9 classes into Beginning Ballet- update

I just checked.  Classes began Sunday September 8th.  This means I have taken exactly 9 "Basic" ballet classes.  Oh, and I've really been lying this whole time.  I keep saying I'm in "Beginning Ballet" but actually that's a way more advanced class than the "Basic" ballet class I'm in.  I wouldn't dream of joining the Beginning Ballet class next door.  Sounds terrifying.

So, I am 9 classes in and today I'm more frustrated than when I started.  After the first few classes I felt some improvement.  But now, 9 classes in I feel like I'm getting worse.  I've been reassured that many beginners feel this way sometimes, but I'm not so sure.  I just cannot follow some of the combinations that we perform in the center without holding on to my barre for dear life.  The barre keeps me upright and keeps me from falling.  When we do floor work and attempt something as simple as a passé developpe or an arabesque I pretty much just topple over.


Passe developpe

These girls below know how to do an arabesque without holding on to the barre for dear life.

We also do this one combination where you start in 5th, plié, tendu to 2nd, plié, fifth, releve, passé and a 1/2 turn? I can do it at home but for some reason I can't do it right in class. I also probably said that all wrong. 

Today we also did some battement frappes which were much harder than you think.  My grand battemenets were ok I think but I wasn't looking in a mirror.  Anyway I need more practice.  But for today I'm frustrated. 

Here is a picture of my daughter and I today, stretching at the bar today before class.



In happier news I've been playing more volleyball lately and that makes me happy because I don't SUCK AT IT.

Ballet update

Since I know you're all DYING to know how my ballet classes are going, right?  I believe I have now taken 5 classes total.  I'm SUCH a beginner.

Well so far I've learned that I can ALMOST do the splits on one side and that I may never have great turnout due to the arches in my feet? (According to yoga lady in my class).

There is a girl in my class who can stand in 1st position perfectly with no trouble at all.  For me just standing in "perfect" first position makes my knees hurt.  I know, it's not supposed to hurt your knees.  Turnout should come from your hips and thighs but I just don't know how else to improve other than trying it over and over again- which hurts my knees.

I am getting better and I can at least follow the sequences in class a bit better, but I have like a million more classes before I will feel good about ballet, but that's ok.

I still have a lot of trouble balancing on my toes due to poor foot strength and my terrible ankles.  I've sprained each ankle many times in my life from playing sports and you really need strong feet and ankles for ballet.  (Insert big DUH here.)



Look- not me.

Anyway that's all I really have to say about ballet so far.  I'm really loving the class but I hate that it has a steep learning curve.  I'm used to being GOOD at things like sports and it's humbling to struggle so much in class. 

Oh and I die of laughter in my head when someone asks me if I'm doing ballet on my toes in those hard shoes? YOU MEAN POINTE SHOES? Dear god no I'm not on pointe shoes.  Wouldn't that be funny? A beginning ballet class where they put you straight into pointe shoes.  HA.  I will never be on pointe, or at least I can't imagine I could ever be.  I have been reading a wonderful blog called The Legal Ballerina and this woman actually went on pointe after about a year after starting ballet as an ADULT.  She is a magical unicorn though.  Read her blog here. I want to be like her.

Anyway, I leave you with a recent picture of me and my beautiful toddler in class this past Sunday.  Happy dancing to all my beginning ballerinas out there!

little monkey ballerina

Beginning Ballet

Look, that's NOT me nor will it ever be.  But that's ok.

Ok ladies and gentlemen, or whoever reads this blog, (Anyone?) I enrolled my 3 year old in "creative dance" classes aka- beginning ballet classes and I decided it would be fun to try it myself!
She's at the fancy pants Joffrey Ballet in Chicago.  I actually searched and compared pricing and their classes weren't too much more than other classes.  Plus they offer an open drop-in adult beginning ballet class at the same time as hers!  So it was a perfect fit.

This is my adorable toddler in her ballet outfit. 

My toddler is probably learning how to point her toes and follow directions.  I'm learning freaking impossible things in my class.  Let me tell you, the Basic ballet class at the Joffrey Ballet is NO JOKE.  It's taught by a kick-ass ballerina who makes it all look so easy, oh and you're pretty much expected to know some basic ballet before you get there.  Thankfully I took out a book from the library and learned all my feet positions before the first class! Arm positions, not so much.  Also I can't really move my arms while I try to move my feet- way too hard. 

"First position" or as good as it's going to get for me.

So, the class is a drop-in class and has no commitment but I really want to stick with it for a few months.  I've taken 4 classes so far and I feel myself improving! Not much, in fact very little, but it's something.

A few things about beginning ballet in case you know nothing about ballet (like I did).

1 It's really freaking hard.  I mean I KNEW it was hard, but geez I get out of class and my feet hurt for days.  You are doing things with your feet that really a human body shouldn't do.  I've been an athlete my whole life mostly playing volleyball and softball, but ballet takes the human body to a whole other level. 

2. TURN OUT TURN OUT TURN OUT.

Does that look easy to you? GO TRY IT.

It's all about turn out.  TURN OUT. I cannot emphasize this enough.  In other words, if you don't know how to do the splits then you automatically suck at ballet.  Good luck getting your feet to ever be in a proper fifth position.  Thanks mom for not enrolling me in gymnastics or ballet at age 3.  I will never have good turnout, but I can at least improve my turn out.  Hopefully.

3. BALANCE: Yeah that's an obvious one right? But really.  I didn't think it was so hard to balance my body weight on my toes.  I thought I could do it!  But no.  I can hardly stand on demi pointe on one leg for more than a tenth of a second before toppling over.  Why? Well your feet have to be completely turned out whenever you stand on one foot, which is pretty much impossible for a beginner. We try to do these passé releves but on demi point and I can hold it like 1/10th of a second. Look how pretty she looks below. That is not me.

Passe releve- aka like impossible to balance yourself

4. Flexibility.  I used to think I was fairly flexible.  I can "almost" do the splits at first base when catching a low ball!  Yeah that doesn't count for anything in ballet.  Look at least I can stretch at the bar!  And actually, I can stretch way better than that, but I was too busy posing for a picture.

Unless you can stand on one leg and grab your leg and kiss your knee, then you have no flexibility.  My arabesques are pitiful.  My leg feels like it's barely getting off the floor. 

Not me.

5. Grace.  I have none.  Right now I'm just trying to follow the basic routines in class. 

So.  To sum it up.  Ballet is hard.  But it's really fun to attempt to learn something new at age 32, with 2 kids and despite my whining in this blog post, it's really fun.  Also it's damn good exercise and we're really not doing much aerobic exercises in class, it's more like yoga.  In fact there are a few women in the class who are obviously well versed in yoga and it really helps them.  There's also a guy in the class who is an Irish dancer, so he's a big cheater.

In the very least I get to wear tights and ballet slippers to class, and if I catch myself in the mirror at the perfect angle I sometimes feel like a ballerina.  Then I snap back to reality and realize I'm not even pointing my toes.

And this is me.  Standing around in class trying to just keep up, wondering if I'm in over my head!

Look my pitiful attempt at 5th position.

Finally, let's review our feet positions:

I was interviewed for the Huffington Post!

So, a few months ago I came across an opportunity to be interviewed by a Huffington Post writer for their "Breastfeeding Chronicles" series.  I think the first week of August is world breastfeeding week.  I love breastfeeding so I was really excited for my interview.

I was interviewed by a really nice woman named Catherine Pearson and rambled on and on for about an hour, and my interview was published!  She did a great job of condensing everything I said and she fit it into a really nice article.   I do not take any credit for the format of the article that was all her.  I could never be a true writer or editor.  Way too complicated.

I pasted the article below and provided a link.  I think I'm allowed to do that legally as long as I clearly state this article is from the Huffington Post? You would think I would know since I'm a lawyer and all.  Anyway, Enjoy!

article below, courtesy of The Huffington Post, written by:
 

Catherine PearsonBecome a fan

Catherine.Pearson@huffingtonpost.com .

Link to article here.  

The Breastfeeding Chronicles: 'I Wish People Could Just Say It Was Awesome'

Claudia, 32, a Chicago-based bankruptcy attorney, has a 3-year-old daughter she nursed for more than 10 months, until she got pregnant with her second baby, another girl, who is still breastfeeding 18 months out. The experience, she says, can be summed up in one word: easy. In our next installment of The Breastfeeding Chronicles, Claudia describes what it's like to want to celebrate a near-perfect breastfeeding experience, while being mindful that so many women, including her close friends, struggle.

THE PLAN
When I got pregnant with my first, I just knew I was going to breastfeed. I never thought it wouldn't work. I figured: I have breasts, I will breastfeed.

But it was definitely difficult in the beginning. I realized it's not as easy as, you put the baby on the breast, you make milk, you breastfeed. I had a very strong let-down, so there was milk everywhere, and my nipples were sore and scabbed. I would cry and the baby would cry -- it was kind of disaster in the first week. I'd turn to my husband and say, "This is why women stop breastfeeding. Right here, right now." But I was lucky to have him supporting me, and my aunt, from Colombia, who was staying with us and who helped with everything, so we stuck with it.

With my second, I knew I was going to breastfeed again. I'm not sure how or why, but I just kind of knew I wasn't going to have any problems.

THE PERFECT FIT
To be honest, this breastfeeding experience with my second child has been probably one of the easiest things I've ever done.

I had a natural birth with a midwife (in a hospital) -- there were no interventions, no epidural, no Pitocin -- and she was handed to me immediately, still on the umbilical cord. I think that was the start of it: having a midwife who helped her immediatelylatch, within seconds. She sort of crawled up to my breasts, which was pretty cool. That didn't happen with my first child. Even though I had a good birth, they immediately took her away, weighed her and cleaned her up. I'm not sure, but in my mind, having a really good, easy, natural birth just helped, because I wasn't focused on healing. I didn't have pain, I didn't have stitches, so I could focus all my energy on breastfeeding.

My second baby was also just a better eater. She would eat while asleep [laughs], and she never had weight gain issues, so I never felt that self-doubt. And I was just more experienced. I put the baby to the breast whenever she was hungry. That was my breastfeeding strategy: Baby's hungry, feed her. That's it.

IDEAL WORK CONDITIONS
With my second, I had a longer maternity leave -- 12 weeks, versus 6 weeks. When my first daughter was born, I was so worried about having to start pumping right away because I had to go back to work. I started within two days. With my second baby, I didn't start until eight weeks. I was kind of like, "Oh! I should probably start pumping, because I'm going back soon [laughs]."

I've been at the same law firm with both children. It's very small -- basically me and my boss -- and he's very family friendly. I have friends who've asked, "How did you pump at work? Weren't you embarrassed?" And I'm like, "Embarrassed? Why would I be embarrassed?" I'm the type of loud, open person who leaves the pump parts in the kitchen. People are like, "Um, Claudia, your boob stuff. Go wash it."

I do have my own office, and I know that's not the case for many women. I have friends who are teachers who can barely find a janitor's closet to pump in, whereas I have a flexible schedule, I have my own office and a very supportive boss. That's huge. I have the ideal work conditions for breastfeeding. I do have to go to court, although my boss picked up a lot of that work for me. When I went, I would just ask to use the empty jury prep room.

COMING CLEAN
I know that my experience is very different from what a lot of women go through, and I've been privileged to have so much support. I have friends and I see women on message boards, Facebook and Twitter, who have so many problems with breastfeeding. I feel like when women say they succeeded, they're bragging. And I hate that. I wish people could just say it was awesome.

I donated some breast milk, and when the woman who was using it came over to get it, she was crying the whole time, and then she kept apologizing for crying. I didn't say much, honestly. I just kind of said, "I'm very sorry it didn't work out for you, and I'm happy I could help." I didn't know what else to say. This is a woman who struggled and tried, who took herbs and medicines, and pumped 100 times a day -- a woman who did everything in her power, and she couldn't breastfeed. So I'm very careful about what I say, because I don't want to boast.

GOING FORWARD
My baby is 18 months old and I'm still breastfeeding in the morning and at nights, although I'm not pumping at work any more. I didn't expect to be breastfeeding for this long, but it's going well, so we're just going to keep going for as long as we both want to. Nighttime feedings are getting a little bit tough; she wants to breastfeed 100 times before she goes to sleep [laughs]. But the bonding, with both my babies ... it's incredible.

You know, you never really hear good, happy breastfeeding stories, but I think it would help. My friend put together a contest where women wrote blogs about breastfeeding, and I think mine was the only positive one. She was kind of like, "Here's the sacred unicorn post about positive breastfeeding!" Maybe women who have positive breastfeeding experiences don't write about it or talk about it, because everything's going so well. You don't hear about the 500 planes that don't crash, you only hear about the one that does.

This account has been edited and condensed.

In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7), HuffPost Parents participated in "I Support You," an initiative to collect photos and messages from mothers to each other that say we might lead different lives but we share wanting the best for our children. Find out more here.

Link to article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/breastfeeding-success-story_n_3743966.html

My failed attempt at making breast milk lotion

Well, my youngest daughter is now 17 months old and it has been several months since she took a bottle of milk.  She also has no desire to drink milk from a sippy cup.  So, I have about 25 oz of left over breast milk in my freezer that is getting a little bit old.  It's from a few months ago and before throwing it away, I googled what I could do with it.  I decided the most fun thing would be to make my own breast milk lotion! (Breast milk ice cream was a close second).

 

So I found a recipe here.

The recipe looked easy enough:

BREAST MILK LOTION

 

3 ounces of breastmilk

3 ounces oil (grapeseed oil for sensitive skin)

1 tablespoon of beeswax

a few drops of Vitamin E oil

optional: add essential oils for therapy/scent

 

Microwave the oil and beeswax slowly just until the beeswax melts, approximately 3 minutes.

Add the Vitamin E oil and slowly pour in the room temperature breastmilk while whisking rapidly until it thickens

(you can use an immersion blender to mix if preferred)

Pour into shallow jars or lotion tubs. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Refrigerate and use for up to 3 months.

recipe from: http://www.justbreastfeeding.com/benefits-to-breastfeeding/breast-milk-lotion-recipe/

So off I went to Whole Foods to find all the ingredients.  Turns out Whole Food didn't have beeswax so I was told I could substitute shea butter for beeswax.  So, here is how I made my first batch of breast milk lotion.  (disclaimer- it didn't turn out too well.  I think I used too much shea butter and it was really watery and kind of gross).

1. Buy the grapeseed oil, shea butter, vitamin E oil, eucalyptus essential oil.

It cost me exactly $34.73.  The most expensive things were the tiny vial of essential oils and the shea butter.  I picked eucalyptus. 

2. Defrost the breast milk if needed. I usually immerse a bag in a glass bowl within a pot of boiling water, then when the milk gets slushy I pour it directly into the glass bowl.

3. Melt the shea butter and grapeseed oil.  Here is where I was confused.  Since I was substituting  shea butter for beeswax, I was only supposed to use one tablespoon of shea butter but it really didn't look like enough.  So I used a few more tablespoons.  Still, the mixture was not hard but I figured it would harden later. 

Here is just the shea butter.  Alone it looks powdery but it if you rub it on your skin it turns oily right away. 



To measure 3 oz of grapeseed oil I just used an old breast milk container I had laying around.

mixed together it really just looked like oil.

4. Now you're supposed to add a few drops of Vitamin E oil and add the eucalyptus drops. I think I used way too much eucalyptus because the stuff in that vial is really concentrated. I imagine if you used essential oils you would know this, but I never had.









Eucalyptus oil cost: $9.39

5. Now add the breast milk.  The recipe said the milk should be room temperature.  Since I only had cold milk recently defrosted I just used that.  Maybe that messed things up?



recently defrosted breast milk.

The mixture started to separate and didn't mix very well at first.



Finally after wisking it together for a while it turned creamy, but still not quite thick enough.

 

That was pretty much it, then I poured everything into a glass jar I had and let it sit in the fridge. 

After about a day the consistency is still not quite right.  It looks like curdled milk to me.  It smells of way too much eucalyptus but not of milk (thankfully).  I tried a little on my skin and it was very oily. 

 

I don't know what I did wrong but it's just not quite right.  I think I'll try again with beeswax this time. 

Routine

Once again it's been a year since I wrote anything.  Mostly out of laziness.  I could say "I don't have time" but that's not really true.  I could make time but I don't.  I should though.  I like to write. 

Routine

We fall into routines in our lives.  Usually they are good and helpful.  They keep our lives in order and working.  They keep our children fed and clothed.  But too much of the same routine for too long (in my opinion) is never a good thing. 

Every night we come home from work.  Play with the children.  I sweep the floors and decide whether I want to start on dinner.  Half of the time I do start on dinner quickly, but the other half of the time we go out to eat or order something.  Preparing dinner at 6 pm at night is usually too hard.  I know I should "meal prep" or use my stupid crock pot.  But every time I use my crock pot I overcook the meat and the meal tastes like crap by the time we're ready to eat at 7 p.m.

After dinner we give the girls a bath, get them into their PJs and let them play (aka run around the house and fight with each other) until we decide it's bed time.  Usually the tv is on at this time and some movie is playing in the background.  Tonight the movie is Shrek.  For many agonizing weeks it was Tangled.  Before that, Mars needs Moms and Up.  I don't mind the kid's movies but again, the repetitiveness can drive you a little mad.

Once we determine it's bedtime (around 8:30 p.m.), I attempt to put the baby to sleep.  I take her upstairs and I nurse her to sleep.  Yes, I'm still nursing her.  Yes she's over a year old.  But she's still so little to me.  Especially compared to her older toddler sister.  Lately she wants to nurse about 4,000 times before going to sleep and it's starting to wear on me.  It's not that I mind nursing her but I only have 2 breasts and at this point in our nursing relationship I'm really not producing that much milk.  So after she eats off both sides once, there's not much there for her except to comfort nurse.  Finally, after about 20 minutes (on a good night) she falls asleep and I transfer her to the crib.

Then I go downstairs and pick up the toddler and bring her to her bed.  Lately she has been going to sleep without putting up a fight at all.  *Runs to knock on ALL THE WOOD*.

By this time it's about 9:30 p.m. if I'm lucky. Most nights I just plop myself on the couch and watch tv with my husband until 11 pm or later.  I enjoy my tv time at night, but what I really want to be doing is going to a gym, playing volleyball or doing some sort of exercise.  But alas- the routine.  I really need to break this vicious cycle and join a gym.  I think I will soon. I was on a Monday volleyball team but the season ended.  Hopefully we can put a team back together in the fall. 

 
 
 

So, there is my routine.  I don't mind it, but this summer we're going to have to change it up a bit for all of our sanity.  We're going to start going on more walks before or after dinner and we're going to try and play in the yard more nights.  Like so:

Playing in the dirt.

My two girls

Here is our beautiful newly renovated yard.

But for now, the routine persists.  Tonight, I broke the routine by writing this blog post.  Now to put the baby to bed!

Also.  I don't really know the point of this blog post, but here I am with my girls recently.

Theme Thursday topic: BREASTFEEDING

BREASTFEEDING.  Yes you've heard me talk about this topic before.  Usually I'm enraged about some idiotic tweet that insults breastfeeding mothers.  The comments are almost always the same:

"Ew... breastfeeding is disgusting"
"Breastfeeding should never be done in public"

Check out my previous blog posts if you don't believe me.  The most recent ignorant comment I read yesterday came from a 20 year old woman, and I quote:

"I don't think anything in this world grosses me out more than breastfeeding in public".

Oh, you don't believe a 20 year old woman could say such a ridiculous thing? Here is the proof:

Really?  She can't think of ANYTHING on this planet earth that disgusts her more than breastfeeding in public? I cannot conceive of such a human being.  I cannot believe that people THINK this way.  This makes me so angry I cannot type.  But it also makes me sad.  Depressed in fact. 

But you know what? Breastfeeding rant over.  Today's post will not be negative.  It will be simple and uncomplicated. 

And so I begin.

BREASTFEEDING

Excuse the random dude on the right, it's the most recent picture I had of me and my girls

I am a mother of two girls.  One is 2 1/2 and no longer breastfeeding.  She breastfed until she was just shy of a year old.  She weaned herself because I was pregnant and pretty much out of milk.  My current baby turns one tomorrow and is still breastfeeding.  Since I'm not pregnant (nor will I be in the near future) I plan to breastfeed her for quite some time more. 

I want to tell you about how amazing and simple breastfeeding is.  It is a wonderful way to provide your baby with the nourishment and comfort they need.  When done correctly it takes virtually no effort.  Your baby latches on and the milk flows.  That my body can create the most perfect nutrition for my baby still amazes me.  In fact babies really don't need anything else other than breastmilk for at least the first year of their lives. Even though my monster of a child loves to eat.

I will spare you the scientific reasoning behind why breastmilk is so nutritious.  You can look up the stats and components of breastmilk on your own.  Suffice it to say, it is the perfect food.

When you travel with a breastfed baby you don't have to bring bottles, formula, or bottled water.  The milk is always at a perfect temperature and provides warmth and comfort to a baby instantly.

Breastfeeding as you may have heard also burns calories in the mother and we all want that benefit.  It is also (usually) a decent form of contraception and women have been using nursing as a birth control method for centuries. 

Learning to breastfeed my first baby in the hospital

BUT (there's always a but), breastfeeding did not come easily to me with my first baby.  It was painful, I was engorged, my baby didn't eat properly and I was worried she wasn't gaining enough weight. I have to emphasize here that it did NOT start out being easy, but thankfully I had help from family and I did not give up.  I will pause here to say that breastfeeding does not work out for everyone for many reasons.  I think most of the time people do not have enough help.  You need people to tell you to stick with it.  You need people to help you clean your house and cook food so you can sequester yourself with your baby and just breastfeed.  You also need to learn and practice. Also some women do not want to breastfeed or cannot breastfeed again, not a problem for anyone, this just happens to be my experience.

Also I'll throw in here that many people claim breastfeeding is also free.  My husband always loved that I breastfed because you know it was free.  Maybe if you're a SAHM it's virtually free, but I spent money on nursing pads, nursing bras, nursing tank tops, storage bags, bottles (I still needed to go back to work and pump), etc.  So it really wasn't "free".  I suppose cheaper than formula? But not free.  And here is where I also mention that both my girls drank breastmilk from bottles with not much of a problem.  They switched from breast to bottle pretty well and thank god for that, because otherwise how is a woman supposed to go back to work?

Despite how hard breastfeeding was with my first baby, I can still write a post about how wonderful breastfeeding is because it eventually became easy for me.

My first baby getting much better at breastfeeding

With my second daughter (who turns one tomorrow) breastfeeding came quite easily from the start.  She was a better eater and I was more experienced.  I can honestly say that I have not struggled at all with my second baby. I always had (and still have) plenty of milk and I never once thought I was going to run out of milk or not be able to keep up with her while I pumped at work.  Breastfeeding has been a dream the second time around.  In fact, I have had so much milk that I have now donated about 200 oz.

100 oz of extra breastmilk I donated recently

I don't tell this breastfeeding story to brag.  After having breastfed children for a total of about two years now, I know that many women struggle with breastfeeding and breastfeeding is a very personal choice.  I also know that the controversy surrounding breastfeeding seems to grow each day.  I want to tell my story to just explain that sometimes just sometimes breastfeeding is simple and easy and goes the way nature intended. 

My champion breastfeeder nursing on a plane

I am also not going to get into the debate about breastfeeding in public, because in my eyes there is no debate.  I never had a problem breastfeeding in public and don't consider it to be an issue.  I do however, get saddened to read the stories that pop up at least once a week where a woman was shamed for breastfeeding her hungry baby in public.  I cannot believe that this is an issue in the 21st century.  But again, today's post will not be an angry rant in which I say that I want to punch people who oppose breastfeeding in public.  Nope I won't say that.  I will simply say that I have had a beautiful experience breastfeeding in public.  I have breastfed in pretty much every public place I have happened to be with my baby.  Church, museums, zoos, restaurants, you name it.  And "gasp" I usually don't cover up.  But if I do it's more to keep a distracted baby from unlatching, not to convenience ignorant people and their insecurities with the human body.

Look pirates breastfeed too

I rarely read positive stories about breastfeeding and I just wanted to share mine.  Now excuse me, the baby is up and I have to breastfeed her back down to sleep.  Yes, she still wakes up at night to nurse, and that folks, is not such a positive story!

Nursing a sick baby back to health- quite literally

This BREASTFEEDING post is a part of "Theme Thursday", a multi-blog collaboration. Click the button below to read posts from other bloggers, or to add your own.  Each week some great writers pick a topic to write about.  This week's topic was BREASTFEEDING.  Some past topics have been:

-Things That Aren't Blog
-Cats and Dogs
-Winter
-New Year's Resolutions
-Reality TV
-A Wedding story

and so on...

You can see all the previous Theme Thursday Topics on its pinterest page.

Special thanks to Something Clever 2.0 for just being awesome. Visit her page.  She actually blogs on a regular basis, something I strive to do one day.

#ThemeThursday