Commas

Comma — n
1. the punctuation mark(,) indicating a slight pause in the spoken sentence and used where there is a listing of items or to separate a nonrestrictive clause or phrase from a main clause.

After spending way too many hours on a middle school play program, someone proofing it for me became the comma nazi, to the point where I felt like she wanted a comma after every word.

I, felt, defeated, by, a, simple, punctuation, mark.

Thankfully I have a group of fabulous woman surrounding me who know the difference between logic and a case of extreme punctuationitis.

Not that there's anything wrong if you have it.

However, when I get a long list the night before it goes to press, I tend to get a little cranky.  And of course I have to ask myself, 'What is this comma trying to teach me?'  I'm old enough to know that when something presents itself to me with such a force, I must not be paying attention to something in my life.

God knocks in funny ways.

So all day yesterday I kept asking myself, where do I need to pause?  Where do I need to make some separations in my life?   And of course, this comes to me in a week where there are no breaks, and there is no separation between home, work, wife, mother, and friend.

My to do list is abundant and not exactly in a good way.

Did that last sentence need a comma?

Sigh... I may not know where all the commas go in the land of punctuation (Mrs. Head would not be proud), but I do know that I am using today as a comma.

A break.
A pause.
Separating things I want to do and the things I need to do.

Today is about the wants, and hopefully it will make all the needs seem a little less needy this week.

Take a moment today to see where you could take a pause from real life and don't worry if you're using it the right way.

There are no rules to life commas.  Use as many as you need :)

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Flexibility, Part 2

It's no secret I have a love/hate relationship with my Bikram Yoga.  Everyone who practices says you have to give it time... Five classes, they say is the magic number when you stop wishing you were in an igloo the entire time you're in there.

Well, I'm here to tell you that if I were to base it on my 5th class, I probably wouldn't go back.

It was hell.

Literally.

And crowded, and long, and I wanted anything other than to be there.

Then I sat outside the door after class, blinking back tears, when the teacher tried to talk me off the ledge.  It only made me want to cry more.  I cannot remember ever feeling like this about any exercise other than when I was a kid, skating.

That was the hate part.

Then, the day after, I didn't have time to go in so I just did a yoga video at home.  And it was then and there that I realized that yoga had invaded my brain, and I would probably never do anything again without focusing intensely on my breath.

I finished the video with a new outlook about the five classes I had accomplished (and for anyone who has ever done even one class, you understand the meaning of accomplishment with new eyes).  The video is hard, but certainly nothing like what I had been through in the past couple weeks.  When I was done, I realized that I had gained much more than physical strength during those 450 minutes of yoga:  I was mentally stronger than I was two weeks ago, and that's saying a lot after 10 months of winter.

So I thought I'd give you the Top 5 things Bikram Yoga has taught me:

1. I am stronger than I think.  This class will break you down in the first ten minutes if you don't continually tell yourself that you just need to get through the next exercise.  And then the next one...
2. Being perfect at something anything is just an illusion.  Don't get me wrong - I don't think I'm perfect at anything, but I tend to stay in the safe zone when it comes to working out (and life).  Walking, running, elliptical... nothing that is going to teach me anything.  And having spent the majority of my life on skates, that really isn't a challenge either.  It's good for me to fail miserably at something like I did in my 5th class.
3. I can pretty much get through anything, one breath at a time.  This practice should be mandatory for women considering getting pregnant.
4. Focusing on one point is the single greatest skill you can acquire to learn balance.  Right now I'm focusing on a glass of wine.  Life is about balance, and that is sometimes found in a glass.  No judging.
5. I don't give up easily.  Even though I usually think of myself as the queen of starting things, I am learning to finish things too.  I don't like letting myself down, and have figured out what things are really important to me.  Those are the things I'm finishing.  I'm a finisher :)

I know that I have easily sweated out my body weight in this last two weeks, and I also know that I will go back again and again.  In a year that is about flexibility, I am learning so much more... but I guess that was the point all along.

I hope you all have a happy weekend!

Chicken

Out of all my bad qualities - and there's a boatload of them - I think stubbornness might be the worst one of them all.

I also think Toby would agree with this statement ever day and twice on Sunday.

For instance, I'll give you just a small sample of how stubbornness can make or break a morning commute.

Have you noticed that with all of the snow we've gotten this winter the streets are more narrow?  I mean, two cars can barely pass each other without taking off a side mirror.  (This is where I spill my gratitude that I'm not one of those unfortunate parents teaching their kids to drive right now ;))

Anyways, every morning every single freaking morning, I turn down the side street to the STA back entrance -  you know the one that's narrow on a bright summer day, let alone with forty inches of snow pushing it's way into the street- and there's not one, but a line of school busses coming at me.  Yep, that's me, playing chicken every morning with the busses, just waiting to see who will move into the snowbank and who will drive comfortably down the street.

Needless to say, my little zippy car doesn't have four wheel drive, but oh how I wish it did, because I lose the battle every.  freaking.  morning.

Chicken is the new line rage, and this makes line rage look adorable.

Blake is scared $#@less every morning and braces himself when we make that turn.  This morning he asked to leave earlier (than 7:25) just to avoid the busses.  We made it almost to the stop sign when we saw the first bus take the corner and line up with me.  RATS!

When we mentioned our daily game of chicken with the busses, Toby simply asked why we don't go the long way, and I looked at him like he was crazy.  Does he even know who I am???

I didn't have the guts to tell Toby that going the long way had never crossed my mind (and it truly didn't).  I wasn't looking for a solution... only a way to beat the busses.

That, my friends, is stubbornness at it's worst.

I hope this brings a smile to your face today, and that you all have a happy bus-free Monday!

#tbt

Time flies.
Years pass.
Kids grow up.

While we are busy carpooling, making lunches, setting up play dates, shuttling to practices, and helping with homework, moments turn into memories.

And nothing can make you feel older than a throwback Thursday.  I look at pictures and wonder where did the time go?  I have a love/hate thing going on with the whole aging process.

On one side we know more than we did when they were little.  Things like sleepless nights and endless feedings are adorable compared to the gray hair moments of driving with a newly-permitted driver...

Or trying to stay awake till they're home.

Or wondering if even a community college will accept them after this year of math... again.

Or if they're doing drugs, or having sex, or still love their parents.

I feel like if you knew how you'd feel when they were in their teens before you became pregnant, there would be fewer kids in the world.  Parenting is not for the faint at heart nor for the weak.  

On the other side, where would we be without them?  I know for a fact that life wouldn't be the same without the issues, the problems, the sarcasm, the hugs, the singing (thank you Blake), the games, the practices, the friends, and the laughter.  

Life isn't simple and rarely goes as we planned.  It's best to keep a flexible attitude and learn to think quickly on your feet.  Life isn't supposed to be perfect, so stop trying to fit into a mold that will never fit.  Good, bad, and ugly, your family - your life - is just that.  Yours.  And learning to accept it, and love it, will ease some of the aging process.

And when in doubt a glass of wine will usually make everything seem okay... at least for the moment.

Happy #TBT my friends.