Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Peavine Park

In an effort to maintain my sanity with all the stresses going on, I have been biking more. But the biking is also about losing weight and getting healthy. Several summers ago biking is what led to a 30 pound weight loss, 25 of which has managed to creep back on over the last two years. I want the pounds gone again, plus some.
Tonight, Jeremy and I hopped on our bikes and pedaled our asses off to Peavine Park in Bethel. I could feel my quads burning within the first 5 minutes. It took us 50 minutes roughly to go the 12 miles. At Peavine Park, I stretched for a few minutes and then did about 20 minutes of yoga. Jeremy left when I started stretching to bike back to the house in Randolph to grab the car to come get me and my bike. He flew home!
I often forget about Peavine Park as a place to go, but with picnic tables, the river right there, a gazebo, it is a great place for a picnic, some fishing, a quick dip. It was the perfect peaceful spot for a bit of yoga. I will have to remember this place in the future!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Yoga, Gardening, and Life

Life has been a whirlwind lately. My scheduling gets more and more packed each day. I'm not complaining, I like being busy. I just also like my days where I have no plans and can sit on the couch and veg with a good book, some trashy TV, and not stress that I should be elsewhere doing something productive.





















Shadow People! Jane, Me, Mom, & Sewall

Several weeks ago, Mom had a seizure which led to the discovery of a slow-growing malignant brain tumor. Treatments are due to start on Monday and with her treatment she has an 80-90% cure rate, which is incredibly high and leaves us anxious for treatments to start. With her different medications and symptoms of those medications, Mom gets tired easily, but wants to be able to enjoy her gardens this summer when the radiation is done and she is feeling more like herself. This weekend we had a group of people get together and get some gardening done. We had what Rachel referred to as a Crop Mob!




















Getting Ready

The largest of all the gardens hadn't been touched since we pulled plants last fall and didn't look like a garden at all. It was completely overrun with weeds!





















Beginning the Transformation, Rachel, Lynn, Marge, Chris, & Jane

The strawberries weren't even visible with all the grass. It was a complete mess.





















Midway... Starting to look like a garden.

With some elbow grease from some great friends, it wasn't long before it looked like an honest garden. Now all it needs are some seeds.





















The final straw is going down.

There were a few other smaller projects tackled and they turned out great as well.



























Lynda is staking the flowers.





















Joe and Mel and Dad are getting a small flower bed ready for the tubers.





















Tubers are in the ground!



























Mom and Sewall taking Sophie for a walk, enjoying the days sun.

Along with all this gardening, I have really worked to make yoga a part of my life on a weekly basis with a class, and several times a week at home as well. Katy was just the push I needed, as she wanted to start learning and enjoy yoga and wanted to know if I would take a class with her. The yoga has been a bit intense, but oh so good. It has made a huge difference in how I feel, and is really allowing me to feel centered and connected. I struggle a lot with wanting to shut down mentally when I am faced with stressors that want to invade my life and carry a potential of weighing me down and taking over. Yoga has allowed me to stay present, and I am so thankful for that.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Yay for Yoga

Yesterday, Tuesday, my friend Katy and I finally made it to yoga. We have been planning to try yoga for weeks, bordering on 2 months, and between sickness and schedules, we were never able to make it. We finally did!!!
The class was intense. Between been fairly new to yoga, as well as the class being geared for working up to headstands and handstands, it was definitely not what we expected. We cannot wait for next week.
I am hoping that this will grow into a very long love affair with yoga!