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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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Margaritaville

It’s Friday and it’s been a long week, so it’s off to Margaritaville for me. And by Margaritaville, I do mean the state of kind. Yes, sir It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere! Consequently the hubby and I are enjoying the pitcher of margaritas that came with dinner. While I rarely drink anymore, today felt like a good day to break the dry spell. Not too mention a good margarita is pretty persuading.

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After what felt like a week full of virtual school overtime, I am more than ready for a break and the weekend. Markedly, we had a really productive week, but it was exhausting. I’ve had to get very granular with each boy on their assignments. Even so, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing an adequate job. Moreover, it doesn’t feel like the work ever end, which isn’t to say they’re being assigned too much work. Rather it’s a reflection of the sure energy output required to get one assignment adequately completed. Like I told my hubby, I’ve definitely earned a European vacation for the work I’ve put in this past month.
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This morning I had a lab appointment at Quest, which was an adventure. I hadn’t been to this location in along time as my doctor’s office normally does my bloodwork. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, they’re only doing bloodwork for patients with appointments. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long since I had an appointment. However, during that short time severe elderly patients had come into the lab.
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This location has no from desk only kiosks where you can check in. Sadly, an elderly couple was completely confounded by the technology. They were so stressed. Fortunately, the lab tech was able to say yes and get the elderly man in the schedule. At that moment, I was grateful for everything my parents do for my grandma’s. Conversely, I was sad that this elderly couple had nobody to help them navigate the new technology. Thankfully, the lab tech was very nice and patient.

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After my lab appointment, I did my BBG ab workout for week ten. Those damn, confounded burpees with a push up and tuck jump were again included in the workout. Needless to say those things are pure evil. As for the rest of the workout, it was great. Naturally, it was challenging, but outside of the burpees it was manageable and felt great. After four circuits, I had completed 90 pushups and 60 half burpees along with a lot of other exercises. Clearly, I better have six pack abs tomorrow!

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Afterwards I hastily ate lunch as I made preparations for day one of yoga teacher training with Monica. Right at 1:00 pm, I was ready to start my yoga teacher journey. Naturally, I also had my second cup of coffee on hand. Today’s class included a five minute meditation, which was great. As for coursework, we spent the session learning about the rich history of yoga. Truly, it was really interesting. I’m super excited to be on this journey.

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Post training, I had to go back to reality and deal with virtual school. Naturally, I found myself needing a meditation time out relatively soon thereafter. I’ve started an afternoon meditation practice devoted to stopping bad habits. Day one was cravings, day 2 was worry and today was negative thoughts. It’s a short meditation and easy to fit into anyone’s schedule. Subsequently, I was ready to tackle the rest of my school day after the mediation.
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Tonight we’ve taken a delightful trip to Margaritaville come plate with an amazing dinner catered by Dinners in Motion. Honestly, their food is incredible as is their price. You can’t beat a full taco dinner (chicken and steak,) dessert and a carafe of margaritas plus delivery for $70. We have had some great experience supporting our local restaurants during this pandemic. We are so fortunate to have so many talented and creative chefs in our community. Lastly, it’s been a great time to support the industry and those that work within. The first time we ordered from Dinners in Motion they were operating on a skeleton staff. Not even two weeks later, they have rehired fourteen people. If someone tells you that you can’t do good thing supporting your local restaurants, they’re lying to you!

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

*Reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Yoga Teacher Training with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Watched Trailer Park Boys

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 5 Abs baby!

*Virtual school torture with Goalielocks and the Mayor

*Obedience training Anakin courtesy day Goalielocks

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk. 

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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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Paradise

It was another day in paradise. When I left to grab coffee this morning, the temperature was 65 degrees and the dew point was in the fifties. Additionally, the sun was shining bright and there was not one cloud in the sky. After the scorching heat of last week, this morning’s weather felt absolutely sublime! I, for one, am relishing these last nice days as the heat of summer and humidity of rainy season is right around the corner.

Paradise lost, the epic and long winded Milton poem, is how I was feeling when we got the virtual school part of the day. How soon I fell from paradise to the continual battle that is home schooling. Goalielocks assured me he wasn’t sleeping, but was in class. This in-spite of me having to wake him up multiple times throughout the morning. Meanwhile, the Mayor was hard at work watching YouTube videos instead of doing class work. Oh joy!
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I somewhat recaptured paradise by going to yoga this morning with Monica. Clearly, it was an awesome class as it left my body and mind feeling incredible and at peace. Afterwards, I took the puppies on a short walk before tackling day one of BBG week nine. Oh man, what a doozy that workout was today!! I mean what fuckery is a burpee with a push-up and tuck jump? Peer torture and a hockey mom killer. Needless to say, those combination burpees were no joke. I was fried after the workout. Unequivocally, I’m totally team BBG and would highly recommend the workout and the app.

Sadly, after lunch I returned to Milton’s Paradise Lost. I had yet another argument with the Mayor over his art homework. He argued vehemently that I should have his schedule changed so he could drop art. Obviously that isn’t possible as we are already half way through the quarter! If there was a genie and I could have one wish only, I’d wish that the boys would understand it is much easier to get their work down timely instead of procrastinating or worse ignoring it.

Okay, so I know that eventually they’ll probably understand, but I’d love to compress the timeline. It was so refreshing speaking without airman last night because he’s got a clear path and plan for his career. Undoubtedly, my Hubby and I were so proud when he sent us a list of IT certs he intends to complete while in the service. Truly, the list is impressive and will afford him many lucrative career options in his post military life. I guess the point is that eventually the kids will find their way and their path. Never in my dreams could I have created a better path for him. Obviously, we are so proud of him and happy that he’s found his path.

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This week also marks week three of intermittent fasting on the 8:2 plan. As a reminder, the 8:2 plan means I eat normal five days a week and fast two days a week by only eating 800 calories. So far, it’s going well and I’ve lost a few pounds. A few ponds may not seem significant, but when you have no thyroid every pound lost is a victory. Thankfully, it’s also not difficult to follow and adhere too. When you think about it, you’re only very disciplined two days a week. There are no foods off limits, unless you have a cold allergy or intolerance like me. Consequently, I avoid gluten containing foods, but everything else is fair game!

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Gentle Flow Yoga with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Facetime with my Airman!

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 10 BBG day 1 leg 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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Hidden Joy

Some days it’s easier to see the hidden joy that seems scarcer during a crisis. Today was one of those days. Admittedly, the end of last week was rough, but today I woke up with a renewed spirit and joy in my heart. Hopefully, virtual school won’t kill the joy by Monday evening! My body and soul felt restored from the fatigue of the previous days at least until about 3:30 pm.

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Like Pinky and the Brain, my mission remains consistent from day to day. I get my Dunkin’ coffee and remain out of the public unless absolutely necessary. Since we were running low on chicken and Prosecco, the Hubby and I headed to BJ’s after coffee. Much like last time, we had to wait in line before we were allowed into the store. Fortunately, there was a nice zephyr and cloud cover to mitigate the heat and humidity.

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For the most part our shopping experience was great. There was a shopper on her phone, who rudely monopolized the meat aisle. Clearly, she was more important than everyone else. Finally, a fellow shopper got tired of waiting for her to move or respond to her. When the other shopper reached over her to grab meat, the Covidiot lost her mind in a profanity laced tirade. If I was quicker and not wearing a mask, I would have recorded the shit show for your viewing pleasure. Outside of that one, selfish Covidiot everyone else was pleasant and nice. Fortunately, we’re fully stocked and won’t need to go back or order until next month.

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Afterwards, we headed to Joey’s Bakery. I may have been craving a bagel with cream cheese. Also, Joey’s has the best gluten free baked goods around. Consequently, I also picked up a baguette for dinner and a piece of cake for dessert. Honestly, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have a good gluten free diary nearby. I don’t eat baked goods often anymore, but when I do they should be tasty I’ve been gluten free since January. Although I’m not a stickler about it, I feel much better when I don’t eat it.
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Once we got home, we started preparing the roast we bought at BJ’s. Thankfully, I had the farm fresh carrots and onion to add into the crockpot to accompany the roast. We also added some small golden potatoes. While I prepared the vegetables, the Hubby browned and spiced the roast. We cooked the roast on high for five hours. While the roast, rested I made the gravy. As I finished the gravy, the hubby sliced the roast. Fortunately, this was another successful culinary collaboration. It was super yummy and we’ll have enough leftovers for lunch and another dinner.
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While the roast cooked, we actually had a productive day. We got the floors vacuumed and mopped. The Hubby got some work done in the garden before a storm blew in. Indeed the storm was a godsend as we badly needed the rain. Of course, a non severe storm would have been optimal. Nonetheless, we used the the time wisely by getting work done around the house. I even logged a meditation for shrugging off negative. For this I used the Sattva app and their free Combat the Crisis- Covid-19 series.

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The meditation left me feeling refreshed and energized for the rest of the day. Shortly thereafter, the roast was done and we had dinner. After dinner on Sunday is always my favorite time because our Airman calls! Could there be anything better? Nope! He’s loving the Air Force and really excelling in Tech School. We’re hoping to be able to drive him to his FDS upon his graduation, but we’ll have to wait and see what travel restrictions remain in place. Let’s pray that the travel restrictions have been lifted by that time!

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Today’s storm did come as a harbinger of things to come.  The rainy season and hurricane season are right around the corner.  I’m not sure we’re ready to face the cone of so death while living under the Spector of Covid19.  It honestly just feels like a lot.  Perhaps it feels that way because again we’ll be remanded to our homes, but with the threat of no WiFi or power.  At this point, it just seems inhumane.  Here’s hoping that this hurricane season is uneventful and full of fish storms!!!

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

*Reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and loving it!

*Grocery shopping at BJ’s

*Facetime with my Airman!

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*Week 9 BBG day 7 rest day 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

 

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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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