DiForYou

Chill day. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, I woke up at 4am a little thirsty so I got up and had a glass of cold lemon water and well… that sure woke me right up! I read the news, played my word games, crocheted (I’m on panel one of four for my two big pillow shams), then I made energy balls – Mike had asked for them a few weeks ago and I decided I would make them today while he was at yoga. I made a new one, too after I made almond butter. I was an energy ball machine this morning. I wanted to make some to bring to Anne since she has been keeping me nourished with her healthy muffins. Her last batch was soooooooooo good, she added flaxseed!! (Note to self, you still need to do your dishes from this morning.)

We had a reservation at noon at Element and Carla and Arturas joined us! Arturas grew up in sauna culture in Lithuania and told us today that when he was younger they would sauna and then jump in a pond. He really loved Element and they both did great in the cold tubs for their first go, Carla even did the 55 degree one for her second plunge. Now I’m inspired to try it myself. We discovered that Mike has done 25 contrast sessions!!! I’ve done 6, which I think is amazing for me, but really impressed by 25! Tuesday is the ribbon cutting, maybe Mike will get to wear a crown hahahahaha.

Just checked my Oura stats and the session made a huge impact on my stress (physiological) metric! SUCCESS! Today is my peaceful (and restorative) day. Bye for now!

St. Valentine’s Day! Worked at the studio and wished everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day – I mean why not. People say it’s a made up holiday (aren’t they all?) but I think anytime a light can shine on LOVE why not let it shine for a day. As one long married yoga student said “we celebrate valentines everyday” and I felt that.

We set up a little ‘offerings to St. Valentine’ with candies, flowers and fruit. I think it was super cute. The water bottles were custom designed by local artist and business collaborator Gabe Pons. They say “Yoga is Love” and it truly is. Loving yourself and what your body and mind can do, loving your community by practicing loving kindness and for those of us that work at the studio, loving your coworkers. We have the best team.

I came home to a little surprise, Mike got me some chocolate covered strawberries at Wegman’s. That place goes ALL OUT! He got caught up. Listen, I love, love so get caught up in it, Mike. I’ve loved him for so long, but it still feels the same. I am so glad, I know that not everyone feels that way about their partner. I.AM.LUCKY!

The monks made it to their hometown in Texas and watching their homecoming brought tears to my eyes. Venerable Pannakara cried as he was greeted by his Master, it was just a beautiful display of emotion and devotion. May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. I am. Bye for now.

Friday the 13th! Another ‘out at dad’s” Friday, and this one was the exact opposite of last Friday. When I arrived they were both sitting in the family room listening to music and my dad was eating some apples. He had on clean clothes, had gotten a shower the day before, greeted me with a big “hellll-oooooo” WHEW! Got there early, stayed there late – Shirley was able to get a lot done and take a big walk with her neighbor. On my way there I stopped at Walgreens and found the perfect valentine’s day card for my dad to give her – I got a chocolate bar too!

Funny thing about my dad, when I say it is a gift giving holiday – Shirley’s birthday, Christmas and he did it when I said “tomorrow is Valentine’s Day” he gets this alarmed look on his face and says “but I don’t have any sheckles to get anything” which I love. He was a pretty good gift (and birthday money RIP LOL) giver. Today I told him “Dad, I got you, I stopped at the store on my way here and got a card and chocolate for you to give to Shirley” and he smiled conspiratorially – I saw my dad for that moment and it was awesome. Once she left to run her errands, I got the card out and read what it said and he smiled. It really said all the right things from him, to her. We tried to decide if he should sign it as “Bill” which is what Shirley calls him since they met at work and that is the name he went by or “Detlef” and he decided on Detlef saying “because it’s my name”. It was hard to get him to write on the white part of the card so I stopped trying and he wrote what he wrote where he wanted to! I jotted a little note of my own. Then I asked if he wanted to write her name on the front and he did – S.H.I.R.L.E.Y he spelled it out loud. He did a good job and she will know it is for her because I went upstairs and put it in her bed so when she pulls her blankets down to get in tonight, she will have a valentine. I’m writing this so future me will remember this sweet afternoon with my dad. I gave him an extra long back scratch with a little bit of shoulder massage and told him that was my valentine to him. Today is my peaceful day. Bye for now.

Contrast studio workday! Had a nice steady stream of guests this morning, good chats, I helped a guest with her cold plunge – it was nice to look her in the eye and tell her she was doing a great job, to breathe calmly and evenly… later in the day while watching Wonder Man (loving it!) one character guided another through box breathing. I’m also (reading) listening to an audiobook “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda and read by Sir Ben Kingsley – who happened to be playing the actor who guided the box breathing. Nice circle of circumstance. I love those.

The photo that I chose for today is an old school Throwback Thursday that I found when I was looking through my Instagram for a photo of me doing archery – my friend is at a resort in the wilderness and said we should girl trip there and noted to me “Dianne, they have archery” I loved doing archery with my girls (daughters) back in the day and would love to with my girls (besties) any time.

Anyway, I digress… I found this photo of La Pizzeria – for a long long time at GEICO my coworker buds and I would do Pizza Friday. I’d call it in, take a partner with me to hold the pie and drive down to the shopping center next to the mall. The pizzeria used to be in the mall, and was ‘mall pizza’ which was an earlier version of Pizza Friday that I would do with my claims/SIU coworkers way back. This Pizza Friday tradition got us through the week, we loved going in and waiting for Mr. V to provide us with the most delicious pizza that I (New Yorker) and Ryan (Jersey Boy) could find down here in VA. Mr. V sold the place and pizza was never the same. In another circle of circumstance, Antonio, who works for the Rug Store that is part of the building where the hot yoga and contrast studios are, is from El Salvador – San Salvador specifically (he’d been on vacation and when I asked where he said “I went home to San Salvador so I asked if he knew Mr. V who used to own the pizza place and he said you aren’t going to believe this, my wife is the cousin of… Mr. Vasquez!!! MY Mr. V who sold the pizza place and returned to San Salvador. I asked Antonio how he is doing, he said he is doing great – I asked him to let him know that Dianne and her friends from GEICO miss him and his delicious pizza. The monks went from DC to Maryland to visit the State House before bussing back to Ft. Worth TX on Friday. Today is my peaceful day. Bye for now!

Today is my peaceful day! OMG I got a triple crown on my Oura app – readiness, sleep and activity all in the 90s! I got rid of my sleep debt (40 minutes) and woke up feeling amazing today. Only thing on my calendar is dinner with the ladies tonight. Started my day in the usual way… my games. Got wordle in 3 and started connections and got two of the four rows done and got caught up. Decided to text the ladies to confirm we were meeting at 4:45 and one of my friends texted that her dad had a medical issue in FL and that she wasn’t going to make it. We asked if she needed anything and she jokingly said “a ride to the airport” – I didn’t have any plans til 4:45 so I took her to the airport!! Got back by noon, took this photo of the sky when I drove down my street, worked on clearing more of the snow/ice off the driveway and then rested a lil with the pets. The monks made it to Washington!!! Aloka the Peace Dog joined them for all of their events in DC today. I am so proud of them and so glad that I got to experience two of their treks. I’ve practiced mindfulness for a while now, not constantly but I mean, the subtitle of my blog that I started in 2018 includes the word ‘mindful’ – I am a mindful consumer, I am a mindful eater, I am mindful of my environment – all of this just means that I make choices that are in line with my personal philosophy. Off to dinner, bye for now!

Today is my peaceful day! I love thinking that as soon as I wake up, thanks to the Walk For Peace! Think it every morning and your day is starting out peacefully! I had a great sleep score, I did wonder since I went to bed so late, but I slept 8 hours which is my personal sweet spot.

Week two of my getting back to yoga and I took Stephanie’s 9:30 class virtually and it was fantastic!! I took a couple of photos because Uli and Iris love to take yoga virtually too, in this one Uli is just watching, he loves to use anything as a pillow and chose the rolled up portion of the rug. I bought my sisters 10 virtual passes to take yoga with me for the next three months and basically chilled the rest of the day. Fed the birds since it is still a frozen tundra in our yard, fed the squirrels too since they can’t get to the ground to dig for their acorns. Packed up a big record order.

The monks walked on GW Parkway today – that is so cool, it is such a beautiful… view, I was going to say beautiful roadway but it is (or at least it was when I was commuting to DC) a little pot-holey. They walked from Alexandria to Arlington today, the monk who was injured earlier in their trek (he was hit by a car and had to have his leg amputated!!!) is joining them in DC! I may have to actually watch the news for a change, so I can see them realize their goal and hopefully make a case for their cause. Today was my peaceful day, bye for now!

Dianne you are getting a day behind on your posts – this isn’t what you planned! Tomorrow I will be back on track. On 2/8 I had a chill Sunday morning with the pets only to get word that my sister, niece, nephew and mom had all spent the night in their house without heat!! Thankfully it was mostly resolved by the end of the day but brrrrrrrrrrrr it has been a cold month! One of the only photos I took was of Uli’s heart on his chin that my sister noticed when she first met him! So I sent it to her along with our love and warmth… it reminds me of Aloka the Peace Dog’s heart on his forehead. I have been calling Uli, Uli the Peace Dog since I started following the monks. They walked from Woodbridge to Alexandria on Sunday, closer to their final destination of Washington DC.

I worked from 12-6 at Element with Anne! I loved it, love working with her, love helping people to feel good and I simply love busy work – wiping down the tubs, squeegeeing the floor, folding towels, all of that work is very satisfying to me. Like Dan Buettner says “move naturally” and my ring clocked lots of ‘housework’ throughout those 6 hours.

Came home to a great surprise – vegan bratwurstsssssssssss and fries for our Superbowl dinner! Watched the game, LOVED the halftime show – Bad Bunny has two new fans in the Smith household. He did a phenomenal job showing off his hometown vibe, spreading uplifting messages and singing and dancing like a KING! Gaga, Ricky Martin… so cool. I stayed up late. Be peaceful. Bye for now!

Workday! I love working at the yoga studio, getting everything set up, seeing all of the students and the teachers, going through all of the tasks with intention, leaving the space ready for the next person to come in and do it all over again. I am thankful that my friend Anne put together such a fantastic system that allows me to be productive and helpful! Today I decided to be mindful of how I manage my emotions – if something wasn’t left as I expected, if the classes are letting out later than I expected, if questions arise that take me out of my set expectations, I did this because last week when things weren’t going as I expected it was obvious in my outside body and since Mike was taking a class, he read my emotions because they were clearly outside of my mind and interpreted them. Turns out he interpreted them wrong from how I was feeling inside but from how he was feeling. That was a powerful example for me to be mindful of how I let my thoughts turn into a physical reaction that others can ‘read’. Fast forward to this Saturday, which had lots of expectations unmet, I said one thing to Mike when I noticed ‘one thing’ but as they continued to build, I kept them to myself and handled them appropriately. Later I asked Mike “when you got out of class, could you tell I was annoyed?” to which he responded “No!” Yalllaaaahhhh I did it, now the task is to continue. Peace Begins With Me.

I was invited to attend a Galentine’s event with 3 of my friends – I love that we have been friends since our kids were in kindergarten, I think it’s been 22 years now – being held at a venue I pass on my way home from work. I said that I could “stop in” well, two hours later I left with some local ‘salves and balms’ I love a nice balm – I got one for my throat chakra (communication), a refreshing hand cream (since my hands were so dry from washing at work) when I used a sample it actually did refresh my skin, and two itchy sticks to give as gifts. There was another local vendor who handmade earrings so I got a pair for myself and one pair for each of my girls. I sat and visited with my friends, saw an old coworker from GEICO – I was talking about my dad when I saw my coworker from across the room – who used to work for him! I jumped up and gave her a big hug – I love how in this picture my hand is blurry because when I hug, I rub! HAHA! I’m not a fan of my own profile but I am a fan of hugging my friends. Bye for now!