I’m back to running up that hill. And by hill, I simply mean I’m back to running again. I’ve been itching to run for quite a while, so I thought why not give it a try. Originally, I had planned to start running again in June, but I hurt my left knee. Fortunately, it healed pretty well. Unfortunately, the outside of my left knee still likes to lock up while running. Hopefully, I can alleviate that pain by stretching my IT band. I really do enjoy the treadmill workouts on Apple Fitness Plus. It’s much better doing the treadmill workout than a normal run,
This weekend went pretty fast since I worked Saturday. It wasn’t the busiest day from a lead perspective, but I was able to make it a productive day. While I worked, Anakin and Athena kept me company. I’m sure going to miss spending my work days with Athena. She’s been my constant companion since I started working from home. Truly, she’s been one hell of a sales assistant. Since she was small, she had brought nothing but joy to our family. If I could collect dogs like Athena, I absolutely would do it.
We made the appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon. It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye, but it’s been hard to see her fading away. She’s still eating and drinking, which is good. Those days, however, are numbered. We’re going to give her one hell of a last supper tonight, so she can go out having enjoyed all of her favorite things one last time. I’m going to bring Anakin’s duck with us to the appointment, so she can smell his presence and feel less alone. We’re all going, so she’ll have her favorite humans with her. She loves her brother dearly, so having a piece of him with her should bring her comfort.
As our time with Athena winds down, I’ve been searching for the perfect memento to remember her with. When Maya passed we had her cremated locally. The funeral home, which specializes in pets offers a package that includes a wooden urn engraved with their name and law print to carry the ashes, a clay paw print with their name engraved, a fur clipping in a jar, and a certificate. When Athena, passes we’ll buy the same package for her.
We’re a bit concerned about how Anakin is going to react to her passing. As a result, we’re trying to think of measures to help him cope with her loss. He loved her more than he loves food, hunting, or even his AFLAC duck. It will be a tremendous loss for him. Consequently, I found an Etsy store that makes stuffed replicas of your dogs. I’m thinking about buying one for Anakin, Arrow, and one for us. Although it may be a bit watery l getting one for Arrow as he destroys every stuffed toy he has within minutes. On the other hand, Anakin will treasure his memento.
My bestie said goodbye to her sweet dog Nema today. These past few months we have both been navigating the choppy waters that is end-of-life care for a beloved pet. It’s not an easy time that’s for sure. In fact, we’ve both found it difficult to determine the right time to put the puppy to sleep. Obviously, we don’t want the animals to suffer or experience pain, but you don’t want to pull the trigger too quickly either. It’s a bit of a balancing act that ends with the death of a beloved family member.
I’ve had enough of the heat and humidity. I can’t wait for the temperature to cool down a bit. If it cools just a bit, it will be a barn burner. This is less oppressive than that hot as hades weather we’ve been experiencing. In fact, it’s been so hot that the water temperature off our shore has hit the century mark. This is a major problem for our corals. We literally need the water and the air to take a chill pill.
If I’m being honest, I’ve also had enough work for the week. I have to say I loved last week’s three-day workweek. I’m all about that life. This feeling is abundant this week since I volunteered to work Saturday. After all, I did miss a few days and would love to get caught up with some additional sales. Most Saturdays I spend in the kitchen baking things I shouldn’t eat while binge-watching Parks and Rec. Now I’ll just sell dental and vision insurance as I binge my favorite Saturday show.
One of the things I enjoyed most in Boston was the old architecture. I loved the gardens at Peacefield with the wrought iron fence. For the love of all things holy, my other work monitor just stopped working. Sweet mother of good this shit gets old. Now I’ll get to spend another day working with IT to get my laptop and peripherals working again. Fortunately, I watched IT Crowd, so I fixed it by turning it off and on again. Thank God it started working again.
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
I loved today’s prompt because it’s super important to find health and wellness strategies that work for you. I’ve had to be very flexible with my expectations for myself post-Graves’ disease diagnosis. What was once possible doesn’t seem to be so possible anymore. This is to say, I have to be a lot more pragmatic and strategic in managing my wellness strategies.
The first of which is drinking enough water every day. I love drinking sparkling water, so this is a goal I never miss. Secondly, I practice good sleep hygiene. I follow the same routine every night and every morning. The consistency has helped tremendously. I also read nightly as part of my wind-down strategy. Third, I try to eat as naturally and seasonally as possible. In fact, I gave up all artificial sweeteners last year. In terms of eating seasonally, I try to eat fruits and vegetables when they’d naturally be in season. This, of course, is how I grew up eating. You couldn’t get blueberries and strawberries year-round then.
My exercise strategy shifts depending on where my Graves is at. I was running daily, but I ended up with shingles in January after a run. Consequently, I decided to mix up the routine and do something less taxing on my body. Since February, I’ve been spinning for 5-6 days as well. Apple Fitness + has great forty-five-minute cycling classes that are perfect for my lunch break. In addition to spin class, I’ve been doing Sweat’s HIIT workouts to build strength. Lastly, I’ve been doing Pilates or yoga six times a week. So far this workout strategy has been working really well. I’m going to add in some treadmill workouts though because I’m itching to run.
And lastly, here’s a brief Athena update. Unfortunately, she continues to deteriorate and difficult decisions have been made. We booked an appointment with the vet Tuesday to put her to sleep. This was the soonest they had available and it is important to us that our vet puts her to sleep. We don’t want to take her to a stranger or strange place. She loves the vet and will be comfortable and feel loved. Athena continues to eat and drink, which have always been two of her favorite hobbies. She enjoys eating chicken parm, donuts, and cheese.
I started work this morning with only two monitors, which felt a lot like being lost in a forest without a phone or compass. Ever since we lost power yesterday, my monitor has been out of commission and my headset has had intermittent issues. Additionally, I had to reset all our Nanoleaf lights, so they’d connect to HomeKit again. Admittedly, the process of resetting the smart lights is not so smart. I was able to reset two in our fan, but I still have a few left to fix.
Today I talked with IT for the majority of my morning. We worked together to fix my peripherals. Obviously, it’s a bit frustrating as I can’t take calls while on the line with IT. In fact, my entire morning was pretty much a waste (not to be theatrical about it.) The few clients I did speak to weren’t looking for coverage or wanted it free. This afternoon is off to a similar start albeit with a working computer system. Hopefully, I’ll get someone that’s ready to buy.
What are your future travel plans?
Is there anything more exciting than future travel plans? I don’t think so either. Next month I’m headed to see my parents for a week in Minny. I’m really looking forward to being able to see my extended family at my aunt and uncle’s anniversary party while I’m there. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen many of them. Fortunately, I’ll be able to work remotely, so I won’t need to take any time off for the trip.
At the end of September, I’m going to visit Jake once the Hubby gets back from Vegas. He’s going on a guys trip it Vegas, which should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward, however, to spending time with my boy and hiking the mountains of Utah. Fall is gorgeous where he lives and I can’t wait to see the mountains. As of now, it’s a solo trip, but hopefully, I can convince Hubby to fly out for a long weekend. I’ll probably go back to Utah or Minnesota in December, so I don’t lose my status with Delta. Once the Hubby’s old boss actually pays him, yep still hasn’t paid him seven months later, I’ll look to plan something overseas.
Today has become an absolute circus. In fact, it’s such a circus I was starting to think it was Monday again. Athena got sick on our carpet and in our bathroom, which was not a pretty sight. The problems really started, however, while I was spinning on my lunch hour. We lost power briefly, which made adjusting resistance and speed a bit more difficult. I was flying blind. After being off for ten minutes, the power came back on. This was awesome because my workouts definitely go faster when I’m watching a show.
Unfortunately, the power didn’t stay on for long. It went off again and stayed off. Fortunately, Apple’s AirPod Pros block out sounds. Consequently, I didn’t notice immediately that the power outage triggered our smoke alarms. As soon as I took off my AirPod, I could hear the dreadfully loud sound of the smoke alarms. Goalielocks brought in the Hubby’s ladder, so we could try to shut off the smoke alarms. At this point, I still had my AirPods in because it blocked most of the sound. The puppies, meanwhile, stayed in our room where the smoke detectors were silent.
I was able to stop the screaming smoke detectors by taking out the batter. A very high-tech power move, I know. Goalielocks removed one from the upstairs smoke alarm and the blaring stopped. Thank god! The sound is enough to drive anyone and everyone crazy. Unfortunately, the power didn’t come right back on. In fact, it wasn’t on when I needed to return to work, which was a bummer. More than that the outage seems to have fried my docking station and at least one of my monitors. So now the circus has become IT bell and I can’t work.
On top of all this, I’ve contracted whatever disease my hubby came down with this weekend. And by disease, I do mean a cold (aka man flu.). Unfortunately, as a mom, I don’t get time off for being ill or tired. No society expects mothers to keep going no matter how they feel, which to be honest is absolute bullshit. This is something I can’t reconcile. It’s something that needs to change. To be honest, it’s not something I witnessed growing up. My parents shared responsibilities and if one was sick, the other stepped up.
For the most part, when a man gets a cold, the world stops. It reminds me of when I was pregnant with the Mapgr and hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum. My electrolytes were so low from being unable to drink or eat that they keep me inpatient for two nights. It would have been three, but hubby needed me home. He negotiated with the doctor my release on the condition I could keep down a banana. While I ate the banana, I sent him to the store to get DayQuil. Long story short, I was released that day still weak, and had to drive home because Hubby had a cold.
We made it back home from Boston last night. Fortunately, the trip was completely uneventful and smooth sailing. The extent of our travel troubles was me missing my turn at the rental return center and the Mayor’s meltdown over food in the Sky Club. In his opinion, the food there sucks. In fact, it didn’t but he was happy to eat his Sbarro. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the locally curated food including one last bowl of clam chowder and a cannoli.
I ordered pizza on the way home as there was no way my ass was cooking dinner last night. It would have been nice to have a home-cooked meal after eating out the last five days, but whatever. Nonetheless, I was happy to be home and reunited with the puppies. Unfortunately, my sweet Athena is not looking too good. I keep hoping against hope that she’ll miraculously recover. I really can’t imagine our house without her.
The change in climate from Boston to South Florida was brutal. Our weather throughout the trip was quite comfortable. There was one evening of storms, but those hit after we had made it back to the hotel for the night. In contrast, South Florida continues to be unseasonably hot and humid. I noticed when we got home that our house was pretty hot. Apparently, the AC was not working so well. I’m not sure when it stopped working, but nobody seemed to notice until I said something. Fortunately, the hubby was able to get it working, so we could sleep comfortably.
It’s good to be home, but the trip to Boston was great. I’d be happy to never have to drive in that city again, but I did enjoy exploring it on foot. It was a great trip to connect with the Mayor’s new team and to connect with my dear friend Jenny. I can’t believe that we ended up in the same city on the same weekend. It was such a blessing to be able to see her for dinner. Now that we’re back home, it’s back to reality which includes work and eating healthy again. The splurge on tasty food in Boston was fun, but I’m ready to get back on the wagon.
It was a super Saturday here in Boston. After swearing I wouldn’t drive back into the city again, I drove there twice today. The first trip into the city was to see the New England Aquarium and Quincy Market. Fortunately, the drive into the city was much easier today with the weekend traffic. Moreover, it was super easy to find parking near the aquarium.
As for the aquarium itself, I can’t say that I’d recommend it. It cost way too much for the size and number of displays. For the Mayor and I, it cost nearly $70 for a forty-five-minute walk-through of the facility. The only reason it took so long was because it was super crowded and it took time to be able to see some of the animals. Fortunately, the cost of admission helps support the animals and the facility’s research efforts. While I can’t say it’s worth the price from the experience perspective, I’m okay with spending money to support the animals.
The gift shop was surprisingly not too expensive. I picked up a few gifts for the family including a stuffed penguin for the puppies. The Mayor picked out a turquoise necklace and a surprise for his brother. After we finished at the gift shop, we walked over to Quincy Market. Fortunately for the Mayor, it was a quick walk from the aquarium to the market. Thankfully, the market wasn’t overwhelmingly busy like it was yesterday. The Mayor opted to have some Chinese food and I opted to have clam chowder in a bread bowl. As Prue Leith would say, the chowder was “worth the calories.”
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to rest. We left early for his game as his teammate from last season was playing in the game before. All of our games this weekend have been in Attleboro, so I could probably now do the drive in my sleep. Of course, I’d be happy to never drive here again. The traffic and drivers create the next level of hell. The degree to which they suck at driving cannot be overstated. At this point, that thought is more than just a posit in my mind. It’s an absolute fact that these drivers are lethal weapons. As for the hockey, the Mayor and his team came up with a 5-3 victory. He had another strong game.
For dinner, we headed back into the city to meet my best friend. Jenny and I have been besties since high school and I don’t get to see her nearly enough. Fortunately, she had a conference in Boston this weekend, which gave us a rare opportunity to have dinner together. Honestly, dinner was awesome. It was wonderful to be able to hang out with her and catch up in person. What a blessing she has been to me. Now we’re back at the hotel getting ready for bed and watching television.
Today was all about exploring Boston much to the Mayor’s chagrin, but more on that later. We started our day today the same way we did yesterday, at the rink. Game two was a bit more difficult than the first game. The other team had some lucky bounces and we took some bad penalties. Consequently, they ended up losing 5-3. The Mayor had plenty of opportunities to score, but the opposing goalie came up with some ridiculous saves. He continues to play well and is enjoying playing junior rules. Since the asinine USA Hockey rules don’t apply to Juniors, the games actually flow nicely and don’t take forever.
Once we left the rink, we came back to the hotel for him to shower and get ready for a day on the town. Before we headed north to Boston, we had to stop at the original Dunkin’ Donuts. It was pretty cool. I can’t wait to show Polly, who manages my regular Dunkin’ back home. She’s been making my coffee since the kids were young. I grabbed another coffee for the road and we headed to Boston.
I decided to park at the Boston Common garage, so we could grab lunch and walk the Freedom Trail. Traffic was utterly horrendous once we got downtown. The Mayor remains unimpressed with the big city. He definitely doesn’t have the patience for big-city traffic. Once we got to the parking garage, the rest was east. Okay, not so much. The Mayor was in a mood. His attitude was quite angry. I hoped it would improve after lunch, but it didn’t. He only wanted fried rice for lunch, so we ended up at PF Changs. Some battles just aren’t worth fighting.
After lunch, we headed back to Boston Common to start the Freedom Trail walk. I had intended to walk the entire trail less crossing the Harbor to the USS Constitution, but my Mayor was not on board for that. We made it to the North Church with the Mayor grumbling the whole time. He enjoyed seeing the sights closer to Boston Common but was not thrilled to walk across town. We attempted Quincy market, but the Mayor wasn’t about that life. To be fair, both the market and the Freedom Trail were jammed packed.
Tomb of James OtisJohn Hancock’s TombPaul Revere’s tombMonument to Paul RevereThe tombstone of Mother GooseTombstone for Ben Franklin’s parentsMonument to Ben Franklin’s parents Boston Massacre memorial Sam Adams tombstoneRobert Paine’s tomb
He did enjoy walking through the Park Street Church and the Granary Burial Grounds. The burial grounds were particularly cool. First of all, there are some major American heroes buried there including John Hancock, Sam Adams, Ben Franklin’s parents, Mother Goose and Paul Revere. It was a nice walk and a beautiful way to see the city and its famous historical sights. I wish the Mayor would have enjoyed it more instead of being in a mood. His mood was reminiscent of his breakdown on the Kongevegen in Norway. Nevertheless, I enjoyed myself.
Afterward, we headed to the mall to pick up some more goodies. This, of course, was easier said than done. Driving in Boston is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it’s complete hell. To be clear, driving in cities or new places doesn’t bother me. I’m from South Florida, which is notorious for its horrible drivers and traffic. Driving in South Florida is a lot easier than driving here. It took a good forty minutes to go a few miles.
The mall was busy, but we still managed to get in and out pretty quickly. There are some fast chargers at the mall, which recharge the car really quickly. We wanted to grab some Starbucks, but the line at Target’s Starbucks was ridiculous and there was only one barista working. Consequently, we headed over to the Starbucks in Quincy near the hotel.
Instead of driving straight back to the hotel, we drove to the Old House at Peace Field. This is where both John Adams and John Quincy Adams lived during their presidency. The house was closed, but the grounds including a beautiful garden were still open. The mayor sat in the car as I walked through the gardens. We ended our mini Adams National Historic Park with a trip to Abigail Adam’s Cairn. This is found in Penn’s Hill and is where she took her children, including John Quincy Adams, to see Charlestown burn during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Our day ended with some pizza delivered to tree hotel for dinner. Originally, we had planned to go out for dinner, but we were both exhausted. By the time we got back to the hotel, we had already walked over 17,000 steps. We’re finishing our night watching Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Netflix. Tomorrow there will be more hockey and more exploring to be done.
A poem from Mother Goose:
Come Out to Play
Girls and boys, come out to play, The moon doth shine as bright as day; Leave your supper, and leave your sleep, And come with your playfellows into the street. Come with a whoop, come with a call, Come with a good will or not at all. Up the ladder and down the wall, A half-penny roll will serve us all. You find milk, and I’ll find flour, And we’ll have a pudding in half an hour.
It was a busy first day in Boston. This morning absolutely kicked my ass since we got just over three hours of sleep. Our day started with an early morning drive to the rink in Attleboro. We stayed near the airport last night, which is an hour’s drive from Attleboro. However, I knew I wouldn’t want to drive an hour after landing at midnight.
Do you know who wasn’t tired this morning? The mayor. I don’t know how he did it, but he had an awesome game. He got a decent amount of ice time in the first period. Since we got in late last night, he missed the team’s practice. Nevertheless, in the second period, he was playing all special teams and was on the ice a lot. He had some key plates including drawing a nice penalty. The game ended in a tie, but it was a good game for a group of boys that haven’t played a game together.
After the game, we headed back to the hotel for a brief nap. I was fried despite all 40 ounces of Dunkin Donuts that was onboard. Fortunately, I was able to sleep for about an hour. I’m not a napper at all, so I wasn’t convinced I’d fall asleep. While I slept, the Mayor showered and took a nap. We had a gourmet lunch at MacDonalds before heading to the mall to kill time.
We ended up with a fully electric rental car, which was super intimidating. I had to google a lot of the functionality to even get out of the rental lot. One thing I didn’t like at all is that the car comes to a dead stop as soon as you remove your foot from the gas. Honestly, I was terrified we’d get rear-ended because of it. It was terrifying. Fortunately for us, we met the nicest guy, Nico, at the mall chargers. He owns a Polestar and was able to walk through how to maximize charging while minimizing cost. In fact, he reconfigured the settings for me, so the car would drive like a regular car. His act of kindness has made this trip so much easier for me.
The Mayor and I killed some time at the mall. There was an absolutely amazing candy store in the mall. They had absolutely everything from everywhere. They even had a wall of ramen and drinks from everywhere. Now we had no interest in trying the pickle soda, but we did buy a can of Warhead Lemon soda along with a bottle of root beer and cherry cola. Naturally, I couldn’t in good faith pass up an opportunity to buy a Milka bar.
After the mall, we headed to Quincy where we are staying. We drove past the original Dunkin Donuts on our way to the beach. There is a nice beach not too far from our hotel. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s beautiful and peaceful. Obviously, the water is way too cold for me to consider swimming. On the way to the hotel, we stopped at the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Quincy has a ton of history embedded in it, which makes it a nice town.
We ended our day with a trip to the USS Constitution. Unfortunately, due to traffic and lack of parking, we got there after the museum and ship closed. Nonetheless, the wharf where it is located has a nice waterfront walking path. You can view the USS Constitution after closing, you just can’t go on it. The Mayor was happy to see the ship as well as the Bunker Hill memorial in the background. We ended our night in Boston with dinner at Pier6. I had the clam and corn chowder, while the Mayor enjoyed a lobster roll. And now it’s time for bed because our busy day and late night have left me exhausted.
We’re packed up and ready to go. This morning the Mayor went out and picked up Athena’s favorite donuts from Publix, so she’ll have plenty to munch on while we’ll we’re gone. I’m hopeful our flight will be on time today and Sunday. The airports in the northeast have been an absolute disaster this summer. We get in pretty late, which is an absolute bummer since he plays tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. Tomorrow morning is going to be an early start.
While in Boston, I’ll try to post as often as I can. Hopefully, the weather will hold out, so we can go whale watching. I saw a whale when I was in Puerto Vallarta, but it was from a great distance. I would love to see one up close. Albeit, not too close. I’m looking forward to taking time to explore the city with my Mayor. Additionally, it will just be nice to hang out with him since he’s moving out next month. Needless to say, I’m excited to see how he does at the next level of hockey. We’re ready to go, so stay tuned.
