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Great Time

I had a great time this weekend with the puppies traipsing through the neighborhood. I spent much of it at home binge-watching Sex Education on Netflix. The show is both well-written and well-acted. Gillian Anderson’s performance is amazing. Needless to say, the show was really entertaining and provided a good backdrop to my weekend and my weekend chores. I have to say it’s nice to have full authority over what I watch on television. It’s been a long time since that’s happened.

Saturday afternoon I made it out for my good friend Lisa’s birthday party. Lisa is one of my favorite Kaplan people and I hadn’t seen her in so long, so I didn’t want to miss it. The weather was looking a bit sketchy, so I was worried there’d be a shower or two, but the weather held out. This is important since the party was on a tiki taxi that cruises the Intracoastal. For $10, you can ride it for as long as you’d like and it comes back to the dock on the hour. It also has a bar onboard and a jukebox. Ok, probably not a jukebox, but the music covered all the genres much like a jukebox.

In addition to Lisa, there were a bunch of great people from Kaplan that I hadn’t seen in forever. I got laid off shortly before the pandemic, which really put a damper on all of our social lives. I’ve seen a couple of them at concerts, but it was so good to see so many folks in person again and reconnect. We ended up in the tiki taxi for a couple of hours. The weather was overcast with a nice breeze, which was perfect because it kept us from getting too hot. It was a great night.

Yesterday I spent the morning doing chores. After lunch, I headed to Terri and PJ’s house for coffee. It was nice to see them again. I haven’t seen anyone for months thanks in part to travel and an autoimmune flare. Thankfully, I think I’ve been on the upswing. Hopefully, my doctor will think so too when I go see her for a follow-up tomorrow. I ended my weekend with some sushi and more Netflix. It was a great weekend.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I was given was to cherish and enjoy my kids’ childhoods. When you’re a new mom, the advice sounds a bit cliche. When you’re the mom of a screaming toddler, the advice seems absolutely ludicrous. And when you’re dealing with a teenager and big kid problems, woah the advice can feel dead wrong. When, however, your kids leave the nest, it makes sense completely. The bad days make up such a minuscule part of your life, but the good days and joys of raising your kids far outweigh everything else. So if you’re kids are young and you’re reading this, buckle up and enjoy the ride because it’s over really fast.

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Better Day

It’s been a better day. Probably because I had a better night. My first night’s sleep after stopping the prednisone was a huge success. Not only did I fall asleep pretty easily, but I managed to stay asleep and get some deep sleep. The past month falling asleep and quality of sleep have been a major issue, so last night was a gift. I’m hoping tonight will be similarly successful. Of course, it helps that I’m not a Jets fan because losing your expensive future HOFer QB in game 1 sucks royally.

Work has been better too, albeit it slow. I did get my workout over lunch and it went well. I’m contemplating writing a proposal letter to move my schedule, but I really like getting off at 5:00 pm. Especially since I know the craziness of AEP is right around the corner. I guess I’ll stick out the slow mornings and count my blessings. Hopefully, AEP, which is our busiest time of year, is absolutely banging.

Yesterday’s workout was an absolute gong show, so I wasn’t sure how today would go. Fortunately, as hard as yesterday’s workout was, today’s came with relative ease. I definitely wasn’t working on an exit strategy today like I was from the beginning of yesterday’s workout. Today’s workout was hills and speed pushes ranging from moderate to all out. The interval work is really elevating my running game.

What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?

The biggest red flag for me is someone who always, no matter what, sees the glass as half empty. To be clear, I’m not looking to hangout with Pollyanna and her perpetual positivity either. My experience however, with folks that only see the glass half empty is they can never get themselves out of the negative feedback loop. They can never move forward or upward in life because something bad may happen. And quite frankly, the overarching negativity may be a symptom of a greater mental health issue I’m not equipped to navigate.

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Monday, Monday

“Monday, Monday” damn now I have that Mamas and the Papas song stuck in my head. It’s been a shit day at work, which happens. It’s literally one of the most normal things in a salesperson’s life. Not all days are gonna be easy. Anyway, this is usually a non factor because anyone that works sales knows this axiom to be true except for one person who shall remain nameless. While they shall remain nameless, they shall live in shame and infamy for their ridiculousness. Anyway, time to brush that shit off my shoudlers and move on.

If I seem a bit cranky, it’s because I am. I haven’t slept well since mid August and I need my sleep. The fact that I can’t fall asleep is driving me nuts. I’m hoping since I stopped taking the prednisone yesterday that my sleep pattern will go back to normal. Hopefully, once my sleep goes back to normal everting else falls back into place. This past month has been really tough. I’ve pretty much had to cancel any and every plans I’ve had even when I was in Minny because I wasn’t up for them physically.

Anyway, I didn’t get much accomplished this weekend outside of baking. I did, however, get our bushes fertilized and trimmed. Unfortunately, the skies didn’t open up like I had hoped, but hopefully we get some rain today. Afterwards. the Hubby walked me through his plans for the bedrooms upstairs. Spoiler alert, they’re going to look amazing once he’s through with them. My only feedback was to get the painting and closet organizers done first, so we can maximize the space.

I did two bakes this weekend to keep myself busy since leaving the house was a risky endeavor. The first bake was a homemade toaster strudel. I’ll share the recipe in a later post, but it’s super easy. It’s literally puff pastry, the filling of your choice, and simple frosting. Honestly, this is a recipe I’ll make often when the boys are home. It’s simple, but really tasty. The second bake I made was an attempt at Paul Hollywood’s recipe of Kouign-Amann, which is a magnificent dessert from Brittany. It was a lot more complicated, but very tasty.

Describe your ideal week.

My ideal week is one spent exploring the world with my family. It’s not spent behind a desk or on a couch. I’m looking forward to the week I have planned for Jake and I exploring Utah’s Mighty Five and the surrounding national monuments and state parks. Adventure, hiking and exploring the world is something that I enjoy. I find myself at peace up in the mountains of Utah, so I’m really looking forward to my trip.

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Coming Home

Goalielocks is coming home tonight and I’m so excited to see him. He hasn’t been home since early August. Since that time I’ve had a few orders come in for him from Fabletics and picked up a few goodies for him in Minnesota. It wouldn’t be a trip home if I didn’t pick up some swag from the boys’ favorite teams. I meant to pick up some Vikings socks for him last trip, but totally forgot. Oh well, there’s always next time.

The house looks relatively clean, which is a new development in our lives. Usually between, work, hockey and school it looks like a bomb has gone off in every room. Now I’m relishing the peaceful bliss of order. This isn’t to say we’ve gone all Mari Kondo on the place, just that it’s not a complete shit show anymore. My hubby set up my monitors mounts, so I now I have a lot more desk space. I started using a keyboard, but I’m not used to the typewriter like keyboard anymore. I’m so used to using my laptop keyboard, so it’s been a struggle.

10 out of 10 recommend this strategy

After work, I’m going to run to Publix to pick up some goodies for dinner and salami for the dogs. Before that I’ll be defrosting some steaks for us to grill. I’m really craving some sweet potatoes and sautéed spinach, so that will round out the meal nicely. I love roasted sweet potatoes. There a nice, and healthier, alternative to regular potatoes, which I love. After dinner, I’m thinking we’ll watch Joe Dirt. We were trying to find it streaming the other day, but could only find it for rent. Fortunately, TBS is running it live all week.

If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?

Uh, so it’s not really a word, but I feel like I use uh way too much. Especially when I’m on the phone. It’s annoying.

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Half Way

We’re half way to Friday. Could there be a better gift than a short work week? I don’t think so. Absolutely everything about a shortened work week is an absolute delight. What has not been delightful this week is my inability to fall asleep thanks to the prednisone. I’ve tried everything from teas, to patches and gummies, but nothing helps. Once I fall asleep, I’ve been sleeping pretty well. Hopefully tonight will be one filled with a goodnight’s sleep.

Work continues to pick up and be busy, which is a welcome change. The past 16 months have been way too slow. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to make some good money during AEP. I’m not, however, looking forward to working the insane hours that AEP brings. Next week our company publishes its annual results, so I’m anxiously waiting that report. The stock hasn’t had the best couple of years, so some good news would be welcomed.

Share a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home.

In 2018, Jake and went to Scandinavia with my brother and sister in law. On this trip, we visited Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. Helsinki is the furthest I’ve been from home clocking in at 5,100 miles away. Nevertheless, like the rest of Scandinavia, I felt completely at home in Helsinki. We spent several days there and watched the Florida Panthers practice. I really enjoyed the city, it’s sites and it’s people. I’ll definitely return to Helsinki.

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Negative

I’m Covid negative and thrilled. I tested negative again this morning, so I was finally able to start the prednisone. I don’t know if it’s the coffee or prednisone, but I am feeling good. There’s no sign of roid rage yet, but Hubby should probably be on guard for that. Since I was Covid negative, I did go for a run on the treadmill and it was awesome. This was my first time running with Sherica, on apple fitness +, and it was an awesome workout. The playlist was straight fire.

So perhaps the negative test is what’s making me so positive today. It didn’t hurt that I had a brief chat, via text, with the Mayor’s billet mom. She’s just the sweetest. She shared that he’s adjusted really well to living away from home and the junior hockey life. Obviously, she wanted to know if we felt it was going well or if the Mayor had said anything. I shared that he’s only reached out when he needs something, which means he’s doing well. Of course, I let her know that all his feedback about the experience thus far has been positive. I’m really glad it’s going well because he can be ridiculous at times (iykyk.)

How are you feeling right now?

I’m feeling pretty good. I think it’s the steroids, but it’s Friday night and I have a long weekend in front of me. My son in Ft Myers is doing well. Jake got the position he wanted, which I’m super excited about. I’ll hold off saying more until I know more. Hopefully, the steroids will give me the energy to knock out a lot of things on my to do list. Tomorrow I’m going to return the bedding we bought the Mayor as he didn’t need it. I think I’ll use my Kohl’s cash to buy some artwork to decorate the soon to be guest rooms.

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The Storm

The storm has pulled out of Florida. We continue to experience gusty winds and a few fast moving showers. Last I spoke with Melly, she still had power, but her AC had seized up. The AC will definitely do that during a storm. Typically, you’ll turn your AC down as low as possible, so your house stays cool as long as possible once you lose power. Right now it appears everyone came through the storm unscathed. Okay, just confirmed with Melly’s mom she’s come through the storm with no damage.

Meanwhile, I went to the doctor to address the asthma that’s been a pain in my chest. (See what I did there? I worked in a nice little boffola.) My lungs were pretty tight and the wheezing was obvious. Consequently, I’m starting back on Singulair today. She also added a daily inhaler, prednisone, and refilled my rescue inhaler. Hopefully, this will clear out my lungs, so I can hike Utah’s parks without issue. Nevertheless, I will be following up with my doctor before I head west to be sure it’s safe for me to hike. Given the remoteness of the Mighty Five, I want to be sure I’m medically cleared to hike them.

I finished out the day at work by Facebook stalking the Mayor. He’s in week two of Eels training camp and is really enjoying it. They works these kids hard, which is awesome. It’s exactly what we’re paying them for. The best part is the hard work and discipline that comes from hockey will follow the Mayor for the rest of his life. It was great to hear from Jake that he felt playing hockey prepared him well for basic training.

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?

The last thing I searched online for was if my dogs could safely eat peaches. I decided to cut up a peach for my smoothie tonight and wanted to share it with the puppies. Turns out it is safe for them to eat peaches just not in massive quantities. Arrow loved the peach. Anakin was a bit tentative, but ended up enjoying it.

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Midweek

It’s midweek, which while better than Monday it isn’t Friday. Nevertheless, the majority of the work week is now behind me. I shouldn’t complain too loudly since I can work from wherever I want. This week I’m working out of my parents house in Minny. My schedule is 8-5 est, which leads me plenty of time in the evenings to workout, visit folks or just be lazy.

Last night we went to Panino’s for dinner. Panino’s was one of my favorite restaurants before we moved to Florida. I was happy to see that the restaurant hasn’t lost its sparkle. The food, I had the chicken fajita panino, was very good. In fact, it my leftovers were the perfect stay to feed my face post run. The restaurant was a lot less busy than it used to be, but there are a lot more dining options now available in the area.

After dinner, I headed over to visit my friend Matt who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic. It was really nice to see him and reconnect after all these years. Honestly, it feels like all of us were just in high school yesterday. That feeling is definitely at odds with the fact all three of my boys have left the nest. It was the great day and a great night. The only thing missing was my adorable puppies and their excited wiggles when they see me.

Speaking of my empty nest, all three boys are doing well. The Mayor reached out looking for some protein powder and bio freeze. Apparently, they must be working him pretty hard in Ft Myers’s. Goalielocks started classes and volleyball practice this week, which are both going well. Jake and I are working on the logistics of our Mighty Five Adventure.

What motivates you?

My boys have always been a big source of motivation. I can hardly ask them to work towards becoming the best version of themselves if I’m not setting example. Speaking of motivated, I’m on a three day streak of running outside. Unfortunately, I’ll have to go back to running on the treadmill once back home due to the heat. I am, however, really enjoying running on the track.

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Greetings from Minny

Greetings from Minny. It’s good to back home with my family for the week. I was actually able to run outside this afternoon during my lunch hour. It wasn’t the best run of of my life, but it went well considering I haven’t run outside for over a year. The middle school by my folks’ house has a nice track, so I went up there for the run. I set timer of 30 minutes and ended up at nearly 2.5 miles. Clearly, they were the prettiest or my fastest miles, but I got them done.

Working from here has its perks. All of my clock are set at the same time zone. I can’t tell you how disorienting it is moving between time zones every day. Unfortunately, the different time zone also makes it entirely too easy to screw up appointment times. This is where my paper planner comes in handy. Far from obsolete, my planner ensure I get to the meeting at the right time in the right time zone. As for work itself, the queue was busy this morning, but it’s been a slow afternoon.

Yesterday, I got my see my Grandma T, my uncle Mark and my brother Justin’s family. Justin and Monisha hosted a bbq at their cabin, which is absolutely beautiful. The breeze off the lake was perfect and the scenery was sublime. It was nice to spend time with all of them while enjoying some amazing burgers and pickle roll ups.

Meanwhile in Ft Myers, the Mayor started his first day of training camp. I’m anxious to hear how it went for him and his roommates. He moved into his billet house yesterday. Thankfully, the billet family seems wonderful. His billet mom Tracey reminds him of his Grandma Dawn, which I’m sure helps smooth the transition. He’ll be living in Estero, which isn’t too far from the rink. It will also give him an opportunity to officiate at Hertz Arena. Lastly, the puppies seem to be behaving for the hubby, but they definitely miss their mama.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I enjoy telling stories and sharing my thoughts. It’s a soothing exercise in self-expression that helps me manage my stress.

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Goodbyes

Goodbyes are never easy, but saying goodbye you r baby before he leaves the west coast is a fucking gut punch. Parents that have sent their kids off to to the military, college or junior hockey know the mixed bag of pride and sadness that comes with this particular goodbye. Perhaps it’s that these particular drop offs represent and end of a life stage it be it in their life or yours. Not to be overly esoteric or anything like that.

The Mayor heads west to Fort Myers tomorrow for orientation and Eels training camp. He’ll be moving into his billet house tomorrow as well. The Hubby is baking up some of his trademark chocolate chip cookies for the billet family. While the hubby bakes, the Mayor will finish packing up his stuff. He was pretty much ready to go before I left, but knowing him he’ll be thoroughly checking everything twice like Santa Claus.

I’m currently 35,000 feet above the ground watching Drop Dead Gorgeous. (Thank you Daddy Delta for the upgrade to Comfort+. Funny, I don’t remember the “Minnesota” accent being so thick when I watched the movie in 1999. Now that I’ve been living in Florida, I’m hoping it’s an exaggeration and not typical. I suppose it’s not so surprising that the accent would become more noticeable after moving away. Anyway, the movie is pretty amazing.

Thankfully, my travel day has gone smooth so far. Checkin and security were both a breathe. The Sky Club was packed to the gills. Can we just agree that people that take up an extra table for their stuff are worse than gate lice? When did folks become so freaking entitled? On the upside, the food was mighty tasty today. And now back to my in flight entertainment, which is now Curb!