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Happy to be Warm

I am happy to be warm after a very chilly weekend in Canada. The Mayor and I had a great time, but I hate wearing multiple layers. Additionally, I hate the feeling that your fingers are going to fall off when you try to pump gas. Who needs windchills below zero? Not this girl; that ship has sailed for me.

I will admit, the falling snow Saturday evening was absolutely beautiful. Winter driving is for the birds. Fortunately, the temperature was warm enough to prevent the roads from icing over. I did, however, have to drive through quite a bit of snow going to the second game Saturday night. While Saturday’s temperature was manageable, Sunday’s weather was offensive. The chill of that winter wind is something you never forget, which is why I live in Florida.

The drive back to Detroit was uneventful. We didn’t see the sign advising us to “don’t pick up hitchhikers, prison area” that we saw on our way to Canada. They must have had some issues with jailbirds hitchhiking their way away from prison. I did think my fingers were going to fall off when I was pumping gas. To be blunt, I was thrilled when we took off leaving winter behind. The flight home was smooth and we even saw the SpaceEx launch from the plane. It was amazing to see, but impossible to photograph. Anyway, I’m happy to be home and happy to be warm.

What is your favorite animal?

What a silly question. Everyone knows my favorite animal is a dog. I love them. Our dogs are such a big part of our family. Maya and Athena, even though they left us physically are never far from our hearts or thoughts. Dogs love their family unconditionally and are always by your side. Their loving disposition and loyalty feed the soul. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that most dogs are super cute.

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Snow Storm!

We are in the midst of a snow storm here in Sarnia. It was absolutely beautiful earlier this evening as the snowflakes began to fall. Nevertheless, the beautiful snow also inspired some deep seated anxiety over driving in the snow. After all, this is the very weather we moved to Florida to avoid. Fortunately, it’s remained warm enough, so the roads, while wet and snow covered, were not at all icy.

Tomorrow morning, however, the temperatures are supposed to fall into the low twenties. I am a bit nervous the roads may get icy. Perhaps will have a plow come through cleaning the road and paving the way for us as if we’re dignitaries. (Wishful thinking obviously!). It’s also supposed to start snowing again midday Saturday. In all, they’re expecting anywhere from 6-15 inches of snow. Fortunately, the Mayor and I both upgraded our winter wear yesterday. Needless to say, my anxiety over driving is making me feel like a curmudgeon.

What snack would you eat right now?

As I write this, I’m enjoying some yummy breadsticks and cheese. I saw these at Walmart this morning and had to buy them. They remind me of spending weekends at my grandmas and eating Moo Town Snackers while watching Saved by the Bell. We ate in between games, which made for a really early supper. I’m a bit hungry, so this was the perfect sized snack.

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Made it to Sarnia!!!

We made it to Sarnia! Our flight to Detroit was smooth and uneventful. Fortunately, the drive to Sarnia went as smoothly as our flight. We’re just over an hour north of Detroit. The views of Lake Huron as we came over the bridge into Canada were stunning. Our hotel is a block off the St. Clair River, which is a beautiful location.

The town itself is a bit sleepy at least compared to what we’re used to back home. We had dinner at Bad Dog, which is a just down the street from the hotel. After dinner, we all hit the sauna and pool, which was the perfect anecdote to a busy travel day. The games and apparently the snowstorm start tomorrow, so it should be a fun day.

Come up with a crazy business idea.

Maybe it’s my inner curmudgeon speaking, but people’s behavior on airplanes grinds my gears. I would open a business that teaches etiquette to airplane passengers, so the poor behavior we see in airports would stop. Today on our flight, someone got up and out of their seat as soon as we landed. Who the freak does that? It’s never good when a flight attendant reminds you to stay seated while landing and until you get to the gate. People are special. Anyway, I’m just glad we made it.

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Headed North

Tomorrow morning the Mayor and I are headed north to Sarnia for a hockey weekend. While I’m looking forward to the adventure, I’m not looking forward to the possible snow storms I see forecasted. Unfortunately, there’s no good airport to fly into in Sarnia, so we’ll be flying into DTW and then headed north via rental car to Sarnia. Truly, I hope the drive to and from the airport is snowless with clear, dry roads. I’m praying for snow-free commutes.

The Mayor and I on the Rideau Canal


Today, I’m just finishing up work and packing. I had planned to run, but the universe had other plans. Arrow tried to decapitate me last night by jumping on to our bed, while I was bending over to remove my ankle brace. I don’t know if it was poor timing or if Arrow’s depth perception is as bad as mine, but he jumped straight into the side of my head forcing my head to turn completely to the right. Ouch! Fortunately, my head doesn’t hurt and there are no symptoms of a concussion. Unfortunately, the left side of my neck and shoulders is a completely different story.

Arrow’s favorite outdoor snack

Needless to say, I’ve been alternating between ice and heating pads on my neck and shoulders. I’m hoping it isn’t as stiff tomorrow or that will make flying miserable.  As I’ll be away for the weekend, I placed a Target order to ease the burden for the hubby. While I didn’t run today, I did walk the dogs at lunch. Anakin is always on the hunt and was trying to catch a pollinator, aka a bee, today. He usually catches his prey, but thankfully he didn’t get the bee. Meanwhile, Arrow just uses the hibiscus bushes as a crawlway where he can find pretty blooms to eat.

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

My great grandmother made me a quilt when I was born. It’s blue and has nursery rhymes on it. The design isn’t dated, and, in addition, it’s a pretty large quilt compared to most baby quilts. My desire was always to pass it on to my kids, but I had boys three boys. Currently, the quilt waits in an upstairs closet to be passed down to the first grandchild. Boy was that a weird sentence to write. I tell you what, every know and again the realization that we’re closer to grandkids then having kids stops me in my tracks. Where has time gone?!?!

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Stormy Weather

There’s stormy weather everywhere today. My weather app is beeping constantly with new watches and warnings for the areas I track. Unfortunately, my oldest two are currently under tornado watches. Here in South Florida, it is exceedingly rainy. I don’t think they expect storms here until later this evening. Hopefully, it won’t be anything severe.

I’m thankful the storms don’t bother our dogs. Otherwise, we’d be in for a long evening. Since the weather isn’t great, I opted to spin over lunch instead of running with Arrow. It’s also a nice break for my joints. Although I have to be honest, since I started wearing On Running shoes, I have very little pain after a I run. This is truly a miracle given I have torn tendons and ligaments in both ankles and feet.

What is your mission?

My mission is to make this world a better place. I became resolute in this mission after working with a woman so toxic and terrible that my only response was to be the exact opposite. When I tell you she was a terrible person, I am not overstating it one bit. She is the kind of person that can find something wrong with every person, moment and situation. Further, she would make it her mission to make people feel as terrible as she clearly felt about herself. After working with her, I should have been awarded a diploma in abnormal psychology.

It was the realization that her self hate drove her behavior that drove me to take another approach. Obviously, we can’t make someone not hate themselves. We can, however, be the antithesis and go out of our way to make people’s days brighter. We can be a harbinger of joy and kindness that seeks to make the world a happier and better place one interaction at a time.

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The Weekend

The weekend is here. Hopefully, it means that I’ll get back to knowing what day of the week it is. I
I dedicated the morning to completing household chores.  Honestly, I had every intention of doing this work over the holiday break, but it didn’t happen. Mostly because all three boys were here, but also because I got sick on Christmas night. Unfortunately, getting sick also meant I couldn’t spend as much time with the boys as I wanted to since I didn’t want to infect anyone.

After a quick liquid lunch, a protein shake, I headed to Palm Beach to go thrifting with Terri. Our first stop was the Church Mouse. It’s a fancier “thrift” store on Palm Beach island and the prices were equal to the location. Afterwards, we headed to Goodwill back on the mainland. Fortunately, Terri was able to find some gold at that location. We were going to stop at World Thrift, but we didn’t have life jackets or rowboats to get through the parking lot.

I spent the evening chilling with the puppies while watching The Morning Show. It’s quite entertaining and well down. Once my Amazon package gets here, I’m going to start working on my sourdough baguette loaves. Well, at least I’m going to get the equipment ready. Thankfully, it’s going to be a nice and peaceful evening. It’s nice to be able to watch the show of my choice without someone complaining or making fun of my choice. I’ll be taking advantage of this all weekend.

Meanwhile the Mayor and Hubby are enjoying the snow that’s begun to fall in Pennsylvania. Note to anyone looking for a new car, the Chevy Bolt doesn’t handle any amount of snow and will leave you stuck. In addition to the snow, the Mayor played two games. They lost the first game and tied the second one. They’re currently enjoying the Pittsburgh Penguins versus the Sabres game. I think it’s fun to experience NHL games in different stadiums or cities.

If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?

If I had a freeway billboard, it would say carpe diem. Mostly because I think people should live for the moment. Also, I like the idea of putting up a billboard with a dead language on it. Gotta be different!

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Back to Normal

Things are getting back to normal around here after a busy holiday season. Jake left earlier in the week to go back to Tally and today Goalielocks headed back to UCF. Meanwhile, the Mayor and the hubby are in Pittsburgh for the weekend at a tournament. There’s nobody here to pickpocket me. I mean ask for cash to buy food when we have three fridges full of food. My house has gone from a nuthouse to a peaceful space. I’m just kidding the puppies make sure there’s ample noise in the house. Especially if a squirrel or bird is at the bird feeder.

While the boys are in Pittsburgh, I’m going to try and be productive around the house. My sourdough starter should be good to go this weekend. I started both starters last Saturday. Since this is my first attempt, I thought I should make two in case on failed. For one starter, I bought a starter culture from Amazon. The other culture I made with water and flour. Both are looking good. The only thing remaining is to name said starters.

The sourdough starters

I also bought some things to get my bathroom and kitchen better organized. Truly, I need a better system for managing my makeup. Consequently, I bought a makeup storage thing from Amazon. It’s bedazzled and should hold everything I got. Or at least I hope it will. I’m also rearranging my pantry because it’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Also, I found some great airtight containers for my flour and sugar. Since we live in Florida, I’ve added bay leaves to keep away any bugs.

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

I spend more time thinking about the future than the past. Well, maybe…. Honestly, if you ignore the past, you’re bound to repeat precious mistakes, which is super lame. On the flip side, if you ruminate too much on the past, you will never move forward. Consequently, I try to find a balance between the two while also living in the moment. I don’t want life to pass me by because I’ve spent too much time thinking about things I can’t change or things that may or may not happen. And now we’re back to normal.

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Greatest Gift

Today’s prompt for Bloganuary is about the greatest gift someone could give. It’s quite apropos given we’re just coming out of gift-giving season. I don’t know about you, but I have gift-giving fatigue. As the boys get older, it’s getting increasingly hard to buy gifts that they’ll use. We bought a lot of experiential gifts when they were growing up, but that’s harder now that we all live in different places.

One gift that I’ve gotten this week is great weather. It’s been nice and cool here, so I started running outside with Arrow. While I had the confidence to restart running outside, I wasn’t sure how Arrow would manage. Thankfully, he’s got no problem going the distance and manages to smile the whole time like Athena used to do. Unfortunately, he hasn’t mastered running right beside me all the time. He nearly tripped me several times when we ran in front or off to the side. He’s also hip-checked a few times, but I was able to keep it steady. It’s a work in progress, but it’s going well.

What is the greatest gift someone could give you?

The greatest gift someone can give you is their time and their stories. I spent a lot of time with my Grandma last month and it was wonderful. She and I talked about many things, but I enjoyed hearing stories of her childhood and raising children. Times were undoubtedly much different when she was growing up and raising kids, but the concerns we face as parents remain the same. We still worry about the family budget, how our kids do in school, and neighborhood bullies.

I found some great pictures of her and her family dating back to the 40s, which were so cool. At my folk’s house, I found an envelope of pics my feet aunt had taken back in the early 80s. There were a lot of pics of my brother and I with my mom and grandma. These ladies are always up for adventure, it’s no wonder I love to explore the world and hike the mountains. There was one picture of my grandma and me that I particularly loved (it’s now hanging on my wall) where I’m leading her through a trail and she’s following behind keeping me safe. It’s a powerful reminder that my grandma has had my back since day one.

One thing that my Grandma enjoyed was hearing that I still make her mom’s recipes. Her face lit up! Recipes and the food we eat have an amazing way of connecting us to our roots and heritage. When we cook those recipes passed down from generation to generation, it keeps those folks alive. Maybe it’s the post-run stupor talking, but your girl is sentimental today. I’ll leave you all with a prayer request for the day. Today some people that I love tremendously experience a terrible loss. Please say a little prayer that God may bring them some comfort.

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year to the blogosphere! I’m a bit late, but better late than never. If you’re anything like Larry David and put a statute of limitations on such greetings this should still fall within that window. It’s unbelievable that it’s 2024, and my youngest is graduating high school this year, while my oldest is getting married. Boy life comes at you fast!

I had the best intentions of getting back to December but enjoyed having no obligations aside from exercising. This, of course, ended up working out for the best as my mom needed me to help move my Grandma into her new place. It was so much fun spending time with my Grandma and hearing her stories. I occupied Grandma with coffee and chatting, enabling my mom and aunt to accomplish tasks.

By the way, I had no idea how intricate the process of moving a loved one into assisted/independent living is. They accomplished it, securing my Grandma an absolutely incredible view of the Lake. My Grandma’s new digs are amazing.  I was joking with her that it’s like she’s on a cruise every day. The facility schedules a wide variety of daily activities, and she gets ice cream with every meal. I’m jealous.

What colleges have you attended?

I did my undergrad at the University of Minnesota from 1998-2001. My son who goes to school here in Florida is paying less for his tuition than I did at the U of MN. Both schools are public, yet one is significantly more expensive. Perhaps it’s time to ask why some public institutions are so expensive. Folks are drowning in student debt, it’s time to hold these schools accountable for the outcomes and tuition increases.

I did my MBA at Purdue University Global, which at the time was Kaplan University. Regulators placed KU, like many for-profit schools at the time, under the oversight of gainful employment regulations. Meaning that the school had to show that its programs led to gainful employment. Higher Education, which I’m thrilled to no longer be working in, is an absolute mess. The value proposition isn’t there anymore. To be quite frank, my generation was fed a line of bullshit that college was the only path to a bright future. Most people looked down on trade schools at the time.  Let me tell you something, a skilled HVAC worker in Florida is never going to be without employment. Anyway, happy new year!

Today’s song is Cumbersome, but Seven Mary Three

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Back at it

Well, I’m back at it and not happy about it. This back-to-reality bullshit is for the birds. I’d like to go back on the holiday vacation with the family. Naturally, the first day back at the office after a long absence is always difficult. Today was no exception. Unfortunately, technology did not want to cooperate with any of us today. This made for a frustrating day all around.

It could be worse I guess. I could still be at my old job, which was pure misery. I remember when I left Progressive how happy my hubby was that I’d stop talking in acronyms. And then I started at Kaplan University and it was back to the alphabet soup he so hated. Fortunately, my current company doesn’t speak in acronyms, so he no longer has to worry about that frustration. Nonetheless, I’d love to see the measly lead flow improve back to 2022 levels.

Despite my frustration, I chose to move forward full of optimism today. While I may not have had the best day, it wasn’t the worst. Moreover, I’ll continue focusing on improving daily and hitting my goals. I used to meditate in the morning to a quick sales meditation I found on YouTube that was really effective for me. Unfortunately, the video has been removed. Consequently, I decided to write out my own sales mantra meditation. I’m toying with the idea of filming it, so I can listen to it while I sit in legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani.)

Today I hit all of my goals less my personal sales goal. My two-mile run went okay. My lungs are still a bit tight from the lingering head cold/sinus/allergy bullshit, so that’s fun. After work, I completed day three of the yoga challenge. Today’s practice was a sixty-minute Hatha class, which I really enjoyed. It was not overly strenuous, but it wasn’t overly chill either. Truly, the instructor struck a really good balance between building strength and relaxation.

First three days do the yoga challenge in the books and Insta official

Lastly, today’s bloganuary prompt is what is the earliest memory you have. My earliest memory is of saying goodbye to my grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side. I think it was late summer or fall as we didn’t have jackets on. I wasn’t quite two yet, which I know because my clearest early memory is of my grandfather passing away from a heart attack. He passed away eight days after my birthday on my grandma’s birthday. Forty years later I stand in awe of my grandma’s grace, resilience, and faith. When times are tough, I remind myself I’m cut from the same cloth. Anyways I’m back at it.

Today’s accountability tracker: