CAR TRIPS AND GRATITUDE: Training is About to Start!

These three lovely ladies have ARRIVED!  We're settled into the hotel, unpacked, set up our tea kettles, had our first bite of Sunday In and Out burger (can Kelly and I eat cheeseburgers every Sunday? Time will tell), ate our first hotel room dinner sandwiches, and sat through a brief orientation (favorite quote from Jim, who attended the first very teacher training (this is the 39th!) and now runs a studio in San Diego: "Teacher training is a combination of finishing military boot camp and completing a masters thesis").  Tomorrow we meet the man himself...and have our very first yoga class!

TALES FROM A CAR TRIP

The weekend has gone by so quickly, I can barely believe I'm here. As many of you know, I'm a new driver (got my license for the first time in early 2009, at the ripe ol' age of 27) so the thought of a long car trip on my own was a little daunting.  But I learned a lot over those eight hours.  For example:

THINGS THAT MAKE ME FALL ASLEEP IN THE CAR: NPR for more than 10 minutes; listening to dialogue (my own voice reciting the bikram language I'm still memorizing); driving through monotonous farmland along I-5 through a cloud of bugs that are now COATING the front of my freshly cleaned car.

 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME STAY AWAKE IN THE CAR: Philz Coffee, loud cheesy music, Peanut Butter M&Ms,  Ice cream, Coca Cola, LA drivers.

Also since I've never been the driver during a long car trip, I find that I indulge every long buried nine-year-old desire.  Every 2 hours it was time for another rest stop.  I needed those M&Ms to keep me awake!  Ooh, In and Out burger!  Let's stop THERE!

Lastly, I got a fantastic birthday gift from my marvelous dad this year...my first GPS!  Driving with the GPS for the first time is magical.  It tells me where to go!  It reminds me when a turn is coming up!  It can tell me how to get back when I go the wrong way!  I started anthropomorphizing this little piece of machinery FAST.  By the end of the trip, we were having whole conversations.

GPS:  Turn right, on ramp, to I-405.

ME: Wait, GPS, I didn't realize that's what you meant by "then turn right!" ooooo - I missed it.

GPS: Continue on I-405 for 9.8 miles.

ME: I know you don't realize this yet, but I missed it.  You have to recalculate.  Recalculate!

GPS: irritated silence

ME: I'm sorry, GPS.

GPS (begrudgingly): Recalculating...

GRATITUDE

In a sudden tonal shift brought on my sleepiness, too many Trader Joes triple ginger cookies, and the television on in the background (dude, having television is SO MUCH FUN), I wanted to take a quick moment to say how grateful I am for everyone's support on this exciting journey of mine.  Steve23 and Juicy took us out to dinner and gave us goody bags of goodies like colorful yoga shorts, coconut water, and mats signed by many of our teachers!  What a great little yoga community I'm becoming a part of...what wonderful people I've met there...what fantastic family and friends I have who are rooting for me and this wacky life choice...and how just plain lucky am I to have the life I lead?  I'm actually here!!

I think I better go to bed...oh, and logistics! Committed to posting at least once a week.  So keep your eyes peeled and I'll let you know how it goes!