Jet-lagged teacher

I taught my beginners and intermediate classes tonight and at one point I felt like I was still on an airplane and experiencing turbulence. Very strange moment. Anywho, we are all still struggling through with jetlag and the post-vacation blues. It's really hard to say goodbye to family that you know you won't be seeing for a long time and then transition back into day to day life. It's ironic because we probably see members of my own family less frequently than our Aussie ones but because I COULD potentially see them more regularly (by jumping on a plane and flying cross country), it doesn't seem as difficult. Irrational but true.

I also have to keep reminding myself to drive on the right side of the road instead of the left. I can't believe it is taking me so much longer this time to get back into the swing of things. Because of the left/right driving thing, my windshield wipers are still going off every time I think I'm indicating to turn left or right. Luckily in Portland, no one would notice windshield wipers operating at the wrong time... it's hardly ever the wrong time here.

Picture of an Aussie car console... Holden Captiva Maxx


Izzy made it through her school day only a little bleary-eyed and is of course still wide awake and raring to go tonight. After all, our bodies are still operating on Melbourne time which is early afternoon instead of 9:46pm. She finally fell asleep last night at 2:00am and if that happens again tonight I'm going to make us all warm milk with sedatives in it. (just kidding!)

Okay, I'm off to try to coax the little koala bear back to bed. Wish me luck.

Have a great Tuesday,

Jan

Home sweet home...

So, 22 hours of travel is not exactly a delight but the whole experience was definitely worth it and Dorothy was right... "There's no place like home!"

Some memorable moments from the journey home:

Izzy started bawling the moment we walked into the terminal after saying "goodbye" to her grandparents and she didn't stop until she fell asleep on the plane 2 hours later. I think the customs officer was suspicious that we were either abusing or abducting her because she sobbed her way through all the security checkpoints and customs process. He finally relented when she told him how much she was going to miss her family in Australia, but I was definitely sweating bullets for a moment.

She got an autograph from a Footscray Aussie Rules Football player but we don't know his name and can't read his signature. Also, no one in the family is a Footscray supporter that I know of, so I can't even imagine who we could ask.

The onboard Qantas entertainment system wasn't working for more than half of said 13 hour flight, so time seemed to actually CRAWL by instead of FLYING by. And yes, I was being a whiny baby about it, but then did a little fly-by yoga at the back of the plane, practiced my mindfulness meditation, and then got over it... mostly.

Motion sickness paid a visit at the end of the 13 hour flight. Let's just say it wasn't a pleasure to be holding the barfbag and her hair back at the same time. She felt better almost immediately, but I was definitely green about the gills for some time afterwards.

I lost our (OH SO LIKELY) 22 million dollar Australian tax-free Powerball lottery ticket and will probably never own that property in St. Kilda that I was planning on.... also my husband will probably never stop reminding me that I lost the ticket either and thereby squashed his hopes and dreams too.

I had two Saturday, March 28ths. I still think it's cool that we arrive a few hours before we left Australia. Makes me feel like Mr. Spock. Don't ask me why, it just does.

We arrived back to clouds and rain but the lush beauty of Oregon more than makes up for it. I LOVE this place and although our holiday was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of it, I'm very happy to be home.

Happy Saturday/Sunday Ya'll,

Jan

Day out pics

A few pictures from our day out together...

View of Melbourne from St. Kilda Beach



This is a picture of the home we lived in when we were first married 17 years ago:


This is a picture of the next home we want to live in overlooking the beach:


This is our gorgeous gal on said beach:


This is the Itchy Knee restaurant that is just below our "next home" and where we would probably eat great sushi every day:


Hope this finds you happy and dreaming of possibilities,

Jan

Promised Pics

Sorry but I'm just going to be lazy and post photos with minimal captions....


This one is of the St. Kilda Kiosk on St. Kilda Beach. Where you get an icy pole on a hot day.





A public restroom sign on the Esplanade... direct and to the point.





A nice view of the Esplanade Market... bought some lovely olive oil soaps and Australian animal bookmarks.

Sunday Snooze

Taking a lazy day today to just unwind and then to kick around at the beach and The Esplanade Sunday Market.

Izzy had a sleepover last night with her cousins and I caught up with old friends last night at groovy Acland Street. Had a delicious dinner at a Malaysian restaurant and SERIOUSLY great gelato afterwards at a place called Trampoline. I can highly recommend the caramel pear flavor. YUMMY!

I PROMISE to take some pics today of the market and post them. I know I've been VERY VERY slack about photos but today is the day!

Hope your Saturday/Sunday is snoozy and sensational!

An interview with Izzy

Hi everybody,

Still on holiday and having a wonderful time. Have lots to share but for the moment my daughter Izzy will be my special guest on this blog entry. She has graciously consented to be interviewed tonight. So here goes...

Question: What is your favorite thing about Australia?
Answer: Well, there are a few things I really like here. One is the nice sunshine and two is getting to spend time with my family. I like a lot of things but they are not always my favorite. Like going to the beach, going down to the shops, and sleeping in really late.

Question: What kind of animal do you think you are most like?
Answer: A chimpanzee because they are our great, great, great, and so on ancestors.

Question: Did your father teach you that?
Answer: Yes ... and Charles Darwin!

Question: Do you know that I disagree with this?
Answer: Actually, you just do that to bug me and dad.

Question: Would I do that?
Answer: Definitely!

Question: Where do freckles come from?
Answer: The sun.

Question: Are you sure they aren't Martian markings?
Answer: Not unless somehow Martians made a time machine and a time freezer and they went back in time right before I got my freckles, froze the time and put little Martian dots all over me.

Question: Doesn't that seem likely?
Answer: "Oh I'm sure that happened!" (Heavy sarcasm noted)

Question: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Answer: That is a very hard question and I have absolutely positutely no idea.

Question: Don't you really want to be a doctor?
Answer: Kind of... maybe.

Question: YAYYYYYYY!!!!
Answer: Okayyyyyy.... that's not really a question otherwise there would be a question mark as a punctuation.

Question: Are you sure??????
Answer: NOW THAT'S A QUESTION!

Thank you very much Izzy for joining me on this blog tonight.

Random picture inserted....



This is Gog and Magog and they hang out in my favorite shopping area here in Melbourne called the Royal Arcade. You can read more about them here.

Older but wiser party girl.

We just finished two full days of socializing and parties and although it was fun... I'm pooped. Also, I had a rare glass of champagne yesterday and it knocked me on my keister. At today's party for an old friend who turned 50 this week, his 20 year old daughter was telling me about her "uni"(university) adventures and antics. It brought back so many memories of my own college days. I was never a "wild child" but I had plenty of crazy times to recollect. Driving into the forest at 3:00am to sleep in total darkness, (Don't ask me why, it made sense at the time.) or taking a last minute road trip to Chicago for a weekend, or even just eating a whole pizza with a box of doughnuts with my good friend Tanya at 2:00 in the morning INSTEAD of studying for the test coming up next day. Silly things that were so easy back then but seem impossible now. I can't even IMAGINE staying up till 2:00am these days. I'm usually tucked into bed by 11:00 at the latest and maybe reading a book for 15 minutes or so until I fall into oblivion. But you know, it is great to look back and realize that even though that time was such a wonderful time in many ways, (for instance I had my health intact and I was more carefree) I am so happy to be the woman I am now rather than the child I was then.

I know what it is now to love and be loved with full and overflowing hearts.

I know the joy of holding and raising my gorgeous daughter through her miraculous birth until today.

I know how to be softer and to breathe more fully in each moment of the day, even when that moment is painful or distressing. Especially then.

I know that even if I am not here tomorrow or next year, in some small way I have made a difference to people in my life and hopefully for the better.

I think these are the treasures of growing older and hopefully more than make up for giving up the delights of late nights and doughnut pig-outs. (Okay, sometimes I still do have the doughnut free-for-all but VERY RARELY! ;-))

So back to our holiday here in Melbourne. Have I mentioned that it has been raining? I MEAN REALLY RAINING! More rain than they've had in YEARS. I knew I could bring the Portland weather here if I really put my mind to it. Anyway, here's a photo of the in-laws watertank. It was nearly empty when we got here and now it is nearly full! Yay!

They use this water tank in the summer to water the garden and to help lower the amount of water used. Everyone here takes their duty to save water very seriously and it is something I really love about this place. The feeling of fair play and doing the right thing for the community.

Anyway, we leave for our city adventure tomorrow so I should have many more pics in the next few days.

Hope this finds you well, hydrated, and revelling in your own misspent youth,

Jan

It's the weekend already???!!!

How is it possible that we've been here for 5 days already? Time is flying by but we really are enjoying every moment of our time here.

I spent a wonderful day with Yolanda Pettinato today and we made our plans to have a radio interview together next week. Here's the link to the show next Tuesday, March 17th at 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time in the USA OR it will be Wednesday, March 18th at 11:00am in Melbourne, Australia.

Here is also a lovely picture of Flinders Street Station in Downtown Melbourne. Doesn't it make you nostalgic for a time when something so grand was built for the sole purpose of transportation? Really makes you think doesn't it? Here's a wonderful link to the history of Flinders Street Station.

I must run as today my loving hubby is feeling ill but I will catch up more later.

Warmest Down Under Regards,

Jan

First full day... food and family.

We did what we always do when we first arrive in Melbourne. We made a beeline for the Dendy Deli with the family. I had possibly the yummiest lamb souvlaki I've ever had in my life... so good. We had our favorite waiter there who looks out for us and keeps us well fed and happy too. Then we walked up and down Church St. a bit to make some gift returns and exchanges for some of the lovely things my inlaws had bought for us as presents but as typical ingrates we weren't able to use.

We're now waiting for more of the family to come over to say "hello" and to point and laugh at us as the jetlag makes us more and more incoherent throughout the evening. I'm pretty good right now but I definitely feel a fogginess building again in my brain...hope I can blame the jetlag for this for the next decade or so.

Here's a pic of my lovely girl modeling her own new creation called "The Chained Scarf". We're willing to take orders for these one of a kind finger-knitted beauties. Let me know if you feel you can't live without one and I'll start putting her to work in the sweat shop to make them.

Touchdown in Oz

We are here... after a grueling and sometimes frenetic trip we've made it. We are freshly showered (believe me, this is a very big deal at the end of this journey!) and only a little muddle-headed. I'll write more later when I'm a bit more here than there.

Family looks great and we are just so happy to be here safe and sound.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes... I'll really try to post something worthwhile tomorrow!

;-)

Jan

Yippee, Yippee, Yippee!!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Oz we go. We're in countdown mode as we have less than 24 hours left until takeoff. Just being in transit for 22 hours is unbelievably daunting. This trip is such a big undertaking that you just really relish your last night in your own bed and meals at your own table sort of thing.

So for a giggle today we played a trick on my yoga teacher Simon. We were in the midst of a normal rather serene yoga sequence when on cue as he transitioned us into cat/cow asanas, we all began mooing and meowing. You can't believe how good it feels to laugh like that in the midst of silence. During Downward Dog the woofs and growls were hilarious too. Maybe you can bring a little silliness into an unexpected situation yourself just to see what it feels like.

Soon to be in the air like a bird, (tweet tweet)

Jan

p.s. Are you ready to make a big change? Click Here!

Prayers and support for Holli

From an old friend of mine who is connected to this young woman through friends.

http://helpholligethome.blogspot.com/

Every little bit helps.

Giant hugs,

Jan

Getting ready for Australia

So, once again this year we are headed down under to visit family. We are staying for 3 weeks this time and I'm very excited not only to visit family and friends, but to also continue my yoga studies with Yolanda Pettinato. I think I'm even excited enough to plan a little Aussie giveaway idea. Stay tuned to this space for more details to emerge... I will definitely be bringing back some goodies to giveaway on this blog!

Gotta get some zzzzz's but I'll try to blog more tomorrow.

Hugs,

Jan

Silent Sunday

I spent today at the mostly silent retreat for my 8 week MBSR class... Now, for those of you who know me you can stop laughing now. Yes, I did manage to be silent for 5+hours AND I learned so much about myself during this time.

I learned that when you are meditating for hours at a time you can't run from yourself forever. I learned that freedom from fear, anger, and sadness is the ultimate freedom. I learned that I am not just the rose or rosebud part of PetalsYoga but instead I am the whole rosebush. Deep roots and hardy stems, able to withstand the many winters of disease and to blossom anew with the warming sun. A radiant white light entered my body as I realized this during meditation and suddenly, I felt whole and healed.

I also let go of worrying endlessly about every other person in the room and whether they were okay or getting their needs met, and finally focused selfishly inward. Freedom.

Just my thoughts fresh from the retreat. Have you ever spent a day in silence and contemplation? Fill me in on your thoughts and observations. I'd love to hear.

Namaste,

Jan