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Hump Day

It’s hump day! Today has been good so far. This morning I did a spin class as soon as I woke up. It’s a great way to get me fired up for the day. I’m not sure I ride as hard in the morning as I would in the evening, but getting the work in is still important. I will say drinking Nuun right after brushing my teeth does make my mouth pucker. I fell asleep on the couch after walking the dogs post-spin. Apparently, I needed an early morning nap.

For the first time this week, the phones have been good to me. I needed a solid production day, so I’m pleased. Also had a PPC meeting this morning, which is always great. I love my crew. I put together a more formal document to keep our business straight. It’s nothing fancy, but it will help us become more efficient. Hopefully, the phones will be kind to me for the rest of the day.

Last week I finished Kayla Itsine’s Beginner HIIT workout on the Sweat App. It’s eight weeks of workouts that gradually build in intensity and difficulty. This week I started week one of Kayla Itsine’s HIIT program (OG BBG workout.). It’s so tough, but it’s so good. The combination of strength and plyometrics is exactly what my body needs. Truly, it complements the cardio and yoga work I was already doing. Happy Hump Day!

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into February and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I’m reading  The Eagle and The Hart by Helen Castor.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?

Where does one even start with this one? I think we have a lot of ridiculous laws on the books. However, the one law I would change or create would be to institute term limits for Congress. Happy Hump Day!

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Check In

We’re finishing the first full week of February, so I thought I’d check in with my New Year’s resolutions. As I thought about them during my workout, I thought about how resolutions can quickly become meaningless. For me, this year’s resolutions were about committing to making myself and my life better. I do, however, miss those afternoon lattes.

My strength work today was brutal, so I had to give myself pep talks to get through it. I had to remind myself that the hard I’m doing is to make me better. Learning to persevere through the hard, brutal stuff like burpees with pushups, helps us persevere in other areas of life. I also felt immensely proud and satisfied when I finished the workout, giving it my best. In my formative years, I remember my parents being committed (they still are) to their daily walk. Seeing their commitment to their fitness and wellbeing has stuck with me.

2024 was rough, but 2025 is all about becoming a juggernaut. And by juggernaut, I mean the best version of myself. The schedule change has helped. I love getting up working out and then starting work. By the time my lunch hour is done, I’ve completed my workouts for the day. Once I’ve finished working for the day, I’ve completed all the items on my to-do list except for reading. I read every night, so that’s an easy checkmark on my to-do list.

Do you need a break? From what?

I absolutely need a break from 2025. In fact, I’m quite confident that I’m not alone in this feeling. The world is a scary place right now and life is tough. I think we’d all like to take a collective deep breath before rejoining 2025.

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Cleaning update

Well here’s the spring cleaning update. I have a lot of stuff and not enough places to store it. While cleaning out the closet, it struck me that I had a ton of old jerseys and concert t-shirts lying around. They’re not just lying around. Currently, I have them all organized in tubs on my closet floor. Since we’re at the end of the hockey parent journey, I think it’s time to make the boys each a quilt of their old jerseys. As for the concert T-shirts, I might make those into a quilt for myself.

The other big update from my spring cleaning is that I desperately needed a step stool. I can’t easily reach the top of my closets, cabinets, or bird feeders. Also, I don’t want to be climbing on top of the new washing machine to put things away. Consequently, I got myself a new step stool via Amazon. This way I can put things up high without putting myself in peril. Now I need to focus on improving the storage options in our closets and bedrooms. This way our space looks organized and not like a place where someone is dorming.

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

My kids will be my legacy. I hope they approach life with kindness, love, and a sense of adventure. Moreover, I hope they make a conscious choice to make this world a better place by the way they interact with people they meet.

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Ho Hum

Ho Hum, what an appropriate title for a shit show of a day. Our internet with AT&T went down early this morning along with our cell service. Fortunately, we have Comcast as a backup. Unfortunately, Comcast still sucks. Needless to say, it’s been a trying day. It has me counting down the hours to Momcation 5.0.

I should have known today was going to be a special kind of crazy. After all, it is the day the taxman cometh. One bright spot was that our menagerie was hopping this morning. We even had a new visitor. A beautiful mottled duck joined the others for a snack. The animals have gotten so used to me that they don’t fly away anymore when I bring out the food or water. Even the skittish blue jays and squirrels have started to stay.

Instead of running, I’ve been working on Zumba chores for Momcation. I haven’t taught since I tore a tendon and was diagnosed with Graves, so I’m excited to give it a go. After all, it’s only been six years. Honestly, I had forgotten both how hard and how much fun it is to put together a class. I’m a bit rusty, so hopefully I’ll be able to give my fellow moms a good workout. It’s also a test to see if my ankle and body will tolerate it. If it goes well, I’m going to start teaching again as I need a second income.

Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.

My family has done so much for me that I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll put it in broad strokes because otherwise, we’d have a War and Peace size answer here. The biggest thing was that they have supported me through life at every stage and every difficulty. I know that’s a pretty general answer, but the truth having support makes a huge difference.

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Back Home

I’m back home after a wonderful week in Minnesota. It was a nice change of pace to be back in the Midwest for a bit. I didn’t laid pretty low since I wasn’t feeling 100%, but I still had a great time. Saturday was a wonderful day as I got to see a lot of my extended family that I had not seen in years. I even managed to bake my parents some fresh bread before the party. While I was finishing up the bread, my mom and aunt went for a walk. I ran up to Starbucks while the bread was raising, so I saw them on the path. To be funny, I stopped and took pictures of them, but they didn’t even notice. As Jake said, their situational awareness was not good.

The anniversary party for my aunt and uncle was at my Grandma’s building in their cafeteria. It’s really a nice room to host a party as there is plenty of room for folks and the kitchen is well appointed. For ease, they ordered in pizza from Broadway Pizza, which was super yummy. They ordered perfectly as there was very little left at the end of the day. For dessert, we had a beautiful decorated cake.

I haven’t seen a lot of my family since before Covid, so it was nice to see people again. My cousin Nick and I were exchanging photos of our ancestors that we had come across. We were also talking about some trinkets that exist from my Grandpa’s time in service, like a handkerchief he made while recovery from injuries. He’s going to build the family a site with all of the information and photos in one place. This will obviously be much better than all of us paying a jillion dollars for ancestry.com. It was so great to be able to see extended family after so many years apart.

My mom and her siblings
My mom’s Siblings and spouses
My brother and my cousins Nick and Ben
The view from the new Delta lounge at MSP

What’s your favorite time of day?

My favorite time of day is nighttime. I love our bed time rituals with the puppies. Once I have them ready for bed, I hop into bed and read my book. Some nights I read for over an hour other nights I fall asleep pretty quickly.

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Weird

It has been weird seeing all the tryout bulletins for hockey clubs around the state. Since the state championships ended the season Sunday, organizations could send out their tryout schedules Monday. For the last decade or so, we’ve planned our spring around those tryouts. The anxiety tryout season induced is something I will never forget or miss. You never really knew where your kid stood down here because the politics of the game were overarching.

I had hoped the Mayor would opt to play at least a year of u18 because a part of me isn’t ready to move on. Also, I think playing u18 hockey gives players a good path to play hockey while finishing and focusing on high school. Needless to say, the Mayor wanted no part of that idea. So now it’s looking at the myriad of junior options that are out there. It’s like sailing the high seas without military protection during the heyday of pirates. No matter which way you turn someone is going to take all your money. Fortunately, we have plenty of time to figure out where he’ll play next year.

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

Speaking of weird, I found the grossest meme on Twitter. It actually belongs on Reddit’s horrible Facebook meme forum. I mean what in the fresh hell is this nonsense? As if a woman wanting to have equality and their own opportunities are what has destroyed our “country.” As if I go to work to serve my boss. Bitch, I go to work to get paid. Unfortunately, the weird incel that gave provenance to this meme’s belief is rooted in deep-seeded and misguided misogyny. Thankfully, social media has given the town idiot the loudest voice. Additionally, why is it impossible for women to work and love their families? Do you know what the opening sentence of my autobiography would say? It would say, “I chose a path that allowed me to raise a family while carving out a successful professional career.”

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: 45-minute spin class, plus 15-minute cooldown courtesy of Apple Fitness+
  • Book: Book: Marcel Proust’s  Finding Lost Time. 
  • Blog: done
  • Word of the day: apricity. The dogs and I enjoyed the apricity during our lunchtime walk.
  • Today’s song is Going Under by Evanesence
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Pernicious

Pernicious is the word of the day and as I write this I’m fighting through pernicious boredom at work. I’ve been plenty busy with folks that hang up on me today, yet I find myself mighty bored. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve rediscovered the end of the internet. There’s nothing new or interesting to see as everything has been recycled.

Jen Barber is always good for IT advice and a good laugh

Speaking of pernicious, my hubby’s volunteer status has definitely had a negative impact on my mental health. I thought we were making some headway yesterday, but I may have postulated incorrectly. I started writing in a separate journal to help cope with the stress. The strategy has worked wonderfully. After all, not all my thoughts are suitable for public consumption. If you’re looking for a journal app, I’d highly recommend One Journal. It is a free app with a premium subscription available.

It’s been nice having him home this past week. I’ve had several things on my to-do list that have been waiting for. Unfortunately due to shingles and an autoimmune flare, I haven’t been able to tackle any of them. Fortunately, he’s picked up the slack and has been knocking out several items on the to-do list. We have so much stuff upstairs that we simply don’t need anymore. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better over the weekend, so I can help clean out the upstairs.

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Lots of Hockey

We had lots of hockey yesterday and didn’t get home until dinner time, so I took the night off from blogging. Initially, we thought all three games were at Skatezone, which would still make for a tight transition between games two and three. Unfortunately, the league changed our second travel game from Skatezone to ice works when an updated schedule was sent out. Consequently, this made the transition from game two to game three quite interesting.

The first game of the day was a Hawks vs. Hawks affair. Luckily, the Mayor’s team came out on top, however, I thought the other team outplayed them. Nonetheless, the Mayor played well and it was an entertaining game to watch. I mean, it’s super easy to cheer when both teams are from the same organization. The fear with an inter-organization game is that they can sometimes get nasty. Both teams played a clean game of hockey and were good sports, which was great to see.

The second game was at Ice Works against the best team in the league. Lyssa and her sister made the hockey moms great shirts, which I forgot to wear yesterday. Nevertheless, we took a photo of the moms present in their shirts. Since I had forgotten mine, I hid in the back with my sunglasses trying to avoid the blinding glare of the sun. As for the game, we expected a complete thrashing. You can imagine our surprise when the boys came out of the first period with a 3-2 lead. It ended with 8-3 bad guys with two of our players injured on dirty plays.

Once the game ended, the boys on our high school hockey team piled into Christy’s van to ride to the high school game at Skate Zone. The high school game started at 5:00 pm, so shortly before the travel game ended. They ended up making it to the high school game at the end of the second period. Neither team had a full bench at that point, but our team was already winning 7-0 when the kids got there. By the end of the day, we had lots of hockey and I was completely exhausted.

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Working Saturday

It’s a working Saturday in our house today. Well, at least I’m working. I don’t think you’d count the Mayor watching the junior game or the hubby scrolling endlessly through Twitter working. A skin is keeping me company, while Athena and Arrow hold down the fort in the family room. Fortunately, it’s been a productive working Saturday so far. It’s not bursting with leads, but it’s not slow either. The puppies, with Athena now joining Anakin, are doing a great job of keeping me company while I work.

I decided to work to add to my production, but there are plenty of things I could be doing around the house. Our loft upstairs looks like a bomb went off in it. To be fair, a bomb named Goalielocks did go off in it. We just added a spin bike, so it would be nice to have it organized and look good. Additionally, the upstairs hallway looks like a donation room for Goodwill. I definitely need to go through everything upstairs. There’s a lot of stuff that we can donate, throw away or put away. I’d also like to get all my shopping and errands done this weekend, but the hubby’s prodigious volunteer status is really cramping my style. Hopefully, his boss will pay him before the month is out.

And now for your shingles update because I’m apparently eighty-five. Fortunately, the rash hasn’t spread any further. It is, however, mighty uncomfortable. In fact, it is both itchy and painful despite looking like it’s healing. The shoulder patch feels like it’s still there in its full glory, but looks like it’s almost gone. Truly, it is an odd and uncomfortable feeling. Moreover, my stomach is not loving all the medicines I’m having to take to eradicate the rash. I can’t wait until I can stop taking the anti-virals and antibiotics. The steroid cream, however, is doing its job nicely without killing my tummy.

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Change

Well, there hasn’t been much change from yesterday. Well, except I’m now taking eight pills plus using a steroid cream to keep this thing at bay. Naturally, I’m still miserable with my patches of itchiness/hell and my husband is still an unpaid volunteer. Hopefully, I’ll start to see a change in the skin irritation rather soon. I’d really like to go back to my regular workouts and wear shirts. I’ve resorted to wearing a loose hoodie over my sports bra to stay comfortable. Or at least, try to stay comfortable.

I can’t say that I’m feeling great either. I’m not sleeping well, so I’m super fatigued. Unfortunately, I think the fatigue is magnifying my discomfort. The patches are quite painful and itchy today, which sucks. I feel better today than yesterday. Truthfully, the Mayor saved the day yesterday when he reminded my hubby to pick up my script. My hubby forgot to pick it up on his way home but forgot. Since we’re down to one vehicle at the moment that would have meant I would have had to wait to get my script filled until this evening. As it happened, the rink canceled the Mayor’s practice, so we would have been able to pick it up yesterday evening. Since he had no practice, the Mayor also made dinner. He really saved my evening.

Actually, I lied there has been one change since yesterday. I haven’t received a call from Herz’s vehicle recovery department. Yay for the small victories in life. This may be a byproduct of the flurry of tweets and Facebook messages I sent them yesterday. Unfortunately, I still have not received my closed contract or receipt for the rental. Nor have I heard back from Hertz about either item. Hopefully, the lack of a call this morning forebodes the resolution of my rental car debacle. At this point, I don’t know what’s more painful the shingles or the Hertz rental experience. Either way, stay tuned for an update.