This Post is Brought to You By the Letter "Y" - Yoga and Yams

Y seems to be the letter of the day. I attempted to not look like a fool at a Yoga class at the gym, and now I'm attempting to bake a Yam. I'm not sure if it's working.

This week is a bit weird because I'm working from home without any office visits, so I tend to make the most out of my days enjoying the sunlight (or watching daytime television) and then I stay up until the wee hours of the morning getting work done (I'll be doing that tonight.)

First thing today, I went to meet with a photographer I met on model mayhem. Every once in a while I like to model for fun. By no means do I look like a typical model (I'm short and a wee bit stumpy), but I photograph decently and some photographers don't mind taking photographs of girls who look more like girls and less like giraffes. I saw his work online and it was impressive... plus he lives a few towns over, so it's easy to get to his studio. We scheduled a shoot for tomorrow for some basic headshots. Modeling is a fun, free activity that I can do to keep myself entertained every once and again. Not all photographers are willing to shoot for free, but a lot of students (or older hobbyists trying to build up portfolios) are willing to do TFP (time for print) trades. It's a pretty good deal, especially since if you want nice photos otherwise you'd have to pay a lot of money. I need some new headshots for this show I'm directing in a few months, and headshots I shall be getting. Hopefully they will be nice.

After the brief meeting with the photographer, I made a pit stop at the mall (shouldn't have done that!) to find a shirt to wear for the photoshoot tomorrow. I spent way too much time trying on anything half decent in Macy's and Nordstrom, and then settled on a cute fushica psuedo wrap by Matty M. The only photo they have of it online is in blue (I almost bought the blue one too, but I restrained myself to one overpriced shirt for the day).



Following my impromptu bad-decision shopping adventure, I headed to the library to photocopy a bunch of old doctors bills and other things that needed copying in order to get reimbursed for things and apply for the California High Risk Pool insurance.

While I was copying my denial letter from Pacific Care, I noticed that on the second page (that I hadn't read) it noted the actual reason for my denial (drumroll please): irregular periods.

Oh, come on. Most women I know have irregular periods. Either they're really heavy, or absent for a while and then show up at random times. Ok, so for me, they never show up. But still, that wasn't noted on my application.

Ugh.

Anyway, following my short stay at the library, I met up with my bf at my house, and we went to the gym to try out the Hatha Yoga class they had. Both of us are Yoga newbies (though I've taken a few classes before since my Aunt works in the Yoga industry). He was in a bad mood and didn't want to go, but I made him come with me since we had planned on attending the class.

It was an ok class. I didn't really know what to expect of a yoga class at a big gym. We did a couple of poses, I stretched myself in ways that hurt like a bitch, and during the meditation part of the class I couldn't "concentrate on my inner being" with all of the loud weight slamming noises puncturing the soothing Zen soundtrack our French-with-thick-accent Yoga instructor had put on while our eyes were closed.

After Yoga, I tried to motivate myself to do some other actual exercise at the gym. I did a shoulder press thing and a rowing exercise, and then my nagging boyfriend made me leave. Oh well.

We stopped at Whole Foods on the way home, where I grabbed the Yam (brilliant realization of the day -- sweet potatoes are yams!), a few apples (yeay, pink laddy apples were on sale) and enough kiwis to last a week.

Then I came home and started to bake this yam, following the instructions of a few random internet recipes. Aluminum foil, oven to 400 degrees, an hour of baking, how hard can it be?

Well, that seems to be the problem. My Yam is still very, very hard. It smells good though. I should check on it now and see how it's doing.

Oh, speaking of cooking, I'm very excited about the gift my boyfriend bought me for the holidays -- a food scale! I can weigh all of my portions, so I know I'm not going overboard. It's really a marvelous contraption. I'm such a born again healthgeektard that I'm practically in love with the thing.

Alright, time to check on the giant yam.