tree. and triangle. funerals. and thankfulness.

the yoga tree pose has got to be one of my favorites.
besides, you know, the triangle --which i was doing the other night [this post has been stuck in draft for a month], in the first and very boring [utterly inactive] game of volleyball with the fam.
it was a random bonus that i was wearing yoga clothes that night.
even though yoga clothes aren't necessarily suggested for playing volleyball in humid conditions....that's way beside the point. ;)

so, the way abc of yoga says to go into the triangle pose, i don't do it that way. :P
hah.

this is my favorite yoga picture, though. ^^ love the brick wall.

this site: abc of yoga--has the best instructions to assume the pose.

of course, i look just like this when i do it.
actually, i looked like jeans and purple-and-green tank tops and messy ponytail with a mug of french roast in one hand, poser in the other.

yeppers.
it's a very relaxing pose, i say.

this is the best picture yoga had. i think i'm going to go do it again. and read a book . . . or something.

so. onto present-day happenings.
we just got back from a funeral.
we've got another one to go to, tomorrow.
today's was a little boy --8yrs old-- who died last week, after a couple years of battling brain [stem?] cancer.
tomorrow's funeral, the wife of one of dad's older brothers. complications with circulation and diabetes. it's sad.

three funerals in less than three months.
i don't like funerals.
but, as callous as this may sound, they're easier to attend if you didn't live with and care for them and make close family memories and see them in their bed for the last time and watch them, already gone, be taken out of the house by the funeral director.
to much information?
it's just easier when you haven't done all the above with/for them.
but it's pretty heart wrecking when it's a child's funeral, no matter how close you are to the family.

dad holding eliyah [justin and sarah's first]

music and picture slideshows . . . that's what gets to me.
it was a beautiful day out today.
i brought my camera to the graveside service.

darling sons of a friend, all done up in suits.

balloons were given out, and it was amazing, watching them all float up in the wind, drifting far far away.
because the boy's dad is [or has been] in the service, there were several of his friends there in uniform also.
i've never been to a funeral [in real life] with so many men in uniform. it's something i've only read about or seen on t.v. weird concept, yes?
now, since you know i couldn't go a post without a slideshow . . .

i'm very thankful God made us with two feet.
it's a wonderful thing to walk on two feet.
not the best experience to only be able to hop on one.
so . . . be thankful for your good-working feet.
weird thankfulness rant: over. :)

i'm thankful for siblings who randomly sing catchy oldies like "a guy is a guy" on the way home from funerals.
i'm thankful for freshly-brewed italian roast coffee by trader joe's.
i'm thankful for tonight --time with girlfriends of all ages.
i'm thankful for the chance to rip my wallet painfully open to have a chance to listen to josh groban, live.
i'm thankful for my nikon, and all the memories i captured at the funeral today.

on another note, i have no idea yet what i'm wearing to said josh groban concert. maybe that blue shabby apple one . . . .

artistic endeavors: birds.

may 17-20

sigh. the spring.

the afternoon i came home from talking with susan, i started on this.

inspired by this. a file she gave me.
and . . . i continued it the next day.
because artificial light is pretty darn near the top of the list of things that cork my inspiration. it's true. another thing for my ocd list coming soon to you all . . . someday.

fun stuff, penciling it in, i say.

now for a slideshow of the progression, because it's just way more fun watching it than scrolling through. :)

those of you who are friends with me on fb, know that this canvas took a lot of work, time, concentration. plus, it's something i've never done before: birds. so . . . this one's expensive. el oh el.

news: eliyah's lil brother was born last night:) i mentioned the any-time-ness of it in my last post.
his name is zechariah. and he looks so much like her. it's the sweetest thing. :)

ever had someone think they could pour themselves a cup of coffee in the middle of the drip-brewing process? and then they think you, the main coffee person in the house, won't hear the sizzle of drips on the hot plate, scorching away in the silence of a napping house?
um.
yeah.
i hope someone just learned their lesson. :)
it's not cool with me.

the early afternoon of the fourth, i spent some time editing the rendition anna wrote up of her latest birth she was a doula at. since i emailed it to myself, and i failed to save it as something more than opening it and editing it in read-only --how did that slip past me? urgh-- i ended up editing it twice. nearly two thousand words, read and reread and all that stuff.
mainly, i do enjoy editing. that occured to me as i was in the process of it, listening to various songs by emery. strangest birth-story-editing music ever, now that i see this all typed out. hah.

it's a strange feeling to not have posted since sunday.
it felt good but lazy to let it slide. besides, as if i have anything exciting in my life right now anyhow.
lots of thoughts. [most of them too much or not enough to publish.] some good conversations. and oh, i guess i do have paintings to post. [but what's a painting post without something to say? oh. yes. a wordless day.] a few more canvases, anyhow. i'm working on one, it's nearly halfway done. the quote is still in pencil.

today we watched a cousin's adorable little boy--anna's godson.

oh boy. i forgot how hilarious it was at the park earlier.
sigh.
i cannot resist another slideshow.

 

mulberries are the bomb. and . . . the crying pictures? i was enthusiastically telling anna about the kids eating mulberries yesterday also [and the gorgeous mess of them] and he burst into tears. sigh. it wasn't like he hated me; i held him before that and he was quiet and happy. he missed his mum and dad on and off for a while there, was hungry, got tired, but he loved being outside.

i should've just done a post of "slideshows of yesterday and today" with the park and yesterday's mulberry adventures and swimming adventures documented there. sheesh.
oh well.

sidenote: yesterday i started reading this book.

i hope you all are having a wonderfee wednesday:)

i. love. yoga.

Monday November 29

6:40ish p.m.
Yoga. Is. Amazing. 

It's raining tonight.
We started off at 5:20, and the class starts at 5:30.
"There better not be any guys there tonight." I told Anna this, because I left my hair up in the bun I've been wearing all day. Then it wouldn't get in my face and in my way, as Anna warned me.
There were 8-10 other people there. {there were only about 3 when Anna went for her first time last week.} And, well, there was one guy there--with his fiancee. And we were one of the last ones to arrive. Ah, well.

The room is large.
Uncluttered.
Arranged pleasing to the eye.
Pale wood floors stretch out the space and most likely glow when the sun is up. like in the picture above, taken from their site.
Deep breathing.
For an hour.
Some moves--like the balancing Warrior, that one was a killer.
There was one move that had you folded in half, hands touching your ankles, standing up. That made my feet numb-like and tingly.
Okay. I'm seriously starting to feel poetic. Er....eloquent.... er....creative-writingish. Writing mojo. Yoga gave it back to me for a moment there. Maybe this is a better idea than I thought... :)

I'm just trying to write some thoughts before I go down the the chaos of the main floor here at home.
I just got home from an hour of yoga with my sister, Anna. (check out my list of family and friends who are prominent in my life:)
My goodness.
I'm preparing myself for the rate of $12 per class.....can I pull that??
I absolutely loved it.
And the instructor lady was around 40, had dark hair, and a slight British accent.
Talk about lovely.
Ah, well.
I'm hungry and someone's vacuuming downstairs.
Life goes on.
It's those really lovely moments --at home or otherwise-- that you take in with a deep breath and cherish.

......The kitchen is a wreck, because the girls have taken a great interest in pasta making, and Caleb doesn't feel like doing dishes at all until later in the day......

........^^Light fixture the men put up today...... Ah, all the cleaning and organizing to do... hehe:)
Gosh, don't y'all feel so at home. Everyone has messes in their kitchen. Hah! I'll have you know, that by around 10pm, these counters were pretty darn beautiful. I was proud of Caleb. He made it spic-n-span. :)

So...I did, indeed, wear pajama bottoms to the yoga class. They happen to be ones Anna gave me for my birthday in February. [Don't judge; it's a hard life without your own camera.....um...I may have had to use my toe to press the clicker to take this picture with my webcam. hehe.]

:)
Well, it's dinner time.

Pre-dinner salad. Don't do it all the time, but I ripped a ton of leaf lettuce earlier, so......
Lettuce, pecan bits, balsamic vinegar/olive oil/garlic dressing......
Amazing.