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All I Ever Wanted

“All I ever wanted, all I needed was you…” Yep, my happiness can easily be summed up with the lyrics from a Depeche Mode song. Now all I want for Christmas is all three of my kids under the same roof. Our airman made it home safe and sound for Christmas earlier in the week. Hence the lack of communication here. Obviously, I’ve been spending my time with him these past few days. However, I’m working today and he’s out on a lunch date with his beautiful girlfriend, so here I am.

The reunion between Jake and our puppies was absolutely priceless. After all this time, they remembered him like he left yesterday. There was a lot of excitement on their part. In fact, Athena, who is not a cuddler at all, spent Sunday morning cuddling with him on the couch. A dog’s love is wholesome, complete, and unconditional. It was a beautiful thing to witness. Initially, we let out just Maya and Athena, so they could reunite with Jake without interference from Anakin. Eventually, Anakin joined the party and welcomed Jake home with lots of kisses to his ears.

We headed to church with Jake to surprise Mel, who was signing that morning. It was a fabulous service. Afterwards we headed to brunch with Mel and her family. Goaleilocks had to work, so he and Papa Nerd stayed home. As for the rest of the time, I’ve really made no plans. Whatever my boy wants to do that’s what we’ll do. Lord knows he has plenty of structure in the service. In the mornings, he’s been hitting the clubhouse gym, which pales in comparison to his gym on base, with the Mayor. I went with them Tuesday, so I could complete my leg day workout. My workout schedule is all sorts of off this week. Nevertheless, the clubhouse gym provided a much needed opportunity to amp up my workout.

I’ve been baking for our Christmas brunch all week. Initially, I had some pretty ambitious plans, but I have decided to keep it simple this year. Mostly because it took three attempts to get the mint cookies completed since the dough goes quite fast. Yesterday, I baked another batch of mint cookies, the joulutorts (Finnish star cookies,) and mint bars. I’m going to start my caramel rolls this morning, so everything is ready to rock and roll tomorrow morning. I’ll also get the pulla baked today. Both take significant time to make, but most of it is not active time. There’s a lot of waiting involved for both breads. Late this evening, I’ll knock out the Krumakes if I’m up to it. Those could be easily made tomorrow morning before guests arrive. We will be filling them with whipped cream, cloudberry jam, lingonberry jam and blueberry jam.

Speaking of cookies, my dear friend Brian dropped off his famous Christmas cookies Tuesday afternoon. It was such a gift to see him. Naturally, we really enjoyed the cookies. In fact, they didn’t see Tuesday night. Moreover, my airman and him were able to speak about their experiences in the Air Force. It was nice to be a party to the conversation. As we celebrate Christmas Eve tonight and Christmas tomorrow, my heart will be full. Rest assured we will savor every moment we have with all three of our boys during the holiday season. While our hearts our full of gratitude, we hold in our heart the servicemen and women that aren’t able to be with their families this holiday season. Lastly, we send them and their families our love, gratitude and prayers.

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 7, which means it is cardio day. However, I still have to complete the arm workout.

*I’m so excited!!!! He’s here!

*We’re headed to church with Mel and her family for Christmas Eve. Afterwards, we’re heading to my brother’s for some appetizers and games.

*I will, hopefully, finish my baking.

*I am enjoying the MN Christmas blizzard from afar. Our temps are a bit warm today as we head back into the 80s.

*I actually know that today is Friday and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s here and I’m pretty damn excited about it!

*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. Fortunately, he hasn’t killed me trying to pursue a lizard or mouse.

*Today’s word of the day is rejoice, which is pretty fitting for my current emotional state.  

*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 Carol of the Bells performed by Lindsey Sterling;

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It’s here!

It’s here! We have a new fridge. I gotta admit I’m pretty excited about the newest appliance in our life. In fact, dare I say I was a bit verklempt as the installers finished their work? Truly this would be no exaggeration of how I felt as I looked at my new fridge. First of all, it’s shiny and new and looks great. You should have seen the scratched up exterior of the old one. It looked horrible. Secondly, I no longer have to traipse between the garage and the kitchen when cooking. Lastly, did I mention that it looks awesome? I mean, it really looks much better than the old fridge.

The Before Pic

I was pleasantly surprised that the installers came early in the delivery window. They were pleasant, professional, and quick. Honestly, they had a new fridge in, hooked up, ready to go, and the old fridge out of the house in less than 20 minutes. They were awesome! Moreover, the timing couldn’t have been better. Since it takes a fridge for about three hours to get to the proper temperature, the fridge would be ready to go when my groceries were delivered after 12:00 pm. The boys love the new fridge since it easily accommodates five gallons of milk and their lemonades Fortunately, the new fridge provides much better usage of the space and will hold a lot more. In fact, it has enough freezer space, so we can finally defrost and clean our deep freezer.

Anyway, I had hoped to spend the Christmas season in Norway. It’s really how I envisioned celebrating my 40th birthday. While my birthday was in March, I’d really like to experience the winter holidays and Aurora Borealis in Scandinavia. Unfortunately, the pandemic has been the great destroyer of plans and travels dreams. Ultimately, it will work out better since this Christmas will be able to spend it with Jake. Nonetheless, my dream of a Scandinavian Christmas will live on and planning will commence once the world reopens.

Since I couldn’t get to Scandinavia this Christmas, I’ve decorated the house in Scandinavian fashion. Albeit, the decorating has not yet been completed. I’m waiting on Amazon to deliver some additional decorations to complete the look. Hopefully, they’ll arrive before Christmas. Needless to say, Christmas nisse will look a bit out of place come January. I found some great items on Amazon to compliment the ornaments and decorations I bought on my travels, so I’m pretty excited.

Truthfully, there is nothing I am more excited about than having Jake home for Christmas. It’s really the only present I wished for this year. The countdown clock is winding down and the anticipation is killing me. These last few days are going to take a century. I can feel it! It’s amazing how fast time has flown. It’s already been more than a year since he left for Basic. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

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

*I read The Idiot, by Fyodor Dosytoevsky

*It’s day 5 of BBG 3.0 week 6, which means it is ab day

*I’m so excited!!!! I’m counting down the days until my oldest boy comes home for Christmas! His arrival is getting closer!!!!!

*I actually know that today is Friday and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s here and I’m pretty damn excited about it!

*It’s here! I took delivery of my new shiny fridge! I’m so happy it’s here!

*Today I ran a mile and walked a mile. It went well today.

*Today’s word of the day is procrastinate. I continue to procrastinate in completing my life insurance exam.

*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 Cleopatra, by The Lumineers

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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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Taco Night

Tonight was taco night in our house courtesy of the Red Meat Lover’s Club and Potions in Motion Catering. They’ve paired up to deliver meals and drinks during the pandemic. Ordinarily they only cater events or hold meat lover’s meetings. Fortunately, I found the dynamic duo on our Socially Distanced Supper Club group on Facebook. This is our third such meal from restaurants in the group. Truly, it was an amazing meal and another great deal. Plus, who doesn’t love churros and margaritas in a can?!?!
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Fortunately, I had a really productive day and worked up an appetite for taco night. I started today with a five minute meditation. Basically, after watching Jack Canfield’s talk on Saturday, I be decided to give daily morning and night time meditation try. Today was productive and less stressful than most Mondays. Truly, it will take awhile to gauge how impactful the daily meditation is to my life. Don’t worry I’ll be reporting back my findings on the blog.

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Keeping in the spiritual vein, I went to yoga with Monica at 10:00 am. Honestly, I cannot say it enough. I absolutely love and value the opportunity to attend live yoga during this difficult time. Frankly, there’s no better way to stay centered than by spending time on the mat. Additionally, the yoga compliments my BBG resistance workouts and running. Keeping my muscles strong and flexible is the key to reducing injury. If you know me, you know I need everything available to reduce my propensity to injure myself.

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Speaking of BBG workouts, today’s leg and glutes workout so tough it was almost obnoxious. By the time I finished the second circuit, my quads felt like cement blocks. She introduced a new exercise into the workout that could be categorized as cruel and unusual punishment. In this exercises you do a plank jack into a half burpee. Emphatically, I tell you this move was no joke. Truly, the only thing that got me through it was the music of Metallica. By the time I finished round three, my legs had gone from a constant flutter to a shake. Anyway, I know it’s good for me, but today’s workout will make my run tough tomorrow.

This afternoon my Jack Canfield Success Factors and Success Factors Workbook arrived. Anakin and I were anxious to start reading it. Since I read my fiction books at night, I’ve decided to carve out my coffee time to read a chapter and complete the workbook every morning. Undeniably, this is the best season of our lives to start carving out the lives we want for ourselves. While it won’t happen overnight, we can start laying the ground work now. Today I feel hopeful. It’s not an everyday thing these days, but I feel like we have to find the hope and build on it.

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

*Reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and loving it!

*Gentle Flow Yoga with Monica from YogaMundo

*Started reading Success Factors by Jack Canfield

*Watched Balthazar Season 2 episode 1

*Week 9 BBG legs and glutes resistance workout

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Completed morning meditation 

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Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all that celebrate!!! This Easter and Passover season has been unlike any other that I have been around to experience. I love Cadbury eggs and all that jazz, but the holidays just aren’t the same in the era of social distancing. Nevertheless, we’re doing our part to flatten the curve and end this soon.

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The truth of the matter is family is what makes these holidays special. Since we can’t all be together, we FaceTimed my folks and Jake and called my grandma and my father in law. The nice part about FaceTiming my folks is seeing the snow they’re getting as I look out at our palm trees. I’d be a liar if I said I missed April snowstorms. Nope, I’ll stick to our nice Florida weather.

Our adventure of the day was heading down to Boca go pick up our Easter dinner at J Alexander’s. Their Easter dinner deals for carry out were unbelievable. I spent $65 for a 3lb prime rib, mashed potatoes, Caesar salad and carrot cake that feeds six. Oh and let’s not forget that the food tasted absolutely incredible!! We will definitely be going back for more dinners. I highly recommend you check them out for carry out.

This evening we got our regular FaceTime call from Jake, which was amazing. Anytime we get to see and hear our airmen is a happy day! Since we spent last Easter with Mel and her family, it only felt right that we call them too! We had a Easter party on FaceTime, so my Mayor could talk smack about their volleyball skills. Obviously, it was the best part of my day! I love talking to my boy and seeing his smiling face!! Especially since this is our first Easter without him. From our family to yours, we wish you a Happy Easter filled with love and light!

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

*Studied and practiced Norwegian

*Drove to Boca to pick up our Easter dinner

*Watched The Other Guys and National Lampoons Vacation

*Vacuumed and mopped the floors (again)

*FaceTimed grandma and grandpa and Jake and Mel

*Called my Grandma T and father in law to check in on them 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Worked on Obedience Training with Anakin inside.

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We Survived

We survived another week in isolation and the first week of virtual schooling. Both feats are amazing considered the amount of work it takes to cajole kids to get to their online classes timely. Teenagers are special – truly. Not since the toddler stages have I found parenting more vexing. Fortunately, I no longer have to change their diapers only deal with their tantrums and attitude.

I know this is stressful for them as it is for all of us, but come on man! Doing the dishes for ten minutes isn’t going to cut into your 24/7 free time to play video games or shoot pucks in the garage. Honestly, it’s not asking a lot just for them to help around the house. Additionally, the course work required of each of the boys, thus far, has been reasonable. Both have a virtual session a day, which is great because it gives them a chance to reconnect with their peers and a sense of normalcy. Bottom line they have plenty of time to help mom and dad.


The past couple of weeks have been a constant test of patience and today I felt like I was about to fail the test. Much of my morning was spent motivating, aka arguing with, Goalielocks to start and finish his homework before the 3:00 pm deadline. After asking him for the 900th time to bring his laptop downstairs to complete his work, I was ready to lose my mind.

And then it happened. Anakin, Maya and I came back in from a brief walk around the block. As I was bending down to switch the leach from Maya to Athena, Goalielocks released Anakin form his leash. Unfortunately, Anakin’ s leash was retractable and retracted from ten feet away directly into my shin splints. Oh joy! I totally lost my mind. I took his phone, grabbed my grocery bag to head to Publix.

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Now to be clear, we desperately needed milk and some other essentials. In fact, I’m still looking for toilet paper. If you’ve ever been to my Publix during snowbird season, you would know it’s not for the faint of heart on a normal day. During a pandemic or pre-hurricane, it’s usually super crazy. Nonetheless, it would bring me so much needed peace and serenity. Yep, that’s something I ever expected to write. I picked up some milk, fresh veggies, so gluten free baking mixes and Cadbury eggs.

I came home to Goalielocks diligently working on his coursework while watching Life of Brian on Netflix. If ever there was a perfect movie for today, that was it. Moreover, Always Look On the Bright Side of Life is exactly the song I needed to hear today. Fortunately, Monty Python was the perfect anecdote to my foul mood. Fortunately, the rest of my afternoon went significantly smoother than the morning and I was actually productive!

Now that we have one week of school of under the belts, I feel better about the boys being successful learning at home. Clearly, it’s going to take an enormous amount of patience and grace. Not only from me, but from my boys as well. Together we’ll make it though this stronger and more resilient than ever. Also, will probably be a lot more round after the quarantine fifteen. Thank you Cadbury, coffee cake, brownies and stress eating for that! Imagine by the end of this, the greatest stress in your life will be on your yoga pants.

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by William Makepeace Thackery

*Watched BBC’s production of The Moonstone episode 1 and 2

*Watched Life of Brian

*Completed BBG Full Body Workout week 6

*Ran virtual school for my two teenage boys

*Grocery run to Publix for essentials since all delivery services are booked 

*Baked a gluten free coffee cake

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk 

*Worked on Obedience Training with  Anakin 

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Unbelievable Joke

Not only was March an unbelievable joke, it also lasted a century. Okay perhaps March didn’t last a century maybe just a decade. The pandemic, the isolation, the toilet paper run, and the insane people all on global scale made March 2020 a month we will all remember. Consequently, we find ourselves in a global crisis that promises to long disrupt life as we know it.

I know it seems daunting, but we have an infrangible spirit. Together with our family, friends and communities we will get through this period. Honestly, it was talking with my grandma that gave me the most hope. My grandma’s generation lived through both the depression and World War 2. They know all too well the sacrifices and fear that happen during a global crisis. Just like her generation, we too will make it through this and we will be changed. Hopefully, we will come through this kinder, more humble, less wasteful and more generous.

One thing that has become crystal clear is that our nation’s teachers are saints. I say this after two days of virtual school with my younger two boys. I spent my day repeatedly harassing my boys to complete their work. Truly, the whole experience is exhausting. Nonetheless, I’m grateful to our school district for enabling online learning during this time. As someone who spent ten years convincing people online education was viable, I’m thrilled to see online learning come to our country’s rescue. It’s truly phenomenal that the kids can continue learning and connecting with their classmates throughout this pandemic. These social connections are everything!

There are some positives to this experience. mean I guess the upshot of social distancing is the perfect excuse for an introverts night in or ghosting someone. Additionally, it’s given me an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with people. I’ve talked to more people on the phone over the last couple of weeks than I have in the last year. Importantly, I’ve made it a priority to check in on the grandparents. We cannot discount the loneliness and isolation many feel while we’re in lockdown. My grandma’s building has been locked down for weeks, so social interaction is at a minimum. Jake and I both try to call her regularly to make sure she’s ok.

 

Positive things we can do throughout the pandemic:

  • Spend quality time with our families
  • Reconnect with friends and family in meaningful and regular fashion
  • Find innovative ways to hang out with friends and family outside the home (i.e. Uno games via Zoom.)
  • Spend time creating a manageable workout routine
  • Learn a new skill or language (mine is teaching – it’s not going well.)
  • Become a Facebook expert on all things epidemiology, international relations and financial markets
  • Support the small business owners in your community by getting take out, buying produce boxes from local farms or taking virtual fitness classes from your favorite gym or teacher.
  • Be kind to yourself – this is a difficult season for everyone including you.
  • Treat others with grace – see the bullet above
  • Foster an animal from your local animal shelter.  I promise you that puppy kisses make everything better.

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

*Reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery

*Watched The Office season 8

*BBG arms and abs week 6

*Run virtual school for my two teenage boys

*Took Anakin on a walk to see Goalielocks fishing 
*Worked on Obedience Training with  Anakin 

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