Cultivating My Inner Tree

The evil warrior Head Cold has traversed the landscape of my face, conquering all in its path. Slyly setting up base camp  as an annoying itch in my right ear, it eventually slithered into my throat, massing troups of mucus in my nose in order to cross that great mountainous facial divide culminating in a full attack on my entire dome.

That was my weekend and last night. I fought back with rest, tea, vitamins, advil,water, and hot salt baths.

Today, reinforcements to needle out the invaders — Acupuncture. I had an appointment to work on something else, but Heather focused on the cold pretty intensely. Now, I have the headache that always preceeds my victorious battle with the microscopic Attila.

Now, do I go to yoga and try to push it? I know pranayama will help, but will an intense flow? Will I be able to find the right balance and not over do it?

I think I have to try. If I don’t, it will likely be a week before I can attend another yoga class.

And, perhaps a follow up salt bath tonight to further sweat out the rebel forces!

 (I wonder…too many herbs and vitamins make me crazy…or maybe that’s the headache talking.)

…hit with a cold that is…aches, sore throat, drippy nose, clogged ear. All this fun just three days before I have to get on an airplane like most of the rest of America to visit family and eat Turkey next Thursday. Can I kick it before then? In the great words of Bob the Builder, “YES I CAN!”

Okay, that’s false enthusiasm that is quickly waning…  “Grumble…grumble…sigh…sniffle…cough” is really more my speed today. Off to make more tea and snuggle into a cushy chair with a bit of fiction while I wish I were out in the day walking Shiloh with Bob.

Oh well, tomorrow’s another day…

I got a voicemail from Shiloh’s vet yesterday that her tests came back negative for cancer.

Everybody say WHEW! THANK GOODNESS!

She is positive for irritable bowel disease and some sort of lymph problem, but I haven’t actually talked with the vet yet. Still, the vet sounded a bit relieved in her message, and we’re all very happy it isn’t the big “C”.

She would very much like to go for a walk, but I’m off to work in gardens with two new clients today…and what a beautiful day it is to do so!

Hopefully yoga tonight at 5:30!

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I’m committed to a regular yoga practice. When I first started, I wore loose, ugly sweatpants & sweat shirts that hide everything. As I graduated into more difficult classes and I needed to move from pose to pose more rapidly in flows, I traded in the lose old sweats for a variety of yoga pants. One of the first pair I bought were/are bright red. These red pants led me to this year’s halloween costume — Molly Shannon’s Sally O’Malley character.

For those of you who haven’t spent halloweens past with me, I’m a huge fan. Actually, Halloween may be my favorite holiday. I’ve attempted all sorts of costumes — Scarlet O’Hara (complete with hoop skirt), Michael Jackson (Billy Jean version), Ken (of Barbie fame, in golf club attire with beard), Diana Ross, Mary Anne (Gilligan’s friend), Witches, Ghosts, Vampires, Angels, clowns, and who knows what else.

Friends have a great annual halloween party, so my Sally O has already been created (and put to rest). But, the photos still archive this great moment I had laughing at myself. I’m going to be brave now & let you laugh with me… Oh, and yes, that’s Bob in the scary mullet. Here’s a link to see the one & only Molly Shannon as Sally O’Malley.

(Thank god there’s no video of me trying to kick & stretch & kick in my red outfit that I like to call my Desert Rose…Okay, I’m laughing at myself again… )

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/31/2007
• Time: 11:45:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00
• Distance: 1 miles
• Average Pace: 20:00/mile

Shiloh is home from her day at the hospital. She’s groggy and a bit grumpy, but who can blame her? She has no idea why we keep taking her to that horrible place to get poked and prodded. And today she really got poked and prodded!

Under general anethesia  she underwent a colonoscopy. I wasn’t there, but they examined her throat, which has some irritation (probably from vomiting on an empty stomach last night). They examined her stomach, which apparently is thicker and less elastic than a stomach should be. Plus, there are lots of nodules near where the stomach empties into the intestines. They took lots of stomach biopsies. They examined her small intestine, which also wasn’t quite right, but which didn’t have “dilated lymph”, which they were worried about. They took intestinal biopsies as well. All those samples go to the lab, and we should hear next week.

So, what now? Her prednisone dosage has been increased, and we’re going to be giving her Prilosec for her acid reflux. Poor girl. The doctor told us they can’t rule out cancer yet, but “this is a stomach like I’ve never seen before”. So, onwards.

Shiloh’s a little freaked out. She’s pretty groggy & high right now. She ate a little. Drank a little. And now keeps trying to relax on her beds. Yes, she gets nervous as she falls asleep on one & then runs to the other one. And, she’s mad at me. Eventhough I rescued her from the place where they do evil things to good doggies, I’m also the one who took her there in the first place.

Good news? She made it out of the procedure just fine. They gave us a refund on what they thought the minimal fees would be, which I’d paid when I dropped her off. And, she’s home. She may be mad at me, but at least she’s here now. And, I’m home with her early enough that I can still go to yoga at 5:45!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. Every positive bit of energy helps us all!

Today I spent most of my day with the Domanico Cellars wine “core” team pressing wine. I don’t have the energy left for details, but let’s just say there were heavy hoses thumping across my shoulders all day, filled with juice, skins, seeds and then juice that would have made Central Services proud….As well, I went to pick up lunch in old town Ballard & came back with said lunch to a immediate, friendly comment of: “You look like you have a huge wound in your throat.” (That was from wine splatter & stains.) Later, I got a good splash back in the face that elicited, ” You look like you just got in a good fight.” Tough knocks in the wine biz. ;).

Okay, my exhausted description is one thing. Photos may help and may come later. But Now?

Now is a big glass of water. Sweats. Some old worn out T-shirt. A puppy to pat. And my old friend the sofa.

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 10/20/2007
• Time: 18:00:00
• Total Time: 8:00:00.00

As I was waiting for my sandwich this afternoon at The Other Coast Deli in Ballard, I saw a sticker on the meat case that read: “Your Bike is a Fauxie”. I thought it was cute & I also wasn’t sure what it really meant. So, I googled the term but didn’t get a good return (okay, I didn’t go many pages deep), so I thought I’d check here.

First I ran a search on “fauxie bike” in the Sweat365 search & got a nothing found return (along with a variety of wordpress error messages at the bottom of the page).  Then I tried “Fauxie” and no errors but just nothing about them. (Can we call this a bug filing?)

….so…what the heck is a fauxie anyway? Some kind of a truly geared fixie? Is it a jab against someone who thinks s/he owns a fixie? Or maybe its cooler than a fixie? Or maybe its a brand?

(And, keep in mind my slight understanding of a “fixie” is from reading postings here. If you look at my log I’ve only ridden 3 miles on my mountain bike this year.)

A while back I renamed my Sweat365 blog to focus more on my yoga practice while recognizing my gardening bent…hence, “Cultivating My Inner Tree”. Get it…cultivating + tree = garden….cultivating + inner tree = developing a yoga practice/tree pose? Anyway, maybe I’m not as witty as I think sometimes, but whatever….

Anyway, the other day I noticed in my stats that someone found my blog by searching for “What is My Inner Tree?”. So, I searched the same question, and found (along with links to this blog) a quiz to help you determine your personal inner tree. I took it & don’t really agree with the results I got. It said I’m a Willow. I think I’m more of a Redwood or a Maple, but that’s probably because I just love & respect those trees & think of Willows as “fast growing, week wooded/brittle, greedy, invasive, and more graceful & well, willow-y” than I am. (Maybe I know too much about trees & too little about myself to really determine my tree. Maybe a quiz is all just a bunch of hooie. I dunno.)

So, all of that said, what to take the quiz? Here ya go: What is My Inner Tree Quiz.

This weekend I caught up with the father of one of my best friends. I knew he was a big bike rider, so I got him on the topic of his bike and riding. For years he was a recumbent rider. He still has a recumbent but has apparently switched to a more traditional form lately and has added an electronic “boost” as he calls it. He does have a 3-wheel recumbent, but we didn’t talk much about it. Okay, so don’t poo-poo this guy yet for adding a battery assist to his bike…

He’s 89 years old and rides at least 3x a week anywhere from 5-35 miles on each trip. He only uses the “boost” when he wants to take a longer ride or gets exhausted and needs a break.

To me, that’s inspiring!

I’ve been a bit sore this week as I get back into the swing of exercising regularly. Its not so funny how fast I get out of shape! Soreness has made me acutely aware of how many times I hike up & down the stairs in our house.

My office is spread throughout the house. These days my desk is set up in the attic, but my printer is in the basement. And, my filing cabinet is in on the main floor. That means each time I print, I have to go down two flights of stairs to the printer & back up two flights to my desk. If I have to file, its down & then back up.

Does this make up an exercise program? Not really & I’m not really tracking it — hmmm…maybe I should post a piece of paper & add a “tick” for each trip?  This does mean that I get off my butt more frequently than I would if everything were right at hand by my desk. Does it make me less efficient? Actually, I don’t think so. By forcing me to get up & move around, I stay more alert. I remember to refill my water or iced tea glass in the kitchen through which I pass between stairways. And, I stretch out my legs a little more often.

Why am I even writing this? Well, my legs were grumbling the last time I went to the printer. And, who knows, maybe my unique office design would benefit others who are looking for extra bits to add to their exercise programs