Posted on

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.

Posted on

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
Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Packing

I finally started packing! The Mayor and I are quite excited about our trip to the North. Fortunately, I found my jacket last night out in the garage. In Goalielocks’ haste to clean, he decided (I guess) that my jacket and nice mitten from Stockholm should be donated. I guess I’ll have to go through the donation bags when I get back from Chicago to make sure he’s not getting rid of anything else I need. My clothes have all been washed and the boots have been selected. I decided to not bring winter boots since the weather’s going to be mild. Consequently, I’m bringing the cute boots I took to Scandinavia in 2018.

So in between packing and work, I’ve been trying to update my rental reservation to reflect my gold club membership with Hertz. Their online support told me to try updating it in their app. Spoiler alert, their app does not work. Consequently, I ended up calling customer care. After being on hold for several minutes, the agent canceled my reservation and created a new one (allegedly.). I say allegedly because it is yet to reflect in my account, nor can the online Hertz agent see the new reservation. As Charlie Sheen would say, I’m winning! As this goes to press, I’m waiting to hear back from Hertz as to whether I need to create a new reservation or not. And now I’m back on the phone with Hertz. I’m clearly bumfuzzled.

Today’s bloganuary prompt is what chore do you find most challenging to do? The answer is getting issues like reservations fixed via phone calls. I work on the phone all day. Consequently, I don’t want to spend my spare time on the phone. To me, it’s a bit sinful when a consumer can’t fix their issue online without having to call the company multiple times. It should never take more than one call to fix an issue. Anyway, to punctuate my bad experience today, they can locate the new reservation, but it’s all jacked up. At this point, they’re skating on thin ice. Good news! They’re no longer on thin ice. They fixed my reservation and it’s now going to cost me a third of the original price. And now I’m back to packing.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Week six Sweat Beginner HIIT full body workout. Ran one and a half miles, and walked two. Day twelve of the Everyday Yoga Shop/Practyce 21-day yoga challenge.
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song: Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
Posted on

Bumfuzzled

Bumfuzzled, what a word! Am I right? Webster’s dictionary defines bumfuzzled as being in a state of bewilderment. This great word and prompt from my fellow blogger fits my current state. For the past months, I’ve been trying to make a correction to my vehicle’s title. Per the lienholder, I made an appointment with the DMV. After visiting the seven layers of hell that is the Florida DMV, the DMV told my hubby that only the lienholder could file for a correction. Well, isn’t that special? Consequently, I returned it to my lienholder, who told me that the dealer must update it. Tell me your incompetent without telling me your incompetent perfectly describes my lienholder’s response. Anyway, stay tuned.

Outside of the bullshit mentioned above, I’ve been trying to get ready for our Chicago trip. In fact, I’ve made such a large effort that the suitcase is now out of the closet. The most difficult task, I fear, will be locating our winter jackets. I believe they’re upstairs in the Mayor’s closet, but that belief is probably on par with the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. Naturally, the next task will be to locate my mittens. Unfortunately, I keep getting distracted by work, so my packing is moving forward at a snail’s pace. In fact, I’ll probably enlist the Mayor’s help to locate our winter jackets. After all, I’m relatively sure they’re in the vicinity of his room.

As you can tell, I’ve spent my Wednesday bumfuzzled, distracted, and boggled. Nonetheless, I’ve already got my run done for the day. Each run has gotten progressively easier as I’ve gotten over my cold. Later, I’m going to take a walk on my break to get my mileage up to four. I decided I’m going to walk the same mileage that I run. My goal is to cover at least 3.1 miles per day by some combination of walking/jogging and running. After work, I’m going to finish Day 11 of the yoga challenge. I’ve really enjoyed the yoga challenge thus far. The challenge brings a nice variety to my personal practice. I love getting back into yoga. Today’s bloganuary prompt is what makes you feel successful. Sticking to the goals I’ve set for life, including my fitness goals, is what makes me feel successful.

Today’s accountability tracker:

Posted on

More Hockey

After a weekend full of hockey, there was more hockey last night. This time it was high school hockey at Ice Den. We had played this team two times previously. The boys tied them the first time and lost the second time. Fortunately, the third time was a charm and they won big defeating the Storm 6-0. It was an entertaining game. Albeit I hate the late weekday start to some of these games and the rink was uncommonly cold. Last night’s tilt went off at 8:30 pm, which is when I’m usually contemplating getting ready for bed.

The best part of high school hockey is seeing all my favorite hockey folks from around the league. I watched some of the MSD game with my dear friend Dawn. It was such a nice surprise to see her there. For some reason, our boys’ high school games haven’t lined up really well. Nonetheless, I spent the first part of my night chilling with her and her niece. Once the clock struck 8:30 pm, I left the stadium rink and headed over to the Mezzanine rink to watch our boys’ game. Our high school team is a composite team of players from Palm Beach County. In reality, it’s a fabulous opportunity for the kids to have fun playing hockey without the seriousness that comes (and should come with) travel hockey. Truly, it strikes a good balance, and who doesn’t love more hockey?

The late-night hockey makes getting to bed early quite difficult. I found myself, again, sleeping through my alarm. Fortunately, I still woke up before 7:00 am, so my morning wasn’t too much of a crunch. Nevertheless, it is nice to have some time in the morning to relax while watching mindless tv before starting work. Typically, I’ll watch the Great British Bake Off after taking the puppies out. I love to sip my coffee as the bakers bake and my puppies play in the background. Truly, it is a very serene way to start the day. The only issue seems to be that I then feel inspired to bake treats I don’t need to be eating.

I had planned to start packing today but got distracted. I’m so excited to pack my new running socks from Brooks. I absolutely love these socks even though they’re not trendy. They’re soft, thick, and supportive. Clearly, they’ll be the perfect sock to keep my feet warm in Chicago. Perhaps instead of fixating on my socks, I should try to find my jacket, hat, and mittens. While it is not going to be super cold while we are there, the rinks will be cold. I don’t, however, think I’ll need my winter boots. Obviously, if I bring the boots, I won’t need them. If I leave the boots at home, it will most definitely snow and I’ll be bootless.

Today’s bloganuary prompt is has a book you read changed your life? Two books came immediately to mind when I saw this prompt. First Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. This brilliant book is all about learning to “live your legend” by following your dreams. Sometimes the treasure that we search for isn’t external at all. The second book is Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy. Resurrection is a beautiful story of redemption against the backdrop of the complicated Russian legal, social, and political systems. While I find Tolstoys’ exploration of Russian culture interesting, the story of redemption is what makes this novel special.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Week six Sweat Beginner HIIT leg workout. Ran one mile, and walked two. Day ten of the Everyday Yoga Shop/Practyce 21-day yoga challenge.
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song: Hanging By A Moment, by LIfe house

Posted on

Back at it

Well, I’m back at it and not happy about it. This back-to-reality bullshit is for the birds. I’d like to go back on the holiday vacation with the family. Naturally, the first day back at the office after a long absence is always difficult. Today was no exception. Unfortunately, technology did not want to cooperate with any of us today. This made for a frustrating day all around.

It could be worse I guess. I could still be at my old job, which was pure misery. I remember when I left Progressive how happy my hubby was that I’d stop talking in acronyms. And then I started at Kaplan University and it was back to the alphabet soup he so hated. Fortunately, my current company doesn’t speak in acronyms, so he no longer has to worry about that frustration. Nonetheless, I’d love to see the measly lead flow improve back to 2022 levels.

Despite my frustration, I chose to move forward full of optimism today. While I may not have had the best day, it wasn’t the worst. Moreover, I’ll continue focusing on improving daily and hitting my goals. I used to meditate in the morning to a quick sales meditation I found on YouTube that was really effective for me. Unfortunately, the video has been removed. Consequently, I decided to write out my own sales mantra meditation. I’m toying with the idea of filming it, so I can listen to it while I sit in legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani.)

Today I hit all of my goals less my personal sales goal. My two-mile run went okay. My lungs are still a bit tight from the lingering head cold/sinus/allergy bullshit, so that’s fun. After work, I completed day three of the yoga challenge. Today’s practice was a sixty-minute Hatha class, which I really enjoyed. It was not overly strenuous, but it wasn’t overly chill either. Truly, the instructor struck a really good balance between building strength and relaxation.

First three days do the yoga challenge in the books and Insta official

Lastly, today’s bloganuary prompt is what is the earliest memory you have. My earliest memory is of saying goodbye to my grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side. I think it was late summer or fall as we didn’t have jackets on. I wasn’t quite two yet, which I know because my clearest early memory is of my grandfather passing away from a heart attack. He passed away eight days after my birthday on my grandma’s birthday. Forty years later I stand in awe of my grandma’s grace, resilience, and faith. When times are tough, I remind myself I’m cut from the same cloth. Anyways I’m back at it.

Today’s accountability tracker: