Slacking on the Blogging.

Hard to believe how fast a week goes by. This is especially true around the holidays.I spent most of the past weekend shopping for Christmas presents, and dealing Casino parties. I dealt a wonderful party in Paradise valley on Saturday evening. A large palatial home with all the amenities. The Hosts of the party were very gracious, and the party went smoothly. I enjoyed dealing blackjack. I am usually called upon to deal poker. The party was very upscale, and the larger than normal tip we dealers received was appreciated. This party was in direct contrast to the party that I dealt poker at on Sunday evening. It was a corporate affair held at Dave and Busters. The players were friendly, but definitely not upscale. The play was slow, and the players had unlimited access to play money. This makes the dealers job infinitely more difficult because half of the time is spent calculating side pots and changing play money for chips. I endured the three hours, but was not particularly pleased about it. The owner of the company said that he would be sending a tip to the casino company which we, as dealers, will in turn see, but unless it is a fairly large tip, I will not take this job next year.

Shopping, on the other hand is something that I enjoy. This is especially true when it comes to shopping for my family. I love to buy them stuff. Not just any stuff. The stuff that they want. I try not to get caught up in all the materialism espoused by the media.

I have been thinking about all the materialism in our culture, and at one point decided that next year our Christmas card should read " Merry Materialism" and " A Prosperous 2009" The picture on the card should have the whole family grinning and holding up cash in our hands. The bills fanned out for easy visibility. I abandoned this folly, and wrote it off as a reaction to my temporary frustration at the importance our society places on material possessions. I decided that a better card for next year would simply be a card that reads "Peace" with a picture of the family seated in full lotus in a calm meditative state. I think that a positive message is more clearly stated in that type of expression. I do not consider myself a Christian, even though I attended Catholic grammar school and was forced to attend church every Sunday until I was 18 years old. Without religion, what is Christmas..... "Materialism" This is where most people are in the world. People are "all about" the acquisition and consumption of material wealth, and possessions. Now, I would not have a problem with this if it went hand in hand with the acquisition of Spiritual wealth as well. I do not want to sound negative here, but I am not getting the feeling that this is largely the case.

I like to use this time of year for reflection The end of the year is always good for this. It is a time to be grateful for the life experience that I am having.

Yoga is good. In my classes I am joking about what level class it will be in terms of how many Sugar cookies you will be able to eat afterwards. Some classes are 2 cookie classes (not very active or difficult. Not many calories burned.) Other classes are 6 cookie classes. I am basing this loosely on Sugar cookies. (for those of you who were wondering).

Oh! nearly forgot...... Last Friday evening, I was taking my wife out for her belated birthday dinner. Beforehand, she took us to the Wellness Center. It is a business where you go and they place you in a room for a half hour, and you experience Light Therapy, Aromatherapy, and Sound therapy while seated in a relaxing chair with neck and lumbar supports. I really enjoyed it. I think the concept is great, and I vowed to let my yoga students know about it. Here is the web link to it.

www.wellnesseffect.com

I have been giving out complimentary passes, but the first experience if free, so if anyone is interested, just go to the website and make an appointment. Let them know that you received the information from me. Anyway, a very worthwhile experience.

The good news is, all my shopping is complete, so I can relax the rest of the holiday season. relaxation is good. I suggest that everyone try it. The only minor stressor in my life is the fact that I am experiencing some electrical problem with my new hot tub, and it is not working. I am still waiting for a repair person to come out and look at it. I had become somewhat attached to my daily sessions in the hot tub. This is obviously a lession in non- attachment. It will be rough, but I can survive......
Enough of my ramblings for now. More later.....