I am finally feeling progress with my daily hooping! And I discovered a secret. I do Tai Chi before I hoop. I find that I am not as winded, and can hoop for longer once I've done some light Tai Chi and breathing exercises. I am still quite the beginner, but as I progress, I will bravely post my Tai Chi workout.
I am feeling a sense of freedom today. My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are on vacation. I am home alone with the Honey Dog. I am getting some much needed sleep, spring cleaning and cooking time.
I am proud to say I have mastered the art of homemade corn tortillas, without a press even!
I was so thrilled with the results, I ordered a tortilla press and tortilla warmer online. They should arrive this weekend. In the meantime, I hand pressed my tortillas with two pieces of cardboard and a plastic bag.
They turned out lovely and tasty. And gluten free! Now I have another option for when I travel to Portland to teach. I can just pop these puppies in my bag so that I won't be tempted to eat anything containing wheat.
I am still struggling with coughing, wheezing and allergy symptoms. I suspect there is something in the apartment. So I have been opening up windows and doors every morning when I let Honey Dog out. And I am vacuuming daily and scrubbing surfaces with baking soda and vinegar.
I am also wondering if food allergies are a culprit. I have not gone back to entirely gluten free and I still allow cheese into my life. But with my lovely corn tortillas, I think I can nix gluten again. And cheese, well my friend, you really have to go!
However, aside from wheezing and sniffling I feel good. I feel hopeful because I see progress in my health.
And above all, I feel very grateful. For my wonderful family. We are quite an assortment of personalities, but lovable all the same. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my brother, my niece and her friend. I gave my niece a piano lesson and worked with both girls on a song they are singing with their 5th grade class. I am heading into spring break, so there is this nice feeling of space. I don't feel rushed. I hope to figure out a way to keep this space in my life permanently. It kind of goes along with slow, intentional breathing and gentle Tai Chi movements.
Along with my stellar tortillas, I made Oaxacan beef for dinner last night. It was so yummy! I met a young man from Oaxaca years ago at a gym. He gave me the recipe. Essentially, just slice skirt steak or sirloin very thinly and fry. Set aside. Mince up a jalapeno, cilantro, and slice a lime. Season steak with salt and pepper, and squeeze lime juice on top. Put on a tortilla (such as my stellar corn tortillas!) and top with jalapeno and cilantro. I also put salsa on mine.
So divine!
I am feeling so much joy and hope, but underneath, I am mourning yet another mass shooting. This time by a white supremacist in New Zealand. It saddens me to hear of the loss of innocent life. The victims were praying. And now I am praying for them. And their families. And also the shooters and all the angry people in this world. If they would just stop and look up into the sky, look at the beauty all around them, eat some wonderful food, smile...would they still hate? Or are they so consumed, that they are beyond simple pleasures?
I read about the shooting early this morning. Since I didn't have to get up early to take care of my granddaughter, I rolled back over and slept a bit more. Then I woke with my heart thudding, worried I had overslept.
I had slightly. But I still got all my chores done, including my Tai Chi, hooping and morning prayer.
But since this is the period of Lent, I want to focus on letting go of that extra sleep in the morning. It is negative. A denial of the day. I do not want to live like that anymore. I want to greet the morning and live in the light.
Finally, I want to leave you with this quote I read on Facebook this morning. It is from Sister Catherine Wybourne's page. She is a Benedictine nun. It is a new thought for me, but I find it thought provoking. I especially like the last sentence: "It was a moment of sheer grace".
Finally, below you will find my hooping videos for today and yesterday. Today is day 14 - two weeks of daily hooping! I am proud and committed to continue!
Happy Friday!
Love,
Zita
I am feeling a sense of freedom today. My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are on vacation. I am home alone with the Honey Dog. I am getting some much needed sleep, spring cleaning and cooking time.
I am proud to say I have mastered the art of homemade corn tortillas, without a press even!
I was so thrilled with the results, I ordered a tortilla press and tortilla warmer online. They should arrive this weekend. In the meantime, I hand pressed my tortillas with two pieces of cardboard and a plastic bag.
They turned out lovely and tasty. And gluten free! Now I have another option for when I travel to Portland to teach. I can just pop these puppies in my bag so that I won't be tempted to eat anything containing wheat.
I am still struggling with coughing, wheezing and allergy symptoms. I suspect there is something in the apartment. So I have been opening up windows and doors every morning when I let Honey Dog out. And I am vacuuming daily and scrubbing surfaces with baking soda and vinegar.
I am also wondering if food allergies are a culprit. I have not gone back to entirely gluten free and I still allow cheese into my life. But with my lovely corn tortillas, I think I can nix gluten again. And cheese, well my friend, you really have to go!
However, aside from wheezing and sniffling I feel good. I feel hopeful because I see progress in my health.
And above all, I feel very grateful. For my wonderful family. We are quite an assortment of personalities, but lovable all the same. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my brother, my niece and her friend. I gave my niece a piano lesson and worked with both girls on a song they are singing with their 5th grade class. I am heading into spring break, so there is this nice feeling of space. I don't feel rushed. I hope to figure out a way to keep this space in my life permanently. It kind of goes along with slow, intentional breathing and gentle Tai Chi movements.
Along with my stellar tortillas, I made Oaxacan beef for dinner last night. It was so yummy! I met a young man from Oaxaca years ago at a gym. He gave me the recipe. Essentially, just slice skirt steak or sirloin very thinly and fry. Set aside. Mince up a jalapeno, cilantro, and slice a lime. Season steak with salt and pepper, and squeeze lime juice on top. Put on a tortilla (such as my stellar corn tortillas!) and top with jalapeno and cilantro. I also put salsa on mine.
So divine!
I am feeling so much joy and hope, but underneath, I am mourning yet another mass shooting. This time by a white supremacist in New Zealand. It saddens me to hear of the loss of innocent life. The victims were praying. And now I am praying for them. And their families. And also the shooters and all the angry people in this world. If they would just stop and look up into the sky, look at the beauty all around them, eat some wonderful food, smile...would they still hate? Or are they so consumed, that they are beyond simple pleasures?
I read about the shooting early this morning. Since I didn't have to get up early to take care of my granddaughter, I rolled back over and slept a bit more. Then I woke with my heart thudding, worried I had overslept.
I had slightly. But I still got all my chores done, including my Tai Chi, hooping and morning prayer.
But since this is the period of Lent, I want to focus on letting go of that extra sleep in the morning. It is negative. A denial of the day. I do not want to live like that anymore. I want to greet the morning and live in the light.
Finally, I want to leave you with this quote I read on Facebook this morning. It is from Sister Catherine Wybourne's page. She is a Benedictine nun. It is a new thought for me, but I find it thought provoking. I especially like the last sentence: "It was a moment of sheer grace".
"Forgive me for quoting myself again, but we are getting a lot of
people saying ‘I can’t believe in a God who allows such dreadful
suffering as that inflicted on those people in Christchurch.’ Although
my natural tendency would be to try to tease out why anyone should
believe in a God who denies us freewill, this passage from iBenedictines
may be worth reflcting on:
I think we might find forgiveness less of a battle if we remembered something that will shock the devout but which
I have found to be true in my own life. There are times when we have to
forgive God. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? How can we forgive God, our
all-holy, all-loving Creator and Redeemer? To suggest that he could
ever do anything that needs to be forgiven is blasphemy, isn’t it?
Theologically, yes, without a doubt; psychologically, I’m not so sure.
You see, most of us hold God to account without always realising what we
are doing. When the Boxing Day Tsunami struck many people who lost
family and friends cried out in agony that they could no longer believe
in a God who did such things. Even those who nuanced that to ‘allowed
such things’ decided that the God in whom they had previously believed
was not one they would trust in the future. For a few, a very few, the
smashing of their old ideas of God led to a deeper and more luminous
faith. At the heart of all was forgiveness or its absence. If we have a
problem with forgiveness, we need to ask ourselves whether, at some
level, we are holding God responsible. If we do, then I think we have
explicitly to forgive God, or at least tell him we want to forgive him. I
know that the most difficult experience in my own life only began to
find healing when I was able to say, ‘God, I’m angry with you but I
forgive you.’ It was a moment of sheer grace."
Finally, below you will find my hooping videos for today and yesterday. Today is day 14 - two weeks of daily hooping! I am proud and committed to continue!
Happy Friday!
Love,
Zita
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