I have just finished a month of a special at Black Crow Yoga in Arlington. $30 for 30 days of unlimited yoga. I probably attended 12 classes and they were all terrific. They have excellent instructors there, and I felt challenged every day that I went. It is a small, aesthetic studio in Arlington Center, and with no traffic I can get there in 12 minutes. As well, a friend joined at the same time an we have a coffee date at Barismo in Arlington Center after our yoga. Go there if you are in the area. It is a real treat.
I started looking for a studio when my favorite teacher was not rehired at the Woburn YMCA, because she visit her home country and family every summer and they did not rehire her the last two summers she has gone. I understand that they cannot keep the slot open for 6 weeks, while she is away. However, she is technically the best instructor. I tried the other classes and they were not up to the quality of Ruth's classes. They were too gentle, too short and not personal enough. Some of them were just not good yoga teachers.
SO now I have a decision. Join Black Crow for $89/month for unlimited yoga or try to piece a yoga practice attending the ones at the Y that challenge me, and finding Ruth, or Ruth like instructors in other venues. My considerations are 1) flexibility, 2) timing, 4) my travel calendar and 4) quality of yoga.
Black Crow wins on the 4th one, and the Y wins on the other 3.
I met with the new operations person at the Y on Thursday, and shared with him my concerns and the history of yoga and yoga instructors. I don't think he knew what hit him when he scheduled this meeting. He is only a month on his job and promised to get back to me after doing his research into this.
In my 5 years there the yoga/wellness programs have deteriorated. I attend primarily for the yoga however, I do other things as well. When I had injuries last year, I used the recumbent bike and elliptical, and I did some water aerobics. For flexibility the Y wins.
My decision is made and staying at the Y makes the most sense. I will then take one class a week at Black Crow when they have their $10 community drop in. It is not perfect but the best for me right now. I will miss my coffee dates at Barisimo after yoga though.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Sabbath - Weekends last forever now
I don't mean to rub it in, but our family no longer has "weekends", as in the two days of the week to travel, get errands done, socialize, tour, visit etc.
I realized this last night when we planned our next visit to our grand daughter. My thinking is still locked into having to travel on the weekend to see her, oh and her father and mother. I had a sinking feeling in my heart that it would be months before we could get up to see her.
"Well, we could go up in the middle of the week!" Rod said. Yes we can and we will!
This is going to take some adjustment in my thinking. We have segmented our daily living into weekdays and weekends, and in fact they have these names. I sometimes wonder how we did all we did when we had two children at home, both worked full time and in there somewhere I got my Master's.
Recently our minister preached on the Sabbath and it has gotten me thinking about what 24 hours we could celebrate the Sabbath. The challenge would be to put away our electronics, and TV. It means to really honor the time period and rest and reflect and enjoy life slowed down.
I guess we could start in a shorter segment, which we did by attending the Vespers last Friday night at First Parish Lexington.
SO if you are looking for us in the middle of next week, we will be in Vermont visiting Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh and her parents. I guess we should let them know.........
I realized this last night when we planned our next visit to our grand daughter. My thinking is still locked into having to travel on the weekend to see her, oh and her father and mother. I had a sinking feeling in my heart that it would be months before we could get up to see her.
"Well, we could go up in the middle of the week!" Rod said. Yes we can and we will!
This is going to take some adjustment in my thinking. We have segmented our daily living into weekdays and weekends, and in fact they have these names. I sometimes wonder how we did all we did when we had two children at home, both worked full time and in there somewhere I got my Master's.
Recently our minister preached on the Sabbath and it has gotten me thinking about what 24 hours we could celebrate the Sabbath. The challenge would be to put away our electronics, and TV. It means to really honor the time period and rest and reflect and enjoy life slowed down.
I guess we could start in a shorter segment, which we did by attending the Vespers last Friday night at First Parish Lexington.
SO if you are looking for us in the middle of next week, we will be in Vermont visiting Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh and her parents. I guess we should let them know.........
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Zuzu pictures are like greeting cards from Bermuda
When Rod and I met in 1985, it was prior to email. After I left Bermuda, having met him and fallen totally over heels in love, our first cards to each other crossed in the mail. For the next 18 months we both wrote 1 card a day to each other. At first, I would read every card every night. That became unwieldy when I received more than 20 cards, so I would read just the most recent ones. Occasionally, when I was really missing him, I would read them all.
Similarly the same feeling is happening with Zuzu pictures. My wonderful son and his wife are supplying me with daily texts of photos of Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh. The first day of her life I spent many hours looking at recent pictures. In fact, at George and Judy's house the night of her birth, 5 devices were being looked at with pictures of Zuzu (her nickname).
I have been putting the pictures in a Picasa Web Album and when I get bored, curious, angry, happy, content, depressed, etc, I pull up that album. She is now 16 days old, so the album is getting BIG. I know the novelty of having a granddaughter will wear off, but my delight of looking at the most recent picture will not and I will occasionally go back when she is 20 and look at the entire album.
Technology has changed in the last 28 years, but not the delight at reading/watching communication from/of loved ones.
Similarly the same feeling is happening with Zuzu pictures. My wonderful son and his wife are supplying me with daily texts of photos of Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh. The first day of her life I spent many hours looking at recent pictures. In fact, at George and Judy's house the night of her birth, 5 devices were being looked at with pictures of Zuzu (her nickname).
I have been putting the pictures in a Picasa Web Album and when I get bored, curious, angry, happy, content, depressed, etc, I pull up that album. She is now 16 days old, so the album is getting BIG. I know the novelty of having a granddaughter will wear off, but my delight of looking at the most recent picture will not and I will occasionally go back when she is 20 and look at the entire album.
Technology has changed in the last 28 years, but not the delight at reading/watching communication from/of loved ones.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Black Crow Yoga versus the YMCA
I joined the Woburn Y over 6 years ago, and immediately started going to their morning yoga class on Thursday mornings. At the time I had Lenore, and loved her. I just did the yoga and left for the final relaxation pose, because I was off to work. Very silly looking back at that, but this is how I got into a regular yoga practice.
Upon retirement, I attended yoga at the Y at least 2 times a week and fell in love with Ruth who is a fantastic practitioner. I tried other instructors as well, and Marilyn at the Y is a close second to Ruth in terms of her expertise and depth of yoga training. The Y also has some other teachers who are not as good as these two.
Ruth is from Switzerland and goes to visit her daughters and grand children every summer for 6 weeks. For the last two summers, the Y has refused to rehire Ruth for her regular Wednesday and Friday morning classes. She has a regular following who were disappointed by this. I have filled out no less than 10 comment cards about this, 3 in the last 3 months. I decided yesterday that I needed to kick it up a level. At the front desk I asked to talk to the person responsible for hiring the yoga teachers. Lucky for me, maybe, the Executive Director was walking by at that moment and listened to my concerns. He took my email and we will see what happens. I don't want to leave the Y, because I like to support the community. However, I have to have a regular yoga practice and I now know the difference in instructors.
I belong to the Y primarily for the yoga. I am definitely in a minority given the size of their small studio dedicated to yoga and the size of their space dedicated to weight machines and cardio machines. I understand that they have to satisfy all of their constituents and that many people do not attend the yoga classes. Maybe I have gotten an incredible bargain by paying $40 a month for over 7 years and getting Ruth and Marilyn's expertise. It is possible to attend Ruth's classes at the Winchester Senior Center as a drop in or to attend her classes through Arlington Continuing Ed. I have thought about doing this but have resisted, because I want to go one place for my exercise.
Three weeks ago I researched yoga studios. Our local one in Lexington would cost me $14-$18 a session and after paying $40 a month that seems like a lot. In my research I found Black Crow in Arlington. I bought their 30 days for $30 deal and am attending whenever I can. I love the challenge on my body of this studio and all of their teachers; so far I have taken 4 classes. They have similar rates as our local Lexington Power Yoga studio. After my 30 days runs out, I may try Lexington's, as much yoga in a week as you can take for $20.
So I have gotten an incredible deal for 5 years at our local Y, and unless I can get the quality of Ruth or Marilyn in a morning yoga class, I may be paying triple that amount at Black Crow or Lexington Power Yoga. Yoga feeds my spirit, body and soul and $140 a month is worth it. This means that I will have to get my cardio by walking or biking. In the summer I do that outside anyway. The winters will be the difficult when the ice and snow prevent walking the bike path. Then I can go walk at the mall I guess.
We will see if anyone calls me back from the Y. I don't feel listened to so far having left 3 comment cards in 3 months with my call back number. I don't expect them to cater to my need for yoga if the rest of their constituents want other exercise programs. I will be taking care of myself though and intend to make sure my body, spirit and soul are kept healthy with a good yoga practice.
Upon retirement, I attended yoga at the Y at least 2 times a week and fell in love with Ruth who is a fantastic practitioner. I tried other instructors as well, and Marilyn at the Y is a close second to Ruth in terms of her expertise and depth of yoga training. The Y also has some other teachers who are not as good as these two.
Ruth is from Switzerland and goes to visit her daughters and grand children every summer for 6 weeks. For the last two summers, the Y has refused to rehire Ruth for her regular Wednesday and Friday morning classes. She has a regular following who were disappointed by this. I have filled out no less than 10 comment cards about this, 3 in the last 3 months. I decided yesterday that I needed to kick it up a level. At the front desk I asked to talk to the person responsible for hiring the yoga teachers. Lucky for me, maybe, the Executive Director was walking by at that moment and listened to my concerns. He took my email and we will see what happens. I don't want to leave the Y, because I like to support the community. However, I have to have a regular yoga practice and I now know the difference in instructors.
I belong to the Y primarily for the yoga. I am definitely in a minority given the size of their small studio dedicated to yoga and the size of their space dedicated to weight machines and cardio machines. I understand that they have to satisfy all of their constituents and that many people do not attend the yoga classes. Maybe I have gotten an incredible bargain by paying $40 a month for over 7 years and getting Ruth and Marilyn's expertise. It is possible to attend Ruth's classes at the Winchester Senior Center as a drop in or to attend her classes through Arlington Continuing Ed. I have thought about doing this but have resisted, because I want to go one place for my exercise.
Three weeks ago I researched yoga studios. Our local one in Lexington would cost me $14-$18 a session and after paying $40 a month that seems like a lot. In my research I found Black Crow in Arlington. I bought their 30 days for $30 deal and am attending whenever I can. I love the challenge on my body of this studio and all of their teachers; so far I have taken 4 classes. They have similar rates as our local Lexington Power Yoga studio. After my 30 days runs out, I may try Lexington's, as much yoga in a week as you can take for $20.
So I have gotten an incredible deal for 5 years at our local Y, and unless I can get the quality of Ruth or Marilyn in a morning yoga class, I may be paying triple that amount at Black Crow or Lexington Power Yoga. Yoga feeds my spirit, body and soul and $140 a month is worth it. This means that I will have to get my cardio by walking or biking. In the summer I do that outside anyway. The winters will be the difficult when the ice and snow prevent walking the bike path. Then I can go walk at the mall I guess.
We will see if anyone calls me back from the Y. I don't feel listened to so far having left 3 comment cards in 3 months with my call back number. I don't expect them to cater to my need for yoga if the rest of their constituents want other exercise programs. I will be taking care of myself though and intend to make sure my body, spirit and soul are kept healthy with a good yoga practice.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Mémère
Polaroid gave me some important things. Two of those are Bethany's name and my grand mother name. I worked with someone who's daughter was named Bethany. We worked together on a Holiday party. I heard the name that day and pretty much was sold on the name over any other one we talked about. Fortunately Rod agreed, because this event was before I met him.
Mémère comes from my friend Kris (Priscilla). She was a Mémère when I worked with her and she was a damn good one. She is of French Canadian descent and this is what they call the grandmother. It has such a wonderful sound and of all the names I contemplated it seems to work for me. I knew almost since I heard Kris use that name that if I were ever to become a grandmother, that was the name I wanted my grandchildren to call me. Truth be told, she will call me whatever she chooses, but if the parents refer to me by Mémère, we stand a better chance.
She is only 6 days old and I have described the name and it's pronunciation to many people so here is how it is pronounced, MEH May. A lot of people try to pronounce mere like the French say mother but there is no R.
It is interesting, this naming of the grandmother. We called my grandmother Mama, but our first cousins called her Dody and everyone else called her Miss Jo. It was very confusing as a child. We called our other grandmother Grandma Katie. I often wondered why we did not call Mama, Grandma Jo or Grandma Josephine. We called my one grandfather, Grandpa, because the other one died before we were born. That made more sense.
So who knows if Mémère will stick but I really like the sound of it and the anticipation of Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh calling me that one day, melts my heart once more.
Typing this post also helped me find out how to type accents acute and grave ; )
Mémère comes from my friend Kris (Priscilla). She was a Mémère when I worked with her and she was a damn good one. She is of French Canadian descent and this is what they call the grandmother. It has such a wonderful sound and of all the names I contemplated it seems to work for me. I knew almost since I heard Kris use that name that if I were ever to become a grandmother, that was the name I wanted my grandchildren to call me. Truth be told, she will call me whatever she chooses, but if the parents refer to me by Mémère, we stand a better chance.
She is only 6 days old and I have described the name and it's pronunciation to many people so here is how it is pronounced, MEH May. A lot of people try to pronounce mere like the French say mother but there is no R.
It is interesting, this naming of the grandmother. We called my grandmother Mama, but our first cousins called her Dody and everyone else called her Miss Jo. It was very confusing as a child. We called our other grandmother Grandma Katie. I often wondered why we did not call Mama, Grandma Jo or Grandma Josephine. We called my one grandfather, Grandpa, because the other one died before we were born. That made more sense.
So who knows if Mémère will stick but I really like the sound of it and the anticipation of Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh calling me that one day, melts my heart once more.
Typing this post also helped me find out how to type accents acute and grave ; )
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Grandparenthood - Just call me Memere
Many people described being a grand parent as the most wonderful experience. They did not use a lot of detailed description but there was that look in their eyes that indicated it was unique, unusual and indescribable.
Last Sunday morning, my mobile dinged, indicating a text, at 5:30 am. They were on their way to the hospital. I have been sleeping next to my mobile for a week just in case they texted in the middle of the night.
We were up and awake already so we stayed up to watch the sunrise at Coniston. The anticipation was similar to our own labor but obviously not as intense. We distracted ourselves with a ride up the Hero Islands over the bridge to Rousse's Point NY and back on the ferry to Mike and Pegs' and a dinner visit with cousins Linda and Becky. We contemplated going to Montreal but did not want to be that far away. As it turns out, we could have made that trip.
We then drove to Burlington and just caught George and Judy coming back from the airport. We had Old fashioneds with them at the Hotel Vermont and then we were invited to stay the night with them, in case there was a text in the middle of the night. Nothing overnight.
We spent Monday distracting ourselves again with shopping and Starbucks and long walks. We made lunch and in the middle of lunch we got the text "She's here".
My wonderful family can describe better my excitement but I was shaking so much I could not even compose the text to let my Mom and siblings know. I continued the message to them "Crick just texted me "She's here"". We texted back, can we visit, and 20 minutes later we were in the elevator of the hospital. I almost got on Fox TV as we were joined in the elevator by a hospital executive and the news crew. "We are new grand parents!" I blurted out. I had also told most of Church Street that I was about to be a grand mother.
As we entered the room, I will never forget the sight of my son holding his new daughter. Meg was exhausted and also looked lovingly at her husband holding their daughter. I have only held my two children in the first hour of their life so it was such an honor to be there. I got to hold her for a few minutes before handing her back to those capable hands of her father when she got fussy.
We have had two other visits since then including one with Bethany who drove up from Boston on Monday night. She was going to wait, but when we were there for the first time, her niece whimpered and she heard that. There was no stopping her from coming up as soon as she could.
We get daily texted pictures from Crick who has a permanent smile on his face as he watches Meg hold their daughter or he holds her himself.
This newly expanded family is settling into their new life with this little one. We are adjusting to having another dimension to our lives, this unconditional love and legacy of family, AND the birth of our grand daughter. The magnetic pull from Vermont which was already pretty strong just got stronger. I now understand that look in grandparent's eyes. I am starting to understand that this is a very different relationship that any I have had with anyone before.
If you wonder why I am Memere, that is the topic of another post.
Last Sunday morning, my mobile dinged, indicating a text, at 5:30 am. They were on their way to the hospital. I have been sleeping next to my mobile for a week just in case they texted in the middle of the night.
We were up and awake already so we stayed up to watch the sunrise at Coniston. The anticipation was similar to our own labor but obviously not as intense. We distracted ourselves with a ride up the Hero Islands over the bridge to Rousse's Point NY and back on the ferry to Mike and Pegs' and a dinner visit with cousins Linda and Becky. We contemplated going to Montreal but did not want to be that far away. As it turns out, we could have made that trip.
We then drove to Burlington and just caught George and Judy coming back from the airport. We had Old fashioneds with them at the Hotel Vermont and then we were invited to stay the night with them, in case there was a text in the middle of the night. Nothing overnight.
We spent Monday distracting ourselves again with shopping and Starbucks and long walks. We made lunch and in the middle of lunch we got the text "She's here".
My wonderful family can describe better my excitement but I was shaking so much I could not even compose the text to let my Mom and siblings know. I continued the message to them "Crick just texted me "She's here"". We texted back, can we visit, and 20 minutes later we were in the elevator of the hospital. I almost got on Fox TV as we were joined in the elevator by a hospital executive and the news crew. "We are new grand parents!" I blurted out. I had also told most of Church Street that I was about to be a grand mother.
As we entered the room, I will never forget the sight of my son holding his new daughter. Meg was exhausted and also looked lovingly at her husband holding their daughter. I have only held my two children in the first hour of their life so it was such an honor to be there. I got to hold her for a few minutes before handing her back to those capable hands of her father when she got fussy.
We have had two other visits since then including one with Bethany who drove up from Boston on Monday night. She was going to wait, but when we were there for the first time, her niece whimpered and she heard that. There was no stopping her from coming up as soon as she could.
We get daily texted pictures from Crick who has a permanent smile on his face as he watches Meg hold their daughter or he holds her himself.
This newly expanded family is settling into their new life with this little one. We are adjusting to having another dimension to our lives, this unconditional love and legacy of family, AND the birth of our grand daughter. The magnetic pull from Vermont which was already pretty strong just got stronger. I now understand that look in grandparent's eyes. I am starting to understand that this is a very different relationship that any I have had with anyone before.
If you wonder why I am Memere, that is the topic of another post.
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