From Yoga to Pillows to Crushing Candy

I have lots of little things I want to write about today, so here goes.

Yoga
I tried yoga again the other day. However, this was a different class with a different teacher and thus, a completely different experience. The instructor was not at all how I picture yoga instructors to be. I knew the instructor was a man since the schedule had the name "Richard" on it. I half expected an older, lanky bearded man with longs legs (um, sort of Tato-like perhaps?). But instead Richard turned out to be a big beefy looking guy who looked like he should be out on the gym floor pumping weights instead of assuming the Lotus pose.

This class was HARD. Last week's yoga class was hard too, but in a different, stretchy way. This one was hard in an "OMG, he wants us to do WHAT?" way. He walked around the room for most of the class, calling out new poses and transitions and I had to check around me to see what the more experienced people were doing. At one point he had us doing THIS . . .

Yeah, right, I thought. No way can anyone do this. Then I looked around the room. Two women in the front of the class had taken it a step further and were doing THIS . . .

Needless to say, I was very glad I'd opted to put my mat in the back of the class. There were some seriously hard core yoga people in there. I don't think I could ever do that head standing pose with my vertigo. So I continued to attempt the crane pose and failed miserably. Today my upper back is very sore - but not in a bad way.

For some reason, every time I think of yoga all I can hear is John Belushi chanting "Yoga, yoga, yoga . . . "  Yes, I know that he actually says "Toga, toga, toga . . . " in Animal House, but I just can't help it. "Yoga, yoga, yoga . . ."

Pillows
Yesterday I went to HomeGoods to redeem a gift card. I saw tons of fluffy, colorful pillows on sale and decided to finally get some throw pillows for our couches in the living room. I agonized for some time over what color to get and finally settled on an orange-ish color, even though I knew it was a gamble. Of course when I brought them home they didn't look right at all. The kids came home from school and starting making puking sounds as soon as they saw the pillows.

So I dropped Ella off at her CCD class and rushed back to HomeGoods to correct my mistake. After agonizing again over the endless array of colors I finally opted for green instead. I brought them home and proudly propped them up on the couches, only to have Ella come downstairs the next day and say "Mom, what HAPPENED?" with a disgusted look on her face. I got a similar reaction from both John and Jack and I had to agree that I'd failed again. Back to HomeGoods I go. Why is this so difficult?

Goodbye Candy Crush
Today is Ash Wednesday which means that Lent has begun. I have to confess that I have not given anything up for Lent in years. I'm just a bad Catholic. Yesterday both kids were talking about what they were going to give up and I decided that if they were going to give something up then I should too. What kind of example would I be setting by encouraging them to give up something if I continued to indulge in all my vices?

Ella bravely announced that she was going to give up her morning TV show, a long-standing habit that she has developed during the past year. Jack couldn't decide what to give up, so I suggested "Subway Surfer", a game on my iPhone that he is constantly asking to play.

I thought long and hard about what to give up. Coffee? Nah, I only have one cup a day and it wouldn't be a big deal to give it up. Alcohol? Please. I'm a mother with two kids, a job and a million other obligations. Don't even go there. TV? In your dreams.

Then I found myself reaching for my phone to play yet another round of Candy Crush, a ridiculously addictive game in which getting to the next level has become increasingly more difficult, which has in turn  resulted in my obsession with playing the game at every chance I get in order to crush that stupid candy. I realized that I must be stopped.

So no more Candy Crush for 40 days. This is harder than I thought it would be. I may have to hide my iPhone from myself.