WEverb 11 day 6: Travel

So last year one of the blogs I've read the longest, Bella's, did monthly posts in December called Reverb (I think that's a label I used on my posts, so you can see examples if you want).  It was a fun series of daily prompts.  After reading her first post or two, I jumped on the bandwagon and did the posts as well.  I got behind a couple times, but I would catch up on older posts when I had time.

Well, with a new job this year, an intense yoga month in November that made me far less prepared for the holidays than I usually am, and probably more blogs that I now enjoy reading, I've had less time to write this year. But I still read Bella's blog, so I saw that though there wasn't Reverb this year, there's something similar called WEverb. 

Today I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon, but the prompt on the website is actually yesterday's prompt (or I read a post on the topic yesterday).  But since it's one of my favorite topics, I'll go with it!


As you know, we love to travel.  Our big spring trip this year was to Boston (for the marathon), then on to Italy and Paris.  In Italy, we first went to Pizzo, then Lamezia, then we drove to Lecce (and did a day trip to Santa Maria de Leuca and to Gallipoli), then we flew to Paris to wrap up the trip. 

Very tough to say the favorite part of the trip. 

The marathon was insanely awesome (I already reviewed it).  It is possibly my favorite marathon, possibly because it took me many attempts to get fast enough to qualify.  The marathon happened to be on our second anniversary, so we had a fabulous celebration dinner.

I also loved Easter lunch in Italy with my husband's family.  The food was possibly the best meal I've ever eaten in my entire life.  And sitting around the table with hubby's aunt (who wasn't well this year), uncle, and many cousins and some cousins' kids, laughing, struggling to understand them when they spoke in dialect, and conversing to the best of my ability (helped by wine).  Ah, what a day.  I felt dangerously like I would hurl if anyone touched me or if I bumped into something the rest of the day, but so worth it! 

And I would put the day in Paris that we ate crepes, went up the Eiffel Tower, wandered along the Seine, found an adorable cozy restaurant for dinner, and then hiked the steps to Sacre Coeur as one of my favorite memories of all time.

So all 3 of those landmark events were on our trip this year -- favorite though?  I guess I'm going to say Paris.  But tough call.

Our other travel for the year was mostly for family weddings -- Detroit (a little jaunt to Canada), and Milwaukee, ah yes, my brothers picked lovely wedding cities.  Haha.  They were still both wonderful events and I loved the family time.  And there was last month's trip to San Antonio for the marathon, which was a fun visit with a friend.  But I'd put a night in Paris with hubby and no one else as my favorite part of my 2011 travels. 

And for the final part of the question (wait, why would they limit a question about next year's travels to people who didn't travel in 2011?  that doesn't make any sense!), 2012 travel plans.  I think there will of course be our 1 big annual trip, and 2 running trips and 2 family/friends trips. 

First, a friends trip -- Mardi Gras in Mobile in February with my bestie.  Hubby doesn't love going (he thinks the whole clan/society thing is creepy, elitist and racist), but I adore the time with her.  She has two little kids now (twins), so it will no doubt be calmer than years past (well, Mobile is always calm and sedate compared to New Orleans).  Still should be a fun long weekend.

Second, a running trip -- White Sands, New Mexico in March, probably solo.  Hubby probably won't join me because a couple days after this marathon, he's going to Italy without me.  But I am finally going to do the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon.  With weight.  That means I will (hopefully) be carrying 35 pounds throughout the race -- a very small amount of pain to commemorate the sacrifice of all those men in Bataan.  Fortunately, if I stop running or walking to rest for a few minutes and take off my pack, no one will behead me.  I think it will be one of my most difficult undertakings ever.  Hubby actually is far from convinced I will succeed.  But we shall see...

Then a long, hot summer in Dallas with no trips.

Third, another running trip POSSIBLY in August to run H2C in Oregon.  This is so tentative.  Just yesterday (12-6-11), I was invited to run on a Hood to Coast relay team by a former colleague.  You go from Mt Hood to the coast, 197 miles, over 2 days, running 3 legs of a relay, less than 20 miles total per runner.  I'd love to do that race someday, and given that all I'd have to pay for is airfare and hotel, it seems like this would be the perfect year to do it.  It's hard to get in because the race fills up fast, and this team is already in.  I'm leaning toward doing it, but planning to call a couple friends who've done it before in the next couple days to pick their brains. 

Fourth, a family trip -- brother's wedding in Milwaukee in September.  Love the family time, especially since given the other 2012 travels planned, I don't see a lot of time visiting with them before this wedding.

Fifth, our big annual trip.  The plan is to go to China in October.  We'd like to do Beijing (I actually want to run the marathon there, but, FRUSTRATION, though the marathon is only 10 months away, they haven't announced the date (or even whether there will be a marathon) and the website is useless, just 2011 info), then go to Xian, then to Chongqing, then to Yichang, then end up the trip in Shanghai.  I'm nervous about the trip -- logistics of the marathon, logistics of everything else, language, food, etc., but it's somewhere I've wanted to go for so long and I think it will be interesting, informative, memorable and beautiful. 

Oh, and then of course trip 6 -- home for Christmas.

I guess we'll have to squeeze in a trip to Pittsburgh during the year too to see hubby's parents.  He'll see them in March and April around the Italy trip, but maybe we can make it out there together in the summer or fall.

Travel. Where did you travel this year? What was your favorite part? If you didn’t get to travel, where do you want to go next year?

Yoga Weeks 3 and 4

So my final update from my month of yoga...  Sorry for the lack of notes toward the end. 

Friday, 11-18, class 12, aka:  The BREAKTHROUGH.  Best class yet.  Domenic was the instructor and all of a sudden, it all seemed to click.  There were several postures where I felt like I hadn't even been close and I was staying in step 1 -- and on a vast majority of them on Friday, I went to step 2! 

Saturday, 11-19, class 13.  No notes from this class so can't have been too memorable...

Sunday, 11-20, class 14.  Domenic again, nothing notable. 

Monday, 11-21, class 15, new-to-me instructor Karen.  She was very cheerful and friendly and I liked her.  I had lots of trouble "being present."  Big week at work next week and it was on my mind a lot.  I felt like the class went fairly well in terms of what I could accomplish, but whenever we were supposed to lie still, I found myself making mental lists of the first things I wanted to do the next morning when I got to work.  It was like the instructor could read my mind.  When we moved from the standing series to the floor series (about the halfway point), we lay there calmly for about 2 minutes.  She kept telling us to relax everything, to sink into the floor, to relax even our eyes and our jaws.  She said something like if you're having trouble focusing your mind, focus instead on your breathing.  And I could do that for about 2-3 breaths, then it was remembering something else to do at work.  The good news is though, I asked for some tips afterward about how to fix this AND on Tuesday morning I remembered all that I'd wanted to do and got it done!  Score! 

Tuesday, 11-22, class 16, new-to-me maybe instructor David or Daniel.  I might have had him before.  Crowded class and I walked in right before we started, so I was way at the back.  Not so balanced, and didn't feel very energetic.  I actually considered sitting out a couple postures, but I didn't.  We sang happy birthday during each set of the triangle posture to someone in the class.  That was really funny.

Wed., 11-23, class 17.  No notes, not very full.

Fri., 11-25, class 18.  No notes, again, didn't feel very flexible.

Sat., 11-26, class 19.  No notes, average class.

Sun., 11-27, class 20.  Went to the 8:00 a.m. class -- right after my last group run before the White Rock marathon next weekend.  We had a short taper run, only 9 miles, and it was very cold out.  Crazy cold for Dallas.  Like on par with the lowest temperatures we generally see in a year.  So going to hot yoga afterward sounded perfect.  We had a little post-run party so I ate one mini red velvet cupcake, and I had some fruit -- and yuck.  Not good at yoga.  The strangest thing about this class was my lack of sweat.  I know the sequence of postures well -- first a breathing exercise (two sets), then side stretches to each side, then backward bending, then forward bending, then back to each side, another backward, and another forward.  Usually on the first forward bend, I can see the sweat on my calves and on my feet.  And usually on the second, it is beginning to drip off me.  This time I basically went through the entire first half of class without sweating or feeling warm.  I wonder if I was just too cold from the run?  Either way, it freaked me out a little.  But by the time we were laying down for the floor series, I'd started sweating and that made me feel a little more normal.  I don't think I'll go straight from a weekend distance run (even if it's only 9 miles) directly to yoga again.  Not only was there the lack of sweat, it was also a little nerve-wracking trying to make sure I'd brought everything I needed for both exercise sessions, to make sure I was running the right pace to be done in time, and most of all, it was my least flexible class.  Maybe I just didn't have enough leg strength, but my balance was off and I found myself falling out of almost all the postures I tried, and there were some where I didn't really try.  Disappointing class.

Mon., 11-28, class 21.  No notes, nothing remarkable.

Wed., 11-30, class 22.  New to me instructor Julie.  Who proceeded to cough throughout class.  It was awful.  At one point, we went into the bow pose on the floor.  You lay on your stomach and reach back for your legs.  When you have your legs, the instructor tells you to hold on and kick.  Well, we grabbed our legs, there was no "kick" cue, just a coughing fit, then she said to come out.  So we had to do that posture a total of 3 times instead of the usual 2.  I think I'm lucky to have a job where I can usually go if I'm sick -- I work in my own office, so I can just shut my door and minimize the time I spend at my secretary's desk or in the halls or colleagues' offices.  My husband doesn't have a job where he do a competent job when he's sick, so when he's sick, he stays home.  I think yoga teachers should be in that latter category -- if you're sick, get someone else to teach your class instead of hacking away and making us paranoid about germs thriving in 105 degrees.  It was also the complete opposite of relaxing or calming to listen to her coughing.  And just so you know, I had another reason why I didn't like her -- it was weird, but she almost seemed cliquish.  She kept talking about how she hadn't practiced in a week and someone in the class had watched her cat or something, and asking how mutual acquaintances were, etc.  I'm sure most the instructors know some of the students very well, but no other instructor has every made it seem like such a clique, and so exclusive.  When she said she'd be teaching again tomorrow, that was almost enough for me to decide to skip what I planned to be my final class.

Thurs., Dec. 1, class 23.  Last class of the month.  I went in the morning (no group run because of the taper), and I worried I'd have the only other instructor I don't like too much -- the unsolicited advice one from a couple weeks ago.  Or that I'd have Julie from the night before.  But I didn't.  It was Dave again, and he gave me some good tips, and it was a pretty good class. 

I went ahead and paid for another month, but the good thing is that you have 30 days to activate the month, so I may wait until after I'm back here from Christmas to start the month so that I won't be out of town at all.  I'd hate to activate my month and then miss a week of it for traveling home.  But one of my good friends is starting her month in the next week or so, and it might be fun to go with her. 

In the nearly week since I've stopped, I think I might feel a little more stressed and definitely more bloated.  It was nice feeling like so much sweat poured out of me each day.  I miss it and think doing one more month will be fun.

I don't think I'll continue after that month though.  It's just too time-consuming.  I feel like when I'm doing it, that all I do is workout in the morning, work all day, yoga at night, then sleep.  I was barely seeing my husband at all, and nothing was getting done at home.  That's particularly incompatible with Christmastime, when I need to be wrapping and working on writing cards in the evenings, but it's also incompatible with having a communication-filled marriage, which is kind of necessary I think.  Yoga put us on very different schedules.  I didn't want to give up my morning routine (boot camp with hubby (but we can't really talk there) and running with my buddies).  I have to spend the day at work in order to, you know, pay the mortgage (and pay for yoga and running and the rest of life), and that pretty much leaves the 6:30 p.m. class as the only weekday option for me.  So I'd get home at 8:15ish, and hubby was already heading to bed then, since he gets up so early.  I'd still have to eat dinner and shower. 

Very time-consuming, and certainly worth it to me to do in the short-term, but not something I would like to do long-term because it's just not a high enough priority to displace something else I commit time to.

I feel like I worked a part-time job for the month of November that basically took an extra 15-20 hours every week away from being at home.  Tough!  But like I said, if I had more free time, I loved it and would keep it up.

Now my question is how much fitness and flexibility I will lose by going about a month without doing it??!!  I guess I'll see when I go back next week or, more likely, Dec. 26. 

FMM: I AM...

I'm going to have to do a long post soon about our local marathon yesterday (best described as buckets of cold rain), my relay team, and my attempt to host a post-race party (let's say "fail"). 

But today, I just want to write something and then focus on my work.  Why I don't just work, I can't say -- mabye a blog post will let me focus on something else for a while, then I can put my whole mind into work.

Enter ready-made topic!  Friend-Making Mondays. 

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: http://www.alltheweigh.com/ so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
FMM: I am…

1. I am good at… proof-reading (though this blog is not a good example), committing to plans that I make (exercise-wise, socially, whatever, I'm very reliable). 

2. I am happy when… I feel like my life is in balance -- filling my days with interesting and somewhat-frantic work; exercising -- ideally running, lifting and yoga, sometimes all three in one day; eating food that I enjoy; spending time with family and friends.  I feel like happy is my word of the year this year -- mostly because of my job change this year.  What a difference those 50ish hours per week make! 
3. I am working on…learning to speak a bit of Chinese, and running (or jogging) while wearing weights. 
4. I am interested in…traveling primarily! 
5. I am always… aware of when and where our next big vacation will be. 
6. I am enjoying… getting ready for Christmas.  Need more time, but I still enjoy it. 
7. I am in… love with a husband who is sweeter to me than I deserve. 
8. I am reading… lots of things:  Traffic:  Why We Drive the Way We Do; Eclipse (Twilight series); and Ursula Under. 
9. I am concerned about… my March marathon plans and how I will be prepared to run my first marathon while carrying weight. 
10. I am looking forward to… it all!  From an awesome dinner this weekend, to holiday baking next weekend, to going home for Christmas, to coming back to Dallas for an exciting 2012. 
Now it’s your turn! If you answer, post a link to your responses on the alltheweigh.com blog.  Now back to work for me! 

Food Coma

So my night of conflicting plans on Tuesday went as well as could be expected. My dinner with work team was a lot of fun, strengthened connections, and included tons of great food and drink. Unfortunately it lasted much longer than I'd expected. I knew a late night was in store when we hadn't even ordered entrees by 8:00. I finally left the restaurant around 10:30, so of course hubby and baby brother were long since done with dinner. I called my brother and found out hubby had gone to bed and my bro and his coworker were at the bar on our block, so I went out to meet them.

That of course meant a very late night for me (considering I usually go to bed shamefully early b/c I get up so early). So no boot camp yesterday morning!

I spent the whole day feeling fairly bloated, full and hung-over. Going to yoga last night was definitely a good plan, and I went back this morning for my final class of the month of yoga. I'll have to do a full post later.

Anyway, thought I'd share a couple pics of first, my veggie plate (au gratin potatoes, grilled jumbo asparagus, mac and cheese, and mushrooms), and then of my way too big dessert (cheesecake, planning to eat the rest of it this afternoon!).

Yum. This is why the period of time between Thanksgiving and New Year's pretty much destroys my plans to eat healthily... Oh, but it's so much fun! And the extra hours of exercise are 100% worth it, since even exercise seems to have a holiday feel -- one of the post-yoga evening events I'm looking forward to the most is an annual run with some running buddies to check out the pretty lights on the houses!