The Week in (Detailed) Review

And speaking of pushing the reset button... it's been awhile since I've blogged and there's a lot to catch up on (not the least of which is that Amsterussels entry I promised aeons ago). So let's buckle in and get straight to it, shall we?

Last weekend was really lovely in a lazy, laid-back, easy kind of way. The weather was cold and drizzly and windy for the most part, which helped with the lazy part... Friday night after a *very* long journey home from work I settled in with some pizza delivery, beer, and Will and Grace (which I haven't seen in AGES and in retrospect really isn't that funny... but was exactly the kind of fluff I needed). I was in this pleasantly cozy state when Carrie walked in the door from work at the leisure centre (read: gym).

"Guess what I have!"

"I dunno. What?"

"Two tickets to Fast n Funky Dance Aerobics tomorrow at 11:30am! And one of them has your name on it...."

It says a lot about me that my reaction to this piece of news was to get Really Excited. But I mean, really. Why wouldn't you be thrilled about checking out an exercise class that had "Funky Dance" in the title? So with plans for the morning safely squared away, we settled in with the remainder of the beer to watch Volver.

After we finished the movie, chances are good I stayed up an extra hour or two for good measure. I've been really good at doing that lately - being ready for bed at a decent hour, but then staying up til 1am (or 2am, or later) doing little more than piddling around online or on Skype. I'm not allowed to complain about being tired anymore without fully admitting that it's noone's fault but my own.

Late night or no, I was still up in time for Fast n Funky Dance Aerobics. I must admit, however, that though it was at times somewhat fast, and certainly aerobic, there wasn't much funky dance to be found. Sad face. Regardless, though, it was good to move after days of stagnation (I've had a flat tire for awhile now that I still haven't fixed, and haven't been cycling much as a result), and I'm glad we went.

There were big plans to go to Borough Market after class, but the weather was so gross we decided to stay in. Well, more or less. Agnese had just arrived (she's moving into Baerbel's room until our lease expires at the end of the month), and so there was catching-up to do, and so we all went to Le Epicerie for lunch. A word about Le Epicerie: it's about a block from my house, I walk or cycle past it every day, and I had never been there before, AND it's AWESOME. I can't believe such a lovely little slice of yummy food corner deli cafe great coffee adorable lovely relaxed atmosphere was right around the corner from my house and I hadn't taken advantage of it until now! I have learned the error of my ways. Oh my God and the feta and courgette quiche and the Morrocan lamb wrap and the cappuccino the cappuccino!!! Guess I know where I'm going for lunch again tomorrow...

Saturday night brought a CRAZY (but ultimately satisfying) night at work, with Vietnamese food afterwards with Carrie and a long journey home. And again, I think it took me longer to actually go to bed than it should've, despite being bone tired. What is up with that?

Sunday was another quiet day - some laundry, a touch of room cleaning, a shower, a lot of dish-washing, and a lovely afternoon at the Dove Freehouse and Pub with a bunch of girls from school whom I very serendipitously stumbled upon. We ate Sunday roasts, and drank beer, and chatted, and laughed, and meandered down Broadway Market for coffee. I stopped into this shop (link forthcoming - I can't remember what the place is called) - again, a spot I've passed by literally hundreds of times in the past year, but had never been into. It's brilliant. It's a shop consisting entirely of photograph prints from locations in Hackney and East London - the Hackney Empire, London Fields, Broadway Market... images of most all of my favorite spots adorned the walls, and all of a sudden I got homesick for London, even though I haven't left. Because those spots are what I'll miss, and the discovery of little shops that celebrate them.

Didn't buy anything, but most likely will before I leave.

I can't remember what I did on Sunday night. Probably spoke with people on Skype, maybe watched a film or Sopranos with Agnese. And probably stayed up past my bedtime. Again. (Actually, I do remember - Agne made soup, I skyped with Matty, and we watched an episode of the Sopranos.)

Monday was Tucker's birthday (as well as Will's!), so after a surprisingly speedy and pleasant day at work, I spent some time on the phone at home catching up with the fam. Most of you will have probably heard at this point that MY DAD HAS ENROLLED IN LISPA AND IS STARTING SCHOOL HERE IN OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!!, so I've been talking with him and Mom a lot lately about logistics and the exciting developments to come (Dad coming to LISPA could warrant an entire entry in and of itself, but suffice it to say for the moment that I'm incredibly excited for him, enormously proud of him, and think it will be an amazing amazing experience for him. Yay Dad! And yay Mom for being such an incredibly supportive and courageous partner. Geez, my parents are great!) Tucker is also looking at big changes - after graduating from Beloit this past spring, he's now looking to move out to NYC in a few weeks, which is *also* very exciting. My family, the adventurers. This is where I get it from.

And Tuesday! Tuesday saw my reintegration into the wide world of acrobatics. The Circus Space has recently revamped their classes so there are now TWO beginners levels, and having been gone for awhile I took the B1 class on Tuesday. I went in a little cocky, and by the end was thinking to myself: you know, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to stay at this level. I mean, I could do pretty much everything the instructor asked (forward, back, and side rolls, cartwheels, handstand-forward-rolls, etc - though the dive rolls were a little sticky), but my form is far from perfect, and some back-to-basics foundational stuff couldn't hurt. But then when he pulled me aside at the end of class and told me to move up to B2 - I was so excited! I'd been promoted! Rah rah rah! I was so excited, in fact, that I shimmied my little self up to the registration desk and signed up for a B2 class two days later, on Thursday. Might as well, right? I didn't have anything else planned...

Fast forward to Thursday morning, and I could barely move. Wednesday had been bad, but Thursday was unquestionably worse. I kept taking breaks from my computer to go into a side office and stretch and do the few yoga poses I know. My customary strut had morphed into a hobble. I was in poor shape, and questioning my decision to sign up for an even more difficult class so soon after the first one. My fears were only compounded by the fact that when I walked into the class that evening, most of the other participants were either tall, Adonis-looking, well- muscled men, or girls about the size of my thigh and at least as strong (that's a compliment, by the way. I have strong thighs.) Sure enough, within the first half hour we were being asked to do all manner of tumbling I'd never even attempted before (or if I'd attempted them, I'd never actually been able to DO them) : straight-leg backward rolls; tuck-up to handstand to forward roll; one-handed cartwheels on both sides with alternating hands; backward rolls into handstands. Of *all* of those, I think I managed to do two. *sigh* Oh well. That's what practice is for.

This morning I'm feeling a little sore, but I'm sure it won't be able to hold a candle to the crippling pain I'll feel tomorrow. And yes, I'm still considering going to a class. Just handstands this time, though - I want to nail that tuck-up.

I can't tell you how good the pain feels, though. To move again feels amaaaaaaazing. As sore as I felt yesterday, it all disappeared as soon as we started warming up (and re-appeared later. But at least I was warm and sweaty and chock-full of endorphins by then). And I always sleep soooo well the following night. I mean, I usually sleep well, but this sleeping well smells like vanilla and lavender and feels like all the goosedown comforters in the world, only more ethical.

Tonight, I'm cancelling all potential plans to run some errands (faxing my absentee registration! Gobama!) and have a quiet night at home. I leave for Portugal in under two weeks, and so I should start packing now, as well as getting assorted other ducks in a row. (Which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Leaving London in under two weeks?! Ack with the packing and the cleaning and the pseudo-farewells and the surreality of it all! And how strange-yet-fitting that just as the newest manifestation of my life here begins to feel normal, I'm off on another adventure. There's more to write about that, but I'll leave it for the moment.)

Speaking of Portugal, it looks as though I won't have much, if any, internet access while I'm there, so apologies in advance for the anticipated lack of blogging. I'll be gone from 24th Sept until 10th Nov, and my postal address in Portugal will be on my facebook page, or email me if you'd like it sent to you that way. I want postcards and little birthday parcels of love! And that's the last I'll say about it.

Another highlight of the week was seeing The Family, which was a wonderful clown show, and spending some time with Aram and Ana Mirtha. I have such great friends.

Well, I think that should do it for the moment. There's even more I could write about (shocking, I know), but I should give my poor little fingers a rest. But if I have the chance after lunch (no promises here) maybe I'll be able to squeeze in that Amsterussels entry after all...