With Love

 Cookies made by my Mom and Nephew.

This week I was not at my best. I am fully ready to admit that fact. I stopped my yoga because I fell behind in my math work (seven chapters to be exact) and had an upcoming test. As such I also stopped eating well. No exercise, plus no nutrition caused me to really accentuate the negative in my life and at work. I know some people who can forgo these two things and keep a positive attitude and focused mind, but I'm not one of them. It has taken me a long time to realize this, but it's true. To function at my maximum I have to keep a pretty ridged schedule, and when I get…well, lazy, I always seem to pay the price. Fortunately, the cards were in my favor this week, as my test was moved back to this coming Tuesday. I still have one chapter to complete beforehand however, so tomorrow will be an early morning for me.

On Thursday this week I fell ill again. Just your average cold, but I was really uncomfortable for the past three days. I woke up today feeling better, but the people who I know who have had this say that just as you think you are getting better, you get worse again. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen to me.

I splurged on a new alarm clock recently. I have been increasingly tired in the morning to the point that I am sleeping through my morning alarm and winding up rushing out the door feeling frantic and angry. I finally decided what I needed was an updated alarm clock. Like most people, I have woken up to the radio clicking on (classical FM) for almost all my life. It was an okay system, but because I was unable to regulate the volume I found myself startled awake (if the alarm weren't loud I would sleep right through it). The Philips Wake-Up Light is the latest and greatest (at least of those in my price range) version of the alarm clock. It's based around the tradition of waking up "with the sun". The idea is that naturally, humans sleep at night and as the sun rises, we gradually awaken not feeling tired but refreshed. The clock simulates the rising of the sun by barely turning on thirty minutes prior to when you actually want to get up, gradually getting brighter and brighter until it is time for your alarm to go off, at which point some sound effect (nature or FM radio) comes on at just the slightest whisper and gradually increases to your set volume. At $78.00 for just the basic model, it's kind of steep. But, I bought it anyway. I was fully intending on returning it, but I have to say, I really think it was worth the money. I have used it two days in a row so far and found that I wake up more easily. We'll see how I like it after using it for one full work week, but I have a feeling I wont be returning it.

Searching for a new alarm clock got me wondering how people ever woke up on time before the alarm clock was invented. After some very brief computer research I have determined that the clock, in one form or another, has been around since the days of the Ancient Egyptians. I guess before that period, people were generally nomadic and society was largely agricultural so I assume they woke up with the sun and went to bed when it was dark. Another method that has been practiced for thousands of years was to drink copious amounts of water (or any beverage I guess) so that you would have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning… no pun intended. In Ancient Greece, there were apparently timekeeping devices that relied on water and once the contraption was full of liquid, a series of motions would be set into place that would ultimately let loose marbles on the floor. Wow, doesn't that sound like a fun way to wake up? My favorite though was reading about the "Knocker Uppers" who would, for a small fee, go about to every one of their client's windows to rap on the glass with a large stick or pole until the client actually got up out of bed. So, who woke up the Knocker Upper? From what I can surmise, a certain few people in the each village/town kept different hours, starting at dusk and ending at sunrise so there was a type of "circle of life" effect. For a more detailed history google this topic or search Wikipedia. Again, this information is not the based on scholarly research.

Finally, I got the results of my math practice test back. I only made a 46, so I will be taking the test again. Trying to keep my head up and think yogically. All things take time.

Denby - Aurora Blue. Notice how the liquid sits lopsided in the cup. No, it's not the table, it's the slight imperfection of the hand thrown stoneware.

This was my Valentines gift from Mom. I love it so much I have dubbed it my "weekend tea cup". I'll always know it's time to relax when I can pull this out of the hutch.