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Good Place

After a productive day, I’ve spent my evening getting caught up on the Good Place. I love this show. It is so good!! Indeed it reminds me of my airmen as the last time I watched it, he was home. Also, while I binged the show, I was still productive making sure dinner was ready when the hubby got home. Usually, I use find my iPhone to time dinner, so it’s ready to be served up when he gets home. Tonight it was veal parmesan served with gluten free spaghetti. After dinner, I watched some more Good Place episodes.

My productive day got its start with a great run on the treadmill. Today I did 2.5 miles with little to no walking, which was awesome. I had been changing tempo every minute for most runs, but today the majority of my run was steady state. As a challenge, however, I did the last minute as a spring.I’m not back to my pre Graves/injury tempo, but I’m getting there. Naturally, the best part of the run is enjoying Larry’s antics on Curb Your Enthusiasm. This time I had my music on too. Subsequently, I had a great run.

A good run is enjoyable and leaves you with that beautiful runner’s high. I love extending the runner’s high with a productive stretching session afterwards. Moreover, this stretching routine, which includes foam rollers and therapy balls, has prevented injury and kept me healthy. This routine, coupled with my yoga practice, has really opened up my hamstrings and hips. Consequently, I have a lot more mobility and strength in my legs and hips. It’s a wonderful thing!

Yoga class was so good today. We did some wonderful stretches for the hips and legs. It was exactly what I needed. Additionally, I love having yoga class as a functional cool down to my morning run. Importantly, yoga class stretches and works all the muscles groups I don’t always work. I have loved the Zoom classes, but am looking forward to seeing my yoga family once the studio reopens.

For the remainder of my afternoon, I was super productive researching new outlets for my blog and studying through a new and free COVID19 tracer course on Coursera. So far, the course is both interesting and engaging. Naturally, the best part of this course is it’s free price tag. As for spending my day indoors, I don’t feel too bad about it. Specifically, our weather is not fabulous today due to a system NOAA has pronounced likely to develop into a tropical system. Unfortunately, our weather will be deteriorating over the next several hours. Tomorrow will be another indoor day.

You may remember yesterday I was showing off my garden to my yoga teacher Monica. Well, you can imagine my surprise that this morning I discovered a duck egg within a newly dug nest. As a result, I probably will hold off on planting our seeds until we’re sure the mother duck is done nesting in the garden or the eggs hatch. I haven’t seen the duck back in the area this evening, so it will be interesting to see if more eggs show up tomorrow. And now I’ll go back to watching the Good Place.

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

*Reading Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 12 BBG day 4 cardio

*Watched Good Place and Regular Show

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

*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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Mother’s Day 2020

Mother’s Day 2020 was a fabulous day. Albeit it was my first Mother’s Day without Jake home. Fortunately, my airmen was able to call me this evening via FaceTime. Admittedly, I feel super lucky that I got to see his face two days this weekend. At any rate, today was fabulous because I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do. Namely, I didn’t touch anything having to do with virtual school today. Indeed there was nothing disagreeable in my day.  It was a great day!

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My morning started with a hot coffee from Dunkin’ and a fresh bagel toasted with cream cheese from Joey’s Home Bakery – gluten free. As I enjoyed my coffee and bagel, I watched some of my favorite It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia episodes. Indeed this show and it’s insane cast of characters remain one of my favorites. The show is so well acted and well written.

Normally I rest on Sunday, but since it was Mother’s Day I decided to take a vinyasa class with Monica. Oh man, she kicked my butt. Truly, her vinyasa classes are rigorous and challenging. Even so I can see how much progress I’ve made since the beginning of quarantine. Of course, as you may have seen from the previous blog lost, I warmed up for the class with my sweet puppy Anakin. Needless to say, Monica’s class was the perfect Mother’s Day gift to myself.

While I was getting my namaste on, the Hubby was working on building me a book case in the family room. I am so excited for it!!!!! Honestly, I can’t wait until he’s able to sand and stain the shelves. Obviously, it is going to look absolutely amazing once completed. Not too mention, I’ll be able to empty a whole tub of books that have been waiting for a bookshelf.

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any awesome, a package was delivered by Amazon containing my Mother’s Day present. When he officially became an airmen in February, he was given a challenge coin to signify this accomplishment. Challenge coins have a long and significant history in the military. Customarily, they are bestowed on military members to signify their acceptance and membership to a group or organization. Undoubtedly, they are a big deal.

You can imagine my glee when I received my first coin today from my airman. That’s right I am the proud recipient of an Air Force Mom challenge coin. Significantly, he felt I had earned it by working towards the BMT PT standards while he was in basic training. While I am still working on making the running standard, I was able to meet the standards for push-ups and sit-ups. Needless to say, I love the gift so much and the thought he put into it. I’m a lucky military mama!

There are two amazing ladies that I was able to speak with today that made my day complete. While I logged some walking miles on the treadmill, I was able to chat with both of grandmas. Fortunately, my parents are able to deliver the Mother’s Day gift I had made for them. I bought them, and myself, a custom mug off of Shutterfly commemorating Jake’s BMT graduation weekend. They both loved it!

Admittedly, I was proud to here my Grandma H say how her mom (my great grandma) talks about Jake and his visit with her. What could be more beautiful than that? The fact Jake made time to visit her meant more to her than we could ever fathom. Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest impression.
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Of course I was also able to speak to my mom today, but I speak to her everyday. Some times I speak to her multiple times a day. Truly, if you know me, I am an independent, strong willed person. Even so, I still love to talk to my mom (and my dad) about life and the kids. My brothers and I have been blessed to have a mother, really two parents, that have always put us first. They’ve been incredible grandparents to my children and their cousins. My mom’s cookie making and kickball skills will be remembered for years to come.
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She’s not only a great mother to me and my brothers, but she’s also a great mother to my grandma. I always love when I talk to my grandma and she says her “mother” won’t let her do something. For example, my mom wouldn’t let her go shopping early on in the pandemic before things were shut down. Indeed whatever my grandma needs, my mom is there to provide it for her. It’s not always easy when the role of parent and child reverses, but my grandma loves her “mother” and appreciate how well she does her job.

To all my fellow mom bloggers in the blogosphere, I hope your Mother’s Day was everything you wanted and more.

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Vinyasa Class with Monica from Yoga Mundo 

*Watched It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Balthazar

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 11 BBG day 7 rest

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy of myself and the Mayor. 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

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Maintaining Connection

As we approach another month of social distancing, it is super important to be maintaining connection with our friends and family. This pandemic has seemingly lasted forever and has been isolating for many. By maintaining connection, you remove not only yourself from isolation, but your friend and family as well. Plus, it’s nice to see people that reside outside of your home!

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To this end, we had a family Zoom call tonight, which was a lot of fun. My parents, my brothers and their families and even Jake joined in for an hour of family together time and shenanigans. Obviously, it was super awesome to see my airman! Moreover, the rest of my family enjoyed seeing him as much as I did. I was impressed that my two younger ones made a pretty solid appearance on the call. Clearly, I expected them to avoid it at all costs. Needless to say today’s call was awesome!! Perhaps this will become a new family tradition.
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Today was my first full day on the T3 medication. First of all, I actually fell asleep right away last night for the first time in months. Secondly, my 2.3 mile run, #IrunwithMaud, went really well and was relatively easy. Lastly, and most importantly, I’ve had energy throughout the entire day. Usually, I’m hit in the afternoon with an incredible wave of fatigue. Truly, I couldn’t keep my eyes open or get off the couch most afternoons. Hopefully, this is an indication of things to come.

 

This afternoon I had my second yoga teacher training session via Zoom. We studied more of the history of yoga as well as some of its key tenets. In addition we discussed Iyengar and the difference between the Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga. We even put some of our learning into practice, which was great! In fact, I even got to try teaching namaskar A. Naturally, I was nervous, but it went well. I’m looking forward to next week’s class.

It’s funny that the same technology that makes us distant under normal circumstances is bringing us together during quarantine and making us better. For once, our phones are being used to maintain connection with our loved ones and friends in a real way. Truly, I haven’t talked on the phone this much since middle school. Moreover, I’ve been using my laptop and phone to improve myself and learn new skills. This pandemic has presented an opportunity for us all to become better if we choose that path. While it would be easy to choose the path of a nomad, I choose to walk the path to self improvement. Concurrently of course with the path to European chocolate. This is what I call balance.

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Yoga teacher training with Monica from Yoga Mundo 

*Watched It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 11 BBG day 6 cardio – ran 2.3 miles for Maud

*Virtual family fun

*Goalielocks hooked a nice peacock bass

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy of myself and the Mayor. 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

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My Baby Boy Is 14

Oh man, my baby boy is 14! Where oh where has time gone. Clearly, he’s no longer a baby. However, since he’s my youngest, he’ll always be my baby boy. Today was all about him and of course virtual school. His birthday brought a nice celebratory feel to the day, which was a nice change of pace. He rode with me to get coffee and they were happy to treat him with extra goodies at Dunkin’.

Meanwhile day two of weaning Goalielocks off the third shift was again successful. I can feel the difference in my blood pressure, my outlook and genera well being. Likewise it’s going better for Goalielocks too. He’s getting his work done, but he’s also getting more sleep. Truly, he may not be on the most conventional of schedules now, but it’s working for everyone and that’s all that matters. After all, I haven’t even lost my composure since Monday!

As for my birthday boy, he’s made great strides over the last week. He’s now almost completely caught up in of his classes. Thankfully, he’s also making sure he’s not falling any further behind. Additionally, I think it’s easier for him since we’re no longer sharing a computer. He now has my old MacBook Air, which he loves. Both boys are doing their work at the kitchen table now unless they have a concurrent Zoom meeting.

While Goalielocks caught some Z’s and the Mayor worked diligently, I logged my BBG week 11 arm workout. It was another tough workout. Obviously, Kayla Itsines felt the need to ramp up the difficulty significantly during these last three weeks. Truth be told, I am loving this program. I have never been stronger or in better shape. After week twelve, I will be repeating the program, but will add more weight to the exercises. BBG fits my lifestyle and fits into the quarantine lifestyle seamlessly.

This afternoon, I picked up the cookie cake I ordered the Mayor from Publix. It was the first opportunity I’ve had to go to Publix in weeks. In the morning, I also ordered them Pub Subs for lunch, so they’d be ready at the same time as the cake. After picking up the subs, I went to the bakery to pick up the cake. I’ve never seen a bigger cake box for a smaller cake. Honestly, the box is large enough for a full sheet cake. Meanwhile his cookie cake is 12 inches in diameter. We also picked up some chocolate ice cream for him and chocolate chip cookie dough for Goalielocks. I love how considerate my Mayor is!

This evening we enjoyed the Mayor’s favorite meal: vodka sauce pasta with breaded chicken. My Hubby was the chef and the dinner was sublime. Of course, we had some drama when the tag team of Anakin and Athena struck the kitchen. Somehow they managed to get into the raw chicken. Fortunately, Anakin promptly through up the entire thing. Naturally, they spent the rest of the dinner hour in their crates.

Afterwards, the Mayor put on Impractical Jokers while we digested our meal. We closed off the night with some yummy cookie cake and ice cream. His present has been on back order and should be here hopefully by Friday. I should also give a shoutout to my oldest brother J, whose shares a birthday with my mayor. After all the good food today, I may need to run an extra mile tomorrow!

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Watched Futurama 

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 11 BBG day 3 arms and chest

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy of myself and the Mayor.  I’ve included some pictures in the above. 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

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The Mondayest Monday of Them All

My day started late when I didn’t hear my alarm and when I did: chose to ignore it. Consequently, I spent my whole morning feeling behind. Although, like everyone else, I really have nowhere to go. See this is the mind fuck (sorry mom) that is life in quarantine. However, to be fair I did have a date with Monica and my yoga mat at 10:00 am, so I wanted to be sure I ate early enough to prevent an upset tummy.

Naturally, the high point of my day came on my mat. Monday’s class are a gentle vinyasa flow class that is the right speed to accompany my BBG leg workouts. Particularly, I enjoy the difference in each of the classes. Moreover, I think it’s the variety that has really helped drive my practice forward. Honestly, I loved my vinyasa class Saturday and am looking forward to more. For the first time in forever (I couldn’t help myself here and I bet you sang it too,) my foot didn’t bother me post class.

Apparently, while I was getting my namaste on. Athena and Anakin were involved in some shenanigans in the family room. Since Maya is a senior dog coping with cancer, I buy her CBD calming treats and CBD joint health treats. Surprisingly, my two mischievous dogs figured out how to get the treats down. Moreover, they figured out how to open the container. Once the treats spilled out, it was game over for this partnership. We don’t call her the Piggie for nothing! Athena lorded over the spilled treats and ate them all while Anakin whelped in protest.

AC67792A-A42C-4AD0-80CE-054C0425125FOf course, I didn’t find out about this until after lunch. Miraculously, it some how the Mayor completely forgot about it until later in the day. In fact, he announced it while I was drinking my coffee. “Athena ate all the CBD treats and Anakin was jealous.” Now I can’t fault the Mayor for not taking them away from her. She can be very food aggressive when it comes to her treats. He did, however, make sure that Anakin didn’t get any. Next time, the Mayor knows to come and get me, so I can stop the craziness. As for Athena, she’s just laying on the couch in a daze. Gone is her normal twinkle in the eye, but at least she’s relaxed and going to be okay.
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I started the day off with discomfort in my neck and shoulders. The kind of discomfort that sets in from sleeping wrong and being stressed. Consequently, I spent a good amount of time making sure that discomfort didn’t morph into a tension or migraine type headache. Obviously, I brought out all the weapons I had at my disposal: foam roller, heat pad, tiger balm, therapy balls, yoga, meditation and my massage gun. Hopefully, my neck and shoulders will feel much better tomorrow after all the intervention and relaxation today.

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For dinner, I made curry chicken with coconut rice and roasted cabbage and poblanos. Thanks to the poblanos, I somehow manage to get a small burn on my hand after dinner. This was my third Blue Apron dinner and it was again very tasty. The recipes are very easy to follow and relatively quick. Significantly, these meals provide a quality protein, grain and a variety of vegetables. Unfortunately, my family does not love vegetables. Fortunately, I do. I also love that it’s been different vegetables every dinner. Like most people, I tend to gravitate to one or two different vegetables. This is helping game mix it up.
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Lastly, enough can’t be said about the misery of virtual school. Initially, I thought we would have some flexibility with dates and meetings, but there’s none. I am completely on board with the schools being closed and virtual school being in session, but there has to be some balance. There has to be an understanding that parents can’t oversee multiple kids at once or be in multiple rooms. Maybe it’s just me and my hard-headed kids. I’m not trying to complain about the teachers because their jobs, especially now, are incredibly difficult. Nonetheless, I’m just feeling absolutely defeated in this arena. Am I alone here?

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Gentle Vinyasa

*Watched Futurama 

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 11 BBG day 1 leg day.

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

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Beautiful Day

It was another beautiful day here in South Forcina. Clear blue skies, low humidity and decent temperatures made for a very pleasant day. I had hoped to run today, but a cramp in my calf and my left hip felt otherwise. Consequently, I’ve learned my lesson about pushing it too far when injured, so I skipped the run. Hopefully, my calf and hip are feeling better tomorrow.

Since I wasn’t going to run, I took a ninety minute vinyasa class with Monica. It was challenging physically and mentally, but oh so good. One thing I enjoy about Monica’s class is here creative flow. Moreover, today’s class had more of an ashtanga flavor to it for my benefit. Specifically, this will help me with my yoga teacher training. Thankfully, today’s flow gave me some cardio work along with a lot of strength and breath work. I even nailed my crow pose today!!! Yay!

As you may recall, my Goalielocks is on the third shift. Consequently, I usually let him sleep in on weekends for the benefit of everyone. Since my class was 90 minutes, I didn’t go up it wake him up until 12:30 pm. Naturally, I had reservations about doing this post class because I was in such a zen place. Surprisingly, Goalielocks woke up easily and was pleasant. Talk about winning!!

My afternoon was spent hanging out with the dogs and doing stuff around the house. I may also have watched the latest episode of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Overall, I really liked the latest episode. Particularly, I loved Bernadette Peters cameo. She’s an absolutely brilliant singer and actress. I really enjoyed her scenes. Naturally, all the men in my house to fail to recognize the awesomeness of this show. As a result, I watch it when the Hubby isn’t home and the boys are busy.

This evening started with a great headstand practice with Anakin. When I started my practice tonight, I didn’t really anticipate that it would be partner yoga. Fortunately, Anakin had a different idea. Every time I would bring my feet in and my hips up, he’d crawl underneath me and lick my face incessantly. Honestly, it was the cutest thing ever and made me laugh. After I made several interrupted attempts, I decided to call it a night. Clearly, Anakin had other plans in mind.

For dinner, I made the first of four Blue Apron meals I ordered. Initially I ordered in the beginning of April, due to shortages at the grocery store. Of course, due to an uptick in their volume, they couldn’t accommodate our orders until this week. Tonight the Mayor and I made soy glazed chicken with brown rice, sugar snap peas and mushrooms. The recipe was easy to follow and the food tasted great. I’m looking forward to our next dish.

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Vinyasa Yoga with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Watched Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 6 yoga 

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

 

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Stormy Weather

As expected today brought stormy weather. Albeit, Anakin and I got in a short walk early this morning.  I love running outside, but decided to bring my run inside today. The weather was still okay at run time, but it looked menacing. Moreover, the weather in Florida has a reputation for changing on the dime. So I went to my room turned on Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is my go to show when I run. My decision to run inside was soon vindicated as a severe weather alert popped across my phone during warmup.  This was my first time running on my treadmill since last summer because I prefer running outside.  Fortunately, today’s treadmill run went well and was productive.   Consequently, I logged 2.7 temperature controlled miles with some Larry David humor.

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Fortunately, I coordinated my run time so I could transition right into my yoga class.  Naturally,  I built in enough time to complete a truncated version of my stretch routine.  Those magic little therapy balls are the best at keeping my hamstrings healthy.  After using the therapy balls, I use foam roller on my glutes, hips, IT band, quads, and shin area.  Post foam roller, I do a several stretches for my legs, hips and glutes.  Thankfully, this post run routine has help keep my legs and hips healthy.

Today’s yoga’s class was absolutely amazing.  I don’t know how these teachers know exactly what my body needs, but some how they do.   After Christine’s class yesterday, my back is feeling so much better and open.  Jenn’s class built on the work we did in Christine’s yesterday, which is fantastic.  Each and every day that I hit my mat, I see and feel the improvements in my practice.  For example, my breath work actually exists now.  Whereas before it wasn’t coming so easy for me.  Another example is no longer needing a block for my hands on the hamstring stretch.  I am by no means a yoga superstar, but I am a yogi improving her practice.  

Post yoga, I sat with the Mayor to go through his daily school work to make sure nothing was missed.   He has not been as diligent as I thought in completing his assignments.  For example, today he had to do an optical illusion drawing based on a Youtube video.  His first rendering was nothing more than an abstract black and white circle.    Clearly, we fixed that right away.  Subsequently, I’ve taken on a micro manager role going through all of his assignments.  Thankfully, his teachers are flexible and are allowing him to complete the work he missed and re-do the work he turned in haphazardly.  As a result, he is almost completely caught up in math extra credit included less one lone assignment.  Tomorrow we’ll do the same exerise.  As for Goalielocks, he’s still living in a third shift world, but is getting his work turned in.

Today was very productive on my end.  I made a few key decisions and took the first steps towards achieving my goals.  First, I will be starting yoga teacher training with my friend and teacher Monica.  I am super excited to be pursuing this path.  Next I signed up for two computer science classes: introduction to networking and introduction to computer science.  After my pep talk from Jake, I thought it makes a lot of sense to pursue an IT education.   Fortunately, I am technologically savvy and will have a great tutor if I need any help.  This will also help me bring the blog to the next level, which is super exciting.  Truly, I am very great grateful for the cheerleaders in my life.

Finally, last night I finished Willa Cather’s My Antonia last night.  After spending the last few months in the British Isles courtesy of my favorite authors, the American Prairie was a nice change of scenery.  In fact, I really enjoyed how the book showcased the experience of immigrants to the US from Norway in the late 1800s.  This coincides with the time many of family members immigrated to the US.  While my relatives did not end up in a Norwegian Settlement in Nebraska, like in the book, I imagine their experience in the Norwegian Settlement in Minnesota was not much different.  After seeing the family homes in Norway and the cities from which they emigrated from, this gave me a deep and unexpected connection and appreciate for the book.  As for tonight, I’ll be back in the British Isles with Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Gentle Yoga for a Healthy Back with Jennifer from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Registered for two IT courses

*Watched Trailer Park Boys

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 4 run Forest run

*Virtual school torture with Goalielocks and the Mayor

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk.  Sadly, the weather hindered our ability to go for walks today.

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Lazy Day

It was another lazy day. My body and soul are exhausted. An added plus is that I’m sore for yesterday’s ab workout. Truly, is is an affirmation of how hard I worked yesterday. Fortunately, I’m not early as sore as I was after leg day. Needless to say, it’s good to know my workout was effective. The abject fatigue I’ve experienced the last three days is more evidence that my workout routine is effective. Additionally, it also means that I need to be flexible in my expectations around running. I was shooting for three runs this week, but my body was not up for that plan. Hopefully, next week it will be better.

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Nonetheless, there’s something a bit rewarding in a lazy day. No arguing over school work or grocery shopping, which is always a treat. I did take the morning to setup my old Mac for the Mayor before setting up my new laptop. Thankfully, the whole process was quite easy and was over in less than an hour. My old Mac book is from 2017, but it should serve the Mayor well. This new laptop also serves as a replacement for the Hubby’s work computer, which hasn’t worked properly in several years.

Afterwards I got most of the laundry done, but since I only do laundry for me and the Hubby it wasn’t so bad. All three of the boys have done their own laundry for years, which has been a godsend and timesaver for us. When all three boys were playing hockey, we had a lot of trouble staying on top of the laundry. Consequently, I feel pretty good for accomplishing something domestic on my lazy day. My Hubby also helped fold, which made it go a lot quicker. I also sort of fell asleep for a bit. Apparently the magic beans in my coffee weren’t strong enough today.

As for the mental and emotional fatigue, I can always tell it’s presence by a craving for something sweet. Since we needed distilled water for our new steamer, the Mayor and I headed to Walgreen’s to pick some up. Naturally, I was able to find some clearance Easter candy to assuage my craving. Who doesn’t love a big bag of peanut butter M&M’s for $1.68?!? I also picked up jelly beans because I wanted some red and purple ones. I know, I know I’m highly specific here, but I never pretended to be normal. However, this behavior certainly would explain the quarantine fifteen.

I know that I’m not alone in my mental, physical and emotional fatigue. It’s a byproduct of the experience we are all living. That being said make sure you check on your friends and family. People are lonely, so a phone call or text will go along way. Even if you think they’re busy because they have family or work, reach out. Sometimes all it takes to make someone’s day is a voicemail or text message checking on them. Lastly, it’s okay to not be okay right now. Times are tough, but they will get better.

 

 

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Morning meditation

*Week 9 BBG day 6 rest day 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

 

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Escape

Today was one of those days that I just had to escape the house. After a long week of virtual school, the boys were on my last nerve. Unfortunately, they both seemed to be in rare form. Even after drinking my magic elixir, a.k.a. Dunkin’ coffee, they were on my last nerve. First, it took four times to get Goalielocks out of bed. Second, it took a century to get the Mayor started on his work. Finally, they opted to be obnoxious all day long.

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After the Mayor. finished his Zoom class, I completed the BBG week 9 ab workout. Truly, it was a great workout. However, due to the quarantine fifteen and pre-existing thyroid issues my six pack remains undercover. Indeed my mood improved post workout as did my hopes that the boys’ behavior would improve. Unfortunately, they remained just as obnoxious as before.

Needless to say, I quickly decided that I needed to get out of the house. While I ate some lunch and made some coffee, I checked out the local farms for vegetable boxes. As soon as I finished eating, I had to East Coast Farms to pick up there vegetable box for $10. Indeed the vegetable box is an awesome deal with lot’s of variety and even a few citrus fruits. The process was also super easy and I had no wait.


Afterwards, I headed home with my treasures. The boys were still in rare form. Anakin got his first taste of whipped cream.  Meanwhile, I got my fourteenth argument about homework from Goalielocks.  Then the laptop I ordered from Best Buy was nowhere in sight. In fact, I got an email from the today stating they may not be able to fulfill the order. Consequently, I went back to their site and checked local stores for availability. Fortunately, it showed that the Boca store had one. I knew it was a Hail Mary since the Boynton store also showed in error they had one. Thankfully, the store had it and my order was ready in less than an hour!

Naturally, I did what every mom in quarantine would do, leave the kids and head out to the store. I got in the truck, turned up the music and headed to Boca. I gotta tell you that drive was magic. Normally, a drive that is magic and Boca would never belong in a sentence together. Nevertheless, here I was living my best life driving down 441 with the music blasting. Truly, there’s something to be said about having alone time during quarantine.  

I gotta be honest sometimes when the Hubby gets home, I just want to tag out and go to bed. Miraculously, tonight wasn’t one of those night. Instead this evening we ordered in Italian. Post dinner we started watching a replay of the Outback Bowl on ESPN U. Thus far, our evening has been pretty relaxing. Don’t worry since we have teenagers in the house that could change at any moment. Clearly, our new normal is mixed bag of emotions and experiences. Most days are good, but others are tough and leave us exhausted. At the end of the week, this virtual school teacher’s assistant is ready for an early bed time.

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Morning meditation

*Picked up vegetable variety box from East Coast Farms

*Picked up my laptop from Best Buy

*Read Success Factors by Jack Canfield

*Week 9 BBG day 5 – abs day 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Obedience training Anakin with Goalielocks.

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Wasted My Morning

So I totally wasted my morning by sleeping through my alarm for over two hours. How I didn’t hear the alarm going off every nine minutes is beyond me. In fact, I keep the phone on my dresser right next to my head. Perhaps it was my subconscious mind not wanting to wake up from my dream about Momcation in Turks and Caicos. Or perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion from my increased workout last week. Maybe I do need two full days off.

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Nonetheless my morning was shot. By the time I ate breakfast and finished my coffee, it was too late to run. Simply put I didn’t have enough time for the food to settle, run and be back in time for yoga. Seriously, it was probably the universe telling me to take a light day. Who am I to refuse the advice of the universe?!? I went to my yoga class, which was amazing. Afterwards, I ate my lunch.

I spent my afternoon relaxing on the couch nursing a sinus headache and my Balthazar obsession. Fortunately, episode 4 of season 2 did not disappoint. Of course, the best per of every afternoon is hanging with the puppies on the couch. All three of the puppies like to take their afternoon nap on the couch as I watch Balthazar. I had contemplated making a run up to our corner shop, aka Walgreens, for more Cadbury mini eggs and charcoal masks. But then I remembered I was tired and really don’t need more Cadbury in my life.
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While we did have an inbound call from a math teacher today, virtual school went pretty well today. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. This whole virtual school situation is tough. I can only imagine the added level of stress this has added to the teachers. Undoubtedly, they’re chasing down students to get work turned in and make sure nobody is left behind. It’s clearly not an ideal situation, but we’re finally starting to get into a rhythm albeit a dysfunctional rhythm.

Speaking of dysfunctional, my neighborhood Facebook groups have been pretty boring lately. Truly, it’s amazing, but people are being nice to each other. Moreover, it seems that people realized that just because they have an opinion doesn’t mean they need to share it on social media. This seems to be a groundbreaking revelation for some. As for the rest of my newsfeed, it remains a hot mess. There is so much misinformation on Facebook that it’s just disgusting. This may be Facebook’s jump the shark moment.

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On a literary note, I finished Wuthering Heights last night. Certainly, this novel will hold a place in my top book list. While I hated Heathcliff, one of the novels main characters, the story and the character development are incredible. It was a relatively quick read. Since I finished it pretty early last night, I started reading Willa Cather’s My Antonia. Surprisingly, I was able to get through three chapters last night. Fortunately, I love what I’m reading so far. The change of scenery from the Moors of Scotland to the American plains has been fun. Stay tuned for my thoughts on My Antonia.

 

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Morning meditation

*Gentle Yoga For A Healthy Back with Jenn from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Started reading Success Factors by Jack Canfield

*Watched Balthazar Season 2 episode 4

*Learned a new word – weleful which means to produce prosperity or happiness.  However, please make note this word is no obsolete. 

*Week 9 BBG rest day 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Obedience training Anakin with Goalielocks.

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