the first day

this summer when camping on lake michigan i was at a different area of the shoreline. one i had never been to before. the sand was covered in rocks. they were everwhere. it was really interesting. most of the sandy shores of lake michigan don't have rocks and the other interesting thing was that most of these rocks had something in common.

they were different colors. mostly grey, tan and rust. they were all very smooth and they were all oval or round but they all seemed to have a flat side.
this made them easy to stack. they would balance. one on top of another.

i walked around gathering rocks and carried them back to my beach chair, stacking them in groups of three all around where i was sitting. when it was time to leave i had a very heavy beach bag.
i now have a few sets of these around the house. they remind me of the beach but mostly they remind me to try to stay balanced.

i tried my first yoga class last night. i worked hard for 90 minutes at balancing my body, my mind, my breathing, and sometimes all those things at once.
but if nothing else, you know what i noticed as i was finishing up in the last five minutes of class?
i had not thought about one other thing, my mind had not wonder once in 90 minutes. i'm not sure if that's ever happened to me before.

i would say that was finding some kind of balance...at least for a time.

just a week away....

i've got a full 2 weeks off for Winter Break but with working right up until the Holidays i feel this need to have everything ready. i've just got a few "to-do" items left on my list.

with the past 3 weekends of snow storms and ice storms i've been in the mood for doing lots of at home baking and crafting.
food network and old movie watching on TBS. (that TV station is so fun for day long, one after another, movie favorite). also puts me in that Holiday mood.

i've been relaxing and doing some great reading too!
all said....it's been a pretty good, pre-holiday season.

this past saturday, early in the day, just before the 8" snow storm was suppose to hit we took a trip downtown. it just isn't Christmas without visiting the windows at my favorite Anthropologie Store and a trip down Michigan Ave. this year we also made a new stop at the Daley Plaza to see the Outdoor German Christmas Market.

great huge snow flakes, flying through the city in the backseat of a taxi cab, catching glimpses of Macy's Christmas windows pass by the car window and beautiful lights everywhere you look, shoppers rushing with bags of goodies, and a fashion show of scarves.

Christmas in Chicago on a cold, snowy day...
it puts you in the mood.