Remembering Apollo

I had my dog euthanized last Thursday.
I can't say "put to sleep" and I'm not quite ready for "put to death" so "euthanized" works the best for me.
I had my beautiful Apollo for almost 12 years.
I had never before had a pet for 12 years.
His death was peaceful. I will never forget the kindness and compassion of my vet. She let me keep him in the back of my car and gave him the Big Pink Shot there so we didn't have to go through the trauma of moving him again. He still weighed 86 lbs so I was thankful to God that my hubby and I were able to get him into the car on the first try.
In some ways, Apollo was the heartbeat of our house. He was always there. Even when we were out of town, Apollo was there, guarding, sleeping, protecting. He protected my little reds when they were born. Nobody got past him unless I introduced them first. He would sleep on the landing going up the stairs where the little reds would be in their rooms and simply stand up if he didn't know who was coming. In his prime, he weighed almost 150 lbs. He looked like a giant polar bear.
So my heart is heavy.
This Sunday will be the blessing of the Animals--Apollo had gone with me for 10 years. But I give thanks to God for the memories I have of my Good Boy--and look forward to blessing the pets who bring unconditional love to our lives.
Peace,
RevMutha

Sports Rehab, mole, living yoga

This afternoon I'll see the sports rehab chick for the first time. I'll let y'all know how it goes. I'm most concerned about the time component but all shall be well.
The little reds started school again--we almost missed the bus yesterday and completely missed the "first day of school" photo ops...so this morning I took the camera out and got pics. Little reds said "But Mom, it's not the first day of school!" I said "It's within 24 hours, it counts." Bus driver was laughing. Laughing hard. I just smiled sweetly.
I was not smiling so sweetly on Saturday, at least not for the first 6 hours of making the mole. Rick Bayless may be this amazing zen Mexican chef but, lemme tell you, the man has LOTS of assistants. Making mole by myself, in retrospect, was a good measure of my own personal fortitude and stubbornness. But what the hell was I thinking? It took me 9 hours, not counting the hours shopping and calling to find ingredients. Making this sauce (and you can google the recipe: Rick Bayless' braised turkey in red mole" is not for the faint of heart. The end product, however, is slap yo mama good. Seriously. And it's getting better. Complex, rich, dark, sexy...a real palate pleaser. I'll make it again but with some different kitchen equipment. (And I have enmity in my heart for my blender. It sucks. Food processor worked much butter for the pureeing steps...)
I have joined living yoga. I'm going to try to re-work my schedule so that I can attend at least 3-4 classes a week. It won't be easy. During this first week of school, either my beloved hubby or I have had meetings every night. The first time the family will be able to sit down for dinner together is Saturday. This is not right. But little reds love their teachers. I'll meet them tonight at curriculum night. It's tough not being able to bi-locate since 4th and 5th grade curriculum nights take place on the same night, but I manage. And Dad was on-call last night so he'll be with little reds tonight. I have incredible compassion for single parents. I don't see how they do it.
So yoga either tomorrow at 6 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. Then a Saturday morning class. I'm teaching a class at a Spirituality Fair on Saturday--"Making and Praying the Anglican Rosary" and then will officiate at a wedding at 4 p.m.
Time to get ready for the day. Breathe and be open. That's my intention.
Peace,
RevMutha

September!

I always love the beginning of September--full of new beginnings! New school year for the little reds, new program year at the church, and new whatever else we decide. I've decided to try a 3 month experiment of doing yoga 3-4 times/week (and whenever the Yoga studio offers the 40 days to personal transformation, I'm signing up. Trust that you'll get to read ALL about it.) I'm going to cut back to once a week with the personal trainer and see how it goes. I start rehab on my hip on Sept 10. Since going to the sports med dr. last week, my hip has been pretty sore--but yoga doesn't make it any worse and makes me feel tons better.
I've also decided to try to make Rick Bayless' red mole sauce. I have ordered some of the more specialized ingredients (guajillo chiles, mexican chocolate, avacado leaves) from a gourmet supply company in California. I was hoping to spend this coming Saturday in the kitchen but I don't know if the ingredients will arrive by then. I might have to start a search in the upstate NY area to see what I can find.
And I really am going to post about making the homemade mozzarella cheese...just not now. Maybe later. Stay tuned.
Peace,
RevMutha