The class put our backs on our yoga mats, stretched our arms out to our sides, and I heard two "thunks" as my hands touched the wood floor. I realized that I'd forgotten to take off my rings before class. There's no actual rule against rings in class. I don't feel comfortable wearing them while doing asanas, however. It's like wearing socks while doing yoga. It doesn't sound right when my fingers come in contact with the mat. It's almost as bad as drumming with rings on. Metal just doesn't go with yoga, somehow. I took my rings off and put them on my blanket, but then I had to put them back on when I needed the blanket. It was a distraction.

When I first started yoga, I learned that I have alignment problems with my back. Lisa taught me how to modify asanas, and how to adjust my back so it gets the proper backward bend. This evening, an interesting thing kept happening. I would be holding an asana, and I'd be aware that Lisa was approaching me. I'd realized that my back was in the wrong position before Lisa would have a chance to realign it. I'd thrust my shoulders back, push my heart forward, and know that my back was at its correct position before Lisa would say "Perfect!" My back knows where it needs to be - it just forgets.

I finally got those meeting minutes typed up and emailed out. I didn't ask Phillip to proofread them, like I would normally do - I just wanted to get them out.

We interviewed two more candidates this afternoon. I could get used to being an interviewer. It's actually rather fun.

In this evening's yoga class, Denise taught us a lovely Buddhist saying: "When I breathe in, I am aware that I am breathing in. When I breathe out, I am aware that I am breathing out." Denise quotes Buddhists often.

Now it's time for me to be a Lutheran and work on those minutes some more.

I met the first applicant this afternoon. It was exciting, being a part of the team, having a vote. It was a terrible feeling, knowing that that vote could have direct negative consequences.

I meant to write the Church Council meeting minutes last night. I meant to write them last weekend. I meant to write them a month ago. There is a real motivation problem there. There is no love for the task anymore. The retreat is next week, and I'm not looking forward to it. I'll go because I said I will. It is an obligation.

I came home from Lisa's yoga class Friday evening, fed Gladden, tried to write a blog entry, but was too tired to write, so I went to bed before nine o'clock and fell asleep right away. I had hoped I could get rid of this tired feeling I've been having all week. It didn't help. I woke up Saturday morning at a little after eight. After confirming with Phillip that we had no plans for the weekend, I did some solo geocaching. I looked for a 3/1 (difficulty/terrain) puzzle cache in Denny Park, and found it quickly, after solving the puzzle easily. Then I drove to Queen Anne Hill.

The first cache I looked for was a 4/1 puzzle cache close to where I used to live. It was a cache I'd been wanting to do for a very long time. The puzzle had stumped me until I picked up clues from other cachers' logs - and then the answer jumped right at me. After searching the park for nearly an hour, however, I gave up. I walked away, reminding myself that it was a four-star difficulty.

The next cache was within a few blocks of the puzzle cache. It was a 1/1 cache, near the spot where Michael & Scott got married. I found it.

I went home and logged my two Finds and one Did Not Find. Then Phillip and I went to the U-District to look for a multi-cache on campus. Multi-caches, in which finding one location gives you clues to find the next location, etc., are not my favorite type of geocaches, but I wanted to do this one because it I always like being on campus. We found it, and had lunch on The Ave.

When we got home, there was an email from a geocacher in southern Oregon named Zorro plata (that's "Silver Fox," by the way), who offered to give me hints on finding that puzzle cache on Queen Anne Hill. I accepted his offer, and learned that not only had I solved the puzzle correctly, I had also been looking in the right area.

After that, I napped a few times on Saturday afternoon. The only thing that either of us accomplished was that we made reservations for Shakti Cove for the end of this month.

I skipped Church, again, on Sunday. Phillip went with me to do another search for that Queen Anne puzzle cache. We had so much trouble finding it that I began to wonder if that cache was going to become our next "Evil Penguin" cache. It was also pouring down rain. ("Evil Penguins" was the first cache I ever looked for. It, too, was a four-star difficulty. Phillip and I made many, many trips looking for that darned cache. It finally became our 60th find.) I think we were both ready to give it up when I stumbled upon the cache. Afterwards, we had lunch at La Cocina, on Broadway.

We rented and watched the film Saw on Sunday afternoon. We both enjoyed it, and were both surprised by the ending. (This morning, I read Roger Ebert's review. I am rapidly losing respect for his reviewing skills.)

At 7:45 Sunday evening, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to go to Bianca's yoga class (to make up for missing Denise's Wednesday class). That saddened me.

I went to bed at 9:00 last night, and here I am, writing a mega-post.