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Field Trip

We took the dogs on a field trip to the beach yesterday. I’ve wanted to take the dogs to the beach for a while now, but the timing never worked out. I initially decided to forego the beach yesterday because there were storms out east in the morning. Once our WiFi dipped out and we had nothing else to do, we decided to try it.

Neither Anakin nor Arrow enjoys riding in the car, so that was fun. Arrow gets absolutely unruly, so we had him strapped in a harness and a seatbelt. Otherwise, he’d make his way to the front of the truck and probably cause an accident. Anakin hates it too, but he sits peacefully in the back. Unfortunately, we hit every red light on the drive to the beach. Fortunately, our luck changed when we got to the beach, and we found parking immediately.

Once at the beach, we walked next to the inlet and under the road. The dogs were taking in all the new sights and scents. On the north side, you can bring your dogs. There were several other puppies there. Initially, we had planned to walk down the beach for a bit, but there were a few off-leash pups, so we stayed put. We were relatively close to the jetty and boulders that line it.

Arrow was a bit unsure. I think. The waves were a bit loud for his ears. Anakin, on the other hand, wanted to attack the waves and drink all the water. All in all, I think they enjoyed their field trip. We’ll definitely put another field trip to the beach in the calendar for when the sea is a bit calmer. This way, they can swim and play a bit in the sea.

What are your favorite brands and why?

I have a few. My favorite coffee brand is Dunkin’. It’s the best way to start my day. In terms of clothing, I love my Fabletics athleisure wear. Honestly, I totally live in my Fabletics.

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Happy Birthday Arrow

Happy birthday Arrow! Our sweet boy is three years old today. He’s been the best dog for us. Arrow is always happy, playful, and loving. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Athena. They share similar dispositions and mannerisms. Both Arrow and Athena are adept at defusing Anakin’s emotional outbursts. When we first adopted Arrow, Anakin was not a fan. Now, however, Anakin and Arrow are best mates.

I bought Arrow a couple of new dog toys and some doggy ice cream to celebrate. I’m sure he’ll love the ice cream. He definitely is a dog that likes to eat. He also loves toys, so I know he’ll love the goodies I got him. I can also be sure Anakin will try to steal and guard both toys. Outside of the goodies, I plan to take them to the beach on Sunday morning. It will be interesting to see how they like the sand and waves.

Outside of Arrow’s birthday, it’s been business as usual. Today was a strength day, so I did my ab workout through the Sweat App. After work, I’ll do my ten-minute jump rope routine. I added it initially to help with my stamina for running. Now I also do it to help build bone strength. Needless to say, I won’t be on the elliptical anymore. Everything I do from here on out will be to help build bone mass.

What gives you direction in life?

I don’t rely on good luck; I use my faith to drive me. My family’s needs give me direction in life.

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May Day

It’s May Day, not to be confused with Mayday. After another night of poor to little sleep, mayday is what my body is screaming. As for the new month, I’m amazed that after January took five years to get through, I’ve blinked and it’s now May. The last couple of months have passed in an utter blur. With every passing year, time seems to move faster and faster.

Today, people all over the world the world are celebrate May Day by dancing around a maypole, celebrating the impending start of summer. Here in Florida, we call it Thursday. We do not need to celebrate summer here, given our balmy year-round climate. We’d rather celebrate the end of rainy season or the end of hurricane season than the impending doom of record-high dew points and temperatures.

Anyway, I digress. As I think back on the two months I took off from the blog, I realized I’ve accomplished a lot. Firstly, I read voraciously. I’ll be posting all my reads from the last two months soon. Secondly, I started jumping rope. While I found out I’m not very good at it, I do enjoy it. Third, this accomplishment is mostly the Mayor’s; his A1C at his first follow-up with our endocrinologist was 5.7%. This is an amazing number for a type 1 diabetic. He’s doing amazing. Lastly, we hit our fundraising goal for PurpleStride.

Of course, I can’t leave today’s blog without mentioning that both my Florida Panthers and Minnesota Timberwolves got the job done last night. Both clubs closed out round one of the playoffs. The Panthers looked dominant last night, particularly in the third. As for the Timberwolves game, it started way too late for me.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading A Knight and a Spy 1413 (The Road to Agincourt – King’s Spy), by Simon Fairfax
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

I have a couple, and I think of them often. I love Oscar Wilde’s quote, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” Moreover, Victor Hugo has two quotes that refer back to often. First, “even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” The second quote is, “It is nothing to die, it is frightful not to live.” I think the first is a poignant reminder that things will always get better, no matter how bleak things seem. The other Hugo quote and the Oscar Wilde quote are poignant reminders to live each day and enjoy the moment.

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Level Forty-Five

In March, I hit level forty-five. It was the weekend after the state tournament, which was nice. For many years, my birthday was in the midst of the tournament. As much as I love hockey, a birthday during the middle of the tournament is not the most fun. Since we had no hockey games, I could celebrate it as I wished.

For my birthday, some friends, the Mayor, and I went to a puppy yoga class. It was heavenly. The puppies, mini-doodles, and shitzus were precious and so sweet. The combination of two of my favorite things—yoga and puppies—along with some of my favorite people, was the perfect way to spend my birthday. It was a calming and happy experience. I love it.

After puppy yoga, we grabbed lunch at Yard House in Mizner. Yard House is such a great spot. I love their appetizers, food, and drinks. Yard House prices its food and drinks quite reasonably, considering it’s in the middle of Boca Raton. After lunch, we headed to Total Wine and Target to pick up a few things for the evening. We finished the night with pizza with the Kennedys and the Minnesota State High School boys hockey championships. It was an amazing birthday.

In the lead up to forty-five, influencers and friends flooded my social media feeds with perimenopause reels, posts, and memes. Honestly, I found it not only to be a calamity of sorts, but also insulting. Why would I care about perimenopause if I’m not even middle-aged?! Oh, the sad realization that as a woman in my forties, I’m there hit me like a ton of bricks. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep that drove it home or the emotions that were all over the place. Whatever it is, I’m not here for it. More on the perimenopause in a later post.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading Henry V, The Astonishing Triumphs of England’s Greatest Warrior King, by Dan Jones
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

I love Christmas. We host our way, which means we’re not scattered all over the place. Or at least, we’re not usually scattered all over the place. I host a delicious brunch for family and friends. In years past, we played paintball after brunch. Now we nap and maybe head to Christmas dinner. I love Christmas!

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Time Off

I took some time off from the blog to rest, recharge, level up to 45, and prepare for PurpleStride. Now that PurpleStride is over, I’m back to my regularly scheduled program. Or at least a somewhat regular program. Who even knows what regular is anymore, because I certainly don’t.

There’s so much to update, but I won’t do it all in one post. You may remember from my last post that I had been fighting with BCBS for Dexcom 7 approval. Finally, an escalation specialist reached out to me after I went nuclear on X. She was an absolute gem. She escalated my concerns regarding the ridiculousness of needing prior auth on a CGN for a type 1 diabetic. In the end, BCBS completely waived the prior authorization process for him.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s team headed to Tampa for the state tournament. While I had a fabulous time in Tampa (thank you, Alex and moonshine), the team’s performance was less than stellar. It was a bit frustrating to lose to a team that had a player who hadn’t played the required number of games with the team. Only to find out, of course, that the rule didn’t apply to kids who played for Alliance. Naturally, this rule, specific to alliance players, isn’t documented anywhere. Also, to be clear, while it was frustrating, it’s not the reason our team lost. I’m just glad I’m down with youth hockey in Florida.

So it’s goodbye to youth hockey and on to Juniors. The Mayor will be playing for the Junior Cats this upcoming season. This is a new team that is local to us. He’s not looking to move away at this time, given the relatively recent type 1 diagnosis. I’m not a huge fan of junior hockey, but it’s a great way to spend a gap year. The Mayor’s plans for after high school were completely upended by his type 1 diabetes diagnosis last fall. Consequently, playing Juniors will give him a year to figure it out. Needless to say, I’ll be keeping my hockey mom rituals for another season.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading Henry V, The Astonishing Triumphs of England’s Greatest Warrior King, by Dan Jones
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

Have you ever been camping?

I have never been camping, and tent life is not for me. I envision coming back to my tent and seeing a big bear rummaging through it. Moreover, I like things like beds, running water, and air conditioning. Thanks to my thyroid and perimenopause, I’m barely sleeping right now. The last place you’d catch me is trying to sleep in the discomfort of a tent. As for glamping, I’m here for it.

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Struggle

The struggle is real. From parenting to sleeping, rinsing, and repeating the struggle is real. We’ve been on the struggle bus the last few months with the Mayor. He’s 18 and newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which makes parenting a little bit spicy. Honestly, he doesn’t like us asking about his blood sugar or anything else. Why is raising teenagers/adult children so difficult?

He got a car in December which is amazing, but since he’s gotten the car he’s changed. Since he has his car, he no longer helps around the house or with the dogs. Clearly, he was only helping so he could have the use of our vehicle Asking for any kind of assistance results in a major attitude. Honestly, parenting littles is tough, but nobody prepares you for the difficulty of parenting adult children. Anyway, I know we’re not the only parents on the struggle bus.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading She Wolves by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.

I once decided to build myself a bookshelf. It went well until I put the shelves on backward. My hubby ended up rebuilding it for me.

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Reese’s

So we go through Reese’s cup in this house like they’re going out of style. They’re the Mayor’s go-to emergency snack to bring his sugar up. They’re ideal because they have ample carbs and some protein. Originally we stored them in the fridge, but it was way too easy access for the hubby and I. It was also cool enough outside to stash them in his diabetes storage drawers.

We quickly learned the best way to replenish the stash was to hit up the post-holiday sales. Nothing beats Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at half price. Also, the holiday ones tend to be more fresh. We already killed the Valentine’s Day peanut butter cups. In fact, the Mayor was yelling at the hubby and me for eating the cups out of his stash. Mind you he’s never been without an emergency stash and we’re paying for the cups. The only other person who wouldn’t be happy with my coffee and peanut butter cup diet would be my doctor.

Jake’s wife Melly makes these amazing peanut butter balls, which I should learn to make. They’re truly little masterpieces of chocolate and peanut butter. It would probably save us some money at Target as we’d no longer buy all the bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The Mayor also has a stash of Powerade and Gatorade, which helps keep his sugar moderated during the day. It’s quick too since it’s liquid. After several months of living with type 1, we’re starting to settle into the new normal. It’s just our new normal can be a bit shifty and tenuous at times.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading She Wolves by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I wouldn’t permanently ban a word, but would ban the overuse of words. For example, folks throw out words like communist, fascist, and socialist for every person they disagree with politically. These words have heavy meanings and heavy implications, so to overuse them to the point they lose their meaning is dangerous.

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Fabulous

I had a fabulous weekend with the family. It was, however, a bit short. Oh, and there was the fact the Mayor’s Dexcom died and so did the replacement. We had to go bare Saturday night. It was a nightmare. I don’t think I slept at all. The Dexcom gives us security. We know if his sugar is off, the Dexcom will alert us. With no Dexcom to alert us, we were back to waking up in the middle of the night to make sure he was okay.

Our change of insurance precipitated the issue with his Dexcom. While my weekend was fabulous, I think we all know health insurance in the US is far from fabulous. BCBS will not approve the Dexcom prescription without prior authorization, despite the fact that he has an insulin pump with a noted type 1 diagnosis on file. It makes me wonder if they’d rather have us manage his condition at the hospital. Surely that can’t be the more cost-effective way to manage type 1.

We ended up paying cash for one Dexcom 7 sensor to tide us over until the authorization comes through. Unfortunately, our Walgreens didn’t have any on hand. Fortunately, Sean, the pharmacy tech assisting us, called around and found us one nearby immediately. While I’m usually quite tepid in my praise for Walgreens Pharmacy, yesterday they went above and beyond for us. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief once the Mayor was back on his Dexcom 7.

In between the continuous glucose monitor drama, the Hubby and I took the puppies for walks on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was perfect for it and the dogs were thrilled to go on an adventure. Saturday is an active rest day for me, so a nice leisurely walk with the dogs was on brand. Hopefully, it’s a habit we can maintain as the spring continues. It’s great for the dogs and it’s great for us.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading She Wolves by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

In the next six months, our youngest will be graduating high school and concluding his youth hockey career. It’s odd to think about hanging up the hockey mom life after twenty-plus years of mayhem. Anyway, it will be a big adjustment for both me and my hubby.

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About Last Night

About last night, it wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, but what a game! The Four Nations was the best All-Star iteration of any league that I’ve ever seen. The caliber of competition and the athletes’ passion was second to none. Honestly, it makes the other leagues look terrible. The NHL players make far less than their NBA or NFL equivalents yet they show up and give 150% no matter what. They play through incredible injuries with a commitment to their teams and fans that is unmatched. They’re absolute beasts!

Watching the game last night was a thing of beauty. Every line that came out was stacked to the gills with talent. Seeing Sidney Crosby and McDavid on the ice together was a gift. Moreover, I loved seeing the Tkachuk brothers on the same line. I would love to Brady in a Cats uniform. Boldy and Faber had a great tournament as well. The future is bright for Team USA. We’re all counting down to the Winter Olympics in Italy next year. So thank you to the players who participated in the Four Nations Faceoff for putting on a master class of what professional sports should look like,

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading She Wolves by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

What is your favorite drink?

My favorite drink is coffee. When I’m home, I must start my day with my large, hot Dunkin. It’s my comfort food/drink. I can give up pretty much everything in the name of fitness or nutrition, but I will never give up my Dunkin.

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Blah

Blah is how I’m feeling about today. At least, my work is a bit blah. The phones, once again, have not been kind. I will never understand why everyone thinks they are entitled to get everything free. I don’t understand where this sense of entitlement comes from. Whose legacy is that gonna be? One thing I’m sure of is that a Team USA victory last night would have made today less blah.

Anyway, enough complaining about silly people. I do love my job and the flexibility it brings. Working remotely makes it a million times easier to live a balanced life. While I do sometimes miss listening to music in my car, I don’t miss my hour commute in the morning and hour commute in the evening. Honestly, working from home makes sticking to my fitness and baking goals achievable.

By the way, when did our news media hit rock bottom? Where I live there are a lot of things going on all the time. Yesterday was not a slow news day. To preface my statements, the President also lives in my county and this is our second term with him. Our local news channel ran a story about a guy seeing fighter jets (F-16s) flying over our area and he couldn’t figure out why. Nor could the reporter, who even called the Air Force for a comment. One, the Air Force doesn’t tell you what they’re doing. Two is that this is his second term in office, people here should know the drill. Part of keeping the President secure is fighter jets in our air space.

Honestly, I read that news report and it made me wish I couldn’t read. Coincidentally, the fighters were up over our skies again this morning. I could hear the distinctive roar of the fighter jet from my yoga mat. It reminded me of visiting Jake in Utah and hearing the fighter jets. Personally, I love seeing them in the skies. They’re wicked cool to watch. Also, they remind me of my airman. Now if the fighters were screaming over us, I may be a bit nervous.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. Last night, I finished reading  The Eagle and The Hart by Helen Castor. Tonight, I’m starting She Wolves by Helen Castor. I read Alison Weir’s analysis of the queens from the Conqueror to the Tudors, so I’m curious to read Castor’s take on a few of the more infamous queens.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.

My family is the best gift I’ve gotten.