Ronni's Journal | Anything But Ordinary

I’m a stickler when it comes to the seasons. Everyone’s saying it’s summer. The pools are open and it’s safe to wear white shoes. In my heart, though, it won’t be summer until the Solstice: June 21. However, I am sunburned like a mofo and my shoulders are like “What the ever loving HELL did you do to yourself woman?”

Sunday, it was 97F. Blazing hot. It was hot even for me, and you all know I like it hot. I was out in the sun almost all day, hanging out with awesome people and having a wonderful time.

cloud gate aka the bean

downtown

cloud gate, my favorite landmark in chicago

riding the blue line home

I didn’t wear sunscreen. I guess I underestimated the power of the Sun. I did notice my bag starting to hurt my shoulder, but I attributed that to me thinking it was getting heavy after lugging it around all day. It wasn’t until after I took a shower that I realized… Oh. I know that burning feeling. And sure enough, my shoulders were bright red. Oops.

Do I regret anything? NO. Would I do it again? YES YES triple times yes. Because I got to spend the day with an awesome group of people doing awesome things and having an awesome time.

ricky and me
(just so you know, ricky’s a super talented producer.
seriously. go see step up 4 when it comes out.
he produced that entire soundtrack.
told you i hung out with awesome people.)

yoga now!
considering making this my business card when i’m certified

Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 54F. See? THIS is why I won’t say it’s officially summer. Hmph.

‘Til next time!

OK WOW, how has it been almost a week since I last posted? That’s crazy. Time is going so fast. Before long, AIDAN WILL BE HERE FOR THE SUMMER!

His dad said he is bringing him either May 31 or June 1. AWESOME. I told Chris I’d teach him some yoga while he’s here. That should be interesting.

I did teach a full yoga class to my friend Jen over the weekend. She said she LOVED it. She said for me to never drop my “Ronni-isms.” I guess that means my authentic voice is shining through, just like Tasha Danner (former Mouseketeer and now yoga instructor/physical therapist) advised.

Did I tell you that every time I walk past a lilac bush I stop and take a huge whiff? Because I do. Lilacs smell so good. The petals are starting to fall off the bushes now. That makes me a bit sad. Once they’re gone, I’ll have to wait another year to smell them again.

Still, life is amazing and full and beautiful. Sunday, I got to hear Maya Tiwari speak. She is a World Peace Leader and spiritual teacher, and often speaks about Ahimsa, which is living without violence. Talk about a beautiful, radiant person. She was engaging, funny, and warm. I feel very blessed that I got the chance to meet her and hear her speak (and also hug her)!

For SOME reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to do yoga on the beach. In Chicago. In May. It sounds great on paper. But when the temperature was probably about 45F, well, not so nice. I got through a few minutes of the practice before jumping up to help with adjustments and such. It was so cold, you guys. But it was free, put on by the Michigan Ave lululemon athletica, and there was free food there, too. Speaking of lululemon, looks like I might be at one of the locations on May 20 helping out at a free community yoga class. I will confirm location and details soon.

LOADS of people in my classes swear by lululemon. I don’t have any of their things–that place is too expensive for me. Even their sale stuff costs a lot! Most of my yoga clothing was purchased either on sale or at stores like TJ Maxx. However, I am in need of new yoga pants (all those pairs I got from Aeropostale years ago are getting too big for me!), and I really like the cropped leggings Green Apple makes. I found a pair at TJ Maxx a couple months ago and I LOVE them. So guess who needs to hit TJ Maxx and hope for another lucky break!

Yoga’s been great lately. I am definitely stronger and my endurance is better. Imagine how excited I was yesterday when I FLOATED UP INTO A HEADSTAND. OK, it was against the wall, but still. You guys. I’ve been building up my strength so I could do a headstand for more than two years, and against the wall is no small potatoes. One of these days, I’ll be doing it in the middle of the floor. WHAT!

Next time, I’ll make sure to get a photo captured so you can see.

This teacher training journey has been AMAZING so far. I can’t even describe it. I’m meeting amazing people, doing amazing things, learning so much. I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going, so I’m just going with the flow and watching as things fall into place. What an incredible ride!

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? This is not cute or funny. At all. I miss those super warm days. The days when everyone was CONFIDENT that they could put away their sweaters because there was no way the weather hadn’t broken yet. I mean, the trees were flowering and budding!

They wouldn’t do that unless they knew something we didn’t right?

Bwah! I know Chicago weather. It likes to hold on to the cold as long as it possibly can. The weather never truly breaks here until mid-June. Until then, we can expect temperatures to dip into the 30s just as easily as they can climb to the 80s. Not that we’ll be seeing any 80s temps anytime soon. That one week was a lucky break!

And I’m so HAPPY when it’s warm out. See?

So is Helena. She gets to sit in the window and smell the smells and people watch and dog watch.

Oh, those were the days.

Oh well. I had a good week anyway. Saturday, I got to go see a great s00j (and other talented musicians) concert:

I got tons of hugs. I love hugs. LOVE them. And I made new friends! Three of them! I love making new friends. I wish I’d taken more photos of them. Just so I could have some proof. Hee hee. They all live far away, though. Thank goodness for s00j shows to bring us all together.

Sunday, got to attend a wonderful Music & Magick workshop, and Monday, we spent the day with s00j and Ryan, just hanging out, eating delicious brunch at Bleeding Heart again (oh yeah!), and heading to a smoke shop where Adam and Ryan purchased pipe tobacco and assorted pipe accessories. s00j posed for a picture in the decommissioned phone box while everyone else made their purchases.

I absolutely LOVE it when they come stay with us. They bring a wonderful energy and magick to the place, and they’re so much fun. Monday night, even though there was no Internet, there was still Fruit Ninja, Twitter on our iPhones (where we went insane), sausage and cactus pizza, and music. We had a great time.

SO yea, this Internet stuff. s00j had an 8pm Skype visit, and I was on call for a client. Our Internet went down at exactly 7:55pm and stayed down until about 5 or 6 the next morning. Adam (bless his heart) drove my laptop to a Starbucks parking lot and downloaded all the files for me so I could work on them. I was up ’til 3am working (and guess who had yoga teacher training the next day!). The next morning, the net was back up, so I was able to upload the files to the client in time. s00j was able to do Skype through the app on her iPhone. But I mean, Comcast has been inconsistent like this for a few months now. It’s getting frustrating, especially when YOUR INCOME KIND OF DEPENDS ON RELIABLE INTERNET ACCESS. Sure, there are coffee shops, but what’s the point of paying for it at home if it’s not going to work all the time? Comcast needs to get it together, especially for how much they charge.

Anyway.

I had a great yoga teacher training class on Tuesday. I’d had so little sleep, but it didn’t feel like it. The day went so fast and everything was so interesting! We talked a lot about the Gunas and studied Warrior I and Chair in-depth. Chair is going to be SO MUCH BETTER for me from now on! I’m learning SO MUCH and my teacher said for me to start practice teaching on people. So, locals! Free yoga lessons from me, if you have enough patience to deal with me as I practice and get better.

AND I got an A+ on my Sun Salutation A quiz. Can I get a whut whut!

I’m going to take it easy today. For one thing, it’s cold outside. It’s supposed to get a bit warmer (if you call 56F warm at the end of March–and seriously, how it is the end of March??), but I don’t have anywhere to go except yoga this afternoon. Also, I went out to dinner with my friend Jen last night, and she wasn’t feeling well. She made every precaution to protect me from germs, but you just never know. So today = resting, studying, basics yoga class, and reading. This girl has no time to get sick. Allergies, however, have moved in and set up house.

Next week, I have a lot to look forward to. Two days at VSA, a visit from Adam’s family, yoga teacher training, and Aidan!!! YAY!!! So much to be thankful for.