Yesterday, I let my membership at my high priced gym expire and signed up for a 30-day membership at my local community rec center, saving my soon-to-be-unemployed self a whopping $67 a month. The rec center only opened a year ago, so the facility and equipment are new, and they have an Olympic size pool, an absolute must for those swiftly approaching 100+ degree Sacramento summer days. It's also exactly 2 miles from my house and offers a 6:30 pm yoga class. I can do that.
Confession #1: I am a closet snob/judger. Not that I have anything to be snobby/judgy about. I'm not exactly Ms. Superfit. I think its a classic case of thinking nasty things about other people so that I can feel better about myself. So I, Snobby McJudgerson, convinced myself that I'd be able to easily handle the modest rec center yoga routine, since I've gotten pretty good at the yoga class at my former fancier gym.
Nope.
During the class, I came to realize that there are two different types of yoga instructors. #1 concentrates on flowing movements and quickly establishes an easily predictable routine, allowing their students to think less and breathe more. #2 is determined to prove that yoga can provide a kick ass workout, and will make you hold that pose long after you've started shaking,and adds insane balancing poses, just to add a little spice. My old yoga class was instructed by the former, new class, the latter. Fan-friggin-tastic.
Confession #2: I'm very competitive, but I usually only compete when the person I'm competing with doesn't know its a competition. Like, when I'm swimming laps. I'm constantly looking over at the lane next to me racing and/or trying to last longer in the pool than them. That's mildly crazy, but I don't think it's something that other people haven't done before.
What is beyond nutzoid is that I am also competitive at yoga. I try to hold my poses longer, go deeper, breath better than someone else. WTH?!?! I am well aware that this totally negates one of the most important aspects of yoga, obtaining a meditative and peaceful mind, but I can't help it. And, Attila the Yoga instructor, was only making matters worse by making us hold these poses I'd never done before. How is that supposed to help me win?!?! Come on lady, get with the program.
Between all of my looney mental issues, and the fact that I also had work drama on my mind, I wasn't very relaxed when we ended the class in corpse pose. In fact, I felt more tense than when I started.
Um, maybe its time to spend a little more time relaxing. Goal for next yoga class: Breathe.
Namaste.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Spring Break Is Done ... Back to the Grind
I haven't blogged in forever, mostly because life has been super chaotic. To start with, about a month ago we got a fantastic puppy, Daisy. The plan had been to wait until summer to get a dog. We thought it would be perfect if we spent the first week of summer on vacation, and then got a puppy when we came back and I could devote the entire rest of the summer to training and loving the puppy. The only thing we hadn't decided on was the breed. We were torn between a Brittany and a Lab/Golden Retriever.
Apparently, Mark's puppy fever was worse than I'd realized because one day Mark asked me to help him get dinner out of the car, and there was a puppy in the back seat. She was an adorable Lab/Siberian Husky mix. While I was thrilled, it was unexpected and frankly, we weren't prepared. Daisy has taken over our life, mostly in a good way, but puppies are a lot of work. We managed to make it through the next two weeks until my spring break started to give me the extra time I needed to devote to puppy-motherhood.
Work was more insane than usual. Not only were we two weeks from the end of the quarter, but the March 15th pink slip deadline was looming. Our school was temporarily on the list of lowest performing schools in California and rumors took over. On the last Friday before vacation, me and several other teachers received emails that we would be getting pinks slips via certified mail the next day. I wasn't too worried, because in our district, there are several different versions of the pink slip, including the one that I got last year which said that there was a low likelihood that I'd actually be laid off, but that it was a precautionary measure.
Well, not this year. I started my spring break with a notice that my "services will not be needed next year." Yikes! Unfortunately, with 22,000 other teachers in California also getting that same letter, its highly unlikely that I'll be able to find another teaching job next year. This is devastating to say the least.
I spent my two-week long summer break working out, playing with Daisy and trying not to spend too much, and made the best out of a bad situation. But, Monday, I have to go back. I have 10 more weeks of doing a job that I know I have already lost, and I have to say my motivation level is lower than low. I should be spending the next few days prepping for next week, but I just don't care.
I'm trying to focus on the positive: no more hour long commute, no more grueling hours. But teaching is what I love to do. I just can't imagine doing anything else.
Apparently, Mark's puppy fever was worse than I'd realized because one day Mark asked me to help him get dinner out of the car, and there was a puppy in the back seat. She was an adorable Lab/Siberian Husky mix. While I was thrilled, it was unexpected and frankly, we weren't prepared. Daisy has taken over our life, mostly in a good way, but puppies are a lot of work. We managed to make it through the next two weeks until my spring break started to give me the extra time I needed to devote to puppy-motherhood.
Work was more insane than usual. Not only were we two weeks from the end of the quarter, but the March 15th pink slip deadline was looming. Our school was temporarily on the list of lowest performing schools in California and rumors took over. On the last Friday before vacation, me and several other teachers received emails that we would be getting pinks slips via certified mail the next day. I wasn't too worried, because in our district, there are several different versions of the pink slip, including the one that I got last year which said that there was a low likelihood that I'd actually be laid off, but that it was a precautionary measure.
Well, not this year. I started my spring break with a notice that my "services will not be needed next year." Yikes! Unfortunately, with 22,000 other teachers in California also getting that same letter, its highly unlikely that I'll be able to find another teaching job next year. This is devastating to say the least.
I spent my two-week long summer break working out, playing with Daisy and trying not to spend too much, and made the best out of a bad situation. But, Monday, I have to go back. I have 10 more weeks of doing a job that I know I have already lost, and I have to say my motivation level is lower than low. I should be spending the next few days prepping for next week, but I just don't care.
I'm trying to focus on the positive: no more hour long commute, no more grueling hours. But teaching is what I love to do. I just can't imagine doing anything else.
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