Day 101

Today was the best CrossTime practice I have ever had in the UY program, I think.
This morning, after the usual running around and trying to get things done, I rolled out my mat and got to it -Hardcore was taken care of earlier-. From the beginning till the end it was such a satisfying experience! All the flows, the breaths, the balances, and even the yogi push ups were done effortlessly. Bound side angle was not panicky at all and the last standing flow sequence is one of my favorites in all the DVDs, so I am always happy when we reach that point.
By the end of the class I was in a very mellow mood and it kinda stuck for the rest of the day. CrossTrain is going to be a regular in my post UY schedule, that's for sure.
I am still nursing this icky stomach, so for lunch we had some teriyaki chicken with potatoes and mixed greens salad on the side.

In the afternoon I just hung around the house enjoying that the painting dudes are done and gone. Now tomorrow there's cleaning up and I'm hoping the remaining dust will be gone. It's driving me up the walls that most of my books got dusty. Those books are ma' babies!! Pfft.
So here's another insight for you guys on Spain. Today, the news reported that there have been 924 protests in the city of Valencia alone from January through July. That means that there have been an average of 4-5 protests a day. Now I live on one of the main streets of the city; so that means that at least three of these protests happen right outside my home. How much fun is that? A shitload is how much! Then people wonder why I am so reluctant to live here. Some people wonder why I am longing for that day when we can pack our things and leave. It's not only the nuisance of having the protesters outside making noise, littering, messing up with traffic and destroying property; it's the general sentiment people have here. People are angry, bitter, rude, upset, jumpy...in short: a delight.
On a side note: not everyone here is like that: I have met some wonderful people and made really good friends. They are hard working, fun loving people; but those people don't hang with me everyday and what I am left to deal with is with uneducated fools that think they are better than everybody else. I said it before and I will say it again: Spain is very pretty and lots of fun FOR VACATIONING. Living here? Well, that's a whole other story that I will soon write down and try to get published, much to some people's discomfort *I don't give a shit, by the way*.
But, I digress. Doesn't it blow your mind that there have been 924 protests in 7 months? In the same place? It blows mine for sure. Ah well, might as well enjoy that all those hard working protesters have all gone to the remote villages where they hail from to vacation and enjoy the semi-peace and quiet. Semi because now I have drunk-assed tourists walking up and down my street in the wee hours of the night. Guess we can't have everything in this life, huh? Bleh.
Moving along, for dinner I am having another ham and cheese sandwich and a doughnut for dessert. I am raving hungry, so cut me some slack ;)
Tomorrow is the last time that I do Strength because I HAVE TO. Next time I do it, it will be because I choose to. Let's just hope I choose it often enough so that I don't loose my nice lookin' arms ;)
Also, tomorrow I'm off to the beach for the day; after all it's Thursday and where else am I gonna spend a random Thursday but at the beach? Hehe.
Have a lovely 101 yogi peeps!
Namaste.

Day 100

Wow.
One hundred straight days doing yoga.
One hundred straight days meditating.
But what blows my mind the most is that I am still writing this blog after O.N.E. H.U.N.D.R.E.D. days. I don't know how this is possible, but here I am again. Just eight more days and we'll be done! There will be some who will go for round two, some will do other yoga programs and some of us will mix it up our own way. The important thing is to keep at it because we have all seen the huge benefits we get from taking care of our body and mind, yes?
Me for one, am looking forward to setting my own schedule at my own pace. Doing the classes I like, dropping the ones I don't, retaking my much missed Pilates and specially going back to the yoga studio. So many things to look forward and so many things to feel proud about! But we'll talk about those things on Day 108, when we take a look back and a peek into the future.
Today was our "day off" with Mountian Pose series. I took care of that in the morning and just spent the rest of the day doing errands and whatnot. One of those "errands" was giving my dog a much deserved bath and now my back is telling me how much it appreciated being abused that way. Pfft. At least the dog is squeaky clean.
For lunch we had chicken soup with veggies. I am keeping it light because my stomach is upset from some meds I am taking. Just annoying, that's all.

In the afternoon I did my Frankentoesies again -abusing the back some more- and just obsessing about the stupid amount of dust there is everywhere because today we had some walls repainted and the dude did some sanding at some spots -a lot of spots, actually-. Even though he cleaned up and I cleaned up some more, flecks of dust are everywhere. Gotta keep calm and wait for cleaning people to come on Thursday. *breathe in, breathe out*
For dinner I had a ham and cheese sandwich. Still taking care of that upset stomach.
Tomorrow is our last CrossTrain class of the program! How exciting!
Hope you all had a memorable 100th day and are feeling beyond proud of yourselves.
Namaste.

Day 99

Thank God for Day 99 in where I get to do Vitality for the last time!
This morning as I sent my son off to his sailing camp, I did Hardcore to be able to fully concentrate on that tall glass of Vitality being drunk por última vez.
After doing some chores and whatnot, I rolled out that mat with a big fanfare, pressed play and did Vitality with such force and contempt it must have looked hilarious.
Chair Pose and gazillion Breaths of Fire? Done.
Lion's Breath making a scary face? More than done: did those laughing.
Tortuous and endless Bow Pose? Oh hell yeah.
Adiós Bitchacho Número Dos.
Moving along. No use in dwelling here.
Husband and I decided to enjoy a nice lunch seaside as we killed time to pick Mikel up from camp. We had salpicón de marisco -that seafood cocktail, remember?- and this time I did take a picture of it:

We spent the rest of the afternoon having some drinks in this lovely restaurant that overlooks the beach. I guess we needed some grown up time ;)
Something soooo Spanish happened today at the restaurant: there was this very nice Italian dude sitting in the table next to us having a coke, right? When the waiter came around, he asked for a sandwich because he was hungry and because it's a restaurant, yes? Well waiter said no. That the kitchen was already closed. -The time was 4:00 pm-. In another table there was a couple with a toddler who was having an ice cream. Italian dude asks waiter for an ice cream. Waiter says no. That those are for the children. Tells Italian dude to go to the little shop across the restaurant and there he can get an ice cream. WHAT THE FUCK? This is Spain for you people. Enjoy.
Pfft.
We picked Mikel up at 5:00 and he was one happy sailor. He was also one tired sailor and just plopped on his bed with his iPad when we got home. Gotta love that little sailing hobby!
For dinner tonite we are having some smoked salmon with chopped onions, capers and some cream cheese on the side. I am posting this early because I just have to go watch last night's Breaking Bad episode. Over here we have to wait one day for the lastest episodes to be uploaded, so that being said...
Namaste!

Day 98

Freaky Cardio Sunday.

I was honestly not looking forward to Cardio today because I slept awful yesterday. Took me forever to fall asleep and when I did it was a very light sleep. See? My body is letting me know that it wants to go back to Granada. Ha!

So after a quick breakfast I got to Cardio because I had some stuff to do later. I gladly found that a bad night's sleep didn't affect my practice and I enjoyed moving through those vinyasas and sweating like only I know how. I am also convinced that I look forward to Cardio just so that I can have that *aaaahhh* feeling I get from drinking that ice cold coconut water afterwards. It just tastes so damn good...

I spent the rest of the morning taking care of our dirty laundry pile and reviving my plants -I think they might actually make it!- I don't have a lot of plants because I have a tendency to murder them; but so far the ones I have are still alive. Phew!

For lunch, the Grill Master Chef needed to bond with his little Weber and grilled us some nice steaks with asparagus on the side.

In the afternoon I kept doing stuff around the house and getting my son's sailing paraphernalia ready for tomorrow morning. This sailing school that he goes to is so nice: the instructors are super good and excellent with children. Last year my son had a blast and he is looking forward to it again. He's excited because last summer he moved up to a Taz sailboat and those go faster, so he can't wait to ride those waves. I will post some pics of him sailing on Friday when they do a mini regatta for the parents to watch so you can all check him out.

For dinner I had a mixed greens salad and fresh fruit for dessert.
Tomorrow is the last day we do Vitality! Yay! And for me it will be the last I EVER do it. I am completely removing it from my "After UY" schedule. Vitality joins Flexibility right there in the Bitchacho category. No mo' Vitality for me. Never. Ever. Hehe...
Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow as we get one step closer to reaching our 108 Sun Salutations!
Namaste.

Day 97

Today our lovely week away from home came to an end. We had such an amazing time in Granada! We were able to disconnect from everything and just truly enjoyed our quiet time. We got our tan seriously going and made progress with our books. My son turned into a prune from spending so much time in the pool and also has a nice golden tan going for him. Good times ;)
That doesn't mean that vacation time is over: school starts here until September 9th, so that means we get one more month of being a bunch of lazies. We will be staying home for the rest of the vacation, but my son will take his sailing camp that he loves so much and we will be sailing as well; so more good times are coming.
Today was spent most of the time driving back home and then unpacking. I love going away on vacation and packing our things; but unpacking? Hellz no! It's just so meh and all I have left behind is a pile of dirty laundry just staring at me. Pfft.
We had a couple of sandwiches on our way back for lunch and some KFC for dinner. I'm thinking I'll have an upset stomach in a couple of hours, but hey! at least I didn't have to make dinner, right? *checking to see if I have Tums at hand*

As soon as I tuck Mikel away in bed I'll roll my mat out and thank my lucky starts that we have Yin today: I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby. I am posting this now because  I'll probably conk out right after Travis says that he'll see me next time on the mat. I know today's post sucks, but I just don't have a lot to say :(
Thanks for hanging in there with me even though my post sucks BIG TIME. Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday stretching and I'll see you with more to tell tomorrow as we wake up to Freaky Cardio.
Namaste.

Day 96

Today was a super chill day. We spent the morning and the afternoon just taking it easy by the pool enjoying our last day here. We go back tomorrow and I am in complete denial. Pfft.

I did Hardcore in the morning and then played like 100 hours of volleyball with Mikel in the pool. Why don't kids ever get tired? Like ever? They blow my mind.

For lunch we had salpicón de mariscos, which is basically a fresh seafood cocktail in a vinaigrette sauce. It has shrimp, octopuss, mussles, scallops, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions and all other kinds of goodness. Totally forgot to take a pic of it but I found one online that looks kinda ours:

After chilling for the rest of the afternoon, we got all prettied up and headed back to Granada to Albayzín to have dinner and watch a tablao flamenco show -a must see if you are in Andalucía-. The show was super good and the bailaoras had some wicked moves in them. We ate a little bit of everything and just enjoyed the good music and lovely weather.

We got back home close to 10:00 pm, and after tucking my little dude away in bed I rolled out my mat for Balance. Now this is the only class I don't mind doing late at night because I love it so. I found that it makes no difference in performance if I do this class in the morning or late at night. I guess it's because I look forward to it and I forget if I'm tired or have other things to do. It was actually a nice way to wind down and finish an already good day.

Now I'm off to meditate with Oprah and Deepak and to finish my book.

Tomorrow we'll enjoy some pool time in the morning since we head back to Valencia around 1:00 pm. I'll do Yin once we get home so I can milk out all the time possible in this vacation ;)

Wishing you all a good night!

Namaste.

PS I was so tired last night that I totally forgot to super mega congratulate my good Ultimate Yogini friend and Balance buddy Francine for completing her 108 days! You are an inspiration to us all Francine! Much love ;)

Day 95

Today I totally ignored the alarm I had set early to do Strength before we left. Totally. I overslept and barely made it out the door at a decent hour. We spent the day walking about Granada's city center: we did some shopping and bar hopping as well. The day was super hot, so WE HAD to take those breaks -hehe-.

The city is super pretty, as it lies right beneath the Alhambra. We also walked all the way up to Albayzín, which is the prettiest neighborhood located uphill Granada. The streets are all pebble stone paved and the houses are painted in white. The roof tiles are brown and the overall effect is that of the most peaceful, quiet and cozy neighborhood. Also, it has the huge advantage of having the Alhambra right across it, so the views are stunning.

View of the Alhambra from Albayzín

The Alhambra half way down Albayzín

Cute little alleys everywhere

View of the Alhambra at the foot of Albayzín *sigh*

We ate a little bit here and a little bit there. I did remember to take a couple pictures before we wolfed everything down. Here are some snails in a spicy sauce and some serrano ham with bread. We ate more tapas, but who's keeping count, right?

After spending the whole day up and down, we were pooped as we headed back home. And what was I heading home for? S.T.R.E.N.G.T.H.

Dammit.

I got to it right away, because I know that if I had given it more thought I would have completely blown it off. Right off the start my arms and legs were shaking, so you can imagine how it was. I did the whole class, but it took more than strength to do it. I honestly don't know how I got through it, but I did. Phew!

Needless to say I am beat. Pooped out. Done. Served. Half dead.

I am not even hungry I am so tired.

I am now going to die slowly on the couch while I watch some tv.

I hope you like today's pics and I'll see you all tomorrow for Balance and Hardcore.

Namaste yogi buddies.