Monthly Archives: May 2022

My First Real HOA Meeting (or This Felt Like A Union Meeting)

Posted on May 31, 2022 | Comments Off on My First Real HOA Meeting (or This Felt Like A Union Meeting)

When people are looking to buy a place, there are positives and negatives to different types of homes. I know a lot of people don’t like condos (or some neighborhoods) because of HOAs, but I knew that I would have to get a condo so an HOA was something I knew I would have. If I wanted to get a place without one, I would have to move to a part of LA that I didn’t want to live in. And location was one of the most important things for me.

Maybe it’s because I have lived in a rental for so long, but having an HOA didn’t seem like a huge deal to me. I didn’t look at the rules for the HOAs at other condos I looked at, but I did see what the monthly cost was. And where I live is one of the lowest monthly costs. We don’t have a ton of amenities, but I didn’t want to have to pay for things like a pool or super fancy gym if I didn’t need them. My place does have a gym, but it’s pretty basic so the HOA dues are not too high to maintain it.

Since we closed on the condo, there haven’t been a lot of HOA meetings. The first one after the closing was the meeting I attended to discuss the plan for my renovation. But that meeting was a bit different because they changed the agenda to discuss my renovation at the beginning of the meeting and after that was done I didn’t stay in the meeting much longer. So I didn’t really get an idea of what the meetings were like.

But the next one just happened this past week and I knew I wanted to observe it. It’s smart to know what’s going on with the HOA and what costs might be coming up. I have had a neighbor ask me if I was interested in running for the HOA board, but I don’t think I want to do that just yet. I’d rather live here for a year or so and see what things are like before I really consider if I’d be interested.  But as an owner, I can be an observer at the meetings and that’s what I want to do. It’s like how I used to be able to observe the local board meetings for my union (which I plan on doing again as soon as they are in person).

This meeting really did remind me of the union meetings. The agenda had a couple of things on it that the board and the HOA management company needed to go over. Nothing was too serious, but there was discussion of fixing a few things that need to be repaired or changes to community areas that would like to be considered. And there was another owner that is planning on remodeling their kitchen so they had to discuss their plans with the board to be approved, just like I had done in the past meeting.

There was a lot to learn while observing the meetings, although I think I would be ok if I didn’t know all this information. But I like to be informed and this is my home so I would like to know what things are concerns for other owners. But because this is a small building and there aren’t too many amenities, I don’t think there will ever be anything too crazy discussed. For example, one of the biggest issues discussed was a bee issue happening on the other side of the building and hiring someone to remove the bees without killing them. I’m sure there could be bigger issues brought up if someone was causing a disturbance, but from what I have seen so far, everyone who lives here is very respectful of the public spaces. The biggest issue was someone smoking on their balcony, and the HOA sent an email reminding everyone that smoking is only allowed inside of the condos and not in a place where the smoke could affect others.

The meeting only lasted a bit more than an hour, so it was pretty short. And everything discussed was written on the agenda so everyone was good about staying on topic and making sure the meeting was running smoothly. I did appreciate that a lot since I have heard horror stories of HOA meetings lasting hours or people grandstanding. I’m lucky that I live in a building where it seems like everyone is just trying to live their lives and not do anything to affect others around them.

And even though I didn’t speak or contribute to the meeting, I did get a better sense of how things will work with the HOA and what I can expect from future meetings, whether I’m an observer or if I decide to be on the board. And being informed about my living situation is always a good thing in my mind.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailOne Step Closer To Moving (or My First HOA Meeting) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Working Meeting (or Rolling With The Technical Difficulties) Default ThumbnailA Low Key Union Working Meeting (or Getting To Fully Focus On What’s Being Said) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailFinal Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable)

Comments Off on My First Real HOA Meeting (or This Felt Like A Union Meeting)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

A Week Of Mayhem (or Completing Another Fitness Challenge)

Posted on May 30, 2022 | Comments Off on A Week Of Mayhem (or Completing Another Fitness Challenge)

This past week’s workouts were a part of Mayhem! I have done Mayhem before, and it’s similar to Hell Week. This year, I knew I’d get enough workouts in to complete it and get the swag, but I didn’t officially sign up for it. They were giving away a water bottle, which I would love, but I also know I don’t need it. If it was a shirt, I probably would have paid just to get it. But this year I just got my 4 workouts in and get the bragging rights.

Monday’s workout was called Distance Distortion. And it was a switch template so we had 2 blocks at each section of the room, but we switched after each block. So I did cardio, rowing, floor, cardio, rowing, and floor. That’s a change from what we normally do with back-to-back blocks within the same section of the room.

For cardio, the first block started with 1 minute between a base and push pace. Because of what was coming up, I kept it at my base resistance level on the bike. Every minute, I was supposed to increase the resistance level by 1. Because this block was over 6 minutes long, I got the resistance higher than what I normally do for my all-out. And when I got back to the bike for the second block, we started at what we ended with in the first block and every minute I decreased the resistance level by 1. We were supposed to track the distance to see if we could beat it in the second block, but I forgot to look after the first so I’m not sure if I did that.

The first block on the rower started with a 500-meter row. Then we had some knees to elbows followed by 3 rounds of a 100-meter row. After completing the last 100-meter row, we had squats until the end of the block. And in the second block, we had 3 rounds of a 100-meter row followed by both exercises and just keep repeating that. I only got to my 4th 100-meter row when the block ended.

And on the floor, the first block started with sumo squats and then we had froggers. For the sumo squats, we had a rep count, but for the froggers, we were supposed to do as many as we could until we needed to rest. And after 2 rounds of the exercises, we had double crunches until the end of the block. And the second block had low rows with weights for a set number of reps and low rows on the straps until we needed a rest. And after 2 rounds of those, we had bicycle crunches for the rest of the block.

I did have one small incident on the floor. I have had a lot of klutzy moments over the years at Orangetheory, but I always seem to have more. And this time, I dropped the weight I was using for my double crunches on my head because it slipped. It was totally my fault and I’m fine, but I did get a nice bruise from it. I’ve always worried about dropping a weight, and now I know to make sure I have a better grip on my weights when I’m starting to get tired.

Wednesday’s workout was called Base-ically Upside Down. For this workout, each section of the room had 3 blocks that were 4 minutes each.

For cardio, each block had the same pattern. We had a 90-second base pace at an incline, a 1-minute push pace at the same incline, a 45-second walking recovery, and a 45-second all-out. Each block the incline went up. The way it was set for me with the resistance levels, the first block I was at my push pace level the entire time, the second block was between my push and all-out, and the last was at my all-out. And I really made an effort to increase how fast I was pedaling between the base and push paces at the incline. It was really tough in the last block because that was a long time to be at what is normally my all-out level, but I feel like I did a pretty good job with it.

On the rower, we also had a similar pattern for all the blocks. Each block had a row for a specific distance. then we had front jacks and power jacks with a medicine ball, which I modified to be front presses and overhead presses. And then we rowed until the block was done. The goal was to try to get the same distance for each block. In the first block, the first row was 400-meters. The second block was 300-meters. And the last block was 200-meters. I tried to match my distance each time, but I didn’t quite make it for the second block.

And on the floor, each block had 3 exercises that had a load and explode format. The first block had bench tap squats, bench tap front squats, and bench tap jump squats. I did calf raises instead of the jump for the jump squats. The second block had push-ups, chest presses with weights, and power push-ups. This was one of the first times in a long time that I really tried to do the power push-ups. It wasn’t easy and I had to go slow, but I managed to do most of them as power push-ups each time. And the last block had mountain climbers, plank pull-throughs, and plank jacks. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job with the exercises and making sure I really tried to make the last exercise in each block an explosive move.

Thursday’s workout was called (De)construct Your Reality. I was a bit tired from not sleeping well plus I was a bit sore from Wednesday, but I knew I could at least do better than how I do when I’m dealing with nausea. Just like on Wednesday, each section of the room had 3 blocks that were 4 minutes each.

For cardio, every block we had a push pace to an all-out. That was the entire block. The first block had a 3-minute push pace to a 1-minute all-out. The second block had a 3.25-minute push pace to a 45-second all-out. And the last block had a 3.5-minute push pace to a 30-second all-out. We normally don’t have a push pace that is more than 3-minutes, so that added to how tough each block was. Plus, not having a break during the entire 4 minutes was a challenge. But it was a good challenge and I really enjoyed it.

On the rower, for the first block, we started with a 45-second push row followed by a 30-second all-out row. Then we had 30 seconds to rest before we had a 45-second all-out row. And we ended that block with another 30 seconds to rest and then a 1-minute all-out row. After finishing that block, we looked at our distance on the rower because we would use that for the next block. For the second block, we did half the distance we did in the first block. Then we took 30 seconds to rest and did a base pace row until we did a 45-second all-out row at the end of that block. And for the last block, we did a similar pattern as the first block. But we had the 1-minute all-out row first and we ended with the 30-second all-out row.

And on the floor, each block had 3 exercises that either constructed or deconstructed an exercise. For the first block, we had squats, alternating shoulder presses, and neutral full thrusters. For the second block, we had straight leg raise to crunches (which I did as double crunches), weighted crunches, and straight leg raises. And for the last block, we had high rows on the straps, triceps on the straps, and pull-ups on the straps (which I did as low rows instead). Even though it wasn’t a ton of different exercises and not a lot of work with weights, I really felt the floor work when we were done with the workout.

Friday’s workout was called All Out Darkness. And as it sounds, it was all about all-outs or feeling like you are in an all-out in the workout. Each section of the room was one long block, so we didn’t have a lot of rest time during the workout.

For cardio, we repeated the same pattern for the entire block. We had a 90-second push pace, a 30-second push pace at an incline, and then a recovery. Doing a push pace at an incline is basically the same as doing an all-out. But because the incline/resistance level increased each time, that got harder and harder each time. That’s different from a regular all-out where it can feel the same the entire time. And because of how many times we repeated the pattern, I was using resistance levels much higher than I normally use in the workout. I felt like my legs weren’t moving at the end, but I was also using a level that I think I’ve only used once or twice before.

On the rower, we followed the same timed pattern as cardio. For the 90-second segment, we had squats and then a 150-meter row. The squats started at 25 reps and went down each round. Any time in the 90-seconds we had left after the row we could rest. But I didn’t have extra time until the 4th round. Then in the 30-second segment, we had an all-out row. And we also had the 45-second recovery.

And on the floor, we had drop set work. For the drop sets, we had deadlifts, double crunches, lunges, and tricep extensions. And we also had regular reps with skater lunges, running man, and lunges. I did have to skip the drop sets for the lunges and just did regular lunges for both lunge reps. But I was able to do all the rest of the exercises, even though I was exhausted at the end of the workout.

These workouts were definitely hard, but they were such a good challenge. And even though I didn’t get the water bottle for completing the challenge, I still completed it and I’m proud of myself! And I’m so grateful that this week happened on a good week for me because it would have been so frustrating to be limited with what I could do. So I’m glad I really could push myself and feel so accomplished!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailFinishing The 12 Days Of Fitness (or Debating If I Like This Workout Schedule) Default ThumbnailKicking Off The 12 Days Of Fitness (or A Different Type Of Hell Week) Default ThumbnailFinishing Up 12 Days of Fitness (or This Felt Like A Long Hell Week) Default ThumbnailA Week Of Mayhem (or Continuing To Try To Make My Workouts Harder) Default ThumbnailAlmost Having A Second Hell Week (or Just Pushing Through) Default ThumbnailA Good, Strong Workout Week (or I Really Love Feeling Like Myself)

Comments Off on A Week Of Mayhem (or Completing Another Fitness Challenge)

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , ,

Really Seeing What I Need To Buy Now (or I Need To Cut Back On Spending Again)

Posted on May 27, 2022 | Comments Off on Really Seeing What I Need To Buy Now (or I Need To Cut Back On Spending Again)

I knew moving would be expensive. There were so many expenses connected to moving that I planned on, but then there were a lot of expenses I didn’t think about until I was in the middle of moving. For example, I had to consider what things I was going to take from my old place to the new place and what things I was already thinking about replacing and just wanted to replace before moving something that I wouldn’t want to keep for a while.

For most things that I knew I was planning on replacing, I didn’t bother taking the old ones with me. I knew that meant I would be spending more replacing things I technically already owned, but I think it was worth it because that also eliminated a bunch of things I would have needed to move. The only thing that I knew I would be replacing as soon as possible that I did move with me was my printer. Once I got my new computer, I discovered my old printer wouldn’t work with it anymore. I knew this was likely because I had to do some crazy things to make it work with the old computer too. But since I knew I might need to print things and I was still deciding on the new printer, I brought it with me. But I finally got a replacement printer, so the old one is finally going to go. I might try to sell it or donate it, but I have to look into my options more.

I wasn’t planning on buying a new couch, but when I found the one I saw when my parents were visiting, it really made sense to get it. The price was really good and the old couch really didn’t fit into the new space. And I got a few other new things like silverware that I had been looking to replace for a while, but I tried to keep the expenses down as much as I could.

And there are a lot of other things I want to replace that I’m waiting on. I want to get new dishes, but I’m not going to just buy anything. I want to find some that I love and I don’t need to rush into finding new ones. And I want to get a new tv since my current one is very small for the space now. But again, I can wait on buying a new one since it’s not urgent.

But it seems like I have a long list of things I still want to get and I have to think about what are needs and what are wants. Some things feel like needs, such as a storage cabinet I’m going to put in a closet to organize cleaning supplies and other things. I used to have a little utility room at my old place where I stored those things, but I don’t have anything like that here yet. And then there are a lot of things that feel like needs but I have had to tell myself they are really wants.

I want to get some display cabinets to put next to my tv stand to make the stand look bigger and to be able to show off some of the things I love. But I know I don’t need those right now. I’m also waiting on the bookcase bed I’m going to put in my office/guest room. If I do have a guest before I get that, I have an air mattress someone can sleep on. And I have other things I want to buy like a bench in my entryway and some seating for my patio that I know I can live without for a while and it would probably be best to wait until they are on sale.

I have spent a lot of money these past few months and while I have been able to afford it, I know I can’t just keep spending like this. I need to start working on budgeting again, which is something I have really slacked off on. I know my spending isn’t out of control, but I have really spent a lot and just told myself that those were the expenses of moving when maybe they really weren’t. It was a convenient excuse for a while, but I know if I keep saying that to myself I will get myself in a situation where I can’t pay off my credit card in full or something else like that.

I know recognizing that my spending might be a bit crazy right now is going to help me make sure I get control of it quicker than if I let things continue for another month or two. And once I have things stable again, then I can look into my financial situation and really see what things are looking like. I need to budget differently than I was before because my expenses are different. But I’m also hoping that the difference will also mean I have some extra money in my budget so I can work on saving up for something fun for myself.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailBudgeting and Spending (or Sharing YNAB With A Cashier) Default ThumbnailWorking on Budgeting (or Spending Money To Save Money) Default ThumbnailStarting Over Again (or I Can’t Ignore My Budget Anymore) Default ThumbnailFinding New Money Issues (or Looking At Doing A Fresh Budget) Default ThumbnailA Fresh Budget (or Starting Over With YNAB) Default ThumbnailCan I Cut The Cord? (or Trying To Change How I Research TV)

Comments Off on Really Seeing What I Need To Buy Now (or I Need To Cut Back On Spending Again)

Posted in Saving

Tagged ,

I Still Don’t Have The Words (or I’m So Mad That A Difference Hasn’t Been Made)

Posted on May 26, 2022 | Comments Off on I Still Don’t Have The Words (or I’m So Mad That A Difference Hasn’t Been Made)

I have written about shootings before on here. And it seems like every time I write about a shooting, I have the same things to say. Or not to say. I am in disbelief about what has happened. I am sad for our country and that a minority of people seem to be in charge of what happens. And I am angry that for some reason, the rights of guns seem to be higher than the rights of people. I don’t know what else I can say about it. 

And because of how often mass shootings happen in this country (which is a very sad thing to say to begin with), I don’t write about each one. That doesn’t mean I’m not upset or that I think this is normal. But if I wrote about each one, I might not be writing about anything else. But after what happened this week, I have to write about it. 

I am disgusted at what happened in Texas this week. An entire classroom has been killed. Those kids were innocent and were just getting ready to enjoy their summer break. Instead, going to school that day was the last thing they would do in their short lives. And I can’t imagine the grief their families feel. I can’t imagine the guilt some of the parents might feel after dropping their kids off and thinking they would be safe. How could they know what was going to happen that day? And I read that there was an award ceremony earlier in the day so some of the parents got to see their kids receive awards and then later their kids would be dead. It’s just unthinkable. 

And every time there is a shooting, it seems like the same things happen right after. Some people will say we should not do anything but grieve the lives that were lost and others will call for action. And I’m someone who is calling for action. If we wait until the grieving process is done, we will have another shooting and nothing will be done. I think so many of us thought something would be done after the shooting at Sandy Hook. But somehow, it seems like it has only gotten worse. 

I am not a gun owner. I don’t think there is anything wrong with owning a gun, but I do think that there are some guns that are really not necessary for personal use. If you have a gun for protection or hunting, do you really need something that is used in a war? How many shots do you need in a few seconds to feel protected? But I won’t get into that issue because as someone who doesn’t own guns, I can’t fully understand why someone might have the type of gun they choose. But from my friends who do own guns, I do understand that they, along with a majority of the country, think we need more regulations regarding gun ownership.

If you want to be able to drive a car, which can be a deadly thing, you need to learn how to drive. You have to pass a test. You receive a license to drive and you have to have insurance in case your actions as a driver cause harm to another. And from what I’m hearing from gun owners, they agree that these ideas for guns seem to be a good idea. If you are going to own something that can kill dozens of people, you should know how to use it and how to make sure you keep it safe. If you harm others by accident or on purpose, you should have insurance to pay for the care of those you harm. If you are injured in a shooting, not only do you have to deal with the aftermath and recovery related to that, you may have hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills to deal with once you are recovered. You should be able to make the person responsible for your injuries pay for that. Again, it’s just like having a car. 

I know adding these regulations and rules won’t end all gun violence, but it shouldn’t be as easy as it is right now to get a gun. You can get a gun even if you are too young to drink or rent a car. Some states allow people who have a history that makes them a danger to others to buy a gun. If people who want to end abortions are all about preserving life, why aren’t they fighting for the lives that are ended from gun violence? I know they will say it is different, but I don’t see how it is. While I disagree that an embryo is the same as a child if someone believes that how do they think it’s ok for a child in elementary school to die? And I know there is the argument that teachers should be armed or have more guns to protect schools. I don’t know any teacher that wants to have a deadly weapon in their classroom that could accidentally harm a student or that a student could use against them. And the school in Texas had armed police that tried to stop the shooter before he got inside and was able to do the horrible things that he did. 

I don’t have the answers to how to fix this other than that something has to be done. We have done this for years and things are only getting worse. And I don’t know how much worse it can get and I don’t want to have to see that. Nobody is saying to take away all the guns, but we need to stop allowing the gun lobby to decide what protections we get and ignore what a majority of the country is begging to have happen. 

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailWe Need To Make A Change (or I Just Don’t Have The Words) Default ThumbnailAnother Shooting (or Enough Is Enough) Default ThumbnailSandy Hook (or There Are No Words) Default ThumbnailWe Are All Tired Of This (or When Will Someone Try To Stop These Shootings) Default ThumbnailWhat Is Happening? (or Why I Support Black Lives Matter) Default ThumbnailFriends Are The Best Mood Booster (or The Difference A Day Makes)

Comments Off on I Still Don’t Have The Words (or I’m So Mad That A Difference Hasn’t Been Made)

Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged

Finally Finishing An Upgrade (or I Almost Forgot I Needed To Do This)

Posted on May 25, 2022 | Comments Off on Finally Finishing An Upgrade (or I Almost Forgot I Needed To Do This)

I bought my new computer a while ago. I really needed it when I got it and I quickly got all the things I knew I would need set up so I could start working from it. Fortunately, a lot of my information migrated to the new computer right away because of iCloud, so I didn’t have to worry about transferring things like my photos or music. But there were plenty of things I knew I would need to manually move to the new computer that weren’t needed for work so I figured I could wait a bit on doing it.

But because the timing of getting the new computer was also while I was busy packing up my old place and getting ready to move, doing the rest of the data transfer wasn’t something I thought about a lot. When I was packing up my computers, I knew I would need to do that so I was reminded about it about a month ago. But it wasn’t something I felt a push to do until the other day.

I needed something that I knew was on the old computer that I hadn’t transferred over yet. The original way I was going to do the transfer of data was something that I couldn’t do while I worked, so I needed to look up another way I could do it so I could get it done quickly and not have to wait. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I realized I could AirDrop the files and folders I needed to move from the old computer to the new one. So I finally turned the old computer back on (which ended up being a bit of an ordeal because of how bad the old computer was) and pulled everything I would need to transfer so I could quickly do it during my lunch break.

Doing the data transfer over AirDrop was ridiculously easy and I almost laugh about how long I had been putting this off. And because most things had already been transferred over through the cloud, it was only a small handful of things I needed to deal with. They were pretty big files, which is why I was putting it off (otherwise, I would have just done it by emailing them to myself), but each thing I moved over took only seconds to be done.

I feel pretty certain that I’ve gotten everything off of the old computer by now, but I’m still going to think about things for a bit before I wipe the old machine. I also don’t really have plans to try to sell the old one since the keyboard is broken, so I’m not in a rush to get rid of it. I might wipe it and then hold on to it a bit longer. I don’t want to store something I don’t need, but for some reason, I feel like I’m not totally done with making sure I have everything transferred. But that’s why I’m not wiping the machine yet. Hopefully, by the time I’m ready to do that, I will feel better about getting rid of it and I can see what options I have for it. Maybe I can sell it super cheap because someone could fix the keyboard and make it work. Or someone might want it for other parts. I’m not sure what could be done with it, but I also am not the sort of person who looks online for old computers for any reason.

And even though I transferred everything left over from the old computer, I do want to go through some of the folders because I’m certain I have things in them that I don’t need. If I haven’t needed them in the past month or so, I probably don’t need to keep them taking up space. But I also don’t have a rush to get through that since the new computer has significantly more storage so I’m not desperate for more space. I guess I need to do a similar clean-out that I did in my move and see what I really need and what I was just holding on to. But at least everything is probably in one place now so I can take my time going through it all.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailMy New Computer Is A Game-Changer (or The Stress Of Buying Was Worth It) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailGaining Back A Bit Of My Weekend (I’ve Really Needed This Extra Time) Default ThumbnailBeing Pushed Into Splurging On Myself (or Time For A New Computer) Default ThumbnailWorking On Cleaning (or Time To Declutter)

Comments Off on Finally Finishing An Upgrade (or I Almost Forgot I Needed To Do This)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

Posted on May 24, 2022 | Comments Off on My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

As I wrote last week, I’ve been trying to be more social when I can do so. It’s not easy and I’ve become more of a homebody and introvert in the past 2 years, but I am working on finding ways to get my old life back. I know I will never have the same life I used to have because I may always have an extra bit of fear about getting sick. Even if Covid is eradicated, I might still worry about catching a cold or the flu more than I did before. But I also know that I miss being out and seeing friends, so I push myself to do that when I can and it feels safe. And I had that opportunity this past weekend.

It was a friend’s birthday and they were having a casual get-together at a bar that has a seating area and has food and not just drinks. When she invited me, I wasn’t sure if I could make it because of my schedule, but I was free so I decided to push myself a bit and go even though I hadn’t been at a big gathering since the beginning of 2020. Almost all my socializing since then has been one on one or maybe with 2 friends. I haven’t been to a party or somewhere I could meet a lot of new people in a long time. But I knew I needed to go out, plus I wanted to go. I know it was a risk I was taking, but I decided it was worth it and I was going to try to be as safe as I could be.

It did feel weird to be inside a bar since I haven’t really done that in a while. And almost all the meals I’ve had in the past 2 years have been outside, so eating inside was almost a novelty. But I could tell that most of the people around me were taking things seriously too. Not everyone was wearing masks, but a lot of people were. And people seemed to be aware of how close they were to others. But the weirdness of being out went away pretty quickly for me. I still was more cautious than I would have been before, but I wasn’t as scared as I have been of other things I’ve done in the past 2 years.

And I’m so glad I went. It was awesome getting to celebrate my friend and her birthday. I got to meet some really nice people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I got to see someone who I knew about a decade ago through a friend group and reconnect with her (and she’s now married and pregnant so that was something to celebrate too!). And I just got to have fun. I know I’m not having as much fun in my life as I used to, and I need that. I crave fun. I just don’t seem to have the opportunities to do things like I used to do and it’s hard to make new friends as an adult and find people to go out and do things with. But this was a way to ease into meeting new people since not everyone there was new.

I did have some moments of being overwhelmed with so many people around me and I could feel some really minor panic attacks come from time to time, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it could be. I think it helped that I spent most of the time that I was there talking to the same small group of people and I didn’t have to track multiple conversations at once. I was with a lot of people but it felt like a smaller gathering at the same time.

I do worry now a bit that I might have been exposed and could get sick, but I also know that could happen to me anywhere. I could get exposed and sick by going to the grocery store (even though I wear a mask, a lot of people don’t anymore). I could get exposed by being at the mailboxes if another neighbor is next to me when I’m getting the mail. I think for so long, I saw some things as necessary risks and other things as risks I needed to avoid and I haven’t been able to merge the idea that they might be the same thing now. Everything is at a similar risk level if they are similar activities (being inside a grocery store versus a restaurant are probably the same risk level now).

I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to be in a big gathering like this again soon, but I’m glad I’m over the hurdle of being scared of doing it now. And hopefully, the fear decreases each time I go out and things just start to feel a bit more normal to me again. I know we aren’t in a post-pandemic world yet, but we are also not in the same world we were in 2 years ago.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailStill Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social) Default ThumbnailCelebrating A Friend’s Birthday (or Not Letting Feeling Gross Stop Me From Being Social) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailA Chill New Year’s Eve (or Getting To Have A Little Celebration)

Comments Off on My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

This Is The Workout Week I Expected (or I Knew It Would Be A Bad Week)

Posted on May 23, 2022 | Comments Off on This Is The Workout Week I Expected (or I Knew It Would Be A Bad Week)

I knew going into this week that it was probably going to be a bad workout week for me. I was feeling really bad over the weekend and I knew it would get worse during the week. And I was right.

Monday’s workout was really horrible for me. I knew based on how I was feeling on Sunday, that I was going to have a rough day on Monday. And when I feel like that, I just have to do what I can and accept that I probably will have to make a lot of modifications or go slowly.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks and the first block was self-timed. We had different distances to go and then we were supposed to do squats and lunges between each distance. I set my resistance level to be at my push pace to start, but I had to go down to my base a few times. And I was able to do the squats, but I skipped the lunges to save a bit of time so I could get back onto the bike. And the second block was 3 rounds of a 30-second all-out followed by a 45-second recovery. For that block, I did use my regular all-out resistance level so I felt a bit better doing that.

Both the rower and the floor were timed for the entire thing. On the rower, the first 2 blocks were rounds of a 30-second push row and 45-second base row. And we ended with a 30-second all-out row. We were supposed to use a lower stroke rate for the second block, but I wasn’t too focused on the stroke rate and more about just trying to keep rowing. And for the last block, we were timed with cardio and had the 30-second all-outs. During the 45-second recoveries, we were supposed to do lunges, but I did recovery rows because I knew that I didn’t have enough time to get out of the rower and back in before the time was done.

And on the floor, the first block had sumo deadlifts for the 30-second intervals and push-ups for the 45-second intervals. The second block had goblet squats for the 30-second intervals and side plank reaches for the 45-second intervals. And the last block had burpees for the 30-second intervals and in the 45-second intervals we had to do 12 plank jacks and then we could rest for whatever time was left. I did modify the face-down things to be using the bench and I just went really slowly with the exercises so I know I didn’t get that many reps in. But at least I did it.

Wednesday’s workout was one that I did in the first half of the month. But this time, I was just dealing with really intense pain. I’m glad I wasn’t also nauseous, but the pain was some of the worst cramps I can remember having.

We had 3 blocks for cardio and it was all about all-outs and walking recoveries. The first block had 4 30-second all-outs. The first recovery was 30 seconds and they increased by 15 seconds each time. The second block had 3 45-second all-outs and the recoveries started at 45-seconds and went up by 15-seconds each time. And the last block had 2 1-minute all-outs with a 1-minute recovery between them. I was using my resistance levels on the bike, but I was also taking a ton of breaks to let the pain pass so I wasn’t working the entire time.

On the rower, we started with a 3-minute row. After the row, we had tricep extensions and front presses with a medicine ball. Then we had a 90-second row with the exercises after and a 45-second row with the exercises after. I actually made it through all of that and was rowing until the block ended at the end.

And on the floor, we had one long block with 3 mini-blocks. We were supposed to do each mini-block twice before moving on to the next one. We had leg lifts with the straps and lateral lunges, squats to y-raises on the straps and hip hinge reverse flies with weights, and plank blast-offs and suitcase squats. I only made it to the first round of the suitcase squats when the workout ended because I was really slow with a lot of the other exercises and I had to sit a few times to let the pain subside.

Thursday was better than Wednesday, and I felt pretty good that I was over the worst of the pain and nausea. I was still having a few moments where I had a wave of pain or nausea hit me, but they were less severe and less frequent.

For cardio, the first block started with a longer push pace into a base pace. Then we had a shorter push pace into an all-out. Then we had a recovery and then another all-out. The second block had a shorter push pace in the beginning and then followed the same pattern as the first block but we had a few more all-outs during the end of the block. I was glad I was able to do better than I did earlier in the week, but I knew it still wasn’t quite what I can do when I’m feeling ok.

On the rower, we started with a 400-meter row and then we had body weight good mornings with shoulder presses. The exercise felt a bit more like a stretch to me, but I really needed that stretch so I liked it. We continued to row and do the exercise but we reduced the row by 100 meters each time. And then for the last part of the rowing, we worked with cardio with the all-outs and recovery.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with mini-band work. We had a hip bridge and static crunches. I did go really heavy with the weight for my hip bridges, and I need to learn how to lift some of the heavier weights for exercises like that because it was really tough! After the mini-band work, the rest of the first block had alternating Arnold presses and step-downs to scaption raises. I was able to lower the bench enough to do the step-downs, so I didn’t have to modify that exercise. The second block was supposed to start with mini-band work, but I modified those to be without mini-bands. We had seated torso rotations and single-leg hip bridges. I also modified the hip bridges to be regular since I cannot do the single-leg ones. The rest of the second block had shoulder presses and step-ups to bicep curls, and I did the step-ups since the bench was already lower for me.

By Friday, I was almost back to normal which is much faster than I expected. I had a few brief moments of the pain being really bad, but I also think that was because I didn’t take any painkillers before class. If I had taken one, I don’t think I would have had any pain.

For cardio, we had an interesting block. We started with 2-minutes where we were supposed to be between a base pace and a push pace. Then we had 1-minute at our push pace and then a 30-second all-out. After that, we had 3 minutes to recover, but the goal was to be back at our base pace as soon as possible. And then we had a 1-minute all-out. We then had another recovery (I don’t quite remember how long that was) before we repeated the same format again. I liked the idea of doing something between a base and push pace and then a push pace after. It really let me focus on keeping my pedaling steady for a longer time without getting quite as tired as I would be if we had a 2 or 3-minute push pace.

On the rower, we started with 3 rounds of a 200-meter row with a ground to press with a medicine ball. Then we had 3 rounds of a 150-meter row and a front press with a medicine ball. We also had exercises with a 100-meter row, but I only started the 100-meter row before we were told to rest for a moment before finishing the block with a 1-minute all-out row.

And on the floor, we had 4 exercises to do. We had lunges (we were supposed to do bench lunges but I did regular ones), hip hinge reciprocating rows with weights, deadlifts, and reciprocating chest presses. And at the end, we had 1-minute that we were supposed to do as bench hop overs, but I did squats instead because I knew I couldn’t do those at the end of what was a pretty tough workout!

I am feeling like I should be past all the pain and nausea now, but I know there might be one or two more days that might be a bit tough on me. But I feel pretty good that this workout week will be a better one than last week was for me. And in a few more weeks, I’ll be back to my bad week and repeat the cycle over and over again.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailA Better Workout Week Than Expected (or I Like When Things Aren’t As Bad As I Thought) Default ThumbnailWorking Through My Workout Week (or At Least I Knew This Was Coming) Default ThumbnailA Short Workout Week (or I Guess I’m Glad This Happened On A Bad Week) Default ThumbnailJust A Normal And Good Workout Week (or Using My Workouts To Get Out My Stress) Default ThumbnailA Bad Workout Week For A Different Reason (or I Guess I Was Too Optimistic) Default ThumbnailAnother Week Of Weekday Workout (or Getting Used To This Plan)

Comments Off on This Is The Workout Week I Expected (or I Knew It Would Be A Bad Week)

Posted in Fitness

Tagged , ,

Not Fully Able To Unpack (or I Think The Move Prepared Me For This)

Posted on May 20, 2022 | Comments Off on Not Fully Able To Unpack (or I Think The Move Prepared Me For This)

It’s been about a month since I really moved into my new place. I had a few things I moved after I moved in before I turned in my keys to my old house, but almost all my things were here when I had the moving truck. And I have gotten a lot of things settled and unpacked in the time that I’ve been here. I know there isn’t necessarily a timeline to be fully moved in, but I think I assumed I would be much more moved in by this point.

There have been a few unexpected things, such as changing up furniture, so I haven’t fully planned out things I need or where I want to put things I already have. I also haven’t bought a few things that I know I need that will help with my organization. Some of the things I will be buying will be bought pretty soon. I should have them within a month or so. But for my office, the main storage piece that I want to have will have to wait because it is a combination sliding bookcase and murphy bed and I need to work on saving up money for that.

I can recap more about this at the end of the month when I go over the monthly challenge I set, but I have been working hard on getting most of my stuff out of boxes. I only have a fraction of the boxes before, and I’m so glad that it feels less like a transitional area. But in my office, I have all the boxes I have left with the things in them. And those won’t be moving for a bit.

A few things still have to be done around my new place. The biggest of which is repairing my floors. I got all new floors when we remodeled, but unfortunately, the floors were not installed correctly and they have to be redone. While this isn’t what we would have liked, the company that did them realized the error and will be doing all the repairs for us. We need to wait on the new floors to get here since they were ordered and have to ship to LA, and we don’t have the exact timeline of how long that will be. But because everything I have will have to be moved when the floors are fixed, I’m not taking the rest of my things out of boxes. Keeping them in the boxes will make them easier to move.

I’ve been living with boxes for longer than I would like to remember. I started packing up my old place really early because I was hoping my new place would be done sooner than it was. At least this time, the things in the boxes tend to be things I don’t really use that often. A lot of what is boxed up are different decorative items, so while I would like to have them out and in view, they aren’t necessary. And if there is something that I need, because the boxes are all open and in one place, it’s easy enough for me to find what I need.

I’m ready to not live with boxes, but I know it will take a bit longer until I get to that point. But at least I’m finally at the tail end of this time and I can just focus on unpacking and not also packing and moving.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailI Really Did Give Myself An Easy Monthly Challenge (or This Month Will Possibly Be Easy As Well) Default ThumbnailA Few Delays With My Monthly Challenge (or This Month, I Will Be Moving) Default ThumbnailStarting To Move In (or Taking The Roadrunner To The Condo) Default ThumbnailStill Preparing To Move (or Getting Rid Of Some Things And Buying Others) Default ThumbnailHaving Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move) Default ThumbnailSome Positives About My Move (or Not Just Focusing On The Stress)

Comments Off on Not Fully Able To Unpack (or I Think The Move Prepared Me For This)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

Posted on May 19, 2022 | Comments Off on Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

For over 2 years now, I’ve had a very limited social life. I didn’t have the craziest social life before the pandemic, but I know I was going out and being around other people way more often. Even if it wasn’t for a social event, I feel like I had something related to the union at least once a month. Plus going out with friends and having fun adventures throughout the month. I also think that before the pandemic, I had a slightly better schedule for going out and doing things, but I think that is not that big of a change and just something I need to be more used to.

I know there are a lot of people talking about how we are in a post-pandemic world, but I do disagree with that idea. Things still aren’t great. People are still getting sick and dying. Treatments are available, but they aren’t perfect. And I’m still at a higher risk for getting really sick so I do have to be careful. But things are better than what they were before. Even if people are still getting sick, the death rate is lower. It needs to be even lower than this for me to feel like we are out of the pandemic, but I do agree that we are not in as bad of a situation as we have been before.

And I don’t regret how seriously I took the pandemic. I’m so grateful that I was able to stay safe and healthy. That’s a luxury that not everyone had. And for a long time, it was a struggle to be as isolated as I was. I had some really tough moments where I felt like I was left alone in the world. I’m used to being alone, but I was learning how to actually be lonely. And being lonely is something that I don’t think I ever truly experienced before. But now, I’m finding it a struggle to come out of the isolation that now seems normal to me.

I don’t want to live in serious fear, but I am still cautious. I don’t want to avoid the people that I know taking things as seriously as I do. I know being around others is a risk, but it’s an acceptable risk for me when I know they are not going out and doing things that will put me at even more risk of getting sick. And when I see friends, it still is a bit weird and awkward with figuring out if we need to try to space ourselves out, if people are ok with hugs again, and explaining if you have a cough that you know you don’t have Covid (something I have to explain so often since I have had a persistent cough for a majority of my life).

So as scary as it can feel sometimes to say yes to something a friend invites me to, I know I need to push myself a little bit more now. I still will take into consideration what the event is and how safe I can be. But if someone who takes things seriously is having something that is outside, that is safe and I shouldn’t be scared to go. But I still get that little voice in my head asking if I should go or not. And I do say no to some things if I feel like it’s just too much of a risky situation or an unknown for me. I haven’t been invited to too many things since so many of my friends have moved away in the past 2 years, but that also has given me an opportunity to reconnect with older friends or turn acquaintances into friends.

Maybe because I’ve had to rebuild my social life before, I’m ok with having to rebuild it again this time. But the last time, I didn’t have to worry about health and safety while rebuilding it and that is the roadblock that is still really difficult for me to get past. But I’m hoping that as it gets warmer and there are more outdoor things I can attend, I will slowly have more of my social life back and feel less like I’m still living in the middle of a pandemic.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailTaking Acceptable Risks (or Feeling Odd About This Stage Of The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailScheduling And Joy (or Continuing To Plan For When Things Are Coming Back) Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default ThumbnailMore Thoughts On Pandemic Dating (or I Wish I Didn’t Miss Dating As Much) Default Thumbnail2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal)

Comments Off on Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged , ,

Getting One Nice Dinner In With Family (or Finally Bringing My Parents To My Favorite LA Restaurant)

Posted on May 18, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting One Nice Dinner In With Family (or Finally Bringing My Parents To My Favorite LA Restaurant)

When my parents come to LA to visit me, we don’t usually do fancy meals. We do tend to eat out at restaurants since my old kitchen was so small and tough to cook in (hopefully I can start making more meals for my parents in my nice kitchen!), but we don’t go out to anything super nice. We’ve done a lot of simple meals like ordering salads or going to a cafe or casual restaurant. But it’s rare for us to go out for a nice meal since we are usually busy with other things.

But for my parents’ trip this time, I knew we wouldn’t have a ton of things we had to get done so I decided we should go out for a nicer dinner one night. And I wanted to finally take them to my favorite LA restaurant: Wood & Vine.

I have only gone to Wood & Vine for dinner once that wasn’t a time I was also going to a musical and had a specific time that I had to be out of there. So I knew we’d be able to relax and enjoy our time there. And I also knew that we would probably be spoiled because the manager Wally always sends over things for me to try that either I didn’t order or aren’t on the menu yet.

We went to dinner on Saturday on the earlier side, so we didn’t have too much traffic to deal with. And we lucked out into a parking meter that was just a block away, so we didn’t have to pay too much for parking. And since we made our reservation for when they opened, there weren’t a lot of people there when we arrived and we had the patio to ourselves!

We ended up ordering most of what I got the last time I was there. We had the spinach dip, caesar salad, risotto, and short rib. All of those were amazing and just as delicious as they always are. And my parents agreed that everything was so good!

And we got one off the menu dish sent over for us to try. It was oxtail served over potatoes and had spicy greens on top of it.

I don’t know if I’ve had oxtail before, I don’t remember having it but I might just not remember. But this was delicious (but a bit spicy for me) and I am so glad I got to try it because I don’t know if I would have gotten it if I saw it on the menu.

And even though we didn’t order dessert, we were sent some. We got this incredible dessert plate with ice cream sandwiches, chocolate mousse cake, and ice cream.

We were all so full with everything we ordered, but of course, there is always some extra room for dessert so we tried a little bit of everything on the plate. We all were so full and probably ate too much, but it was worth it! I always love everything I get at Wood & Vine, and this time was no exception. And I’m so happy my parents enjoyed it as much as I did.

I don’t get a lot of chances to share some of my favorite LA things with my family, so I’m glad we got to do this when they were here this past time and have a nice celebratory dinner after doing all the random work we did in my new place.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailThe Bodyguard and Bone Marrow (or An Amazing Dinner At Wood & Vine) Default ThumbnailGetting Spoiled At Dinner (or Another Musical Night) Default ThumbnailAnother Dinner And A Show Night (or Classic Musicals And Yummy Food) Default ThumbnailPart 1 Of A Family Visit (or Letting My Parents Relax A Bit) Default ThumbnailBelated Birthday Dinner (or We Don’t Mind It’s Not Totally Free Anymore) Default ThumbnailBook Of Mormon and Marrow (or Another Night Out At The Pantages)

Comments Off on Getting One Nice Dinner In With Family (or Finally Bringing My Parents To My Favorite LA Restaurant)

Posted in Family, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , ,