Wednesday Morning: Balance

Mami gave me so many gifts when I went to visit her. It was her birthday, but I came home with 3 coats, a beautiful copa para yerba mate, a cd player, boots, gloves...I felt guilty. My luggage was so heavy yesterday and I had to borrow a bag from her to fit everything she gave!

Dios mio!

So this morning I will be volunteering at Franklin Elementary School with Oakland HEROES. We're doing Dictionary Day! It's a fun day because we get to play word games with the dictionary. Simple word games, but it's fun introducing the tool and all the possibilities that lie therein.

I loved the dictionary when I was younger. I still do. My father was getting his masters when I discovered his blue, marbly coloured dictionary. It has onion skin pages that have a beautiful crisp sound when you turn them. He still has it and I looked at it when I was home. I wrote "Property of Felix J. Padilla" in my neat, 4th grade cursive in the front cover.

I fascinated myself with all of the different entries and pictures and language and word origins.

This was before the World Book Encyclopedia captured my imagination, but the dictionary always, ALWAYS kept its worth. I could take it with me to the bathroom or in bed with me or in a hidden corner and get lost in it.

This morning I woke up with a little patch of that rash again. So it must be something in my house, specifically my room. I am washing my quilt as we speak to see if I can get rid of this thing. It's totally annoying.

This morning's yoga was filled with balance poses...the half moon has one stand on one foot, stretch out one's arms so that one hand reaches the floor and the other reaches towards the ceiling. The other leg is outstretched...like you are a human plus sign. Another pose has one balance on one leg, the other stretched behind and your torso and arms stretch forward, opposite the leg behind like you are diving forward into your destiny.

I am more stable on my right leg than on my left. Not sure why.

I am going to pack the pasteles mami gave me for Michelle and I to eat tonight and my lunch. It's almost 9. Time to venture onto the bus and perhaps finish more of All About Love. I am almost done. Then on to The Satanic Verses, which I began at my mami's house and I have to say within the first 14 pages I am not sure what the controversy is about, nor am so sucked in that I need to find out, BUT since it's been with my mom for the last 20 or so years and it was the subject of so much controversy (Mr. Rushdie was in hiding for so long because of this thing), I figure it's time I'm in the know. =)

Guess what? I love me today!