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Almost Christmas

It’s almost Christmas and I’m nowhere near ready. I think, like most other parents, I find December to be completely overwhelming. The only kid I’ve finished shopping for is Jake. However, I had to finish shopping for him early due to potential shipping delays. As for everyone else, I still have a lot shopping to do. I also have quite a bit of baking to finish.

Tomorrow I see my endo, which I’m excited for. I’m back to being hyperthyroid, which is no good. I’d like to be sure that I still have the all clear to workout. Unfortunately, hyperthyroidism can come with some nasty and dangerous cardiac issues, which is super lame. Nevertheless, I’m hoping I don’t have to wait for my thyroid levels get back to normal before I can workout again.

This is an expected bump in the road. Our bodies are always changing, so the Synthroid has to be adjusted accordingly. Nonetheless, I have so much to do that I don’t need anything else to worry about. I recently saw a meme that speaks to how most moms feel this time of the year… There’s so much for us to do that it can be overwhelming. Especially as we as it’s almost Christmas.

Yesterday Goalielocks had games because the league never returned out coach’s call. We had two kids out sick with COVID exposure, but since we’re not the Makos we played with a short bench. I keep reminding myself that we only have a short time left in this infuriating league. Honestly, I’ve never seen a league that applies the rules so disproportionately.

Moreover, this is the first league we’ve been apart of where the rules that are adopted are punitive or the kids and not the adults. For example, the league penalizes thr kids instead of punishing coaches or organizations. (and Like the Makos U18AA head coach coming into my kid’s locker room to recruit players before our game.) A player has to play single A because the percentage of returning players is too low on the AA team. How about instead of penalizing the kids, you penalize the known offenders?

Anyway, Goalielocks and his goalie mate had great games. We ended up winning the first game 4-2. Goalielocks had the best game I’ve seen him play in awhile. Although to be fair, I’ve missed a lot of his games this season. His goalie partner was equally impressive in the second game. They’re such a great tandem. They really enjoy each other’s company and support each other. It was a great Sunday for our Tendies!

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Rest

I’ve been all about rest since the craziness ended. Fortunately, as busy as AEP was for us, the days following have been the polar opposite. In fact, I don’t remember it being this slow last year. I mean, I’m talking a handful of leads per day, which is insanity. Thankfully, our leaders have been generous with cutting us loose when it’s completely dead. Consequently, I was done with work by 3:30.

Nonetheless, I’m still recuperating from AEP. My body still feels likes it is in overdrive. Well, probably because it is. I got my lab results back and I’m super hyper again. In fact, my TSH is barely detectable. My T3 is way out of range and my T4 is also high. Clearly, my doc will be making some adjustments to my thyroid meds come Tuesday morning.

Well, I’ve been feeling restless. I haven’t been feeling unwell. At least, I don’t feel as bad as when I was first diagnosed. It could explain the issues I’ve been having with my shoulders and legs. When you’re thyroid is off, your tendons can’t function like they’re supposed to, which can lead to frozen shoulder and other tendon issues. It’s also the reason it took so long for my posterior tibial tendon to heal.

I’m absolutely loving my wireless headset. I’ve been so productive at home while work has been slow. It’s nice to feel like I’m finally accomplishing something around the house. Moreover, it’s nice not being tethered to a chair for the whole day. I love being able to be mobile all day long. Obviously, it’s also much better for my back. My back was starting to get angry after those long AEP days.

Jake called this afternoon. He looked and sounded great. We loved that behind him there was a picture of Prison Mike. If you watch the Office, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Anyway, I’m enjoying this well deserved period of rest, so I’m gonna get back to it.

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Struggle

The holidays are an awesome time, but for many folks it can be a struggle. Our Thanksgiving was awesome. We had a great time celebrating with our family in Florida, but there was an emptiness there. It’s our second Thanksgiving with Jake not at the table and it doesn’t get easier. We did get a special call from him, which did ease the pain somewhat. Nevertheless, I miss him.

The FaceTime was a lot of fun. He got to talk to my Grandma, who he is really close to, my uncle, my parents and of course my brothers and their families. It was really special for him to be able to talk with my Grandma. She was so delighted to be able to chat with him. Honestly, it was the perfect Thanksgiving surprise.

I took some time off from blogging last week because I’m emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted. So much so that I slept most of Thanksgiving. I fell asleep at my brother’s after dinner and was in bed by 8:30 pm. Staying awake was definitely a struggle for me on Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s just best to rest and take a break than stress write a blog.

AEP will be over in little more than a week and then I will spend December recuperating. My company is giving us the option to take as much time off in December as we want, which is awesome. Except for the fact, it’s a sales job and to make money, you have to be present. I’ll be taking some time off, but I intend to maximize my time in the office.

Anyway, this holiday season choose kindness. There are so many people dealing with unseen challenges one couldn’t imagine, be nice. Be the person that brings someone else up. It’s free to be nice, so give the gift of kindness this holiday season. Your kindness may make all the difference for someone who is struggling this season.

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Redefined

It’s amazing how success and failure can redefined in our minds as time goes on. My day at work was arduous and slow, but still quite lucrative. In fact, it was more than double the business I wrote this same time last year. Yet I left work feeling defeated for not hitting my personal goal. This despite the fact I worked over twelve hours today.

Days like this remind me of how wonderful and horrible people can be. On one call I’d speak tor the coolest person ever. Unfortunately, the next call would be the biggest tool ever. There are some truly miserable people out there. Honestly, it must really suck to live their lives. I can’t imagine how terrible their lives must be that they act so horribly. Meanwhile, some people I work with are in terribly tough situations, but are the sweetest, kindest soul you could ever meet.

Speaking of redefined, I’ve had to redefine my expectations for running. I’ve been back to running since 2019 (albeit not consistently,) yet I’m still so slow. Before I got hurt and sick, I got my split time on a 5k down to 9 minutes and 14 seconds. Now a fast mile more me is nearly eleven minutes. Needless to say, I’m not thrilled about it. I’ve redefined success to being able to run two miles three times a week either on the treadmill or outside.

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Melancholy Monday

It was a melancholy Monday. I’m just kidding is there ever a Monday that isn’t melancholy?!? Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of sleep night, so I didn’t head into the day with a good start. To make matters worse, my coffee took almost ninety minutes to be delivered. Moreover, when it was delivered the coffee had been spilled.

My work day dragged as client after client was looking for free coverage. It’s a bit frustrating when call after call takes the same path. Nonetheless, my day turned out to be relatively successful. I’m hopeful, however, that tomorrow will be a bit more fruitful since I’m heading out on PTO Friday.

Speaking of time off, in four days I’ll have all my boys in the same place!! The excitement is palatable. I’m looking forward to having time off and spending it with my family. Moreover, it will be great to enjoy some cooler temperatures for awhile. September in Florida is unbearably hot and humid.

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

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

*I skipped my run tonight as I had to a PanCan affiliate meeting to attend.

*Four days until I’ll have all my boys in one place!

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. Fortunately, it still looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida. Although we have two systems in the Atlantic Peter followed by Rose.

*Tonight I made chicken stir fry from scratch tonight.

*The word of the day is gallery. One of the longest tasks of publishing a blog post is selecting the best images for the gallery.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Fortunately, we had no run-ins with the toads, lizards or grasshoppers today.

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Pandemonium

It was utter pandemonium this morning as I rolled out of bed (I mean the couch) five minutes before my shift begins. Since the AC wasn’t working downstairs last night, I slept out on the couch. The upstairs AC keeps the family room much cooler than our room. I’m not sure how I slept through my multiple alarms, but obviously I needed to sleep.

I went in to work feeling like I had run a race to get there despite the fact my office is in my room. Nevertheless, the late wake up call coupled with the lack of AC in my home office didn’t make for a good start to the work day. It was super rushed. Now somehow I managed to order my coffee via Uber Eats before falling back asleep. Who knows how long it sat outside my front door before I finally picked it up.

Meanwhile, the Hubby had arranged for an AC guy to come this morning. Obviously, this was very much appreciated, but it did add to the pandemonium of the morning. As is always the case, the AC guy didn’t show up until I got on to a phone call. My cell was blowing up with messages from the Hubby and the AC guy checked out our outside unit. Honestly, it was more stressful than it needed to be, but in the end it was worth it since the AC now works.

I’m still dealing with the cold, which sucks balls. It’s gotten a bit better each day, but my appetite is gone. Moreover, food isn’t going down too we’ll. Fortunately, it’s well time given I was starting the Fast 800 Tuesday anyway. After two weeks, I’ll transition to the 5:2 intermittent fasting model again. At any rate, hopefully I’ll lose some of more of this thyroid weight.

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

*I’m started reading the Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy last night. This is quite the departure from 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.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. Tropical Storm Fred Tropical Storm Fred or Depression 6 (whatever it is when it finally gets here is) should be here Saturday. There’s also a system behind TS Fred that could also come out way.

*I ordered Dunkin’ via Uber Eats apparently in my sleep this morning. We definitely need another car since Goalielocks has to drive to school.

*For dinner, the Hubby made breaded chicken. This week I’m strictly limiting my carb intake as part of the 5:2 plan.

*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 terrified. I’m a bit terrified at the prospect of how much rain two back to back tropical systems could bring South Florida. 

*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

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It’s Hot

It’s hot and getting hotter. I know I must sound like captain obvious since I live in South Florida. But the heat is cranking up in here since one of our AC units decided to stop functioning this morning. Oh the joys of home ownership. During my lunch break, I tried to reset the breakers and check the fan, but melted in the Florida heat. Unfortunately, there’s no end it sight to our AC situation, which sucks balls.


Naturally, it’s the ac unit that cools our room and the first level. This means I’m now working and sleeping in a sauna. I mean really to be sick and have to sleep in no AC really is the penultimate fuck you. (Pardon my language mom!) In fact, I already run hot and can’t sleep if it’s too hot in our room, so I have little hope for a good night’s sleep tonight. Fortunately, you don’t need sleep when you’re battling a virus. It’s going to make work hellish as well, which is never helpful in a sales job.


Speaking of virus, I’m on day six of sheer misery. I’m hoping to clear this virus before the weekend, but with poor sleep tonight that’s looking impossible. So I’m still coughing a bit, a productive cough and have little appetite. I do, however, have full sense of taste and smell. With the pandemic, I may have got spoiled with no viruses or illnesses coming into the house. I’ll chalk up this cold to life returning somewhat back to normal.

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

*I’m finished reading the Raider Bride last night. 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. Honestly, I miss the pandemic level traffic.

*For dinner, the I made myself chicken and broccoli and didn’t eat much of it. This week I’m strictly limiting my carb intake as part of the 5:2 plan.

*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 paperclip. Yesterday I bought another rounds of school supplies, which included everything in the store except for a paperclip.

*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

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School Eve

It’s school eve and I couldn’t be more excited. For the first time since March 2020, our boys will be attending school in person. In fact, tomorrow will be the first time the Mayor sets foot in his high school despite being a sophomore. He’s in good company as everyone else, but the senior class, has barely set foot in the school.


We celebrated the end of summer with wings and pizza. Post dinner, the Mayor and hubby ran out to get haircuts and some school supplies. As for me, I’m chilling on the couch watching The Office. My summer cold is still hanging on, which sucks. Today brought major back pain to go along with all the misery that is a summer cold. Since it’s school eve, aka the night before school, we’ll all be getting to bed a little earlier.

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.  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.

*Tonight I worked on a newsletter for our Pancan affiliate. Sometimes working in Canva makes me feel like a schmo, but it’s such a great tool. I definitely need to spend some more time playing around with it. 

*For dinner, the I ordered pizza and wings from Sal’s.

*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 vision. This afternoon there was a raccoon 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

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Summer Cold

There are few things more annoying than a cold and one of them is getting a summer cold. Of course in 2021, you always have to preface your statement with “it’s not Covid” before telling folks you have a summer cold. Hence, the brief break in the blog. After the trauma and lack of sleep from Wednesday night, I’m not surprised I ended up ill. Thankfully, after two days of misery, the low grade fever is gone.

Since I first felt sick Thursday, I’ve been taking a ton of turmeric, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin D. I’ll continue the regimen this evening in hopes that it will shorten the cold and lessen the symptoms. Additionally, I’ve been drinking water and hot tea like it’s going out of style. While I can’t run today, I may hit my 10,000 steps from just walking to the bathroom.

The Hubby is working today, so I ordered some gold for the Mayor and I from Sushi Yama. Well, at least I tried. I’m currently on my third attempt to get the food delivered. Hopefully, the third time’s a charm or I may have to eat my arm. Grub Hub’s app malfunctioned when I added a fried rice to the order. In fact, it duplicated my entire order.

Customer service cancelled my order and refunded it promptly. In the interim, some guy picked up my food and never delivered it. The restaurant refused to make the order a second time despite the fact a second driver was waiting patiently for our order. Oh joy! At this point, nobody knows who picked up that first order. Grubhub refunded me the money for both orders, but we’ve been waiting for our food since 6:30.

This is the second major food delivery snafu we have had in the last two days. Yesterday the Mayor ordered himself Chipotle off Door Dash. Fortunately, they promptly and correctly delivered his food. However, we soon got a call form the gate that our delivery was there. The driver insisted in giving us the food even after we told him we had already gotten the order. When he delivered the food, it had another name all over it. As soon as I noticed this, I brought the food back out to him and he refused to take it. Honestly, it was just bizarre.

Well, good news, they finally delivered our food. In hindsight, a cup of miso soup probably would have been gold for this summer cold. Thankfully, the food was worth the wait. The driver delivered our food while it was still piping hot and everything was there. Consequently, I’m no longer hangry.

Oh and I almost forgot, we had a tornado today. The thing was literally less than a mile from our house. We had no idea that there was a tornado out there until somebody posted a picture of it on Facebook. Mind you, it was completely clear and sunny to the East of our house while there was tornado coming from the west.

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

*I’m reading the Falcon Queen. This is the second book thing the Norse Queen series. I love the world of Queen Asa.

*My knee is feeling better, but I’m sick. Consequently, I took another rest day today. 

*I ran to Dunkin’ to get my own coffee this morning. It was nice to leave the house.

*Tonight I worked on a newsletter for our Pancan affiliate. Sometimes working in Canva makes me feel like a schmo, but it’s such a great tool. I definitely need to spend some more time playing around with it. 

*I finally straightened out the AirBnB snafu on Friday. AirBnB had listed the property in error. They had placed the listing as live when it wasn’t supposed to be yet. Lastly, they’re no longer keeping my deposit. I love the new property I booked.

*For dinner, the Mayor and I enjoyed some great food from Sushi Yama. I love their spring rolls and avocado egg rolls.

*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 inspired carpet, which is ridiculous. Carpet has no place in Florida. I hate it!

*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

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Rough Night

As long as my Tuesday was yesterday, it ended with a rough night. My sleep was interrupted by a nightmare in which I woke up only to find my Hubby and Puppy were missing. After scouring the house, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Naturally, my first instinct was to hit the find my iPhone button. Unfortunately, the phone was left behind on the kitchen island.

The dream quickly devolved as it. became clear that they weren’t in the house. So I walked out back towards the lake to see if I could find them. Spoiler alert, I didn’t. Next I went and drove through and around the neighborhood. The first pass turned up nothing, so I went home and walked out back to the lake again. Still nothing. Thinking that I had perhaps missed something inside I ran threw the house again.

After finding nothing, I ended up back in the car driving through the neighborhood with my brights on. By this time an hour had passed and I was hysterical. After the second pass through and around the neighborhood, I drove back home to call the police. Soon after I walked into the house, the Hubby and Anakin came down the stairs. Relief washed over me immediately, but the trauma of the past hour had its hold.

When I checked my sleep stats and heart rate after waking up from my dream traumatized, I was not surprised to see my heart rate sitting around 140. Obviously, tachycardia and sleep don’t mix super well, so I took a beta blocker to help put me back to sleep. Despite taking the beta blocker my heart rate as I woke up ranged from 167-185, which is a problem. Even when I run 2.5 miles, my head rate rarely gets over 171. Consequently, I sent a message to my endo to see if I should get my levels rechecked.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the kind of night that begets success at work. I struggled most of the day to stay awake and concentrate at her task at hand. I’ll definitely be going to bed early tonight and am praying for a better night’s sleep. Without question, I can not take another rough night. Had a dream ever left you traumatized?

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

*I’m reading the Falcon Queen. This is the second book thing the Norse Queen series. I love the world of Queen Asa.

*My knee is feeling better, but with my heart rate all over the place I skipped my run.. Consequently, I took another rest day today. 

*I strugggled this morning, so I ordered coffee vis Uber Eats.

*Tonight I worked on a newsletter for our Pancan affiliate. Sometimes working in Canva makes me feel like a schmo, but it’s such a great tool. I definitely need to spend some more time playing around with it. 

*The AirBnB I attempted to book yesterday never responded to our request. As a result, the charge is sitting on my card with nothing to show for it. I’m still working on clearing this up with Amex and AirBnB.

*For dinner, the Mayor and Hubby spaghetti with meat sauce. Since it wasn’t fasting day, I enjoyed pasta and sauce today.

*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 jiggle, which is something I’d like to get rid of soon.

*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