OMAHA, Day 3

Jeff Beaudoin, Ph.D., CYT

8th Avenue Yoga - Omaha

Whew! My first Power Yoga class at 9:00am at 8th Avenue Yoga. Jeff Beaudoin has a great studio and warm people skills. The warm-up is intensive. I am pouring, quite literally, sweat from every area of my body. Actual droplets of water are dripping down my arms. My legs are so slippery, I can't get a grip. My heart's thumping. I have the moves, I just can't keep up. It's hot in here. Really. No air circulating. Still, even if there were ceiling fans I can admit that I'm out-matched.

When Jeff moves us to full practice (warm-ups over) I make a few feeble attempts to chime in, but eventually settle in to a long and restful shavasana. I am laying in a puddle of my own bodily fluids on a rubberized mat, so there's nowhere for the moisture to go. Even finding a place for my arms and hands to rest is tricky. My hair is as wet as if I'd just shampooed.

I do join in during the cool-down, which is almost as aggressive as the warm-up, but not quite. On Monday I'm opting for Hatha Yoga at 5:30am before our long drive back to Illinois.

Still, I've seen the future and I'm intrigued. I've a long way to go with Yoga practice, but I'm not discouraged--just challenged. And, utterly and completely exhausted. I drive home and fall into the shower, put my pajamas on, and spend most of the day reading and resting.

Both JA and LE have fevers and were sick in the night. LE is a cuddle bug, but not with her grandpa or me. She worships us from afar. JA has big ideas, but lacks the physical stamina today for most of them. We read and re-read Estelle and Lucy and The Little Rockers Club. The Yoga mats are rolled out, but under-used.

We video conference with DM's family in Slovakia. Baby Noël is such a beautiful child. She just looks like she knows everything and is pretty content in her world. KF and LG twirl and dance for us, and get the appropriate praise and applause. We sure miss those little girls. We'll see them this Fall, one way or another.

CA and JE go to the Men's College World Series, UCLA vs. Florida. I drop them off at Rosenblatt Stadium around 3:30pm and Matthew retrieves them at 9:30pm. This is their Father's Day celebration--an activity they can enjoy together.

I whip up a batch of turkey meatballs, bake them, and then stir them into Emeril's All Natural Marinara. MA and I have ours with some penne pasta, but JA insists on having his meatballs straight up with lots of red sauce for dipping. Maybe not gourmet, but certainly tasty!

Another hot day in Omaha. And, not a bad day to stay inside with air conditioning. We missed out on the Farmer's Market and other activities because of the little ones' fevers. Plans are for church tomorrow, but we'll have to see how JA and LE are feeling.