JuniperBlue

Busy busy busy. I’m in one of my moods where everything needs to be done now, including this blog post. Beepbeep has a huge pile of new toys; well, not so much new as a bunch of toys he got at Christmas but had been left at his grandparents until the other day. The joy on his face as we pulled out a toy tool bench (with spinning plastic saw and colourful “nails” to hit), a Bob The Builder steering wheel, a big wooden xylophone (my ears!) as well as a heap of other multicoloured bits and bobs was brilliant. He’s spent the morning using his tool set and occasionally driving away somewhere, pretending to be Bob The Builder.

Last night, when he listened to me asking him to help to put his toys away, and every time I asked “could you pass me your ball/Iggle Piggle/trucks?” he went over to each toy and passed it to me with no fuss. He knew exactly what I was asking him to do, and whilst he might not have a lot of words yet (his new words are “brush”, “ball” and “shoes”), I know it won’t be long before he does. He’s amazing.

So, whilst he played I was busy stripping the bed, putting on washing, tidying up the cupboard/alcove/wardrobe (it’s basically a deep alcove down one wall in our room, deep enough to hang clothes and have a chest of drawers, but we removed the mirrored doors because mirrored doors are horrible -

These aren’t our doors or our room, just a helpful google image search to illustrate the point that mirrored doors = yuck). I also went into crazy mum-mode when we got up and made us all pancakes for breakfast. Sometimes I am too domesticated for my own good.

Another mum at playgroup and I made a plan yesterday to dump our kids with our partners and go off to see a local band play one night. She and her husband set up the kitchens in two of the city’s most well-known and well-loved vegan restaurants/pubs/gig venues, so she’s pretty clued up on the newer local bands and where they now all play. It has been… *counts on fingers*… almost five years since I went within a two mile radius of any local bands, so it would be both long overdue and a little intimidating to go. That is nothing to do with the bands playing and more to do with my own paranoia issues, but hey ho! I’d really like to go out though, it’d be nice to feel like me again, and not just “mummy”.

In yoga news, yesterday I managed to get my forehead to touch my knee, and for the first time since I was twelve I managed wheel pose -

I wish this was me - I’m a long way off being this slim, but still, I did this! And held it!

Despite being up to my eyes in Metformin side effects (not pleasant), this picture gave me a giggle today -

Lolcats never fail to raise a smile here.

I did some more yoga this afternoon, it was good to concentrate on something other than my grumbling stomach. It was a harder class today, the main part working up to a shoulder stand, but there was a lot of hip flexing and back-arching. We still seem to be concentrating on the lower back which is great for me; I seem to get some perverse joy in feeling all my vertibrae “pop”! Beepbeep had an exhausting time at toddler group this morning, it’s so nice to see him coming out of his shell more and more. He has two new teeth (total count - 10) and a couple of noises that sound like new words, so I’m pretty pleased.

I’ve rediscovered an old favourite - a cover, yes, but an obscure and good one.

Death Cab For Cutie - “Wait (The Secret Stars)”

The house is completely quiet.

I’m showered, wrapped up in layers of sweet-smelling creams, warm pyjamas and a stupidly huge hoody whilst the baby sleeps upstairs and Mr Fox is out for a while. Thursday evenings are my evenings, I treasure them almost as much as (now horribly rare) long lie ins, huge cups of coffee and indulgent afternoons spent browsing in book shops. My daily yoga sessions, whilst no doubt very basic, are definitely having an effect on me; I feel calmer, more focussed and my patience levels are through the roof, which can only be a bonus when I have a toddler constantly leaping over “the line” and waving mischievously to me from the other side.

I’m also trying to work up the courage to visit the local Buddhist centre at some point. I wouldn’t call myself a Buddhist, far from it since I know very little about it, but after doing some (well, a lot) reading and having my interest piqued by BBC 2’s Extreme Pilgrim (horrible title but amazing programme, especially the first episode (once he moved from the slightly touristy Shaolin temple in China) I’d like to learn some more. I’ve found some fantastic blogs on the subject written by people with knowledge I can only dream about so I’ll keep reading, keep learning and see how I go from there.

Well, I’ve truly made up for my lack of WoYoPracMo action yesterday.  A satellite channel here runs a programme called “Yoga TV”, hosted by Australian yoga teacher Kris McIntyre and broadcast every afternoon.  It’s a half hour session, each episode devoted to one particular part of the body, giving a manageable yet strenuous session, and were it broadcast in the morning (when I’m up and ready for TV anyway) it would be the best way to start the day.  Today the session concentrated on the lower back to aid posture and motivation, and as I sit here basking in my slightly sweaty glow, it has certainly done the trick.  Part of me wishes the sessions were an hour long although I think I’m better sticking to half an hour a day to ease myself into it.  At least now I know I have no excuse to not do some yoga each day, I have a brand new class waiting for me tomorrow.

I now intend to spend the rest of Beepbeep’s nap listening to Simon and Garfunkel (thanks to a post on Paulo Coelho’s blog) and maybe a little bit of old Incubus and think about what tonight might bring…

…Jogging.   Scary stuff for an ex-exercise hater!

*exhales*

There’s nothing quite as nice as the peace I feel when the house is quiet. Beepbeep is upstairs, tucked up underneath his blankets after dozing on me after dinner. He’s had a restless day, as if nothing went right for him, tears coming at least once an hour. Tears I can cope with, but I hate how fed up he seems sometimes, as if his little world has ended. Admittedly this has only happened a few times and usually after a big trauma like losing a toy behind the couch, or tripping over a toy and landing flat on his face. We have playgroup tomorrow morning so he’ll be much happier then once he’s surrounded by other tiny people.

Anyway. Peace.

*exhales once more*

In a few minutes I’ll be out on the road, having yet another driving lesson. I love them, but I’m impatient to take my test (and pass it, obviously), if only to make my own day-to-day life easier. I hate constantly asking for lifts here and there, and not being able to even do the shopping during the day due to not being able to carry it all home and living too close to a supermarket to justify taking a taxi. I have a self-imposed deadline of 18th April to sit my test, for a few reasons… Thirteen weeks… Hmm.

I spent last night watching Louis Theroux do a ten stay hitch in San Quentin prison, for his lastest documentary. I’m a old fan of Theroux from his TV Nation days right through to Weird Weekends so I was keen to see his latest show. However, as intriguing as the concept was, something just didn’t click for me in the viewing. On a forum that I contribute to regularly someone made a comment earlier that in his other shows there always seemed to be a point, something he wanted his “subjects” to admit to, or something he wanted to expose but in last night’s show there was no such point, it felt a little aimless, vague almost. Theroux gave us a glimpse into the lives of some of America’s most feared (and longest serving - one inmate was on a 500+ year sentence for home invasion and assault/torture plus eleven life sentences on top of that) criminals, yet at just an hour long the surface was barely scratched. I look forward to his next show though, whenever or whatever it may be.

I’m a member of WoYoPracMo but I haven’t found two seconds to squeeze in a bit of yoga today, nevermind the ten minute minimum. Do you think all the bending and stretching I did whilst cleaning the bathroom this morning counts…?