Monthly Archives: November 2022

“Mindplay” (or An Evening Of Mental Magic)

Posted on November 30, 2022 | Comments Off on “Mindplay” (or An Evening Of Mental Magic)

Between being a season ticket holder at the Pantages and being on mailing lists for other theaters, I find out about a lot of shows that are going on around LA. I don’t see as many shows as I should, and I tend to get tickets for things that aren’t exactly normal plays or musicals outside of my season tickets. For example, I saw the virtual show “Inside The Box” and then went to the in-person show “The Enigmatist”, both of which were puzzle-type shows. But those shows were so fun because I had no idea what I was in for and I loved how they were set up with a storyline to go through the various games and tricks.

So when I got an email about the show “Mindplay” and read that it was a one-man show with a mentalist, I knew it would be an amazing show to check out. I know being a mentalist and being a magician isn’t exactly the same, but they have similar elements so I felt certain that I would enjoy the show. And even better than getting the email about the show, they were offering a discount on tickets, so my friend Jane and I were able to get incredible seats for the same price as the cheapest seats (although the theater is small so I think all seats would be amazing).

The show was created and performed by Vinny DePonto, and the theme and storyline throughout the evening was about memories and mental manipulation. There was a lot of story about how we keep memories and how things like dementia can make us forget our memories and then sometimes they can resurface. I loved that storyline and message because that’s something I witnessed through my grandma. In the last few years of her life, she had moments of clarity where she was able to share memories with us that none of us had heard before. And those moments were really special to me because I was able to see the person that I remembered from my childhood.

I don’t want to give away a lot about the show because I think it was so good and everyone should check it out. And I think the less you know about the show, the better. But I can share that there is a lot of audience participation (I wasn’t called on so I just watched) and that there are lots of mind-reading moments. The way he was able to find out information had me speechless. None of these moments felt like a gimmick or a trick. They were seamless within the story and felt like this was a normal experience we were watching and not something special and incredible. I think that made it even better!

It wasn’t a long show and there isn’t an intermission, so the evening flew by. I wish it was longer because I was enjoying it so much. And I know that Jane felt the same way as we kept saying after the show was done that we had no idea how he could do the things he did but that it was so much fun to watch everyone in the room in awe the same way that we were. And there was a surprise at the end of the show (that I won’t spoil) that was just the best way to end the night!

After the show was done, we had a quick chance to meet Vinny and I let him know how much I enjoyed the evening.

Even though this show wasn’t about puzzles like the other ones I had seen recently, it had a lot of the same elements with mystery and improvisation. I would love to see another show that he does because it really was the perfect thing to watch that combined my love of shows and my nerdy side that enjoys puzzles and magic.

I know I’m so lucky that there are a lot of opportunities to see shows like this very close to my house. I know I won’t see every show that I’m told about because I do have to be a bit selective with my time and money, but I’m so glad that this was a show that I had the chance to see because I had the best time and got to have an evening that felt like I was witnessing something magical.

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A Very Low-Key Thanksgiving Day (or At Least I Was Only Cooking For Me)

Posted on November 29, 2022 | Comments Off on A Very Low-Key Thanksgiving Day (or At Least I Was Only Cooking For Me)

Because I had Fake Thanksgiving with my family 2 weeks prior, actual Thanksgiving didn’t feel as big of a deal to me. Usually, Thanksgiving is the main holiday my family does, but our Fake Thanksgiving feels pretty much the same as the holiday so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on too much. There are a few differences when you don’t celebrate on the holiday, but they are so minor so I don’t think about it too much.

So since I already had my Thanksgiving, I knew I wasn’t going to do anything too big for Thursday last week. I did have the day off from both of my jobs, so that was nice. I had the day off that Friday from one job, but since I worked a full day for the other it didn’t feel like a break to me. So I decided to try to enjoy my Thursday off as much as I could.

Because I get up so early most days, I struggle to sleep in even when I have the chance to do so. I only slept in about 20 minutes later than normal on Thursday, and I had a few hours before I really had to get out of bed that morning. I was going to go to Orangetheory, but I scheduled a later class to give myself the opportunity to sleep in if I was able to do so. I did wish that I had not scheduled it quite as late as I did because I was just sitting around my house waiting for the class, but it was ok. I didn’t have much else to do that day so I wasn’t in a rush to get home to do anything.

After my workout, I spent the rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon really being lazy. I mainly just read my book and rested until it was time for me to start making some food.

I didn’t feel the need to make a lot of Thanksgiving-type foods, but I wanted to make something that felt a bit special for me. So I made my 2 favorite sides that my family has at Thanksgiving. One was the green beans with shallots that I really should make more often because it’s such a simple recipe and the other was a corn casserole that my mom makes that I had never made on my own before. Both recipes are very simple and didn’t take much time to put together. And I didn’t want to make turkey since it’s not my favorite thing to eat, so I decided to make meatloaf because it’s very easy to put together and I knew I would be able to make all 3 dishes in the same time frame to have dinner ready at the same time.

The green beans turned out good, as I expected them to. The corn casserole wasn’t exactly how it should be, but it was still good. It ended up a bit more like a bread than the texture it normally has. That didn’t make it taste bad so I was ok with that. But something weird happened with the meatloaf. I don’t know if an ingredient went bad or if I put something in by mistake, but it was bitter and sour. It was unfortunate because I was hoping to use the leftovers for a few days, but it really was bad and I had to throw it all out. I’m glad that I was the only one who had to taste the mistake I made because I would have been so upset if I ruined dinner for multiple people. And since this was my second Thanksgiving, I was less disappointed than I might have been if I didn’t have my family time a few weeks ago.

And after my dinner, I continued to be lazy that evening. I cleaned up my cooking mess and watched a little bit of tv. But there was nothing else that I needed or wanted to do that evening. It would have been fun to do something with friends, but I was ok being on my own. And because I don’t get that many days off, I just enjoyed having nothing that I had to do that day and just being able to relax. My days off are typically spent doing errands and things to get ready for my week. I’m working on trying to shift that so I’m doing more errands on work days so I really have time off on my days off. But because most places were closed on Thanksgiving, I was forced to take it easy and do nothing. It was a reset that I think I needed before getting back into my regular schedule and some of the craziness that might be coming up.

It might not have been the most traditional Thanksgiving for me, but I think it was the perfect way for me to spend the day. I don’t know if future Thanksgivings will be like this or if my family will eventually switch back to being on regular Thanksgiving. But at least I took advantage of this year and I feel like I did exactly what I should have done on the holiday.

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Another Round Of Thanksgiving Workouts (or Still Keeping Up With My Regular Schedule)

Posted on November 28, 2022 | Comments Off on Another Round Of Thanksgiving Workouts (or Still Keeping Up With My Regular Schedule)

I had a very mixed week of workouts this past week. I’m still dealing with the cold that I caught and I started the week also dealing with the end of having nausea. I’m glad that I know I’m getting better with the cold, but I think getting over it will probably be a longer process than I would like. I seem to take 2 steps forward and 1 step back. So my mornings were hit or miss with how I would feel. But that never stopped me before so I wasn’t going to let it stop me this past week.

Monday’s workout was a good mix of endurance, strength, and power. It was the workout I felt most nauseous, but it was much better than it had been the week before.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks and each block was focused on one type of workout. The first block was more endurance and we had longer push paces and base paces with an all-out at the end. The second block was more strength and we had a mix of base paces with or without inclines. And the last block was power and we had 30-second all-outs with 45-second recoveries.

On the rower, each block focused on one distance on the rower and we had lunges between each row. The first block had 600-meter rows, the second block had 400-meter rows, and the last block had 200-meter rows. Even though I wasn’t feeling my best, I did pretty well with the rows. I was worried about how I would do with the 600-meter rows with my nausea, but I was able to keep doing all my rowing without taking breaks, which is the goal I always have for myself.

And on the floor, each block had 2 exercises. The first block had high rows and curtsy lunges on the straps. The second block had shoulder presses and sumo squats. And the last block had push-ups and bench tap squats. Even though each block only had those 2 exercises, since the blocks were short it went by quickly and I didn’t get to do too many rounds of each exercise.

Tuesday’s workout was an unexpected 2 group class. I rarely have a 2 group class, so I’m much more used to having equal time in each section of the room. But it’s always good to have a bit of a change, so I knew this would be a good class.

For cardio, we had the same thing for all 3 blocks but each block had a different goal. In each block, we had 3 rounds of a 30-second base pace, a 30-second push pace, a 30-second all-out, and a 1-minute recovery. In the first block, the goal was to increase the base pace each round. In the second block, the goal was to increase the push pace each round. And in the last block, the goal was to increase the all-out each round. I stuck with my normal resistance levels on the bike, but I tried to increase how fast I was pedaling as we were supposed to increase each round.

And on the floor, we had part of the time on the floor and part of the time on the rower for each block. Each floor block had 4 minutes of exercises and then we were on the rower for the last round of base, push, and all-out that cardio had and we did that on the rower. In the first block, the exercises were single-arm marches with overhead weights and rollouts on the straps. The second block had front squats and squat holds with a calf raise. And the last block had clean presses and y-raises on the straps. Since we only had about 90 seconds of rowing in each block, it was a lot less rowing than I’m used to. But I did get more time with cardio than normal so it balanced out.

On Wednesday, I know there was still a mix of endurance, strength, and power but it felt a lot more like an endurance day. I was finally over being nauseous, but I was dealing with the cold that I had so it balanced out a bit to where I was still having some of the same struggles I’m used to.

For cardio, we started with a 90-second push pace and a 90-second base pace. We continued to alternate between a push and base pace, but the push paces increased by 30 seconds each round while the base pace stayed the same. And we ended with a 1-minute all-out at the end of the cardio block.

On the rower, we started with 3 rounds of a 200-meter row. We were supposed to try to maintain the same wattage and speed on the rower each time. After 3 rows, we had standing knees to elbows. Then we repeated the pattern but with a 150-meter row for 3 rounds and ended with a 100-meter row for 3 rounds. For the 200-meter rows, I was pretty steady from round to round. But for the other rows, I actually was able to improve each time which I wasn’t expecting.

And on the floor, we had 1 long block with thrusters, single-arm chest presses, lunges, hip hinge swings, and hop-overs. It wasn’t the best floor block I’ve had recently, but it wasn’t too bad.

And even though I did my family workout for Fake Thanksgiving, I still did a Thanksgiving Day workout. I did take a later class than I normally take since I wanted to try to sleep in a little bit. Last year, I did a Lift 45 class for Thanksgiving Day, but they didn’t offer that this time. But the regular workout was still a tough one and I know I worked hard!

We had 3 blocks for cardio and each block had the same pattern. We had a push pace, base pace, all-0ut, recovery, push pace, and all-out. In the first block, every interval was 30 seconds. In the second block, the base pace and recovery were both still 30 seconds but the push and all-outs were 45 seconds. And in the last block, the base pace and recovery still were 30 seconds and the push pace and all-out were 1 minute.

On the rower, we also had 3 blocks. In each block, we went back and forth between a timed row and an exercise. In the first block, we had 30-second rows and shoulder presses with a medicine ball. In the second block, we had 45-second rows and a front press with a medicine ball. And in the last block, we had 1-minute rows and calf raises.

And on the floor, we had one long block that was focused on super sets. We had 3 mini-blocks and 2 exercises in each mini-block. And we did each mini-block 4 times before moving on to the next one. Each round went down in reps, so we had 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps for each exercise. We had chest presses to reaches and tricep extensions, sumo deadlifts and sumo squats, and high rows and bicep curls. It was a good mix of upper and lower body and I was ready to rest after I was done with class!

Next month, my workouts might be moved around a bit to fit in with different challenges that are going on and to work with the holidays. But I think I got myself off to a great start with my Thanksgiving week workouts!

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Focusing On Gratitude (or This Probably Could Have Been My Thanksgiving Post)

Posted on November 25, 2022 | Comments Off on Focusing On Gratitude (or This Probably Could Have Been My Thanksgiving Post)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I’ll write more about my day later, but I spent the day on my own, which is fine. But being alone for most of the day did allow me to reflect on things in my life. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I focused a lot on what I was grateful for in my life.

I write a gratitude list every day at the end of the day. I just write 5 things that I’m grateful for that day. Sometimes I have some really awesome things to be grateful for. On other days, it seems like I don’t have much positive in my day and I have to remember how lucky I am to have some basic things in my life. On the days that I struggle to think of what I’m grateful for, my list usually has things like my job, the books I’m reading, or the tv shows I’m enjoying.

I think focusing on what I’m grateful for every day is important because it always allows me to end my day on a positive note. And it forces me to reflect on the good in my life and what I have that other people wished they had. And I wanted to share some of the big things I’m very grateful for.

I’m very grateful for my family, both my immediate family and my extended family. I know that not everyone is close to their family or knows their extended family. But I am lucky that I get to see part of my family every year. At Fake Thanksgiving, there were 3 generations of the family there. I don’t get to see some of my extended family as much as I would like because they live on the other side of the country. But I am able to stay in touch with them through social media or texting. And I know that I’m closer to my parents than a lot of people are. I’m very lucky that they have always supported me. And yes, they did help out financially before such as with my condo, but I appreciate their emotional support so much too. I know I don’t have the most traditional life or career path, but they have never tried to make me change what I wanted out of life.

And speaking of my family, I’m so grateful for my condo. I know that I never could have had this place without my parents helping me. But it’s not just being able to have this place that I’m grateful for. I have worked on turning this space into my home and I’m so happy with how things look so far. Living in a space that makes you feel happy and you are comfortable is very important. I haven’t always had that in my living space. In my first apartment, it was fine when I moved in but I became very uncomfortable living there due to situations with my neighbors and because the setup made it have no privacy and it was always very hot inside. So I know what it’s like living somewhere that you don’t want to be. But that’s not the case for my place now. It wasn’t the case for my last place either, but I’m even more comfortable here than I was there.

I’m very grateful for my friends. Like many people, I had a lot of friends leave the area in the past few years. But we have been able to keep up with our friendship and I have been able to rekindle past friendships that had slipped into being more acquaintances than friends. I still have times when I feel like I have no friends left here, but those moments are fleeting and I usually have something coming up in my schedule that allows me to spend time with my friends so I’m reminded that’s not true.

I’m grateful for my day jobs. I’m still juggling 2 jobs right now, and I think that’s probably what I will do for the foreseeable future. It’s not an issue with either job (and they both know that I’m working another job) and I think everyone would do the same if it helped them make more money. I am making more than I did before and I’m in a better financial spot. I still have things that I can’t afford and have to save for, but I know no matter how much I make that will be the case. But more importantly than how much I make, I am enjoying my work. I still would prefer to be acting, but to have day jobs that I enjoy is something rare. I don’t love everything every day, but I’ve never enjoyed work as much as I do now. I feel heard and respected and my ideas are considered and not ignored. I have been able to create my own job position at my main day job and it allows me to do work that uses my skill set instead of making me conform to someone who I’m not.

And the last big thing I’m grateful for is a very general thing. I’m just so grateful for my life. I get to do things I enjoy. I mostly spend my time doing what I want to do and not what I have to do. As much as I wish I wasn’t single, I’m grateful that I’m not in a bad relationship or putting up with someone who doesn’t treat me the way I should be treated. I don’t always love getting up as early as I do, but I love working out in the morning and feeling so strong all day. And I am working on some health things still, but I think that I’m healthier now than I’ve ever been. I know I’m not the thinnest I’ve been, but I also know that when I was at my thinnest, I didn’t have the same strength that I do now. I think enjoying your life is a privilege and I know I’m lucky that I feel that way. I still know that I want some things to be different, but I also appreciate my current life situation and know that it’s for the best for me at this time.

When I look back at my past, especially the negative part of my past, I wonder how much better I could have made my life if I focused on what I was grateful for. I know that even in some of my lowest times, there were positives in my life. But thinking back at those times, I really can’t remember any because my memories are just the negatives. But I’m glad that is not how I live my life anymore. I know that things aren’t perfect, but I can always be grateful and appreciate everything that I do have going on in my life.

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Happy Thanksgiving! (or I Hope Everyone Is Having A Great Day!)

Posted on November 24, 2022 | Comments Off on Happy Thanksgiving! (or I Hope Everyone Is Having A Great Day!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or spends the day with others, but I hope that everyone is having the day that they wanted to have. If you have the day off, I hope you are able to relax. And if you have to work, I hope that it’s not too bad of a work day and any customers you have are nice to you.

I’m not going to write a long post here because I hope that most of you aren’t reading this and are spending time doing what you want. I’m spending the day on my own and I’m going to be making some of my favorite things from my family Thanksgiving to have on my own. I thought about trying to organize something with friends, but since I’m still getting over the cold that I got, I thought it would be best for me to not be around too many people.

I’ll do a recap of my Thanksgiving later, but I just wanted to do a quick post here to say that I hope everyone is able to enjoy the day. Whether that means you are with your family and doing a big meal, hanging out with friends and ordering in, or just spending the day alone; I know all of those can be perfect options.

So go and spend your day doing things that make you happy, I know that’s what I’ll be trying to do!

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Getting Sick Again (or Extending Some Of My Anxiety)

Posted on November 23, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Sick Again (or Extending Some Of My Anxiety)

I had a bit of a cold before I went to my family’s Fake Thanksgiving, but I made sure that I was feeling better before I went. I took multiple Covid tests, even though I was pretty confident that wasn’t it. It felt like a basic cold, and fortunately, I was doing much better before going on my trip. I knew I wouldn’t be contagious by that point, so that was good. All that I had left for symptoms by the time I went to Portland was a bit of congestion, which I know can take some time to get rid of.

After my trip, I was feeling ok for a few days outside of some nausea and other symptoms that I knew were unrelated to having a cold. But then I started to feel sick again. It seems like a few people in my family got sick after we were together, but I’m not sure who was the person who got us sick. I don’t think it was me because I was feeling better at that point, plus I got sick again. It doesn’t really matter who got us sick, I just know that a week later I was feeling worse than I had with the cold I had before the trip.

Before I knew that others in my family got sick, I was worried it could be Covid. So I did do more Covid tests once I had symptoms again and they all were negative. Now that I know it’s several of us, I feel certain that it’s another cold. It seems like a lot of people are getting sick right now and some bug is going around. This is just a regular part of life that wasn’t a big part of life recently because of how we were all isolating and wearing masks.

Being sick is really frustrating because I don’t always have the same mental fatigue as I do with physical fatigue. This time, I really was only out of it for a day or so and those days happened to be when I didn’t have much work. But even though I’m feeling a bit better, there were other things I had to consider for this past week.

I was supposed to go to the dentist this week. Because I knew that appointment was coming up, I was starting to have some panic and anxiety. This started pretty much right after my trip, so I had anxiety from flying that led right into anxiety about the dentist. But because I had gotten sick after my trip, I knew I should reschedule going to the dentist. I think even before the pandemic, I would have rescheduled if I felt like this. But with how things are now, it wasn’t even a thought that I should go. If it was an appointment where I could wear a mask, I might go if I was feeling better since I wouldn’t be contagious anymore. But being around people unmasked for an hour or so seemed really irresponsible. So I called my dentist to reschedule for next month.

As much as I don’t like going to the dentist, I wish I had gotten it over with. My anxiety is still here even though I have time before my appointment. I don’t think it will go away until after it’s done, so that means I will be anxious for a few weeks. I might hate having extended anxiety more than the dentist at this point. But changing the appointment was really the only option for me and I rescheduled for the soonest appointment that they had that worked with my schedule. So I did the best that I could.

I’m glad I’m feeling better after getting sick a second time back to back. I still have a few symptoms to deal with and I know I sound pretty sick because my throat is scratchy. But I think I’m at the tail end of this cold so I should be fine soon. And hopefully, I stay healthy until after my dentist appointment so I don’t have to push it back again and extend my anxiety any longer.

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I Guess I’m Taking Some Popular Medications (or I’m Not Sure What This Will Mean)

Posted on November 22, 2022 | Comments Off on I Guess I’m Taking Some Popular Medications (or I’m Not Sure What This Will Mean)

While I don’t take a lot of medications, I do take more now than I did before. I remember when just taking one daily medication seemed like a lot to me. Now I have 2 daily medications, one of which I take 3 times a day, plus some weekly and sporadic ones. I use a pill reminder app so it’s not a big deal for me to remember to take them and I seem to have a good system down for staying on top of things. The only thing that I’m not always able to be on top of is ordering refills.

For some of my regular medications, you can’t order a refill until you are almost out of the prescription. This isn’t always a huge deal since I do have to go in for my prescriptions more often than I can get them mailed to me (plus I’m nervous about using mail order after one was almost lost in the mail). So I just have to order the refill through my insurance app and it’s usually able to be picked up within a day or two. I just have to prioritize going in to get them since I usually am ordering a refill when I have less than a week left before I need it.

About a month and a half ago, I started to take injections to help with my weight loss. Right before I did my last shot of the injection pen I had, I noticed I wasn’t able to order a refill until the next day. That would mean I would have 6 days between when I ordered the refill and when I would need it. This seemed ok to me and worked out with the timing of another refill I had to get that I always have to go to the pharmacy to pick up as it is considered a controlled substance. So I ordered both refills and figured I’d go to pick them up later in the week.

Then the next day, I got an alert that the injection pen was delayed and wouldn’t be available to pick up for 3 business days. I figured that would be ok and I could give it an extra day and go to pick it up on Saturday after work. I didn’t need the new injection pen until Monday so I wasn’t worried about getting it on Saturday.

When I got to the pharmacy on Saturday, I still hadn’t received an alert that the injection pen was available, but since I had gotten the alert that it was going to be available after 3 business days, I thought maybe I wasn’t supposed to get a new one. But that wasn’t the case.

I went to check in to get my prescriptions (which is how I always have to do things), and they told me that the injection pens weren’t there. They had a shortage and didn’t know when they would be coming in. They couldn’t tell me much more than that, so I waited for my other prescription to be ready so I could at least pick up that one.

And when I finally got to pick up the other one, they only gave me part of what I was supposed to receive. Typically, I get a 3-month refill each time. This time, I only got 30 days. I asked if there was a mistake or something because this was my last refill and my doctor wasn’t going to see me for 3 months, and they said that medication had a shortage so they could only give me 1 month at a time. But they did offer to send a note to my doctor to add additional refills so I could come back each month to get another 30 days of medication.

There wasn’t much else I could do since a shortage isn’t something my hospital controls. But as soon as I got home, I emailed the doctor from bariatric medicine regarding the injection pens. I don’t know if I have to start at the lowest dosage again or if there is a different plan. I also have no idea when I will be able to get that refilled. Right now, all I can do is call the pharmacy each day to see if their shipment included it. At least that saves me time from driving there each day, but I’m hoping that they will get it in soon.

I’m not sure why there is a shortage of the medication I could only get a 30-day refill for. It’s something that I’ve been taking for a while and isn’t newly popular or anything like that. For the injection pen, I know that because a lot of people have been hearing about using it for weight loss, it has rapidly gained popularity and that could be the reason for the shortage. And I know that there are people who use those for much more serious reasons than what I use it for, so if there is a limited supply it makes sense that those go to the people who are using it for things such as diabetes.

It is frustrating since I don’t know what the new plan will be or if this will be a frequent problem when I need refills. Maybe my doctor will allow me to request a refill sooner so there is more time for shipments to come in. And even though I know these injection pens have been helping me a lot, I’m not going to use lack of availability as an excuse. It might be harder to stay on the path I’ve been able to do the last month and a half, but I’m going to try my best. And hopefully, soon I’ll be able to get back to using those injections to help me to continue to make progress.

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Back To My Regular Schedule (I’m Glad My Bad Week Didn’t Start Until This Week)

Posted on November 21, 2022 | Comments Off on Back To My Regular Schedule (I’m Glad My Bad Week Didn’t Start Until This Week)

Even after doing 5 workouts the week before, I still wanted to keep up with my regular 4 workouts this past week. I like having my routine and I wanted to do what I could to feel like I was back to a typical week in as many ways as possible.  I knew I would be a bit tired on Monday after traveling on Sunday and I was prepared to start having my bad week, but I still knew I should try my best.

Monday’s workout was a signature workout. This was Capture The Flag, which I’ve done a few times before. It’s a partner workout where you work with your partner or partners to get as many meters on the rower as possible. My class was a 3 group class, but because of the class size, I was in a 2 partner group. And my partner wasn’t going to use the rower so I knew that we wouldn’t be able to track our rowing meters the way that most teams would do. So we would just do what we could and enjoy the workout.

Since we were a 2 partner group, we did the 2 group workout instead of the 3 partner workout. The person who was on the rower (or elliptical for my partner) just went until the other partner tagged them out. And the other partner did medicine ball exercises and a treadmill (or bike) distance before the switch. The medicine ball exercises were squat to presses, lateral lunges, and double crunches. And all the treadmill/bike distances were pretty short so we were switching every few minutes. The other groups got different flags based on the distance they got on the rower. I was fine not being able to get the flags since I knew I was still working out hard and doing a good job on the rower.

On Tuesday, I was starting to have a bit of nausea but it wasn’t that bad. So I knew it was probably the last workout before I was feeling really bad and I wanted to try to get the most out of it.

For cardio, we had an interesting workout. In the first block, we had rounds of a 1-minute push pace and a 90-second base pace. But in the push paces, we were supposed to increase for the last 15 seconds to make it closer to an all-out. And in the second block, we had 1-minute push paces with an increase for the last 30 seconds and a 2-minute base pace after. Since those last seconds of the push paces weren’t supposed to be an all-out, I didn’t increase my resistance level on the bike and just increased how fast I was pedaling instead.

On the rower, both blocks focused on doing a 200-meter row with as few strokes as possible. In the first block, we had lunges and shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each row. And in the second block, we did forward presses and bicep curls with the medicine ball. I’m usually pretty good about keeping my strokes low when we have a challenge like this one. I averaged about 15 strokes for each row, but I was able to get one down to just 13.

And on the floor, we had 3 exercises in each block. In the first block, we had goblet squats, hip bridges, and sit-ups to rotations. And in the second block, we had low rows, bridge holds with pullovers, and high plank knee taps. I tried to go heavy with my weights when I could, but I couldn’t go as heavy as I would have liked to go with my squats. I know I can normally do better, but at least I did well with my other weights.

By Wednesday, I was feeling pretty bad so I knew it would have to be an easier workout day. And I was able to modify most of the workout to work best for me.

For cardio, the work was all about inclines and recoveries. In the first block, we alternated between a 45-second push pace at a high incline/resistance level and a 1-minute recovery. In the second block, we had a 1-minute push pace at a slightly lower incline/resistance level and a 45-second recovery. The resistance levels for both blocks were much higher than what I normally use so I was pedaling very slowly. But at least I wasn’t too worried about that since I also wasn’t feeling good.

On the rower, we were timed with cardio and had sprints for each block. So in the first block, we had 45-second rowing sprints with a minute to recover. And in the second block, we had 1-minute rowing sprints with 45-seconds to recover. I did a lot better in the first block with the shorter sprints. I think I was going too hard at the beginning of the longer sprints and kept getting burnt out by the end of those rows.

And on the floor, each block had some cluster sets and then regular exercises. For the cluster sets, we did 12-16 reps of the exercises, rested for about 10 seconds, and then did as many reps as we could before resting again. And we did those twice before moving on to the other exercises. The first block had cluster sets of a chest press before doing sit-ups and plank front reaches. And the second block had cluster sets of tap squats before moving on to the same exercises as the first block.

Thursday was my toughest day with how I was feeling, but I was glad it was the end of my workout week. And just like always, I pushed through when I could and went easy when I needed to.

For cardio, the first two blocks were the same. We had a 1-minute base to push pace, 1-minute push pace, 1-minute push to all-out, and 1-minute all-out. And I was using my normal resistance levels and then the levels between the regular ones to work for the pattern. And the last block just had 1-minute intervals with a base, push, and all-out.

On the rower, the first block had rounds of a 200-meter row with single-leg halos using the medicine ball. In the second block, we had 150-meter rows and lunges between each row. My rows were pretty slow, but they were also consistent for each round. So I considered it a victory that my rows weren’t getting worse as the blocks went on. And we finished along with cardio with the 1-minute all-out row.

On the floor, we had 2 exercises for each block. The first block had single-arm shoulder presses and plank dips. The second block had deadlifts and bird dogs. And the last block had double crunches and back extensions. I went slowly with the exercises in each block, but that’s expected with how I was feeling.

Considering I was tired from working out more than normal the week before and dealing with the beginning of my bad week, I’m very happy with how things went this past week. And this week might be another bad week or it might be a bit better. Each day will be a bit of a mystery. And even though I did a family workout for Fake Thanksgiving, I’m still planning on doing a Thanksgiving Day workout on my own!

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Back To My Normal Right Away (or One Last Committee Meeting For This Year)

Posted on November 18, 2022 | Comments Off on Back To My Normal Right Away (or One Last Committee Meeting For This Year)

After getting back from my trip on Sunday evening, I didn’t have much time before I got back to my regular schedule. I got home much later than expected and only had enough time to unpack a bit before I went to bed and had my early morning workout the next morning. It would have been nice to have a day to reset, but it’s also not bad to immediately get back to what I normally do. And this past Monday, that also included my local communication meeting for SAG-AFTRA.

The communication meetings have been happening regularly about once a month, and I have really appreciated having these meetings since I still am not able to be an observer at the local board meetings. I’m hoping that in-person board meetings happen again soon so I can go, but until that point, I just have the committee meetings that I’m a part of. I don’t know if any other committees are meeting as regularly as we are, but based on my past experience I would guess that they aren’t. But it’s possible that things have changed since all meetings are virtual now and it might be easier to organize and set up.

Almost all of the communications committee meetings have similar agendas. We go over any past agenda items to get updates as needed, we go over the articles that are being worked on and the status of those, and then there is a chance for us to suggest new articles and story ideas. I’ve suggested a few articles in the past, but none of them have been included in our newsletters yet. But I know that the staff has been working on one that I’ve suggested so it hopefully will be included in the near future.

I haven’t been the most active committee member, but I wanted to be better for this meeting. So before my trip, I decided to do a little research and see if I could find a good archive of past articles to get some inspiration. I wasn’t able to find the type of archive I was looking for, so that was something I did bring up in this meeting. It turns out, I was looking in the correct spot, but it’s just not organized the way that I thought it would be. So at least now I know where to look when I have a chance to review past articles. It just might take me a bit longer to get through them and see what inspiration I have for follow-up articles or ideas that haven’t been covered yet.

I think a lot of people were in a holiday mindset already because there weren’t a lot of new articles brought up in the meeting. But that also could be because there are so many that are currently in the works, and everyone is focused on those. And at the end of each meeting, we set the date and time for the next one. As I mentioned, typically they are every month. But with the holidays and a few other national meetings happening, our next meeting is being pushed until after the new year when there is a bit more time and availability with everyone. I don’t mind having a longer break. I know my schedule is probably going to be a bit weird for December with the holidays. And this will give me extra time to review the past articles so I can hopefully have more to present at the next meeting.

There are a few other union meetings that will be coming up between now and the next committee meeting. I’m hoping I will be able to attend them, but there are a few that currently conflict with other things in my schedule. I’m seeing what I can do to make sure I can attend as many as I can, but I know I can’t go to everything. But at least I’m trying and I know that I will have another committee meeting in the new year to keep me feeling connected to my union.

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Fake Thanksgiving Weekend (or A Few Days With My Family)

Posted on November 17, 2022 | Comments Off on Fake Thanksgiving Weekend (or A Few Days With My Family)

This past weekend was my family’s Fake Thanksgiving. As I have mentioned before, this was up in Portland and I was there from Friday until Sunday. I was only able to be there for part of Friday since that was a holiday and I didn’t have work. But it worked out so I was there for dinner on Friday through around lunchtime on Sunday.

After taking the train to meet my parents on Friday, we immediately went to my aunt’s house for a casual dinner. Almost everyone who would be at our Thanksgiving was there for Friday except one cousin who was coming the next day. But it was nice to have a casual dinner with everyone and catch up since I hadn’t seen most of the people there since last year. It was crazy to see how tall my cousin’s kids had gotten since the last time I saw them they were all shorter than me. But one is now taller than me and another will probably be taller than me very soon. I tried to do my best with being social, but I wasn’t feeling great that evening. I know a lot of it was due to the anxiety from flying still affecting me. But being around my family was a good distraction from that feeling.

On Saturday, I had a very chill morning. And it was very clear that my parents’ dog had missed me because he spent his morning leaning against the couch to sit with me (he can’t sit on the furniture, but he can butt up to it and lean).

Then a bit later in the morning, we had our family Orangetheory workout. This was the 9th year we had a Thanksgiving workout (although in 2020 we all did workouts in our homes) and it was only my dad and me this time. Some of my family have been dealing with medical things that prevented them from working out. And since nobody else does Orangetheory regularly, doing just one workout when they have been having medical issues isn’t the smartest choice. But at least my dad and I were able to keep up the tradition!

I went a bit easy in the workout since it was my 5th workout in the week. But we still both had a great time and I love that this tradition helps to make me feel a bit more productive on a day that I know can feel a bit sluggish with all the food.

I’m sure at some point, I will have to make the collage multiple images, but at least for now, we can still put all 9 photos in one to celebrate this tradition.

After the workout, we had a bit of time before we had to head over to my cousin’s house for dinner. I didn’t get a ton of photos during dinner, but that just means that I was focused on enjoying the time with my family. But it was a fun night. I had never seen my cousin’s house before and it was really cool! Their basement has a small basketball court in it and they have added different mats and springy floors so you can bounce around and do gymnastics and stuff like that on there. We all had a lot of fun hanging out in the basement and goofing off.

And when we were all upstairs in the main living area, it was awesome to see different things that were my grandparents’ in my cousin’s house. The dining room table my grandparents had is now my cousin’s. And there were also little things like vases or decor that I recognized. I think pretty much all of us have random things from my grandparents and it’s cool to see how each of us has incorporated them into our homes.

And of course, we had to do a family photo. But with so many of us (including my niece and nephew who are still little), it’s not easy to get one photo where everyone looks good. I got the photos we took and used the photo stickers you can do through iPhone and was able to do that to photoshop people into the photo and make sure we got one where we all looked ok. And the photo above the fireplace was originally of my cousin’s immediate family, and I changed that to be a photo of my grandparents. I think the end result looks pretty good considering I don’t have real Photoshop.

My last day with my family was on Sunday, and I had to be dropped off at the light rail around 1pm in order to get to the airport on time. That morning, I went with my parents to take the dog for a walk and explore the neighborhood we stayed in. And then my friend Dani, who lives in Portland, came over to the rental house to hang out for a bit. Even though we had just seen each other recently when she had to stay at my place, it was nice to have a hangout that was much more chill.

And that’s pretty much it for my Fake Thanksgiving weekend. I got to spend a good amount of time with my family and have a lot of the traditions that our family has had for a while. I think we are going to continue doing Fake Thanksgiving since it is a lot cheaper to travel when it’s not the holiday. And it doesn’t really matter if we celebrate a few weeks early as long as we still get to have our traditions.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff, Travel

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