Beautiful Week

This is how my morning started. I don't think it could have started better! I took the dogs out this morning, looked down and there it was; a four leaf clover. Maybe this day will bring me some luck!

This has been a nice, relaxing week. We've had sunshiny, 80 degree weather all week long and the kids and I have spent every day at the lake. We've got these nice Alaskan tans going. Today is gray and cloudy but I don't mind after such a beautiful week.

I'm just finishing week 7 (out of 9) of my yoga challenge. I think I have decided to get my teacher certification in the spring, to teach yoga. It has changed my life in so many ways and I would like to share that with others. Meanwhile, I will spend this year in my practice and take it one step further. Wed. night was so nice outside that we walked down to the park for our yoga class and then on Thurs. morning it was only the teacher, another teacher from the studio and me at class so we did a completely silent class, meaning there was absolutely no cues given during class. It was awesome!! It felt like my own yoga practice, rather than being in a class.

So today, since it is so cloudy, I'm going to spend the day getting ready for our garage sale tomorrow. Once again, I am purging, trying to get down to just what we need and enjoy. If it is raining tomorrow that is going to screw us up but I will just reschedule for next weekend.

8 things about me

Okay, my sister, Ren, tagged me for 8 things about me. I'm going to go ahead and post 8 things about me but I'm not going to tag anyone. We have a lot of blog friends in common and so I'm sure some of them will be tagged multiple times so I will spare everyone. So eight things about me:

1) I LOVE heat!!!! Most people find that hard to believe, as I do live in Alaska. I know it's crazy. I live here for the people and the community, not the weather. My escape is the 2 hours that I spend every day doing Bikraam yoga, in a room heated to 110 degrees, sometimes a little warmer. And in the winter I just crank that woodstove!! I always smell like woodsmoke but I am warm!

2) I'm a vegetarian. I lean towards being vegan but just can't give up the cheese! I LOVE cheese. I don't do milk or eggs but I love cheese. My oldest son went vegetarian about 5 or 6 years ago and my two youngest went vegetarian several months ago. Now the only one left is my husband. He prefers the vegetarian diet but still likes his steak once in a while. It's fun to have kids that prefer hummus and tofu over anything else!

3) I'm a huge dreamer!! I love to dream and I do it out loud. I learned a while back that if you talk about your dreams like they are fact that they tend to manifest much easier. Some people think I'm a big talker because 70% of the dreams never do manifest but it's worth the 30% that do. I never want to quit thinking big! Calista asked me the other day if I'm just one of those people that like change and yes, I do!! I love adventures, new things, new experiences. I'm learning to take myself out of my comfort zone and into situations that help me grow as a person.

4) I can't hurt a fly, literally! I save spiders for goodness sake! I feel that all living beings have a right to be here and they all have their purpose. Oh, I do kill mosquitoes, have a hard time with those little buggers. Calista cried when she accidentally hurt a firefly and I love that I've raised kids with a sensitivity towards life. All living things are connected. I love that the American Natives would thank those animals, that they killed for food, for sustaining them through their sacrifice and that the ground they killed them on was considered sacred ground. I don't think Americans give much thought to where their food even comes from. I'm not against those that eat meat or kill animals for their meat but I have a hard time with people that have no regards for living beings and don't do it in a humane way. I REALLY have a hard time with people that hunt for sport, SICK!!

5) I love to clog!! Some people don't know what clogging is but it is similar to tapping, in that you make a sound with your shoes but the shoes are different (clogging shoes have "bells", two pieces of metal that tap together), and the steps are completely different too. I haven't been able to clog since last fall because of money and the fact that I have been more focused on my yoga practice but plan on getting more clogging in here soon. It's so much fun!

6) I LOVE being a mom!! I mean, I REALLY LOVE being a mom!! And I enjoy my teenage son so much that it makes me sad to think in four years he could leave the nest if he chooses. I have frustrating days but I love being home and being surrounded by my kids; noise, chaos and all!!

7) I have one tattoo and have plans for many more. I think they are beautiful, or should I say some are beautiful as I have seen lots that I think are morbid and not so beautiful. In the next few months I have plans for an ankle band and a rose on my ankle in memory of my mom, with my mom's signature at the bottom.

8) My friends call me Dharma, self-explanatory for those of you who really know me. I guess I'm a little eccentric by most people's definitions. In the unschooling world I'm really not so different. But being called Dharma is definitely a compliment!

Beautiful

I got this picture from a magazine ad for Dove. I just love this picture because this is an amazingly beautiful woman but she is not the picture of how our society defines beauty. The ad says:

wrinkled?

wonderful?

When did beauty become limited by age? It's time to think, talk and learn how to make beauty real again.

I love it!! At what point did society decide that the stretched plastic, 'I want to look young but I really don't' look is beautiful? Why are people always trying to attain this "perfection" of beauty, this eternal youth kind of beauty? Why do we worship youth so much? I think this woman is so beautiful, so much more beautiful than fake, perky boobs and stretched faces.

What a night!!

Wow, what a night!!

Today was a great day; I took my 42nd yoga class!! Yay! I'm three weeks from finishing my challenge; 5 classes a week for 9 weeks. It was one of my best classes yet too. There was just some great energy and I had a neck injury last week that let loose in the middle of class and gave me some incredible relief from the pain I've had all week. The kids and I went to the lake for a little while and then came home to pack a picnic dinner for music in the park.

So we had this wonderful dinner, quite fancy for a cooler dinner and we were sitting enjoying the music with some friends. The teens started walking towards the skate park on the bike path because Hope saw some friends of hers over there. So these kids come over to talk to Hope and they turn to Kev and say, "Dude, fight me." Kev is like um, don't think so. The kids says, "Come on I need to get some energy out." Before you know it there is a big group of kids egging it on to get Kev to fight this kid. Kev is walking quickly back towards me to avoid the situation getting any worse when one kids shoves him and almost makes him do a face plant and then the other kids comes in front of him and punches him right in the face.

He gets back to us with a big fat lip and a bloody nose and I'm like 'what the heck'. I go get the park ranger and let him know that I want to press charges so he calls the Wasilla Police to report to the park. As we are waiting for the cop we witness a mother assaulting her teenage daughter and it was getting fairly violent; the child screaming and the mother pulling her hair. Unbelievable!! The ranger doesn't feel like he can do much because he is only a ranger so I tell him that if he doesn't do anything that I will. Just as he goes to try and diffuse the situation the trooper pulls up and I tell him to deal with this poor teenage girl and her mom first. The trooper says, "I think I need to just let her be a mom." I was like, "Excuse me? That doesn't work for me!" He finally agrees to go talk to them and once he deals with that we go take care of these kids at the skate park. A few of the kids came clean and their story matched Kev's, in that he had nothing to do with the fight and the kids were just being jerks. They got suspended from the park but big deal. Apparently, even if you press charges all they get is suspension and you've wasted a bunch of energy on it.

Kev was a little shaken up and he has a big whoppin headache but is otherwise okay. He is floored by the immaturity of kids that are his age. The sad thing is they don't have parents that give a crap about them.

I missed most of the music in the park but when someone messes with my kids, watch out because here comes momma bear!! I was pretty fired up!! Maybe next week will be a little more mellow.

My Girls

Busy Week

It's been a busy, busy week! I haven't hardly had time to get on and check my e-mails, much less to blog.

Summer decided to finally make her entrance, although by most peoples standards it could hardly be called summer. I think we did hit 70 degrees this week though, barely. Today looks like a possible over 70 degree day.

Last Saturday we spent a little time at the lake with Robin, Richard and Rylee. Richard recently aquired a boat so he took all the kids out for a ride. Still a little too chilly for me so I sat on the beach and got a little sun :) Yesterday we picked up some puppies from the rescue and delivered them to Petco, in Anchorage, for the adoption clinic. Then we went to the rennaissance fair for a few hours. The day started cloudy so I was a little worried about being cold but just as we got there the sun came out and it warmed up. Plus I had my poncho that Kelli Traaseth so kindly made for me so I was nice and cozy.

The fair was interesting. I had never been to a rennaissance fair before. I have to admit that it was a little out of my element. I don't quite know what to do with everyone that is in character. It was a fun, new experience though; good to get out of our comfort zones every once in a while. Tristan LOVED it and could have camped out there all weekend. He just thought it was so cool! He has always been a bit taken with medeival things so I wasn't actually surprised that he enjoyed it so much.

After the fair we went to dinner. I had Kev's friends, Hope and Kevin with me and Hope's parents, along with my husband, sister, and niece met us in town for dinner. They actually made it to about an hour of the fair and then we all headed over to Twin Dragon's, mongolion barbeque, for dinner. After dinner the teens got dropped off at a concert that they have been waiting to go to, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and the rest of us went and saw a movie. We didn't all agree on what we wanted to see so Robin and I took the girls to Surf's Up and Martin, Debbie, Ryan and Tristan went and saw something else, can't remember the name of the movie right now. We picked the teens up around 11:30 and headed back home. What a day!

This morning I woke up to sunshine, yay!! We have a couple of things to do to the motorhome today and it will go up on the lot this afternoon. We are praying that we haven't missed the window to be able to sell it. People in Alaska generally purchase those kinds of things in April and May and it is much harder to sell motorhomes after May. We will hope for the best. I wish my house was as clean as the motorhome, as we wiped down every single surface, nook and cranny in it. Hopefully once we are done with that we can spend some time enjoying the sun. I wanted to go to Talkeetna today but it's not looking too promising.

My Bestest Friend

I got a visit from my "bestest friend" this week. Sarah was visiting her auntie in Seattle and Sheli flew into Anchorage to meet her for the leg back to Fairbanks. I ran into Anchorage to spend a few precious hours with her.

Sheli is one of the few friends in my life that loves me just as I am. I met Sheli when we were both pregnant with our oldest children, Kevin and Kayla. When the kids were 4 and ended up in the same preschool (the only experience of school for Kev) is when our friendship really sparked. 11 wonderful years! She has been here through births and deaths, joys and sorrow, moves, relationship problems, family problems, and lots and lots of fun. Next to my family she knows me better than any other person and she still loves me! She knows all my little quirkies and actually appreciates some of them. I love you Sheli, thank you for making my week so special.