Yesterday I was teaching private yoga to a lovely lady who was delighted to find out what her body would allow her to do if she was gentle with it. As we were finishing up the class, I noticed my husband came home. It was 11:30...this couldn't be good. Making myself stay focused on my client, I didn't allow myself to speculate. Or maybe I just didn't want to know. My first thought, as always "is my Dad okay?" My second: His mom? His dad? the car? Sigh.

His job. Wow. After all these years? Really? Like really? We are now part of the growing statistics... part of all the poor souls who have lost their jobs. Their primary source of income. We've been praying for all his co-workers that they've been laying off over the last 8 months. Never dreamed he would be one of them. They (management) kept telling him he would not be one of them-- his job was secure because he was the only person in the office who knew how to do everything. Course, since they gone from a staff of 90 to 15 in 8 months, I guess they don't have much of everything that needs someone to know how to do it.

So, wow. We've talked about this for months. The what ifs.... "well, should I look for a full time job? what do I do about my now finally doing well business? should we refinance? should we go ahead and try and sell the house and move to a less expensive area? where? what about the kid's college? what in the world kind of job could I get that would make up for your income? How bad do we really think this economy will get? Are we all gonna live in tents? Obama will make it better...." and on and on. Preparing but not preparing. Which we now realize was stupid. Refinancing and consolidating is much harder when you don't have verifiable income.

All shall be well. Telling the kids was tough. Cory, bless his heart, came in from work and took one look at his Dad being home during the day "WHAT? You don't work no more?" (with a comical old man New York accent) Barry & I laugh. Poor Cory. "well... as a matter of fact, no, I don't work no more" "S*&&" "Yeah". He instantly runs upstairs and comes down with his tips from the night before.... "here's rent". Cory, who just found out his Starbucks store is closing and he will lose his daytime job in 30 days.... offering rent. Very sweet.

All shall be well. We were worried that Rhia, in college, would think she would HAVE to come home... she's been stewing for awhile with all the pay cuts Barry's gone through in the last year. We will work it out. If the worst thing that happens is she spends a year in community college...hey, a degree is a degree. All shall be well.

They closed down Barry's email account instantly. After all those years. He hadn't even made it home. He had to draft a letter to his contacts trying to keep it upbeat. Instantly...prayers of support, offers of help, leads for jobs. His brother even offered to take care of Rhia's college. We are so blessed. All shall be well.

So here we are. We've decided not to panic. He's working on his resume "honey, where's my resume?" "dear, that was 4 computers ago..." We'll try and refinance-- I put my rusty old wheeling dealing mortgage brain on in the shower yesterday... "you mean to tell me with a loan to value ratio as low as ours, you're still gonna verify income and do an appraisal? Honestly, you should pray we default! You could use the money..." All shall be well.

Know anyone who wants to hire a Jane of all trades?

Seriously, thank you all for your prayers and support and Reiki... we feel it. Wow. All shall be well.

This is the worst time of year for my patience. I LOVE Spring. I can't resist raking off the leaves in my gardens, seeing all the new shoots coming up, remembering what's where and being surprised at the new volunteers. I want to get out there.... dig and divide... prune and plant...create and cultivate...NOW! The plants in my house need to get out NOW. They are barely holding on, they need water and wind... time to GOOOO!

I need to sit out on the grass, wind blowing through my hair, watching the cherry willow sway and the daffodils bobbing their heads and leaning to the sun. I need to listen to the birds without their songs being muffled by my windows. I look at my hands, all clean and with long white fingernails and I can't identify them.. they need to have perpetual dirt under them... these are not my fingernails.

My schedule has been nuts lately. Good nuts. But nuts. On Sunday, I had about 10 minutes where I was outside. It was warm, almost balmy. I quickly grabbed my pruners and hand rake and went to town (much to the dismay of my husband who had just cleared all the path in front of the gardens only to turn around and find them covered again). Cataloging in my head "oh my the hollyhock are comin up, you need to cut back those weeds of sharon, time to decide what to do about that honeysuckle, lordy look at all the phlox, where's my sage?, should I pull that trumpet vine closer?, wow, that curly willow is 3 feet bigger, how is that possible?, liriope needs a serious haircut....

Just a taste but it has wet my appetite. And now I can't think of anything else. I need out there. NOW. And I am so torn today. A very dear friend has discovered that I, after living in the DC area for 48 years, have never once seen the cherry blossoms. She is stunned. And insisting on taking me there. Today. Now, part of me is feeling so blessed... what a great friend! The other part of me... the one looking down on these clean fingernails... is saying "DUDE, it's sunny! I need to get out there! NOW! I'm sure those cherry blossoms can't be nearly as impressive as the one in my front yard!"

But I hear they are fairly impressive. And she is one of my bestest friends. And I know the minute I get there I will be awed, inspired and thinking I was nuts to even consider not going. And it really is a tad bit too early to rip apart all my gardens right now and throw all my indoor plants out. Errrrgh! Warmth! I need warmth!!! NOW!

Sigh. Patience...young grasshopper...

We are home. Well, technically. We have come back to earth while keeping our eyes on the sky. This was quite possibly the biggest thing our family has ever witnessed/experienced/enjoyed. On so many levels. I mean, you have the obvious brother in law blasting into space thing. But there was so much more.

It was like a family reunion and high school/college reunion rolled into one. Our kids got to see and hear about who we were BC (before children) Our friends got to see who we became AC. It was amazing to see and talk to people that you used to spend every single day with 28 years ago, who you knew almost as well... if not better... than you knew yourself. All of Barry's brothers and sisters were there, that hadn't happened in at least 10 years. And everyone was united for a single cause: support Ricky's family through all these ups and downs.

I was so proud of everyone. I've never seen so many hugs and sharing on a deep level. I've never felt closer to my sister in law. She was such a trouper, really went out of her way to make sure everyone knew each other and was having fun. People came from all over the world; Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada and of course, Texas, California, New York just to witness this astronomical event. Pun intended. Course we all had a ton of time on our hands since the launch was delayed so we got to really spend a lot of time hanging out and having fun.

On Launch day, we all joined at the Slow and Low in Cocoa Beach for a good luck lunch. We were all on pins and needles since we knew there were no guarantees, we knew from Wednesdays experience that anything could happen. We were nervous because most of us would be unable to stay any longer, we had held out as long as funds and real life would allow, if the shuttle didn't go we were gonna miss it. And that was unthinkable. Before we ate, each table gathered hands, and said a communal grace. Not 5 minutes later, Ricky called. We were a go! Cheers & Hugs & the first of many tears. It was for real, it was for real... it was for real. You could feel the emotion as it went around the room. As you hugged Eloise. Like she said, "it's so strange to feel every bit of your emotions all at once..."

We head back to the hotel, getting ready... cameras, videos, good luck charms :) The extended family and friends got to be ushered to the Banana Creek viewing site on buses so we gather at a pavilion to have security check us out and to wait. Much hand grabbing and "can you believe this????" We get to Banana Creek and see how close we really are to the shuttle. Unreal. Is Ricky really going to strap himself into a rocket and be blasted off into space? But he was already strapped in. It was just a matter of time. Endless time. We wander around, taking pictures, buying souvenirs, texting our friends and family back home. The immediate family is on a balcony above our viewing stand, they wave and we cheer... more pictures. They come down, more cheering, more pictures, much more hugging. I don't believe I have ever sent as much Reiki as I did that day. I just held my hand on Eloise's back every opportunity I had. She just kept saying thank you... "I feel the karma you are sending" How cute she called it karma. Rhia, the Reiki Master in training was sending it too... and Sheree at home...

Next thing we know the countdown clock starts up again (NASA has these weird built in holds where they stop the clock for long periods of time, I dunno) We scramble to our seats to get ready. Mike, the astronaut who was everywhere we were, started explaining everything to us... how the astronauts were feeling... how he felt when he was strapped in for 3 hours and how they feel right now.. 10 minutes before lift off. It was just all so surreal. The next thing we know they start playing the National Anthem. We stand, put our hands over our hearts, staring at the shuttle launch pad and we sing. I look over at my old friend, Kris, tears streaming down her face and smile. I'm not the only one. I put my hands together and begin to pray. 10, 9, 8... OMG this is really happening...7, 6, 5...water and smoke and fire 4, 3, 2, 1 BLAST OFF!~

The ground starts rumbling... the rockets begin to take off... what an incredible sight! We are cheering and then as the shuttle begins to clear the pad we are silent. Eyes glued to this big ball of flames.. not even breathing... not even a coherent thought.. just witnessing. And then Mike the Astronaut breaks the silence.. "it's okay, _____ and (((( andlajeaoehoahea" No clue what he said but we all start cheering cause we know it's okay. It was the longest 8 minutes I've ever spent. Every few moments, Houston and Mike the Astronaut would explain what was happening and we would cheer... rocket boosters separating... contingency plans and what not... I'm sure it was all perfect but for me the specifics didn't matter. Are they safe? Do they get to live their dreams? Did this really happen? Look at the plume of smoke as it hits the sunset, brilliant oranges and yellows and blues. I will never forget this day.

Afterwards, when you could no longer see even a blip on the horizon, people begin to leave. Leave? How can we leave? We need to stay here til they get back!!!! But leave we did. After a farewell party on the beach and a 15 hour car trip we are home. The NASA channel constantly on our living room laptop... trying to get back into the swing of our old life. But after that, all this seems kinda, well... I dunno... anticlimactic?

Ricky's up til the 28th. He had his first space walk yesterday as I was home folding laundry. Sigh. Amazing. Watching your brother in law float in space. Just surreal. Did that really happen?

 

At one point last month we had 16 folks signed up for our SoulCollage Night. Sheree & I were excited... and apprehensive... where would we put everyone? We decided to change the group from Sheree's house to mine since I have a dedicated room that is my yoga studio/office/reiki room/morning coffee room etc. My husband (and friends) converted our garage into this beautiful space surrounded with windows... it's lovely. So we put 4 long tables in, grabbed every chair in the house, borrowed from our church and had plenty of space.

Ultimately, 5 people showed up. Counting Sheree & I that's 7 altogether.

We had a great time. Went on well past time, really connected and shared. It's so funny, this has been our experience from the start with SoulCollage. We always get a lot of interest and then for a variety of reasons, most of which folks can't control, the group comes to the perfect size. Sometimes more, sometimes less, heck we've even had only one show up sometimes. Usually one really in need of undivided attention.

It's difficult to get over the feeling of throwing a party and no one showing up. It's difficult for other people to resist asking, "so how many did you have?" and look pityingly at the small number. I have to admit that if I allow myself to judge quantity rather than quality, I will view my endeavors as less than successful. It's such a ridiculous barometer based on human nature and childishness that I feel blessed to get the opportunity to REALLY explore the truth of what's important.

So, what's the truth? The truth is 7 beautiful souls connected on a level beyond superficial, beyond the day to day doldrums of life. They created, they allowed their intuition to guide them, they let go of control and allowed themselves to be led to beautiful and thought provoking insights to their soul. They laughed, they were brought to tears, they met each other's eyes and shared their common humanity. They all realized the light in them recognized the light in each other and bowed respectfully. They were one.

They took a couple of hours to stop judging others by how many friends they have on facebook or how much money they made or what was the label on their clothes. In fact, the phrase most heard was, "I hear you, I've been there, I feel you...." And believe me, it wasn't about their jobs or the cars they drive or the size of their homes. It wasn't about who wins the award for being the most busy, although that's how they may live their lives outside of the group. For a few hours, they were nothing but themselves, creating works of art.

Do I consider that a successful evening? Hell yeah. So much so, that I have decided to give the opportunity every week, every Sunday from 2-4pm. And what if no one shows up?

Well.... I'll be there, won't I? And I am the One....that knows that One is enough.

I have some crazy stuff going on in my personal life that has nothing to do with my professional life so I'm a bit apprehensive about what this reading will tell me... But I am certain it will tell me just what I need to know...