Mom arrives

Mom arrived in town this morning. The lazy three day weekend ("Today feels like Sunday, but it's only Friday, yeee-haw!") meant that getting to the gym would be wonderful. Instead, I drove to the airport to pick up Mom. Gym. Mom. Gym. Mom. Yeah, Mom will win every time.

I noticed traffic was unusually light heading to the airport. I wasn't sure if the time of the drive (8:00 am) was the cause (I didn't think so), or the first day after a holiday (when people might still be travelling home, or staying away), but I admittedly enjoyed being able to go door to door in less than 20 minutes.

I was also amused by the cop who parked at the end of the 87 to 101N interchange, hopped out of his car, and stood at the median next to the interchange's carpool lane. The way traffic was stopped for the non-carpool lane, and his placement meant that there was exactly no way for a carpool violator to avoid being caught. Of course, "caught" and "avoiding a ticket" really are two different things.

Mom's visiting me to attend a class in Palo Alto. She asked me if I was interested in taking the class, too. I said yes, mostly to spend more time with Mom, but the class was also interesting.

It's a class on posture: how to stand, sit, walk, and lie with proper back alignment to reduce back stress and pain. Two years ago, at the multiple recommendation and near insistence of my chiropractor, I went to the Balance Center, and learned how to sit, stand, lie, and walk in balance. The problem I had with the class was I now knew how to sit, stand, lie and walk in balance, but I wasn't able (willing?) to apply the knowledge I gained. So, now, not only did I not stand, sit, walk, and lie in balance, but I also felt guilty for not doing so. Suckasaurus.

Well, no time like the present to make a change, so I agreed to attend the class with Mom, who was very excited about the class, which was with another facility that taught proper back alignment.

I can't say I was particularly excited about the class when the woman at the front desk measured my height and declared I was 1/2" shorter than I was when I measured myself two weeks ago. Honestly, this set off all sorts of alarms in my head: measure them short at the beginning of the class, and LOOK HOW TALL YOU ARE at the end of the class.

Right.

So, I went to the class with an open mind. I figured, if nothing else, this could be a review of the other class, perhaps inspiration to start my journey again to good posture.

After the class, Mom was very, very excited. She was talking about how this made sense, and how that was so right, and very, very excited (did I mention excited?). I, on the other hand, wasn't so impressed with the first class. The instructor didn't give us an introduction, but rather launched into sitting properly, without any background on why we were doing what we were doing. I need that. I need to know WHY before I can DO. No luck.

I also couldn't get past the fact that all the pictures shown were of statues and babies. Statues are stylized versions of people, not necessarily a mirror or accurate portrayal of a person, so they seem like cheating. Or maybe it felt like the instructor was trying to find data to fit a theory instead of finding a theory to fit the data.

I don't know. There are six more classes. We'll see if I change my mind.

The best quote of the day was from Mom, as we were walking back from the local Fresh Choice. She was telling me about home and how the temperature was "one hundred and fuck out." I stopped walking, and just stared at her. I think the last time I heard her curse, I was still living in Southern California.