Dear Friends,
My puppy, Miya, turned 11 years old yesterday. She is our first "daughter." She was the first one to teach my husband and I what it was like to take care of someone other than ourselves. As all dogs do, Miya greets us so happily when we come home, and she follows us around all over the house. She is neglected and forgotten at times, yet she never holds a grudge. Now that my girls are older, they scoop up Miya multiple times a day just to hug her and carry her around like a stuffie. She's 7 pounds, so she has no say in the matter =).
Dogs are such gifts to the world, aren't they?
When I was 3 months pregnant with my oldest daughter 9 years ago, I unexpectedly ended up on bedrest at home. I had literally bled onto my Kindergarten classroom floor and frantically handed my classroom of 33 kinders to my neighbor teacher, Steph, so that I could drive to the hospital. The doctor told me I thankfully hadn't lost the baby, but I had an option of terminating the pregnancy because I was losing too much blood. I said NO. Give me another option.
So bedrest it was. I went from a busy life of teaching Kindergarteners during the day, teaching fitness classes after school, and dancing in a troupe at night, to sitting down reading books, watching movies, and cross-stitching. Haha. If you find me cross-stitching, you know that I TRULY have time on my hands.
During those 6 months, Miya was my best friend. Somehow, she knew I needed her more than ever. Not only had I become physically inactive, but I was scared all the time that I would lose more blood when I stood up to shower or go to the bathroom. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to 24 weeks, to 28 weeks, to 32 weeks. The future seemed uncertain. Miya was my little guardian angel back then, snuggling with me, keeping me company, and reminding me that everything would be ok.
9 years later, and there are some eerie similarities to my time on bedrest. I am home 24/7. I have waves of emotions that hit me. The future is uncertain. And Miya continues to be my guardian angel. I am so grateful for 11 life-changing years with her. Happy Birthday Miya!
Don't lose faith in humanity.
I am inspired when celebrities and artists use their talents to spread real truth to their audience. Thank you Seran for sharing this music video by the Chicks (originally the Dixie Chicks but they changed their name last week), "March March," which I showed in the beginning of class this morning. If you haven't watched the video, do so. It is about protesting, it is about voting, and at the end it fires through so many, so many, names of black lives that have been taken wrongly. March March is our new abs song during core work.
I am inspired by Marin Magazine promoting a Decathlon challenge to raise money for a local, black-owned business called PlayMarin. Join me and complete at least 5 of the 10 challenges by the end of July, and $100 per person will be donated to PlayMarin. What a great way for us to get outside, get exercise, and raise money for a meaningful cause.
I am inspired by my daughter's Brownie Girl Scout troop that is planning on hosting two 1.5 hour sessions in July to learn about anti-racism. A high school student who is involved in her social justice club at school offered to volunteer to teach our girls. At the end, the girls will vote on an organization to donate their cookie money to in support of #BlackLivesMatter.
I am inspired by the anonymous dancer who very graciously matched Katie's birthday donation from our dance class last Wednesday. So generous, so thoughtful, and so amazing.
I am proud of myself for taking action in my own life this week: I stuck with trying to sleep a consistent 6-7 hours each night, I got outside and went on a hike with my family over the weekend and went running while my daughter biked yesterday, and I allowed myself to slow down a tiny bit...
The result? This is the first week since Covid with (knock on wood) no headaches or migraine attack... now to keep it up...
Celebrate freedom.
I wish you a wonderful holiday weekend celebrating Independence Day. I am happy for those of you who have found a place to vacation for the weekend, but for those of you that will be at home like me, know that our schedule will be the same this week including Saturday morning 9:30am Stop Drop And Dance on Zoom! Happy 4th of July!
And if you haven't heard, HAMILTON is coming out on July 3rd on Disney Plus!!! I know what we're doing Friday night =) To celebrate, we are doing our crazy-hard push up and plank song, "My Shot," all week long in our live classes, plus newly uploaded for free on our YouTube channel is the Advanced Class I taught a few weeks back for "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)." Enjoy!
Love,
Grace
