AW Check In Week 12 and Acknowledgements

If I don't do this final check-in, will that mean it's not over yet?

TASKS
1. MPs
I did them 7/7 days, but yesterday and today they were afternoon pages. MPs are a great tool and lead me to good places, but I'm going to take a break and meditate instead. I want to start meditating as part of my yoga training, but waking early enough to do MPs, and meditate, and practice yoga is not proving feasible. So I'm switching out one form of meditation (MPs) for another (sitting meditation and watching my breath). I'm going to play with this for a week. I'll let you all know what happens, especially with this pesky time change.

2. Artist Date
I didn't mean to, but today I had an entire day! My morning activity, which is going to sound strange, bizarre, slightly gross but in my experience was cool beyond words I label an artist date:

I went to a cadaver lab, one of the few remaining in the country, and got to see dissected people and all the bones, muscles, organs and such I've been learning about in yoga training. Not to gross you all out or anything, but I held a heart in my hand. I held a brain. (Yes, I was wearing gloves). I saw the sciatic nerve. I saw lots of muscles. I saw a spinal cord. The smell got to me and I had a classmate hold eucalyptus oil under my nose, but the experience was so cool!

We really are just conainers, and if you believe in reincarnation, it's all the better. Who would have ever thought that I would consider looking at dissected people as an artist date? Not I.

We left and my carpool got back to the city and I had lunch with two people I had never talked to before from the training. Both wonderful super-cool women.

Then time for yoga with my absolute favorite instructor, Karl. Three hours of proper alignment of legs, hips, lifting chest, and such.

And then the kicker...a massage right after with my regular guy.

Throughout this course I have resisted, fought the idea of having a whole day. But it just happened entirely without force.

3. Synchronicity
Nothing mind blowing, little bits and pieces that added up.

4. Issues
See giant whole day to myself from #2 above. For me to take a whole day to myself, that is nothing short of a miracle.

I do have something amusing to relate, from the task last week to list a week's worth of nurturing, mine was this, and also notice how many I did, unintentionally!
One week's worth of nurturing, things I would do:
massage - Done today!
yoga (done nearly everyday, at least a little bit)
pedicure (not yet, but this week for sure)
buy fresh flowers - daffodils, tulips (I bought iris because they contrast so wonderfully with my goldenrod yellow wall)
take a walk in nature (didn't do this)
make something hearty and warm, like my italian sausage tortelini soup (made on Thurs, eating leftovers now!)
play with paint and get my hands messy (not done, but no worries)
take a nap as needed! (I did - on Monday when I wasn't feeling well!)

How did that happen???


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The AW won't feel complete without taking a moment to acknowledge those who made a huge giant gi-normous difference through these past twelve weeks.

Thank you first, to my friends from before the AW:
Stef, Becky (blogless!), and Pamela who posted encouragements throughout

Then, all the wonderful new people who posted (post something now if I missed you!):
Eliza, Laura, Otter, Kat, Donna, Melba, Dilly Dilly, Krista, Tinker, Marilyn, Blue Dog, Liz Elayne, Kathryn, Watermark, Wendi, and Artist~
your words made the AW a wonderful supported process for me.

And of course, those who read and don't post. I can feel you, and I am grateful. There is nothing more wonderful to a writer than having her words read.

Now, in honor of my current journey, my focus will likely shift to the yoga training and practice that occupies 14 hours a week for me.

Thank you all...I am complete! I will be reading you all very, very soon!