solo practitioner

So I've decided to try doing this yoga thing by myself, because then I don't have to have an audience of coworkers or plan around class schedules. Downloaded an app, and have done four sessions in my basement, without having to leave the house.

social

Work friend over for dinner tonight, Zurich friend coming in town and staying with us for the weekend, college friend up from L.A. the following weekend, cooking with sister's family and some friends the weekend after that... It's almost like we have a social life.

rain delay

Working from home Friday means that changing into real clothes and showering can be delayed to the afternoon, and evening errands can be postponed until the next day, right?

after the rain

A good rainy season kicked off the trees going into bloom in late January, then California poppies (my favorite) in March, and now there are wildflowers everywhere, and jasmine season has started.

first day back

Dug my inbox from 150 down to 45, made it through five meetings, got a massage, got gas, picked up new glasses and two library books, bought dog food, and walked the dog.

back at it

Home for just over three hours, and I've walked the dog, washed all my vacation laundry and a load of dog laundry, skimmed my inbox, eaten dinner, put out my dive gear for a bit more drying time, and sorted the mail. Sad to be back to real life, but glad to be free of mosquitoes, rain, and humidity.

in transit

On our long way back home, almost five hours into a 25 hour trip, door to door. Squeezed in one last yoga lesson this morning, followed by one last massage (which lasted an extra 20+ minutes because she was being awesome). Back to reality pretty soon, but at least that reality includes my dog and less rain, with a visit from a friend only a few days after we get back.

drying out

Did our last two dives yesterday, and our gear is drying out. We had strong wind last night, which dried out my sandals, which had been sopping wet all week. Dry shoes are amazing. Two more massages, and two more yoga lessons, then it's time to head back to the real world, where there will hopefully be less weather, but unfortunately more stress.

hoppipolla

Good puddle jumping today. My pants were soaked up to mid-thigh.

the heavens wept

Pouring rain when we woke up, and even though we came here to dive, we were relieved that the storm is strong enough to cancel the dive this morning. Room service, reading, and napping sound much better than trying to put on a damp wetsuit and getting on a rocking boat on rough seas right now. Secretly hoping the second dive is cancelled as well, and then all I've got the rest of the day is lunch, massage, yoga, and dinner.

private lesson

My afternoon yoga class ended up being a private lesson that definitely pushed the boundaries of what my body can tolerate, particularly after a day of diving. All these poses look nothing like their names (crow, camel, pigeon, plow = me scratching my head and just copying whatever the instructor is doing while trying not to face plant). All this weird stretching seems to be doing something though, as I touched my toes for the first time in years.

pork belly

Village kids gave an enthusiastic performance before dinner, where I had perhaps the best pork belly ever (crispy like Peking duck in the outside, unctuous on the inside, flavored like Chinese five spice beef), with a bottle of wine comped by the manager to make up for some confusion over whether we had prepaid or not.

good deed

All the honeymooners here who don't dive are just bored and miserable in the rain. I took pity on a couple who are leaving tomorrow and gave them my time slot at the spa so that they can have one nice thing on their last day, and I feel so virtuous now, wallowing in the room until it's time to go to afternoon yoga. I'll go to the spa tomorrow, instead.

omg

Best vacation massage ever. May have to go back for another round or two. We have an ambitious slate tomorrow: morning yoga, breakfast, village tour, lunch, afternoon dive, afternoon yoga, and dinner. I could do this vacation thing for a very long time.

weather or not

It was raining this morning, but we went for a dive anyways, and I tested out my camera to make sure it's still OK after so much time. Then we opted out of the rest of today's diving, because it's our vacation, and we can do what we want. I sat in our hot tub for a few minutes before showing off, and the rest of the day will be divided between eating, napping, reading, getting a massage, and checking out a kava ceremony. Rainy days really aren't so bad, they're good excuses to be lazy.

vacation perks

No makeup ever, and the comfiest sandals with the best arch support.

afternoon agenda

It's only 2:30, and we've accomplished a lot: breakfast, two dives, and lunch. Now I need to spend a couple hours in the hammock, reading and napping until afternoon yoga, then a couple more hours of flopping around the room, then dinner. No yoga tomorrow, so I'm getting a massage after diving, instead. Life is so good.

nothing like it

There is really nothing like a hot shower and a dry towel after two morning dives.

dive dive dive

And tomorrow, we hit the water for the first time since December 2013, the longest I've ever gone between dives. There is nothing quite like flying like Superman while breathing like Darth Vader.

californication

We took a free yoga class on the beach here in Fiji. I have decided that despite my prejudices against it, I like yoga, when it's on a beach in Fiji, and there are only four students who are equally inept.

better than planned

Made it to the wedding, and slept for seven hours on the eleven hour flight to Fiji (personal record for plane sleeping), watched The Martian (which I missed in the theater), and managed to get onto the earlier direct flight (instead of the later flight with a connection), and didn't pay any excess luggage fees. We're all settled into our house for the week (it's huge), and only five out of twelve are occupied. I think that under our actual tickets, we should still be hanging out in airport #4, waiting to catch a puddle jumper to airport #5.

pasty goodness

Boyfriend went to a conference in Arizona and brought back pasties from the place we like, just in time for dinner!

in other news

We're dropping by a wedding in LA on the way to Fiji, and a dear friend is coming to stay with us the weekend after we get back. Slotting in lots of fun after the rough month that was March.

t minus four

Fiji is coming up so soon! I've been checking off errands and to do lists, testing out luggage weight (keeping checked luggage under 33 pounds is a challenge on a dive trip), trying to get things at work to a decent pause point, and realizing that it's been a longer gap than usual between trips for us. Can't wait. Diving! Sun! No meetings! And I'm even going to try the free yoga classes, but may just end up reading novels the whole time.