SUN!!!

Horray! It's sunny and warm today! Get outside and have some fun!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Spring cleaning part 2!

I spent the better part of the past two days clearing out and re-organizing my boys rooms and the guest bedroom. After multiple failed attempts on their parts to try to clean their rooms, I stepped in. I flippantly decided to swap out Garrett's small room with the roomier guest bedroom. I've had this idea for a while as when we moved in 7 years ago, he was a tiny 18 month old. A small room was cozy and adequate. Fast forward 7 years and add 30 pounds of toys and we had a mess on our hands. This gave me a opportunity to sort through, lean out and generally purge the contents of his closet and toy bins. I am happy to say that it is finally done, the rooms are spotless and he is a very happy camper in his new "fancy room." Alex's room on the other hand is a big room and a bigger mess! We finished his last night and I have a good feeling that the next time that I ask him to clean his room, he will oblige. My room rounded out the cleaning spree, so the upper level is all set.

So after all that moving (beds, mattresses, dressers, bookshelves, etc), vacuuming, dusting, mopping and scrubbing I am exhausted! After all, if I am going to move furniture, I have to clean it and all round it. Always an opportunist!

My class schedule is light this week due to Easter Vacation and I have to be honest, it is nice to get a little break to tackle big projects like the one I just finished.

We spent a nice family day in Ann Arbor on Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market, Kerry Town, Treasure Mart, all up and down Main Street and to all our favorite stores. We had a nice lunch and then a trip to the bookstore and Whole Foods.

I checked out a stack of vegan and vegetarian cookbooks and will mull over them for a few days to extract the best recipes. If something looks good, I'll post it.

Monday, April 13, 2009

How many times are we afraid to experience life because we are shy, unsure or worried what others will think?

The other's thoughts are irrelevant and our ego attachment that drives our insecurities is a bad habit that is correctable.

Live in Love

Quote of the week

He said, "Come to the edge."
I said, "I can't. I'm afraid."
He said, "come to the edge."
I said, "I can't, I'll fall off."
He said, finally, "Come to the edge."
And I came to the edge. And he pushed me.
And I flew.

Guillaume Appollinaire

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Roasted zucchini

Zucchini is a pretty bland and tender vegetable, generally lacking in texture and flavor. I made this last night on the fly and couldn't believe the depth of flavor and texture.

In the bottom of a heavy stoneware baking dish drizzle olive oil. Place long slices of zucchini that are 1/4 inch thick to cover the bottom. Sprinkle with a ton of garlic (I used 1/2 cup!). I buy huge bottles of garlic that is peeled and chopped to speed up prep time. Spread 1/2 cubed green pepper and 1/2 cubed tomato. Drizzle with more olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Bake at 350 for a while until the edges are lightly brown and the peppers and tomato pieces are cooked (about 30 to 45 minutes). Vic thought the garlic was couscous at first because there was so much of it. It became very sweet and mellow and infused their richness into the zucchini. It disappeared in a flash!

Almond smoothie

I made the best smoothie for breakfast for the past two mornings.
Take 1 c organic vanilla almond milk, one organic banana,
one huge tablespoon of organic sugar free peanut butter,
1/5 block of tofu and 1 1/2 c ice. Blend it until smooth and creamy.
This was so good and rich, healthy, and low fat !

Friday, April 3, 2009

Our Red Pepper Deli dinner

Our family had vegan raw burgers for dinner. Everyone loved them!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Spring has arrived!

I'm glad I took the time to clear out all the flower beds a few weeks ago! My daffodils are about 5 inches long! I love it when life appears out of the grip of the dark, bleak Winter. My life is a little more hectic now and I have to "find" time to read and practice as much as I can. At 3pm when the boys come home it is like a tornado hits and doesn't subside until I crash at 12 or 1 a.m.