Minutiae

Back on the wagon for yoga after taking off last night to get D's cat to the vet, who drained the ear hematoma and gave me ear-applicable antibiotics for the ear infections (poor thing has a yeast infection in each ear). Also got a supplement for his arthritis, so I'm hoping he'll feel better soon. He's been awfully quiet (he's usually a "talker,") and administering the antibiotics is causing him stress. It's causing me stress, too. First time he's clawed the floor to get away from me.

Stress is something he also went through when the vet cleaned out his ears and drained the hematoma. But this morning his ear started filling up with fluid again, so it's gonna be another pow wow with the roomie to see what we can do. Surgery will require blood work and some tests to make sure he's a candidate for anesthesia, but it would also permanently cure the hematoma and allow his ear to heal. Sigh. We'll see what D thinks. I'm beginning to hate it when he goes out of town because something like this always happens when he does.

I counted my sessions and I've done 23 sessions in 31 days. Not bad, but I'm on a five week plan to complete 30 sessions in 35 days. We'll see how I do.

Other than that, I'm working on a short story with plans to adapt it into a script for a short film. What's everyone up to?

Cat

My roommate's cat has a very swollen ear, and the ear is drooping. I'm guessing it's an ear hematoma? Any ideas would be great. I'm going to try to get him to the vet tomorrow, if at all possible.

Graveyard Folklore

Hi. Does anyone know of any good books on graveyard folklore? I'm not particular about the region. I found some decent stuff online about Appalachia, but that's it.

Damn

Diana Wynne Jones has passed.

Comments

The rash of spam comments seems to have long since past, so I've turned off moderation.

Coming Along

Really starting to see some results now. Haven't weighed myself lately (gave up on that), but I'm definitely smaller. And I'm improving in the balance poses, which up until now have been my nemeses. There's a slight problem that's developed in the bow pose, where I feel suddenly and intensely nauseous while I'm in the pose, but it goes away as soon as I'm out of the pose. Maybe should ask about that.

I did my last night of my first month yesterday evening, and now I have to pay for my second month. The first month was cheeeeaaap, and now I'm going to have to pay full price. The people at Bikram know what they're doing. They hook you with a cheap first month, and once you're addicted to the high, well, you just gotta have more. I've experienced so many other benefits than just fitness. I'm much more alert, especially at work. I don't drink nearly as much coffee as I used to. Creatively, I'm becoming unstuck and considering new things. I've started what feel like a million short stories and novels, only to have the blank page eventually kick my ass, and last weekend I actually finished the first draft to a short story. I'm even flirting a bit. If you know me at all, you know this is a HUGE change. (Shy! Unbelievably shy.)

I'm coming to the end of a project at my current freelance assignment, but nothing new is on the horizon yet, so I'm a little worried that I won't be able to keep it up past this month. But we'll see. I'm getting more calls from temp agencies and I'm getting my resume out there. I just hope I land something soon so I can keep this yoga thing going.

Crawling

Tonight was the hardest night yet. I usually don't take a break during the yoga routine, but tonight I almost couldn't finish. Thought I was going to hurl by the time class was over, and then I thought for sure I was going to have to crawl to the bus stop.

Need to make sure I drink enough water every day. Kind of slacked on that this week.

Mob Nickname Generator

This is too much fun.

The Eleventh Session

So I've completed eleven sessions. No weight has come off, unfortunately—at least not outside of the margin of error—but I have a LOT more energy than I had three weeks ago. Like a ton.

Still, I can't say I'm not discouraged. Twice this week I've considered not going to class, but I bucked up and went anyway. Right about three weeks into a new routine is when I start to lose interest and then quit, so I just have to keep at it. (You guys help!!) I'm seeing such improvement this week in terms of holding certain poses, I'd hate to lose the momentum.

Despite the disappointing scale results, I'd say I'm firming up a bit. My jeans fit just a tiny bit less tight. I wouldn't say they fit more loosely yet, because there's still not a lot of room to spare, but I expect at some point to be awash in denim, much like the guys I see on the train with their jeans hanging around their thighs (how they keep them there is a mystery to me . . . is it some sort of special elastic made just for that style of jeans?).

But I need to buy proper yoga clothes. A huge t-shirt and a pair of "yoga pants" (a term I use loosely) that cost $6 from Walgreens isn't really cutting it. I'm still too chubby for a sports bra and shorts, but last night I saw a young woman do the entire 1 hour and 15 minute routine in a strapless top. And no, nothing fell down. If she can do that, I can splurge a bit on new threads.

The instructors are still very encouraging, but now they're starting to call me out in class, which can be a little embarrassing if I can't hear them. I've learned to set my HA's on the distance setting, and tonight I'm going to try to find a sweatband to keep the sweat out of my ears so as not to risk them shutting off in class. It's amazing to me how unprepared I was when I started this. My diet still needs a lot of work (which probably accounts for the lack of weight loss), but I'm at least paying more attention to what I eat, which is a start.

For once I'm not beating myself up about things not being perfect.

Second Week

Okay . . . eight sessions completed. I've dropped a few pounds, though it's hard to say how many because the scale LIES. Seriously, I'm moving up and down a bit, and it's sort of like those Gallup polls that are always on the news: I'm within the margin of error. So I'm not sure whether I've actually lost weight or not, but I haven't gained any—which I usually do at the beginning of a new workout routine, so I'm still happy. And I'm getting a little stronger with each session.

My feet have (mostly) stopped hurting and tonight after class I only hobbled halfway to the bus stop, then my legs had more of a spring in their step. Until now I've literally hobbled out of class. One night this week I wasn't sure I would make it to the bus stop.

So far the instructors are super sunny when they see me. Most of them break into HUGE smiles when I come in. The vibe I get is that most out-of-shape people tend to quit after a couple of sessions, and there's maybe a little surprise that I'm still going. Except the Cutie doesn't smile. He looks a little . . . relieved? Semi-happy? Not sure, but he's turned out to be the most intense instructor I have by far. That's not a bad thing, mind you, but . . . I wouldn't mind another wink.

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to do a session on Saturday. I will most likely have to work.