Monthly Archives: October 2020

Helping Friends Make Progress (or An Evening Of Feeling Like I Have A Purpose)

Posted on October 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Helping Friends Make Progress (or An Evening Of Feeling Like I Have A Purpose)

There are so many things I’ve learned about myself during this pandemic. One thing I learned was how important having a purpose is to me. I’ve always kind of known this and that’s one thing that pushed me into union service. But now more than ever I understand how having a purpose is something I need. When I don’t have a job and feel like I’m accomplishing things, it’s more obvious than ever when I don’t have a purpose. I feel like I’m just floating along in life and I’m not grounded. So whenever I have a project to do, I go for it because it gives me a purpose and makes me feel so much better.

And sometimes, I get a purpose out of being helpful. And that’s exactly what I got to do this week. Someone that I did improv class with reached out to me on social media. I don’t think we’ve seen each other since finishing the class, but we’ve stayed in touch over social media so we both know what the other is up to. So he knows I’m pretty involved in the union. I don’t think he exactly knew what I do with the union, but since he had a question about the union, he reached out to me.

He is still not in the union yet, but he wanted to make a union project to put online. This is actually one way that someone can become eligible to join the union and is a very common type of project that people do. But he wanted to make sure that he was doing everything correctly so that he can hire union actors and he didn’t want to make mistakes. So he reached out to me for more information.

I’m not an expert in self-producing and haven’t done it much. But I did have a little background information on what he needs to do. I also know people who know a lot more than I do, so I was able to reach out to them to answer his questions and connect them so he can ask them more. It was a very productive conversation with him and I think he feels much better and confident about the project he’s going to do. He’s still in the beginning stages of getting things ready, but that’s exactly when you need to start getting the union paperwork together. So he did it perfectly because he is going to get all the paperwork done with plenty of time before he is planning on filming.

These days, it’s a little more complicated than normal because you have to have more safety protocols in place. But it’s still possible to film. And my friend who knows more about this than I do is going to help him make sure he gets everything that he needs to make it completely compliant with our new protocols. And he does understand why things have to be this way, so he’s very willing to work with the protocols. It’s always good when someone gets why things are the way they are and I’m glad that he’s willing to work with the rules and figure out how to make it work.

The entire call I had with him went so well and I am so excited about the project he’s working on. It sounds like he’s really passionate about self-producing and taking advantage of the free time he has right now. I can’t wait to see what he creates!

And even though this is a little selfish, I’m so glad he asked me for help. It did make me feel like I was useful and it gave me something to do that I could accomplish. He did give me a purpose that day. And I needed that feeling. I’ve totally been feeling lost lately and he helped me focus on something, even if it was only for a short time.

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Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailFriends Helping Friends (or Not Being Afraid To Ask For Support) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Out With Friends (or An Excuse To Dress Up) Default ThumbnailA Week Of Progress (or Feeling More Like Me) Default ThumbnailFeeling More Progress (or Olympic Workouts) Default ThumbnailFeeling Better About My Progress (or Coming Back From The Dri-Tri)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Having A Pretty Boring Routine (or This Keeps Repeating)

Posted on October 15, 2020 | Comments Off on Having A Pretty Boring Routine (or This Keeps Repeating)

When the pandemic started, I wrote about how I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to keep up this blog. Honestly, at that time I really was hopeful that the safer at home orders would only last a month or two. I knew it would be longer than we were originally told, but I had no clue that it would last for 7 months with no end in sight just yet. I was worried about how I would manage still writing for those few months I would be stuck at home and thought I might have to change up my blog schedule.

I’m still shocked that I’ve managed to keep things going the way they always have for this long. I don’t have a lot going on every day. I occasionally will have something fun I get to do or I make an effort to go out and escape my house, but for the most part, I have very little to do.

Even though I’m technically not working my customer service job right now, I do log in 3 mornings a week to help out my manager (who is working now) in case she needs it. She did the same for me when I was the only one working, so I wanted to return the favor. And it’s really not a big deal. I rarely have to help her do anything. It’s only if there are a lot of customers she’s trying to help and there is something in our ticketing system she can’t find. Usually, I am logged in but watching random things online or doing other things in my house. Sometimes I’m logged in for only an hour and sometimes I’m working on something else so I stay logged in a few hours. It’s something that helps me keep a schedule and makes me get up on time.

Other days I have a workout in the morning. I’m getting more into making sure my workouts are not boring or too repetitive, but there is only so much I can do at my house. There are more and more options for outdoor workouts and I am exploring those options to see if any of them seem right to me. It would be nice to expand things, but I also don’t want to take risks that could get me sick. I hate that I’m turning into a bit of a germaphobe right now and I’m trying to make sure that I don’t take this to an extreme. But I also know that I have to be cautious and smart and that if anything happens to me that I would have a hard time forgiving myself.

And I have my Netflix Party groups on Wednesdays and Saturdays for a few hours. Technically, it’s now called Teleparty because you can use more services than Netflix now, but I think we are all still calling it Netflix Party. I can’t express how grateful I am for that group because they really are helping to keep me sane and are the best sounding board for so many things.

But those few things only take up a few hours each week. I have so much time that is just filled with nothing. I’ve said it before, but I’m getting very bored. I’m not bored to the point that I want to just forget there is a pandemic and am willing to take risks. I know some people are just over the situation and I understand how they feel. But I am bored and still staying inside.

I’m trying to find things to do so I at least am not just sitting and looking at my walls. I have watched more things online and read more books than I ever have before. But even watching tv and movies and reading books is not as entertaining as they have been before. I’m trying to find more things I can add to my daily or weekly routine that takes up time. Maybe I should look into online classes or something? But besides being bored, I’m also dealing with a bit of a lack of motivation. There are so many things I could do, I just don’t want to. I mean, I could cook super fancy meals every day if I wanted to. But I don’t.

So like I’ve said many times over the past 7 months, I’m bored of being bored. I know I’m not alone in this feeling, but it’s hard to deal with it. And it’s hard to think I’m not alone when I see so many people going out and not worrying about things. But I’m trying to stay strong and focus on doing what I can to keep myself busy and entertained. And hopefully, something will click with me that I could add to my routine and will make things more interesting for me.

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Default ThumbnailBeing Ok With Being Bored (or This Is Harder Than I Thought) Default ThumbnailDoing Some Skincare Basics (or Slowly Changing My Self-Care Routine) Default ThumbnailRoutine Time Again (or Getting Back On Track) Default ThumbnailJust Trucking Along (or Enjoying Like Being Normal And Boring) Default ThumbnailNew Routine Time (or Time Management At Home) Default ThumbnailLaying Low (or This Will Be A Boring Post)

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Posted in Tough Stuff

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Trying To Use Some Shortcuts (or I Don’t Have To Feel Bad About This)

Posted on October 14, 2020 | Comments Off on Trying To Use Some Shortcuts (or I Don’t Have To Feel Bad About This)

I wrote about how I want to get things more on track for my monthly challenge this month. A big part of that is getting my food back on track because I know I haven’t been doing that great lately. I’m not doing as bad as I could, but that’s not an excuse to start working on it again.

Part of getting my food on track is working on cooking more. I know I need to do this. I’ve known for years that I need to do this. But it’s always been something really hard for me to do. I don’t know why it’s been a struggle, but I do know that part of it is because I have always felt like cooking was a big production or had to be something that felt fancy or extravagant. Maybe this is because when I lived in an apartment between my freshman and sophomore years of college cooking was a big production. I was in an apartment with 3 roommates (they were all about to be seniors in college and one of the girls just wasn’t staying in LA for the summer) and none of us cooked that much. And when we did, it was like we had a little dinner party for all of us. I remember cooking a few times and making really nice meals that took me a long time to prepare. So maybe since that was my first experience cooking for myself, I got into that mindset that cooking means fancy.

But I know that it doesn’t have to be like that. I’m working on finding things that are basic that I can make but still taste good. Especially things that don’t necessarily require recipes because then it’s more likely that it will just be stuff I already have in my house. But I’ve also started to think more about what I keep in my house and what can make cooking easier. And I know that some of these shortcuts are pretty lazy, but if it’s what gets me to cook, I should be ok with it.

One lazy shortcut I’ve been using is having frozen veggies that steam in the bag they are in. I know I could buy the veggies fresh, cut them up, and steam them in the microwave or on the stove and it’s would be cheaper. But I also know that I won’t necessarily do that. So having easy frozen veggies helps. For example, the other night I made a turkey burger (just the patty and that was frozen too). I microwaved from frozen broccoli and then made a brown butter and lemon sauce for the veggies (this is how my mom usually makes broccoli and I love it). I know it’s a healthy and easy meal that I can make but for a long time, I felt guilty that I just didn’t buy some fresh broccoli to steam. But I am working on getting over that guilt.

I also found a shortcut to try to make breakfasts. I found these little cups that have cheese and veggies in them and you just add an egg or two and microwave them. It’s not an omelet, but more like a scramble with different things in it. I know I could buy those veggies and cheese, prepare them, and make this from scratch at home; but again, I don’t know if I’d do that. And while this isn’t the cheapest way to do it, it’s not too horrible and I think the expense is worth it. Especially if I don’t get delivery food as often because that will save me money.

So I’ve started to think about those meal kits you can get. I’ve never used them, but maybe this is the shortcut I need in order to get cooking more. I have to look into them more, but I know for some of them they have 2 servings in each meal, so that’s not too bad. And if I did that once or twice a week, that’s a lot of meals that I would be cooking. I know it’s not exactly cooking from scratch, but it’s better than delivery food or microwave meals.

For a long time, I’ve thought about cooking as an all or nothing thing. If I wasn’t making it all from scratch, I might as well not bother. But I’m working on accepting the idea that it doesn’t have to be that way and hopefully I can find a solution that will help me cook more. And whether or not that includes using shortcuts, cooking is what I know I need to do more.

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Default ThumbnailHome Cooking (or Getting Into A Routine) Default ThumbnailNeeding To Get Back Into The Kitchen (or Can I Blame The Heat?) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps With Cooking (or I’m Cautiously Optimistic) Default ThumbnailDoing More Cooking (or Maybe It Does Save Time) Default ThumbnailStill Figuring Out Meal Planning (or Will Food Ever Be Easy For Me?) Default ThumbnailLack Of Planning (or No Home Cooking This Week)

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Posted in Food

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Reflecting Back On Last Year’s Convention (or Photos Bring Back So Many Memories)

Posted on October 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Reflecting Back On Last Year’s Convention (or Photos Bring Back So Many Memories)

I know I’ve written before how sometimes I forget that it’s the anniversary of some important moment in my life until social media reminds me of it with an “on this day” post. Sometimes that reminds me of something good and sometimes it reminds me of something not good. But whatever it is, that post or photo brings back a ton of memories. This time, I almost reverse-engineered that idea. I knew something was coming up and I searched for the photos that would show me the date.

One year ago, my grandma passed away. The one year anniversary of her passing was actually this past Sunday. And I knew exactly what date it was because it was the same night as the National Convention Gala. I know I wrote a little about things in both of those posts, but I didn’t tell the full story of what happened and my memories of it.

I had a feeling my grandma was going to pass away during Convention. There was no reason for me to feel that way, but I did. I knew she wasn’t doing well, but her health had been declining for a while. The first time that I really heard that she might not live that much longer had been last September, but there wasn’t a timeline we were all thinking about. We just knew that she was slipping away and we had to be grateful whenever we could see her. I was hoping that she would make it to Thanksgiving so I could see her one more time, but I knew that it might not happen.

The day she passed away, I spent most of my day doing official Convention stuff. We ended around 5 and then I went to my car to get my clothes to change for the Gala. I changed in a room that was set aside for anyone to get ready in and I walked back to my car to put my day clothes and makeup away. And when I was walking back to the hotel to hang out before the Gala started, I saw a text from my dad. It didn’t say much. It was something like “Text me when you are doing at the Convention”. I think my parents thought that I’d be heading home after things were done, not that I had the Gala. But I knew I couldn’t wait until after the Gala was done. So I found a couch in the lobby and called my dad.

I knew it had to be one of two things. Either my grandma died or something happened with my sister-in-law (she was pregnant with my nephew then). But right before I called my dad, my brother and sister-in-law texted me to let me know they were having a boy, so I knew it was about my grandma. My dad and I didn’t say much on that call. He said that she passed away that afternoon. My grandma was in her room taking a nap after lunchtime and she passed away in her sleep. It was peaceful and that’s all we could have hoped for. I don’t think she was in any pain at the end of her life. I don’t know how aware she was of most things. I’m just grateful that she wasn’t hurting.

After the call with my dad, I was pretty hysterical. A friend of mine saw me, asked what happened, and went to find some tissues for me. He sat with me for a while until I calmed down a bit. The entire night kind of went that way. I randomly cried a lot. People found out what happened and tried to comfort me. I know I could have gone home and skipped the Gala, but I knew that my grandma would have wanted me to be there. And I didn’t want to go home and be alone. I wanted to be around my friends, and that’s exactly what happened at the Gala.

It was a weird night for sure. I was grieving but also trying to have fun. I didn’t want to be crying as much as I did, but sometimes it just hit me really hard. But I was always around a friend and whoever I was around made sure I was doing ok. I was seriously so grateful to my friends that night because I’m sure it was a bit weird for them too. But nobody made me feel bad about being upset or when I needed a shoulder to cry on.

That night was a bit of a blur for me. I know it’s because my brain was processing so much and I was also worried about how the rest of my family was doing. But I tried to enjoy things as much as possible. That’s why I don’t have a lot of photos from the Gala. I didn’t do a red carpet photo because I was still crying so much. I don’t have a lot of photos with my friends because I was not thinking about it. I took some photos of the awards during the Gala, but that’s about it. The only photo I have with my friends was a photo that my friends dragged me into. But I’m so glad they did that because it is one happy memory I have of that night.

And my smile in that photo is real. I was having a good time at that moment. And I’m glad I have that moment to remember that night by. Not all my memories are sad ones, even though that photo does remind me of some sad things too. But it also reminds me that I have amazing friends who were there for me and made sure that I was ok and had a good time at such a weird moment.

I remember so many things when looking at that photo. Even though I have a few other photos from that night, that one, in particular, is the one that brings so many memories back. I looked at it again on Sunday and took some time to remember my grandma. It was a bit of a sad day because of everything else going on in the world. But I’m glad that when she passed away, I didn’t have to be alone and I was able to be supported by so many people.

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Default ThumbnailThe Convention Gala (or Casino Night And Awards) Default ThumbnailA Big Loss In My Family (or Saying Goodbye To My Grandma) Default ThumbnailThe Convention Gala (or An Evening Under and With The Stars) Default ThumbnailA Full Convention Weekend (or Preparation Pays Off) Default ThumbnailIt’s Convention Time (or I’ve Been Waiting 2 Years For This!) Default ThumbnailThe Roadrunner (or More Memories In My House)

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Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

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A Month-Long Hell Week (or I’m Still Making Sure I Earn My Shirt)

Posted on October 12, 2020 | Comments Off on A Month-Long Hell Week (or I’m Still Making Sure I Earn My Shirt)

Ever since I started at Orangetheory, I have participated in Hell Week. I’m pretty sure I’ve completely Hell Week each time and have always earned the shirt too. Hell Week is typically the last week or two of October and you have to complete a majority of the days in order to earn the shirt (like if there are 8 days, you have to do 5). But this year, things are happening a little differently.

Hell Week is actually lasting the entire month. But not every day is a Hell Week workout. There are 12 days throughout the month and we have to complete only 4 of them in order to earn the shirt. And those workouts can be completed in the studio, doing a home workout, or doing one of the official outdoor workouts (we have those in Downtown LA, but I haven’t taken them because of the drive). Fortunately, the studios in LA made a tracker so we can make sure we do all the workouts we need to do.

I think we are going to go to our studio to pick up our shirts when the month is over, but I’m not sure. I have submitted my shirt information to my studio and they said they will update me on how and when I can get my shirt.

But before I did a Hell Week workout this past week, I had 3 other workouts. On Monday, I did the OTF at Home workout using the Orangetheory app. I’m still trying to switch things up between my workouts to give me as much variety as possible, but I still want to make sure I do the workout from the app at least once or twice a week (especially with Hell Week). And I’m learning more and more about how to push myself to make them seem harder so I can try to get back some of my strength.

On Wednesday, I did some of the workouts on the FitOn App. I’ve looked more into the app and I will always have to do more than one video when doing those workouts because of how short they are. I wish they had longer ones, but maybe those will be coming. I still only did workouts that were coached by Brendon, but I did some that were OTF-themed and some that were just his regular ones. I haven’t explored what the other coaches do yet because Brendon is someone I’m familiar with. But I bet I’ll eventually look into it a bit more. Besides the workouts in the app, I also did some jump roping. I am still easing myself back into it and have been looking at some interval workouts to try. But for now, I’m doing 8 rounds with 15 seconds of jumping and 45 seconds of rest. I probably could shorten the rest a bit and maybe I’ll do that this week, but starting around the 5th round I do really need all that rest time to recover. But challenging myself is what I need to do, so maybe that’s what I’ll have to do.

Friday was my Zoom workout with Coach Jenna. We had a slightly shortened workout this time (50 minutes instead of 60), but I think we actually worked more. We didn’t have as much time between exercises and rounds. All of the breaks were super short and I felt like I collapsed into a puddle of sweat when we were done. It was a good challenging workout for me and I do love getting to work out with friends. I keep my screen on the gallery view so I can see everyone working out. It’s not to really look at the others, but it’s nice to glance at the screen and see that I’m not alone in the workout. If I only had Coach Jenna on the screen, it would feel a bit like the other video workouts. I like having our small group together, and I guess it’s good that it’s a small group because it makes it easy to still see Coach Jenna and the video isn’t too tiny.

And Saturday was my first Hell Week workout.

I like how they changed up the video a bit so it felt like it wasn’t the same as all the other workouts. I do wish they had the coach coaching us through the entire thing like they did with the Dri-Tri, but maybe videos like that will happen toward the end of the month. I know those workouts are harder to make than the regular ones. But they did change this up nicely. The workout was a lot because it was mainly the same exercises each round with one variation each time. So I was exhausted. And because it’s Hell Week, they added in times when you would be in a block and then it would be time to do 1 minute of burpees. Burpees are never my favorite, but I tried to do as many as I could with as few modifications during those minutes.

Because of the days that have been selected for Hell Week, I might not be doing another Hell Week workout until almost the end of the month. But I’ll be getting in at least 4 more so I will know I will earn my shirt. Having proof I survived Hell Week is always important, but it almost feels more important this year than any other.

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Default ThumbnailSurviving Hell Week (or I’m A Liar) Default ThumbnailGetting Back To Normal (or Finishing Hell Week and Race Prep) Default ThumbnailThis Does Feel Like A Normal Routine (or Another Full Workout Week) Default ThumbnailHell Week Part 1 (or Not Pushing It Too Much) Default ThumbnailFeeling More Back To Normal (or A Good Week Of Hell Week Prep) Default ThumbnailHell Week To Orange Voyage (or One Challenge To Another)

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Posted in Fitness

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Another Night Of Debate Watching (or Trying To Have Some Fun With This)

Posted on October 9, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Night Of Debate Watching (or Trying To Have Some Fun With This)

Just like with the Presidental Debate, I had a plan to watch the VP Debate. And my plan was pretty much the same for both debates. I was going to watch it through Crooked Media‘s YouTube channel so I could see their Slack conversation and I had my own FB Messenger group to message with during the debate. I find it so helpful to have people to talk to while watching debates. Sometimes for making jokes and being silly, but sometimes for asking if someone knows if something is true or not.

Also, debates can be frustrating and upsetting, depending on what they may say. If someone is saying a complete lie, it’s hard not to react to it. If someone says something that you know is against everything they said before, you want to call them out. Having people to chat with, even over text, really helps me get out whatever emotions I might feel during the debate.

For the VP Debate, there was a good mix of getting out frustration and telling jokes. Hearing Pence say that Trump has taken this pandemic seriously since January when he was calling it a hoax well beyond then was frustrating. Whenever Pence was asked about his administration, he seemed to ignore that question and just say that the American people are doing the right thing. For example, when he was asked about wearing masks, he didn’t say anything about anyone in the White House wearing masks and only that the people will do the right thing. That’s also ignoring the people claiming that wearing a mask right now violates their rights or is discrimination.

And Pence kept interrupting Harris and the moderator. My messaging group is all women, and we all have experienced men interrupting and talking over us. We were all so frustrated watching it happen. Thank goodness Harris did try to explain that she was speaking so he shouldn’t be interrupting her. But I know that so many women online were posting about how we have experienced this so much and how we wish men wouldn’t do this to us.

Even though there were a lot of things to be frustrated at, I think our message group had a lot of silliness going on too. You have to find comedy in these things otherwise you will be overwhelmed watching them. And there were a lot of moments to laugh at. But nothing was a bigger moment than the fly on Pence’s head.

I don’t know why everyone found the fly so funny, but it became one of the biggest moments of the debate. There were so many jokes being posted and I was enjoying all of them. I kept seeing a lot of posts about how the fly had been on the screen long enough to be eligible for SAG-AFTRA (even though that’s not how it works), and I decided to create something to go with that.

I lucked out that I found an image of a union card that didn’t have a member name or number on it, so it was really easy for me to come up with this tweet.

I posted it in a few places and everyone seemed to get a good laugh out of it. I also saw posts saying that the fly should be up for a SAG Award now or asking if the fly will be in the In Memorium segment at the next SAG Awards since flies don’t live that long. I know that having a fly on someone’s head wasn’t the most important thing we heard, but it was the moment that stuck with most of us and gave so many of us a much-needed laugh.

There is supposed to be another Presidental Debate in a week, but I don’t know if it will be happening. Because Trump was diagnosed with COVID, the group organizing the debates said that they would be doing it virtually for the next one. Trump has said that he will not be participating because the debate is only trying to protect Biden, which they are because Trump shouldn’t be wanting to expose others to this disease. But I know that Trump also changes his mind a lot so even though as I am writing this he says he will not attend and will do a private rally instead, that can change by the time the debate is supposed to happen (or by the time this post goes live).

I don’t know if I hope there will be another debate or not. The last Presidental Debate wasn’t good. There was no information really shared because of how often there were interruptions. It was not a good moment for this country. And I don’t know if any other debates would be better. But if there is another one, at least I have a good system figured out to make them a bit more entertaining.

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Default ThumbnailTrying To Make The Debates More Fun To Watch (or Group Chats Make Things Better) Default ThumbnailAnd Some More Politics (or Appreciating Social Media) Default ThumbnailSAG Awards (or Watching After Knowing The Winners) Default ThumbnailA Tasting And Theater Night (or Enjoying A Fun Night Out) Default ThumbnailA Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity) Default ThumbnailSuch An LA Night (or Just Having Some Fun With A Friend)

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Posted in Tough Stuff

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Flu Shot Time (or Another Health-Related Post)

Posted on October 8, 2020 | Comments Off on Flu Shot Time (or Another Health-Related Post)

I just wrote about the pandemic and the importance of wearing masks yesterday. Wearing a mask is a small thing we can do to stay healthy. This has been true since the pandemic started. But now, it’s even more important to stay healthy because we are starting to be in the flu season.

The flu is something most of us are pretty familiar with. I would guess most people have had the flu at some point. I have only gotten it a few times, but one of those times was really bad. I ended up in the ER because I was so sick. I got medication to help relieve my symptoms, but I remember being sick for a week or two after that. I had a high fever, lots of body shakes, dizziness, and labored breathing. This was years ago and I still remember how awful it is. And I wouldn’t want to get it again.

Besides not wanting to get the flu because of how bad it is, I don’t want to end up in the hospital if I get sick. I know we have been lucky in LA and that the hospitals haven’t been overwhelmed yet. But there is no guarantee that once the flu season is really here that they won’t run out of beds between COVID and flu patient. So it is really important to protect yourself from getting the flu.

Wearing a mask will help. So a mask is like a two for one protection! You can protect yourself from 2 viruses at once. I think that masks may end up being something more common in the future for the protections we get during the flu season. We won’t know until masks are common all the time, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

But getting your flu shot is so important and something that everyone who can get one should do. I know there are some people who cannot have the flu shot due to various reasons, so of course, if you have been told you cannot get one, don’t do it. But most people can get a flu shot. Even if you hate shots, a lot of places offer the vaccine in a nasal mist. I’ve done both the shot and the mist in the past. So I know what both are like and they are both good options for different reasons.

The best time to get a flu shot is about now, so I made sure I went to the hospital to do it yesterday. My hospital has walk-in flu shots every day (there are drive-thru flu shots on Saturdays only). In some places, you have to make an appointment or you have to do drive-thru. So you should check with your hospital, medical center, or office where you typically get flu shots. There actually was no line when I went, but I think that was mainly due to me picking a random time on a Tuesday. The nurse who was at the vaccine station told me that they have been so busy every day, so I guess I was lucky.

I was offered both the shot and mist options, but I was reminded that the mist contains a live vaccine. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be something your body has to work with. You cannot get the flu from a live vaccine, but you can sometimes have symptoms that are similar to a mild cold. For the shot, you can sometimes have those symptoms too, but they aren’t as common for me. I usually only get the symptoms that are like a cold when I’ve had the mist one. So I decided to get the shot this time, even though I hate shots.

I warned the nurse about all my issues with needles and the things that help me not pass out. I’m glad I talked to her about it because I do better when I know when the shot will be happening. For many people, they do better when they are surprised. So making sure I won’t be surprised is important to me. I also like to warn nurses and medical staff about how my body reacts to shots so they don’t worry when they happen. I know sometimes it makes them nervous to hear what can happen to me, but it’s better to tell them so they aren’t unexpected.

Fortunately, I didn’t pass out completely this time. I did black out a bit, which is what seems to be happening more and more for me. Maybe I need to stop saying I might pass out and say that I used to pass out but typically don’t. When I black out, my body tenses up and I hold my breath. I know that can be scary to see happening, but this nurse was prepared for me to react that way so she wasn’t scared. I also got super pale and clammy when I got the shot, which I wasn’t expecting. But it was fine. I was only blacked out for maybe 10 seconds and my breathing was back to normal as soon as I could focus again. The nurse had me stay seated in the chair for a few minutes (we were outside and there was no line, so I felt ok doing that) so she could make sure I wouldn’t pass out. And then I was on my way back home.

I think because my body tenses up when I get shots, my arm tends to hurt a bit more than what most people feel. They always tell you not to tense any muscles when getting a shot and to stay loose and limp. I do that, but then my body takes over and my muscles are activated. So I’m guessing I feel the way that someone would feel if they were making a muscle when getting a shot. I’m writing this and it’s been about 26 hours since the vaccine and my arm still feels like it’s a really bad bruise and it’s a bit stiff. But it’s much better than it was the day I got it, so I expect that I’ll be feeling fine in a day or two.

But even with blacking out and the sore arm, I have no regrets about getting a flu shot. This is something I am doing not only to protect myself but to protect anyone else I might be around. I’ll be doing another full quarantine soon so I can see my family, and the flu shot will also make sure that I won’t be bringing the flu to them. I’m trying to do whatever I can to stay healthy and the flu shot is something simple that accomplishes that goal.

So just like I said yesterday, wear a mask. But also, get a flu shot!

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Please Wear A Mask And Stay Home If You Can (or This Shouldn’t Be Political)

Posted on October 7, 2020 | Comments Off on Please Wear A Mask And Stay Home If You Can (or This Shouldn’t Be Political)

When the pandemic started, I think most of us thought that maybe it would take a month or two but that it would be under control quickly. Yes, it was a lot of unknown stuff, but we were being told things to help us try to not get sick. I know that there was confusion at the beginning about if you should wear a mask or not and if this was airborne or on surfaces, but a lot of information hasn’t changed. Yet, here we are, almost 7 months later. And at least in some parts of the country, things have been shut down for that entire time.

I don’t know why this pandemic became a political point. Maybe the president thought it would blow over enough and he wouldn’t have to take a lot of action. Maybe that’s why he was telling people to not worry. I don’t know what he was thinking and I don’t need to know. All I know is that it has become so political and polarized if you believe things are bad or not. And I honestly don’t get it.

There’s no denying in my opinion that there is a pandemic that has killed more people than the standard flu or cold. Over 200,000 people have died. I have not known anyone personally who has died, but I have so many friends who have lost someone. They have lost parents, spouses, kids, family, and co-workers. I have known so many people who have gotten sick and recovered. Some of those people were getting very sick and I worried they wouldn’t make it. Many of them are still dealing with health issues. And we have no clue what the long-term effects will be if you had this at one point or not, even if you had no major symptoms.

What we are being asked to do is to wear a mask when you go out, stay at least 6 feet away from others, and stay home if you don’t have to go out. That’s not a lot. And yes, it is hard to stay home and the boredom and isolation are real. I’m experiencing that so much.

But boredom and isolation are so much better than being sick. My friends who have been sick have shared stories about how they felt. Some of them thought they were dying. Some of them felt like they couldn’t breathe and wondered if they were about to end up on a ventilator. The pain in their bodies that some of them described is worse than anything I have ever experienced, even on my worst pain days. I wouldn’t wish this disease on anyone as it sounds truly horrendous and scary.

And I know the president just said how this was not that bad and we shouldn’t let our lives be taken over by the pandemic. But we don’t know if he’s completely healthy yet. I don’t believe if they have said he has tested negative yet. But keep in mind that the treatment he got was very different from what anyone else can get. He has a full medical staff in his home that monitored him before he went to the hospital. He was taken to the hospital in a helicopter. He was in the hospital for observation and not because he was seriously ill. He was given medications that no other person has gotten for this disease. When he went home, he still has a full medical staff taking care of him. And for all this treatment, he will have no medical bills. That’s not anything that anyone else could have.

I’ve seen so many stories of people who were very ill and turned away from the hospital because they didn’t need to be on a ventilator. There was just no room in the hospital for them or the medical team wanted to only have the sickest people there. They had to go home and either be alone or be with people in their homes who didn’t have medical training and were also terrified of getting sick since they didn’t have the PPE needed to be safe. And even if they were in the hospital, the medications and treatments the president got are not available at all hospitals. Some have said they would have no way to give a patient those medications because they were not available to them. So even if everything the president is saying is true and that this was something very easy for him to recover from, unless you have the same privileges that he has you might have a harder time getting over this.

I wish the president would have said something about how he feels very lucky that he had an easy recovery but he understands that is not the case for everyone. I wish he acknowledged how many people have died because they were sicker than he was or didn’t have the same medical advantages as he did. He seemed to feel like this is nothing and nobody should worry. But from my friends who have had this or have lost someone because of this disease, I know that we should be careful and worried that we might get sick.

Wearing a mask is not a sign you vote for one political party or another. It is a sign that you understand that there is a pandemic and that a mask can protect you and others. You might be asymptomatic and not know you are getting others sick. Or someone else might not know they have it and the mask will protect you. Understanding why some businesses can’t open just yet isn’t saying anything more than that you know that they cannot open and keep their customers and staff healthy and protected. I’m just as frustrated as anyone that things are closed. But I also know that we have ways of slowing down this disease so they can reopen. And all it takes is to wear a mask and stay home when you can.

It’s frustrating to see that the people who are protesting for things to open are the ones who won’t do what it takes to make it happen. But I will still do what I need to do in order to stay healthy and try to slow the spread. And hopefully, others will stop acting like a mask is a political button and will do the same so we can get this under control.

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More Thoughts On Pandemic Dating (or I Wish I Didn’t Miss Dating As Much)

Posted on October 6, 2020 | Comments Off on More Thoughts On Pandemic Dating (or I Wish I Didn’t Miss Dating As Much)

I don’t think there is anyone who is single and trying to date right now that doesn’t think things are weird. Dating during a pandemic is just so odd. There are so many things you have to worry about. You have to build a lot of trust before meeting someone, which wasn’t how it was before. So many people are getting very serious very quickly because that’s almost what you have to do. People who were in a relationship before the pandemic started are also having weird things happening. You might stick it out more than you normally would because you know you can’t really date. Some people are discovering quickly that they are not meant to be.

We are over 6 months into this and it’s still tough to figure out what is safe and what is stupid. For the most part, I’m not really dating right now because I can’t. I’ve tried, and I’ve found things that stopped it from progressing. I am still active on various apps and I have done quite a few virtual dates (like using the video chat feature on an app or watching a movie together over Netflix Party). I have met someone in person, but that was after we both were making sure that neither of us was sick and we had taken a lot of time to build trust before we met.  Unfortunately, even though we had chemistry when we were texting and talking on the phone, it didn’t translate to in-person chemistry so that didn’t go anywhere (although we are still talking and have said we want to be friends).

I really miss dating. I don’t love dating, but I still miss it. Dating did bring some excitement to my life. And even my bad dates brought some entertainment to me. And I like knowing that maybe the next guy I go out with will be the right guy for me. I also think part of missing dating is missing all physical touch. Cuddling with someone, getting a hug, holding hands, or just sitting with someone on the couch are things I can’t really do right now. And while a lot of those things were things I got from my friends, I also got them from dating. And I also miss having opportunities to go out and be social. Again, I got that a lot from friends but I also got it from dating.

It does feel odd to me that I miss dating this much. Until a few years ago, I didn’t date a lot. I would meet someone somehow and would go on dates every so often. But I wasn’t using dating apps and I didn’t have that many opportunities to meet people to date. I don’t know what the longest stretch was that I had without a date, but I’m guessing it’s probably similar to how long we’ve been dealing with the pandemic. Back then, I didn’t miss dating. Possibly because I had a lot of other things filling up my time. But I think it was mainly because I never was a big dater. No time in my life compares to the past few years with dating. So I didn’t miss things because I never knew any different. But now I do and it’s hard to not miss it.

I will say, I am trying to stay grateful about being single right now. If I was dating any guy that I was dating before right now and was stuck with them all the time, I think I would have been miserable. I might not have the courage to end things because I wouldn’t want to be lonely and there’s not an easy way to date now to meet someone new. I try to convince myself a lot that being lonely is better than being miserable. It’s hard sometimes to believe that, but I know that it has to be at least a little bit true.

Who knows when things will be safer for everyone. I hope it will be soon, but the longer we are in this pandemic the longer I think we might have to wait it out. I’m still trying to find ways to date and be safe, but it’s really limited. I know that if I’m not able to date for several more months, it’s not the worst thing. It’s not great, but I can live without dating if that means I don’t take unnecessary risks and won’t get sick. Maybe having a break from dating will help me be better at dating when I’m able to do it. I guess I’ll find out whenever we are able to be out and social again.

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Trying Other Types Of OTF At Home Workouts (or Adding More Variety)

Posted on October 5, 2020 | Comments Off on Trying Other Types Of OTF At Home Workouts (or Adding More Variety)

I’m coming up on 7 months of working out at home (side note: how have we been in safer at home for almost 7 months?!?). Since the first week of working out at home, I’ve been using the official Orangetheory at Home videos that are posted on their app and YouTube channel. For a while, I have also been doing 1 workout on Zoom a week with one of my OTF coaches. This routine has been great for me and I’m still so happy that I have been able to keep up my routine while at home. But this past week, I changed things up a bit.

I’ll start with my Friday workout because that was the one that was the same. That was still my Zoom workout. We had it a bit earlier than normal to fit with our coach’s schedule, but it wasn’t too early. It was just as hard as always, and possibly a little harder because my body was a little sore from the night before and I didn’t do as much stretching as I should have done before the workout. But it was still amazing and one of the highlights of my week!

For my Monday workout, I did a workout that was on Instagram Live! The coach doing the workout was actually my normal Monday coach from OTF, so that was even more amazing for me! This was not exactly like my old Mondays, but it was the closest I’ve had in a long time. I loved getting to work out with Coach Brendon and having his motivation the entire time.

The Instagram Live workout was done through the FitOn app account. I hadn’t used FitOn before for my home workouts, but Brendon was now a part of them and he had some video workouts available on the app. So after doing the workout on Monday, I downloaded the app so I could test it out on Wednesday.

All the workouts on the app are free, which is awesome. And there are a lot of different types of workouts and coaches that are on it. But I was mainly focused this past week on the workouts that Brendon had on there. On Wednesday I did the workouts that are OTF ones on the app and on Saturday I did the workouts that Brendon did but wasn’t OTF specific.

I say “workouts” when talking about what I did on a single day because the videos were a bit short. For example, there was a cardio one that was about 25 minutes and then an upper body strength one that was about 20 minutes. So I did both those videos to get a full workout in. I didn’t explore the app too much so I don’t know if other types of workouts or other coaches have longer workouts. I’ll probably look into it a bit more this week.

But I did love the workouts that I did. It was really nice that Brendon does the workout in the video with you. Even though the coaches at OTF when you are in the studio aren’t doing the workout with you, they are constantly coaching you and encouraging you. And Brendon did that in the videos just like he would do in the studio. That’s something I loved about the Dri-Tri at home workout I did too. The official OTF workouts are normally a little coaching at the start of each block and then it’s the workout screen with all the exercises since they aren’t necessarily timed (so not everyone is doing the same number of rounds and aren’t on the same exercise at the same time).

I also used my jump rope again this week. I only did it once, after my Saturday workout, but that was still something considering the break I had taken from it recently. I had to ease into getting back to the jump rope and I made the intervals a bit easier for me, but it was still tough and I was sweating hard!

I’m not sure what I’ll be doing for my workouts this week. I might do more FitOn workouts. I might do some of the official OTF workouts. But I am happy that I have some more options now that I know I like so I can mix things up more than I have been doing.

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