november so far.

Well, it’s been a week and then some! Last Friday, I got up early to ride with my friend Reshma out to the suburban location of Yogaview. We were meeting some fellow former teacher trainees there and then going for coffee after.

I was so excited to see my beautiful friend–I hadn’t seen her since right after Sukhava Bodhe. But I woke up that Friday morning feeling off. I hadn’t slept well, so I thought that was it, but it turned out that I was coming down with my second cold of the year.

The older I get, the worse colds hit me. I remember being down for maybe no more than a day when I was little. I know that Aidan shakes off colds and illnesses within hours. But this cold hung on for a while, and only today am I starting to feel like normal again. Sore throat, probably a fever, coughs, sneezing, itchy eyes (so I’m thinking allergies were mixed in, too), achy shoulders (but that probably had more to do with yoga and doing THREE “inversions” the night before). At any rate, it was gross.

But that Friday morning had been lovely. The yoga class was nice, and the teacher told me that I have a strong practice. Which always amazes me when people tell me that because I’m probably the laziest yogini in Chicago. I wonder how I’d be if I actually had a daily practice? My version of “inversions” probably wouldn’t need quotation marks around it.

After coffee, three of us headed to the Baha’i House of Worship. It’s the only one in North America, and one of only seven in the whole world. I’d always wanted to check it out, we were right there, and we didn’t have to be anywhere.

reshma, me, amy

It was beautiful and humbling. The Baha’i faith is a gorgeous one.

I am not a great meditator. I sign up for Deepak Chopra’s meditations all the time and I never do them. If there is meditating in yoga class, I fall asleep. Or I start thinking “Really? Really though?” I love esoteric stuff, but some of it is too much even for me. But I was able to sit and meditate a bit in the meditation hall/temple.

By the time Reshma dropped me off, I was done. I went straight to bed. I was disappointed that I missed a Hip Opening workshop I wanted to attend, but there was no way I could even sit, let alone do another asana practice.

The next day was WindyCon. Adam had a concert and I wanted to see a few panels. But even though I’d dropped $50 on the one-day registration, I couldn’t last more than a few hours. I know Adam knew something was wrong after we stopped by Target so I could buy cold medicine and I didn’t want to linger. There was also a mall right there that I had zero interest in visiting. I really was sick!

When I’m sick is when I love being a freelancer. I was able to sleep, buried under blankets and blankets, rather than dragging myself into a too cold office to freeze and be miserable and loopy.

The week passed by in a drug-filled sore throated blur. I did call my mom on Wednesday to wish her a happy birthday, and she knew right away that I was sick. I left the house on Monday to have lunch with Adam and his father, who was coming through town from Des Moines en route to Atlanta, and then I didn’t leave again until Friday evening.

And this is when I was actually glad to be sick because gorgeous s00j was in town and she was also sick. So we were able to exchange ALL the hugs and kisses without worry of contaminating each other. Also? It’s amazing that a woman with a sore throat can still sound like an angel when she sings. She’s amazing.

They asked the audience to sing along with the choruses, and this is what I sounded like:

{via}

Which made me sad because just the first weekend of November, it was the Suzanne Sterling workshop. My third year going. I LOVE Suzanne. Her voice is amazing, her energy is gorgeous and infectious, and she is just wonderful. Suzanne Sterling is all about freeing your voice, and I felt like I’d done such a good job of doing just that… until I got struck with my head and chest cold.

It was such a blessing to see her and be in her presence, and to learn from her again. She comes to Moksha the same weekend every year, and as long as I’m able, I’m going to attend her workshops.

Man. For the most part, being sick is the pits. Everyone on FB and Twitter is coming down with something or another this month. I was totally getting back into my yoga practice but lost a week to the cold. I have to get back into it this week. I just do.

I’ve started Christmas shopping for Aidan, but no one else. I’m not even really in the mood for it this year. I’m halfway considering not decorating, but a friend of mine told me that I absolutely must decorate. Especially because I’ll have Aidan this year. And I know I’ll get around to it at some point. Christmas is my favorite, right? I just feel too tired to even think about it right now.

soon

But first, there is Thanksgiving to look forward to, where I will make myself a few servings of cornbread dressing that no one else will eat (fine, more for me then!), and a BIG thing of mac & cheese because yes. I am not sure who’s turn it is to host this year, but I’ll be happy either way.

That’s all for now. I know, I still owe you a NYC trip report. I’ll get around to it, I promise. Till next time….