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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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Hump Day

It’s hump day! Today has been good so far. This morning I did a spin class as soon as I woke up. It’s a great way to get me fired up for the day. I’m not sure I ride as hard in the morning as I would in the evening, but getting the work in is still important. I will say drinking Nuun right after brushing my teeth does make my mouth pucker. I fell asleep on the couch after walking the dogs post-spin. Apparently, I needed an early morning nap.

For the first time this week, the phones have been good to me. I needed a solid production day, so I’m pleased. Also had a PPC meeting this morning, which is always great. I love my crew. I put together a more formal document to keep our business straight. It’s nothing fancy, but it will help us become more efficient. Hopefully, the phones will be kind to me for the rest of the day.

Last week I finished Kayla Itsine’s Beginner HIIT workout on the Sweat App. It’s eight weeks of workouts that gradually build in intensity and difficulty. This week I started week one of Kayla Itsine’s HIIT program (OG BBG workout.). It’s so tough, but it’s so good. The combination of strength and plyometrics is exactly what my body needs. Truly, it complements the cardio and yoga work I was already doing. Happy Hump Day!

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  The Eagle and The Hart by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?

Where does one even start with this one? I think we have a lot of ridiculous laws on the books. However, the one law I would change or create would be to institute term limits for Congress. Happy Hump Day!

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All Set

Our new highly efficient washing machine is all set and I couldn’t be happier. The hubby was able to install it quickly last night, so we could run our first load through it. Goodness, what a difference a new machine makes. No longer does it sound like something is about to take off from the laundry room. It was so loud the dogs would alternate between barking at it and being afraid of it. It’s so quiet. I love it!

I’m not quite all set for my trip to Mexico, but I’m working on that too. Delta sent a notification that there are a lot of delays with luggage, so I think I’m going to go with a carry-on only. This is a big step for me as I am notorious for over-packing. Nevertheless, I’m going to take the opportunity to make lemonade from the lemons and pack it efficiently. Well, at least I’m going to try.

The trip can’t come soon enough. I’m fried and could use a week in paradise to clear my head. Even my computer at work knows it’s time for some self-care. Fortunately, Momcation is exactly what the doctor ordered. The only things on the schedule aside from relaxing are yoga and Zumba. This will be my first time teaching since I was injured in 2018, so I’m pretty excited. Hopefully, my ankle and foot tolerate it well, so I can go back to teaching all the time.

Oh and one last thing, please join me in wishing my parents a wonderful wedding anniversary. You guys are the best! Happy Anniversary! I hope you guys do something fun to celebrate your special day.

Describe one positive change you have made in your life.

Kaplan laid me off in 2019 from a miserable job. I worked with the best people, but the job was no longer the right fit. Fortunately, it gave me time off to spend with Jake before he left for the military. When I went back to work, I went back purposefully into a role that would give me a work-life balance. My new job fits the bill perfectly. Although some days are a little too slow as I’ve watched all the documentaries on Prime.

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Halfway

We’re more than halfway to the weekend and what a glorious feeling it is. I’m ready for a nice chill weekend. Before we get there, I supposed I have to finish the work week. Work has been going well. Fortunately, the lead volume has picked up in the last few weeks. It’s only going to get busier, which is awesome. Tonight we’re heading to Boca to meet my brothers for dinner. My older brother and his family are in town for the week, so it will be nice to see them.

I started running again this week. Instead of just running a mile or two on the treadmill, I started doing treadmill workouts on Apple Fitness +. Initially, I was nervous that I wasn’t in good enough shape for it, but I was wrong. The workouts give you the flexibility to run, walk, or anything in between. Now that I have three of them under my belt, I can confidently say I really enjoy them. I don’t always enjoy them at the moment, but I feel great afterward. The treadmill workouts also take the banality out of a treadmill run. I love the coaching and the interactions between the Apple Fitness team.

One thing I really like about both Apple Fitness + cycling and treadmill workouts is that they’re a great way to interval train. Interval training can activate both the aerobic and anaerobic. This supposedly helps with improving insulin sensitivity, heart health, and caloric after-burn. That being said, I do think steady-state cardio is still an important part of training. Nonetheless, for me at the moment interval training is really helping me move the needle.

Tonight, before we head to dinner, I’ll do a Pilates workout. For these workouts, I also use Apple Fitness +. The Pilates workouts max out at thirty minutes and have really improved my strength. There are some crazy moves included like cat and cow while in beast. Imagine doing cat and cow with your shins off the ground maintaining balance as you move through the poses. It’s absolute insanity!

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Enough

I’ve had enough of the heat and humidity. I can’t wait for the temperature to cool down a bit. If it cools just a bit, it will be a barn burner. This is less oppressive than that hot as hades weather we’ve been experiencing. In fact, it’s been so hot that the water temperature off our shore has hit the century mark. This is a major problem for our corals. We literally need the water and the air to take a chill pill.

If I’m being honest, I’ve also had enough work for the week. I have to say I loved last week’s three-day workweek. I’m all about that life. This feeling is abundant this week since I volunteered to work Saturday. After all, I did miss a few days and would love to get caught up with some additional sales. Most Saturdays I spend in the kitchen baking things I shouldn’t eat while binge-watching Parks and Rec. Now I’ll just sell dental and vision insurance as I binge my favorite Saturday show.

One of the things I enjoyed most in Boston was the old architecture. I loved the gardens at Peacefield with the wrought iron fence. For the love of all things holy, my other work monitor just stopped working. Sweet mother of good this shit gets old. Now I’ll get to spend another day working with IT to get my laptop and peripherals working again. Fortunately, I watched IT Crowd, so I fixed it by turning it off and on again. Thank God it started working again.

What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?

I loved today’s prompt because it’s super important to find health and wellness strategies that work for you. I’ve had to be very flexible with my expectations for myself post-Graves’ disease diagnosis. What was once possible doesn’t seem to be so possible anymore. This is to say, I have to be a lot more pragmatic and strategic in managing my wellness strategies.

The first of which is drinking enough water every day. I love drinking sparkling water, so this is a goal I never miss. Secondly, I practice good sleep hygiene. I follow the same routine every night and every morning. The consistency has helped tremendously. I also read nightly as part of my wind-down strategy. Third, I try to eat as naturally and seasonally as possible. In fact, I gave up all artificial sweeteners last year. In terms of eating seasonally, I try to eat fruits and vegetables when they’d naturally be in season. This, of course, is how I grew up eating. You couldn’t get blueberries and strawberries year-round then.

My exercise strategy shifts depending on where my Graves is at. I was running daily, but I ended up with shingles in January after a run. Consequently, I decided to mix up the routine and do something less taxing on my body. Since February, I’ve been spinning for 5-6 days as well. Apple Fitness + has great forty-five-minute cycling classes that are perfect for my lunch break. In addition to spin class, I’ve been doing Sweat’s HIIT workouts to build strength. Lastly, I’ve been doing Pilates or yoga six times a week. So far this workout strategy has been working really well. I’m going to add in some treadmill workouts though because I’m itching to run.

And lastly, here’s a brief Athena update. Unfortunately, she continues to deteriorate and difficult decisions have been made. We booked an appointment with the vet Tuesday to put her to sleep. This was the soonest they had available and it is important to us that our vet puts her to sleep. We don’t want to take her to a stranger or strange place. She loves the vet and will be comfortable and feel loved. Athena continues to eat and drink, which have always been two of her favorite hobbies. She enjoys eating chicken parm, donuts, and cheese.

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The Saga Continues

The saga continues as I am still trying to get my rental reservation from Chicago straightened out. Hertz has kindly charged my AmEx daily this week for the same amount. Now if you will recall, Hertz towed my rental back to O’Hare on 1/12/23. Due to my son’s schedule, I opted not to get a replacement vehicle and end the rental that day. When I spoke with roadside assistance, she made it clear that if I wanted a replacement vehicle, I’d need to call back to set it up. Otherwise, Hertz would consider the rental closed. Except apparently, Hertz hasn’t closed out the rental. This is a bit disconcerting given that I have spoken to Hertz customer care several times a day since Saturday.

Customer service has repeatedly assured me that the rental has been closed out. Yet here we are. Consequently, I called AmEx this morning. American Express will block all subsequent charges from Hertz. Hertz would have charged me $359 if I had kept the car. As of this morning, Hertz has charged me $505. To be clear, I rent from Hertz all the time and have never had an issue like this. Usually, the rental experience is seamless. Nevertheless, here I am trying to climb the allegorical mountain that is resolution. Anyway, the saga continues.

As far as sagas go, this rental car one is quite boring. I’d much prefer a saga in the mountains of Utah or Scandinavia. The Mayor and I were talking yesterday about our trips to Utah. We’ve had so much fun exploring the Wasatch mountains and the canyons of the Great Salt Lake Area. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons will always be two of my favorite places. The hikes we did in both canyons were so refreshing and beautiful. The elevation of the canyons definitely helped cool us down. Unfortunately, the hikes closer to Jake’s base offered little shade and tons of heat. Nevertheless, every hike we’ve taken in Utah has been beautiful. Hopefully, we’ll be able to visit Utah one last time.

Meanwhile, I have been cooking meat since my lunch hour. Our garage fridge/freezer somehow became unplugged and everything in the freezer defrosted. Since we just received a ButcherBox delivery, we have a lot of meat to cook today. Over my break, I sauteed up four pounds of stew meat and got a roast going in the crock pot. As soon as work is over, I’ll be back to cooking all the defrosted meat. Oh, the joy!

Today’s accountability tracker:

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Back Home

We got back home early yesterday morning from our fantastic trip to Chicago. I had planned on writing yesterday, but after only three hours of sleep, I thought it would be an exercise in futility. As I crawled out of bed to work yesterday, having slept through all of my alarms, I was lamenting my choice not to take the day off. Fortunately, I had a really productive day at work despite my lack of sleep. My parents, who are in town, also brought me a much-needed Starbucks halfway through the day. They were complete lifesavers. I skipped my workouts yesterday because I was exhausted. It was one of those days that had I worked out, I probably would have made myself sick or injured myself.

I’m still utterly exhausted even though we’ve been back home for a day. Consequently, I’m taking another rest day. Fortunately, I did get to bed relatively early last night even though we had company. My parents and sister-in-law came over for dinner last night. While I was on my PanCan conference call, the Hubby grilled up some yummy hamburgers, brats, and potatoes. The grilled potatoes and onions bathed in butter is one of my favorite dishes that we make. He finished the food promptly at 8:00 pm, which was perfect timing. Goalielocks was also in town to pick up stuff he had forgotten and say hi to the grandparents. We made him put everything in the car immediately, so he wouldn’t forget it again. It was nice having him home even if it was for just one night.

Tonight the Mayor has practice, so we’ll just spend our night relaxing with the dogs. Who am I kidding? The dogs will be creating all sorts of mischief as we try to watch television. I’ll write more about our trip tomorrow when my brain is less foggy. Unfortunately, I’m still sorting out the rental situation. They’ve now charged my AmEx multiple times for a car I didn’t get to use. I’m waiting for them to send me my receipt, so I can see the actual charges. At this point, I think I’ll have to file a dispute with American Express to recoup my money. I’m a bit disappointed that it’s taking so long, but I’m sure the bank holiday isn’t helping expedite the process.

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Clusterfuck

This trip has been a clusterfuck since yesterday when Hertz inadvertently deleted my rental reservation while trying to fix it. After a couple of calls, they got it taken care of and at a much lower rate. The real clusterfuck showed up when Delta emailed me that our flight was delayed and we needed to rebook. Fortunately, I got the email before falling asleep, so I could get situated while there were still flights available.

After several hours, Delta’s customer service agent was able to get us rebooked into O’Hare via JFK. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have a Twitter tantrum directed at Delta. After being canceled, rebooked, canceled, and rebooked at the back of the plane after paying for Comfort+ on the flight, I was beyond livid. Thankfully, an angel named Eloise, a Delta customer service rep, took care of it.

The cluster has continued today. Our boarding passes for the second flight didn’t want to load, so that was fun. I went up to the desk to get printed copies, but the attendant insisted the photos I had of the printed passes would work. Spoiler alert, they didn’t and we were the last folks to board the plane. I wouldn’t have been so annoyed if I hadn’t already asked for the printed passes. Anyway, we eventually got on the bird and are now wheels up to Chicago.

I did notice, however, once I got service again that our Monday flight to Atlanta as cancelled. It looks like they’ve already rebooked us on another flight. The basement of JFK, where our gate was, had absolutely no cell nor Wi-Fi service. There was literally no service in the room. Obviously, everyone was annoyed with the lack of service as it made it mighty difficult to pull up a boarding pass in the APP with no internet.

If there’s anything the last twenty four hours have taught me, it is that my bullshit tolerance clearly has a limit. At the moment, the limit seems to be nil. Perhaps, my tolerance for travel bullshit is lower than my normal life bullshit tolerance. Or perhaps I’m just exhausted and have no desire to be tolerant. I think I probably just need a good nap and maybe a piece of the gigantic Milka Bar I bought in the airport.

Today’s bloganuary prompt asks what one would do with a billion dollars. Given my experience with the clusterfuck that is travel these days, I’d buy a private CBC jet. This way I don’t need to worry about my flight getting cancelled or my mobile boarding pass not working. It would just be so easy. Plus if I had a private jet, it would be much easier to travel with my puppies. Although to be fair, I’m not sure the puppies would love flying. Anakin and Arrow have nervous breakdowns when driving five minutes to the vets office.

And we made it!

Today’s accountability tracker:

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Packing

I finally started packing! The Mayor and I are quite excited about our trip to the North. Fortunately, I found my jacket last night out in the garage. In Goalielocks’ haste to clean, he decided (I guess) that my jacket and nice mitten from Stockholm should be donated. I guess I’ll have to go through the donation bags when I get back from Chicago to make sure he’s not getting rid of anything else I need. My clothes have all been washed and the boots have been selected. I decided to not bring winter boots since the weather’s going to be mild. Consequently, I’m bringing the cute boots I took to Scandinavia in 2018.

So in between packing and work, I’ve been trying to update my rental reservation to reflect my gold club membership with Hertz. Their online support told me to try updating it in their app. Spoiler alert, their app does not work. Consequently, I ended up calling customer care. After being on hold for several minutes, the agent canceled my reservation and created a new one (allegedly.). I say allegedly because it is yet to reflect in my account, nor can the online Hertz agent see the new reservation. As Charlie Sheen would say, I’m winning! As this goes to press, I’m waiting to hear back from Hertz as to whether I need to create a new reservation or not. And now I’m back on the phone with Hertz. I’m clearly bumfuzzled.

Today’s bloganuary prompt is what chore do you find most challenging to do? The answer is getting issues like reservations fixed via phone calls. I work on the phone all day. Consequently, I don’t want to spend my spare time on the phone. To me, it’s a bit sinful when a consumer can’t fix their issue online without having to call the company multiple times. It should never take more than one call to fix an issue. Anyway, to punctuate my bad experience today, they can locate the new reservation, but it’s all jacked up. At this point, they’re skating on thin ice. Good news! They’re no longer on thin ice. They fixed my reservation and it’s now going to cost me a third of the original price. And now I’m back to packing.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Week six Sweat Beginner HIIT full body workout. Ran one and a half miles, and walked two. Day twelve of the Everyday Yoga Shop/Practyce 21-day yoga challenge.
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song: Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
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Bumfuzzled

Bumfuzzled, what a word! Am I right? Webster’s dictionary defines bumfuzzled as being in a state of bewilderment. This great word and prompt from my fellow blogger fits my current state. For the past months, I’ve been trying to make a correction to my vehicle’s title. Per the lienholder, I made an appointment with the DMV. After visiting the seven layers of hell that is the Florida DMV, the DMV told my hubby that only the lienholder could file for a correction. Well, isn’t that special? Consequently, I returned it to my lienholder, who told me that the dealer must update it. Tell me your incompetent without telling me your incompetent perfectly describes my lienholder’s response. Anyway, stay tuned.

Outside of the bullshit mentioned above, I’ve been trying to get ready for our Chicago trip. In fact, I’ve made such a large effort that the suitcase is now out of the closet. The most difficult task, I fear, will be locating our winter jackets. I believe they’re upstairs in the Mayor’s closet, but that belief is probably on par with the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. Naturally, the next task will be to locate my mittens. Unfortunately, I keep getting distracted by work, so my packing is moving forward at a snail’s pace. In fact, I’ll probably enlist the Mayor’s help to locate our winter jackets. After all, I’m relatively sure they’re in the vicinity of his room.

As you can tell, I’ve spent my Wednesday bumfuzzled, distracted, and boggled. Nonetheless, I’ve already got my run done for the day. Each run has gotten progressively easier as I’ve gotten over my cold. Later, I’m going to take a walk on my break to get my mileage up to four. I decided I’m going to walk the same mileage that I run. My goal is to cover at least 3.1 miles per day by some combination of walking/jogging and running. After work, I’m going to finish Day 11 of the yoga challenge. I’ve really enjoyed the yoga challenge thus far. The challenge brings a nice variety to my personal practice. I love getting back into yoga. Today’s bloganuary prompt is what makes you feel successful. Sticking to the goals I’ve set for life, including my fitness goals, is what makes me feel successful.

Today’s accountability tracker: