Real life is not as much fun as vacation - well there is a surprising insight, right?

Real life is filled with work and party plans and quilting. And newly introduced to the mix, yoga. Gloria and I started a yoga class that is intended for people who have no prior yoga experience and who need modifications to do the poses. I have learned a few things in the first month of the class. One is that yoga is real exercise. I always was sort of interested, but had the idea that it was gentle and meditative. I am finding that on different days it varies, but it is absolutely exercise, sometimes it really pushes me to the limit. I considered last week some kind of success because the sore muscles were easing up by Sunday, unlike the weeks before when they lasted into the week. And I only had to take Advil twice in one night the first night after class instead of for a few days. I find that it motivates me to want to do more. So I ordered two DVD's, one is a yoga class for 'fuller figures' and the other is low impact aerobics. Now the hurdle is to get time in the living room so that I can give them a try. I am actually excited about exercise, which is NOT a common condition for me.

On the quilting front, I have been able to do one to two hours of hand quilting each night since Sunday, it is actually starting to show. I don't have a square yard quilted yet, but getting there. I do like this part of the process. I enjoy the handwork, I enjoy the feel of the quilt as parts are quilted. It begins to change, to become softer, to drape more. And I enjoy getting to have one last close look at the individual fabrics as I work my way along.

Other than that, we are in the throes of party planning, Gloria's graduation party is Saturday. We have done quite a bit of the shopping, ordered the cake and started the cleaning process. Jovito has been a dynamo this week, he fixed the bench, vacuumed, mowed the grass and edged, waxed the kitchen floor ..... and the list goes on. We have enough beer and wine to make people forget anything we miss. (Just kidding - we really do have beer and wine but we are really not very big drinkers.).

I have tomorrow off work, a three day weekend is kind of like a vacation. Even if I am shopping and cleaning it is fun and different from my daily life. And most important, I am not spending 3 hours in the car just to commute back and forth. The Chicago commute is worse this year than it has ever been, and I have been commuting to Schaumburg for 25 years. If it had been like this in year 1 or year 5 I would never have celebrated a 10th anniversary. Now I have been there too long to want to leave. Fortunately I am working one day a week at home, and for a few months in the fall I will be working two days a week at home. That helps a lot.