Thphbtttphbttttphbttt

Yep. I'm taking a yoga class at the Y. I'm guessing one of my classmates OD'd on the fiber today considering the sounds that emanated from her general area.

Not that I would ever produce such noises. Heavens no.

Of course, as I concentrate on breathing the right way, clenching my butt muscles just so, tightening my abdominals, stretching and balancing and trying not to fall over like a roly-poly bug, I can't really be responsible for what might escape unbidden from the nether regions.

Several years ago, when Lizz was a little girl, I took a few of the community ed yoga classes. Unlike the Y, we didn't have soothing music playing in the background, so the effervescent rat-a-tat-tats reverberated around the room from at least half a dozen bottoms positioned up against the walls. That's my most enduring memory of those classes.

Aside from the inevitable, perfectly acceptable, equal-opportunity gas bubbles, I really like that our class has people of all abilities and skill levels. I can admire the ladies who execute a perfect Warrior II pose without snorting and grunting like a warthog (like, um, some people) and nobody chuckles when I do my roly-poly bug imitation.

Namaste.

Warning: Lazy day ahead. Intervention may be needed.

It's entirely possible this is not going to be a terribly productive day. I had such high hopes, but it's still gloomy and cold and drizzly out, and then there's the whole lack of sleep thing this week, plus the new Anne Lamott book I just picked up at the library and the Season 1 Gilmore Girls DVD I got from Netflix. And the very furry and always cuddle-ready Claudette. All signs are pointing toward vegetative behavior.

For some odd reason, I haven't been sleeping well this week. Thursday night was the worst. I woke up at 3 a.m. and then again at 5 and 6. When I dragged my butt out of bed at 7:10 (I've calculated this allows me ample time to roll out of bed, drink at least one cup of coffee while reading Misty's blog, shower and dress and get out the door with wet hair by about 7:47), I fed Claudette and then stood in the kitchen for a few minutes trying to decide if disrupted sleep was a good enough excuse to call in. If I went back to bed for even an hour, I told myself, that could make a world of difference. But self, I thought, we might go to lunch today.

I'm a sucker for lunch.

So I continued on with the morning routine and would have made it to the office on time if I hadn't stopped at the bank first. I punched in at 8:03. Not bad. The day just sort of plodded along. The rainy weather called for ordering in Chinese food for lunch. (My rule is that it has to be cold or rainy to have Chinese food. If it's warm and sunny, we have to do something else. I don't know what they do on China on sunny days.)

Uh oh. Claudette is getting into extreme snuggle position. Alert! Alert!

After work yesterday, the youth and youthful of our church hosted an intergenerational Wii night. So even though I would have loved to have gone home and crawled under the covers, I scurried to the church to put out my trays of veggies and fresh fruit to counteract the inevitable chips and cheese puffs others would be bringing. We had around 22 people - not bad for our first time and just the bare minimum of promotion and planning. We played golf, Guitar Hero, bowling, Whack-a-Mole, badminton, some sort of dancing revolution thing, volleyball and more. I enjoyed singing Beatles songs at the top of my lungs with Jacob.

When I got home a little after 11, I was tingly with the prospect of blissful, uninterrupted sleep and sleeping in a tiny bit, AND then maybe a late afternoon nap. But first, a little reading of Imperfect Birds, and then sleep, glorious sleep.

Apparently, Mother Nature decided to throw a tsunami at mid-Michigan during the night and I was awakened around 4 a.m. to the tinkly sound of bells in the dining room telling me that the wind had blown the windows open.

Stop looking at me, Claudette. I'm going to get up any minute now. Just one more cup of coffee.

So, I hauled my sleepy self up, thumped into the dining room to shut the windows and then shoved the table up against them so they'd stay put. This throws the dining room's Feng Shui off balance but it does the trick. Checked the living room and library windows and then went back to bed. If you scroll back up and look at the photo of the library, you can sort of see the design of the windows. I love them even though they open inward and very inconveniently blow open during tsunamis and are NOT energy-efficient and the peely paint collects in the window wells and they need to be scraped and sanded and painted again. I don't love that. But these windows have character.

My house oozes character.

I woke up at least two other times after the windows and then slept until 10:17. I hadn't meant to sleep that late, geez.

All righty. The bells are ringing. I'm peeling back the covers. Wish me luck.

Losing gracefully

Well, we made through about six rounds in the Bee. The losing word this year?

Imprescriptible

Seriously. It's not in my dictionary. Spell check doesn't recognize it. I had to Google it when we got back to the office.

Still, it seemed easy enough to sound out. The team huddled for a moment to discuss strategy. I just needed to say each letter slowly and carefully.

I forgot the "s" - though I was certain I'd said it in my head.

And I think I may have said "able." But all I remember saying is, "Crap!" right into the microphone when I heard the groans and judge Johnny Burke's buzzer.

Oh well. Money was raised for the Imagination Library (most importantly), we had a good time and the Writers' Block got some new fashion accessories!