6 Years and counting...

Sometime this week in 2002 (I don't remember the exact date) in Saga (the dining hall at Alma College) I looked up across the table and saw this man...
He had less facial hair then, but I knew he was the ideal man for me!

Happy Anniversary... even though we don't really celebrate this one.

(the picture gets better if you click on it!)

Yoga Mat Secretz #2

Although I appreciate the complement given by Laurie in her most recent post, I do understand the limitations of my writing. I blame it on lack of practice since becoming a math teacher, but really it's just me and I am the luckiest girl to have a wonderfully bright and articulate husband to edit my papers!

Honoring Laurie's request for a yoga reflection, here is my contribution to the conversation in a more creative fashion. I challenge you, you, and you, to do the same with your next posts.

At the recent Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco, Grant purchased his very own yoga mat which I'll introduce to you in this installment of yoga mat secretz. It's the green, orange, and yellow mat. Mine is the plain lavendar mat who is not lonely in the mornings anymore!

Articles for Laurie D

and anyone else who would like to read them!

This is continuing the conversation from Laurie's blog and Tim's blog.

Continuing on the argument that there would be less desire for abortions if we reduced the number of unwanted pregnancies... through, duh! sex education that actually talks about sex! and starting a new conversation about sex with youth who, duh! want to have sex!

Here is where I first heard of the article and here is the article itself.

Bloggers for Choice

This day just came up so quick! Before I knew it, I had arrived on Jan 22, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Roe. And the question I'm supposed to answer is, "why do you vote pro-choice?"

And my answer is, how can I not?

I trust women. I trust them to make the correct decision for their situation, every time.

End of story since I'm blogging on my lunch period.

Love for the Home State

I've been uninspired lately to post... but I'll get back into it soon, probably on Friday night when Grant is on call at the hospital.

Until then, you can read this blog post about my lovely home state and how Michigan is voting for "uncommitted" to be the next president! I'm loving it.

See ya on Friday.

Stuff Give Away Dilemma

I have a dilemma about a bag that I've had for 4+ years.

It is a very nice bag, given as a gift for joining the staff at Davison High School in Davison, MI. I worked there 2003-2004. I used it to carry my school stuff for a whole year. It is a nice blue color. Has a nice strap. But I don't want it anymore and I don't know what to do with it.

There are two problems with the bag that have prevented me from using it since leaving Davison and from getting rid of it before now.

1st, the bag is embroidered with Davison High School and a lovely red cardinal. I felt awkward starting a new teaching job in Oakland, back in 2004, with my nice bag from my previous job for which I was mourning. Crying as I carried my bag home from the first few awful months at my new school, thinking about what life would have been like if I had stayed at the old school, the constant reminder with that little cardinal.

2nd, the bag is also embroidered with my full maiden name. This would be confusing to students. "Who's bag are you using?" "Who is Robin Levere?" I don't think they knew my first name that year and they certainly did not know my maiden name. They still don't know my middle name and this fact has frustrated several students for over a year now. They keep guessing Penelope. Why Penelope?

So, I have a bag with some identifying information on it that I don't use, don't plan on using in the future, and I want to get rid of it but feel weird doing it.

Here are some options I have been thinking of...

1. Cut out all of the embroidery, then reconsider the worth of the bag, and make final decision about giving it away.
2. Just keep the bag forever and ever and ever (or shipping it to a parent's house for storage).
3. Send it back to DHS and hope they can reuse it for a new teacher next fall. Hopefully with a first name of Robin or a last name of Levere.
4. Keep the embroidery the way it is and just give it to Salvation Army and then wait to see if anything happens. (a long lost friend discovers it and recognizing the name decides to search for me?)

Other ideas?

1/08

108 Sun Salutations Completed!



We did several variations of Sun Salutations to keep us engaged the entire time. I mostly flowed through them doing what my body was feeling at the time. Sometimes adding an extra pose, sometimes skipping a pose. Here are my stats for yesterday's session:



216 Tadasana (Mountain)
216 Uttanasana (Forward Fold)
108 Planks and lunges moving from uttanasana to chaturanga or down dog



~150 Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dogs)
~80 Chaturanga Dandasana (4-limbed staff)
~90 Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Up Dogs)
10 Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1)
8 Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2)



4 Virabhadrasana 3 (Warrior 3)
4 Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle)
2 Parvritta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle)
6 Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Stretch)
8 Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One legged King Pigeon Variations)



I set up my camera for interval shooting to capture us in different positions. The camera caught us from two different angles (I should have done more!) and was set to take 24 pictures at 10 second intervals. You have been viewing some of my favorites.



We are a perfect cross section of my current life. From left to right (and front to back) we are Gina (from my Advanced Studies Program), Tosca (a teacher at my school who I share the kids yoga class with), Robin (the birthday girl), and Inge (a dear friend from my church community).



As you might guess, I'm pretty sore today. But I'm still full of the excitement and thrill and joy of completing such a wonderful tradition. We stopped every twelve salutations to share visions of how we wanted our 2008 to be. It was a truly meaningful experience to share with three beautiful women. Thank you!

PS A special thank you to our excellent neighbors who graciously allowed us to take over their apartment for a few hours to do this.

Party Prep

We're having a fondue party for my birthday in three kinds... cheese...Tomato marinara (for the vegan and lactose intolerant)...
and chocolate for dessert...All of my friends are graciously bringing the bread, veggies, and fruit for dipping (THANK YOU!)

And we're using pretty plates borrowed from our church...
YUM YUM!!

All in celebration of me! I'm a lucky girl!

Tall People

(I'm 5'0" so just about everyone seems tall to me, but I am specifically writing this letter to people greater than 5'10" and who have predominately tall friends)

Dear Tall People,

I understand your desire to stand in the front row, because everyone should be able to stand in the front at some point and everyone wants to have that privilege. However, God and your genes made you tall and with that comes some responsibility. Please follow some sincere advice that will help you on your way.

The first thing you must always do is look around you. Tall people, you usually take up more room (I'm know there are many short fat people around the world, but still, even thin tall people have more mass than thin short people) and since you take up more room, please be careful when you move around. Look to your left and right. Look behind you. And most importantly, look down, because when you are a tall person, most of the world is below you, vertically that is.

The second thing you must do is yield the front row to the shorter people around. Even with a short person in front of you, your face will still have a front row view. Does your whole body have to see what is in front of you? I don't think so. That is why your eyes are close to the top of your body. Kindly let a shorter person, whose eyes are lower than yours, move to the front.

Lastly, tall people, you must not clump up together around a short person. It is very claustrophobic. Give us some space. It makes you seem like you have no awareness of anyone else's physical presence but your own. You are big. Your shoulders are like a wall. Your butt is too high. (probably because your legs are too long). You must be careful about what you do with these body parts!

Tall people, thank you for the things that you reach and the sites that you can see before anyone else. Thank you for telling us about the weather. I know that I will see better behavior in the future, if you follow my advice above. You will have many more short people as friends... just wait and see!

Thanks,
A short person

On Vacation

Sorry for the lack of posts around here. We have been very lucky to have Grant's parents visiting us from Michigan for the holidays. We spent the last couple days in beautiful and wintry Yosemite National Park -- pictures to come soon. Today was spent so far enjoying a Kwanzaa worship service this morning and cleaning the apartment for my birthday party. Soon we'll be heading out to a play, dinner, and stopping by my church for Singing for Your Life - an amazing 12 hours continuous circle singing event.

For New Years and for my birthday, which is on Tuesday, I'm having a party and I am challenging myself and others to complete an old tradition of 108 Sun Salutations to welcome in the new year. For my distant friends who can not join me in person, you can still join in for the sun salutations. Do as many as you can or desire. Give up some thank-yous for another year ending and a new one beginning. Do it as a meditation and prayer, reflecting on who you were in 2007 and discovering the path you want to take into the new year. Do it as a celebration of your beautiful God-given body.

I'll be turning 27 on Tuesday, January 1, 2008. 27 is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. Twenty-seven is the smallest positive number that requires four syllables to say in English though it can be defined in just two: "three cubed." (3x3x3) It is odd and has many odd friends like 1, 3, and 9. It is a perfect cube. It is the number of books in the New Testament. It is the 28th (and 29th) digit of pi. It is the number of moons of Uranus. 27x4=108, a significant number in many traditions, and therefore the number of salutations I will try to complete.

Believe it or not, there are actually several people who want to do this with me!

And then there are the others who will be just coming for dinner after... yummy fondue!!