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Wednesdays

Oh Wednesdays…. “Wednesdays are like Mondays in the middle of the week,” so said Lee Fox Miller. Who is Lee Fox Miller, that’s a fantastic question. I found the quote on the internet and liked it. For all I know, he could be a made-up character. Comparatively, Winnie the Pooh had an excellent quote for Wednesdays, but it was a bit too long for the title. Anyway, if Wednesdays are like Mondays, then I love Monday because today was super productive.

My day was to start with an early business meeting, so I got off to an earlier start than usual. Naturally, I grabbed my Dunkin’ before getting ready for my meeting. The meeting was supposed to be at 9:15. I waited and waited, but she didn’t show up. Since she was in Texas, I thought perhaps she had made a mistake in the timezone. Fortunately, we were able to connect later in the day to reschedule the meeting.

Consequently, I started my BBG arm workout right away. As luck would have it, I finished the third circuit at 10:13. I logged into the google hangout in case she was coming at 10:15, but it was a no go. Alas, I jumped back into my workout and finished the fourth circuit and the cool down. I was dreading some of the exercises like the caterpillar walk, which I have done since round 1 of BBG. Excitedly, it was easy today. In fact, it served as a good barometer for my progress since starting the program in December.

The rest of my day was just as productive, I took a delicious slow flow yoga class with Ava. It was utterly divine and left me feeling invigorated and relaxed. Post yoga, I enjoyed a lunch of steel cut oats served with vanilla almond milk, honey and mixed berries. It’s part of my efforts to eat less inflammatory food. Honestly, it tasted so good! After lunch, I went to work and had another extremely productive day.

Today is not just Wednesday, it’s also my mom’s birthday. Please join in wishing my mom a very happy 64th birthday. I wish we were able to celebrate with her and sing the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-Four” to her in person. In the interim, this Youtube video will have to suffice:

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

*I read Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte.

*Slow Flow with Ava from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*The horror of tryout week continues. The anxiety will not be movable until it’s over.

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin! It turned out super cute!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 8BBG 2.0 day 4 arms, cardio and yoga

*I was determined to hit all my professional and personal goals today and I did! I love Wednesdays!

*I enjoyed the beautiful frondescence of my vegetable garden. Did I mention that today didn’t suck?

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Tryout Week

It’s hockey tryout week. Yep, just when I thought it could get worse than rectal exams and celery juice: it does. This year the anxiety is a little bit higher. After all, I’m worried about the kids being exposed to the coronavirus as much as I am about them making the team. Usually, I’d try to watch a tryout or two. However, I’m skipping it this year since I have an autoimmune disease. With all the luck I’ve had in the health sphere these past two years, I’m taking no chances.

Nonetheless, here I am at home watching Seinfeld with an elevated heart rate and a nervous stomach. Clearly, it does not matter where I am when my players are on the ice. I’m always going to be anxious when they’re trying out or playing a game. I guess it’s probably been training for the emotional and mental stress that comes with being a military mom.

I had planned to run this evening, but my knee is still a little sore from Sunday. It’s nothing major, but enough that I should take a pause for a day to let it rest. Tomorrow I’ll log a couple of miles and then make up for today’s missed run on the weekend. This also puts less pressure on me during the week. I really want to devote as much time as I can to building a book of business at my new job. Thus far, the flexibility has been incredible and I’m enjoying it. At some point soon, I’d love to close a deal. Consequently, here’s your reminder to hit me up if you need any promotional gear for employees, sports teams or clients!

Here’s a blog post I wrote in 2017 about the perils of tryout week: The Worst Week of the Year

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

*I read Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte.

*Vinyasa with Monica from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Worked! I’m meeting a lot of friendly people.

*I setup my e-chart for my doctor’s office. Now I can request prescription recalls and appointments without having to wait on hold. Yay!

*I enjoyed a morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin! It turned out super cute!

*Obedience training Anakin. We skipped a walk today because it was too hot.

*Week 8 BBG 2.0 day 2 yoga

*Mild panic attack due to tryout week

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Frenetic Day

Today I had a frenetic day where I continuously felt I was behind the eightball. Now there was no reason for me to feel that way, so perhaps my thyroid is off-kilter. Nonetheless, I didn’t feel like I had the impactful day I had yesterday. However, I did have my first sales meeting with a client and that went swimmingly. Consequently, I really should feel much better about the day. Anyway, I skipped my BBG workout since I was rushing from thing to thing today. Perhaps that’s why I feel so off this evening. No need to fret my pet, I will be logging my run and my BBG ab workout tomorrow. Hopefully, I can even run outside. We shall see!

Since I’ve been dealing with some flare-ups the last couple of weeks, I’m starting the Tony Robbins lemon water and celery juice routine in the morning. I bought all the required stuff this afternoon from Target. Tomorrow I’ll juice the celery. Can I tell you how much I hate celery juice? Honestly, it’s so gross! But it’s supposed to be so good for you especially if you have autoimmune issues like myself. Additionally, I’m switching back to an anti-inflammatory diet. Admittedly, I’ve been eating Lean Cuisines for lunch, which aren’t the epitome of the anti-inflammatory diet. Instead, I’ll be eating a diet that is more plant-based.

Come to think of it, perhaps my day was blown askew by the vivid dream I had last night. This is good and worth the read I assure you. So picture this, my friend Jodi and I are watching our boys play hockey at a tournament in Minnesota. The rest of our organization was there to include the Toros U14 (aka bantam team.). Before our sons’ games, we were watching the younger boys play and befriended a new hockey mom. This new hockey mom happened to be none other than Jennifer Lopez. Naturally, we met her at the mall where we were shopping between hockey games. Now before you call me completely crazy, she does live in Miami and does like sports.

At any rate, we befriended her and help show her the ropes. An opposing player leveled one of our guys in the neutral zone. It wasn’t a clean hit. Unfortunately, the child was injured and that child happened to be Jennifer Lopez’s son. Fortunately, Jodi and I have been through every hockey injury in the book, so we were calm and collected. We were able to keep this newbie mom called as the paramedics responded to care for the injured player. I’m pretty sure he had a broken clavicle, which is a pretty common injury in hockey. Clearly, the dream was utterly fabulous. I mean it had my good friend, hockey, shopping and Jennifer Lopez in it. What could be better? No wonder I had a frenetic day, there’s no way it could have lived up to my awesome dream!

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

*I read Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte.

*Gentle Flow with Jennifer from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Morning and afternoon meditation. Yet I still feel like I had a frenetic day!

*Took Anakin out to go to the bathroom. He was quickly hunting the butterflies and dragonflies.

*Obedience training Anakin

*Jake called to update his new base.

*Week 8 BBG 2.0 day 5 yoga.

*As a treat, I enjoyed a Kinder bar today. I loved it!

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Clueless

Clueless: classic 90s movie or adjective describing 99% of Facebook users? It really could be either. Since I’m in a good mood after a productive day, however, I’m all about the classic movie. When I first saw the movie, I shopped at Contempo and owned the As If shirt showing in the window. Nevertheless, I hadn’t yet read Jane Austen in any capacity let alone Emma on which the movie is based. Now I’ve read all of Jane Austen’s writings and loved them all. On this matter, I may disagree with Charlotte Bronte: who argued Austen was not great as she was no poet. At any rate, the movie is a complete classic that brings back great memories of my freshmen year.

Before I got to chill and enjoy Clueless in solitude (Goalielocks has been cleaning upstairs, while the Mayor and the hubby were at the rink.) I had an incredibly busy day. My morning started with my BBG ab workout, which went right into my yoga class. Admittedly, my BBG ab workout took more time this morning because I had a workout partner for the last circuit. Unfortunately, Anakin is not the best workout partner. He loves to crawl under me when I’m in tabletop, downward dog, plank, mountain climbers, etc. Additionally, he likes to give kisses and lick people’s ears, which doesn’t work too well when you’re wearing air pods. Surprisingly, I still managed to be on time for my yoga class, which was awesome.

I had only a few minutes in between my yoga class and teacher training. Consequently, it was a mad dash to reheat leftovers for lunch and brew some coffee. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough in my mad dash and ended up being a few minutes tardy. Today’s class focused on anatomy again, which I really enjoy. It’s always nice to put a name to the things that hurt. I kid, I kid. Truly, it is important to understand the structure of the body if you’re going to be teaching yoga. This is key to understanding the poses and helping prevent injuries. Honestly, the training went super fast.

Tonight we had an amazing dinner courtesy of Hello Fresh and Chef me. I cooked Szechuan pork and green bean stir fry. First of all, I should say that the meal was really easy to cook and was done within thirty minutes. Second of all, it wasn’t too hot spice wise, which made it perfect for me. Initially, I picked this meal out with the Mayor in mind. He likes a spicy and sweet flavor palate, but boy was I wrong. My boy has a strong streak of stubbornness in him these days. Consequently, he hates everything associated with Hello Fresh and Blue Apron. In fact, he found tonight’s meal repugnant. As for the rest of us, we were anxious to get seconds. The joys of parenting are boundless, especially at mealtime.

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

*I read Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte.

*Gentle Flow with Jennifer from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin! It turned out super cute!

*I watched Clueless on Hulu while the boys were at hockey.

*I am relaxing on the couch watching Rick & Morty free of the stinky flatus of my boys.

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 7 BBG 2.0 day 5 abs and yoga.

*This month it will be a year from my layoff from KHE. It is an anniversary I look forward to celebrating.

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Better Today

I’m happy to report I’m feeling better today after heading to bed at 8:30 last night. My throat isn’t really sore anymore, but I’m tired. However, I’m pretty sure constant fatigue is just part of being a mom. In fact, my family was quite confused when I opted to go to be so early. It took a minute to fall asleep, but I slept really well. Nonetheless, I was relieved when I woke up feeling much better than when I had gone to bed.

Naturally, I did get some reading in before ultimately going to sleep yesterday. finished The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell. Truly, this book was absolutely amazing. If you are a fan of the Bronte sisters, you need to read this book. If you’re looking for a story of perseverance in the face of heartbreak, this book is for you. Moreover, if you’re looking for some literary smack talk, aka Jane Austen isn’t that great, this is the book for you. Finally, Gaskell does a great job of using Bronte’s own words via letters to paint the picture.

As I read her biography, I was in awe of the constant and total heartbreak faced by the Bronte family. Since I’ve read most of her novels, I recognized some places and characters from their real-life companions. In fact, I loved Villette. The fact that Lucy Snowe was an ode to her sister Emily is both poignant and touching. As a woman, it was interesting following the struggle of the three sisters to get published under their male aliases of Acton, Currer, and Ellis Bell. They felt if they published the books in their own names, the critics and the public would be distracted by their sex. In fact, all of England was up in arms trying to decipher who Currer Bell could be after the success of Jane Eyre. Fortunately, Charlotte was able to enjoy her success. Sadly, success came posthumously to both Anne and Emily Bronte.

Today was a super busy day. I started my day behind the eight ball. In fact, I was ten minutes late for my yoga class. Oddly, I thought the class started at 10:15 am instead of 10:00 am. Whoops! Fortunately, I didn’t miss too much of the class. Monica’s vinyasa class is always vigorous! Amazingly, I leave her vinyasa class feeling both energized and calm. Truly, it’s hard to explain that state of being. I should tell you that this was my first Tuesday morning Vinyasa class. I usually go to the 11:30 gentle flow class, but I had a conflict today.

Fortunately, my morning got brighter when I saw two of my friends leaving class. Kaye has been a part of my yoga journey for years, but I don’t get to see her enough anymore. My other friend Amy, who was in my chair yoga training, was there too. It’s always good to see friendly faces! As I headed home, I called my folks to see how they’re doing. Minnesota, much like Florida, is sweltering hot and humid. They’ve been getting some rain, while it’s been bone dry here. Unfortunately, the Saharan dust storm has been keeping us dry. I’m hoping that the weather pattern doesn’t do a full 180 turn for the holiday weekend.

The afternoon I spent being productive and taking care of stuff around the house. I’m excited to say I got everything done on my checklist today. Moreover, I got my run in this afternoon. The first five minutes were tough, but the rest went pretty well. I’m still on season 5 of Curb. Honestly, I don’t know if I could get through my run without Larry David. In fact, I was so caught up in Curb that I extended my cooldown by ten minutes. Whoops! As always, I went through my post-run stretch routine. Finally, I cooked up some one-pot chicken and udon noodles courtesy of Blue Apron. It was super easy to make and very tasty!

Before I leave you for the evening, I have some prayers requests for three young gentlemen. Each of these kids has played with Goalielocks over the years and they and their families mean the world to us. Theses boys have been through so much collectively over the past few years that none of this seems fair. I don’t remember experiencing anything similar in my youth. Yet, these kids persevere and support each other in amazing ways.

Please keep Goaleilcocks’ teammate Cole in your prayers as he embarks on his twentieth week of chemo. It has been a marathon of treatment for Cole and his family. They could really use your prayers for Cole’s healing, support of their family and strength for all of them. In Arizona, Jorden, a former teammate continues to recover from devastating injuries sustained in his ATV accident. Please pray for his continued recovery and for strength for his family. Finally, Lucas, Goalielocks’ teammate, was admitted to ICU today due to diabetic keto acidosis. His condition is stabilized, but Type 1 diabetes is a beast. Please pray for his continued recovery, stabilization of the disease and continued management of it. Please also keep his family in your prayers.

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

*I read Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte.

*Vinyasa with Monica from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I am still sick of all the windbags on Facebook.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin! It turned out super cute!

*I avoided the zoo that is Publix by ordering groceries via Shipt.

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 7 BBG 2.0 day 2 cardio and yoga

*And now I feel better today!

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Hazy and Lazy Sunday

Today was a hazy and lazy Sunday. The best kind of Sunday there is outside of the hazy part. Unfortunately, the Saharan dust has left our skies a bit hazy. Fortunately, the Saharan dust does bring good tidings as it plays a vital role in fertilizing our hemisphere notably the Amazon rainforest. Truly, the earth is amazing, but I’m sure you didn’t come to my blog for an earth science lesson. As for me, I was slightly less productive than the fertile dust storm. I woke up feeling a bit under the weather. My throat was sore and there was a little pressure in my sinuses. Oh, the joy of being an allergy suffering. Nonetheless, I succeeded in turning this hazy and lazy Sunday into a productive one.

Yesterday, I took a total rest day. Consequently, today I doubled up my workouts. For the first time, I took Jen’s Vinyasa class. It was great. Since I wasn’t feeling great, it was a little tougher than it probably would have been normally. We did a lot of ab work, so I’m sure I’m going to be feeling it tomorrow. Importantly, I opted to take the class from home via Zoom since I wasn’t feeling 100%. Sharing is definitely not caring during these pandemic days. Throughout the class, I could hear Anakin barking at my door trying to get in. Eventually, he was able to sneak in. Anakin loves when I’m practicing yoga on my mat. Particularly, he likes to kiss my face while I’m in yoga poses. Today we perfected the Anakin supported wheel pose. Needless to say, it was pretty cute.

Afterward, the hubby headed to Home Depot to pick up a new microwave. Our old microwave bit the dust last night after fourteen years of good service. While he shopped the aisles, I shopped from home. Since I had a sore throat, I skipped out going to the store. The dogs and I chilled on the couch and enjoyed the best nature programs Hulu had to offer. Meanwhile, both boys actually did their chores. Thankfully, the microwave was easy for the hubby to install. I’m so glad to have a microwave in working order. After all, it’s hard to make nachos without one. I did order the hubby some additional steaks to grill at dinner with our Blue Apron fajitas, so we would have ample steak. Additionally, I got the dogs some ice cream. Lastly, instead of buying us all candy to share, I bought some gluten-free frosting to “share.”


The hubby made his way outside to clean the patio after installing the microwave. He did an awesome job on the patio on both of our cars. Since I’m asthmatic and heat-sensitive, I did not help with the outside chores. Instead, I logged my run on the treadmill. Initially, I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the whole run since I wasn’t feeling 100%. Undoubtedly, it was starting to feel like a futile effort for the first five minutes of the run. Unsurprisingly, once I got past the first five minutes of the run, I hit my stride and felt good. Well, as good as you can feel while running on a treadmill after eating too much frosting. Truly, I felt a lot better after the run. Before I went to start dinner, I went through my post-run stretch routine.

Anakin and Athena enjoying their ice cream

My hubby and I teamed up to make dinner. He had started it as I finished my run, so I grated the cheese and sauteed the onions and peppers. Per the recipe, the steaks were to be cooked in the pan. Instead, we opted to grill the steaks. This proved to be a great decision because the steaks tasted amazing. As for the filler, the pickled cabbage and cucumber was a great addition. They provided a great contrast to the sauteed vegetables and grilled steaks. All in all, it was an awesome meal. I was completely full after two fajitas. Clearly, we will be ordering this meal again. Perhaps the best part of dinner was when the Mayor got caught sneaking steak into his “cheese wrap.” He is a professed steak hater, so he was trying to hide that he had added steak to his wrap.

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.

*Vinyasa with Jen from Open Hearth Yoga Studio

*Facetime with Jake! The best part of my week!

*Oh man, I may have melted in the Florida heat today, while struggling to breathe with the Saharan dust storm.

*I am so sick of all the windbags on Facebook.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 6 BBG 2.0 day 7 cardio (run) and yoga

*I took Anakin, Maya and Athena out for a walk

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Take It Easy

Take it easy is exactly what I did today. And yes, I sang the Eagles song while typing it. Just as I’m sure you did. While I slept great last night, I was really tired today. Consequently, I took a complete rest day and even skipped yoga. Alas, don’t be concerned I’ll be going to yoga tomorrow. Also, I’ll be logging my third tempo run of the week. The extra day of recovery between the third and the fourth run has really helped. Sadly, it wasn’t all rest and relaxation today. I had to run to Kohl’s to drop off my Amazon returns and get Zachary some new pants. Since the pandemic started, he has grown out of every single pair of pants that he owns. Now he hasn’t been willing to own this fact until my hubby and I forced the issue.

Today marked the first time since the pandemic started that I’ve stepped foot inside a Kohl’s store. They only had one side of doors opened and it wasn’t super crowded, but there was a long line at customer service. While I dropped off my Amazon returns, the Mayor went to pick out some new pants. Apparently, he is planning on crossing a river as he insisted on picking out mediums that were far too short for him. Finally, I had enough as my encouragement seemed to fall on deaf ears. I insisted he put all the mediums back and only pick out large or extra-large. Eventually, he relented and put back all the smaller sized clothing items. Of course, I managed to pick out a few pairs of workout pants with pockets. As you may know, you can never have too many pairs of yoga pants with pockets.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out with Goalielocks and the Mayor and binge-watching Space Force on Netflix. Naturally, I managed to be somewhat productive as I finished all the laundry, which was great. As for Space Force, I found it to be quite funny. I loved the scenes where the leaders of each branch of service talked around a table in DC. The banter and jokes were super funny. Understandably, it is funnier if you have some military background or understanding of military culture. If you don’t, it may not be so funny. Nonetheless, I’m excited to see how the series develops over the forthcoming season. Obviously, once we finished Space Force, we switched back to the Office.

This evening I took the boys to a skate for local referees. There were only a handful of people there, but it was a great opportunity for them to work on their skating. Fortunately, the boys had a great time and are looking forward to the next skate. It was nice to be back at the rink for the hour. We ran into several people, which was fun. Honestly, it was just nice to be out of the house. My hubby ordered some pizzas from our local Italian restaurant while we were at the rink, so I didn’t have to cook. As we headed home, we all remarked on how hazy the Saharan sand has made the sky and how it altered the sun’s appearance. This happens every year, but some years the dust cloud is more prominent than others.

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.

*Oh man, I may have melted in the Florida heat today, while struggling to breathe with the Saharan dust storm.

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

*I was dreaming of cerulean bays all day long from the comfort of my couch.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Took obligatory picture of Anakin!

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 6 BBG 2.0 day 6 rest day

*I 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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Twenty-One and Father’s Day

Twenty-one and Father’s Day are the two big milestones we’re celebrating today. Of course, I’m also celebrating the fact that 21 years ago I was blessed to become a mother. Motherhood is an extraordinary gift, but being a mom to Jake goes beyond any earthly blessing I’ve ever received. When he was born, we were kids ourselves. He’s been our ride and die from day one. How lucky are we? Now he’s grown up and carving out an amazing future for himself in the military. Sadly, we’re not able to be with him today due to COVID19, but we’re together in spirit. Jake had wanted to share his first legal beer in the US with his dad, but the timing was a bit off. Fortunately, Jake was able to drink a beer with his dad while we were in Norway.

For twenty-one years Jake has been the center of our universe. I remember the day he arrived as if it was yesterday. My doctor was on vacation during the 38th week of my pregnancy. She made me promise that I would not go into labor until after 5:00 pm on June 20th. Fortunately, Jake and I were very compliant patients and my water broke at 1:10 am on the 21st. I figured that I’d end up needed a c-section like my mom, so you can imagine my surprise when he was born later that morning. From the minute he arrived, he was so sweet and loving. I was lucky that he was my first baby because he was so easy. Actually, his brothers are lucky that he was such an easy baby. If he had been like them as a baby, Jake may have ended up being an only child.

Jake’s First Day of Kindergarten
Last hug before Jake left for BMT

Jake changed our whole family’s world in ways that we never could have anticipated. You always have a certain perspective of your parents and then you become a parent and that perspective changes. Then you get to see them as grandparents, which is an awesome role. Jake was blessed with six grandparents, five great grandparents, and a great great grandmother when he was born. He was also blessed with aunts and uncles that have played a pivotal role in his life. In fact, they still play a pivotal role in his life. He was also blessed to spend a lot of time with his Great Grandma T as she babysat him while I was in school. To this day, they remain thick as thieves. Their relationship is a special gift.

My Parents’ Birthday greeting for Jake

Naturally, we were sad we couldn’t be there to celebrate his golden birthday with him. I assure you, however, that we’ll celebrate his birthday and his accomplishments when we see him again. When will that be you ask, I don’t know. He’s still in tech school and from there will move on to his base. Due to COVID, there are some regulations on the troops’ movements, so we’re playing it by ear. It’s a bit insane. Fortunately, my time as a hockey mom has prepared me well for my role as a military mom. I’m sure once he’s operational and traveling, my iteration of military mom will be quite similar to me as a goalie mom. If I had to guess, there will be some high anxiety and stressful moments. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see him. It’s been great to see his awakening and call to a higher purpose.

While he was busy being awesome in the Air Force, my hubby was spending his Father’s Day working. Since he was working, the boys and I hung out around home with the puppies. I changed my routine a bit, so I went to yoga yesterday instead of today. Consequently, I ran today instead of running yesterday, which gave me an additional day of rest. Naturally, I watched Curb throughout the workout. Fortunately, it was my favorite Curb episode where he accidentally puts the condom on backwards. It is absolutely ridiculously funny. Thankfully, the extra day of rest minimized pain in the foot and maximized my performance. The fun when really well. Originally, I had hoped to run outside this weekend, but with a dew point at 80 that wasn’t going to happen.

After the run, we cleaned up a bit and made sure we had beer and steaks ready for dinner. I made roasted purple onions and potato wedges to go along with homemade cheeseburgers. This was another Blue Apron meal kit dinner and it was awesome. The recipe was easy to follow and mighty tasty. While I worked on the burgers, the hubby fired up the grill for the steaks I had bought. This was the easiest way to ensure that the hubby and Goalielocks would have enough red meat to leave them satiated. Meanwhile, the Mayor continues to be picking and unwilling to try new foods. Goalielocks and the Mayor have undergone a complete role reversal on this issue. Just when my picky eater starts to be an adventurous eater, my adventurous eater decides to be a picky eater. I can’t win to lose.

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!

*Watched a ripple in a puddle

*Obedience training Anakin

*Week 5 BBG 2.0 day 7 run!!!

*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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