Fear of Balance

Started off an absolutely gorgeous fall day with this week's yoga class. There were twelve people in the class, including the teacher, Karin, making this the largest Thursday class I've attended thus far. We concentrated on working the shoulders today. We did stretches and worked on handstands. I'm getting a little better at them. I can get off the floor, but not all the way yet. I just can't trust my thin shoulders to give me the lift I need.

Went to the thrift shop briefly next. Erica had opened Friends In Deed early, so I was able to drop off some donations and browse around right away. I only had the money for one thing, but it was a corker - the double LP of the original soundtrack for The Empire Strikes Back. Said "hi" to Erica, then went down to the Collingswood Library until it was time for counseling.

I did tell Scott about the changes in my family - Rose's pregnancy, Anny and Skylar's move - but we mostly discussed my job problems. He more-or-less said the same thing Linda and Jen did in their comments on my last entry - explore the possibilities and be more open-minded.

The thing is, I really, REALLY want out of the Acme...and I can't live on 15 hours a month. I know nothing about medicine and have absolutely no interest in it whatsoever. I wouldn't know what to write there!

I was broke at this point, so I just rode home. I spent the rest of the day baking and watching Fairie Tale Theater episodes. My favorite was one of three shows my parents taped in the 80s, The Dancing Princesses. Lesley Anne Warren is the most intelligent of a group of six royal sisters who wear out their dancing shoes every night. Their overprotective father wants to know why he's paying so much money for shoes, so he sets up a contest for princes to attempt to solve the mystery. An experienced soldier is given a bit of magic by an old woman that may aid him in making more than few discoveries...

Tried a recipe from Betty Crocker for low-in-saturated fats (that's what the book said - and it was written in 1961) Stir and Drop Sugar Cookies, which uses oil instead of butter or shortening - I used Smart Balance. I added fiber to them as well by replacing one cup of regular flour with a cup of whole wheat flour.

I also baked bread for the first time in weeks. Made a Buttermilk Rye-Whole Wheat Loaf that came out very well, very moist, dark, and tangy.

Went for a walk around the neighborhood while the bread was on its first rise. I'm so glad I had today off! It was absolutely stunning, sunny, breezy but not as windy as the last few days, and in the mid-upper 60s. I walked down Goff Avenue to the river, then walked back around to West Clinton Avenue and up Manor. The leaves here are just beginning to turn colors, brilliant shades of crimson, orange, gold, and lemon yellow. They crunched nicely under my feet. Children were out playing and riding bikes after school, while adults mowed the lawn or chatted with neighbors.