With the departure of my oldest child looming in my near future, I've been on the verge of my emotions for a while now.
Now I know that with all the modern communication available that we'll rarely be out of touch. And I know that we're going up to see her for Labor Day weekend too. It's not the end of the world.
But it sure feels like the end of childhood, the end of a major section of my life.

I can't help thinking of this constant list of advice ranging from quite practical to philosophical. Like these....

Tell a friend where you are going on a date and when you expect to return.
Don't put your bras in the dryer
Don't wait 'til the last minute to pick up your prescriptions
Churches love college students and will probably feed you
Call me every now and then
Don't count on the reliability of someone trying to sell you exam answers
Carry an umbrella - she'll be in Northeast Ohio
Don't forget that ultimately the purpose of this adventure is to study & learn
Eat vegetables every day - and not just pizza sauce

But more philosophically,
I wish for her an inner peace through the inevitable ups and downs that comes from knowing that I will always love her.

Any other advice you would add to my list?

Remember me? Is anyone still out there?

It has been a busy Spring! In a nutshell...

My daughter's last day of school is today. I can't believe it. Prom next week, Graduation, Parties, Beach Week. She is so excited to go off to Kent State in August. She'll be fine and do great - not so sure about the rest of us...

My son turned 16, has his Learner's, and still struggles with that damn ulcerative colitis. He did manage to play on the tennis team this year though, so he is doing better than last year at the same time.

My youngest is a classic 13-year old, in constant contact with her girlfriends via text and facebook, enjoying her dance class and looking way too grown up to be my baby.

Oh, and I got engaged! That was a fun night. Mark proposed at dinner with the kids. His daughter knew it was coming, mine were surprised. Within a minute, the kids had posted it on Facebook and the word was out. We haven't set a date. I find the idea of wedding planning to be a bit daunting. Maybe we'll just elope - except we'll still have a party.


I'm loving being a yoga teacher. I love hearing how this practice is improving the lives of my clients. Our studio is beautiful with big windows facing a pretty garden. It hasn't been a simple adjustment to my family to have me working nights, but we're making it work.

So it looks like we have one big decision made: Sofie is going to go to Kent State University - the college I went to the longest, and where her father graduated. It's been 25 years since I had been there. A lot had changed. A lot was the same - like the slushy snow.



Boy college seems so cool. I want to go. I want to have that schedule, and the meal plan, and the rec center, and the free concerts. Not that I want to be 18 again. Sofie is ready to go. The program seems a good fit for her - and for our budget. She's already investigating sororities - Tri-Sigma being an early favorite.

What will this house be like without her here? If I think about that too long, the room always seems to turn swimmy. So I just look down at my feet for the next step.

Does life speed up as you age?

So here's the proof that I like my new job better than my old job.

I told my editor that I would help out if they needed me while finding my replacement. She has called in that favor and I have a dining article to edit. She even invited me to write the March feature article on yoga (not playing fair!)

But tonight we had three new students in yoga class - even with the snow falling. And I was more eager to enter those into our databases than I am to get to the writing. Yoga data entry vs. writing/editing.....



I've poured a second glass of wine.
Looks like a snow day is likely for tomorrow. I can edit then.

This fall has been a whirlwind of planning for my new career as a yoga instructor. My partner, Linda, and I have spent more time than we care to talking to lawyers, accountants, realtors, landlords, contractors, and zoning administrators. It was smothering our enthusiasm for our practice and we were getting increasingly frightened of the financial obligations we were about to take on. So we stepped back and took a deep breath to re-evaluate our purpose. And now we have a new, better possibility in front of us. I'll tell you more as it comes together.

Isn't it amazing how you can be pushing so hard in one direction that you can't see another way? Kind of reminds me of my first marriage.

I invite you to check out our new, evolving website, and our new blog. On the new blog, Linda & I will both be contributing our thoughts related to yoga, reiki, and our other events and activities. I plan on keeping this blog for more personal posts. Now that I've resigned from the magazine world, I will have more time for recreational writing again.

I hope everyone is surviving the early cold snap and not letting the holidays overwhelm them.

I feel like the tin man at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz.
Oil Can!

I just completed my level one yoga teacher training:18 hours of yoga and talking about yoga in two days. It's hard to talk about yoga without doing it. That was a lot of yoga. My upper body is talking to me about it today!

My class was all women. I wasn't the oldest or the heaviest as I had feared, but I was definitely not in the same shape as most of the class. More than half of the 16 participants were already fitness instructors: Pilates, zumba, kickboxing, and a few were already yoga teachers too. They were expanding their skills and already in terrific shape.

I made quick friends with Dina who said yoga teachers scared her when she introduced herself. Our teacher was great, not taking her task too seriously. She put us all at ease and helped us learn a lot. Some of us were planning to take level 2 together at the end.

I have been taking yoga for about 4 years now, so I wasn't really learning new poses - just doing the basics over and over. In fact sometimes it was frustrating to limit myself to the 20 poses that they were reviewing in level one. We were learning more about common misalignments, how to modify poses for a variety of health issues, how to make poses flow together, and how to sequence a class.

So I'm excited about this new turn in my career. I'm still working for a local magazine, but I'm pulling away from that and heading in this new direction.

Have any of you made a big change in your career? Any advice?

I wish you could have been there.

I am so glad I went to the Rally for Sanity this past weekend - me and over 200,000 other sane individuals. Well, I'll use the word "sane" loosely.

The signs were hilarious - worth the travel hassles. There were political signs: "No Nukes", "Thank you 4 Health Care", "Pro-Choice because politicians make crappy doctors", "Separation of Corporation and State", and of course, "Legalize Pot."

There were many relating to Fox News: "Fox News stop scaring Grandma & Grandpa!", "Restore Sanity: Cancel Fox News" and my favorite was a guy dressed as a giant whoopee cushion with a sign that said "Squeeze me to hear the latest from Glenn Beck."

There were signs about Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert: "Jon Stewart for President", "Jon Stewart for moderator of 2012 presidential debate," and "Team Fear".

There were signs mocking the extremist on the right: "Not to angry to spellcheck", "Actually I'm quite content", "The kids are going to be alright" and "Jesus was a socialist."

Then there were the sillier signs: "This is a good sign", "I love bacon", "I come to rallies for the chicks", "My arm is falling off" and a little sign that said "I fear big signs"

The line to get on the metro in the morning wrapped around the parking garage. The trains were packed. The cell phone service collapsed on the mall. People were climbing into trees and onto the porta-potties for a better view. My view wasn't great, but here are some things I got on with my phone. I got some video with my phone, but blogger isn't letting me upload it. I'll try in a separate post.

There has been a lot of water under the bridge since my last post about the Golden Gate. No way I can try to catch everyone up. But I have missed my blogger buddies. I've been checking back in and am getting ready to make a comeback.

I've been thinking, should I just start fresh with a new blog? Does CG still work for me? But I think it does. I'm not a big fan of starting all over. I think my favorite CG is Cosmic Gypsy. I may lean more that way. But I am in the process of building something new, so Construction Girl still works. She was important to me. I am hooked on the election coverage - like the ultimate in reality shows, so Campaign Grist works too. I've still been practicing yoga, so I still have Chataranga Goals. And I'm now officially the mother of three teenagers, so Children Growing works.

So I guess I work best when my title is flexible.

I have missed you and hope you are all well. Stay tuned!

Over Spring Break I was honored to travel with my daughter's high school choir to compete in a festival in San Francisco. I had a wonderful time and they took home top honors and an invitation to sing at Carnegie Hall. Have you been to San Francisco? Have you ever gone with 50 teenagers?



On the day we arrived, our tour bus dropped us off on one side of the Golden Gate Bridge and picked us up on the other. We walked across, me staying nearby enough for photography purposes, but not so near as to cramp my daughter's style. I was disappointed that I forgot my camera, but took many pictures with my phone.

Of course I was struck by the beauty of the sparkling bay surrounded by mountains, the soaring orange towers of the bridge against the blue sky.

In the middle of the bay sit the eerily intriguing ruins of Alcatraz. On the audiotour, a former prisoner described how the wind would often carry to them the sounds of music and celebration from the city, taunting the prisoners with the joys of liberty.















Then I saw this sign and remembered that this bridge is a suicide mecca; over 1200 people have thrown themselves to a beautiful, tragic end. The bridge was lined with these and emergency telephones, imploring the desolate to call them. They were ready to help.

It seems the greater the surrounding beauty, the more insurmountable the pain of our suffering.

I was with 50 teenagers walking across that bridge. I know of at least one who was in emotional agony. I wanted to hug them all. Life is beautiful and hard.

I was delighted to open my paper this morning and see that the House passed Health Care Reform. It is a triumph of democracy over corporate influence - passed in spite of the massive amounts of money and effort from insurance industries, their Republican congressmen, and Fox News.

The Republicans keep saying the Dems will pay for it in the next election. I think the shame is on every single one of the Republicans who voted against helping the poor. Every single Republican voted against it. Talk about peer pressure! I was hoping there might be one courageous soul on that side of the aisle.

I'm sure the vitriol isn't over. But as with the passing of Medicare that the Republicans strongly opposed but now couldn't live without, literally in some cases, so it will be with health care.

Our government may certainly be inefficient, but I personally am glad they run a post office, emergency services, schools, libraries, food inspection, and the military. Despite the huge task ahead, I'm sure all those who so vehemently opposed health care will soon find themselves or their loved ones in need of the benefits our great American government will provide them.

Do you ever feel like you are the re-set button of your household, putting everything back into place so that it can be found and pulled out again?

So here is the next step for America since the Supreme Court ruling granting corporations the same rights as individuals, freeing unlimited funds for campaigns.

I feel like God.
Last Sunday, I turned over my compost pile after my first full year, ending with a few dormant, snowy months. I was delighted to find enough rich black humus to fill a wheelbarrow. I made dirt!





I filled several pots and jars, whatever I could find around the house, and planted some seeds: cabbage, peas, carrots, peppers, tomatoes. I had plenty of humus leftover and need more little planters for more tomatoes. I think I'll try corn this year too. I even swiped Anne's good idea and planted some seeds in eggshells for easy transplanting later. Thanks for giving me the seeds earlier Anne!

I could have sworn I had a small pitchfork. That would have made the turning over of the pile so much easier. Mental note: next angry mob I'm a torch.

We had fun in Ocean City at the Reach the Beach dance competition. My daughter's team won two first places and one second. The beach was quiet and chilly, but still fun for a morning walk on the boardwalk.

How much does your effectiveness as a dissatisfied customer depend on your willingness to suspend your relationship with the business?

For example, I drive a Prius. I probably couldn't sell it now anyway, even if I wanted to, which I don't for a variety of reasons.

I suppose I don't enjoy speaking to people dissatisfied with my services, but I aim to please when things aren't right. I expect that from my service providers. Sometimes it seems they are unaware of the problem.

I feel like I've been complaining a lot lately. I'd love to hear any of your advice on how to be heard and maintain your relationship with the service provider.

And what if the service provided is to your children - their teachers, coaches, directors?