drooling over beards

I am a sucker for tall men with dark beards...

I have moved to the right city for oh so many reasons.

Chunking

It's February 12th at 7:55 am and I'm pretty sure I was in a similar state of confusion on February 12th of '94. (If my memory serves me well, I was prepping myself for a raging case of the chicken poxs filled with disappointed that I could not give my crush his Valentines.) Thank goodness I've developed better coping skills for my stress and confusion.
But back to now, my eye twitch started this weekend and has been going strong for 3 days now. So I did what any sane adult would do... I called in sick.
So far today I've opened my curtains, finished a cup of warm chai, and read the Ope magazine in it's entirety. What's next on the list? Concur the world.
O's Best Advice Ever!: Make Over Your Life with Oprah & Friends by Edi (Google Affiliate Ad)

I've been a teacher for long enough to know that when an assignment is too large to tackle, we teach children how to chunk. Chunk seems like a funny word to use but really it's appropriate. We teach students how to break down the assignment into workable sections. With the combined efforts of the teacher's scaffolded instruction and the student's motivation in working through each section, the final product is almost always achieved. Baby steps, yo.

On the bed beside me I have 6 books, a notebook that is intended to help me "chunk",  a notepad for all my brilliant ideas, a pen, and a post-it pile of all my other fabulous ideas that will inevitably end up inside the 6 books or plastered to my vintage wooden desk.
The issue:
I am in a serious transitional phase with a lot of unknown ahead.
I'm starting a new career, perhaps, and now because everyone knows I'm leaving my position at the end of the school year I feel this immense amount of pressure (that I'm placing on myself) to work even harder to prove that I'm committed. I am trying to become an expert in my new career by reading 1 million books this year and design a research project (which is doubly challenging when you've never conducted any formal research). I'm navigating a world of marketing myself and building clientele = hard. And there's there all the personal stuff going on.. My beloved baby brother is experiencing his first heart break, AHHH, my best friend's marriage is failing, double AHHH, and I haven't been on a date in 1 month and 12 days... AHHHHH

What would Martha Beck tell me to do?
I suppose I will have to listen to my own inner wisdom until Martha is available to address my needs.

First up: identify books that can be backburnered (is that a word?).
I'm 136 pages into The Early Years of Bill Clinton's Autobiography, be still my heart, but Bill can wait.
My Life by Clinton, Bill [Hardcover] (Google Affiliate Ad)
Book Club meets on Feb 22nd prior to a faux fur party, so The Madonnas of Echo Park has been moved to the top of the list.
30 Shamanic Questions- reality is I have too much on my plate. I'll save my shamanic journey for July.
Wherever you go there you are, a fabulous book about mindfulness meditation. This has been an ongoing read that I think I'm ready to pass on, however given my current "freak out" mode, it might seem like I should read it 3 more times.
Yoga Calm for Children and The Essentials of Yoga stay.

Wow I already feel better.

Next, develop a list of what to do when stressed.

1) 8 hours of sleep makes me wake up happy
2) Yoga
3) Take a bath
4) Write a blog entry
5) Read
6) Write a list of things I'm thankful for
7) Go for a walk
8) Read in a coffee shop
9) Take a nap
10) Eat kale or a banana with peanut butter
11)Write a letter
12) Meditate

Ok... getting better.

Now I need to figure out how to get at least 20 clients.

I am so inspired by my new job. I stared at my business cards for a good ten minutes alone in my room the first night I received them. I get to be a part of a company that believes kindness will change the world. I have been given a platform to speak kindness and healing and help children experience the equilibrium that yoga can create between the body and the mind. Dreamy, eh?
Check it out: http://www.imaginationyoga.com/special_needs_children.html

So that's that, and for today I am going to trust and know that the clients will come pouring in.

Now I'm ready to get out of bed and do something new and exciting. Since when did dealing with stress become fun?

Letters

I started today as a Ms. Mopeaaay. I do not like myself when I mope. Grumpy can be tolerable; mopey makes me extra emotional which makes me irrational which oftentimes later makes me sad. I try to avoid or deflect mopey at all possible costs.  
So, I went into full steam.  I drug myself to a favorite local coffee shop and read Sadartha while drinking tasty expensive coffee. I came home and made a special egg sandwich, (olive and cheese, topped with ketchup... yum). Then I walked 34 blocks and across the Morrison Bridge to a new yoga studio for new type of yoga, yay! I crossed a different bridge (I'm a hopeless romantic; I love walking across bridges.), and stopped for some fresh local vegetables on the 2 mile walk home. 

Sure, all of those prana giving healthy choices helped a little, but as soon as I got home I fell back into morning mopester. I tried a new technique for the second half of the afternoon. This time I would embrace it and completely relish in my single-hood. I made a mental list of all reasons I am thankful for this space and time of my life. I've got it good. 

I made my healthy wild rice vegetable bake, blah blah blah, made coffee at 5:00 pm, whatever I don't even care!, turned my pandora to Regina Spektor and the powerhouse ladies, and pulled out the ole file folder box. 


Inside that box is a folder titled, "Love Letters". Shiiiiiiiiiiit, I did it. I pulled it, sat down in the middle of the carpet with my coffee and wild rice on one side and blinds open on the other. I just read through years of love letters. 

I stopped when I was interrupted by Beyoncé's Single Ladies playing in the background. Seriously, I'm not even joking a little. 

I find myself laughing at the impeccable timing of the universe.  I like letting things unfold. I like life. I like being a single lady right now. 

So now, I'm going to take this slightly caffeinated, well fed, single Elissa, and I'm going to go dancing, because I can. 

A new kind of love

I love love. Sometimes I can give myself a natural high thinking about all the ways to give and feel love.  It is not uncommon for me to read about it, talk about it, consciously observe it, and practice it. Yet, I'm 29 and a half years old and I still feel clueless. This world seems as much of a mystery to me as it did in 1999. Last week I traveled back to Pennsylvania for the Holidays and I experienced an new kind of love.
My nuclear family hasn't been together, perhaps even once, since April of 2001. This has forced me to evaluate, redefine, and contemplate my definition of "family". With each experience the definition evolves. It gets better and better.
Two years ago we came together twice in one year; for the weddings of both my baby and big sister.  This summer my big sister gave birth to our first family baby, Anwen Rosemary. This, and because my father has been planning a move back to Sicily during this upcoming year an almost silent command was initiated for us to be together again. We traveled from Brooklyn NY, Wichita KS, Portland OR, and Harrisonburg VA to get to Central Pennsylvania for the Holidays.
We laughed so much during our four days together. We laughed at each other, with each other, silently or loud enough to force Papa to wear double ear plugs at night. We passed around our baby, celebrated with food and wine and...beer, rum, and Disaronno- a family staple), we played games-sometimes against our will, we had snow ball fights- also sometimes against our will, we reminisced and shared old family stories while walking through the cemetery or cozily snuggling beside the Christmas tree, we had fun!
We Cirignotta's have traveled through some rocky roads. Life hasn't been a peach pie; we are all very different creatures and have responded uniquely different to the rocks we've encountered on our individual and collective paths. The additional four members, my amazing(ly) tall brother-in-laws, the treasure box that is my brother's girlfriend, and our butterball Anwen have all served as bridges.
I am very thankful for the blood family I was born into and all the lessons I've learned from each and every one of them. They have been some of my greatest teachers.
I am grateful I spent my last week of 2012 with a new kind of Cirignotta plus family.

The importance of voting.

The importance of voting and exercising democracy is a vital component of society. Wouldn't you agree?
Which is why it is so critical that everyone get out and vote for the presidential elections...and the Travelocity trip around the world contest. Right?
That's right...I am trying to win a trip around the world.
I had to make a short video as my entry submission and there is a possibility that I might be slightly embarrassed by it. Regardless, I still think I stand a chance to win... But I need voters.

Would you vote for me? I can't promise to take away taxes or end the war but I will send postcards and positive energy your way!

Click on
http://gnomenabbed.travelocity.com

Then hit "submit a video or vote"

In the search box type "Elissa"

and click on Gnome meets Elissa.

After you have voted you should make you own video and then send it to me to vote for.

I wish I could pass out "I voted" stickers now.

Dahl had it all figured out.

"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." - Roald Dahl 

Best Kept Traveling Secret

I'm over kayak. I never get the impression it's on our team. For the last several years I have opted to mostly search and fly with Southwest. The bags are fee, the pilots are funny, the flights are reasonable, and you can pick your own seat. I earn miles giving me free flights... it works for me.

However every once in awhile the flight prices are too high for my wee little bank account. And that is why I LOVE this site: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Select "see calendar of lowest fares" and enjoy the feeling of purchasing a $160 one way ticket to the East Coast.

Ready. Set. Travel!