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Back to Work

Well, I’m back to work after a few days off. It was nice to have a few days to relax. This weekend I bought myself a Bluetooth headset, which has been a godsend. Now I can get a lot done around the house. Better yet, I don’t have to sit for eight to twelve hours a day anymore. It’s awesome to be able to walk and talk and not be tethered to a desk.

Work, as expected, was super slow today. I still managed to have a decent day given the lack volume. Thank God I didn’t have to sit at my desk all day because I definitely would have fallen asleep. It is, however, a nice change of pace from the frenetic to pace that is AEP. Obviously, the days go by much slower when it’s a lot slower.

Tonight I’m just chilling before hopping on a Brown Bag event for Purple Stride. This year our event will take place on the same day across the country, which is pretty cool. Hopefully, we’ll see an uptick in donations and participants due to national campaign. Until then I’m watching Dopesick, which is a great show. It’s crazy how one drug destroyed communities and families across the country.

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The Beach

Despite living just a few miles from the beach, I haven’t gone to the beach in ages. At least, not until this morning. The Hubby and I grabbed some coffee from Dunkin’ and headed to our favorite local beach. It was a bit cool this morning, but by the time we got to the beach it had warmed up nicely.

There were more waves than normal, but even so the waves were quite small. Nonetheless, I saw surfers at our beach for the first time. Sadly, the paltry waves didn’t really afford them the opportunity to do anything more than sit patiently on their board. As always, the water was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, we forgot the sunscreen, so we had to leave sooner than we had expected. After all, I had no desire to turn into a lobster today.

This afternoon we headed over to the Kennedy’s to celebrate sweet Ava’s birthday. I can’t believe she’s going to be two on Wednesday! Honestly, it brought back memories of all the childrens’ birthday parties we’ve been to over the years. They got a super cute bounce house for her and her friends to play in. She was a bit gun shy at first, but eventually she was running all over it.

Afterwards, I came home and ran 2.5 miles and walked one. It, being the run, didn’t come as easy today as it did yesterday. Nevertheless, I made it through the mileage. My legs were, however, feeling it towards the end of the run. I rounded out my day with a nice yin yoga practice. I love how yin yoga challenges me to slow down my mind. The last thing on the docket is to make another batch of mint cookies. Hopefully, these ones will make it to Christmas.

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Organizing

I spent the last two days organizing. I spent my days going through all of our kitchen cupboards and pantries to maximize our storage. The kitchen has been looking a bit cluttered and we have mugs, plastic cups and water bottles coming out our ass. Honestly, we have way too much stuff in here. This weekend I l culled through our kitchenware and will be donating at least half of it. Some of it isn’t in a good enough condition to be donated, so we’ll be throwing it out.

It feels good to get rid of the extra crap we don’t need. Moreover, I find mind kitchen more peaceful now that it’s better organized. We have two big boxes of stuff to donate, which is awesome. I also had three bags of garbage from the endeavor. Thankfully, I’m almost done. The last piece of the puzzle will be to match all the tops to the travel mugs and water bottles.

Yesterday I baked some Pulla and mixed up cookie dough for more the mint cookies and my favorite Finnish cookie. Today I baked fresh bread to go along with the beef stew I made for dinner. The family loved the stew and the bread. In fact, they ate the bread and there’s only a little bit of stew left. Obviously, my boys eat a lot, so I made a double batch so the Hubby, Goalielocks’ girlfriend and I could actually have some.

While the bread rose, I got my run in. I ran two miles and walked a mile. Today’s run went really well. It’s so much easier for me to run later in the morning or afternoon. Honestly, I feel like I’m dying when I run before work. Obviously, I feel great afterwards, but it’s tough. Before I started dinner, I did a nice yin practice on the Practyce app. I’m loving the Practyce app and the variety of yoga practices it provides.

Tomorrow, I’ll finish organizing the kitchen before switching focus to our room. Again we just have way more stuff than we need. We really need to go through everything and get rid of some stuff. Hopefully, this will generate a few more boxes of goodies to donate to Goodwill. Moreover, I hope we actually get around to dropping the donations off this weekend.

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Two Years

I can’t believe it’s been two years since Jake left for BMT. The heartbreak and pride I felt that day are still fresh in my mind and soul. It was such an off juxtaposition of emotions. While we have adjusted to our new normal, the house simply isn’t the same without him. In the two short years he’s served, he has accomplished a lot. We couldn’t be more proud. Here’s a throwback to Dec 10, 2019.

https://flhockeymomfit.com/2019/12/?v=7516fd43adaa

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Made it

After a sixteen hour shift yesterday, I can say I made it. AEP is over and normal life can resume. It’s been a crazy, productive and draining seven weeks, but I’m proud of how it went. However, I’m relieved the grind is over for a bit. Today was so dead, they let us leave early which was a total gift. It was slow, I was starting to fall asleep at my desk.

Since I got off earlier than expected, I was able to get some stuff down around the house. I took care of the laundry that’s been waiting to be fold since AEP started. I’m only kidding, the laundry hasn’t been sitting around that long. While I folded laundry and took care of the dishes, I finished the current season of the Great British Bake-off. I love that show and will be baking a ton over the next four days.

The best part of yesterday was receiving videos and photos of my oldest’s promotion ceremony. It was so much fun to see him being promoted. Moreover, I loved seeing the camaraderie that exists within his squadron. Honestly, love seeing how well he is loved and treated. It definitely puts my mom heart and mind at ease. The Hubby and I are so proud!

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One Day More

One day more and AEP is over! I’m so ready for it to be done because I’m exhausted. It’s been a very successful AEP for me, but it has been grueling physically and emotionally. My voice is all but gone and my throat is quite sore. Meanwhile, my shoulders are a bit looser, but they’re still a disaster. Nonetheless, I tried to get up regularly today and stretch my neck and shoulders.

I’m looking forward to life getting back to normal starting Wednesday. I may even have a social life again. Okay, that was a bit far fetched. However, I would argue that living at the rink is a sort of social life. Thursday Goalielocks has his senior pictures, but afterwards I’m going to start my holiday baking.

While waiting for my calls to come in, I was perusing social media. I will never understand some people. Who the fuck are you that you are entitled to anything? Do people honestly feel that they should be hired without following the normal process? And why lash out at people that are trying to help you. And just fyi your life experiences no matter how poor will never legitimize your poor behavior. I shall now step off my soap box because one more day and AEP is over.

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Shoulders Suck

I don’t know about you, but my shoulders suck these days. Perhaps it’s because I carry all my stress in my neck and shoulders. Or maybe it’s the sitting in a desk chair for twelve hours plus daily over the last seven weeks. Whatever it is, it’s not working for me.

After work, I did a yoga practice that targeted the shoulders and neck, which should help. I won’t probably see any real benefits from it until tomorrow. Who knew at level 41 stress and sleeping wrong could cause so many issues in the shoulders? Apparently, being a side sleeper for the last 41 year hasn’t helped my current situation.

I’ve been alternating heat and ice on the neck and shoulders hoping to relax and take down the inflammation. If I don’t take care of the neck pain, it will grow into a massive tension headache. This would be no fun for the last two days of AEP. That’s right, the finish line is in sight. Two more miles, I mean days, to go before this thing is finished. Woohoo!

Speaking of injuries, the Mayor’s stab wound tolerated the hockey well. Amazingly, he even showered and cleaned the wound after his games. This morning, however, he showed up with a hurt hip. He’s struggling to walk. Hopefully, his hip will recover quickly. I’m off to bed. I need all the energy I can muster for these final AEP days. Anyway, did I mention shoulders suck?

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Finish Line

I feel like I’ve been running a marathon and the finish line is in sight. Like any race, AEP has been exhausting and exhilarating mentally and physically. It will be nice not to spend over twelve hours a day talking on the phone for a change. So if I haven’t called lately, I’ll be back to calling friends and family once AEP is done.

When I was running a lot of 5ks, the finish line always led to a final surge. Naturally, I almost always felt like I wanted to throw up immediately afterwards. However, in the hours and day after the benefits were well worth the hard work. Fortunately, this will also be the case with AEP. Starting next week, we’re actually allowed to take off as much time in December as we want, which is amazing.

While I worked all days, the hubby and the younger two headed to Ellenton for games. Of course I had to work on the one weekend both boys played at the same rink on the same day. So lame!! I did, however, watch the first three games on LiveBarn. Instead of watching the fourth game, I’m nervously writing this blog. Goalielocks is net, which as we all know makes me nutty.

The Mayor’s leg has healed sufficiently, so he was able to play today. He looked great. Please keep his teammate in your prayers as he broke his leg in today’s game. Unfortunately, he caught an edge and slammed hard legs first into the boards. It was absolutely gnarly. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse, but spending your night in the ER in Ellenton isn’t a dream come true.

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Poetry Friday

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” -William Shakespeare

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Almost There

I’m almost there. Four more days of our crazy season and I’ll be done. It’s been fun and productive, but I’m utterly exhausted. I look forward to getting more sleep and seeing people socially again. This year’s AEP has gone much better than last years. It’s a bit easier since it’s my second year and I’m not fighting for a permanent spot.

Today was a pain in the ass. Tech rolled out an update to our CRM. The problem was, however, that the business forgot to include lead delivery to our department and a few others in the requirements. Consequently, we sat twiddling our thumbs this morning until IT fixed the system. This makes me appreciate the amazing partnership we had (the business) with IT and our operations partners during our Salesforce rollout at Kaplan.

Of course, today’s highlight was the phone xcall from Jake. He looked good. His wifi is so spotty that it’s hard to hear him at times. Nonetheless, it’s great to hear his voice and see his face. Thankfully, he continues to look and sound great, which eases this mama’s mind. I’m sure going to miss having him home for Christmas this year. Hopefully, he’ll be able to come home next Christmas.

The puppies continue to be the best sales assistants a gal can find. Although poor Athena’s belly has been rumbling all day. The diet dog food does a number on her guy. She is, however, losing weight which is super important. Anakin was trying to convince me to share my breaded chicken with him tonight. Honestly, it was quite cute even if he was being annoying. The Mayor made dinner for us tonight, which was super helpful. Meanwhile, I’m almost there; to the end of AEP!