Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on December 26, 2013
Ahh . . . . it is that time of year again when some begin to reflect on the year that has passed and some begin to set goals and make resolutions for the next year. What are you reflecting upon in the year that has past? Do you have a lot of happy moments? My look back at the past is going to include my Goodie Jar and I am so excited to be reminded of the good things I wrote down. That will be my reflection on the past year. I don’t set resolutions by tradition. I know for some that is a big thing. Do you think it is a bit thing? Do you set resolutions? How do you do that? Do you write them down? Do you proclaim them to your world? How does that work? Do they have requirements? Are they only resolutions when you set them at the beginning of the year, but if you set them at say . . . the end of February do they just become goals? I guess I was never clear on that.
Then, if you set them are you clear about them or are they “loose” as in: I’m going to exercise more in 2014? That could possibly give you a lot of leeway, right? If you exercised once a month in the past year, exercising twice in one month would be “more”? I guess there is so much joking that goes around about resolutions that I don’t like to get caught up in them. But they can be a really good thing if you set them with definition and actually work to see them through.
The jokes are often about gyms being full in January and going back to “normal” about the beginning of February or mid-February at the latest. People get busy and the “newness” of the year tapers off. So the resolutions take a back burner. And it always seems that the resolutions are about “losing weight” and “getting into shape”. But, again, often times those are the resolutions made . . . non-specific . . . open . . . room for leeway.
Of course, anything can be a resolution I just happen to pick upon one of the most joked about. But many people make resolutions about many things. I realize though, that if I don’t really want to do it, if I think I SHOULD do it, because I know it is good for me, I know it is the “right” thing to do, if I don’t WANT to do it, I’m not going to. So sometimes it is good to make resolutions that you want to do even though they might be tough for you. It doesn’t really work to make ones you think you should do, but don’t want to. That kinda is a set up for failure.
So . . . educate me on resolutions. Share your thoughts. What is your take on resolutions? Do you make them? Do you make them with specifics? Do you give yourself a time frame? What resolutions are you making this year? Do you set goals and just not call them resolutions? What is the difference?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 2014 goals, 2014 New Year's Resolution, 2014 resolutions, Diane Bacho - 1948 to March 11, 2014, exercise, good things jar, Goodie Jar, New Year, reflect on past year | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 21, 2013
So earlier this week when I was driving home from one of my Nia classes I heard one of the DJs on the radio say that if every family in the United States wrapped one gift this season with stuff from around the house the paper saved would cover 45,000 football fields. I thought that was pretty amazing. I also thought that it would be a great thing to share on my blog. Before I post anything I do some searches on the internet for more information. With some things I have additional sources, but some things are just internet researched and as I have stated time and time again, often times there is conflicting information. This time I found slightly different information OR I heard it incorrectly in the first place. Either way I think it is pretty amazing and I would hope that many families would like to participate in saving a bit of paper. You might know I pretty much try to re-use wrapping paper and tissue paper as much as I can. I don’t necessarily use stuff around the house to wrap, but after reading this fact I might. According to the Stanford University’s Site: “If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.”
So, it is THREE presents. Still do-able, I think. For people who like to use reusable bags instead of paper or plastic when they shop, I think putting their gift in one of those bags is a great idea. I think it is so great (of an idea) that I am sure I have said it before (please note I am not claiming to have come up with that idea, just to have said it before). Since I see more and more people saying they shop online what about just using the box the items come in? I know they are not that attractive but you can make them so.
If you have kids you can set them about drawing on the boxes. That would make for a very unique wrapping. (Ha, I said that before, too!) Or you could use other things from around the house and attach them to the boxes. Maybe magazine pages cut up in Holiday shapes and stuck to the box. Or perhaps stickers or just some glitter and glue? I am sure if you have kids THEY can come up with many ways to decorate those plain brown boxes.
Or what about using Christmas cards. Ooooh! You know how I love to save them and hang them on my wall as decorations (I didn’t do that this year – first time in many years!). But the fronts could be cut off and saved, then glued to that brown boxes next year. (Oh, I have to remember that for this year’s cards!)
I know you can come up with ways to reuse and recycle. And I have posted some ideas before. I was just amazed when I heard the comparison of covering football fields. Here is more info from the site:
“If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. . . . . . . The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each sent one card less, we’d save 50,000 cubic yards of paper.”
So using the front of the cards to make the brown shipping boxes pretty would be great!
And . . . . what else? How can we make our presents pretty and save paper at the same time? Please share your ideas.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 45000 football fields, Christmas, Christmas cards, green, Nia, Nia Classes, radio DJs, recycle, Stanford University, wrapping paper | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 20, 2013
So here it is Friday again. Time goes so quickly it seems. Only ONE more check in! Wow!
So you might know I was hired on at the YMCA. It is somewhat the same as the City of San Jose was at first. Right now I am teaching as a substitute without a regular class. But with the YMCA I am actually subbing for Nia classes. That is really nice. The participants are there to do Nia.
Today I had one woman say as she was leaving that I made her smile for the first time all week. -Oh.- While that made me happy, Nia and I made her smile, I was also sad, it is FRIDAY and this was the first time she smiled. I think something is going on in her life so I am so happy that I could allow her a moment of Joy. I am grateful for Nia that I was able to do that. So you KNOW, that is going in my goodie jar.
How about you? What good things do you have going on? I know there is a huge rush going on right now at this time of year. The Holidays are almost here, but please take a moment to put something in your good things jar!
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: City of San Jose, Goodie Jar – Check In #42, Holidays, Nia class, Nia participants, Nia Teacher, regular Nia classes, Second to the last check in, substitute Nia teacher, YMCA | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 14, 2013
So just recently I was looking at my search terms on my blog and I was surprised to see “Unknown search terms”. I clicked on the link that indicated it would give me more details about that. It took me to a WordPress page explaining what the meant. Apparently in September 2013 Google changed the way it does things. It took me until November to notice, so I was a bit behind. But I guess some search engines don’t reveal search terms for privacy reasons. I don’t really understand that. What does that mean? How does indicating how someone got to your blog interfere with their privacy? I know that NOT knowing how they got there affects what I write. With “unknown search terms” I don’t know what people would like to see more of posted on my blog.
I would understand if search engines couldn’t revel search terms if the terms somehow led me back to WHO asked for them and/or why, but otherwise, all I know is that someone wanted to know about Doberman Pinscher, for example. There was never any indication as to who or why, it just showed that someone was looking for that. So I don’t understand what “privacy reasons” they are talking about.
Also, I might be able to understand it if everything I searched for didn’t start popping up everywhere I go. Do you know what I mean? I recently searched for a specific brand of shoes. Now every time I open a browsers I see ads for THAT specific brand of shoes. I wasn’t even logged into to Facebook and the advertisements on my news feed are about THAT specific brand of shoes. I am receiving e-mails about THAT specific brand of shoes. That sounds like a HUGE privacy issue to me. This is not someone’s whose blog I visited via a search about THAT specific brand of shoes and a few days later I visit again and there is an article about them. No, this is THAT specific brand of shoes ads and e-mails. So how is THAT type of targeted marketing ok? I find it very annoying. I don’t want a “more targeted user experience.”
I used to love going to the internet and typing in a search and getting all types of responses —- unpaid. I would learn a lot of things. Now the responses are ads and targeted to my area. Sometimes I am purposely searching for things I want to find outside my area, but my browser keeps going back to a “my area” setting.
Anyway . . . I digress. I was bummed when I saw all the searches that are clumped under “unknown search terms”. I used to use those now “unknown search terms” to give me ideas on what to write. I had hoped that I was helping someone who was looking for one of those “unknown search terms”. Especially if it was a search that had anything to do with Nia. Now I have a small list of four or five and the rest are “unknown”. I know they are “unknown” to WordPress because Google is not disclosing them, but it would be more accurate if they said “the terms that Google is now keeping secret from us/you”. Because Google knows the terms they just aren’t telling. And I don’t understand all the ins and outs and ways to profit from the internet, but I know it really has nothing to do with privacy and it is all about profit.
Oh well, now there will be some “unknown search term” I will never know about . . . . but I bet I will get an advertisement for it!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: advertisement, Doberman Pinscher, Google, Nia, privacy reasons, search engines, targeted user experience, Unknown Search Terms | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 13, 2013
The number of Goodie Jar check ins will not match the number of weeks in this year because I missed a few. I cannot believe there are only two more check ins left. Wow! I am excited. My good things are overflowing. I am excited to read them.
I taught for the first time at the YMCA this week. I was subbing a class. There is a Nia class already and I was subbing for the teacher. Today I sub again! Yay!
So how about you? What good thing is going in your jar this week? Care to share?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: good things jar, Goodie Jar, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, YMCA | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 7, 2013
So, as a group exercise instructor one usually has a few jobs or venues to teach at. I have Nia classes at a studio where I rent the space, at a community center for the City of San Jose, and soon at some local YMCAs. In order to teach for the City of San Jose I had to go through the hiring process. Same with the YMCA. Today I spent a good portion of the day at a YMCA orientation. While a lot of the information they cover is common sense and a lot of it is information I have received at almost every job I have worked at some of it was unique to the YMCA. Such as the history of the YMCA. I admit I learned a lot. I knew what Y.M.C.A stood for (Young Men’s Christian Association), but that is about it. It helped that the trainer was clearly very enthusiastic about the history of the Y. As always when I learn something I think is interesting I like to share with you. Plus, when I document it via my blog, I have the information where I can always find it! So here are some facts I thought were cool about the history of the YMCA.
—-The YMCA was founded in 1844 in London, England
—-In 1859 a sea captain led the formation of the YMCA in Boston
—-In 1856 German immigrants participated in the first-known English as a Second Language class
—-Andy Rooney, Dan Rather, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jack Kerouac, and Andrew Young (U.S. Ambassador), have all stayed at the YMCA
—-In 1869 the first YMCA buildings constructed with gyms were opened
—-In 1875 in San Francisco, to serve the Chinese population, YMCAs serving Asians were established
—-In 1879 Thomas Wakeman founded a YMCA for U.S. Native Americans
—-In 1917 a Japanese YMCA was founded
—-In 1891 James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School, invented basketball
—-In the 1890s William Morgan, a YMCA instructor thought basketball was too strenuous for businessmen so he invented volleyball
—-By 1950 YMCAs operated 20 colleges in cities across the country
—-During World War II, the YMCA staff organized clubs and activities for children in the Japanese Interment camps — all in secret
—-In 1950 Joe Sobek, a YMCA volunteer, invented raquetball
—-In 1967 racial discrimination was banned in all YMCAs
—-In the mid 1970’s the Youth Basketball Association (YBA) was created by the YMCA and the NBA Players Association. The YBA promotes skills and teamwork over winning at any cost
—-In 2008 the YMCA and the Department of Defense and the YMCA partnered to fund memberships and child care services for families facing the hardship of military deployment
—-In 1891 a triangle was used a the logo, the equal sides representing “man’s essential unity, body, mind and
spirit, each being a necessary and eternal part of man, he being neither one alone . . . ”
I especially loved the last one as Nia has many triads and is greatly focus on Body, Mind, and Spirit. We add Emotion so we have BMES, but it is very much the same thing. Anyway . . . these are some of the main things I thought were interesting. Since the YMCA has been around so long it really has a long history.
Which YMCA history fact(s) is new to you? Which ones did you know? What do you know about the Y that I have shared?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Basketball, BMES, City of San Jose, group exercise class, group exercise instructor, local YMCAs, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Teacher, Nia trainer, Nia triad, raquetball, vollyball, YMCA, YMCA history, Young Men's Christian Association | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 6, 2013
We are into December. And there are only three more chances for Goodie Jar Check Ins. WOW! I think that we should get the lawmakers to pass a law that makes Thanksgiving either in October like they do in Canada or at least the second to the last Thursday in November so that we can have more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really like more time from Thanksgiving to December. I am feeling the rush. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am in the process of getting hired on at the YMCA as a Nia teacher. There are a lot of things to do to get hired on at the YMCA as there is with many companies.
So I am feeling the rush. But I still have time to put things in my Goodie Jar. One of them, of course, is having an additional place to teach Nia!
How about you? Are you making time to make notes of the good things? Are you stopping and “smelling the roses”?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: Canadian Thanksgiving, Christmas, December 2013, good things, Goodie Jar – Check In #40, Nia Teacher, stop and smell the roses, teaching Nia at the YMCA, Thanksgiving, YMCA | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 29, 2013
I don’t know about you but here it is another week with A LOT of good things to put in my Good Things Jar. Well, that is kind of the point, really. To always find something good to put it the Goodie Jar. Sometimes you might find it easy than others. But hopefully you are always able to find something. With this week being Thanksgiving week in the U.S. and Hanukkah I am thinking there are a lot of people with good things to put in the jar. I am seeing a lot of posts on Facebook. So, I hope you are filling that jar up!
How is your jar doing? Getting full?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: Facebook, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Goodie Jar – Check In #39, Hanukkah, something, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 28, 2013
Today is Thursday, a day a regularly post on my blog. You know I mainly post about the cardio dance I teach called Nia or food. I am either sharing something about Nia or a recipe. But today is Thanksgiving and as I sit here trying to think of something to write before the day ends, I am coming up with nothing. Nothing, but the usually post of gratitude and thankfulness. I didn’t want to do that again this year, but it really is so appropriate. You know I am doing a Goodie Jar where I put good things in a jar. Well, a lot of that is stuff I am thankful for, but a post about being thankful is a bit different. I won’t go on and on about it. I will just say that I am very grateful.
We had a very nice dinner at my husband’s sister’s house. I brought my camera and didn’t even think about it until we were walking out the door to go home. I did not take one photo. Her table was set as lovely as ever. It was the first time we all were able to fit at one table as not all of the kids made it to dinner. She made a lovely meal. We had a nice dinner and a great time. I am grateful.
I am also thankful for the usual stuff. And I am thankful for you. Thanks for reading. I hope you had a nice day — a Happy Thanksgiving, if that is what you celebrate. A Happy Hanukkah, if that is your Holiday. And/or a nice Thursday, if that is what today was for you. Either way, thanks for being here.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: cardio dance, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Hanukkah, Holiday, Nia, Nia Dance, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2013, Thanksgiving dinner | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 23, 2013
Bummer. I was so determined to remember every check in to the end of the year and, alas, I got distracted. Yesterday I forgot to post a Good Things Jar check in. It was supposed to be Goodie Jar – Check In #39. Sigh. I do hope you are still filling your Goodie Jar. I will only forgive myself because I was off doing things that actually are notable for the Good Things Jar! I was so excited to be subbing a Nia class in Santa Cruz and I ended up having such a beautiful day, that I just plumb forgot. We had a great focus in class, but I lost my blog focus when I arrived home. The plan is usually something like Nia, breakfast, chocolate, beach, home. This time we weren’t exactly sure of our plan. Turned out to be a fabulous day. As I said, one for the Goodie Jar.
I feel less wasteful when I have someone with me driving “over the hill”. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area we often call going to the beach “driving over the hill”. It is about a 40 mile drive and–depending on the traffic–can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes. If there is a lot of traffic or an accident it can take hours and hours. When I go, I feel as if I should have at least one other person with me. So when I get asked to teach a Nia class over there I like to take someone with me. I have one student who usually is game. She has a favorite chocolate shop over there so when she is “over the hill” she likes to drop by. This last trip I was lucky enough to have TWO students join me.
The wonderful studio where I sub is in the Tannery and there used to be a great little cafe next door. My student and I would dance then go get breakfast, then hit up the chocolate shop, then drive to the beach. We have never actually walked on the sand . . . I don’t need to do that, I just need to be at the ocean. Sadly the cafe is closed — although the sign says temporarily, we missed it. So this trip we went to another place to eat, still got to the chocolate shop then went to the ocean.
A
ll week long it had been raining, both on our side of the hill and over the hill, but on Friday it was as pictured. It was awesome. We were blessed. The place we visited is called Natural Bridges. It is no longer has a “natural bridge”, but the beach is still wonderful.
Also, in regards to the focus, as you might be familiar with, in Nia classes we have a focus and an intent. Well, I had been concentrating on learning a new routine, creating a gentle yoga class, and working out my schedule I hadn’t even settled on what we were going to dance, much less a focus. I often ask my students what they might think or feel they need to focus on. So I turned to my student and said, “Oh snap! I haven’t even thought about a focus. What do you got? Do you have anything?” She said, “I feel I need some healing. I feel kinda uuughhh.” And I said, “Thanks. We can do that.” I turned to one of the other students and gave her a questioning look because she was pressing on her ribs. She said, “This is my first class back after having been in a bicycle accident.” Ah-ha! Healing was perfect as a focus.
It always amazes me and warms my spirit that it happens that one focus needed or desired by one person turns out to be the perfect focus for so many. So often we are able to apply it to what is going on and find an intent that compliments it.
After class one the other student that came with me said that she enjoyed that focus. I shared with her the way it came about and she was surprised because she had thought the woman who was touching her ribs had suggested it. So she too was amazed that it was a focus that was appropriate for all. But that is just how it always seems to happen. It is so great. It is —-ahhhhhh!
We shared a great focus although I was so focused on the Joy from class and my morning in Santa Cruz that I forgot about my Goodie Jar post. But I think you will agree it was worth it.
So, do you think I had a good reason to forget? Are you still filling your Good Thing Jar?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar, Misc, Nia | Tagged: beach, gentle yoga, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Natural Bridges, Nia, Nia class, Nia focus, Nia intent, Nia routine, Nia San Francisco Bay Area, Nia Santa Cruz, Nia sub, Nia Teacher, over the hill, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz beach, Tannery, teach Nia, Yoga | 2 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 