Monthly Archives: March 2021

Online Jeans Shopping (or Accepting I’ve Gained Weight)

Posted on March 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Online Jeans Shopping (or Accepting I’ve Gained Weight)

First, I want to say that I’m doing much better than I was earlier this week. I’m still dealing with some pain and nausea, but it’s at the level that I’m used to and was expecting to have. Whatever affected me on Monday had to be something else. I don’t know if it was food poisoning or a stomach bug, but whatever it was I think it’s out of my system. I’m glad to be back at a normal level of nausea because I know how to be productive while dealing with that and I have things I can use to make life easier.

Ok, now on to the point of this post.

I think a lot of people have gained weight over the past year. So many of us had a huge change when things shut down. Some people had to get used to the idea of working from home. Fortunately, I was already used to that. But I did have to get used to not having my regular workouts as well as dealing with new issues with food. I hate having a ton of food in my house at one time, and that’s what I had to do in order to limit how often I got groceries. At the beginning of the pandemic, things were a bit worse for me, but now I am doing grocery delivery a bit more often so I don’t always have a house full of food. And like so many people, I have used food as a coping mechanism over the past year.

I’m not proud that I used food that way, especially because it was a big step backward in getting toward recovery from my eating disorder. But that’s the reality of the situation. And between comfort eating, lower effort workouts, and a general lack of activity; I have put on weight over the past year. I know it could have been much worse, so I am happy that it wasn’t completely out of control. But it’s still frustrating and annoying.

I’m lucky that even with weight gain, the clothes that I’ve been wearing lately still fit me. But most of the clothes I’ve been wearing have been things like leggings and workout pants, so there is a lot of stretch in those and they work when my weight goes up and down. And while I’m fine living in leggings for the most part even when we aren’t in a pandemic, that’s not all I want to wear. I want to feel cute and fashionable. When I’ve had pandemic-safe dates (mainly going to a park and walking or something else outdoors), I don’t want to have to only wear leggings. And right now, other pants I own just aren’t fitting me.

I do have cute dresses and skirts that fit and I’m trying to be more ok with wearing those out and about, but the weight gain has also caused a hit in my confidence and I’m not feeling the same way I used to in dresses and skirts. So even though I didn’t want to spend money because I want to believe I will be fitting in my regular clothes again soon, I had to do some shopping for new jeans so I would have some options to wear.

Jeans are already difficult to shop for in normal times. And that’s when you can go to a store and try them on. Online shopping for jeans (unless they are a reorder of something I already own) is even harder. So I had to suck it up with spending a bit more so I could order different sizes and styles from different places. I only ordered places that had free shipping and easy returns, because I know I will be returning most of what I ordered. But I need to find some jeans that make me happy and feel confident in how I look right now.

And I’m aware that there is a chance I will be back in my other jeans in a few weeks or a month, but I can’t use that as an excuse to not have some options for now. In the past, I have kept so many of my skinny clothes in the hopes I’d be back in them soon. But they are just reminders of where I’m not at the moment. And by not having any jeans that fit me and seeing the ones that don’t fit hanging in my closet, it almost makes me feel like I don’t deserve to wear jeans until I lose weight. And I don’t want to have that mindset. I deserve to feel cute no matter my size and weight. I don’t only have to wear clothes with a lot of stretch to fit me.

Hopefully, at least one pair of what I ordered online will fit me and be the perfect jeans for how I look right now. I want to get back a little confidence and feel like my clothes fit me and look good. I am still going to wear comfortable leggings when I’m just staying home by myself, but I want to have some options for going out since that’s going to be happening more and more in the not too distant future.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnother Rut In My Life (or Time For Some Shopping) Default ThumbnailBusting Out Of My Comfort Zone (or I Bought Skinny Jeans) Default ThumbnailThe Most Impossible Shopping (or Thank Goodness For Online Stores!) Default ThumbnailLunch And Shopping (or Proof My Work Is Paying Off) Default ThumbnailNo Shopping September (or At Least No Online Shopping) Default ThumbnailThrowaway Clothes (or Why I Hate Shopping Sometimes)

Comments Off on Online Jeans Shopping (or Accepting I’ve Gained Weight)

Posted in Shopping

Tagged , , ,

Sorry For A Short Post (or Hopefully I Feel Better Soon)

Posted on March 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Sorry For A Short Post (or Hopefully I Feel Better Soon)

This is going to be a short post. I don’t like when I don’t have a good post up here each day (I still can’t believe that I’ve done over 2,000 posts!), but just like with my workouts I think something is better than nothing.

I was expecting this week to be a bad nausea week, but I don’t know if I got some sort of stomach bug as well because this is much worse than it normally is. I was only a little off yesterday morning (so I got my workout in), but after I showered I couldn’t stop the nausea from hitting me really hard. I have been taking all my meds and I’m doing everything I can to try to feel better, but I’m not having an easy time keeping anything down right now.

This is not normal for me. Even with my bad nausea, it’s never like this. That’s why I’m wondering if I ate something that is affecting me too. But it’s too late for me to change what happens now. All I can do is focus on getting better and hopefully being over this feeling soon.

So I’m writing this right after I’m done with work on Monday (I worked, but it wasn’t easy and I’m glad I work at home). And all I’m planning on doing now is resting and letting this feeling leave my body.

Hopefully as you are reading this, I’m feeling better. I know I will be dealing with nausea for at least another week, but I want it to be the more toleratable level that I’m used to.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailJust Dragging On (or Another Apology For Another Short Post) Default ThumbnailI Didn’t Think I Was This Sick (or This Will Be A Short Post) Default ThumbnailSorry For A Quick Post (or Going Through A Tough Day) Default ThumbnailA Low Key Post (or I Guess Things Come In Threes) Default ThumbnailStruggling Sucks (or Thank Goodness It Was A Short Workout Week) Default ThumbnailI Feel Like My Body Is Playing Tricks On Me (or Trying To Beat My Nausea)

Comments Off on Sorry For A Short Post (or Hopefully I Feel Better Soon)

Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged ,

A Lower Effort Workout Week (or Being Ok Missing A Workout)

Posted on March 29, 2021 | Comments Off on A Lower Effort Workout Week (or Being Ok Missing A Workout)

This past week of workouts wasn’t that great for me. I have had plenty of off weeks in the past, but I feel like lately, it has mainly been a mental struggle. It’s not often a physical struggle outside of the normal physical issues I have. But this past week was almost all of a physical struggle, but I’m ok with it.

I had gotten my second vaccine last Sunday. I have had some friends have no reaction to the second vaccine and some friends have reactions that lasted a day or two. I had expected I would likely need Monday off, and I was right. I was so exhausted and couldn’t imagine trying to work out. And I started to have some swelling in my arm (a totally normal reaction). It wasn’t until a bit later on Monday that my arm started to hurt.

And the pain and swelling in my arm lasted the entire week. The pain was pretty bad through Thursday but I wasn’t out of pain until Sunday (7 days after my vaccine). While the swelling was annoying, it was the pain that really prevented me from doing the workouts I was hoping to do.

The free OTF Live classes continued this past week and I had hoped to do at least one of them. But I just wasn’t able to do that. I did do some workouts on my own on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; and I know that is ok. But it wasn’t my plan and I had to remind myself that it’s ok if things aren’t the way I hoped them to go. I mean, the entire past year has been a lesson in things not going as planned.

I’m hoping that this week I will be able to get back to more normal workouts. I will have to switch up my workout schedule a little due to some things happening in my life, but that’s fine. And as far as I know, the free OTF Live classes have ended so I will need to do my own workout plan. And this week could potentially be the last week of all home workouts. But I think that it might go a little longer than I originally thought.

Next week, I will be considered fully vaccinated. And for a while, my plan has been to start the OTF Outdoor workouts when that happens. But there’s also the chance that the studios are going to be reopening in a week or two because of how things have been going in LA. And if I’m being honest, if it’s looking like it’s only another week or two I’d have to wait, it might be worth the wait. The Outdoor class isn’t that far from me, but it’s not super close. And I have to see what my schedule is like and how that compares to the Outdoor class schedule.

I’m grateful that I will have some options soon with my workouts. This past year has been a journey with me realizing what I crave with my workouts. And I want to find something that gives me a sense of normalcy again, and I know getting back to a regular workout routine will do that.

And in a weird way, having this off workout week that felt so odd was the biggest step I took toward getting my normal workouts back. So I guess I have to be grateful for the struggles I had.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAn Improving Workout Week (or I Finally Feel Like I Am Seeing The End Of Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailGoing Back To Some Basics (or A Double Nausea Workout Week) Default ThumbnailI Hate Having A Hard Workout Week (or Not My Usual Workout Recap) Default ThumbnailThis Does Feel Like A Normal Routine (or Another Full Workout Week) Default ThumbnailJust A Bad Workout Week (or I Need To End The Year Better Than This) Default ThumbnailDoing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Comments Off on A Lower Effort Workout Week (or Being Ok Missing A Workout)

Posted in Fitness

Tagged , ,

A Very Fast Vaccine Appointment (or I Still Am A Bit In Shock)

Posted on March 26, 2021 | Comments Off on A Very Fast Vaccine Appointment (or I Still Am A Bit In Shock)

When I had my first vaccine appointment 3 weeks ago, I didn’t believe it was going to happen until it did. And there were a lot of reasons why I felt that way. Getting my appointment was much easier than what many of my friends experienced. I was worried I’d get turned away for some reason or told they made a mistake letting me have an appointment. But I think the biggest reason why it didn’t feel real was this was something we had all been waiting on for a year and I couldn’t believe that it was finally happening. It wasn’t going to change much for me, but it was still a big deal.

I had my second vaccine appointment this past weekend, and it was a very different experience for me. First, I wasn’t worried about not being able to get my vaccine this time. Once you get the first vaccine, you are promised your second appointment. I know there have been issues with some vaccine locations having to cancel appointments because they didn’t get the vaccine delivered, but they always rescheduled them and it seemed like a very simple system. I also knew that I didn’t have to have any of the paperwork from my job like I brought with me the first time. And I knew much more about what to expect with the appointment so it wasn’t a big unknown for me. And I’ll admit it was nice to feel less stressed about going into my appointment.

I was still worried about passing out and all the other concerns I have with needles, but having normal worries was nice compared to all the extra worries I had before.

When I went in for my first vaccine, it was a pretty easy process. When I arrived they did a temperature check, I got some paperwork to fill out, they made my second appointment before I got the first vaccine, I went to the waiting area for them to call my name and had some time to play games on my phone to calm me down, and then after the vaccine I waited in a different waiting area for 15 minutes. I think from the time I arrived until I left was about an hour.

This time, things started the same. I got there and had a temperature check. They handed me the paperwork and asked me if it was my first or second vaccine. I told them it was my second and that I got the Pfizer vaccine. They walked me over to a desk where a nurse checked me in while I finished working on the paperwork. Last time, I was checking in for a few minutes but it took a little longer to do the paperwork, so I finished filling it out in the waiting area. This time, I asked them where the waiting area was so I could finish filling it out and they told me they were ready for me to go back for the vaccine!

They had changed things up a bit compared to a few weeks ago so they split up patients based on the vaccine they were getting. And that day, only a handful of us were getting the Pfizer vaccine, so they were pretty much ready for us the moment we walked in. I wasn’t expecting that and it was a bit of a whirlwind. But within 5 minutes of me arriving I was already in the post-vaccine waiting area!

I didn’t completely pass out for the shot this time, but I was really worried I would. Things happened so quickly and I didn’t have time to calm myself down. I’m glad that I was ok, but I’ve also learned how important it is for me to have the time to relax before a shot or IV.

Waiting in the post-vaccine waiting area was easy. You just have to be there for 15 minutes and then you can leave as long as you haven’t had any reactions. I didn’t have any immediate reactions (nor was I expecting to have any) so I was able to leave after the 15 minutes. And within 30 minutes of me parking my car, I was back in my car and ready to drive home! I was shocked how fast everything happened that I forgot to take a post-vaccine selfie in my car! And by the time I got home, I wasn’t feeling up for a photo so I only took a photo of my vaccine card.

And I did experience some side effects from the second shot, but nothing too horrible. I was very fatigued for about 2 days and needed to take some naps (although I’ve also been having other sleeping issues so I can’t guarantee this was just because of the shot). And I did get a bump that itched on my arm that lasted a little while. While it was not fun to have the bump on my arm, I didn’t consider it that big of a deal. Even if I had a fever or flu-like symptoms, it would have been worth it.

I’ll be considered fully vaccinated in about a week. But just like I wrote after my first vaccine, I’m not going to change my behavior too much. I might be more open to meeting up with a friend one on one without worrying as much as I’ve worried for the past year. And I’m looking into doing the OTF Outdoor workouts or the studio workouts when they reopen. But I’m still not going to go out that much and when I do run errands I’ll be wearing a mask. Things are finally starting to turn around a bit and we don’t want that progress to end or go back to how they were when things were much worse.

I do know I’m very lucky that I was able to get my vaccines done. But for others in California, it looks like they will have the same chance soon too! Vaccines are going to be opening up a lot in April. Starting on April 1st, everyone 50 and older will be eligible. And starting on April 15th, everyone 16 and older will be eligible! I know that it will still take time for everyone to get their vaccines, but this is still a great step forward and will just continue to make things safer for all of us!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailGetting Hopeful About The Vaccine (or Why I’m Being Even More Careful Now) Default ThumbnailGetting Vaccinated (or I Didn’t Believe This Until It Happened) Default ThumbnailVaccine Envy Is Real (or Trying To Stay Positive) Default ThumbnailThankful To Have Some Guidance (or I’m Almost Fully Vaccinated) Default ThumbnailLast Dentist Appointment For A While (or Not Really A Quick Appointment) Default ThumbnailMy First Doctor Appointment In A While (or Not Everything Can Be Done Over The Phone)

Comments Off on A Very Fast Vaccine Appointment (or I Still Am A Bit In Shock)

Posted in Health

Tagged , ,

Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Posted on March 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Before this past year, I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a drive-in event or movie. It just wasn’t something I heard about a lot and I figured if I wanted to see a movie I’d rather see it in a theater. But since the pandemic, it seems like there are more and more drive-in things to do. Some new drive-in theaters have opened and there are other types of drive-in events like the For Your Consideration screening I went to over the summer.

I’ve been saying I should go to more drive-in events, but I just haven’t really been doing it. There are only a few people I trust to be in a car with right now and I don’t want to spend money if I don’t have to. But as I’ve written about more and more recently, I need to have more fun in my life. I just haven’t been great about doing it and figuring out what to do.

But earlier this year, my friend Dani found a drive-in drag queen show with some of the contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race and asked if I was interested in going. It sounded awesome so we got tickets for it. The tickets were per car, but you were limited to only 2 people in the car, so it was just going to be us. Then Dani had a conflict and no longer could go, so she gave me the tickets and I decided to ask my birthday twin, Joanna, if she wanted to join me.

Normally, Joanna and I have 2 regular hangouts a year. Once for our birthday when we go to Truxtons and once around the New Year when we go to Cheesecake Factory. We had both of those hangouts in the past year. Truxtons was a picnic outside and Cheesecake Factory was with each of us at our own homes and having dinner over Zoom. And while we’d both love to hang out more than just twice a year, with both of us having crazy schedules it doesn’t always happen. So when she said she’d love to come with me to the show, I was so excited!

This show was at the Rose Bowl, where the other drive-in event I went to was. But it was held in a field and not in the parking lot. Things were a little disorganized trying to get in there. We were following a line of cars, but we didn’t realize that the line we were following was the second part of the check-in. There wasn’t a sign for the first part, but the security officers there told us where to go. And once we got to the correct area, the check-in was pretty easy and moved quickly. We were given information for the food trucks that were there, but Joanna and I brought a ton of snacks with us so we were good with food.

And while I’d love to give this show a great review, there were some issues we encountered while we were there. We were directed to a parking spot which was right in the center of the field. But we were several rows back and because I have a shorter car there was no way for us to see the stage.

They had a few screens on the sides to see what was on stage, but they were off on the sides so for us to look at them we had to sit almost sideways in our seats. There were also screens much further up, so I tried to look at those more often so my neck could have a break. But the screens near us were pretty tough to see.

But Joanna and I didn’t let that get to us too much. Even though we would have loved to have been able to see the show better, we both had a great time because we were able to hang out together! Also, the screens had speakers that played the music, so we didn’t have to use the radio in my car to hear what’s going on. So we were able to listen to the show but also be able to chat and catch up.

And the performances were good. Like I said, we wished we could have seen things better, but we still enjoyed it. And we were having so much fun being out and doing something. Both of us are so careful with what we do these days and not really going out and doing much. So this show was a great change from what we’ve been doing for the past year. And any fun things we can do these days are really appreciated!

The show was about 90 minutes long and I will say that the location where we were parked did allow us to have an easier time leaving than other people did, so that was a bonus. And we continued to catch up on the drive home. It was honestly a hangout that I really needed. Even though we did our cheesecake dinner over Zoom, it wasn’t the same as being together in person. So this show was the missing element from earlier this year.

Hopefully, it won’t be that much longer before we can hang out and not have to think about how careful we are being. I think that it’s a safe guess that we will be able to feel that way by the time we have our birthday dinner in August. Of course, we’ve all seen this past year how quickly things can change. But right now, it seems like things are finally changing for the better and I want to think it will stay that way from now on.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure) Default ThumbnailVery Belated New Years Cheesecake (or A Birthday Twin Dinner) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Of Cheesecake (or Just A Calm Dinner With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailCheesecake With My Birthday Twin (or Continuing A New Tradition) Default ThumbnailChristmas Hangout With My Birthday Twin (or Witnessing A Real-Life Romantic Comedy) Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin)

Comments Off on Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

3 Months At My New Job (or Having Another Job Review)

Posted on March 24, 2021 | Comments Off on 3 Months At My New Job (or Having Another Job Review)

It’s been just over 3 months since I started my new customer service job. While I’m still learning things, I’m feeling more and more settled with work these days. At the beginning, it was a bit overwhelming with everything that I was trying to learn. But it did eventually sink in and now I’m feeling pretty comfortable with most things customers are asking me about.

I haven’t worked too many jobs that have set check-in points, but with this one there was. I had a check-in about a month in (which was a little bit past a month because of the timing of holidays) and that went really well. But that one felt a bit more casual than what I was going to be expecting with the 3-month review. I had no reason to be nervous or worried, but I always feel that way about work. It’s been a long time since I’ve been let go from a job for a reason other than the pandemic. I shouldn’t be worried about that, especially when my manager has been very open with communication about my job performance. She hasn’t been hiding things as she sees them. If I make a mistake or do something that could be better, she lets me know. That can be a little scary, but I appreciate it so I can improve on my performance. But even with all that, knowing I was having my 3-month review coming up made me worried that it was all going to change.

But as I think anyone could have guessed, that wasn’t the case. I had my review last week and it went pretty much how I expected it to go. And we covered quite a few things in the meeting.

The first thing was something that I asked for. For the past 3 months, I’ve been doing 2 different jobs at the company. I’ve been doing the customer service work as well as outbound engagement work. And while I could continue doing both, I knew I was experiencing burnout with the outbound engagement work as I have been doing that for other jobs now too. And when I was hired, they were very open to me saying if I was feeling overwhelmed by both jobs. So I wasn’t afraid to mention it to them. I’m going to still be doing that work until a replacement is hired, but it probably won’t be too long before that happens. I also wanted to take this part of my job off my plate because I’m hearing more news about when I might be asked back to my old customer service job. I won’t be doing both jobs at the same time, but I don’t know when I would have time for the outbound engagement work when I’m working with my old job again too.

We also went over what has been good and what could be better. And for the most part, things have been awesome. I have previously said how things might have been harder for me than for most new hires because I started and then had time off for the holidays. That made things tough on me. Also, because of the holidays, the typical schedule for how things go each month has been a bit different. So the way things went while I was in training isn’t exactly how they normally go. It’s not a bad thing, but something I’m very aware of. And the only other thing that could be better was something we were able to fix on my check-in call. There’s something within our system where we enter new clients that wasn’t working the way I thought it should. We had to copy and paste things from old forms when I thought there was a way to make a template. And there was a way to make that happen and it was fixed at that moment! It wasn’t a huge problem, but it would make us much more efficient when we work. And efficiency is important.

And at the end of the call, I was told that I would be getting a raise! It’s not a huge raise, but it’s not insignificant either. And having that raise is going to make things a bit easier as I won’t have as many hours of work when I’m not doing the outbound engagement work anymore. I’m not sure if my hours will increase in the future right now, but I’m open to the possibility. And I am very happy with this job and feel like it’s a great fit for me, so I’m hoping that I will continue to grow with them!

I don’t know when I have another check-in call like this one, but I also know that I can always reach out to someone if I’m having concerns or an issue. I don’t need to wait for an official check-in to see if something can be fixed or changed. And knowing that is a great feeling and something that I haven’t experienced with all the jobs I’ve had before.

I’m still so grateful for my friend who helped me get this job. It’s been better than I could have expected and I’m excited to see what will be in my future with the company.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailGetting More Used To My Schedule (or My First Full Week At The New Job) Default ThumbnailAnother Job Through A Friend (or Excited To Do Job Training) Default ThumbnailI Got A New Day Job, Sort Of (or Maybe I Won’t Be Unemployed For Long) Default ThumbnailJob vs. Career (or Being Undercover At My Day Job) Default ThumbnailDay Job News (or Things Are Getting Better) Default ThumbnailAnother Time A Friend Found Me A Job (or It Really Is About Who Knows You)

Comments Off on 3 Months At My New Job (or Having Another Job Review)

Posted in Work

Tagged ,

An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

Posted on March 23, 2021 | Comments Off on An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

It’s been a while since I’ve had some new headshots taken. I know I need to do some new ones soon, but I’ve been putting it off for a bit. Before the pandemic, I was hoping I would have a different enough look to need them (like if I changed up my hair or lost weight). I know you don’t have to wait until you look different for new photos, but that was the excuse I was telling myself. And then during the pandemic, I’ve been telling myself that I wanted to wait until it was safer. I know several photographers have been doing headshots and have found ways to stay safe, but I was still using that as an excuse.

But last week, I had to get some photos done for my social media day job. We all needed official work photos done. Some people had some that were taken before, but everyone was getting new photos taken even if they had them done in the past. These photos are going to be used on the company website, in our work emails, and when we are doing something where we are representing the company. But because many of us who work there are also actors, they wanted the photos to be great for work and also possible to use as headshots.

The photos were taken with The Headshot Truck. I’ve known about The Headshot Truck for several years now and I hadn’t shot with them before. But I loved their work and was really excited to get a chance to shoot with them. Because of safety issues, the photos would all be taken outside but I knew that they were going to be great no matter what.

Since these photos are primarily for work-related purposes, there were a few things we all had to do. The main thing was that we all had to wear blue since that is the company color. That was fine with me since I think I photograph well in blue. So I wore one option and brought a few others in case I needed to change. We all only had 15 minutes for our shoots, so there wasn’t really time to do multiple looks. But I wanted to have options just in case I needed to change before we started shooting. Fortunately, the outfit that I wore to the shoot was perfect and I didn’t have to change.

One other difference between other headshot shoots was that I had to do my own hair and makeup. I almost always have someone to do my hair and makeup, but since this shoot was a mini-shoot and mainly for work, I wasn’t going to hire someone this time. So I did my own hair and makeup and hoped it would look ok.

The shoot itself was really fun and easy. There were 2 outdoor locations were did the photos in. And halfway through the shoot, the photographer let me look at the photos so I could see if there was anything I wanted to change. I’m glad I did look, because there was something odd with how my hair was going over my shoulder. It wasn’t anything bad or something anyone besides myself would notice, but I’m glad I could fix it because I know it would have bothered me looking at the photos. I will also likely do retouching (since you always need to do that) so I could have fixed it in retouching too. But I am glad I could change how my hair looked so I could feel better about my photos.

I haven’t gotten the images back just yet, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only seen a few shots from their computer screen after the shoot was done, but they look great!

I know my photo of their screen isn’t the best and it’s not easy to see the photos, but I was happy when looking at them. And I’m sure I’ll have a few different ones that are my top choices and I’ll ask friends to help me pick the best one. And maybe I’ll find one that I love for my work shot and another that I love for a headshot!

I love that I had this chance to take some new photos. Even though the main reason for them is for work, this is another thing I was able to do to get ready for being back to auditioning again. I’ve been doing self-tapes over the past year, but I know in-person auditions will be back in the future and I want to have myself in the best spot possible for those when they happen.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailTime For New Headshots (or Adding Some Personality Into My Photos) Default ThumbnailA Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie) Default ThumbnailExpress Headshot Day (or Another Fun Podcast Event) Default ThumbnailNew Headshots (or Trying To Be A Quirky Office Girl/College Student/Young Mom) Default ThumbnailBeing Underestimated (or Does My Opinion Not Matter?) Default ThumbnailGetting Pretty (or A Fresh Look For My New Pictures)

Comments Off on An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Work

Tagged , , ,

Doing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Posted on March 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Doing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Last week, I wrote about how I tried my first OTF Live workout. It was a bit of a shock to my system because it was so much harder than most of the workouts I’ve been doing. But I also know that it probably is easier doing one of the OTF Live workouts than it is to do a regular studio workout. That made me a bit nervous but also motivated me to start working harder. I know I won’t be back in the studio right now, but it’s getting closer and closer to being an option.

So when my Orangetheory studio said they were going to continue doing community classes through this past week, I knew I was going to do more. Community classes allow us to take classes even if we aren’t technically current members. My membership has been on hold since the studios shut down just over a year ago. If I want to do some of the OTF Outdoor classes, they have a different membership level I can join at since I won’t necessarily need my full membership. And that outdoor workout level will also include the OTF Live classes. But since I didn’t want to start up my membership just yet, having community classes was perfect!

Because of my schedule and the times the OTF Live classes were available, I was able to do 2 OTF Live classes last week and then did 2 weightlifting workouts on my own. The weightlifting workouts were good. I think it’s getting hard to be super enthusiastic about them when I am comparing them to the OTF Live workouts. But like I always say, something is better than nothing. And I think doing those workouts is less frustrating for me than trying to find another video workout. But if I could have done all 4 workouts with OTF Live, I probably would have done so.

But I also think it was for the best that I only did half my workouts with OTF Live. Because they are harder than what I’ve been doing for a while, I need to ease back into them. Even though I haven’t worked out in the studio in a year, I still remember what I was able to do there. And it’s hard not to try to go that hard at home. But I can’t do that just yet. My body needs to work back up to where I was. And I forget that while in the workout a lot. But after the workout is done and the soreness sets in, it hits me.

But I really enjoyed the Live workouts. The coaching makes it so much better than doing a video. Feeling like I’m working out with a group and not alone makes me happier. And even though I can’t push myself as much as I used to, it is still pushing me to do better and work harder. I don’t slack off when I’m doing the Live workouts. Part of it is to not let others see me slack off but I also feel pushed to do and try more in that environment.

This week, the community classes are done and if I want to do more Live workouts I need to restart my membership. And I might do that since I know soon I’ll be doing the outdoor workouts. As I’m writing this post, I haven’t gotten my second vaccine yet. But as you are reading it, I have gotten the second one. But because I’m writing this before the vaccine, I have no idea how I will feel this week. I want to hope that I will be able to do 4 workouts this week, but I might be taking Monday (today) off. It just depends on how hard the side effects hit me.

But once I’m feeling better after the vaccine, I’m going to look more into starting an OTF membership for the Live and Outdoor classes. I still don’t plan on trying an outdoor one until I’m fully vaccinated in 2 more weeks, but doing the Live ones will be worth it as long as I’m feeling ok. But if I feel off all week this week, I’m not going to push myself to do them. I have workouts I can do at home and be ok with them. And if that’s what I do this week, that’s still good.

Each week, I’m closer and closer to being back in the studio at the workouts that I have missed so much over the past year. But I’m glad I’m finding steps to bridge the difference between my home workouts and the studio ones. Hopefully, by the time I am back in the studio, I will be ready and it won’t be as much of a shock to my system.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailOne Step Closer To My Regular Workouts (or Trying OTF Live) Default ThumbnailTrying Other Types Of OTF At Home Workouts (or Adding More Variety) Default ThumbnailReally Getting Ready To Get Back To My Workouts (or I’m Not Sure I’m Ready To Work That Hard Yet) Default ThumbnailStill Figuring Out My Workouts (or I’m Just Missing OTF More And More) Default Thumbnail6 Months Of Home Workouts (or I Still Miss OTF All The Time) Default ThumbnailSome Of My Best And Worst Workouts (or A New Type Of Home Workouts)

Comments Off on Doing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Hitting A Bit Of Burnout (or I Took On A Lot At Once)

Posted on March 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Hitting A Bit Of Burnout (or I Took On A Lot At Once)

For so much of last year, I didn’t have much to do each day. I was struggling to fill my time and not be bored. So once I got a new job, I was grateful to have something to do plus I needed to start making money again. And it seems like getting my new job was the kick-off for other things starting up again or being a part of my day. But I also think that because of how empty my schedule was not that long ago, I added more things than I should have done at once. And now it’s getting a bit overwhelming.

I’ve struggled so much in the past with finding a balance between having free time and being overscheduled, and I’m aware that this is a privileged problem. I know many people would love to be overscheduled and working a lot. And I’m not saying I’m not grateful or understand that I’m lucky. But I also know that sometimes I can either take on too much or go too hard with things.

And lately, I’ve been noticing more and more signs of burnout. I’m glad I can recognize it earlier than I have in the past, but recognizing it doesn’t fix the feeling. I started to have some signs I was getting closer to burnout last month, which is why I made my monthly challenge in February about planning out my day each day. And that did help a bit. I noticed where my days were being overpacked and where I had almost too much free time.

But this month, things seem to have gotten busier for me. I’m not going out and doing things that often, but I have more things I need to do that are at a specific time. And the things that I do that aren’t time-specific are usually being fit in between those scheduled events. So sometimes, it feels like I’m going non-stop. For example, yesterday I had work, then I had to drive somewhere for a work-related thing (more on that next week), then run an errand that I had been putting off, and then I had a Zoom meeting I need to be on. From the time I logged into work until I logged out of Zoom, I was scheduled for about 11 hours of my day. I also had to fit in the other job that I can do at any time, so I was doing it in chunks between everything else. By the time I was able to sit down and write this post, I was exhausted.

And I am happy to be exhausted and feel productive again, but I also know I can’t keep this up. Fortunately, not all days are like this. They usually don’t have so many things back to back so I have some decompression time when switching from one thing to another. And they also usually have more fun things scheduled so I look forward to something. I don’t know if the burnout is harder now because I don’t have much else in my life and I can focus on it more, but something is hitting me harder than I would expect when I compare this time to burnouts in the past.

I’m taking some steps now to make sure that I take care of myself and my mental health. I’m looking at how I can plan each day a bit better so that I don’t feel as stressed to get everything done. Obviously, there are some things that I don’t have a ton of flexibility with because they are not on my own schedule. But I know I have plenty of things that I can find ways to adjust and move around. And I need to keep working on creating a daily schedule each day since that does help me feel better about my day. When I can see it written out, it helps me know that there is a time to do everything. I’m not trying to cram everything in when I might have some flexibility to do some work later.

I’m sure finding the balance of free time and being overscheduled will continue to be an issue for me. For all I know, in a week or two I’ll be writing about how I’m bored and want to do more things. In some ways, it’s nice to have this as a problem again because it does feel a bit normal to me. But I also know that I will move things around to make them better and things will be better for me for at least a little while. And maybe I’ll figure out the perfect way to start adding more things back to my schedule as they open up. I’ve been looking forward to things being safe again and I know I need to find the time to take advantage of those when I can!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailI Tried, I Still Hit Burnout (or Finding Some New Limits) Default ThumbnailTrying To Avoid Holiday Burnout (or Staying Home For Self-Care) Default ThumbnailTaking A Break To Be Sick (or Hitting A Road Bump) Default ThumbnailGetting Too Comfortable (or Getting Ready To Quit) Default ThumbnailSeeing How To Make My New Schedule Work (or I Have A Better Idea Of My Free Time Now) Default ThumbnailGetting Myself Back On Schedule (or At Least This Is A Slow Transition)

Comments Off on Hitting A Bit Of Burnout (or I Took On A Lot At Once)

Posted in Tough Stuff, Work

Tagged , , ,

More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Posted on March 18, 2021 | Comments Off on More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Over the past year, I’ve done a lot of virtual meetings regarding SAG-AFTRA. Some of them are more official and some of them are unofficial but still related to union service. I’m not sure if I’ve been a part of more meetings than normal since virtual ones are easier to attend, but I know that it hasn’t been as big of a decrease as I feared at first. There are different virtual meetings and events to attend each week and I only have been a part of a small portion of those. But whenever there is a bigger official meeting, I do my best to be a part of it.

There haven’t been a lot of big meetings lately, but there have been a few. There was one last year regarding the health plan that I made sure to be a part of. Even though I’m not eligible for union healthcare, I wanted to understand what was going on so I could try to help other members who had questions. I also like to understand what is going on because then when I’m eligible in the future I will already have some knowledge about the system. I did that before I joined the union. I attended several meetings that were open to non-union members so I didn’t join without understanding a lot of the union benefits and the important people I should know about.

I do miss attending the Local Board meetings. I was doing really great with attending those each month. And while they are doing those meetings over Zoom these days, they are not open to observers like the in-person meetings are. But as soon as those are able to have observers again, I plan on being back there and being as active and involved in the union as I can.

But last week, there was another big official meeting. The LA Local Membership meeting is an open meeting to all members of the LA Local. Normally, it’s held in a big room and there is an expo before the meeting so members can learn about different committees and services that the LA Local has. And during the meeting, there is a lot of information given, like how things have been going for the union and the progress of things coming up. And for the second half of the meeting, it’s a Q&A where you can ask the local leaders questions about anything union-related. Some people have questions about contracts, some ask about the health and pension plans, and some are more general questions.

Something I love about the LA Local Membership meeting is getting to see so many of my friends. I usually am socializing before and after the meeting. Sometimes a little socializing during the meeting too. But I usually am trying to pay attention and see what new things are happening that I need to be aware of. It’s a long meeting and full of information, but it’s always something I am glad I attended.

This year, obviously they couldn’t have the meeting the way they usually do. So it was done on Zoom with only the leaders being seen. There were presentations about a few things, but not as many as they have done during the in-person meetings. I don’t know if they were trying to keep more time open for the Q&A or if there wasn’t as much to present. But I’m glad they did keep the Q&A time because I know I had a lot of friends that had questions. I had some questions I wanted to ask too, but I couldn’t stay on Zoom the entire time and I didn’t want my turn to come up when I wasn’t on there. So I just listened to what other members asked.

And most of the questions were things that I expected to hear about. Some of the same questions that we are used to hearing at these meetings and some that are specific to this time. Being safe on sets and at auditions is a big concern for everyone, but the union has been doing a great job and creating guidelines for how to accomplish that.

While I didn’t get to meet anyone new in person like I normally do, I did connect to someone through social media after they asked a question that I was able to help with. I’m glad I was still able to help a member, but it was weird having to find them on social media and hope they were ok with a random person messaging them. Fortunately, they were ok with me doing that and I was able to get them connected to others who I thought they should know.

While this was still a really great and productive meeting, I was a bit sad that it was done virtually. So much of what I love about union service is meeting new people in person and connecting with them. You can’t really do that over Zoom. And I think most of us are ready to be done with virtual meetings and seeing people face to face again. But we can’t do that just yet. Things are getting safer, but they aren’t safe just yet. And I don’t know what it will take for meetings to be in person again, but I do trust that whatever the union decides to do, there will be a lot of thought behind it. So I am ok with them not rushing back, but at the same time, I can’t wait for it to happen.

Hopefully, this was one of my last big union events that will be done virtually. I know there is some chance of things coming up that will be virtual, like the National Convention, but that’s also half a year away. Nothing has been decided yet and so much can change between now and then. All I can do is continue attending the things that I can and try to find ways to still be involved and make connections. And I’m sure it won’t be long before I am back to attending things in person and maybe I’ll even start missing the time that I attended things virtually.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago) Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailA Virtual Holiday Party (or Missing My Union So Much) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things) Default ThumbnailFinal Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable) Default ThumbnailYou Are The Union (or Finding More Ways To Educate Other Union Members)

Comments Off on More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , , , ,