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Took a Break

I took a break from the blog over the past month to focus on really living and feeling the emotions of the last four weeks. Since I’ve been gone, I had a fantastic vacation in the Turks and Caicos with my favorite moms and my middle son graduated high school. Many emotions come with high school graduation, ranging from relief they made it, sadness because a chapter is closing, happiness because a new chapter is beginning, and pride for all they accomplished.

This time around, we were missing Jake, which made the moment bittersweet. We were all so excited to see him walk at graduation, but definitely were missing Jake’s presence. And I think Jake was bummed he missed the moment as well. Nonetheless, Jake was with us in spirit through Flat Airman Jake. He skipped out on the graduation ceremony as he doesn’t like speeches. He didn’t however skip out on dinner as. Flat Airman Jake loves hibachi just as much as Jake and the rest of our family love it.

For graduation, we had my folks and Luke’s dad in town for several days. It was nice to see my folks and Grandpa Steve after not seeing them for a long time. In fact, this was my parent’s first trip to visit us since the pandemic. They had come down in 2019 for Thanksgiving to see Jake off to BMT, but haven’t been able to return until Goalielocks’ graduation. Fortunately, for our guests, the weather was absolutely beautiful for most of their stay. In fact, it was quintessential Florida winter weather. Beautiful temperatures and low humidity. Unfortunately, we knew the shoe had to drop some time and the heat and humidity would come roaring back. The weather changed while they were here, but thankfully only during the last few days of their trip.

On graduation day, the weather was actually perfect. It was overcast, which kept us a bit cooler as we waited to get into the expo center. The Mayor and I timed it perfectly and were able to get awesome seats right on the main aisle with an unobstructed view of the graduates walking. Hubby and the grandparents came a bit later because they had stopped to get gas. Nevertheless, they didn’t wait too long to get in. It would be helpful if the district had a line for the seniors and those with disabilities. My father-in-law uses a cane and I think those with cane/walkers/wheelchairs should have an expedited entrance and not have to fight through the larger lines.

The ceremony itself was absolutely divine. For once the speakers gave practical advice like saving money and investing in your future. The valedictorian’s speech, Goalielock’s (aka Colin) friend, was poignant. After losing his father unexpectedly last fall, his friend continued to persevere and kill it at school and on the volleyball court. Furthermore, it was cool to see how the graduating class supported him throughout his speech. They had a unique high school experience, to say the least with a pandemic upending a lot of it. Yet the class of 2022 persevered and made it to the finish line. Post-graduation we enjoyed a nice hibachi dinner with family. I’m glad took a break to enjoy and live in the minute of my son’s graduation.

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Frequent Flyer

If urgent care had a frequent flyer program like airlines, we would be a Diamond member after these last six weeks. To be fair, the first part of 2021 was pretty quiet on the illness and injury front. Consequently, we have over compensated during the last quarter of the year.

It started off with Covid tests and a broken toe. a couple weeks ago it elevated from a school physical to EKGs and a kid under the care if an amazing cardiologist. In fact, we visited three urgent care centers before we found one that was open and could do an ekg. We literally drove all over trying to find one that could see Goalielocks because we didn’t want to head to the ER.

Finding a decent urgent care center that can see you urgently has become absolutely impossible here. I mean isn’t that why you go to an urgent care. One had no more appointments available the same day. In fact, they couldn’t get me in for three days for my broken toe. I’m pretty sure that defeats the purpose of an urgent care. Another one is only open six days a week from 9:00-6:00 pm. This is less hours than my normal doctor’s office.

Last week, the hubby upped the ante with his injury. The Mayor, however, did not want to be left out. Apparently, he fell during the early Saturday game (damn blue line trips me everytime too) and landed awkwardly on his shoulder. He was in a ton of pain yesterday, which was worrying. This is a kid who has an incredible tolerance for pain and never complains about it.

Alas, it triggered nightmare visions of yet another trip to urgent care. Fortunately, we have a good friend who is in the business. He was able to examine his shoulder tonight. Thankfully, it’s a mild sprain of the rotator cuff. He gave the Mayor some stretches to do every night before bed. We’ll also be taking him over there for ultrasound therapy, which will help the healing process. Thank God we’re not adding to our frequent flyer status with this injury.

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Stir Crazy

Admittedly, I’m going stir crazy since I can’t workout or run. I had hoped to continue the BBG workouts, but I can’t fit my toe in my shoe. Moreover, the workouts contain a lot of plyometric exercises, which would might hard on my toe. In fact, I can’t even practice yoga at this point without putting too much pressure on my toe. Sadly, my workout equipment is currently only serving as my room’s decor.

The worst part of not being able to workout is having no outlet after a stressful day. Fortunately, today wasn’t overly stressful. It, however, wasn’t overly productive either. Needless to say, I’m anxiously awaiting the return of the busy season. Even if it means some seven day work weeks! Since I can’t run or workout, I’ve set aside time to meditate in legs up the wall pose. This definitely helps reset my mood and focus before I set out on my day.



In other news, Piggie has lost ten pounds since starting her diet in June (which is more than I can say for myself.). Obviously, the diet dog food is doing its job. One of the side effects of this new food is that her poop is as dry as saw dust. Moreover, she has to poop a lot more frequently and it takes her forever! Honestly, I find it quite bizarre. Hopefully, she will not need to be on this super expensive food for very long. 

Fortunately, this saw dust dry poop saved me from a Roomba poop apocalypse today. While, I took her out several times during the day. She went to the bathroom in the house while I was working. Unfortunately, this also coincided with the Roomba’s cleaning routine. This wouldn’t be our first Roomba vs. dog poop battle and it likely won’t be the last. In fact, I’ve switched the timing on the Roomba to mitigate the risk of these run-ins. Anyway, since her poop is sawdust dry that instead of smearing it everywhere it pushed it aside. Thank God!

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

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. I’ll be unable to run for at least four weeks.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Fortunately, it looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida.

*Uber Eats delivered my coffee for me today and will do so until we get another vehicle. 

*For dinner, we had leftovers. We cooked enough Sunday and Monday to have leftovers for tonight. Tuesdays are tough as both boys have hockey practice on opposites end of South Florida.

*The word of the day is cookie dough. Let’s be honest, there’s is nothing better than cookie dough when you’re going stir crazy.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance, which is why I’m now wearing a boot to protect my poor broken toe.


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Time is Flying

Time is flying by, more specifically, this year is moving fast. I can’t believe tomorrow will mark the start of September. In the first nine months of 2021, I feel like I’ve done so much without doing anything at all. Now I’m sure that hardly makes sense, but I think you now what I mean. This year, much like last year, continues to be far different than any other year I’ve experienced.

Since today was month end that brings an extra sense of urgency at any sales organization. My current organization is no exception. Month end during the low season is not awesome. I am counting down the days until AEP starts. Honestly, I love talking and helping people, which is what AEP represents to me.



After work, I took the Mayor to hockey practice. Today was the first day I’ve been back at the rink since spring hockey ended in June. It was great to be back and see my favorite people again. Naturally, it was good to watch the Mayor in his element as well. The squad looked good. I’m excited to see how they do this weekend in Orlando.

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

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. It feels like deja vu. I’ll be unable to run for at least four weeks. Time is flying in every aspect except for my return to running and I think that sucks!

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Fortunately, it looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida.

*Uber Eats delivered my coffee for me today and will do so until we get another vehicle.

* I watched the live Safaris on YouTube today. The safaris absolutely inspire me. The vistas are extraordinary and the animals wondrous. I simply have to see it in person!

*For dinner, we had leftovers. We cooked enough Sunday and Monday to have leftovers for tonight. Tuesdays are tough as both boys have hockey practice on opposites end of South Florida.

*The word of the day is two-fold supercilious and myocarditis. Many people have taken on a supercilious air when it comes to talking about masks or vaccines. Moreover, a lot of people are concerned about myocarditis as a vaccine side effect. They, however, seem to be less concerned about it as a side effect of the Corona virus, but I digress.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance, which is why I’m now wearing a boot to protect my poor broken toe.

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Happy Birthday Hubby!

Join me in wishing my hubby a very happy birthday! Today we chilled at home, which was nice. I’ve been a bit under the weather, in addition to the broken toe. Also, the Mayor was exposed to Covid last week, so today wasn’t a day to paint the town the red. (“Paint the town red,” what a brilliant bromide.) It really was a nice, low key day at home.

The hubby smoked a nice pork butt and grilled some yummy ribs. We used the ribs from Butcher Box for the first time today. While the ribs were tasty, they were pretty fatty. Moreover, some pieces had a lot of cartilage on them. Nevertheless, they tasted amazing. We also had some of the Hubby’s amazing grilled potatoes. Additionally, I air fried up some home made french fires. The food was awesome!! As was the company, since my brother was able to join us for lunch.

The Mayor tested negative on the rapid home test, but I still took him to Urgent Care tonight for a PCR test. Obviously, it’s never a fun time waiting at the Urgent Care, but the waiting room was mildly entertaining. First of all, the guy that came in immediately after us was looking to be seen because he got Palmolive (yes, the dish soap) in his eye. Given his conversation with the front desk, he’s definitely a frequent flyer. He was quite the character.

Secondly, a mom and her teen daughter came j for a Covid test. The daughter had two positive home tests and was coming in for the PCR. Wh they were in the waiting room, the mom called her daughter’s boss to tell him she wouldn’t been into work tomorrow. Moms, dads, guardians of the universe don’t do your kids dirty work. If they’re old enough to hold a job, they’re old enough to tell their boss they have Covid and can’t come in. #helicoptermom

I was also finally able to get my toe checked out by a doctor. Unfortunately, the urgent care (like many others) is short staffed and did not have an X-ray tech on staff today. Nevertheless, I was able to have a doctor evaluate it and re-wrap it. It’s broken, but I’ll go back tomorrow to have X-rays taken of my toe and foot. For the interim, the boot is back to ensure I don’t flex or bend the toe injuring it further.

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

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. It feels like deja vu.

*This morning I made homemade cookies and cream and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. For the Hubby’s birthday, we had ice cream sandwiches.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana today at a Cat 4 storm. That is a scary!

*The Hubby picked up coffee for me today since I was not feeling great this morning.

* I watched the live Safaris on YouTube today. The safaris absolutely inspire me. The vistas are extraordinary and the animals wondrous. I simply have to see it in person!

*For dinner, we had bbq ribs, potatoes, baked beans and brags. It was awesome!

*The word of the day and it is excellence. I had an interesting conversation on the topic over the weekend. The thing about excellence is that it should come intrinsically. One shouldn’t be reliant on outside influences to find excellence.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.

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Busted

Well they busted our tournament courtesy of Covid. Unfortunately, we learned that there was Covid case on the team, so they shut down the Mayor’s team for now. The Mayor was incredibly disappointed and frustrated by this news. Honestly, I’m both disappointed and relieved. I wasn’t looking forward to spending my weekend on my feet. However, I was very much looking forward to watching him play.

Speaking of busted, my toe looks pretty gnarly today. I’ve now got some bruising on the top of my foot and the side is swollen. The hubby taped it last night with a cotton ball and first aid tape. Afterwards, I ordered some buddy tape from Amazon, which was supposed to deliver it today. Unfortunately, Amazon is now delivering it on Sunday. Consequently, I ordered some for curbside pickup at Walgreens.

I decided I should probably get an X-ray to make sure my toe heals properly and rule out any issues with my foot. After all, the most important thing is for me to return to running as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the urgent cares around me had no capacity until tomorrow night at 7:00 pm or were closed at 6:00. I’ll probably try to get an X-ray tomorrow since this also happens to be my foot with the torn tendon. At any rate, my left is a hot mess right now.

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

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. It feels like deja vu. Just when I get started again, something derails my running.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Hurricane Ida is headed to the gulf coast potentially as a major hurricane. Meanwhile, there are still two areas of concern in the Atlantic.

*Goalielocks went back to school today, which was great. He loves school and hated being home, but he also understood it’s not okay to go to school sick. Naturally, I ordered my coffee via Uber Eats.

* I watched the live Safaris on YouTube today. The safaris absolutely inspire me. The vistas are extraordinary and the animals wondrous. I simply have to see it in person!

*For dinner, the hubby cooked vodka sauce pasta. It was yummy.

*The word of the day and it is stupefy. Sometimes at work I think there’s no way I can stupefy my explanation of coverage any further. In those cases, where the client clearly isn’t understanding, I ask to speak with their children before doing business with them.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.

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IT Crowd

If you haven’t watched the IT Crowd, you’ve got to check it out. It’s on Netflix and is absolutely hilarious. Jake got us hooked on this show while he was in tech school. My favorite episode by far is “The Outing.” Honestly, it’s probably one of the funniest episodes of any show I’ve ever watched. I’m just chilling watching the show while the Mayor is at practice and Goalielocks is attending his officiating seminar.

Admittedly, I’m a bit tired today. I slept okay, but it would appear I went a little too hard on leg day. When I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, oh the glories of motherhood, it took me forever. I could have used a railing to help me sit down and get up. My quads and my hamstrings are completely shot. They’re so sore that I had to skip my run today.

I kept Goalielocks home from school again. He’s still not feeling 100%, so I didn’t want to send him to school symptomatic. His Covid test was negative, but I’m pretty sure “sharing isn’t caring” also pertains to the common cold. Nonetheless, I’m anxious to get him back into school, so he doesn’t fall too far behind. Fortunately, neither the Mayor nor the Hubby have shown any signs of illness.

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

*I’m finished  Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy on Monday. Last night I started reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I skipped my run since my legs were ridiculously sore today. I did, however, complete my BBG arms/ab workout. Naturally, I feel that in skipping my run my workout today was insufficient.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again with three areas of concern. Unfortunately, the heat has really cranked up due to the Saharan dust cloud overhead.  

*Since Goalielocks is home sick, I drove to pick up my coffee this morning.

* Every day I watch the live Safaris on YouTube, I’m inspired. I never thought I’d be one for a safari, but the views and the animals are incredible. It’s now on my bucket list. Today was a banner day. I always love watching the young elephants or lions playing. They’re so cute!

*For dinner, I ordered Chipotle. The Mayor has practice late and Goalielocks is in a Zoom seminar until 10, so it was just more practical to order in.

*The word of the day and it is canvas. At work, I think of every day as a blank canvas. I don’t want one bad day of derail my week or month.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.

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Loss

Loss seems to be the overwhelming theme of 2020 and 2021. Life naturally brings us life as we age and the people we love age with us. It sucks but it’s reality. The past eighteen months, however, has presented us with loss on a scale we’re not accustomed to. Just this week, we have lost two hockey dads to COVID. Men that were far too young to leave this earth.

It’s, of course, a lot easier for us as adults to process these losses. Which is to say it’s not easy, but we’re better equipped than our kids to handle and process the grief. For our kids, it’s not just the loss of their friend’s parent they’re trying to process, but the possibility that they could lose their parents to Covid. To a kid of any age, this is terrifying.

The sense of loss, the fear of loss remains omni present even as we’re eighteen months into this thing. Honestly, it’s exhausting. Nonetheless, you have to live your life and move forward. The boys being back in school is an important step in moving forward. Moreover, hockey has been an integral part of keeping them socially engaged and active. During this difficult time, exercise be it hockey, running or lifting weights is an easy way to help cope during this period.

In other news, it’s only Tuesday. Truly, it feels like it should be Saturday already. This week is dragging. Fortunately, I had a much better day at work today. Thank God. They say laughter is the best medicine and I wholeheartedly agree, so I’ll leave you with this.

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

*I’m reading Far From the Madding Crowdby Thomas Hardy. At first I wasn’t sure about the book, but now I like it. Albeit some of the plot twists have left me aghast.

*I ran a mile and a half. It in many ways sucked. Especially since it’s my first run post leg day in over two months. Leg day yesterday killed me!

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again with three areas of concern. Fortunately, all the tropical weather is moving away from us! Unfortunately, the heat has really cranked up due to the Saharan dust cloud overhead.

*Since Goalielocks is home sick, I drove to pick up my coffee this morning. Fortunately, Goalielocks’ Covid test came back negative! Thank God!

* Every day I watch the live Safaris on YouTube, I’m inspired. I never thought I’d be one for a safari, but the views and the animals are incredible. It’s now on my bucket list. Today was a banner day. I always love watching the young elephants or lions playing. They’re so cute!

*For dinner, I made home made meatballs and spaghetti. Tonight we tried Michael’s from Brooklyn’s tomato basil sauce. It was super yummy. As a family, we’re trying all the top jarred spaghetti sauce. The Mayor and I love spaghetti, so I thought it would be a fun activity for us.

*The word of the day and it is kakorrhaphiophobia, which means and abnormal fear of failure. I think a lot of have a fear of failure, but for most it’s not a paralyzing fear.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.

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Fatigue

Guys the Covid fatigue is real and it couldn’t come at a worst time. Now more that ever, however, it is important to be vigilant and protects ourselves and our families. I know I’m sick of hearing/reading about it everywhere for the last fifteen months. Honestly, I’m most sick of the assholes on Facebook that think their opinions on masks and vaccines are important. Spoiler alert they’re not. Both sides are excruciatingly vapid and sanctimonious. At the end of the day, opinions on social media do nothing but turn people off. Moreover, the only opinion that should matter to anyone is the advice of their doctor. Rant over.

Of course Covid fatigue isn’t the only type of fatigue we’re battling here. With the school year and hockey season back in full swing, we’ve accepted that we’ll be exhausted for the next ten months. This year we have practice on four of five weekdays, which is great. One day off during the week is a bit brutal, but it could be worse. Practice could be five days a week like it was several years ago.

Speaking of hockey, last night we went out to dinner with some of our favorite hockey parents. I was super excited to try the prix fixe menu for Dine Out Delray. The best part of trying the special menu is it forces me to try something I wouldn’t ordinarily order. I already knew what I was going to order before we walked in the door.

Unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to the expectations. We were sat outside, which is an incredibly beautiful space. Sadly, it was also as hot as Hades. It took almost an hour before anyone took even our drink order and another hour to get our drinks. The whole dinner took over three hours. In contrast, the dinner at the steakhouse with 15 people took less than 90 minutes. Moreover, there was no excuse for the slowness as the restaurant was not full. We won’t be going back.

The dining didn’t live up to expectations, but fortunately the company exceeded expectations. People think travel hockey (travel sports) parents are crazy for the amount of time and money they invest into the sport. Fortunately, the time and money has paid dividends in life experiences and friendships that will last long after our travel hockey days are done. Yeah, we do it for our kids and they benefit greatly, but so do their parents.


On a side note, I spent some time updating the blog including my awesome Savings page. Affiliate relationships help cover the costs of this blog at no cost to my readers. Several companies are running some incredible sales in August. You can see them all on the savings page.

Lastly, a prayer request. Today one of the Mayor’s teammates lost his father to Covid. Please keep his teammate and his family in your prayers. Please also protect yourself and your family as best as possible because this thing is insidious and deadly even though Covid fatigue has set in.

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

*I’m reading Far From the Madding Crowdby Thomas Hardy. At first I wasn’t sure about the book, but now I like it. Albeit some of the plot twists have left me aghast.

*I ran for the first time since getting sick. It felt both glorious and awful all at once. My fellow runners will understand exactly what I mean.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. Fortunately, all the tropical weather is moving away from us! Unfortunately, the heat has really cranked up with heat indexes in the triple digits.

*I actually drove to my Dunkin’ this morning, which was awesome sauce. It’s always good to see my Dunkin’ crew.

*For dinner, the Hubby made Osso Bucco for dinner. Honestly, it was was amazing. Furthermore, the stew meat from Butcher Box was a big win.

*Today’s word of the day is destination. Life is a journey and we’re all headed to the same destination, so enjoy the journey.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Furthermore, he didn’t pull my arm off or anything like that. I put on his harness

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First Day

It’s the first day of school! Yay! The day is finally here. For the first time since March 2020, I had the house to myself during the day! Oh and naturally, the kids went back to their physical school for the first time in 18 months. In fact, today was the first time the Mayor set foot on his high school campus as a student.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled their back to in person instruction. It was awesome working the whole day with no interruptions or distractions. I was happy as a honeybee working uninterrupted for the first time in 18 months. The puppies sat quietly in my room most of the day. Thankfully, the peacefulness of the house translated into a very successful day on the phones. Truly, today was the polar opposite of yesterday from a sales perspective.

Colin’s first first day or school and his last first day of school

Of course today brought with it some emotion as we sent Goalielocks off to his last first day of school. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday he was heading to kindergarten. You’ll notice in the first day pictures that some things never change. Who knows if he’ll ever cooperate when I want to take his picture.

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

*I’m reading the Raider Bride. This is the third book thing the Norse Queen series. I love the world of Queen Asa.

*I’m still under the weather. Consequently, I took another rest day today.  Unfortunately, there will be no rollicking or running until I’m better.

*I ran to Dunkin’ to get my own coffee this morning. Just kidding, I had it delivered again. 

*For dinner, the I made myself chicken noodle soup, which is good for the soup and a cold.

*My favorite surprise on the underwater cams, I watch during work, is seeing an octopus. Today I watched the safari cam, which never disappoints.

*Today’s word of the day is grizzle. Yesterday afternoon there was a raccoon with a grizzled face in our avocado tree and it was quite the vision. 

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Today he didn’t pull my arm off or anything like that. I put on his harness