February 26, 2016

I don't know what prompted me to stumble across my old, forgotten, barely-wrote-anything blog, but I did stumble across it the other day and reread my four little posts from 2012.  Boy was that a blast from the past!  The knitter's loom I was saving for--never bought, but instead I bought a really, really beautiful Saori loom a little over a year ago.  It's a delight and I'm so grateful it's a part of my life.  I only wish I had bought it years earlier--so much missed time I need to make up for!

Gratuitous pic of some recent weaving...this is a mix of luxury fibers--weft is handspun by me (fiber is from FatCatKnits--50/50 BFL/silk in the club colorway "Anna"), and commercial alpaca/silk and mohair yarns.  It's a lovely, very open weave that made two nearly weightless scarves.  I still need to wash & finish them, so maybe I'll post more pictures in the future.  (Wow, this picture does not do the weaving justice.  The colors are subtle.  You'll just have to trust me that these scarves are beautiful, and yes, I'm being modest :P )



But the theme of this blog is today, so I want to focus on the last day or so, just make a record of the significant, or not so significant, things that happened.  Last night DH went to bed early, leaving me with a very quiet apartment (bliss!).  I've been trying to do yoga the past couple days, but hadn't gotten to it yesterday evening, so I thought, here's my chance.  It was late, and would have been easy to just not bother with yoga--at 11pm?!  But instead, I saw an opportunity to create a unique practice--quiet, reflective, calming.  I knew just what to do--rolled out my mat, turned off the lights, and lit two candles.  Did I mention bliss?!



I'm glad I made time for yoga, even that late at night.  It was perfect and made me happy.

Another thing I'm trying to make time for in my life is volunteering.  It's something I did a lot waaay back in high school (our school required it for graduation), and while I did many more hours than were required then, once I graduated and volunteering was no longer a requirement in my life, I just let it fall prey to my busyness and/or laziness.

In January I started going to New York Insight Meditation Center on Sunday evenings for their "Generation Meditation: Young Adults" .  I'm a bit addicted to it, already.  When I received an email from them a few weeks ago asking for volunteers, it just seemed like that's what I needed to do.  So tomorrow I'll be attending the volunteer orientation.  I'm looking forward to becoming more involved in a group I believe in so much; and I'm hoping I'll get to attend a few classes I might not otherwise be able to afford--definitely a bonus!

Last night I also filled out the online application to become a volunteer with GallopNYC which provides horseback riding lessons to people with disabilities.  WHY have I waited so long to do this?!  I was a horse-crazy kid in grade school, and I've always missed being around them.  I know there are lots of programs like this around the country, yet, I've never gotten involved.  It's time.  I never would have thought I'd get involved with horses in New York City, of all places, but surprisingly, there is a stable where GallopNYC serves that is not far from where I live.  I'm really looking forward to this.