four things

1) Seeing friends you have known for 15 years, spending time with them, laughing together over breakfast, walking down memory lane is quite a treat. (And retiring at the end of the day into a romantic cabin with your husband who listens to it all and holds your hand ain't so bad either.)

2) Seeing two people in love, and watching them get married, is a very nice way to spend a Friday afternoon.

3) Teton National Park is one of the prettiest spots in all the country (at least that I have seen). And Jackson Lake Lodge has one of the best spots in all the world to have a meal (I think there are probably other spots that are gorgeous out there but this one is up toward the top of the list and you should go there if you are ever in that neck of the woods). You can sit at a table right by a huge window and look out at Jackson Lake with the Tetons behind it. They are right there. And there is only nature between you and them. Have another drink of wine and take a breath and look again. Heaven.

4) I have always been able to say, "oh no, I don't have back pain, I do yoga." Until today. Around 2:00 a.m. this morning, I woke up in excrutiating pain. And it didn't stop when I took some Advil, when I woke up again, after I ate breakfast, on the trip to the airport, on the first plane ride when I was basically in tears from pain, while in airport #2 (though my mind was momentarily distracted by a nice dish of frozen yogurt), while finishing the first book, while on plane ride #2, while reading the first 80 pages of book #2, while waiting for our luggage, while waiting in the emergency room, while being told I had to put on a hospital robe (the second time tears began), while explaining to the doctor that standing seems to be the best option and reduces the pain by a tiny bit, while explaining the pain is up there on the 1-10 scale and that I haven't been in labor so I don't know if it is that bad, while being diagnosed with sciatica, while holding in the tears when the doctor left the room because this yoga teacher knows this diagnosis is not a good one, while waiting for special pills, while riding in the car home (finally), while eating thai food, while trying to finish work before going to bed. Nope. Pain. Now I "get" back pain. Whenever a student comes to me in the future to explain back pain, I will be able to nod and say, "oh how I know that."

What 4 things have you been up to while I have been gone?