Ommmmmmmmm...

I have been saying for WEEKS that I wanted to start yoga. I have a pregnancy yoga DVD here at the house, which is fine and all, but I like interaction. I like having someone guide me by talking me through what I'm doing - especially with something as "personal" as yoga. The last class I took was on Valentines day last year with Shannon and Kim. We had no clue it was a "Valentine" class we were taking. Every pose was a couple's pose designed to do with your "partner" so there were three of us trying to look each other in the eye(s) and "feel each others love." Aside from being just a little awkward, it was a great experience - I just never made the time to go back. And I've been told that the breathing techniques and the meditation can be life savers during delivery. So after a month or so of hem-hawing around and making excuses, I finally went.

And I'm sold.

It's hard to pick my favorite part...stretching, or breathing or just doing something physical for our bodies - mine and this babe's. Shavasana (I think that is the correct term) is the end of the class...laying on your back, palms up, eyes closed...it was awesome. It felt so good (don't worry, she set me up with pillows and mats so my baby belly was supported)...mentally and physically and spiritually to just be still and quiet and at peace. At peace.

Sarah (the owner of the studio) talked to me for a long time after the class. I guess she started yoga in her third trimester of her first pregnancy...just like me :). And she has been doing it ever since. I'm as impressed with her fitness as much as anything, but what strikes me is her demeanor. She emits calmness.

Like I said, I'm sold. I can't wait to go back.

I hope you all found some quiet and peace today, too. :)

Shavasana

Be Here Now...

It seems to be a recurring phrase I'm being exposed to..."Be Here Now." I read it on a friend's blog, I heard it from a very wise loved one, I got it as advice from a family friend...It's an Oasis song, a Ray Lamontagne song...

Be here now...

I'm a planner by nature. Always have been and to some degree, always will be. I think about the future - I mean THE FUTURE. From "how will we teach her how to water ski?" to "how do we make sure we will be able to retire?" I'm talking FUUUUUTUUURE. I fret about it a lot, actually.

Be here now...

I'm ready to be here now. I'm ready to be forced into the present. Just look at yesterday...and today...beautiful. Why would I want to spend them in the abyss of what-ifs?

Be here now...

Home, Sweet Stewy Home

I played hooky yesterday so I could spend it with my husband. No agenda, no plans, no errands...just flying by the seat of our pants. It was awesome. We both took our time to get around yesterday - I went for a (LONG) walk with a good friend and then Joel and I headed to Wimberly with the intention of looking for a print Joel found a while back. We didn't find the print but we did find some other fun goodies.





It was such a great afternoon - just wondering around the little shops, not really looking for anything but looking at everything. And the weather was beautiful...perfect in fact. We got to have dinner with sweet Joyce and we were home in bed watching a movie by 8. It really was one of those days that we are cherishing right now.

Today we woke up to freezing weather and a forecast of snow. I stayed in bed as long as I could, soaking up the warmth of Joel being home - but eventually had to make my way to work. When I came home this afternoon, THIS is what I found:





...and Joel practicing guitar in our quiet, warm, stew-smelling home.

It doesn't take much, really...to show each other how much we appreciate each other. Joel does it every day. I keep thinking that these days are numbered...soon we will be passing in the hall with hands full of diapers and laundry and baby. Everyone has told us to take advantage of our time now. So we are. Anxiously awaiting...

Joseph A. Stack

Let me be very clear...I LOVE learning from my husband and I always respect and appreciate his perspective. He is phenomenal at expressing himself without judging, explaining new perspectives without pushing and listening to others. I love that about him. That's how I can learn so much from him and it's those qualities that make me so excited to watch him be a father.

But sometimes there are instances where situations are simply Rorschach tests to us: they are and will remain with each of us "how we see things." Here's an example:

Here is how Joel sees Joseph A. Stack.

Here's how I see Joseph A. Stack:

Joel reads the words. I see the picture.

Joel focuses the cause. I focus on the effect.

In this scenario, I see a building full of individuals. Not a government agency.

In reading his manifesto, I think of the family he left behind in his "new marriage," now also homeless) not the statement he tried to make about his discontent.

I think of all the people he made a choice for today - without their consent or permission. Just like he complained of our government. I can wrap my mind around his motives, but in my opinion, he is a hypocrite. In his plight for HIS rights he took away the rights of others. And isn't this his biggest complaint of what the upper class minority took away from the middle class majority - their voices and their freedoms? He talked of the bodies he would be joining - as if he believed them (and himself) to be martyrs. What do we call the rest of the wreckage?

I sympathize with the frustration he expresses, and I understand the feeling of having no say or options or control over how much the government takes from us - in reference to taxes, etc...but there are ways around all of it. There are ways to make this world a nice place to live in despite all that other stuff. There are ways to help each other, together, get through the mess that he was drowning in...maybe not a fix for the problem, but a way to get through it. We can help each other...HELP EACH OTHER. Heaven knows the family he left behind is going to need it now.

Quiet Time

In case you haven't been made aware, my sweet husband has started blogging. He is revamping his priorities and "cleaning" his mind. We don't turn on the TV like we used to (well, HE doesn't. I'm working on it). And he is reading about three books at once right now. He mentioned the other day that "he has a lot to learn." He's inspiring me. I've started blogging again - granted, his writings are about the books he's read and current issues and mine are muppet videos, but still..I have refreshed my website bookmarks, I'm searching for books and I am making plans for finishing those scrapbooks I keep talking about.

Like I said, he's inspiring me. In all of this, we are finding a happy medium compromise of our old habits with our new. I am letting him take the lead on this change for us, and I like it. I like the quiet time in the house and the time we now have for conversation rather than commercials.

Hope you're finding some quiet time in your day, too.

Full Circle

Here's how the circle goes. This blog is titled "Robin's Hood." I did not come up with that...Sean Faires did YEARS ago. I can remember sitting in our old office off Walnut talking to him on the phone about the wording he wanted to put on the Dedringers EP (this was also following our discussion about how to make the spelling of Dedringers original - I suggested a "z" at the end...Sean replied, "That is so 5 years ago." I guess he knew best!)

Today I am listening to The Happin-Ins CD that just arrived in the mail. I was listening to it when our friend Matt Briggs came it to talk shop - and of course shop talk was derailed by stories of Sean and Jonny "back in the day." I can't believe how much we have all changed. I feel like I'm watching it happen right before my eyes still..our friends, our jobs, our families...everyone is blooming. It's really beautiful.

I can also remember when Sean realized that Joel and I were actually dating...not just coincidentally sharing an interest in the lives and careers of these two. At least once a week we all had dinner at my house - me, Laura, Sean, Jonny and Joel - at the minimum. Often times there were more folks, but we were the core group. After about the third or fourth time Joel went inside for a minute and Sean looked at me with a really concerned expression..."Um...is there something going ON between ya'll?" I think I said something along the lines of "I hope so" and not much more about it was brought up...until we told them we were engaged. Sean very plainly said "Well, good. When you told us you were dating we got a little nervous. This was either gonna end good or bad...no in between. We didn't want to have to pick between the two of you so I'm really glad this worked out." And now here we are - years down the road, still connected to each other - all of us- with growing families and growing lives...

I'm glad this worked out, too, Sean. So very very glad.

Oh, Baby...

To say we've been distracted is an understatement. We have been enamored, overwhelmed, swamped, ecstatic, anxious...for six months now.

At the time I posted last, I had taken three pregnancy tests just days before. I can't believe I was so calm. I also can't believe that was exactly six months to the day ago. Six months sounds like so long...but time has really flown. And now that we are three months away (92 days give or take a few) I am wishing for those 6 months back. I LOVE being pregnant. I love how healthy I feel and how much I get to sleep and eat and having an excuse to go home early. I love listening to the heartbeat and wondering what she's going to be like. I love thinking about Joel being a daddy to this little girl and teaching her how to read and how to listen to people tell stories and how to appreciate music and all things grand. I LOVE hearing him read to her...even if it's about the political environment of Berkeley. It's such a great time right now...the calm before the storm, I know, but it's really peaceful and sweet and I cherish it every day.

I don't know what's in store for the three of us. It's scary to think about all of the unknowns, but it's not in our hands...and I believe we are okay with that. Whatever may come, we can handle. I do know that.