Monthly Archives: September 2020

Another Family Day (or The Best Father/Daughter Project Yet)

Posted on September 30, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Family Day (or The Best Father/Daughter Project Yet)

As I mentioned the other day, I recently did a full 2-week quarantine so that I can spend time with my family. It’s not easy to do a full quarantine, but it’s worth it to see my family. I know I have to do this to make sure that I’m not sick and I don’t get anyone sick. If I wasn’t taking these precautious and someone got sick, I would never forgive myself. So doing the full quarantine is a small sacrifice to make in order to feel good about seeing people who I do not live with. I can’t wait until I don’t have to think about this before seeing my family (or being able to see my friends), but I just remind myself that this is will end eventually and it is what we have to do in order to have our future.

Just like my other recent visits with my family, this was just going to be for the day. It’s not that long of a drive (only about 90 minutes each way) and it’s just easier to be there for the day than it is to pack up everything that I would need to spend the night. Plus, if I was staying overnight, it would only get me a few more hours as I would be going home the next day. So doing a day trip is just easier for me. I’m sure my parents would love it if I stayed longer, but they understand why I don’t.

This time, we were going to be hanging out at the rental house my parents were staying at because they had the dog with them! I hadn’t seen Tucker since the baby shower, so I was so happy to see him. He can’t be inside my brother and sister-in-law’s house because they have a cat. So to let him hang out with all of us, we had to be where my parents were staying. But that also worked for another reason.

I take a lot of pride in finding awesome gifts for people, and I was starting to think of things I wanted to get for Rory. And something that kept coming up in random searches that I was doing was busy boards. A busy board is basically a collection of things that babies and toddlers like to play with such as light switches, doorknobs, wheels, different types of locks, and stuff like that. And while there were some really nice looking ones that I knew I couldn’t make, in general, they didn’t look too fancy and it seemed like something I could do. Or at least something my dad and I could do together.

So I talked to my dad a month or so about this idea. The original idea was to make this for Rory’s first birthday. So we weren’t in a rush for anything. We both said we would just look around to see what we could find that would be good things to put on a busy board. We didn’t think we would need to buy a ton of stuff. Most things could be random things we had as extras from other projects. And then a week or two before I was going to see my family, my dad and I started talking more about the type of board and holder we would use for this. We wanted to maybe work on it when we saw each other, but we had no idea how to actually make it stand up and be safe. We looked at a few different ideas online like artist easels and other pre-built things, but we ended that call not knowing what to do. I promised my dad I would do more research.

But the next day, my dad texted me to stop the search. I guess he got inspired because he went to the hardware store, bought some wood, and built this.

And it actually can flip and be used the other direction so it doesn’t have as much of an angle! This is way better than anything my dad and I were looking at online. I was shocked that he was able to build this and do it so quickly! And he said that he would have it painted before they were in Santa Barbara so we could work on adding the gadgets together.

We were going to have a few hours before my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over after I arrived; so when I got there my dad and I immediately got to work. We had a bunch of tools to drill holes and get everything in there safely. And we had figured out that we might give Rory his present early (instead of driving it back and forth) so we were extra motivated to get it done before they arrived! We had a little bit of planning to do so we could figure out what should go where, but that ended up being pretty quick. And we made an awesome team with getting everything installed. My dad did most of the hard work and I did the prep work (like getting the correct screws and washers ready). It still took us a few hours, but we got it done! And I am so proud of how it looks!

My dad and I have done a lot of projects together. It’s something we like to do and we are good at it. Our go-to ultimate project for a long time has been a screen door we built years ago. It came from a box with instructions, but we did have to do some customizations. But this busy board was completely from scratch. Honestly, I think it’s the greatest thing we have made and I still can’t believe how it looks. I’m so proud of it and this easily beats the screen door!

Rory is still a little too young for this, but he was fascinated by it. We let him try to play with it, and he was so interested in what things were. He just didn’t know how to do them just yet.

This photo is also the first time he sat up unassisted, so I guess the busy board motivated him to do that! And I know that as he gets a little older, he’ll love it even more. He’ll play with the different things that spin and move. And I hope it will keep him busy for a while so my brother and sister-in-law can get other work done and know that he is entertained! And in the future, my niece will hopefully enjoy playing with it too! I can’t wait to see him really enjoying it, but the few moments that he was playing with it while I was there was enough to make me feel so good about what we made.

Besides letting Rory play with the busy board, we had family dinner that night (the cookies I made were for dessert). We also spent some time hanging outside because the weather wasn’t too bad. And when we were outside, Tucker seemed to want to be a part of the conversation too.

After dinner, my brother and sister-in-law needed to go home to put Rory to bed. And I started to get my stuff together so I could drive home. I was able to spend almost 8 hours with my family, which really was awesome. Of course, more time would be better, but just those 8 hours revived me a bit. It had been so long since I had a hangout like that and I needed it.

And fortunately, I won’t have to wait too long before my next family hangout. Usually, my family does a big Thanksgiving with my extended family. But this year, that just isn’t possible. Between travel and trying to keep people safe and healthy, we just can’t get together like we normally do. So my immediate family is going to do our own little Thanksgiving. And because house rentals and other things are more expensive during the holiday, we are doing Thanksgiving a few weeks early (this was actually the original plan for the extended family Thanksgiving too). So I am only about 6 weeks away from seeing everyone again. That does mean that I am about 4 weeks away from another quarantine, but like always, it will be worth it. And I can’t wait until I get to see everyone and get to spend a few days with the family!

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Default ThumbnailFamily Brunch (or Sibling Catch Up Time) Default ThumbnailHaving Fun With Photos (or My Brother And Nephew Are Twins!) Default ThumbnailFull Thanksgiving Week (or Lots Of Family Time) Default ThumbnailI’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!) Default ThumbnailMore Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week) Default ThumbnailFamily Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog)

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Dri-Tri At Home (or Taking Challenges Where I Can)

Posted on September 29, 2020 | Comments Off on Dri-Tri At Home (or Taking Challenges Where I Can)

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my workouts last week was doing the Dri-Tri at home. I’ve done almost every Dri–Tri since joining Orangetheory. I missed the first one because I was scared and had something that I thought would prevent me from doing it. I missed the one earlier this year because it happened right after the gyms closed. I was getting ready for that Dri-Tri during my last in-studio workouts.

Some studios in different areas have reopened, and it is Dri-Tri again. So those studios were going to do them as close to normal as possible. Some studios did them outside or modified things, but they were still close. But for those of us who don’t have studios open yet, Orangetheory created a Dri-Tri that we could do at home. It was the video workout for Saturday, which worked out perfectly for me.

I love challenging myself in the Dri-Tri. I always have new goals in mind with what I want to be able to do. I usually wonder why I’m doing it at some point in the middle, but I’m always so happy when I’m done and I feel so proud of myself. And I really wanted to try to get that feeling at home.

Obviously, there’s no way to do the Dri-Tri exactly the same way at home. I guess if I had a rower I could do it with running/walking outside. But I do appreciate that they tried to do something that was close to what we do in the studio. For this video workout, we were coached through the entire thing. The coaches were doing the workout too. They didn’t just show the exercises and leave us to it. I really liked having that constant coaching.

For the rowing section, we had exercises that worked out the same muscles that rowing does. It was about 8 minutes long, so a little shorter than I normally take to do the 2,000-meter row. But just because it was faster, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t just as tired. I did try to challenge myself with the weights I was using for that section to make it hard.

For the floor section, we had the same types of exercises that we have for the Dri-Tri, but they were timed intervals and not the number of reps. Again, like the row, just because it was different didn’t make it easier. And for the cardio, we had different exercises that got our heart rates up.

The entire workout was about 45 minutes long, so it was a similar length to what it takes to do the Dri-Tri. And I was exhausted after I was done. This was a really hard workout and I tried to make it as hard as possible with challenging myself with the weights.

There were aspects of the regular Dri-Tri that I missed. I love doing it with people cheering us on. I love how we come together as a group to cheer on the finishers and we don’t stop until everyone is done. I missed the personalized coaching. I missed using the rower and having a good way to compare one Dri-Tri to another.

I hope that by the time the next Dri-Tri happens, gyms will be able to be open. I know that I might struggle more than I have in the past, but I just want to do it in the studio to feel that same sense of accomplishment. I am proud of what I did, but it’s not the same. I keep saying how I crave that feeling I used to get in my workouts, and this was just another sign of how much I want to get that feeling back.

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Hitting A Workout Milestone In Isolation (or Still Working Toward A Goal)

Posted on September 28, 2020 | Comments Off on Hitting A Workout Milestone In Isolation (or Still Working Toward A Goal)

My recap of the last week of workouts is going to be split up into 2 posts. I’m going to write about my first 3 workouts today and my Saturday workout tomorrow. And that’s because this past Saturday was the Dri-Tri. And even though the studios I go to are still closed, Orangetheory created Dri-Tri at Home so I did that! But I want that to be a different post from the rest of my workouts.

I didn’t have a Zoom workout last week due to schedule issues. I missed doing that class, but I didn’t let that get me down too much. I had so many weeks without a Zoom workout, so I knew I could be ok with doing just the video ones. I know I don’t work quite as hard when I don’t have a live coach, but I’ve been trying to push myself more. It’s not easy to motivate myself that way, but I know I need to try my best.

I keep hoping that things will continue to get better here so that the studios can reopen, but I also know that it could still take a while. It’s so crazy to me that I’ve been doing workouts at home for 6 months already. This past week, I did my 150th workout of the year.

And a majority of those workouts have been at home alone. I never thought I would be doing workouts toward my goal for the year outside of the studio. I didn’t want to do them on my own. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t be doing this. I have some friends who go to different workout studios who have said that they don’t know if they will be going back. They have found a great way to work out at home and they are loving it. I’m not someone like that. I crave the community and encouragement. I am proud of myself for not giving up and still being on track for my workout goals for the year, but this is not the way I want to do them.

I will say, the one thing that is making me a bit happier with my home workouts is having my new set of weights. Using those has been a big change for me and I like having the ability to really push myself and get my strength back. I’m still so far from where I used to be in terms of how heavy I can go with the weights, but I have noticed some improvement already. It’s all about the small steps toward getting back to where I was.

I had some really great ideas for this year with goals I wanted to hit with my workouts. And now it’s almost impossible to do most of them. The only one I feel like I can accomplish is doing at least 200 workouts this year. I am on track for that and feel confident that I will get there. But I wanted to do more than that. Showing up for a workout is good, but seeing results and improvement is so much better. I am trying to see improvements with my strength. But I won’t be able to get to where I wanted to with my cardio. I have some cardio stuff I do at home, but I have no way to test my rowing like I can do in the studio. I wonder where my rowing ability will be when we do get back. It’s going to be so weird and I’m sure I will be very sore for a while.

I am proud of myself for seeing some improvements with my strength and for hitting a workout milestone this past week. And I’m proud of doing the Dri-Tri at Home (at least, what was created to do at home). And I’ll write about that Dri-Tri tomorrow.

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Trying A New Recipe (or I Forgot How Nice It Is To Bake From Scratch)

Posted on September 25, 2020 | Comments Off on Trying A New Recipe (or I Forgot How Nice It Is To Bake From Scratch)

I’ve said so many times that I need to get into cooking more often. Especially now, I don’t have an excuse not to. I’m home all the time. I don’t have much to do. Yes, it’s not super easy to get all the ingredients I might need, but that’s not that big of an issue. I should be cooking more often for both my physical and financial health.

I’m slowly getting better at doing that. I’m not great, but I’m trying. I’m not cooking every day or every meal, but I’m cooking more often than before. I still don’t love that I don’t have people to cook for. I’m trying to remember to either cut recipes in half or to freeze portions since I don’t want days of leftovers. But I still get more joy out of cooking when I know someone else will be enjoying it.

Fortunately, this week I had an opportunity to make something for others to enjoy. I got to see my family yesterday (after another full 2-week quarantine) and I’ll write more about that next week. We were going to have dinner together, and I asked my mom if there was anything I could make or help with. She didn’t need my help, but I offered to make something for dessert. Since she didn’t have a dessert planned, she said I could make something. So I decided to make Bon Appetit’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I know there is a lot of controversy with Bon Appetit right now, but this recipe was something I saved a while ago and really wanted to try. I don’t plan on seeking out any recipes from their site until their diversity is improved and pay discrimination is fixed. So this was a one-off until things are better for their employees.

I don’t bake that often, and I bake from scratch even less often. I have a few go-to desserts I know how to make, and I think only 2 of them are from scratch. The others are either box mixes that I like or box mixes that I modify into something different. Baking from scratch isn’t hard, it’s just not something I do. And I rarely bake just for me because I don’t want to have a ton of desserts in my house. But seeing my family gave me the perfect excuse to try this recipe.

I only had 1 small fail while making it. I sometimes do brown butter in the microwave, but this microwave is still new to me. So the butter exploded/popped and got all over the inside. I cleaned that up and then had enough butter to do it over, but this time I used my stove instead. Brown butter seems to make everything delicious, so I was happy it was in this recipe. It also made the combination of butter and sugar easier to mix. I didn’t need to use a hand mixer or wish I had a stand mixer. I was able to use a whisk and get it perfectly smooth.

The only other fail I might have had was in either rest time or oven temperature. I do have a thermometer I put in my oven to make sure it’s accurate. I thought it said the right temperature, but I’m not sure now. And the recipe mentions letting the dough rest if you feel like it needs it. I didn’t think I did, but after baking them I’m questioning it.

These cookies spread out so much when I baked them. I only put 6 on a full-sized baking sheet, and they still were touching! I know this isn’t the biggest problem when making cookies and I actually think it worked, but still. I tried one after they cooled down and they were really good! The edges were crisp and the center was gooey. I do wish I added more chocolate chips, but I was trying to follow the recipe perfectly and didn’t want to adjust anything. But when I make these again (because I know I will be making them again), I’ll just remember to add more.

I was proud that I made something new from scratch and that it wasn’t a failure like it could have been. And knowing that they were going to be enjoyed by my family made it so much better. I might have to find other things I can bake and drop off to my friends so I can test out more recipes and then not have to have a ton of leftovers in my house.

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More Weird Things About Isolation (or Just Trying To Be Aware)

Posted on September 24, 2020 | Comments Off on More Weird Things About Isolation (or Just Trying To Be Aware)

I’m learning a lot about myself the longer we are all isolating from each other. I never knew how much I needed physical touch until I didn’t have it. I never considered myself a very touchy-feely person, but the more I think about it the more that I am. I’m used to hugging friends, getting high fives in workouts, going on dates, and just being around other people. I think a lot of people who used to say they would love to be alone more often are realizing that alone time isn’t what they want if they don’t have the balance of being out with people.

I’m also learning a lot about my mental health and mental well-being. I’ve realized how being isolated makes a lot of things worse for me. It’s almost like the time before I was open about my eating disorder. When things are secretive, they can be worse or you can obsess about them more. I think when things are not secretive but you aren’t around other people and have to be aware, it’s almost the same thing. I’m not keeping things secretive about my life and my struggles, but it feels like that because I’m alone with everything and nobody is there to help keep me accountable. I don’t need someone to babysit me and monitor me, but knowing that I’m going out to eat with a friend helps me keep my food under control for the day because I want to enjoy that meal out. I don’t love scales, but I do try to weigh myself. But more often than the number on the scale, I use clothes to help keep me accountable. When you are wearing all stretchy clothes and workout stuff, you don’t notice when your clothes feel different.

But the newer thing I’m learning about myself is how some things I thought I had under control can flare up again when I’m not living my normal life. I was diagnosed with mild OCD a long time ago. It’s never been that bad, but there were moments where it was almost impossible for me to move on until I did something “right”. Sometimes that right thing was checking my alarm clock until it felt like it was the perfect way to confirm it was going to go off in the morning. Sometimes it was having to move something in my house because I couldn’t focus on anything else until I did that. It never affected my life too much, but it was an inconvenience. I never did anything specific to treat my OCD, but it has faded away in the past few years and I can’t remember the last time it was triggered.

Or at least, I can’t remember the last thing before the pandemic. I don’t exactly know when my OCD started to come back because I wasn’t used to experiencing it for a long time. But recently, I’ve been noticing things that are clearly OCD moments. But they are things I have done for a little while, so I don’t know if I started doing them a month ago or 5 months ago. They aren’t anything too bad. Mainly making sure things are in a specific order in my house or that I do things in a certain routine. Nothing that is a big distraction from my life, but it is something I want to be aware of because I know it can get worse and I don’t want to get there.

I also know that my anxiety is worse now than it’s been in a long time, but that’s something that seems normal. If I wasn’t anxious, I would be avoiding reality. Even my therapist agrees that having a higher base level of anxiety isn’t something to worry about these days. I’m not treating it with medication because I want to work through it, but I know if it gets worse that I can start medications again. But I feel certain that the anxiety is more about the current situation in the world and not something more than that.

I’m hoping my OCD is also just because of the state of the world. But I am tracking things and taking notes in case I see it getting much worse or if it continues after things seem like they are more normal again. I’m not necessarily worried about myself, but I just want to be aware and alert so that I don’t ignore symptoms and signs if I see them.

Hopefully, things will continue to get better with the pandemic (finally it seems like the numbers here are going down) and soon I will be able to have some more things in my life that feel normal. And once I have those back, maybe my mental health will also go back to how it was before and these will just be minor blips in my life.

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Driving To Nowhere (or Just Getting Out Of My House)

Posted on September 23, 2020 | Comments Off on Driving To Nowhere (or Just Getting Out Of My House)

Over the past 6 months, I’ve done some random drives around LA. These drives do have some practicality. I need to make sure I drive my car every so often so that the battery doesn’t die. It’s not horrible if the battery dies because I can call AAA (or ask a neighbor for help). But I’d still prefer not to do that. Sometimes I have to drive places for real errands, so I don’t have to do these random drives all the time. But when it’s been over 2 weeks and I haven’t driven anywhere, I usually take my car to just drive with no purpose so that it gets some use.

But these drives also are a bit for my mental health. Looking at just the walls in my house can be maddening. I have said this several times, but I am very lucky that I love where I live. It’s not perfect and it’s small, but I’m very happy. And I have made improvements over time that has made my home even better for me. And even though being so isolated and lonely is a struggle, I also know that I am lucky that I don’t live with a roommate or partner that annoys me. My home is a safe and peaceful space for me. But it is only about 400 square feet and I need to see things outside of it.

So going on drives changes what I am seeing. Even if I’m not driving to somewhere that is scenic, any change is nice. Seeing crowded normal city streets is a change. It is also weird because I do see people doing things that I don’t know if they are safe (like eating at restaurants or not wearing masks), but I try not to focus on those things. I just try to enjoy being outside my house and feeling grateful that I have the ability to drive somewhere in a car that is safe.

I had to do one of these random drives this past weekend. I will be driving my car this week, but I had realized that it had been a while since I had driven and I didn’t want my car to have a dead battery when I actually needed it. And even though I just had gotten a car wash for the outside of my car not that long ago, my car was very dirty. With the fires and changing weather, my car was covered in dust, pollen, and ash. I don’t know if it’s worse than normal or it seems that way because I’m not driving most days so everything is just sitting on my car. But I decided to do another drive-thru car wash to get my car looking a bit cleaner when I did my random drive.

I can’t remember ever getting my car washed so close back to back, but I guess when I’m not spending money on much else it doesn’t matter. And the drive-thru car wash is much cheaper than the nice car wash place that I normally go to. So 2 of the cheap ones still are less than 1 of the nice ones. I guess that makes it not as bad.

I’ve seen jokes online about how humans are like dogs now. We pace around our homes looking for things to eat, we have to be reminded to stay away from others, and we look forward to car rides. I guess this is pretty true (although I don’t need the reminder to stay away from people). Going for a drive really is something that brings me joy these days. It isn’t a chore, it’s an adventure. Even when I’m just driving around the neighborhood and going for a car wash. I’m sure that once I’m driving more regularly again, going for a random drive won’t be as interesting to me and I doubt I’ll do them that often because technically they are a waste of gas. But for now, I see more random car drives in my future so I can continue to change things up.

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Enjoying The Emmys (or This Awards Show Will Be A Bit Of A Time Capsule)

Posted on September 22, 2020 | Comments Off on Enjoying The Emmys (or This Awards Show Will Be A Bit Of A Time Capsule)

The Emmys were this past weekend. As I usually do, I watched them live so I could also live-tweet them. I love watching awards shows, I always have. But as I have gotten more and more involved in my union, I have gotten to know people who are up for various awards. This year, there were a few people I’ve met up for Emmys and some people I would consider acquaintances. It made things even better. Also, I had watched “Schitt’s Creek” this year with the Movie Club I helped to start, so I was so excited to see them up for so many awards.

Watching the awards this year wasn’t that different from how I normally watch them. I was on my couch, alone, and I ordered some delivery food. That actually felt really normal to me and having that feeling was something I needed. But the show was definitely not normal.

Because of the pandemic, there was no audience watching. Very few presenters were at the show. There were some that were done by Jimmy Kimmel, who was the host, and there were some that were pre-taped by actors and essential workers (which was a nice touch). And the nominees were all watching on their own with cameras live-streaming their reactions into the show. I saw some behind the scenes stuff about how the Television Academy sent all the nominees cameras and lights so they could do this. It was pretty incredible to see how it turned out and I think it was really good. The cast and crew from “Schitt’s Creek” were watching together and having a mini-party and so did some of the team behind “Watchman”. But they were following protocols and staying safe.

I am so glad that “Schitt’s Creek” was together since they had a clean sweep of the comedy awards! Seeing everyone be so excited for each other brought me so much joy. And anything that brings joy these days is so special. And even watching people win and have to give their speeches alone in a room was fun and joyful to watch. Honestly, I think we all needed an awards show at this time since there hasn’t been anything like that lately to watch. Some may feel like it was frivolous, but so are a lot of things that people are excited about. And to me and I bet so many others, this was something we needed to feel like not everything is gone because of the pandemic.

I hope that this is the only time that the Emmys have to be this way and that by this time next year things will be back to normal and people can be together. I actually didn’t mind this new format and would love to see how it could be incorporated in the future. But I also love it when things are held in a single space and you could see everyone there excited for all the winners.

No matter what, this show was very clearly held during a pandemic. People were wearing masks (and many had ones to match their outfits or found a way to make them stylish). The awards were given to the winners by employees in hazmat suits. People were isolated and not together. One day, looking back at this show, people will instantly know that it was held during this time. It’s a moment in history. I wonder if other award shows in the next year or so will be the same. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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Default ThumbnailBeing An Active And Interactive Viewer (or SAG Awards Live-Tweeting) Default ThumbnailA Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailA Night Of Oscars (or Last Minute Costumes and Enjoying The Show) Default ThumbnailThe SAG Awards (or I Am An Actor) Default ThumbnailSAG Awards (or Watching After Knowing The Winners)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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6 Months Of Home Workouts (or I Still Miss OTF All The Time)

Posted on September 21, 2020 | Comments Off on 6 Months Of Home Workouts (or I Still Miss OTF All The Time)

It’s been 6 months since I had my last in-studio Orangetheory workout. When I had my last workout at the Culver studio, I had no idea that was going to be my last workout there for a long time. I didn’t know that the studios would be closing after that. And I certainly didn’t know that they would still be closed 6 months later.

As much as I miss my workouts, I know that keeping the studios closed for now is necessary. It’s keeping us safe and healthy. And it’s not just about keeping those of us working out safe, it’s about keeping the staff and coaches safe. I know that some studios around the country have been able to reopen, but the cases there are also usually lower. We are getting things more under control here, so I hope it stays that way so gyms can reopen soon. But I also know that there is a chance that we won’t be back in there until after the end of the year.

I’m still doing my home workouts 4 days a week. And I’m really trying to make them feel just as tough as my regular workouts are. It’s not the same, but I’m trying. And I have made a lot of improvements since my few first weeks of home workouts.

When I started working out at home, I didn’t have equipment. I used my toolbox for weights. I had a yoga mat to try to protect my knees on the floor, but it really didn’t do much. I slowly started to add things to my home gym setup. I got foam floor tiles which have been much better for protecting me from using a hard floor. I used water bottles for a while for weights but have slowly added weighted things like a weight bar and my adjustable weights. I have mini-bands for resistance training. And even though I haven’t used it for a little while, I have a jump rope for cardio.

I have a nice collection of things I can use for my workouts. I still wish I had a rower in my house, but money and space don’t really allow for that. I did sell my exercise bike just before this all happened, but I don’t know how much I’d be using it so I am grateful for the extra floor space. But considering what I had when I started and what I have now, I’m very happy with what I’ve been able to find and get for myself.

I know that I’m not as fit or as strong as I was 6 months ago, but I’m trying to get back there. I know that my strength will build back up, especially now that I have my adjustable weights. I try to not be frustrated when I realize how much weaker I am, but it’s hard. I just try to remind myself that it’s a process and I have to do the same hard work that I was doing when I started at Orangetheory. And I will get back to where I was. I might not get back there until I start in-studio workouts again, but I can take steps to be closer to there.

I know that there is a possibility that I will be doing home workouts for another 6 months. I don’t want to think that, but I also know I need to be prepared for that possibility. At least now, I am much more prepared to do those workouts than I was 6 months ago when I started.

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Default ThumbnailSome Of My Best And Worst Workouts (or A New Type Of Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailA Full Week Of OTF At Home (or Getting A Little Bit Of My Normal Routine In) Default ThumbnailAnother Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best) Default ThumbnailWorking Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home) Default ThumbnailContinuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory) Default ThumbnailAnother Mixed Motivation Week (or I Might Be Almost Done With At-Home Workouts)

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Posted in Fitness

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I Guess This Is The Risk With Getting So Many Deliveries (or Thank Goodness For Good Customer Service)

Posted on September 18, 2020 | Comments Off on I Guess This Is The Risk With Getting So Many Deliveries (or Thank Goodness For Good Customer Service)

Almost everything I need these days is being delivered to me. I rarely go to a store to get things. I get clothing delivered, random stuff for my house delivered, essential stuff delivered, and groceries delivered. I don’t love how much I’m relying on delivery services right now, but that’s how life is these days. I try to limit how often I get deliveries or to make sure I do things together (like using Amazon Delivery Day to get all my Amazon stuff on the same day, even if that means I don’t get them as quickly).

I used to do plenty of delivery stuff before. I mean I love Amazon Prime and how easy it is to get stuff (I’m trying to make sure I only get things I need and that I can’t get at other places for similar prices). And shopping online for clothes is so much better than going to stores. A lot of stores only include plus sizes online, so I don’t even have the opportunity to shop in the store.

And for all the deliveries I’ve gotten over the years, I’ve been very lucky with not having things stolen. I think I’ve only had a package stolen once or twice in my life. This is partially due to me always being home so I grab things off of my doorstep as soon as they arrive. But even when I didn’t work at home, things weren’t stolen as often as they were for some of my friends. Perhaps the location of my front door helps because most people wouldn’t walk up my driveway to look at each house.

Most deliveries will tell you what day to expect them to arrive and it’s a mystery what time it will be dropped off. But not grocery deliveries. I typically am given a 2-hour window to expect them. And you get a tracking link so you can watch the truck as it’s driving to you. That way, if you have things that need to be refrigerated or frozen, you can get the bags right away and the food won’t go bad. There has been a time or two that the tracking link didn’t make it to me, but the delivery person has always rung the doorbell so I know that they arrived. Plus, I get an alert on my Ring that someone is at my door.

I was supposed to have groceries delivered on Wednesday. I knew the 2-hour window they were supposed to arrive and I knew I would be at home (not like I can really go anywhere else). It was almost the end of the delivery window and I still hadn’t gotten the tracking information. I checked in front and behind my house and didn’t see groceries anywhere. So I contacted the customer service to see what was going on.

According to them, my groceries had been delivered right at the beginning of the delivery window. There was a photo showing them near my house, but I never got a notification that there was anyone at my door or that the groceries arrived. And I guess someone took them from my door before I checked about 90 minutes after the delivery.

Nothing I ordered was that urgent or essential. It was a few ingredients I needed for something I wanted to make this weekend, some snacks, and some sparkling water. Nothing fancy. Nothing I would think someone would want to steal. But I guess someone was either desperate for groceries or didn’t look in the bags before they stole them because they were gone.

The customer service person I was speaking to was really working with me to figure out what happened. She described the picture of the delivery (I was unable to see it), and it was very obviously my house from the description she gave. But there was no reason why I didn’t get a tracking link so I could watch the delivery progress and it was clear that I didn’t have my groceries.

I said I would be fine with either a refund or redelivery. I felt bad asking for them because I feel like it was partially my fault I didn’t know my groceries had been delivered. But then again, I had no way to know. Fortunately, it was really simple to get them redelivered and I did get my groceries yesterday. I made sure to be sitting by my door during the delivery window so that I didn’t miss them arriving.

I know I’m lucky that this is a very rare occurrence for me and it was resolved quickly and easily. I’m privileged that I haven’t had things stolen from the front door that I really needed. I couldn’t imagine if this was a prescription delivery or if I actually needed the food that night. It sucks that people do this, but I’m glad that it’s not that often.

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Posted in Shopping, Tough Stuff

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Another Self-Tape Audition (or So Grateful For Anything Related To Acting Right Now)

Posted on September 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Self-Tape Audition (or So Grateful For Anything Related To Acting Right Now)

Things are starting to slowly reopen in LA. There are a few shows that are back to filming after some safety guidelines are in place. There are a lot of things that have to be done in order to have a safe set, such as regular testing and having actors wear masks or shields except for the brief time you are filming (everyone else on set has to keep their mask or shield on). I know a few people who are series regulars on tv shows, and they have been able to start working again. I’m so happy to see things starting up again, but I also know that they aren’t fully opening. Even with the shows that are back, I wonder how many actors that aren’t the regulars will be in each episode. I know things are still being figured out and things can and will change, but each step forward is positive.

There have even started to have auditions that are held in casting offices. I haven’t had an in-office audition yet, and I’m not sure how safe I feel going to one. Fortunately, for people who are nervous going into an office, most casting directors are still allowing actors to submit self-tapes. And more often than not, all of the auditions are being done as self-tapes. So that makes things easy.

For most self-tape auditions, you have at least a few days to get them done. Sometimes, if they are a general audition like my other pandemic audition, you get several weeks to do your audition. I appreciate having the time so I can get my lines memorized, find a friend who can help me with my self-tape (now, having help over a video call to have someone be my reader), have time to film a few takes, and then editing it and submitting it. Rarely, for self-tapes and in-person auditions do you have a same-day audition. But they do happen. And that’s almost what happened to me this past weekend.

Technically, it wasn’t a same-day self-tape audition, but it was close. The audition notice came in very late at night. I was actually asleep when I got it so I didn’t know about it until the next morning. And it was due by 8 pm that day. So I had to quickly figure out who could help me so I could get this done and submitted. I was lucky that another actor from my union slate was able to help me out. And it wasn’t a long audition so I quickly had it memorized.

I still want to improve my self-tape setup, but it’s not too bad. I have a good tripod for my iPad (which is my best camera) and I have a place in my house that has good natural light. I struggle with my current setup with doing full-body angles (which are typically needed for audition introductions), but that’s not too bad. And I think most casting directors understand that home self-tapes might not be perfect. But even with the improvements I want to make, I think my self-tape auditions look pretty good.

I’ve been doing more video editing lately since I have to do minor edits to the livestreams I help to run, so editing my self-tape was pretty easy. It was made even easier because every take that I did was actually the same video clip. I just started my camera when we started and kept it running through all my takes and adjustments. I just had to watch it to figure out which take was the best one. And while I don’t like watching or hearing myself on camera, I’m getting better at it and it’s not as difficult for me to do the editing.

I was able to get my audition edited and submitted a few hours before the deadline. I had a few issues getting it submitted, but the casting director gave us a few options of how we could do it so I was able to use a different method from what I originally planned on using.

For a self-tape audition, this was quick and easy. I’m shocked how fast I was able to get it done, but it really just fell into place. And having the chance to audition made me so happy. I don’t believe I booked the commercial I auditioned for, but that doesn’t matter. I had the best day having an audition and it really made my time being isolated a lot more fun.

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Default ThumbnailSelf-Taping At Home (or Auditioning In Yoga Pants) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailAn Isolation Audition (or Working On My Self-Tape Game) Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailUpgrading My Self-Tape Set Up (or 2 Auditions In 30 Minutes) Default ThumbnailAudition Friends (or The Kindness Of My Competition)

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