Monthly Archives: March 2019

A Bit Of Self-Care Fail (or Maybe I Was Hard On Myself)

Posted on March 15, 2019 | Comments Off on A Bit Of Self-Care Fail (or Maybe I Was Hard On Myself)

As I wrote in some posts earlier this week, recently I was pretty sick. I’m sorry for the short posts those days, but honestly I was really taken down by this bug. It was really hard to do most things, including type. I am so lucky I work from home and it’s not the busy season because I didn’t have to do a ton of work while I was feeling my worst. And I didn’t work my other job while I was very sick because I knew I couldn’t be accurate with checking information online. But that job is flexible with hours so I can make up what I missed over the next few days or weeks.

When I first noticed symptoms that I was probably getting sick, they weren’t too bad. I was hoping I could beat the bug before it got me really sick and I think that mindset stuck with me. When things started getting back, I was still trying to pretend that I wasn’t that sick and that whatever I had last year was actually worse. Now that I’m finally over the hump of this bug, I can say that I probably was actually sicker than last year yet I didn’t take care of myself as if that was true.

I don’t know if I didn’t want to admit that I was as sick as I was or I honestly didn’t think it was as bad, but whatever the reason I think that maybe not thinking this was that bad was the reason why I’m still dealing with this a week later. I’m significantly better than I was a few days ago, but I’m still not 100% and I’m wondering how long it will take me to get there. I’m exhausted every day in the afternoon and I could probably nap multiple times a day if I had the chance. I’m trying to not nap too much because it messes up my sleep schedule, but sometimes I have to cave and just sleep for an hour or so.

I’m usually good at taking care of myself when I’m sick. I know that because I live alone I have to not overdo things. If I’m too tired to get things done that need to be done, there’s nobody else in my house to do it. I could always call a friend to help, but I’m stubborn and like to do things for myself. And I was ok with letting go of some things in order to make sure I had the ability to do others (I did delivery food more than I want to admit because it helped me not need to go to the grocery store). And I don’t think that going to some workouts this week hurt me since I was not working nearly as hard as normal. Just getting some movement in during the day helped since I did the class in the morning when I was feeling my best.

But besides the few little self-care things I did this past week to take care of myself, I really didn’t do as much as normal to be gentle to myself while I was sick. I was getting very frustrated that I couldn’t do things or that I was taking longer to get something done and I wasn’t letting being sick be an excuse. I don’t know why I was so hard on myself but I know it was happening multiple times a day. I would blame so many other reasons for things not working out without considering that while I’m sick that maybe I shouldn’t have the same expectations that I would have when I’m feeling normal.

Even with not feeling totally better I’m still noticing I’m being hard on myself. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m still recovering and I don’t want to do something that will keep me sick longer. I know that I have friends and family that don’t have the luxuries that I do with being gentle on themselves when they are sick. They have jobs they have to go to no matter what or they have to take care of a child or elderly family member. I know that I am lucky that I don’t have to stress about that and I should appreciate it, but it also makes me feel bad when I’m not doing everything like normal when those other friends are able to do that while they are sick.

I’m lucky that I don’t get sick like this that often. I used to deal with multiple bouts of strep throat a year before I had my tonsils out and it was pretty awful. I think on average I get sick like this once a year and it’s not always this bad. And I am getting better at tolerating being sick and making sure that I am not completely bedridden or unable to do anything during that time. But I might have taken that idea a little too far this time and forgot that I should not stress about being normal when I’m sick.

For now, while I finish beating this cold I’m going to work on doing a few extra self-care things that I probably should have been doing all week. I’m hoping that being kind to myself for the next few days that I will finally be over this bug and back to feeling fine. I’m ready to be back to the normal me and to not have to worry about feeling sick and lethargic.

 

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Saying Goodbye To A Workout Buddy (or Hanging Out In Normal Clothes)

Posted on March 14, 2019 | Comments Off on Saying Goodbye To A Workout Buddy (or Hanging Out In Normal Clothes)

I’ve been very lucky with finding amazing people in my Orangetheory classes. In every class time that I take regularly, I’ve found a group of people who have become friends. Sometimes we only see each other in class, but we still are more involved in each other’s lives than just seeing each other for that hour of the workout. I find these workout friends one of the reasons why I’m always so motivated to go to class. I don’t want to miss my time with the people I only see once or twice a week. And when someone isn’t in class, it does feel like something is missing.

Finding friends in my workout classes isn’t something that happens right away, but it naturally happens over time. But I feel like my bond with my friends in my Wednesday and Friday Culver City classes happened faster than most. There was something about us that just clicked and we’ve been a pretty strong group for a while. We have a texting group that we use for workout related texts, but we also text each other random stuff throughout the week. It’s been amazing having them in my workouts and we were so sad when one member of the group announced she was moving to NYC.

Of course, we are excited for her because it’s an amazing career opportunity, but we will totally miss having her in class. So we had to have a goodbye outing because it was feeling like the end of an era. Since we all live right by downtown Culver City, it was easy for us to pick a place there. And we let the guest of honor pick where to go and she wanted to go to Public School 310. We were there during happy hour so we got a couple of different things to share among us.

We were having a great time just hanging out and eating delicious food. It was also the first time we were hanging out without having a workout so we were seeing each other in non-workout clothes for the first time. It was a nice change from our usual hangouts and it was fun just enjoying time together.

We were giving the friend moving away a bit of a hard time and joking how she shouldn’t be moving, but we all know it’s a good thing. And she’ll be back from time to time so we know we will see her again soon (she mentioned that she should be back in the next month or so for a weekend and we will all hopefully work out together then).

And of course, we had to get a group photo together. We asked the waitress to take one, and we did get a few normal ones. But this one happened after one person knocked into our dishes and I think it is much better (even if I look like a bit of a goober).

Our dinner lasted a few hours and then we all had to go our own ways. But it was a nice hangout for us and a nice way to celebrate the amazing friendship that we have been able to form just from being in a workout class together. Hopefully we can have another epic hangout the next time the 4 of us are in the same place.

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Another Sick Day Post (or Sorry For Two In A Row)

Posted on March 13, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Sick Day Post (or Sorry For Two In A Row)

I’m sorry, this will be another short post. This cold really took me out. I’m surprised about how sick I’ve been because it didn’t feel too horrible when it started. But this is not acting like most colds that I’ve had before. I know I’m getting better, but it’s not the path I thought this cold would take.

I’m seriously so grateful and lucky that I work from home because I haven’t had to miss work because I’m sick. When I need to lay down for a minute, I can do just that. I’ve been working in sweats and go straight to bed right after I’m done. And I’m lucky that I actually feel better in the morning compared to later in the day. So I can work on all the crazy opening work like returning voicemails while I’m feeling better.

By the time you are all reading this, the workout class I usually take will be over. As I’m writing it, I have no clue if I’m going to work out. I hope that I will because I know it’s good for me to do any movement that I can. And I do feel much more like me in the beginning of the day. But I’ll just have to wait and see when I wake up.

I’m sorry again for the short and boring posts. Being sick isn’t fun and I am lucky that I’m not sick like this that often. But when I do get sick, I seem to really get sick and it takes me out. Last time I was this sick, I knew exactly when I was exposed to it so I could predict when I’d be getting better. This time, I have no clue who got me sick and I have to make a guess on when I should be doing better. I keep thinking I’m getting better when I wake up only to find out that I’m  doing just as bad as the day goes on. But I do know that this is a bug that I need to fight and eventually I will be better.

I’m trying to focus on self-care right now and prioritizing myself and my health. It’s a challenge and a good thing to work on, so I guess that is a positive of being sick. But I’m just ready to feel better and be back to normal life again soon.

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I Didn’t Think I Was This Sick (or This Will Be A Short Post)

Posted on March 12, 2019 | 1 comment

I wrote briefly in yesterday’s workout recap how I had caught a cold and was dealing with it on Saturday. When I wrote that post, it was Sunday and I was feeling a bit better. I thought I had gotten over the hump of whatever bug I caught and I was so happy about that.

I was so wrong about it.

I’m writing this on Monday and I did manage to get to my workout. But that’s literally all I was able to do. I worked out, came home, showered, and spent the next 8 hours in and out of sleep. I would sleep about an hour at a time, wake up, and within a few minutes be back asleep again.

I really am shocked about how sick I am feeling because I truly thought I was getting over it and would be better today. I have no clue what I’ll be able to do this week and I’m already debating if I need to cancel my workout tomorrow. It will have to be a wait and see thing because I’m hoping by this afternoon I’ll be doing much better.

I wish I could be more eloquent and have more to say about this, but I really just want to get back into bed. I haven’t even been watching tv because I don’t have the energy right now to keep my eyes open.

Sorry for this short and rambling post. I have more interesting things to write about this week. But for now, this will have to do for today since I don’t have much more in me to write more.

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A Week Of Struggles (or Just Tolerating Things Sometimes)

Posted on March 11, 2019 | 1 comment

This past week of workouts was a real struggle for me. I already knew it might be a weird week because of my schedule, but things just were not going my way. I made it to my 4 workouts, but I’ll be honest and say that I really didn’t want to do them all. But I didn’t have a good enough excuse to miss the ones I wanted to miss so I went.

Because I was in Catalina, I missed my usual Monday workout. But a few hours after getting back on Tuesday I made it to an afternoon class to make up for it. I knew it would be a tough class for me for a few reasons. First, this was going to be my first workout since the previous Friday, which is a much longer gap than I usually have between workouts. I was also dealing with my normal hormonal nausea. But I also had the added weirdness of feeling the room swaying from being on the boat earlier. I was not expecting that feeling because I didn’t have it on the boat going to Catalina. For some reason I was more affected on the ride back even though it was a very smooth ride.

The workout was Go Row, which is one of the signature workouts. It did feel a bit funny that I was going to have a big rowing workout while the room felt like it was moving. It was a 2 group class, but the cardio part of class was split between rowing and the treadmill/bike. The first block was a 4 minute row, the second block was a 2 minute row, and the last block was a 1 minute row. I did ok with my row distances, but nothing was super amazing. And the treadmill/bike work was push to all out paces. Because of how I was feeling, I didn’t really do much on the bike. I kept it at my base pace resistance level for the entire time I was on the bike. I knew I had to take it easy and just make sure I was moving.

The floor work was a lot of abs and upper body. The first block was single arm snatches, Spiderman planks, and crunches. The second block was running men, triceps with weights, and alligators on the straps. And the last block was lateral raises with weights and back extensions. I was able to do the plank work normally and not using the bench which was a surprise to me. And I did try to go heavier on the weights to make up for going easier on the cardio work.

Even though I had a Tuesday afternoon workout, I still did my Wednesday morning workout. It’s not easy to have that small of a break between classes, but it’s a good challenge for me. And I was feeling much better and didn’t have the swaying room sensation so the class went much better for me than Tuesday’s did.

The cardio was one long block but it was timed out by us. We started with a 30 second all out pace and a 30 second recovery before completing a distance. After getting to the distance, we had another recovery and continued the pattern. I wasn’t keeping the best track of my distance but I was trying to do my best to do the workout as we were supposed to. But since I was probably only going over the distance before the recovery and not under, I figured that was ok.

The row block was also one long block. We started with 10 strokes for distance and then 15 seconds to recover. Then we rowed until we got to 200 meters. After the row, we had lunges with tricep work using the medicine ball. Every time we went back to the rower we did the same beginning but the row increased by 50 meters. And the lunges/tricep work increased by 2 reps each time. I wasn’t too worried about my row times and I just focused on form. None of my rows were that slow, so it’s good to know that when I’m not focusing on rushing I’m still doing good work.

And the floor was split into 3 short blocks. Every block started with power sit-ups. Then we moved on to the rounds of the different exercises. We had neutral full thrusters and lunges for the first block, strap roll outs and plank jacks for the second block, and squats and calf raises for the last block. Some of the exercises were making me feel a bit more nauseous, but it was manageable with just taking breaks and letting it pass.

Friday’s workout was an endurance day and it was a pretty great endurance day. I was ready to work hard and see what I could do again after having a few odd days earlier in the week. We had two blocks at each station, one long block and one short one, and they were back to back.

For cardio, the first block started with a 3 minute push pace with a base pace after. We then had a 2 minute push pace and a 1 minute push pace before ending with an all out pace. I was using my new resistance levels on the bike and it was hard to do it for the longer push paces. But it felt great to know I could do it and I was able to recover with a base pace after instead of needing a break. The second block was just a 3 minute push pace to an all out and I continued to use the new resistance levels. I was starting to have some nausea issues during that block, but I managed to finish the work before needing to take a break.

The first block on the rower started with a 90 second distance challenge. Then we had medicine ball squat twists before rowing for half the distance we got on the 90 second challenge. We repeated that pattern until that block was done and I made it through 2 rounds of 90 second challenges and 2 rounds of the half distance challenge. The second block was just one more 90 second distance challenge with the squats before rowing for distance until we were done on the rower.

The floor work required a few modifications for me, but I felt really good about what I did. The beginning of the first block was all work using the bench to step on and I can’t do those with my hip. We were supposed to do different types of step down work and I usually do lunges. But I didn’t want to just do 3 rounds of regular lunges. So I did regular lunges, single leg squats using the straps for support, and step back lunges to replace the bench work. We also had bicycle crunches and arm raises with the mini-bands in that first block. The second block was lunge twists using the mini-bands on our wrists and plank work using the mini-bands to step our hands in and out. I did use the bench for my hands for the planks to help with my nausea, but it was still as tough to do the planks that way as I feel like it is on the floor.

I thought everything was going better on Friday, until Friday night. I had been feeling off for a few days but I thought it was just my nausea affecting me a different way. Friday night, I figured out that I caught a cold. When I start feeling sick, it’s usually a few days after I caught it, so I knew that I couldn’t stop it. But I took as many measures as I could on Friday night to keep the cold from getting really bad.

I thought about skipping my workout on Saturday, but my rule is that if I don’t have a fever and my cold is from my neck up (no body aches or anything like that), I should go and try to do what I could. I know that some people might think that it was bad for me to go because I could have gotten someone sick, but the timing of my body showing symptoms is usually a day or so after I stop being contagious. Also, we use antibacterial wipes at Orangetheory and I was careful not to high five anyone or do anything else that might spread germs if there was any chance I was still contagious.

The workout was an endurance, strength, and power day; but for me it was all about just getting through the workout however I could. For the cardio, the first half was incline work and I did work on increasing my resistance on the bike even if that meant my speed and cadence went down. And the second block was just all out paces and recoveries and I used my old resistance levels for that.

On the rower, we had one long block. It started with an 800 meter row and then lunges with twists. The row went down to 400 meters and then more lunges. We were supposed to do 200 meters, lunges, 100 meters, lunges, and then row for distance. But the lunges were making things tough for me so after the second set of them I just stuck with rowing until we were done and moving on the floor.

On the floor, we had two blocks. The first block was push-ups, single arm rows with weights, and crunches with leg lifts. The second block was push-ups to plank jacks, single arm rows on the straps, and side to side crunches. For the exercises that had 2 parts, I had to split them up and do each part separately. I also was taking a lot of breaks just because I was feeling congested. But I made it through the workout and didn’t give up which was all I wanted to do.

I’m hoping that this week will be a bit better. I’m not completely over my cold just yet, but I’m hoping it won’t last through the entire week. I do know how to do workouts when I’m not feeling my best, but I really want to stop having that as an excuse. I feel like I’m in a rut and stuck in my progress because of all my recent struggles and challenges. I just want to have another week where I feel amazing to help me remember how hard I’ve worked so far.

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Part 2 Of Catalina (or Outdoor Adventuring)

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 comment

The second (and last) full day we had in Catalina was another day of exploring the island. The original plan was to take a jeep tour that was going to take us around the island and we were hopefully going to see some of the wildlife that lives there. We also were going to get to the airport and the isthmus. Even though it wasn’t a private tour, since we filled one jeep it was going to be just us on the tour.

But because of all the rain that they have been getting recently, we had been warned that the tour might not go exactly as planned. First, some of the roads have been closed due to the mud. They were hoping some might reopen by the time we got there, but there was a chance that we wouldn’t be able to make it out to the isthmus. Also, we might not see any animals on the tour. Normally, they hang out by the water reservoirs because that is the main source of water for them. But the rain made the entire island an opportunity for them to find water, so they might not be in their normal hangouts. Even with those possible issues with the tour, we were all excited to get to drive around and see what we could.

We started with going up the hill on the side of the island that we were staying on. When we got to the top, we had an amazing view of Avalon.

When we got down, we drove through Avalon to get toward the other side of the island. The beginning of that side was sections of the hillside that we saw in our tour the day before. But when we were on that tour we saw a road and the guide told us that it was a restricted area. But we had access to get up there and we continued up the hillside to get toward the airport.

Even though the rain was restricting some of what we could do on this tour, it did make the entire island look really green and lush. We all were saying how much this felt like we were in Hawaii.

We got to another hilltop where we could see toward the airport and where we were heading. And it was so clear out as well so the mainland was in view.

We got to the airport which is at the top of a hill and we were informed there that the road to get to the isthmus was not going to open that day. They were just so overwhelmed by the rain and the mud was more than the roads could handle. We already had a plan to stop at the airport and it gave us a good chance to warm up. It was already cold out, but being in an open air jeep made us even colder.

One thing that I was hoping to get to do on this trip was to recreate a photo that I have from my 16th birthday. My friends and I posed on a bench while on that trip and it’s one of the few photos I have from my birthday. It’s one of my favorite photos and I was hoping to find the same bench. But it was on the side of the island that we couldn’t get to, so I had to use a bench at the airport and do the best I could without the exact same bench (and missing my friends).

Since we couldn’t go as far on the tour as we expected, we were back at our rental house mid-day. We had the entire afternoon before we were going to get dinner and because the sun was finally out we went on a glass bottom boat to see the fish.

We were hoping the sun would be out so we could do the boat because when it’s cloudy you can’t see as much. The boat was pretty empty with just 2 other small groups besides us. It was nice not to be packed in there and it was a relaxing boat ride as we got out to where the protected area where most the fish would be.

The driver of the boat fed the fish and then the boat went over the area where he threw the food. Whenever he did that, the windows below us were filled with fish. It was so fun to see it and we definitely saw a lot of fish while we were out there.

The driver also told us once before he threw the food so we could watch outside the boat for all the fish jumping around. I tried my best to capture that in a photo, but it doesn’t do it justice. As soon as the food was in the water, it was really a feeding frenzy!

We were out in the protected area for about 30 minutes before the ride back to the dock. I spent some of the time watching the windows to see if we could see anything fun. But I also kept kneeling up on the seat to look at the view outside because it really was just so gorgeous outside and we all have had so much rain lately.

That evening we relaxed at the house and went out to dinner. And the next morning, we had another morning of sun while we got packed up and ready to head back to the boat back to the mainland.

We knew that it was supposed to start raining again that day, but we were hoping to not have to deal with it too much. And the timing of the rain was almost perfect because it started just as we boarded the boat to go home.

The drive back to LA was easy since it was the middle of the day between morning and afternoon rush hour. Everyone else had a much longer drive home than I did and they did encounter some rain and crazy storms. But I think we all agreed that it was so much better to have the storm happen then than when we were trying to enjoy our vacation.

I love this tradition of our trips when my dad and brother do their skiing adventure. They will probably go on another trip next year so hopefully we will do one as well. It’s one of the few trips I do each year since I can’t really afford to travel. We did talk about a few ideas of where we could travel to next year. We’ve got some that would be very extravagant, but maybe we could do it. Since my mom pays for me to travel with her on these weekends, I know that it’s up to her where we are going to go. But wherever we go next year, I know it will be another amazing trip that I will have the best memories from!

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The First Half Of Our Catalina Adventure (or Exploring And Touring)

Posted on March 7, 2019 | 2 comments

Earlier this week, I spent a few days in Catalina with my mom, aunt, and sister-in-law. Having a trip this time of year is becoming a tradition because we do the trip when my dad and brother go on a big skiing adventure. My mom figures since they get to have a fun trip we get to have one as well. This year, they went heliskiing in Canada and my mom and I decided we wanted to go to Catalina Island.

My mom grew up going to Catalina all the time. My grandparents had a boat and they would said from LA to Catalina and spend weekends there. My parents took me and my brother there when we were little, but I don’t remember that trip at all. The last time we were there was for my sweet 16 party. My mom and grandma took me and 3 friends to Catalina for a weekend. It was the best trip and I loved it. It’s crazy to think that was almost 20 years ago and I hadn’t been back since. It’s not that far to go since there is a boat that takes you there from Long Beach. The boat is only about 45 minutes from me and the boat ride is only an hour. But for some reason I just hadn’t been back and I was so excited to get to be there again!

We took the boat over to the island after I was done with work. It had been raining on and off and we were worried that it would be raining our entire trip as well. It was raining on the boat, but fortunately when we got to Catalina it was cloudy but dry. We rented a house right in front of the water next to the main street of Avalon (the main town of the island). Our view was amazing and we loved people watching since it was right next to the boat dock where everyone was arriving and leaving.

The day we arrived, we didn’t have too much planned. We got to the house and unpacked and then walked to the grocery store to get things for the few days we were going to be there. They used to not have a regular grocery store on the island so it was a big deal when they got a Vons, We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was just like grocery stores on the mainland so we were able to get everything we needed for breakfast and snacks. We went out for a casual dinner and relaxed at the house before going to bed. It was the perfect first day of our trip.

The next day we had two different tours scheduled. The first tour was a tour of Avalon and it was a van tour. We were driven around and got to learn a lot of history about the island and the different aspects of life there. We also got to see some incredible views of the town from up in the hills.

The one stop that the tour had was at the country club which is famous because the island used to be the training location for the Chicago Cubs and the country club had their locker room and clubhouse. It was a really cute place and even though it started to rain while we were there it was still so nice out!

The tour was about an hour long and it was the perfect introduction to the island. Next we had a backstage tour of the Casino, which is probably the most famous building on the island. It is not a gambling casino nor has it ever been. But instead it is a theater and ballroom. In the past, famous bands would come and perform there. The ballroom is used for various events now and the theater shows movies there daily. I don’t think I had ever seen the inside of the Casino before, so I was so excited to go on the tour.

We had a really great tour guide and he knew so much about the Casino and the island in general. He was full of lots of information, but to be honest I was in awe with how gorgeous the inside was that I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have.

Our first stop was the theater on the first floor. Everything in the entire building is original from almost 100 years ago with the exception of the carpet (which was replaced with the same pattern as the original). And even though the theater isn’t new, it was one of the most spectacular theaters I’ve ever seen.

There are murals all around depicting the history of the island. And the murals were even more incredible when the lights were dimmed and the artwork was lit up.

We watched a little movie about the history of the island, and then we had the opportunity to go up on the stage. I love seeing the view from the stage since that means so much to me. And standing on that stage and getting the view of everything was so special and I was so happy we got to do it.

Next we walked around the various backstage areas of the theater. We got to see different dressing rooms and green rooms before going into the projection room. They had the current projector set up (since they screen movies every day), but they also had the different old projectors that they used to use. I love learning about the history of filmmaking and this was exactly what I enjoy learning about.

The last stop on the Casino tour was the ballroom. It is on the top of the building and it has almost 360 degree views from the windows.

They recently had their Oscar party there, so there were some tables and chairs around the room. But it was close to empty so we had the chance to walk around and explore. I loved seeing the views of the island from the huge windows.

We also got to walk around the balcony outside of the ballroom. Not only did we have the view of the town, but when we walked around to the other side it was so clear out that we could see the mainland!

It’s tiny and not super easy to see in my photo, but trust me we could see it. Considering the rain that we had earlier in the day, we were so lucky that it had cleared up enough that we could see that far out.

Of course, we also had the take advantage of the view and get a group photo because I knew that we probably wouldn’t do another one that trip.

After walking around outside, the tour of the Casino was over. It was a really informative and full tour and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting Catalina and wants to learn a lot about the island history as well as Hollywood history.

The rest of that day was nice and relaxing. We walked around a bit more and we had a nice dinner that evening. It was so much fun getting to spend that time with family that I don’t always get to see and there was no pressure to get a lot done or to rush around. It was the perfect first full day of our vacation.

Tomorrow’s post will be about the rest of the trip, but I think you all can tell from this post how much fun I had the entire time!

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Default ThumbnailPart 2 Of Catalina (or Outdoor Adventuring) Default ThumbnailFirst Half Of Thanksgiving (or Hanukkah Gifts And Birthdays) Default ThumbnailGirls Weekend (or Hanging Out With My Mom And Aunt) Default ThumbnailA Backstage Adventure (or Back to Back Pantages Nights) Default ThumbnailA Weekend With My Mom (or An Adventure In Palm Springs) Default ThumbnailExploring West Maui (or My Dad Found A Coconut With Jesus On It)

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It’s Tax Time (or Seeing My Tracking And Organizing Pay Off)

Posted on March 6, 2019 | Comments Off on It’s Tax Time (or Seeing My Tracking And Organizing Pay Off)

I don’t think anybody looks forward to doing their taxes. It can be scary and overwhelming and a lot of the time you have no clue if you are going to owe money or get money back. I think this year is even crazier because there are so many new laws that affect taxes and people have no idea how it will affect things for them. The stories I have been seeing online all talk about how tax refunds are much lower than they usually are or people who normally get money back are owing for the first time.

I know that my situation is a bit different from many others. First, all of my income is 1099 or independent contractor work. I don’t have any taxes taken out of my paychecks and I have to make sure I save money. I also pay estimated taxes 4 times a year to cover what is assumed to be my tax bill for the year. I have only been doing this for a few years, but I am very careful about this and make sure I stay on top of it all. And it has been working out well for me the past few years. If I owe money, it’s less than what I saved up to cover my taxes. And last year, I actually got money back!

I had a pretty good feeling that I would be getting a little money back this time. My estimated taxes were based on the money that I made in 2017, and I made less money in 2018. So my estimated payments actually had me overpaying my taxes. I also knew my health insurance is always a weird thing with my subsidy not being the correct amount. I felt pretty certain that I was paying more than I should for it, but I wasn’t totally sure because again there are so many new rules this time.

Before I had my appointment to get my taxes done, I got a call regarding my appointment. The person who does my taxes had an appointment come up the afternoon I was going to come in and I was given 2 options. First, I could pick another date and I would still be charged the February rate (which is the cheapest rate). Or, I could email in the worksheets we do before the appointment so a majority of the information would be already in the system before I arrived. I picked emailing in my worksheet since I already had done all the work. My appointment was only going to be 30 minutes short (usually they are 90 minutes) and I knew getting all of that information already in the system would easily cut the appointment down by 30 minutes or more.

There was still some work that we had to work on together when I went in for my appointment. There were a few things I wasn’t totally sure I did right and there were a few sections that needed a bit more information. I brought everything in with me and I had everything we needed, I just didn’t do it ahead of time since usually it’s all done at the appointment.

And while everything was getting figured out, I did learn that the new tax rules weren’t going to affect me like they affect a majority of people who get their taxes done. Since I am a sole proprietor/independent contractor, I can still write off my business expenses. If you are an employee, the costs of doing business cannot be deducted (for example, teachers can no longer write off buying supplies as a deduction). But for me, all of my expenses can still be written off like they have in the past. That’s a good thing since I have to pay a decent amount of money in cyber security insurance (required by my job since I take credit card information and put it into our secure online server) and I pay for things like a separate phone line just for work. I didn’t have as many deductions as I have had in the past, but it was still a lot of them.

Every year that I get my taxes done, I learn new things about how to organize and track things. I finally have it down to a system that I am extremely happy with and it made me doing my worksheet much easier this year compared to before. And I know that my tax preparer appreciates all the work I do and knows that I have everything ready for her if she needs to see it. She also mentioned she only allowed me to email in my worksheet ahead of time and have a reduced appointment time because she knew how on top of things and organized I am.

While it’s nice to have my organization appreciated by my tax preparer, it’s even better to see that work pay off. And as I expected, I am getting money back this year! And it’s actually a lot more money than I was expecting. A good chunk of that money is from overpaying for healthcare and that’s only because I tracked my business deductions so well. My taxable income gets reduced by those expenses and my financial responsibility for my insurance is based on taxable income and not the full income I have. That is a difference between being an employee and an independent contractor and I didn’t know that. I assumed it was based on my pre-tax income and that’s why I had my income set the way I did last year. I don’t know if I’ll adjust it for this year since I’d rather overpay and have that money go toward anything I owe in taxes than to underpay and owe a lot of money.

I was so relieved to see that the work I put into tracking and organizing was worth it. It does take time to file everything properly so I have it ready at tax time, but the money I got back easily paid for the time I took to do that. And it will be nice to get a refund this year. I really need the money and a lot of it will be going toward bills. I will also use it to pay off my Disneyland pass since I had to set it to be monthly payments this time. I’d rather just have it paid and not have to have it taken out of my credit card each month. I don’t know if I’ll use it for anything else fun since I should be responsible and put it toward bills, but I’ll see how things go.

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A Low Key Union Working Meeting (or Getting To Fully Focus On What’s Being Said)

Posted on March 5, 2019 | Comments Off on A Low Key Union Working Meeting (or Getting To Fully Focus On What’s Being Said)

This past Monday there was a Union Working meeting. I knew it was going to be a bit different from other meetings that we’ve had because it was going to be a bit more of an interactive meeting and not people sitting and listening to what is happening. But even with the differences, I was told I would still be running the live stream so I came to the meeting prepared to do just that. It’s not a lot of effort for me to do it, but I still make sure I have everything ready to go when I leave for the meeting and get there early to do some setup.

It ended up being not as crowded as a meeting as we usually have. We figured that some people might have been recovering from being out late the night before if they had Oscar events that they went to. We also knew that some of the regular attendees were in New York because they are on the commercials contract negotiating committee and they were already starting their work in New York where everything happens. But it was nice to have a smaller group because it had a different feeling from the normal meetings and it really felt like a collaboration session.

I started doing the live stream when the meeting started and the first person who spoke was a representative from SAG-AFTRA who was updating us on multiple things that are happening regarding the commercial contract. After a little bit of them talking, we realized that the information that was being shared needed to stay with those in the meeting and we couldn’t have it public information. So I stopped the live stream and deleted the video that posts on our Facebook group when I do the live streams. I apologized to everyone in the group that I had to remove it because of confidentiality issues, and I think that most people understood.

Since I wasn’t worried about the live stream and making sure things are in frame or seeing what questions people were posting to have asked, I was able to put all my focus and attention on the meeting and what was happening. I was able to really take in all the information that was being shared and the ideas that others were asking about. We have several different things that we are taking action on right now. Most of them that are in person are things I cannot participate in because I work when they are happening. But I like to know what’s going on in case I can attend or to be able to share with others who I know work different times than I do.

A good amount of the time in the meeting was with the SAG-AFTRA representative sharing different things and answering questions we had about them. Some of the people in the meeting had ideas of things they wanted to do and they didn’t understand why the union couldn’t do the same. We get that the union has to follow certain regulations and they have more restrictions acting as a union compared to us acting as individuals. But it’s nice to know the reasons why they can’t do things or for us to know what we might want to focus on because we know the union won’t be able to do it.

The last part of the meeting was about the different videos that Union Working has been putting out. We’ve had some amazing celebrities share their stories about why working union is important to them and sharing their support for all actors who are fighting to keep work union. There was some discussion about sharing the videos and what some of the upcoming things will be, but that was pretty quick. People did share their ideas of what we can do to continue to share what is happening since many actors aren’t aware of all the issues, and it did give me some ideas of things I might start trying to do. It was nice to be able to hear what others have been doing that has worked or hasn’t so I can think about how I want to focus on sharing things.

While the meeting wasn’t as information packed as it always is, there was still a lot of information shared. And I do wish that more people had been there, but there also was something special about having a small group. I think it made people feel more free to talk (especially if they don’t love speaking in front of a lot of people) and more people had the chance to talk. It was a nice change from the standard meetings and hopefully we can do more of these smaller groups from time to time between our larger meetings in the future.

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Getting My 4 In (or Not Missing A Workout If I Can Help It)

Posted on March 4, 2019 | Comments Off on Getting My 4 In (or Not Missing A Workout If I Can Help It)

This past week of workouts was an interesting one for me. First, it was the beginning of my nausea and I had to deal with that the entire week. I thought I might not have nausea until midway through the week, but I wasn’t lucky this time. Also, I had a weird workout schedule. I am pretty set in my routine with the days and times I work out, but when something happens that prevents me from maintaining that schedule, I have to be flexible. I could have just missed the class I knew I couldn’t go to, but my desire to get in 4 workouts a week is higher than my desire to keep my normal schedule.

Monday’s workout was a strength based class and I was dealing with a mix of being overly tired and a little bit of nausea during class. I was already prepared for this week to not be one of my super amazing weeks, so I knew that I had to be careful during cardio to not overdo things and get burned out before the end of the workout.

The treadmill work was a single block that was 14 minutes of work. We only had 2 hill/incline/high resistance levels sections and I was going to some of the highest resistance levels on the bike that I’ve used. For my regular base, push, and all out paces I was using my old resistance levels. I used those honesty because I forgot about the new ones so that was my fault and not me needing to go easy on myself. The nausea wasn’t too bad during the bike so I didn’t need to take a ton of breaks and that made me happy.

On the rower, we had sprint rows with exercises between each row. The rows were all between 100-400 meters and I was going pretty close to my normal speed on the rower. After the first row we were supposed to do medicine ball jacks, but since I can’t do bouncy stuff like that when I’m nauseous I did squats to overhead presses with the medicine ball. After the second row we added on squat front presses with the medicine ball. And after the third round we were supposed to add squat overhead presses with the medicine ball, but since I was already doing those I just did regular squats while holding the medicine ball.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block was lateral lunges, pop squats, and regular lunges. I was able to do the pop squats while using the bench for my hands so my nausea wasn’t too bad. The second block was lunges to single arm presses with weights, sit-ups, and bear steps. The bear steps are done face down similar to a plank and I was worried about doing them with the nausea. I tried them and found that as long as I went slowly I wasn’t having the usual nausea issues. I also had to keep taking breaks during them to sit and let the nausea pass, but that’s still better than I’m used to.

Wednesday’s workout was also a strength workout. We had 2 blocks at each section of the room but they were back to back so we had about 15 minutes at each section.

For cardio the first block was a 2 minute push pace, 1 minute base pace, 2 minute hill, 90 second base base, and a 1 minute all out. I was at my old resistance level for most things but used my old all out level for the hill work. The second block cut most things in half so since it was shorter I used my new resistance levels on the bike. I hadn’t been using them much lately and I was glad I did it in this workout so I could remember that I could do it.

The rower was a similar idea to cardio with one block being longer and the second block cutting them in half. We started with a 2 minute row and then we had lunges to overhead tricep work using the medicine ball. Then we were supposed to do that distance from the 2 minute row again with more lunges and tricep work before rowing for distance. But the tricep work was making me feel nauseous for some random reason so I did the first row. the lunges and tricep work, and then rowed until time was called on the block. I did the same thing with the second block. I know I didn’t get all the work done that I should have done, but I figured rowing longer wasn’t the worst option for me.

The floor was mainly upper body work. We had sit-ups to shoulder presses (which I split into sit-ups and squats to shoulder presses), seated low rows using weights, ab dumbbell twists, chest presses, and lunge low rows. I wasn’t going too heavy on the weights which I regretted after the workout. I was trying to go easy on myself and I realized after it was done that I probably went too easy. It’s a tough balance to find with going easy to not be nauseous and pushing myself too much and not being able to do a lot of the workout. And the balance changes every time I work out and am nauseous.

Even though when I set my 2019 goals I allowed for a few 3 workout weeks, if I can find a way to have 4 workouts even if it’s not with my normal schedule I’ll try my best. And for last week and this week I knew I’d be missing one of my normal workout times. Last week, I knew I’d miss my Saturday workout. So I added in a Thursday workout to make up for it.

Working out on a Thursday meant I went after work in the afternoon. This is the time I used to go when I went to Brentwood for all my classes, but it was so weird for me to do it now. And because I take class at very popular times, I’m used to 3 group classes and didn’t even consider that I’d be going to a 2 group class. It was an endurance based class, but we switched every 5 minutes so that helped.

Every time we had cardio, we had a 4 minute progressive push pace and a 30 second all out pace. I started at my normal base pace resistance level each time and increased it by 1 every minute. That worked out perfectly for me because 1 level above the progressive push levels ended up being my new all out resistance level. It was nice to take the time to work up each block from my base to my all out and it helped to make it feel easier than I thought it would be.

Every time we were on the floor, we had the same thing. We had one long floor block and we picked things up where we left them off. We had static over under crunches, heel toe taps, toe touches, hop overs, squats with weights, side plank work, and burpees. I had to make some modifications for a few things due to my nausea but I was able to do most things the way they were supposed to be done. And the last floor block was a row block where we had the same pattern as cardio with a progressive 4 minute push to a 30 second all out. I knew that I couldn’t push myself on the rower the way I wanted to, so I had a goal just to row the entire time without stopping. I wasn’t able to do that and I had to take breaks for the nausea to pass about every 45 seconds. It wasn’t my best row, but it was at the end of workout so I was tired besides being nauseous.

Friday was my last workout last week. It was also my worst nausea day of the week and my third workout day in a row. There were enough factors working against me that I went into class just feeling like I had the goal of surviving and doing what I could and not really pushing myself. It was a strength based class and my usual 3 group class so I was at each section for about 15 minutes.

For cardio, we were on our own with timing things. We had plan with how far we were supposed to go with push, all out, and recovery paces and our push paces were supposed to increase inclines each time. I used my normal base pace resistance level as my recovery (I don’t really go lower than that if I can help it even when we have recovery time) and my new all out resistance level each round. For the push paces, I knew I’d be working my way up the resistance levels so I started it at my old push pace level. Then I went up 1 level each time I got back there. When the block was ending, I was using my all out level for my push at an incline. It wasn’t easy to keep going and I took a lot of breaks to let the nausea pass or the pain from the cramps to lessen. But the goal was to just keep going and that’s what I did.

On the rower we started with a 400 meter row. Then we had squats and squat front presses with a medicine ball and a 200 meter row. We repeated the squat work and back to a 400 meter row. That’s as far as I got for the first row block. The second row block was the same idea but everything was cut in half. So we had 200 and 100 meter rows and half the squats we had the first time. Just like on the bike, I had to take a lot of time to rest and let things get a bit better for me. I struggled a lot with the squats too because the motion of squatting down and standing up was affecting me. It sucks to feel this bad, but I knew it was just temporary and I’d be done with it soon.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had lunges with front raises or lateral raises using weights, bicycle chest presses, and double crunches. The lunges went fine for me and it was nice to have something feel normal to me. The bicycle chest presses and double crunches weren’t as easy, but I was able to use my normal weights for those so I felt awesome about that. And the second block was goblet squat lateral steps and plank shoulder taps. Those went as well as I expected they would and I just focused on getting through it and taking breaks when I needed them.

My last workout last week was on Friday and my next workout won’t be until tomorrow which is a pretty long break for me. And this week will also be a bit weird with the schedule since I am missing my Monday workout. I’m also aware that it will likely be another bad nausea week. But if I made it through last week, I know I can make it through this week!

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