2007, my year in review

Let's start with the subject of travel... The major highlight of my travels this year was the cruise. Our first cruise was a week-long jaunt over spring break with family and friends wherein we found ourselves sailing into exotic ports along the Western Caribbean.

We climbed ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico, experienced some of the culture and natural beauty of Guatemala, snorkeled the barrier reef in Belize... Very exciting, very memorable!

I landed in New York City for the third time, accompanying members of my family on their first trip to the Big Apple. You could say I was a sort of tour guide. It was a lot of fun. Shut up, it was!

After a few days of sightseeing, we struck off for New York state to attend my nephew's momentous graduation at the esteemed West Point Military Academy. We toured the historic campus and got to hang out with Danny.

We squeezed in a trip to the beach... Orange Beach. Sipping margaritas and splashing around with the stingrays. We had a great time. Maybe next time we'll try parasailing? Not!



We completed a weekend roadtrip to Dallas, Austin and back, in three days, to see Rufus Wainwright perform two great shows -- one at the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie and one outdoors at the legendary Stubb's BBQ in downtown Austin.

Mid-August. Outside. 6 hours. Standing in one spot. It was totally worth it.

In other concert news, I saw Tori Amos perform for the 12th time! Her shows are always an experience.

While we were in Houston, we visited the Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science. It was pretty cool.

On the way home, I saw Galveston for the first time. It has its own thing going on. It was nice.

Some other shows we caught closer to home...
Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow at the New Orleans Arena. Quite a production!

Matt Wertz at the Parish, where I discovered Jon McLaughlin and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

Francis Cabrel at Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette. I still can't believe he came here to perform -- est-ce que ce monde est sérieux?

Fest for All in Baton Rouge. I went to check it out while everyone else was at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

The Police reunion tour at the New Orleans Arena.

Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz Two Birds / One Stone Tour at the Varsity, a.k.a. how I discovered Gabe Dixon.

And let's not forget Josh Kelley at Wal-Mart on Siegen! (You know, the guy who just married Katherine Heigl a week ago.)

Some miscellaneous events that occurred...
Dave Eggers reading from his latest book at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. (Neeerds!!!) What is the what?

Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade (Should I mention the Isis parade?)

Monster Truck Show at the Centroplex Baton Rouge River Center



Femme Femme Femme exhibit at NOMA

Kathy Griffin FTW!!!1 How awesome is Kathy!



Movies I enjoyed...
Helvetica special screening courtesy of the New Orleans Film Society!

Paris je t'aime

Into the Wild, which I had the pleasure of reading before I had the pleasure of viewing on the big screen.

Other book moments I liked...
On the beach, leafing through some of Wil Wheaton's short stories.

Eat Pray Love. How else can you sum it up? Just remember that I read it before Oprah (and potentially Julia Roberts) ruined it.

What else?
I played music for the first time in years at the family reunion.
I think I did a funeral too. Did I make it through the year without doing a wedding?? Not to worry, I already have two booked for 2008. :)

Almost had jury duty for the first time.

One of my childhood friends died in a car wreck.

Another friend moved away.

We lost Uncle Gene. :(

Some of my best friends at work got better jobs and moved on. Literally and, I'm hoping, figuratively as well. The world has turned and left me here. Should I mention that I almost got promoted? Nah...

Made some new friends. McGregor, party of four?

My niece got engaged.

Matt got engaged! (All my babies are growing up!)

At least one of my siblings got divorced, possibly two?

I tried a yoga class!

Experienced what I would consider my sickest day ever.

And... I started a blog!

Suck on that!

Here's to 2008!

stuffed zucchini

Stuffed Zucchini
Originally uploaded by jyew

Inspired by this mouthwatering photo... I made stuffed zucchini last night. I didn't know what to expect, since I don't remember the last time I cooked something. It actually did turn out "succulent and flavorful!" Stuffed zucchini and roasted garlic couscous. Mmm!

namaste

Just got back from my first yoga experience.

It totally kicked my ass.

When I learned that a yoga studio was opening down the street from where I live, I got excited. It is something I have always wanted to try. I've read a lot over the years about the benefits of practicing yoga, and I am at a point in my life where I not only strongly desire such benefits but feel that I desperately need them: reduced stress and anxiety, increased strength and flexibility... and most importantly, balance. I want and need balance.

Today was open house and they were giving free classes all day. I chose to attend the basics class. When I arrived, I was nervous. When I entered the room, I felt intimidated. The first thing the instructor said was "Who has never been to yoga?" My hand was the only one that went up, and everyone looked at me as I was trying to get settled since I was the last one to arrive and had to take the only empty spot available, right next to the instructor. Nervous, intimidated, out of place. Did I mention I was the fattest one in the class?

I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought we would be stretching and breathing, basically; holding a few poses while focusing on breathing and clearing the mind, right? Yoga basics...

It was so hard!!

Because I am so fat, I had trouble breathing in some of the stances -- sad but true -- which sort of defeats the point, right? Like I needed another reason to lose weight... Thus the negativity entered my mind and pushed out some of the enthusiasm and excitement. Also, because I am so out of shape, I couldn't hold some of the poses. Before long, I was sweating profusely and getting weak. Eventually, I had to break from what the class was doing and just sit. I suppose the weakness just signals how much help I need, how far I have to go, but in that moment it was infuriating. I did not want to give up.

I returned to the first pose and tried to calm down and focus on my breathing. At this point, I was glad I had my back to the rest of the class so I couldn't see their faces. I was soaked. I thought, well at least I'm getting some kind of workout, right? I was determined to hold on till they were done, whether I could participate or not. I turned and looked around... Some of the more advanced students were doing some really incredible things -- things which, before this class, would not have seemed nearly as impressive. But now I knew the amount of skill involved. I wondered if I could ever get that good, get to the point where I could contort my body like that, and with as little effort as they were displaying. I grew hopeful again.

When the class got on their backs, working towards a cool down, I decided I could participate. I joined them again. They continued to do amazing things, and I continued to watch, taking care not to hurt myself or pass out. Then I found something I could handle: corpse pose. I guess that one is self-explanatory. LOL! Baby steps, right?

The class ended on a positive note. As soon as we were dismissed, the instructor looked directly at me and said "Are you OK?" At least she waited and didn't disrupt the class to check on me earlier. I had suffered enough embarrassment, even if it was only in my mind.

On my way out, the girl at the front desk was asking how I liked it. When I told her how difficult I found it and how much trouble I had, she exchanged looks with another girl there who was listening, and they both smiled and nodded, as though they had anticipated such a response. That's when they decided to mention that this particular instructor is really tough. They suggested that I come back and try one of the yoga basics classes they offer. I said "I thought this was the basics class, that's why I chose this one..." They gave each other that look again and told me not to base my decision on that class and that instructor, and that I should come back and try some other classes.

Will I go back? I want to. I suppose that as long as I work at my own pace I'll be OK. The girl at the front desk tried to encourage me by saying that since I am such a novice I'd have the greatest results. Is this the beginning of something great? We shall see.

what to do with all this excitement?!

i'm on a path to meeting another goal. smile.

blog fever and the unclutter

In an effort to un-clutter my life... I just spent some time removing subscriptions to blogs I never read. So far I managed to whittle the list down to 206 subscriptions. (Yeah, I started with 269. Get over it.) No wonder I never seem to catch up! I promise to continue to chip away until we reach a manageable amount of blogs. Stay tuned...

In other unclutterer news... Learn how to detach yourself from stuff and make the case for de-cluttering your life right now. Why does this subject always resonate with me? Don't you ever just want to simplify your life and purge it all?? Who's with me?

hydrangeas and wagons

I just noticed that I have been taking steps towards accomplishing some of my goals without even realizing it. I've been drinking a lot more water lately, which is probably a result of longer work days (thank you mandatory overtime) rather than a conscious decision, though I had intended to make it a conscious decision at some point (thus the goal part), but now I don't have to because since it's been going on for several weeks now it's pretty much automatic. How about that! Yay for hydration! And for hydrangeas! And for run-on sentences? Lame... I ruined it! But wait! There's more!! I've been enjoying healthy snacks and also making healthier choices for breakfast. I'm ramping up onto the wagon, again, and so far it's an easy ride. Here's to good health. Just thought I would share. I'm working on goals and it's a good feeling. Excited?