Every Day I’m Amazed

Things have been kind of nuts lately! Teacher training, work, just trying to get stuff done! But it’s been great. Hmm, what have I been up to the last time I posted?

Well…

I got my nails done. We had some freakishly warm weather last week, so I took advantage of it, wore shorts and short sleeves, and headed to Pinky Nail to get pampered:

I did the early voting thing:

And….

I’ve been attending many video reviews. See, in addition to my own video review, I have to attend five others. I’ve gone to four others, so I only have one more to go. They make for long days; we have a practice for about 90 minutes, then we head to Daren’s (my teacher) loft to watch the video and listen to his critique. We also learn a lot more about cueing, watching the students, adjusting, and correcting them. This goes on until about 5pm or sometimes later. Then I usually end up hanging out and chatting with Daren and/or various other trainees. Not only is this a good learning experience, it’s a nice way to bond with my fellow trainees.

I’ve been hanging out with some trainees/yogis as well. Sunday, I ran into Fatima at King Spa, and also met up with Daren and his partner Lance for dinner while we were there. Monday, I attended a video review, and then Carmen and I had dinner and went BACK to King Spa. Yesterday, I got to spend hours with Graham and Milena as we explored the next phase of Moksha’s growth.

Graham, who is working so hard on getting this thing going!

SO. King Spa. Let me tell you about King Spa. Oh, glorious King Spa. It’s a Korean spa in a suburb north of Chicago. My friend Jen and I had vouchers, so we headed up Sunday, late afternoon. King Spa is open 24/7, and it’s not by appointment, so we knew we could arrive anytime. I’d never experienced a Korean spa before, so I didn’t know what to expect. But for the low regular price of $25 (we paid $15 for our vouchers), we got two lockers: one for shoes, one for the rest of our stuff, access to the steam room, the spa, many types of saunas, and a movie room, quiet rooms, meditation rooms…. basically, it’ a place to max and relax, for realz, yo. There are loads of extra services you can pay extra for: scrubs, massages, facials, etc. And there is a food court that serves yummy Korean food and yummy juices.

Sunday night was my first time there ever. If you want to get in the spas, you have to get naked. I was OK with that, though. I also got a body scrub. They really do scrub you down. I was cleaner than I’d ever been in my life. They also shampoo your hair (mmm scalp massage). The spa is unisex, but the rest is co-ed, and you are given uniforms to wear. Pink for women, grey for men, yellow for kids. 🙂 The saunas range in temperatures from 19F to 400F. Yes, you read that correctly. I like to go in the 400F one and then go right into the 19F after. Mmmmm. There is something for everyone and you feel like a million bucks when you come out. I plan to frequent that place a LOT. Now that I’m getting more comfortable driving. It only took me more than four years, right? I still have not driven downtown yet, though. Mostly I drive up to Jen’s place (way North), to Moksha, or out to the suburbs, like I did today.

Because last night, I found out that John Barrowman (along with his sister Carole) was going to be at Anderson’s tonight. And with Adam completely booked with ghost tours, I knew if I wanted to meet him, I’d need to get myself out there. And believe me, I NEEDED TO MEET HIM. I’ve been a fan of his ever since I saw him playing Captain Jack on Doctor Who, so I was excited.

I made my way out to Naperville about 1:30pm, so I got there about 2:15pm or so. I got my book for him to sign, and then just hung out. I ate lunch at a yummy BBQ place where the guy behind the counter was really great. He made every single customer that walked into the place feel welcomed and wanted, and you very rarely see that anymore. I shopped a bit (and picked up these gems)!:

Then I returned to Anderson’s (OK I may have shopped a little bit in between), sat down with my new books, and started reading. I chatted a bit with some other fans, and then the really cool lady in purple next to me belted out this amazing opera note because John had come up to her to hug her! (She’s known him for years.) SO, I offered to take a photo of them together if he wouldn’t mind posing with me for a quick photo as well. 😀 Then I hung out for the next two hours, chatting with the lady in purple (Linda) and any other random people, and then it was my turn to go meet him! 🙂

Yeah. THAT HAPPENED YOU GUYS!!!!!!111!!!!!!

He and his sister signed my book!

The week is only halfway over. There is more to come.

Tomorrow, I start teaching karma classes at Moksha every Thursday from 12-1pm for the next seven weeks. The cost is $8, so if you’re near the Riverwest studio, and you have some free time, come on by! It’s a very basic level class, so no experience necessary. This is a requirement to get my certification! Eeek!

There is anatomy class tomorrow night (next to last class!) and Friday, Suzanne Sterling is back!! If you were around last year, you might remember how I came floating out of the Suzanne Sterling workshop. I won’t be able to attend the entire thing this year, but I am going to a few of the sessions (well, one at least) and I know it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see her again!

Friday night, I have a brainstorming party at Daren’s loft, and Sunday morning, I have a lecture with Wendy Doniger, and she’ll be talking about death and rebirth in the history of Hinduism. Should be interesting.

So, November is going to be crazy and it’s not going to let up until Thanksgiving. I’ve got almost 400 emails to answer, and a guest post to post on my blog (I haven’t forgotten you, Celeste), a few giveaways, and more coming up. I’ve only done Christmas shopping for my mom so far, but I’ve got time for that, so I’m not too worried. 🙂

OK then. I’m tired and I have to teach tomorrow, so I’d better start heading toward sleep. Plus, Adam is bringing himself some McDonald’s and I don’t want the scent to tempt me. I haven’t had McDonald’s since March 24, 2012, and I want to try to go at least a year without giving in. I know, it’s stupid how it tempts me so much. It’s terrible for me and will probably make me sick since I haven’t had it in so long, but dammit if those fries and McNuggets don’t taste amazing. And it’s not like they aren’t SUPER aggressive with their advertising. But still. I AM STRONG. ROAR.

‘Til next time! 🙂