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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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Red Bellied Woodpecker

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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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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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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It Was A Hot One Today

It was a hot one today! This morning it felt like summer as the dew point rose to 74 degrees. Initially, I was worried that it would be too hot for Piggie and I to run, but I felt we could try it. Indeed, if it was too hot too run or jog, we’d simply walk our route. Either way I’d be getting in a workout.

 

As it happened, today’s run was pretty good. I felt good throughout the run and probably could have gone further. However, I’m not going to add mileage too soon and get injured again. Also, my running partner is out of practice too. We’ll be adding mileage in gradually as we acclimate to the heat and running again. Athena needed several stops today. She doesn’t like when the path is crowded with bikers and walkers. When people are coming are way, she’ll pullover to the grass and stop dead in her tracks. Honestly, it’s perfect for maintaining social distancing on the path.

In addition to our traffic stops, we take our water break every half mile. During these stops, Athena rehydrates and I spill some over her to cool her down. Most of the time, she’ll try to knock her gentle leader off by rolling in the grass. While she catches her bread, and I do too, I enjoy taking in the natural beauty. The path has been full of butterflies, dragonflies, birds, lizards and squirrels. Truly, it always reminds me how lucky I am to live here. Our neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous. While we headed back we came across a bunch of cops lining up for a birthday parade, which was pretty cool. As soon as we got home, Piggie got a nice, old shower courtesy of my hubby and the garden hose. She loved it!

Afterwards, I did my stretching routine in my room. I ended the great stretch session with legs up the wall, which is one of the best yoga poses out there. Once I had completed stretching, I enjoyed the left over Cesar salad for lunch. Post lunch, the Mayor and I headed to Walgreens. I was looking for new cleaning gloves- they had none. However, I owed the Mayor some Cadbury Mini Eggs, so we picked up some Easter candy and a peel off mask and pore vacuum. So no gloves, but a bunch of things I probably didn’t need (especially the candy.)

 


The boys were excited for try the charcoal peel mask. Consequently, I had both boys wash their faces, so I could apply the mask. The mask is messy, but easy enough to apply. Once the masks were applied, I obviously made them pose for some great pictures. You’ll love the one of my Mayor making a whimsical face. I tried to get a picture of Goalielocks’ expertly completed man bun, but he was not cooperating.

They then spent fifteen minutes letting the mask dry. It didn’t peel off as easy as I hoped, but I may not have applied it thickly enough to their faces. It did clean the pores especially in the T Zone. Importantly, it did leave some redness on my Mayor’s face as he does have more sensitive skin. Thankfully, the redness was short lived. Most importantly, it gave us something to try together and have fun doing it. I have a facial steamer from Amazon coming, so we’ll be trying it again then.

Tonight we’ll be hanging out on the couch watching movies. If I’m being honest, we’ll also probably finish the amazing carrot cake from J Alexander’s. Today has been a nice and relaxing with no virtual school. Unfortunately or fortunately, Florida has closed schools for the rest of the year. Consequently, I’ll be in virtual school hell until the end of May. Say a prayer that myself and my fellow virtual school parents will survive until then. Please also say a prayer for our childrens’ teachers that have to deal with virtually schooled kids and their parents. The teachers are the real heroes here!

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

*Reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and loving it!

*Cleaner Anakin’s cage after he had an accident overnight. Thankfully, it wasn’t diarrhea!

*Completed BBG day 6 week 8- cardio 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Ran 2.5 miles with Athena

*Pulled my hair out (again) managing my teenagers virtual schooling.

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Great Day

 So I gotta be honest, against the back drop of the Coronavirus pandemic, today was a great day. Yep, I said it. Today was good and productive. Perhaps the 2.5 mile run Athena and I took this morning help set the right tone for the day. Cheers to runner’s high for fueling my day! Of course, I use the word run loosely. Honestly, we were pretty slow today, but that’s okay. It was a good run.

Afterwards, I took twenty minutes to stretch out and massage my legs, hips and glutes. The therapy balls (like lacrosse balls) I got after taking Christine’s mobility class at Open Heart Yoga Studio have been instrumental in keeping my legs healthy, flexible and strong. The Mayor uses my laptop for school, so he takes his lunch at noon so I can attend my yoga class.

I gotta tell you I’m finding the virtual yoga classes via Zoom to be extremely valuable. First of all, it’s nice to see people outside my family. Honestly, it feels like I’m stuck on an island sometimes. Secondly, my yoga practice has been instrumental in healing my body post Graves diagnosis. It’s important that I keep the practice up during this stressful time. Lastly, happiness is getting surprised by your sweet puppy while in corpse pose.

After a nice lunch of leftover gluten pizza, I put in my AirPods and cleaned the house. Truly, it felt nice to be able to get something accomplished for once. Thankfully, I didn’t spend most of my day harassing my kids to complete their schoolwork. Like I said, today was a great day! Moreover, they don’t have school tomorrow, so I’ll get two days in a row with less stress!!! Yay!

This afternoon I headed to Publix to get more milk and a few staples. It’s still nearly impossible to get a delivery time here. Clearly, I also had to get more gluten free cake mix. Who doesn’t like a good coffee cake to go with their coffee and quarantine? I also got two pairs of chocolate milks since BJ’s was out of the Quick mix. Thankfully, Publix wasn’t too crowded, so we were in and out pretty quickly.

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

*Studied and practiced Norwegian

*Watched Schitt’s Creek and Family Guy

*Watched Remember The Titans

*Ran 2.5 miles with Athena

*Gentle Yoga for a Strong Back  with Jenn from Open Heart Yoga Studio

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Worked on Obedience Training with Anakin inside.

*Thrived while managing my teenagers virtual schooling.

*Ran to Publix for essentials

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Mid Week Fun

Today was a better day and full of mid week fun. If this new normal, is what you call fun. In my estimation, a day where pushback from your star pupils is minimal is a good day. Indeed that is what today brought me. Or so I thought…..

I was quite happy with today’s progress until I got an email from the Mayor’s math teacher regarding incomplete assignments. While I had the foresight to keep a tight eye on Goalielocks, I lacked the perspicacity regarding my youngest. Imagine my surprise when I learned he was missing almost all of his math assignments! Fortunately, his math teacher is on her game and now I know I must micromanage him throughout the day as well. Oh joy!

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In addition to teacher’s aide, I also played the role of tech support today. Goalielocks’ auto cad software was not letting him in to complete his work. Naturally, both he and his teacher were getting a bit frustrated with the situation. Tonight I was able to troubleshoot, uninstall, reinstall and get his account fully operational. Unfortunately, he’ll need to get caught up on the last week of work. The good news is he know and auto cad software at home.

I did sneak out for a couple of walks today, which was nice. The dogs and I didn’t make it too far since it was pretty hot out today. Nonetheless, there is nothing better than clear blue skies and palm trees! Of course, the dogs love being outside. Now that there aren’t a lot of people outside, there are birds singing and basilisks all over the place. In fact, that is how Anakin broke the retractable leash on Monday!

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Today was the abs and arm workout for week 7 of BBG. As always, the workout was inventive and challenging. Truly, I never thought I could do that many push-ups in a single workout. I had planned on taking a virtual yoga class this evening, but I fell asleep on my couch at 5:00 pm. Apparently, one cup of coffee was not enough. The Mayor finished off my creamer in his morning coffee. That’s right, he has taken to drinking coffee.

I want to provide an important mid week update on our sweet Maya. Tomorrow it will be two weeks from her surgery. Excitingly, she will have her stitches (and as a consequence her cone) removed Friday. We are so excited for her!!!! She has been dying to play with her siblings, but they’re terrified of her big, blue cone. Unfortunately, her biopsy did not come back favorable. It was definitely cancerous. As you may remember, they found a tumor in her lung last February. They believe her lung and skin tumor are related. Fortunately, the tumor in her lungs has not grown. We should have more information on her prognosis come Friday.

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

*Studied and practiced Norwegian

*Watched It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the Moonstone

*Watched Remember The Titans

*Completed BBG day 3 week 7 arms and abs workout

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Worked on Obedience Training with Anakin inside.

*Pulled my hair out (again) managing my teenagers virtual schooling.

*Did our part to flatten the curve by staying home!

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Stir Crazy

I’m going stir crazy. The lack of socialization or ability to escape from the current situation is enough to make you whacky. Or perhaps it’s my teenage son that has me teetering on the precipice of insanity. Either way this morning was about the least amount of fun I’ve had since giving birth to my youngest fourteen years ago. God, please give me the grace to survive and thrive virtual schooling.

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Nothing like virtual school, teenagers and social distancing to make one feel that one’s life is in shambles. Truthfully, it wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t met with an argument every step of the way. I mean seriously is it so hard to follow directions and to do what is asked the first time? Unfortunately, this question is treated as rhetorical eliciting both no action and no response. Raising teenagers is so fun. No, if one wants action or even a response, there was to be some pain. Usually this pain comes from the loss of their phone.

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After my yoga class this afternoon and a mother argument with my star pupils, I had to get out of the house. Thankfully, the weather was absolutely perfect today, so Anakin and I went for a walk. By the time I got back from my walk, my pupil had realized the errors of his ways, was completing his work and apologized. It was all is simple. All he had to do was get his work done the first time he was asked instead of fighting it.

As for my yoga class, it was super awesome. I love my Tuesday crew. Additionally, keeping my yoga routine is a helpful way to keep both mentally and physically fit. Today was my run day, but the weather was a bit suspect this morning. If there’s thunder close to the area, I don’t run. Also, everything below my waist is pretty sore from yesterday’s workout, so. A run later in the week may be more productive. Fortunately, I got several walks in with the dogs. Moreover, I even got a little bit of a run in this morning when Anakin snapped the retractable leash. Oh yes, today was quite the adventure.

Earlier this winter I bought a beginner’s knitting kit at Barnes and Noble. It’s been collecting dust in my room until today. Here’s what I’ve learned. The manufacturer and I have very different definitions as to the definition of beginner. Additionally, no amount of supplementary YouTube videos are going to help me understand the patterns in the book. Alas the moral of the story is that I will not be learning to knit on my own. I will definitely need to take some classes.

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

*Watched Monty Python’s Parrot Show and Parks and Rec

*Watched Ice Age

*Completed BBG day 2 week 7 recovery workout – full body

*Attended Gentle Flow Yoga with Monica from Open Heart Yoga Studio 

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on multiple walks

*Worked on Obedience Training with Anakin inside.

*Pulled my hair out (again) managing my teenagers virtual schooling.

 

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Back to Virtual School

Yesterday was Sunday, which means today is Monday and back to virtual school for my boys. Oh yes, queue the return of the high blood pressure and mental breakdowns. Clearly, this is the scarlet O’hare moment – the role of a lifetime only I’ll be coming away with a Razzie instead of an Oscar. Also I’m wearing yoga pants for the fourth century in a row and not a beautiful dress.

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The battle started early when I tried to get Goalielocks out of bed at 8:30. Last night he agreed that 8:30 am was a reasonable time to rise and get started. Our conversation, in fact, was quite precise on this timeframe. Sadly, this morning he completely abandoned that sentiment. I never imagined I’d be spending my mornings yelling to get my Goalie out of bed to attend virtual school. Ultimately, it took over a half an hour to get him up and moving. You can only imagine the pleasantries exchanged during that half hour.

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Naturally, I took to my yoga mat to recenter and recharge. Normally, I complete my BBG resistance workout in the morning, but today I flipped my schedule. Instead I took a gentle flow yoga class with my dear friend and teacher Monica from Yoga Mundo. This morning it was just me in the class, which made for a great, personalized session. The virtual yoga classes have been a great tool to stay connected with my friends, but also continue my practice. Over the past six months, my practice has grown exponentially and I’m anxious to build on those gains.

By the time I finished my yoga class, my Mayor was starting to make lunch. He sautéed onions and chicken to serve with gluten free spaghetti and marinara sauce. First of all, it was awesome because he made it, which means I didn’t. Secondly, the food was absolutely delicious. I’m fairly certain that my Mayor is the best chef in the house. Needless to say, I’m thrilled that he’ll be continuing with the culinary program in high school next year.

After a brief nap with the puppies on the couch, I went to complete my resistance workout. I just started BBG week 7 and it’s a real ass locker. Honestly, by the fourth round of burpees, I had no bounce left and my hands were tired. Not to mention my legs were ready to collapse. These workouts are phenomenal and truly keep you moving and your pulse rate high. At the same time, I’ve never been stronger in my life. Plus, I’m desperately trying to fight off the quarantine fifteen with a non functioning thyroid!

As soon as I finished my workout, I turned on the Keurig and brewed some coffee. I was utterly and completely exhausted after the workout. Not to mention, I had to go immediately back to being headmaster of Hockey Mom Fit’s Virtual Reform School for Boys. I know what you’re thinking, but unfortunately I’m out of Bailey’s. When the hubby got home, I let him know that after only five days of virtual school I have earned a trip to Europe. Moreover, I’m half way to earning a trip to Fiji. Ideally, I would be transported this evening to Fjord Norway, but sadly that won’t happen. Anyway, this is not easy, but we will succeed.  Namaste my friends!

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

*Watched Family Guy and Community

*Watched the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

*Completed BBG day 1 week 7 resistance workout – legs and glutes

*Attended Gentle Flow Yoga with Monica from Yoga Mundo

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk 

*Worked on Obedience Training with Anakin inside and outside.  I split it up into two sessions today. 

*Pulled my hair out managing my teenagers and virtual schooling.

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We Survived

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

*Reading To the Lighthouse by William Makepeace Thackery

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

*Watched Life of Brian

*Completed BBG Full Body Workout week 6

*Ran virtual school for my two teenage boys

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

*Baked a gluten free coffee cake

*Took Anakin, Maya and Athena on a walk 

*Worked on Obedience Training with  Anakin 

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