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The Day is Finally Here

The day is finally here that special day we have all longed for. The end of 2020. To be certain, 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, but that’s not to say there weren’t some bright spots. It’s become too easy to focus on all the negative 2020 has brought, mostly because it’s omnipresent, but 2020 has also brought us some blessings. First of all, we got a chance to slow down the pace of life. The pandemic brought a hard stop to the incredible business of our lives. Since our kids started travel hockey a decade ago, every weekday and weekend has been incredibly busy. It was nice, for once, to not have anywhere to go. Obviously, the novelty of nothing to do wore off really quickly.

Unquestionably, 2020’s greatest blessing was watching our son graduate from BMT. Having a kid far from home with no way to contact them was a test of strength for us. His graduation couldn’t come fast enough for the hubby and me. When we caught our first glimpse of him during the Airmen’s Run, we could tell he had changed. The way he carried himself was completely different. In fact, I would say we dropped off a boy at the recruiter’s office in December to be reunited with a man at BMT graduation. Truly, the change was that dramatic. More importantly, it was obvious that he was where he belonged.

His class was one of the last classes to have public graduation ceremonies before the pandemic shut them down. In fact, our first clue at how severe this pandemic would become while on base for his graduation. We just happened to be on base when the Americans evacuated from Wuhan arrived on JBSA Lackland and the base hotel. It was surreal seeing the CDC folks there in their contagion suits. I shudder to think of how I would have felt if we had been denied the opportunity to see him graduate from Bootcamp. Undoubtedly, his BMT graduation will forever be one of my best and proudest memories.

Of course, he left BMT for tech school and his transition continued. Now he’s at this FDS and in his first “real” job. I have no idea what he does, but I’m sure it’s pretty spectacular. Nevertheless, 2020 gave us the gift of watching our child launch from unsure teenager to mature and gainfully employed adult. That’s pretty awesome! There will be no “Failure to Launch” parodies inspired by this kid. Now our oldest has started his career in a growing field, which will always be in demand, and continues to develop in his role in the service. Moreover, he’s taking advantage of the resources provided to continue his education and broaden his skill set. I’d say we’re pretty proud of him, but that would be a gross understatement of how we feel about his accomplishments.

2020 also brought us our newest addition to the family, Anakin. It’s been almost a year since we’ve added him to the family. Athena and Maya love him dearly and he loves them. Amazingly, all three dogs get along very well. He and Athena have the best time playing together, while Maya basks in the joys of being left alone. Albeit, Maya does like to join in on the play from time to time. She does, however, enjoy the fact that Athena no longer harasses her to play all day every day. All three dogs are happy to have Jake home for the holidays. They also enjoy our new normal of work from home and virtual school.

Anyway, the day is finally here. We’ve waited since March for this dreaded dumpster fire of a year to be over. While I sift out the negativity that 2020 brought, over and over and over again, I count the blessings that the year brought. I reflect in gratitude at how much good came out of a year that was so very bad. Here’s to 2021 a year full of love, gratitude, health, and opportunity!

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

*I read The Red and The Black, Stendhal by Fyodor Dosytoevsky

*It’s day 4 of BBG 3.0 week 8, which means it is cardio day. However, I still have to complete the arm workout.

*I’m so excited!!!! He’s here!

*Our NYE’s plans have completely blown up as our youngest was exposed to the virus. He won’t be playing in that 3v3 tournament after all. Bummer!

*I will, hopefully, finish my baking again. We’re doing a brunch 2.0 for Jake.

*Today I ran two miles and walked a quarter of a mile. I’ve started running with Anakin outside since the weather has been nice. He’s much faster than me, so it’s been quite the adventure.

*Today’s word of the day is turn. I cannot wait for the year to turn as I watch the countdown in understated elegance (aka my pajamas.)

*I love the footprints the puppies leave on the patio when coming back in every morning. I’m a bit sick of them tracking in the mud on the freshly vacuumed white tiles. It has been so humid here in the mornings that they’re getting a bit muddy in the backyard.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Today Anakin is wearing his Christmas bow tie. He looks mighty dapper if I say so myself. Naturally, I bought all three dogs Christmas outfits. I can’t wait to share the pictures with you. You’ll love them.

Today’s song of the day is How Great Thou Art performed by Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill:

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Feeling Accomplished

I gotta be honest, but I’m feeling accomplished today. This is a pretty accomplishment given that I barely slept last night. Clearly, my thyroid is a bit off given the insomnia inexperience last night. My morning started off like any other opening with Dunkin’ and a morning meditation. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t fall back asleep during the meditation.

Afterwards, I went to wake up Goalielocks and get the Mayor started on their school work. No matter how many times I opened Goalielocks’ door and his eyes were closed, his phone off and his laptop closed, he insisted he had been up the whole time. In fact, I didn’t see him downstairs until dinner time. Oh yeah, the post dinner homework check is going to be fun!
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Today was day 3 of week 10 of the BBG workout. Usually I walk to warmup, but today I decided to dance. As for the workout, it was tough. Just like Monday, Kayla Itsines brought the torture devices out. Albeit it wasn’t burpees with pushups and tuck jumps today. Thank God. Instead today’s sorcery included spider man pushups and lay down burpees. Needless to say my arms and shoulders were super sore after the workout.

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My cool down today was a nice walk around the block with the puppies. While the weather was a bit warmer today, it was still pleasant today. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be a lot hotter and more humid tomorrow. The change in weather should make for an interesting and likely difficult run. Although it is possible that it may be raining tomorrow morning, which means I’d have to run inside or run Friday.

The rest of my afternoon was devoted to productivity. Naturally, the afternoon started with my second cup of coffee for the day. Afterwards, I enjoyed a nice conversation with my folks while drinking my third cup of coffee on the day. Once my coffee and conversation had finished, I headed to my room to complete my afternoon meditation. After some debate, I decided to give the Calm app membership, which is what I used for the meditation.
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Finally, the center point of my afternoon was finishing school work. I swore I was done with school, but FAU was offering a free certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management Certificate through Executive Education in the School of Business. While, I’m not sure I want to work in that industry, there are a lot of opportunities in South Florida within the trade. Excitingly, I finished the certificate and received my credential today. One more thing I can check off my to do list.
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I’m also on a waitlist for a certificate through Cornell, but have no idea when that will start. Basically, I’m trying to take every opportunity I can to better myself during the pandemic. However, I’m staying balanced. After I finished my certificate, I ate the rest of the jelly beans and binge watched Trailer Park Boys.  I love the Trailer Park Boys!  See it is possible to be both awesome and moving forward and a hot mess at the same time. Frankly, it’s called balance. Otherwise, you’d just be calling my an overachiever.

Naturally, it wouldn’t be Wednesday if I didn’t start my evening with a wonderful yoga class while the Hubby fires up the grill. On tonight’s menu was filet mignon with bacon, cheese burgers, grilled gator tots and corn. Obviously, this Wednesday night routine has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the pandemic. Tonight’s class was all about the upper back. Honestly, I swear she’s psychic because my upper back has been a hot mess. Oh it was delicious just like my steak!

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Midweek Yoga Break with Christine from Movement Yoga

*Completed my certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management through FAU

*Watched Trailer Park Boys

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 3 arms

*Virtual school torture with Goalielocks and the Mayor

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

 

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Peaks and Valleys

The funny thing about life in quarantine is that the day comes with many peaks and valleys. Today’s peaks came courtesy of Dunkin’, my puppies, my run, yoga class and a call from my airmen. Meanwhile today’s valleys were brought to us by virtual school, dog diarrhea and projectile vomiting. Doesn’t that sound like a great mix on the day? At least there wasn’t a dull moment.

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Today’s hero was absolutely my middle puppy Athena. Not only did she slay the run with me, less her own bout of diarrhea, she also alerted me to her sister’s illness. While Maya sat calmly by the back patio door, Athena began to ring the bell enthusiastically. (We trained her as a puppy to ring a bell to alert us when she needed to go out.). Over the years, however, she has started to ring the bell for Maya and now Anakin. Per usual, I took Maya and Anakin our first. Thankfully, Athena was timely in alerting me otherwise I would have been cleaning the house for days. Poor Maya was like a faucet of doggy doo doo. Fortunately, this afternoon she’s feeling better.

Our run this morning was fantastic, although I’m still so slow. Albeit I was faster today than I was the previous two weeks. However, today’s mild weather definitely supported a faster run. Unfortunately, the weather will be hot the rest of the week. Consequently, we’ll see how weather impacts my time on Thursday. Either way today was a beautiful day for a run and a great day to be outside. The beautiful blue sky framed by palm trees and Hong Kong orchids never gets old.

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Thankfully, I timed my run so I could complete my stretch exercises with some time to spare before heading to yoga. During this brief break I checked in with the kids, who were still being a bit obstinate and lazy. Since I was headed into yoga, I let it roll of my back for the moment. Yoga was awesome! It was, as it always is, exactly what my body and soul needed. Truly, it is a great compliment to the rest of my workout routine. Also, I love taking pictures of my practice as I can see how far I’ve come and how I’m progressing. It’s amazing how far I’ve come since November!

The remainder of my afternoon was devoted to chasing assignments and managing virtual school. Honestly, I’d rather herd cats or be chased by coyotes at this point. Goalielocks continues to think he works the third shift at Xbox and Minecraft, Inc. I’d stay up to get him to bed if I could keep my eyes open after 5:00 pm, but that’s a whole different story. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s efforts have been even worse. Consequently, I have his phone and will take the Xbox chord for the night. Accordingly, I know check both google classrooms and grade books daily to ensure the work is getting done. Needless to say, I’m exhausted.

And then there was dinner….. The Mayor made us dinner tonight, which was amazing. On the menu was chili con carne. Emphatically, I have to say that having a kid that cooks well is an absolute blessing. Because dinner was again amazing. When he started throwing up after dinner that was not so amazing. He doesn’t feel sick or anything. Likely, he just ate way too much chili and it came back up. It’s not the first time it has happened and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Nonetheless, we’ll be keeping a close eye on him to be sure it’s nothing serious.

To say the boys lack focus when it comes to the work would be, perhaps, an understatement. Most days it leaves me infuriated, but I remind myself that this change is hard on them too. Their social lives have been upended. Their major source of stress relief and physical activity has been cancelled indefinitely. They haven’t seen their friends in over a month and pandemics are scary. The peaks and valleys of a given day give me pause to remember the difficult days in which we live. Yet despite these difficulties the peaks have outweighed the valleys. This too shall pass and we will all be stronger because of it. We may also be a bit chunkier too.

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Yoga For A Healthy Back with Monica from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Ran 2.5 miles with Athena

*Call from my Airman!

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 2 cardio day

*Virtual school torture with Goalielocks and the Mayor

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

 

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Week 2 of Social Distancing

It’s only the middle of week 2 of social distancing,l and I’m ready for it to be over. Particularly, I’m ready for life to go back to normal. More specifically, I’m anxiously awaiting my boys return to school. Every statement is a battle. I’m really over having to repeat myself 1,000 times a day.  Obviously, it’s a lot of together time.

It’s been an arduous few days. I dropped my phone in the pool Saturday, so if you called or text me I didn’t get it. My dog, Athena, pulled the leash through my hand causing severe rope burns as she bolted to greet a friend. Apparently, for dogs social distancing is not a thing. Then yesterday I had Maya at the vet because her she cut open her tumor and it got infected.

Fortunately, she’s scheduled to have the tumor removed tomorrow. Unfortunately, if the tumor is a metastasis from her lung tumor (that is extremely slow growing,) her days with us our limited. No sooner had I heard that news on phone from the vet, when I backed out of my spot and the brakes went out. Yesterday was truly one for the books. No wonder I was in bed by 9:30.

Meanwhile at my airman’s base, there are three cases of Covid-19. They’re at HPCon Charlie, but I’m sure with these cases it will escalate quickly. Fortunately, he’s prepared if they are quarantined to their dorms. It sounds like if that happens he’ll still be able to do his training, which is great news. Thankfully, I know he’s being well protected where he’s at. Nevertheless, this is definitely the time I want to have him home.

Since I had no phone the last couple of days, I’ve enjoyed a bit of a respite from social media. Okay, I had my iPhone 6, but with the 15,000 photos I have on it, it was a bit slow going for me. Truly, I needed the break from Facebook particularly. Every post is either fake news, someone sanctimoniously preaching, or a combination therein. It’s annoying and counterproductive. Honestly, I just want to see memes, pictures of your families and know that you’re okay. If I wanted to be preached at, I go to church on Zoom.

The worst offenders on Facebook? By far the neighborhood pages. I’m telling you these people have absolutely lost their minds. Perhaps the most insipid post was from a father, who was asking for advice on how to tell his child he couldn’t play basketball even though other kids were playing at our courts. Obviously, that’s an easy conversation – as parents we make the decisions we feel are best for our kids. Other parents may feel differently. Of course, he had to take it a level up and post pictures he took of the kids playing basketball. I don’t know about you, but taking pictures of minor children without their parents consent is creepy A/F.

Anyway, things are looking up today. I got my new, fully functional phone, which is fabulous. We also got our new butterfly fish and goby for the tank, which is exciting. Excitingly, I got to speak with Jake tonight. He passed another block! I’m so proud of all he’s accomplishing day in and day out. He sounded congested like he normally does with his seasonal allergies, but I can’t help but worry. Thankfully, he was able to pick up some allergy meds and more supplies tonight.

As for me, I’ll be back to the regular tempo of my blog. It remains a healthy outlet for me during these difficult days. Even though times are tough, I’m reminded daily of how fortunate I am to live in a place with beautiful weather. Moreover, my family is incredible and as much as they drive me crazy, I love spending time with them. Last but not least our beautiful dogs remain steady by our side. All three of our dogs are happy go lucky, loving dogs. They brings us joy day in and day out. If anyone is happy that we’re all home, it’s them!  I love my sweet puppies!

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