Highs and Lows

First the good news - I was able to get into a headstand without assistance this week! Yay! The not so good news - some stuff of a questionable nature showed up in my tests this week, and I have to have more on Friday.

DAY 17
The sails for the day had been canceled, so I was pretty free for whatever class I wanted to take. Joe was teaching an Open class at 12:30, so I headed over to the studio. Great class, as always. Unfortunately, I was preoccupied with multiple other things: one, the transit for Pioneer was scheduled in the morning, I needed to be there at 0600, and the weather looked absolutely uncooperative; two, Christoper (number 12) had been acting like he had last spring, basically he was too busy to fit me into his life, and had blown off my attempts to see him this week. It's frustrating to realize that his job nine months ago or so was not the problem. It's him.

I ended up crying on a friend's shoulder (literally) that evening as I released all of the tension from dealing with yet another failed potential relationship. I'm back on OKC.

DAY 18
Transit day. I get down to the boat at 0600, and its pouring rain and cold. Weather forecast is for cold temperatures and high winds. We attempt to leave for Haverstraw, but after about 45 minutes of motoring against the wind to get around the Battery, we return to the dock. Captain Dorfman decides to try again at 1700, but the wind conditions do not change, so the trip is postponed until the morning when the weather is expected to improve dramatically.

I thought maybe I could make it to a class in the intervening hours, but ended up switching between napping on the couch and watching a Twin Peaks marathon for most of the day. I was able to leave the house for the 5:30 Restorative Class. Ah, relaxation.

Turn to was at 0500 the next morning, so I turned in early.

DAY 19
Transit day, take 2. By the time I got down to Pier 16, I could see that stars were out and that it was going to be a clear day. It was still cold, but at least it wasn't raining. Most of the way up we had NW winds, and were able to raise the fore and staysail for about 30 minutes. We made the 35 mile trip in 6.5 hours.

Needless to say after a day out in the cold and wind, I was exhausted when I got back home. I had plans for dinner with Filipa to talk about our man troubles. I thought I could make it to a class, but after losing 2 1/2 hours to a nap, I just didn't quite make it to class.

DAY 20
7:30PM Open Class with Joe. He is quickly becoming my favorite instructor at Om. It was a vigorous class, I ended up sweating bullets, and towards the end of the class when we were doing inversions, I was able to get up into a headstand. I was able to really differentiate what muscle groups I needed to push to stay in the pose, and to keep pressure off my neck. I really enjoy moments where I really feel like I'm making progress.

DAY 21
In the morning I packed up my yoga stuff so I could go to class after work to continue on with the challenge. Before all that though, I had to deal with my 8:30 mammogram. Some milestones really suck.
I got to the doctor's office a couple of minutes early to fill out paperwork. I'm waiting....and waiting....A little after 9:00, a nurse comes out apologizing for the delay, and says its going to be another 30 minutes. I have a meeting at 11:00 that I need to go to since my boss is sick. I contact Jen in the office to see if she can get the drawings up to the gallery since I won't have time to go to the office and make it up to midtown for the meeting.

9:30, nurse comes out again. She again apologizes for the delay. One woman goes ballistic. I on the other hand decide that I need to reschedule. The nurse calls my name a minute later. I figure that I've got 90 minutes, and I'll be ok for my meeting. At this point, I'm much more concerned about being late than getting these routine scans done.

I change into the completely unfashionable hospital gown that just looks great with my boots, and sit in a second waiting room for about 15 minutes. They call me in, I get pushed and pulled and prodded, and then sent out to the waiting room again while a doctor checks my films.

For those of you who have never had this procedure done - it's miserable. While I was waiting, I was listening to these two older women who between then have probably had this procedure 20 or 30 times at least. One of them was complaining about one of the technicians, and how if she got stuck with that woman she was going to politely ask for someone else. When you think about how the breasts are one of the most sexualized and fetishized female body parts, this flesh is basically treated like play-doh when it comes to making sure it's healthy.

The nurse calls me in to the room for some additional films. I figure that I must have moved ever so minutely, and the image wasn't clear. I once again go out to the waiting room. 10 minutes later, they call me in for a third set of films. Now I'm worried.

A little while later as I'm sitting in the examination room, the doctor comes in and tells me that I have 'bright spots' on my films, and that although she thinks they are most likely not a problem, I have to have a biopsy to make sure that they are not malignant. I wish she had said that they have to do the procedure to confirm that they're benign. Semantics, I know.

Luckily, they have an opening on Friday morning. I'm going to continue thinking that it's probably nothing.

So no yoga tonight. I also can't do anything strenuous for three days after the procedure, so no yoga for the rest of the weekend. Well, maybe a restorative class on Sunday.