Remarkable turn of events

WHOA! My in-laws are taking the boys starting now until Tuesday morning. Who can even believe this luck?? I'm so thrilled. Jack is on my last nerve. Seriously, if you could sue your 5 year old son, I would. Tom and I are going on a date!!! Lobster rolls at Mussel Bar. AAH. I'm making chicken and sausage gumbo tomorrow but we'll eat it Tuesday. Pizza night has been moved to tomorrow as well. Signing off as happy, excited, not-mom-for-36-hours, Em-i-lis!

Om...again

There was a palpable kind of tension at yoga this morning. The studio was stuffy, so we opened the windows; a wonderful breeze was blowing through, but people seemed in various stages of concern regarding the approaching storm. I just don't feel real worried about it but am certainly not judging others' qualms.Focus on our movement and breath made for a rigorous, distracting hour, but as we settled into sivasana and the rain started up, you could feel peoples' awareness of the outside permeate the space we'd created inside. Up we sat for a final inhale, exhale and Om, and I found myself thinking about the communal intonation: how we all had different thoughts, contexts, feelings, emotions and so forth coming into class and how we'd all venture out into different -possibly vastly so- days but for that one moment, everything coalesced into one, strong, primal sounding. As fast as it started, it ended; we bowed, and each woman headed her own way. In the same way that our lives are never the same on a daily-weekly-monthly basis, that one chant of Om is always different too: sometimes it's a beautiful sync; other times it's a cacophony of dissonant voices. And just as yoga is a lesson in acceptance of so many things, so too is that Om.

Does being housebound mean lots of cooking will occur?

I think so! Looks like DC is supposed to start getting rain around noon and then heavy rain and wind this evening. Growing up in Louisiana meant preparing for hurricanes on a very regular basis. Boarding up windows, getting food and water supplies set up and so forth. Until Hurricane Rita, though, I don't recall ever actually getting more than a bit of rain; often it would be absolutely beautiful outside, and you always wondered if the weathermen were tricking you so you'd always be practiced in hurricane procedure. Anyway, I'm hoping we have that experience here today but it is a bit grim outside.So unless we lose power, I suspect there will be much TV watched and many things baked. Stay tuned...