So I decided that I was going to get back into shape after our vacation so I went to the gym to sign up for, well…something. Unfortunately I was like two weeks late for registration so all there was left was Hatha Yoga.

Now I have taken a couple of yoga classes before and they were challenging and fun…these are not. Nope Hatha Yoga at the university gym is quite possibly the dullest thing ever. Besides the fact that we spend at least half of the class lying down while the karate people across the hall do push-ups, sprints, and flying super-kicks, the standing up that we do is pretty dull too. We end every class with a ‘meditation’ session in which we sit down, rub our hands together and then hold our hands over our eyes to let the energy flow from the palms of our hands, through our eyes, and into our heart (I think my energy has a sense of direction roughly equal to my own though so the whole energising the heart thing misses the mark for me).

So, I decided to go to drop-in Power Yoga last week. Power Yoga is nothing like Hatha Yoga. It all starts will a relaxed leaning against the wall…in the squat position for like ten minutes with my arms held out in front of my body. Then we did lunges, and push-ups, and balancing muscle screamers. By the end of the class everything hurt including this weird muscle between my ribs that I didn’t even know existed.

Anyway, the moral of the story is…beware of different Yoga’s, they are actually different.

Ok, so on Saturday I went to Trapeezium which is, as the name implies, a trapeeze center. Well let me just say that I now want to rip out the back deck and replace it with a trapeeze (and net). Yep, I had a blast. The whole thing was actually a birthday present from my dearest darling husband and I can honestly say it was one of the best presents ever.

It all started with a corset like belt otherwise known as the anti-neck-breaking device. Once strapped in I clambered up a very narrow ladder (so narrow that I kept wacking my knees on the hard metal rungs). Other than a good knee bashing the ladder was fairly easy to navigate…until the top. Getting off the ladder and onto the board (or as I like to call it, the launching platform) requires a very un-ellegant scrable on hands and knees floowed by a standing up maneuver which, if accomplished properly, avoids knocking the trapeeze assistant off the edge.

First order of business on the launching platform is clipping in to the anti-neck-breaking device controlled by a rather burly man on the ground. One is then required to lean precariously over the edge of the launching platform (held in place by a tiny 100 lb woman) in order to grab the bar. Then the orders begin

Ready…hup - jump off the launching platform

Knees-up - hook your knees over the bar

Hands-off - let go of the bar

Reach - contort your back so you can see the far wall looming ahead

Hands-on - quick, quick grab hold before you fall

Legs down - unfurl that old creaky body of yours

Swing forward - swing your legs forward

Backward - swing your legs backward

forwad - swing your legs forward

Flip - what?!?!

Ok once I was on the ground I discoverd that flip means let go of the bar and you will complete a gentle mid-air rotation before slowly comming to rest on the springy net below…at the time though I froze…I mean every other order had been included in the briefing but ‘Flip’ well you don’t just go throwing new things into the mix when a firt time trapeezer is hanging twenty feet off the ground.

Anyway I have one more session (yay) in which to perfect my ankle-hang release which, woe-be to coolness, does not actually involve hanging by my ankles.

I should be having a blast right now. I’m not working but money isn’t yet at that ‘oh crap’ stage. I have plenty to do in terms of fixing up and decorating the apartment. Fall is here with all it’s cozy nights and crisp mornings. And yet I’m inexplicably down.

Maybe it’s post-vacation blues; although by the end of the vacation I was certainly ready to be home.

Maybe it’s not knowing what’s happening on the job front; although that’s deffinately nothing new.

Maybe it’s the season; although I usually love the dark, dingy days of fall.

When it comes down to it, I think it’s because it’s been quite a while since I’ve had a good old fashioned triumph. You know, that feeling you get when you finally finish an assignment, or get a grumpy neighbour to do something nice, or even the small triumph of winning a hockey game.

Hmm, a lot to think about, I’ll get back to you on this one.

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving (although we did the whole turkey thing on Sunday instead). This joyous occasion provided me with inspiration for another list…things I am thankfull for…

5. my new-found ability to wake up early in the morning without an alarm (truly an amazing feat considering I used to dream that classes were cancelled and then conciously use that as an excuse to sleep in)

4. the hardiness of my plants; I tend to neglegt green things, I think it’s because I grew up surrounded by forests which don’t require any active tending…somehow my mind just hasn’t accepted the fact that basil, hydrangea, and daisy’s aren’t forests. Nevertheless, my plants actually seem to thrive in an environment of no watering, no fertilizer, and once a month half-hearted weedings.

3. brooms. I know it sounds terribly domestic but I truly love brooms, they are so simplistic and yet so efficient. I have two brooms (one indoor and one outdoor) but I’m seriously thinking about getting a third (one of those small ones that ususally come with a dust pan).

2. chocolate, fireplaces, and fleece blankets. I really don’t feel like this one needs any explanation.

1. my friends and familly because what would Thanksgiving be if it lacked the cheesy nod to those things in life that we take for granted one moment, roll our eyes at the next, and come running back to in the end.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Most of you know that I have a dog…what most of you may not know about is the ongoing debate over whether Meeka is a genius or dumb as a post. Here are a few of her actions over the past few days with the genius versus post interpretation.

1. Meeka burried her cookie in the back yard…half an hour later she’s chasing a squirrel out of the yard:
GENIUS: Meeka burries her cookies as bait in an ongoing attempt to capture the squirrel who lives in the tree next door.
POST: Meeka gives in to dog impulses to burry her food cause she’s too stupid to realize that no one else wants to take it from her anyway.

2. Meeka found the bowl full of nuts and began cracking them and eating the insides while leaving the shells in a pile:
GENIUS: Meeka immediately recognized the nuts as yummy packages of protein wrapped in a self-preserving non-edible coating
POST: Nut shells taste yucky

3. Meeka is affraid of the hose, the ladder, the mob, the vaccum cleaner…
GENIUS: Meeka is able to conduct simple cost-benefit analyses and recognizes that the potential risks of harm from said items far outweigh the potential benefits of interacting with them.
POST: Meeka is a scardy-cat.