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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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Drained

For some reason, I’m drained this week. I mean running on empty and for no good reason. Every few weeks I get hit with a wave of major fatigue and this week is it Nonetheless, I still crushed my goals today. First, I killed my BBG ab workout this morning. Fortunately, it went really well. Immediately afterward, I went to Jen’s Gentle Flow class via Zoom. Let me tell you, her gentle flow class is just what the doctor ordered. My hips and legs were pretty tight this morning from running the last three days, so the hip and leg work was great for me. Once yoga finished, I grabbed a quick lunch in preparation for yoga teacher training. By a miracle of God, I was ready and on time for teacher training.

Today in yoga teacher training we spent our time focusing on the anatomy of the lower body. Specifically, we spent a lot of time studying the different muscles, how they interplay with each other, and what poses work these muscles. Meaning an issue in one muscle could throw off the entirety of the chain. My left leg, particularly my IT band, hamstrings, and hip muscles have been problematic. When you think about it makes sense that any alteration in gait or tightness in the IT band throws everything off. Moreover, it reinforces the importance of building mobility over flexibility or strength alone. Since I restarted my practice and exercise routine with a focus on building mobility, I no longer have pain when I run. Additionally, I’ve also incorporated a rigorous warm-up and cool-down routine to protect my muscles and promote mobility.

I had to share the great meme above because it’s my life. Honestly, this always happens at my house. Nobody, human or dog, needs anything until I have a minute to myself. Lately, these interruptions have been timed to coincide with Shavasana or the final relaxation pose. This pose is the penultimate moment of a yoga class wherein you are at your most peaceful and relaxed state. Naturally, this is when my kids need to ask if they can order food via DoorDash, ask if I’m done with yoga, ask for a ride to their friend’s house or let the dogs in. Honestly, their timing is the absolute worst. Anakin loves to come in when I’m doing yoga and give me kisses. Unfortunately, he makes it a little difficult to flow through the poses. Nonetheless, I’m acutely aware that someday soon these interruptions will cease.

The one benefit of feeling drained and being busy all day is that my social media use was at a minimum today. I’ve ranted on here before about Facebook, but it continues to get worse and worse. As a blogger, it would be difficult to disconnect from Facebook because its a good tool for promoting and sharing content. Comparatively, Facebook holds much less value for me as an individual. There is so much misinformation, anger and hate on the platform that it’s become untenable. People I thought were reasonable, loving individuals are seemingly filled with hate. I can’t imagine blocking or deleting someone because we hold a different opinion. Honestly, this is just childish.

My personal favorite is the people sharing the post from a middle-aged white guy’s opinion of a black women’s experience. Whether you agree with Candace Owens or not, can we agree that men need to stop speaking to an experience they can’t understand? My second favorite comes to us from the anti-masks folks. Wearing a mask in public will not kill you, nor will it change your Ph. It also doesn’t mean you support Bill Gate’s plan to take over the world or insert conspiracy theories here. It means you respect yourself and those around you. Truly, you wear a mask to protect the folks’ around you. It is not bulletproof but does add protection. Lastly, there seems to be an idea that we must all conform to all of the same opinions done to the minutia. That’s not how life works, nor how it should work.

Here the number of COVID cases continues to rise. I’ve been staying home aside from my daily coffee run and trip to the yoga studio. Honestly, I miss seeing my friends, but I don’t miss driving in the rain or rush hour traffic. Since I have an autoimmune disorder I play it safe and have all my groceries delivered. Additionally, I may have had all of Amazon delivered to my house in the last couple of months. Online shopping may make it way too easy to buy stuff I may or may not need. Although I’m fairly confident I need everything I bought. Now we’re almost to July, our puppy is seven months old. Jake has been in the service for over six months and will be 21 on Sunday. I’m bummed we can’t celebrate this milestone birthday with him this year, but we’ll make it up for it later.

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

*I miss my airmen

*Researched RV rentals for a possible trip cross country

*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 5 abs

*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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Back at It

I was back at it today! After taking five days off of running, I got back on the treadmill today. Thankfully, my foot has been feeling better after the TLC I gave it this weekend. I’m a bit relieved because I was worried I re-injured and obliterated the tendon. Fortunately, it also felt good during and after the run. I’ll probably ice it tonight just to keep the inflammation under control. The ice really helps with the tendinitis and tenosynovitis I have in the same tendon that is torn. Hopefully, the foot is still feeling good tomorrow and able to tolerate the HIIT run.

My run this morning went really well considering it’s been five days. Of course, I was happy to be reacquainted with my favorite HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. For this run, I alternated between three tempos 6.5, 6.0 and 5.5 miles per hour. I don’t walk during the run, so the 5.5 mph serves as a resting period. Additionally, I keep myself occupied by changing the tempo every minute. After my cool down on the treadmill, I took to my mat to stretch and foam roll my muscles.

Throwback of an evening run with my Bookends In Minnesota

As soon as I finished my cool down, I headed to the yoga studio for my Tuesday class. It was a little bit different today. Monica added in some gentle flow, which was a nice change. My yoga practice always comes to the rescue and keep my legs and hips healthy. This has remained the case as I’ve continued to add mileage to my runs this spring. Today’s class was fantastic and left me feeling invigorated and refreshed. Moreover, I got to see some friends in class that I haven’t seen since the pandemic started. Honestly, it’s great being able to see people in person again.

My afternoon was pretty relaxed. The dogs and I chilled on the couch. Poor Anakin was a bit gash this afternoon while he slept. Actually, I guess should say poor Athena as she was sleeping next to Anakin’s rear. She slept through the first two, but with the third one she opened her eyes, sniffed his butt, and gave him the stink eye before falling back asleep. Meanwhile, the little man slept through all of it. The Mayor and I watched Grown Ups, while the dogs slept.

This evening I made a Blue Apron Italian pork sausage and broccoli pasta courtesy of Blue Apron. The finished dish featured fried sage leaves, which were super yummy. Consequently, I’m probably going to add sage to our backyard garden. Technically, we still have a duck nest back there, but I haven’t seen her in days. Although I guess we could plant on the other side of the rosemary bush next to the pineapple. As for the kids, both tried and hated the dish. I’m not sure, however, that either boy approached it with an open mind.

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

*Finished O Pioneers by Willa Cather starting Elizabeth Gaskells biography on Charlotte Bronte tonight.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

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

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*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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Gave Myself a Break

I gave myself a break today from my usual workout routine. Particularly, I skipped my run. Technically speaking, I didn’t so much skip it as I aborted it as I began. Over the past few weeks, I’ve ramped up my running and it’s been going really well. Until it wasn’t… For whatever reason, my foot is not good. Unfortunately, I have pain in my heel similar to when I first tore the tendon. Needless to say, it was a good opportunity to rest instead of trying to push through the run.

Photo creds to the PB Morning Skate

The pain carried over to yoga, so I used the wall for balance poses on the left foot. As for the rest of yoga, I modified where I needed to for my foot. Meanwhile, the entire class made the rest of my body incredible. However, I noticed with the increased pain in my left foot and ankle came an increased level of tightness through the entirety of my left leg. Naturally, I probably changed my gait to mitigate the pain. As for the rest of the day, I tried to have my foot elevated as much as possible.

I was jumping for joy (not literally) because I had an interview this afternoon that I was excited about. Consequently, for the first time on months I put on eye makeup. Since the interview was in Zoom, I only got dressed from the waist up. Unfortunately, it was obvious early in the call that this was not a legitimate opportunity. At best, it’s a side gig. At worst it’s a complete scam. Needless to say, it’s not for me either way. Honestly, I’m thankful that it was a Zoom call, so I could research the company as we talked.

After sweating it out through the Zoom call, the Mayor and I headed to Target to pick up my prescriptions. Fortunately, the pharmacy wasn’t too busy, so we were in and out pretty quick. As for the rest of the afternoon, I spent it watching Seinfeld while elevating my foot. I did take a brief interlude from resting my foot to make a great meal for the boys before they had to leave for hockey.

Today has been tough as I learned a former colleague, Ian, passed way from COVID19 yesterday. It was unexpected and hit many of us like a lightning bolt. Later in the day, my fellow hockey mom Michelle messaged to me sharing that she’d been fighting the disease for five days now. Markedly she deceived being in horrific pain with a seriously high fever. Fortunately, she’s able to stay at home and monitor her oxygens levels there. Also, Goalielocks’ friend Jorden continues to struggle with the injuries he sustained in his ATV accident. His mother, my dear friend, is presently with him in Arizona. I cannot imagine what she and her husband are currently experiencing. Lastly, Goalielocks’ friend Cole has chemo this week. Please pray that it goes well for Cole. Please keep my friends and their families in your prayers as they are desperately needed.

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

*Reading O Pioneers by Willa Cather

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Gentle Flow with Jenn at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin

*Obedience training Anakin

*Still missing my airmen!! I love him!

*Learned that the word sibilant means making or characterizing a hissing sound

*Week 4 BBG 2.0 day 4 yoga and skipped cardio

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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Missing My Airmen

Today is one of those days I’m really missing my airmen. Albeit, today was a good day. It’s just one of those day’s that I would have loved being able to see his face and give him a hug. Being a military mom is hard sometimes, especially when you don’t know when you’ll see your airmen next. Fortunately, I am blessed with the knowledge that my airmen is happy and thriving in his new role.

I actually got an early start to the day since I didn’t snooze my alarm. Consequently, there were no lakes in any of the puppies’ crates. Early on in the day it was evident that leg day was super effective. Naturally, my Tuesday runs tend to be more difficult as my muscles are sore from the previous day’s workout. Nonetheless, I powered through and logged another 2.7 miles on the treadmill. Of course, I was enjoying the musical stylings of Metallica while taking in the comedic antics of Larry David.

Afterward, I headed to the studio for my favorite yoga class of the week. In fact, it was even better this week as my friend Pam was back in class. Yay!!!! My legs and hips were quite fatigued from the run and the work yesterday, but the yoga did a body good. Right before class started my girlfriend Pam, who hasn’t seen me since the Covid19 shut down, told me how fit looked. Clearly, there can be no doubt: the BBG plan, running and yoga classes are working!

I spent my afternoon in the company of one of my favorite people – Terri. Initially, we were going to go to Starbucks, but since there is not eating available we decided against it. Consequently, we ended up sharing an appetizer of vegetables with hummus and tzatziki at the Greek restaurant next door. First of all, it was nice to be eating in a restaurant (even if we were the only ones there.). Secondly, the food was very tasty and healthy! Lastly and most importantly, the time was spent in great company. Truly, it was a wonderful afternoon.

We both have the honor and distinction of being military moms. Terri’s son has been in for several years now, so she’s a pro. Consequently, she and her hubby have been great resources for the hubby and I as we embark on this new chapter of our lives. Moreover, she understands what it’s like to not be able to see your child for extended periods of time or worry about where they’ll be stationed. At the end of the day, however, what’s most important is the pride we both have for our children that serve. Nonetheless, I would love to see my airmen soon!

Meanwhile at the homestead, the Mayor continues to get non-stop, round the clock FaceTime calls. Since we share an Apple ID, our phones don’t stop running. It’s driving my nuts. As for Goalielocks, he’s been hanging out with his school friends tonight. Since the virus shut things down, this is only the second time he’s been able to see his friends. Additionally, instead of hanging out at someone’s house, they’ve been meeting at the courts and pool instead. This way they’re outside and not in close quarters.

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

*Reading Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin

Anakin loves sleeping on my legs

*Gentle Flow with Monica from Open Heart Studio

*Obedience training Anakin

*Coffee and appetizers with Terri

*Missing my airmen!! I love him!

*Dropped Goalielocks off at his friend’s clubhouse in Boca.

*Cooked a super yummy dinner courtesy of our friends at Blue Apron

*Week 4 BBG 2.0 day 2 cardio – run, Forest run

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for dinner 

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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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Missed a Day

So I missed a day! In my quest to write everyday since the pandemic began, I’ve only missed two days. Unsurprisingly, there is a commonality involved in both of these days. I’ll give you a hint, if tastes good and includes tequila. Yep, you guess it it was another epic night of margaritas and Prosecco. On the scale of margarita nights, it was a one paragraph night. Meaning I could only read one paragraph in my book before falling asleep.

Nonetheless, the margaritas were the perfect happy ending to a productive weekend. Before I got to Sunday night, I competed my Chair Yoga Certification with Eva at Open Heart Yoga Studio. Let me tell you, I wish I had chair yoga available to me when I tore my tendon. I could have kept up my practice without injuring my ankle further. Moreover, as the chair yoga class I took showed, the calorie burn was equivalent to a mat yoga class.

It was truly an eye opening experience. What I love about chair yoga is it makes yoga accessible. Importantly, I’m pursuing my yoga teacher training because I want to help people help themselves. A regular yoga practice has been cathartic band healing for me. Additionally, the training provided me with the opportunity to practice teaching. However, the best part of training was the teacher and fellow students. I learned so much from everyone. Eva teaches an amazing yoga class and is the perfect teacher. I loved every minute of it.

Pursuing yoga teacher training coincides perfectly with my desire to pursue a life where peace and happiness are the only choice. Clearly this doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect, but the things that no longer served me will be gone. Too often the only lens we see in this world is the one that gives the bleakest picture. All weekend we were inundated with pictures of rioters and looters. Meanwhile there were beautiful and meaningful protests going on across the country and in conjunction with local law enforcement. Even in the craziness, there was love to be found.

The last several months have been incredibly difficult for everyone: especially virtual school. So naturally I had to celebrate the end of the school year. The margaritas PJ was making were so good that we had a bit of a goose that laid the golden egg situation. We went through all the mixers and alcohol. Fortunately, I came prepared with a chilled bottle of Prosecco. Once the margarita well ran dry, the Prosecco rose merrily to the challenge.

We had such a great time with Mel and her folks last night. Since she officially graduates on Wednesday, we brought over her graduation gifts and card. Fortunately, we got a gift ourselves when Jake called via FaceTime. It was a lot of fun for him to talk to all of us. After awhile, we decided to give my parents a call, so we all spoke on FaceTime. It was great to see Jake looking so great and happy to be talking to everyone. Additionally, it was a great distraction for my parents after all the riots in Minnesota this past week.

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

*Reading Vilette a wonderful book by Charlotte Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*watched Bolt

*Obedience training Anakin

*Enjoyed a well cooked dinner courtesy of myself and Blue Apron!

*Week 3 BBG 2.0 day 1 legs

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

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