Thursday

I started the day with ballet class in my neighborhood.  It's so nice to be able to wake up and walk down the street in my neighborhood to attend class.  It makes me feel like I'm living in a small village and everything is here for me.  Some things in life are so sweet and these are the memories to hang on to...

After ballet I went down the street a couple of blocks to the gym and swam, ending with a soak in the steam room.  Then I went home to walk puppy.  We went out for a long time because Yasir always wants to explore everything and everybody.  I have trouble walking him on a leash for this reason, but everyone seems to understand the way he is.  Still, I must be careful who he plays with and to keep him away from children, since he likes to jump on top of people, like puppies do.  He is best when running free, but I always must take care who is around before I can let him be free, as well as making sure he is in a secure spot where he won't run away.  When his puppy days are over, I don't think it will be a good idea to let him run like this, although other people do.  So, I am enjoying his puppy days in this idyllic existence I am living for the present.

I wanted to go back to the gym for Pilates and yoga but Yasir just played and played today and it's okay, because now I am home attending to business of the day, busy on my computer, cleaning up my place, and generally relaxing.  I should be on a tighter schedule but it is a balance of enjoying the day and getting things done and trying to accomplish things with pushing too much...

Wednesday

I had a really nice morning walk with puppy.  He looked so happy bouncing down the street and it was enough just to let him go around the block.  The sun was shining and everything was blooming and young, including puppy.  Later, he played for a while with some other dogs and then at night I just walked him around the block again.  Nothing special, just being home.

Same with ballet.  I went to my local school and then to the gym for yoga, to conclude this day of simplicity.  It was basic yoga and it made me realize how important it is just to feel at home with yourself and not just things so much.  A day of grace...

Tuesday chill

So cold outside today.  Coming home from ballet class I had to duck inside a hospital building to stay warm while waiting for a bus to go home.  Then I went home, dressed warmer, and took out puppy.  We walked through the park and headed to the aquarium shop in Old Town, then we saw an artist putting up a new sculpture in Old Town, made of chain links welded together in the shape of a human.  It is called Boundless, the artist said.  Trailing off the hands of the "human" were some more chains.  I commented, that's how I feel when I walk my puppy, because he always pulls me.  Still, I have to remember that he is very young and not to be too upset when he wants to play.

Then I went to the gym for Pilates and a swim.  Now I feel great, not exhausted at all.  The more I work out, the more energy I have.  The Pilates class was hard but really great and although I did not want to swim in the cold weather, I made myself do it.  Sometimes you have to make yourself do it, my pointe teacher always says.

I am not writing much detail but I will return and write down what I remember from my latest workouts. Sometimes when you have fun like this, you don't want to think about mental things, like writing.  You just want to feel good and keep going...

Monday-Tuesday

Up late again.  So much activity during the day that I don't get around to being on the computer until late at night.  Puppy keeps me busy, to be sure and I feel like a mom, but it is so rewarding to have a dog friend.  He had such a good time at the beach today and loves to be outside, which I love, too.

But I did manage to get to ballet class in the afternoon and I ran into an old dance friend who is now professional and I asked her a few questions after class about detail in class, to which she replied that as a professional, the choreographers are looking for detail, how you move your fingers, because that is how you get picked for a part.  Very important.

The teacher said near the end of class to her young students, look at this professional because this is the way you should dance.  True.  It's the way I learn the best.  She remarked to the teacher after class that she was just as naughty as a student but then she changed and she remembered all the things the teachers were trying to tell her.  This is why in class you really need to try and listen and do and pay attention to every detail.

A student didn't get a jump combination and the teacher said, you have to be a quick study.  This is how it is, learn the combination and do it.  It's a hard life but it is the only way you will learn.  This is the discipline of dance.

After class I went to the gym and took Pilates and yoga class.  My stamina is improving.  The classes like this at the gym are a joy, and yoga was fun tonight.  I said to the teacher that I used to think that I couldn't do the poses but now I have changed my attitude, mentioning what a dance teacher told me about your mind telling you that you can't do it.  Not that you should jump off a building, I said to another girl, but there are lots of things that are possible if you give yourself a chance...

Just Monday morning...

and I can't sleep.  Still want to stay up all kinds of weird hours...my mind is restless with thought.  So I went to dance class this morning, which started off warm and sunny but in the afternoon, walking home, I was kind of freezing.  I put my jacket back on and walked Yasir to the park, where he had fun playing with a French bulldog and a chocolate lab named Moose.  Then I went to the gym to squeeze in some underwater jogging and suddenly I felt warm again.  Maybe it was the sauna, whirlpool and steam room...