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All Business Today

I was all business today from the moment I got up to the moment I just sat down. Every moment was productive and helped me get closer to my goals. I started my day with my coffee a cursory of social media, the news, and the financial markets. Of course, I had a blast taking the puppies out at usual. Since Anakin snapped one of our leashes yesterday, I was adventurous and let Maya go out off-leash. Naturally, I also enjoyed some Michael Scott moments in the background as I drank my coffee. Since I had a new yoga class today at 11:30 am, I had to start my BBG workout by 10:30. This way I could have a small snack in between BBG and yoga. Consequently, I tried to finish my coffee by 9:30 am, so it would have an hour to settle before I started working out.

The BBG arm workout kicked my butt today. I don’t know what it is with lay down half burpees or half burpees in general, but they are the paragon of misery. Aside from the half burpees, the workout was quite enjoyable. Comparatively, it featured a lot more ab work than the previous arm day workouts. Clearly, I will never complain about ab work. In fact, one day I dream that my glorious ab muscles will reappear out from the layer of cold protection currently hiding them. If only my thyroid or lack thereof wasn’t such a pain in the ass. On a high note, I did 90 pushups. The plank jacks and squat and presses also went pretty well. If I could find 12 lb or 15 lb dumbbells, I’d up my weight. However, I have yet to find a store that currently has weights in stock.

Between BBG and yoga, I enjoyed some almonds and a banana. Today was the first day of the Slow Flow class with Ava at Open Heart, so I definitely wanted to support the studio. I attended online, which is such a great and convenient option. The slow flow class is seventy-five minutes long. In terms of difficulty, it is between a gentle flow and vinyasa class. Honestly, it’s a perfect mid-week class to add to my practice. Truly, it was a bit difficult since I had just finished working out, but it was a great flow. We even practiced crow, which I love. One thing I love about the different teachers is the creativity of their flow. Additionally, this is helpful to me as a student of yoga teacher training. Consequently, I will be adding this class to my regular repertoire as it really fits my needs as a student.

Afterward, I grabbed a quick lunch of leftovers. Last night I cooked seared chicken with peach salsa courtesy of Blue Apron. Since the rice included vegetables, there were plenty of leftovers for me to enjoy. Thankfully, the leftovers tasted just as good as they did yesterday. I am loving these meal kits! I relaxed on the couch for awhile enjoying my afternoon coffee in anticipation of my interview at 3:30 pm. The interview went really well. It was with a start-up company out of Utah doing sales. While it is a commission only job, the opportunity is intriguing. One thing that is both exciting and scary is that the company was founded in January and there are only five employees. I guess that’s the thing about a start-up there’s a high risk to reward ratio. If it pays off, it will really pay off.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Wednesday if I didn’t get my HIIT run in this afternoon. Thankfully, Larry David and season 5 of Curb were there to get me through it. I amped it up this week from 15 minutes of intervals to 20 minutes. There may have been a bit of a celebration on my treadmill after that last interval. Naturally, I also include a five-minute walking warm-up and a thirteen-minute cooldown. This way I lessen the risk for injury or re-injury. Additionally, since the sprinting tends to be harder on my hip flexors, I spent more time stretching them during my post-workout stretch routine. Hopefully, they’ll be in great shape for my run tomorrow.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read the The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells. It is an absolutely amazing book.

*Slow Flow with Ava from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I may have melted in the Florida heat today.

*Binge watched The Office (again) with the Mayor and our puppies. I love Michael Scott!

*I was all business today from morning to evening

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*We had our first Purple Stride planning call tonight! I’ll be sharing information soon.

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 6 BBG 2.0 day 3 arms and HIIT run

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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What If?

What if you stopped procrastinating or focusing on things that no longer serve you? A year ago, I was unhappy, unhealthy, and stuck in a job that no longer served me. I was scared to walk away afraid to walk away despite my doctor’s orders. Honestly, I knew in my heart that she was right. My job was killing me! Naturally, my response to here was that unless she was going to pay my bills, I was going to stay in my current role. Flash forward a month and they laid me off. It was the liberation I longed for. Yes, I miss my friends and colleagues, but the role no longer suited me. Now here we are a year later and the sky has not fallen. Well, it hasn’t fallen due to me being laid off last year.

Since I left my role, I have spent a lot of time with my family. In fact, I will always remember the last 12 months with a mixture of happiness, contentment, and sadness. I say sadness because my son has left the nest permanently even though he’s where he belongs. Clearly, it’s a bittersweet event in a parent’s life. If I had been working, I would have missed out on some great times with my eldest child. In the fall, we took an amazing trip back to Minnesota for him to visit all of our family. Certainly, this trip was one of the best trips of my life. What if I was still working and unable to take him to Minnesota? I can’t even imagine the weight of regret that I would currently be carrying.

I guess the theme of this blog is stopping asking what if and start asking why not. Honestly, I stayed in a horribly unhealthy role because of fear. I was afraid that if I left, the sky would fall. And then, by god’s providence, I was laid-off. Thankfully, they gave me an escape out of that role. Fortunately, the sky did not fall. In fact, I found myself starting to feel normal, and dare I say healthy again. If I had stayed and continue to ask what if, I would have lost everything. Sure I may have lost in the short term, but there can be no doubt in the long term I won. The point is don’t be afraid to “take a leap” especially if you’re in a situation that’s damaging your overall health.

Yesterday I posted a picture of myself doing a headstand during Saturday’s vinyasa class. When I restarted my yoga practice eight months ago, I never imagined I would come so far so soon. Initially, I restarted my practice as a means of reducing my autoimmune symptoms. Fortunately, I found an incredible studio, Open Heart Yoga Studio, that has the perfect lineup of classes and teachers. Over the months, I’ve not only gotten stronger, but my pain is gone. Unfortunately, thyroid issues can lead to frozen shoulders as well as bone and muscle loss. Throughout my entire journey, my teachers have guided me through my objectives and as a consequence, I’ve gotten really strong. As my dear friend and teacher Monica always says, “small steps lead to big changes.” She couldn’t be more right, my friends! If you’re looking for a change in your life, know that it doesn’t need to start with a giant leap, but perhaps with a small step in the direction of your dreams.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells

*Slept through my alarm for over 2 hours. I guess my body needed the rest!

*Gentle Yoga for a Healthy Back with Monica from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Binge watched The Office (again) with the Mayor and our puppies. I love Michael Scott!

*Lamented my lack of craft skills as I folded the quilt my grandma made us.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*I cooked seared chicken with peach salsa and red rice. This was another great Blue Apron meal.

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 6 BBG 2.0 day 2 run Forest run!!!

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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The Pinnacle

Just when we thought we had reached the pinnacle and were on the downslope of COVID-10 wave, here we are seeing increases here in South Florida. The prospect of a prolonged social distancing period is a bit overwhelming at this point. Albeit, I totally understand why it’s necessary and I am 100% on board. Nonetheless, it’s emotionally exhausting to be withdrawn from people socially. Zoom is nice, but it’s just not the same. Honestly, I just want to be able to go visit my airmen and my parents, but I digress.

I woke up not feeling fantastic on account of a lump on the back of my head/neck. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a swollen gland or a bug bite, but I gotta say it’s mighty uncomfortable. Consequently,
I missed my yoga class this morning as I rested with Anakin on the couch. While it was still a bit uncomfortable, I was feeling up to the BBG workout. Today was leg day and it’s always a tough workout. This week was no exception, but I felt good and confident throughout. Certainly, I enjoy every time a new exercise is added into the mix. One thing that I love about the workout is that it’s not all squats and lunges. Rather Kayla Itsines does a great job incorporating moves like burpees and skipping ropes, which work your whole body not just your legs. Obviously, I felt much better after the workout and was regretting missing my yoga class this morning.

One of the wonderful things about the pandemic is the advent of Zoom fitness classes, several of which will be featured here on the Hockey Mom Fit Life in the near future. I love having the option to attend classes online or in-studio. Particularly, it gives me more options to manage my day and ensure I can fit yoga into my schedule. Also if you’re not feeling great, but not sick enough to skip your workout, you can attend via Zoom to ensure you don’t share your germs. Ordinarily, I would skip my class because I didn’t want to share germs. Now I can attend online and continue my practice. Importantly, the Zoom classes gave us a way to stay connected throughout the pandemic. This sense of community is an important tool in minimizing loneliness and isolation.

My day was pretty low key. The puppies and I spent the day on the couch watching The Office. Can you tell I miss my airmen? Today some of his favorite episodes were on and I was laughing so hard. In particular, he loves the rabies 5k episode and that was on today. Jake has been my running partner since 2016 and we have run countless 5Ks together. He would usually win his age group and I would usually try not to throw up at the finish line. So you can imagine how funny this episode is to a bunch of running nerds. I think I may have thrown up a little as Michael Scott carb-loaded on fettuccine Alfredo immediately before the race. I don’t suggest eating a heavy meal immediately before a race.

Honestly, I miss the 5k races. Most have been canceled due to COVID. There are some virtual races, but it’s just not the same experience. I’m looking forward to the day that Jake and I can once again run a 5k together. Since it’s summer, there aren’t many 5ks in Florida right now anyway. I’m hoping by the time the fall/winter running season comes around that we’re able to do some races. If not, hopefully, we can run some races together at his new base. As for now, the 80 degree dewpoints and high temps will keep me running insde on the treadmill.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Binge watched The Office with the Mayor and our puppies.

*Lamented my lack of craft skills as I folded the quilt my grandma made us.

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 6 BBG 2.0 day 1 legs!!!

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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Between the Storms

As my luck would have it, I was able to do all my driving between the storms. Honestly, it had to be pure luck. No sooner had I sat down comfortably on my yoga mat when the sky opened up. And when I say opened up, I mean full-on monsoon rains. Fortunately, I love practicing yoga during a storm. There is something completely soothing about practicing to the sound of falling rain. Now there were a couple of bolts of lightning that were a bit too close given the loud thunder and how vigorously the thunder shook the building. Thursday’s class is seventy-five minutes of gentle flow, so by the time, we finished our practice the storm had passed.

No sooner had I made it home when the storms again opened up. This was, of course, the case when I went to grab my coffee this morning. As I left, the storm was pulling away from our house and I hit a few sprinkles as I got to Dunkin. Fortunately, the heavy stuff held off until after I got home. I moved up my run a half-hour since my yoga class was moved up a half-hour. Consequently, my Thursday date with Curb happened at 10:00 instead of 10:30. Naturally, my legs were quite sore after the back to back days running. My foot felt pretty good, but my body was tired. Nonetheless, I persevered and logged three miles on the treadmill. Since I was heading immediately to yoga post-run, I did a truncated version of my post-run stretch routine.

Honestly, I’m exhausted. I should really just take a hot shower and go to bed, but here I am finishing my blog. Seriously though this week has been mentally and physically exhausting for no specific reason other than the dumpster fire that has been 2020. My neck and my shoulders are super tight. I’m hoping with the great work we did in Jen’s yoga class today that they’ll feel better tomorrow. My shoulder gets horribly tight since my diagnosis of Graves. Unfortunately, the tightness migrates up my neck as well. For the most part, my yoga practice keeps my shoulders and neck open. Nonetheless, I do get periodic flare-ups, which suck bananas, but I digress.

Speaking of dumpster fires, I started reading Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells. When I say dumpster fire, I’m referring to the unmitigated tragedy that was the life of Charlotte Bronte and her siblings. Gaskell wrote the biography beautifully in the style of a novel. Gaskells, of course, was a contemporary and friend of Charlotte’s. Her biography is not only a view from the rearview mirror of their friendship but also the viewpoint of her family and friends. Some have argued that Gaskells’ portrayal of Bronte’s life was sanitized by her piety in the face of Bronte’s more worldly view. Thus far I have made it as far as the death of Charlotte’s mother. At the time Charlotte and her siblings were quite young and quite alone and often left to their own devices. Honestly, it’s amazing that three literary geniuses could arise out of such an upbringing.

I cooked another HelloFresh dinner tonight, which was Balsamic Fig Chicken with roasted potatoes. I don’t know what I did, but my piece of chicken was not great. The rest of the dinner was fantastic. Fortunately, the entire family ate the meal I cooked tonight. This is pretty significant since my Mayor has decided to be a picky eater. Tomorrow I’ll be cooking another pasta dish. Since neither service provides gluten-free pasta, so I substitute gluten-free pasta from the grocery store. Meanwhile, my Mayor cooks the delivery service pasta for his spaghetti lunch. After dinner, I swept the floor picked up the kitchen. Then the dogs and I chilled on the couch and watched It’s Always Sunny. My boys drove down to Miami to skate for a couple of hours this morning. It’s great to have them back on the ice!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Gentle Flow with Jenn at Open Heart Yoga

*Thought of ways to incorporate the word cove into my blog.

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Yonder look for a full product review on ny new scale

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 5 BBG 2.0 day 2 run!!! Back at it baby!

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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New Scale

Yesterday I splurged on a new scale. And I gotta say it’s quite fancy. You see after many years of faithful, no reliable service, our old scale took a dive yesterday. I say reliable because a faithful device would never spit out such horrendous numbers at me. It had been especially mean these last couple of years as ny thyroid went haywire. Nonetheless, a scale is still a necessary evil. Further, it is even more important when you’re working to lose the thyroid weight while getting stronger through a great workout program. After researching my different options online, I settled on the Withings Body + scale. It retails for around $100 depending on where you buy and if you have coupons. It interfaces with an app on your phone, so you can easily follow your progress.

First, let me just say this is the first scale I bought that actually does give you the body composition metrics. Unfortunately, my previous scales had this feature, but it rarely worked. Thankfully, the body composition features work amazingly on a new scale. I love the interface with the phone. Albeit I still don’t like the numbers it’s throwing back at me. Perhaps the best part of this scale is that it gives you the weather forecast when you weigh yourself. Alas, not only does this scale give me my body composition, but it also gives me the weather forecast. Fortunately, I live in Florida, so the weather is always nice. Finally, a scale that gives me some good news! This good news is a welcome addition to my daily weigh-in.

In more good news, my foot is feeling much better. In fact, I was able to run yesterday and today. Moreover, the foot is still feeling pretty, pretty good. In an abundance of caution, I backed off the tempo a bit for today’s HIIT run. Naturally, I’ll have to see how the foot is feeling tomorrow before my tempo run. I’m hoping to run outside this weekend. The weather has been pretty good with the humidity lower and lower temperatures in the morning. Of course, I’ll have to wake up early enough to get the run in before it gets too hot for Athena. Hopefully, my foot will be in running condition.

In addition to the run, I did get in my BBG workout. Today’s arm workout kicked my butt. First of all, I’m happy to report that I didn’t suck at jumping rope today. However, I did completely suck at lay down push-ups and half burpee. Truly, both of those moves are complete torture. In the end, I was struggling with the intensity because I didn’t break my fast before the workout. Moreover, I started the workout a bit later in the morning, which didn’t help at all. Nonetheless, I burned nearly 500 calories while getting strong. There is no doubt that I’ll be feeling it in my shoulders and arms tomorrow. Jen’s Gentle Flow class will feel so good on my body tomorrow. I cannot wait!

As for the rest of my day, I had a job interview scheduled, but they didn’t show up. It’s just as well because after further thought the position isn’t a good fit. After my last corporate experience, I’m not taking any chances on positions or companies. Nonetheless, I got to put on some eye makeup and felt fancy for an hour or so. Afterward, I was hanging out with the puppies on the couch. I love watching them play together. They have so much fun running around together. In fact, Anakin has really been able to draw out the puppy in Maya. However, he is also able to draw out her grumpy old lady side with as much ease. Needless to say, I’m lucky to be able to spend my time with the boys and our puppies.

Usually the hubby grills on Wednesdays, but since he had driven from Dade to north Palm Beach County, I cooked tonight. I’m not a grill master, but that’s okay because the stores have been out of the steaks we like lately. Instead, I cooked a HelloFresh meal. For the first time, I cooked duck breasts, which were easy to cook. Tonight’s dinner was cherry ancho duck breasts with rice and roasted green beans. Since my dogs love duck, two of them are black lab mixes, I saved the rendered fat to add to their food tonight. The cherry ancho sauce was the perfect complement to the duck and the white rice with pistachios. Truly, it was amazing! The hubby, Goalielocks and I really enjoyed it. The Mayor, however, would not try it. One of the best things about the duck is it is rich, which makes it difficult to overindulge.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskells

*Morning and afternoon meditation – I cherish this time!

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Yonder look for a full product review on ny new scale

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 5 BBG 2.0 day 2 run!!! Back at it baby!

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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A Fruitful Monday

It was a fruitful Monday for me. So much so that I even notice my cell provider’s service went down. Fortunately, I was able to capitalize on the pause (aka lack of distractions) and re-organize and file all of our paperwork. It was a long overdue project, but I’m super excited that I knocked it lit today while watching Wuthering Heights. I absolutely loved the book and the miniseries didn’t disappoint. They skipped over a lot, so I’d be curious to see a longer interpretation would treat the story.

My Monday started off like most others although I had a stowaway in bed. Unfortunately, the Mayor learned last night/early this morning that eating a full bag of Takis before bed is a bad idea. Thankfully, he’s a much calmer sleeper than he used to be and didn’t punch or kick me at all. After taking the dogs out, I enjoyed my coffee while reviewing my emails, news and social media. It’s a nice time to connect before I go into yoga and disconnect for a few hours.

Today’s yoga class was a gentle flow with Monica. It’s a nice, chill class that’s great for warming up the body before doing BBG. Obviously, the shavasana is the best part of the class, especially in Monica’s classes. It’s so good! Naturally, it’s a bit tougher at home with the distraction. As always, kids tend to have the best timing. Consequently, if they “need”to order food or anything, they’ll interrupt shavasana to ask me. In fact, it happened today when the Mayor asked if he could order Chipotle via the newly downloaded door dash app on his phone. Of course, since I had to pay zilch, I approved the takeout.

Post yoga, I broke my fast with a banana and some almonds. Since the banana was quite large, I split it with the puppies. It’s their new favorite treat. Afterwards, I headed back into our room for BBG leg day. As always, it was a killer. This week there was a new exercise – I loved it. It was a a forearm plank with leg lifts. Truly, it was challenging, but it makes your engage almost every muscle in your body. Per usual, the lay down burpees kicked my arse. Consequently, I will be sore tomorrow. Fortunately, my foot feels much better today.

Tonight I made dinner, while the hubby ran to Home Depot. On the menu this evening was smoky chicken with creamy cilantro sauce and farro. This dinner came to us via Blue Apron and their weight watcher approved meals. Accordingly, the meal only had 510 calories, which is pretty good for a meal kit. The recipe was easy to follow and quick. Importantly, it was also really tasty. Naturally, the boys didn’t love the farro with the zucchini and arugula, so I’m looking forward to enjoying it for lunch tomorrow. Lastly, our phone service is still down so if you try to call it will ring, but won’t connect.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*Reading O Pioneers by Willa Cather

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Gentle flow with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 5 BBG 2.0 day 1 leg day!

*Organized my life

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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Mind Over Matter

Mind over matter, my friend Lisa and I chanted this over and over as we tried to master paddle board yoga in Turks and Caicos. While we couldn’t paddle board to save our lives, we were able to do a sun salutation on the board. Apparently, it is hard to be a successful paddle boarder while using a kayak paddle. Nonetheless, we made the most of our time with the paddle board.

Today I was in Monica’s vinyasa class (at my house via Zoom) and this memory came flooding back to me. Fortunately, this mantra has served me well in life and in my yoga practice. For years, I struggled with crow, headstand and handstand, but the mind over matter mantra has helped drive my practice forward. Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped me opened my side body enough to be able to do side crow again. However, I was able to declare victory with my crow pose today!

Aside from yoga, Sunday’s are my off day from exercise. My legs and hips were tight from yesterday’s run, so today’s class was definitely needed. Afterwards, I worked around the house and watched more nature specials with Anakin. Additionally, we firmed up our vacation plans for the Keys. Normally, we would have gone to the Bahamas, but that’s not going to happen in the age of COVID. Although I will miss the beaches and luscious tropical foliage of Atlantis.

Prior to going to virtual yoga, I watched Jake’s chapel service. I love watching him play. In fact, it was nice to watch today as it was the first time they’ve had people in the chapel since March. Of course, he played well and he looked great. Unfortunately, he’s been without data, WiFi or internet all day due to the tropical storm. He sent a picture and you can really see the winds, but I can’t post the live view on the blog so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Of course, the era of social distancing, covid and hate has been fun enough with out the other “H word,” but here we are less than a week into hurricane season and on our C storm. We escaped the worse of the weather this weekend, but the rest of the peninsula wasn’t as lucky. Indeed, I saw several crazy tornado videos from the Orlando area. Jake’s currently experiencing the worst of it, which is a lot of rain and some wind. Thankfully, he’s safe where he’s at. Obviously, it’s tough for all the internet and data to be down, but it could me a lot worse.

As for the hate, I choose love. I was fortunate to have parents that raised me to see every human life as valuable. Race, religion, ethnicity, etc. wasn’t important in the sense that it never equates with someone’s value as a person. Apparently, the memo has missed too many people. It’s a simple issue that we have made far too complex. Everyone is equal, yet not everyone has an equal experience in life. This isn’t to say that everyone’s life should be perfect only that it shouldn’t be handicapped by race, ethnicity, religion or gender.

After I shared some goodwill on Facebook, the hubby and I partnered up to make an awesome meal courtesy of HelloFresh. Incidentally, we had to make some ingredient substitutions as one of our garage fridges went off last night. Nonetheless, this meal of Bulgogi meatballs with rice and roasted carrots was easy to make and absolutely delicious. Everyone enjoyed this one!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*Reading Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Vinyasa with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Obedience training Anakin

*Cooked a super yummy dinner courtesy of our friends at HelloFresh

*Week 3 BBG 2.0 day 7 active rest day

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for dinner 

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Holy Humidity Batman!

Holy humidity Batman!! Here we are the fifth of June with a dew point in the 80s. Oh the joys of having a tropical system in the Gulf. For the uninitiated, dew points in the 80s make the state feel like a sauna. Unfortunately, in our case there’s no cold, refreshing water to dive into to help cool us down. Naturally, we experience these dew points every year, but it is a bit unusual to have it so humid this early in the game.

This was from 9:00 am this morning!

As you can see by the “real feel” temperature, it felt like 95 degrees this morning. Naturally, this is a big reason I’ve taken my run indoors. These temperatures with this humidity, even with the cloud cover, can be dangerous if you’re not properly hydrated. Additionally, since I run outside with my puppy, I must take into consideration what is best for her health. She loves to run, but in this heat it’s too much. Plus, the path heats up and can even burn her paws.

My Sweet Athena!

So after yesterday’s scheduling debacle, I made sure to design my day so I wouldn’t miss yoga again. I was so bummed when my memory, fallen by thyroid brain I’m sure, conveniently reminded me at 11:30 that 11:30 was actually the new class time. Nonetheless, today I was victorious. I got my BBG workout in and made it to yoga in time! Today’s BBG workout was abs plus skipping rope. As always, I sucked at jumping rope. Jenn’s class was amazing. She taught a great, creative flow that was just what my body needed.

This evening we went to our friends’ house for dinner. It’s the first time I’ve seen sweet Ava in months. She’s grown so big! Truly, it was great to spend some time with people socially outside of our house! Plus, my friend Hanh is an amazing cook. Fortunately, we were also working on our vacation plans. Ordinarily, we’d all go to the Bahamas over spring break, but COVID shut that down this year. Since Atlantis is still closed, we’ll be heading to the Keys for some rest and relaxation. It should be a wonderful time.

Ava taking a selfie!

Lastly, I don’t know about you, but Facebook has become a complete dumpster fire. There is so much hate and division that it mutes the protests. Hate begets hate. Division begets division yet here we are… This blog isn’t political never has been and never will, but as a country we have to do better. Everyone should have the same opportunities and rule set. Nonetheless, people have different opinions, which on Facebook apparently warrants a delete and block. If you’re operating in absolutes or false dilemma logical fallacies and deleting people, your part of the problem.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*Reading Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

*Gentle Flow with Jenn at Open Heart Yoga Studio – in studio!

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Worked on website

*Obedience training Anakin

*Enjoyed a well cooked dinner courtesy of our friends

*Week 3 BBG 2.0 day 5 abs

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out side. Unfortunately, due to the holy humidity Batman, it was too hot to go for walks

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Making Progress

After feeling pretty tired for ages, I feel like I’m finally making progress. Fortunately, it seems the recent change in my thyroid meds are making a difference. Despite making progress on the thyroid front, I was starting to feel ill on Thursday with sore throat and swollen glands. Thankfully, an early bed time and some extra sleep made all the difference. Happily, my throat was a bit sore yesterday, but I feel 100% better today.

And thank goodness for that because I had chair yoga training at Open Heart Yoga Studio. After seeing nobody for months, I was looking forward to seeing people outside my immediate family. There were only three of us in studio with the others on Zoom. I love that technology provides an opportunity for people to take trainings or continue their studio practice at home.

Today’s training was five hours and it was five hours well spent. I love how chair yoga makes yoga accessible to everyone. Further, I realized that while I was injured and in a boot, chair yoga would have been perfectly suited to my physical challenges. Honestly, I learned so much great stuff today that fits in perfectly with what I’ve been learning in teacher training. I’m excited for how I can augment my own practice and help others find their own chair yoga practice.

Naturally, we took a break at 3:23 pm to watch the SpaceEx launch. You could feel our collective relief as the rocket successfully launched into orbit. I would have liked to watch it outdoors, but where the studio is located didn’t provide the best viewing opportunity. Also, it was pretty sunny , but there was some cloud cover to the north that may have obscured our view. Plus, it was super hot!

For dinner, the hubby made a very yummy Blue Apron General Tso’s chicken. It was so good!!! In fact, the Mayor immediately declared that we must make that recipe again. The flavor was good, the chicken and bok choy were perfectly cooked. While we finished dinner and relaxed afterwards, we anxiously awaiting word from family in Minnesota that they made it home safely. Thankfully, we just got word that my sister in law made it home safe. My dad made it home about thirty minutes ago. Please pray for everyone’s safety.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*Reading Vilette a wonderful book by Charlotte Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Chair Yoga Teacher training with Eva from Open Heart Yoga Studio. Making progress towards my goals!!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Enjoyed a well cooked dinner courtesy of my awesome hubby!

*Week 2 BBG 2.0 day 6 ran 2.7 miles

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

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My Sweet Little Boy

My sweet little boy Anakin had to go to the vet today for his rabies vaccine. Since he started limping in the last couple of days, I also had the doctor evaluate his left shoulder. Our appointment was scheduled for 4:00, so we left the house at 3:20 to get there a little early. Apparently, that was a total mistake.

Due to COVID19, no puppy parents are allowed into the clinic. Consequently, we had to take a seat and wait outside. This would be okay, except it’s Florida and it’s 90 degrees with a dew point of 76. I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat index surpassed 100 today. My poor puppy was getting so hot. Fortunately, I was able to get a water bowl for him. Meanwhile Goalielocks and I melted in the heat.

We waited until after 6:00 for him to be seen. I was dying from the heat and ready to throw in the towel. Nonetheless, my sweet little boy needed his rabies vaccine, so we can start taking him of dog parks. Also, the vet isn’t super close, so I didn’t want to have to come back a different day. Fortunately, his exam went well and there is no structural issues causing a limp. The vet feels like he likely hurt some soft tissue jumping around and being a puppy. Now we’re home and he’s comfortable resting after his vaccine and a pain shot for his shoulder.

Meanwhile, my throat is starting to hurt and my glands are feeling a bit swollen. My temperature was a little higher than normal this morning, but still not above normal range. I ran my 2.23 miles (#IrunwithMaud) this morning without too much difficulty. Afterwards I went almost straight to yoga, which was pretty awesome. Thankfully, I had enough time to do my post run stretch routine with the therapy balls before yoga.

Today’s class was a gentle flow with Jenn from Open Heart Yoga Studio and it was divine. The slower flow, yin and restorative poses have done my mind and body so much good. I was a balls to the wall kind of girl before I got injured and sick. Honestly, it’s probably why I got injured and sick. Now it’s about finding balance in my yoga practice, my workouts and life. Since I’ve started the quest for balance, my mobility and ability to slow down have improved greatly. I’m so excited to share my experience with my future yoga students.

I’m hoping some sleep will do my body good because I was hoping to go into the yoga studio to support its reopening. Nonetheless, if there’s any hint of a sore throat, I will be partaking in class from home. Fortunately, the Zoom classes have been great and with great support and feedback from my teachers. Otherwise I have a low key last day of school planned for the boys. My afternoon will be spent in yoga teacher training while the boys wrap up their school work.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*Reading Vilette by Charlotte Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Gentle Flow with Jenn from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Week 2 BBG 2.0 day 4 cardio

*Went to the vet and melted in the heat like a circle in a spiral.

*Obedience training Anakin

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

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