Vida

i made it through winter without getting sick... up until now.  i credited my luck to my extremely strong immune system, which i worked to an all time high while being sick basically all of last winter  4 year olds will do that to you. but yuck. i probably asked for it.  walking in the cold with a tank & boa (moulin rouge themed bachelorette party).  oh i had some gloves too.   yeah i know i asked for it.  but they can smoke in bars in missouri.  who wants to get their coats all smoky?  not i. but i have orange juice.  the good stuff, not from concentrate so i'll just drink more of it. but i wasn't going to let that stop me.  i was determined to take full advantage of my 1st real day off work in weeks. i noticed how badly i've been doing with my new year's resolutions and i refuse to be one of those people who stops before march 1st.  so today i went all in. in one word how would i describe the pedway ? very confusing #1 finding the entrance.  it was my first o

at 96 years old my grandma died thursday, february 17th. i was always "my little Lisa" to her.  then she'd always follow that saying "i have a lot of nerve calling you mine."  but i loved it.   grandma was so accepting.  and she didn't judge.  i mean she was 96.  she was born in 1914.  she grew up in a different time, she she didn't let the changing time faze her.  she just listened & loved.   she never saw anything any of us did as failure, even when we did & were embarrassed to tell her.  she just smoothed it over and somehow made us feel ok again.  we were always perfect in her eyes. she loved beautiful things and fully appreciated them. whenever someone brought her something (usually food) she always wanted to see it before it was set down somewhere.  she was appreciating it fully.    she loved her cards.  she would set them ALL up on her tv for awhile and read them over and over again.  when i left for college she mentioned she wanted me

i always walk on the plane searching for the best middle seat.  southwest of course.  i refuse to pay an additional $10 to pre check-in & board in the A group.  On top of that I always get to the airport at the last minute.  so i bring up the rear. there are very rarely aisle or window seats so i scour for middle spaces without heads, once i see no heads, i take a quick glance at the people surrounding the middle seat. i avoid the men. i swear they think they're entitled to more space than me.  i've gotten off planes all stiff before because i pull myself so tightly small as possible as the guy next to me sprawls out and is clearly in my seat area. today i ended up between TWO!   how you may ask.  i had my eyes on another seat that the person in front of me stole.  i was thrown off guard & without thinking grabbed this one. as i climbed in, i thought i made an awful  mistake as i registered two men & one of them had the arm rest up, the only possible divid

i got to hang out with one of my best friends tonight and i really think it was just what i needed.  not only did i find out she had a blog , but we went to a byow place and really enjoyed that.  and with her the convo just flows.  i love it. actually she reminded me of my love for rodrigo y gabriela (it's a long story).  i remember when i was introduced to them by jacqueline summer of 08 while working at the student life front desk like it was yesterday.  and then i went home and bought the cd.  i love them. look at gabriela's hands i'm back to mo tomorrow after work and i'll be back in chicago on sunday.   have a great weekend everyone!  i can only hope you get some quality time with a friend, just like i had with nez tonight.

you know the route i talked about yesterday? i was bus tracking and missed it!  i take full responsibility.  i was chit chatting with karen. i was determined to catch that bus somewhere down the route (the next one wasn't coming for 17 min).  Since i've done a lot of exploring of different routes in the 3 months i've worked here i took a different bus hoping to catch my bus @ wacker.  we were at the same stoplight & the one i wanted went 1st.  on to plan... c (?).  i would not give up. it was ok though.  it's not frigid today & i was booking it at every transfer so i stayed warm. and i put new music on my ipod last night so that's always exciting. here's one of my favs.  it's actually been a fav for a few months now... i'm not in love with the music video, but the song... yes. oh and i caught my bus at roosevelt!

the mission of the adler i switched up my commute again.  well, i switched up everything besides the running to the bus part.  every morning. after having beautiful weather in missouri this weekend it was rough to come back to snow in my face and the gross cold again.  i decided i just wanted to get on the bus and read.  not transfer at all and be at the adler.  so i tried it.  maybe i just get bored when i get in a rut?  anyway it's been working quite well.  as long as i put myself in a space that's not by the door, which lets cold air in all the time i pull out my book, stick in my music and forget it's still winter.  i'm reading the devil in the white city right now.  and i like it.  although a little disturbing. work started off with an all staff meeting.  it was super interesting actually.  we learned about the possible attempt to get a space shuttle at the adler.  as well as learning more about the sky theater renovation progress and i found out when bike to

sunny with some clouds, beautiful , rainy , sleet i recognize the importance of grieving and that's why i went home this weekend to be with my family.  i'm just really bad at it.  the first person i talked to thursday after work was karen and i yelled at her.  i rarely yell out of anger.  usually just to get people's attention or to be silly.  i totally yelled at her out of anger.  after apologizing several times, we made up.  that would qualify as sleet.   like on my run saturday morning i had a couple blocks of sleet , that wasn't fun. we had a few minor showers saturday though out the day.   friday, basically as soon as i got to st. louis karen informed me i needed to get a shot.  i hate shots.  so thanks to karen's new job... as i drove to my parents' with my mom friday night the smells of cows and skunks became stronger and stronger.   oh and i had the full body scan at the airport before i even knew what was happening.  i think those rays can do some

"nothing in yoga is every perfect.  never" i would like to substitute life for the word yoga.  for some reason it makes me feel better. p.s. i did the plow pose today!

my week started out ...ummm... rough.  there's no way around it.  everything went wrong on our way to park voyagers and we were extremely late.  but the park voyagers week finished out great and we got to work with some great kids.   needless to say after arriving VERY late the first day we were VERY early days 2 & 3.  day 3, it was so pretty (40°) Liz (my park voyagers partner) and i climbed through the snow to go swinging.  i think the last time i went swinging (one of my favorite activities) was in mexico .  waaaaaay too long! throughout the bad parts of the week, i got to drive a hybrid car for the first time and we didn't have any accidents, even though we were in some serious traffic.  things can only go up for park voyagers. today with the beautiful weather, my co-workers and i got really excited, maybe too excited and went out to the beach by work for lunch.  after some food flying around in the wind and i felt like justin bieber how i kept flinging my hair so i

spring training starts today! which is awesome! another season of baseball is on the brink of starting and i can't wait! for cardinals fans the beginning of spring training has way more meaning this year: the deadline to reach a contract agreement with pujols. it's all everyone seems to be talking about. i mean st. louis is a baseball town. some people seem to think the talks could continue, while others say no way . i love pujols, but man talk about drama. i'm totally understanding (well in the way you can understand when i never have been and never will be in a position like that) why he decided not to negotiate at all during the season. money money money. no one knows what actually matters to pujols besides a very few people. some also say the number of years in the contract is important as well. but seriously. " 'south of' $30 million " that's insane. i would never want to think about having that much money. i mean i guess i sort

i can definitely go back and forth on this one, but i think i like valentine's day. awwww man! rent gets me every time. i'm not a person to splurge much, except for the flight that you'll read about in a minute, but that's for my family. anyway back to the splurges. i would totally splurge on a ticket to rent. i just love that show. it might be my fav live performance. if not my fav, very very close to the top. the movie just doesn't do it justice folks. oh but live.... i think i remember crying during this part the first time i saw it live. when karen & i took an impromptu trip to the fox and we were so happy with ourselves when we said "best available" seats (mom & dad treated...and we rehearsed what to say with dad before going). good memories. sorry back to valentine's day... this year the part that pulled me most towards the positive end was in mass they did a blessing of all married couples and had them stand up and hold han

wow what a beautiful day! and us Chicagoans are LOVING it! i took a beautiful walk wearing a sweatshirt. now, i may have been pushing it a little bit, it might not be sweatshirt weather yet, but i didn't care. i did it because i could. after a week of 0 degree temps 40° feels like 60°. mmmm.... this is why i love chicago. and the streets were so full. even as we maneuvered through the huge piles of snow. what a wonderful sunday!

Ganesha graha nakshatra Yogini rashi rupinim Devim mantra mayim naumi Matrika Pitha rupinim I open myself to receive those teachings that reveal the light of knowledge in me. this is the chant from the beginning of class. sundays i started taking a parayoga class. parayoga is a type of yoga that focuses on breath and para (the energy in your body). i would say it's one of the more relaxing yoga classes i take. after feeling gross all day yesterday and having to skip out on one of my friend's birthday's a little early last night. not kidding after spending some time with her and her friends i left early and went to bed. i woke up feeling better...whew. so i needed this morning at the gym, get my immune system back up. i had my cardio then i switched my hair to a braid to get ready for parayoga. we focused on lengthening. just what i need. i'm starting to focus more and more on different variations to deepen and go further in the poses. usually they say here'

i made my way into work this morning and i am not feeling so great. i sat on the bus with my spanish podcast going on my ipod and closed my eyes (once we were off lake shore drive, i always have to appreciate the lake when i'm riding along right next to it) and i tried to pretend the bus wasn't shaking everywhere. but here i am. and then i find out my business cards came in! for real! i'm excited by this. and i had to make a sheet, like a list, of everything i needed to learn when i first started. it's basically a full page. i went through it today and started making Xs in the three columns: observed, co-taught, led. and i am making a lot of progress. so i'm excited about that too. even though i have more to go. little by little. and the weather outside...awesome. things could turn around for my day. i'm going to go make myself some green tea. maybe that will make me feel better?

reminds me of just a ride ...a little. anyway i start out almost not going to the gym...don't worry friends. i went. i get so tired when i don't go. up then the walk to the bus includes cranking up the volume of my music. we know what that means. i don't wanna go... down i started reading Morning Glory yesterday evening because i like to read books before their movie. Super easy read, super chick read, and it was exactly what i needed right now. i was riding along on the el (super cramped this morning) and it was the fastest el ride yet. i was totally laughing. bad? maybe. people were staring. if i read Me Talk Pretty One Day again, I bet i could beat it, but i was definitely a little like a crazy. super de duper read. i finished it. ready for the movie (which is released march 8). up then i got to work and i just don't know. one of my co-workers was making it tough to enjoy her company. i don't know if she was off to a bad start or stre

i suffer from a mild obsession with flash mobs. i can only dream of one day happening to be somewhere when one happens. even better, i would LOVE to be a part of one. oh that would be so fun... here are a couple of my favs. i have to say the commercials get me more (obviously) the whole thing's planned (i think), but i wanted to find an authentic one too... maybe this last one pulls at my heart strings even more because i love the arrival gates at airports. maybe it's because of love actually . maybe it's my memory of finding karen waiting for me after my somewhat traumatic return trip from mexico...maybe that's why i still won't let her throw away the big poster sign she made? HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!

yes! i officially registered for my thi rd marathon this week. i'm actually excited. i even qualified for a coral start so maybe that will make the experience even better. i'm just hoping i'll have the time and commitment to train like i did in 08. i guess ideally i'd like to break that time (3.54) but for now i'm enjoying the off season, rather than being annoyed by it. the cold time, when i'm stuck in the gym. i think of it as a time to work on different areas that are ignored while i'm running. and trying new things. so i'll enjoy that and get back to running long distance in a month or so. i'm not gonna lie. i can't wait 2008-during and afterwards

i started out the morning being pleasantly surprised with my rise 'n shine class at the gym. i have several favorite instructors at the gym and one was subbing for another so i was happy. i was only a little worried because the one who was subbing (John) does a less intense workout when i go to his class than rise 'n shine with Michael usually is. but man he stepped it up and i think i like him so much because he always has something positive to say and fun stories to share with the class. so i got that + an intense cardio workout. then i was able to take one of my favorite yoga classes and man... i feel tired. it literally kicked my butt. maybe because i took a class before it too? i don't know. we did an inversion style class, meaning we were upside down for probably half the class. it's supposed to be energizing and do all these amazing things to your body. i just feel tired. really tired. now i know the plow i am not so good at, but the shoulder stand i l

karen: everyone's saying the last blizzard st. louis had was in 1982. the cardinals won the world series. the last major ice storm was in 2006. the cardinals won the world series. me: so we're going to win the world series???!!!!!?!?!? wishful thinking?

i feel like i'm being flooded with good news yesterday and today. i love it! with the impending blizzard adler is closed for tomorrow. so we get to work from home. yipee! and i have a field trip to lead this afternoon, but then i get to leave early! wow! keep the good news coming. maybe this is a sign i should give february a chance. side story: last week one of my co-workers commented on how january was ending because we don't like january too much and we were excited! she asked me how i like february. i said not so much, but we're both excited for march! so i'm going to take this as a sign. february could be great!

so here i am an extreme novice at new year's resolutions . i think this is the first year i've been pretty serious about it ... ever. so i'm going to check-in every month and reflect back to how i'm doing. museums i started my new year's resolution: see more of chicago out strong: January 2nd first stop the art institute for their ballplayers, gods & rainmaker kings: masterpieces from ancient mexico (jugadores de pelots, dioses y ritos reales de renovación: obras maestras del méxico antiguo) "seventeen sculptures-many of which have never been shown in the US-offer insight into the indigenous Mexican civilizations that flourished between 900 bc & ad 1521. The Art Institute collaborated on this exhibition with the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City & the Museo Arqueológico de Xalapa." an exhibit commemorating Mexico's bicentennial There wasn't a lot to see, which is kind-of perfect for me. I got in free with my