Category Archives: Celebrations

Some Interesting Workout Days (or 3 Regular Workouts And 1 Traditional One)

Posted on November 15, 2021 | Comments Off on Some Interesting Workout Days (or 3 Regular Workouts And 1 Traditional One)

This past week of workouts was interesting for me. I had some odd struggles that I wasn’t expecting and I had some really great things too. I didn’t love having as much of an off week as I did, but I think I made the most of it.

Monday’s workout was a strength day and it was a prep day for the Everest workout happening later this month. I was also having a bit of an off morning. I think having the clocks change affected me more than I thought it would because I struggled to sleep the night before. And while I was tossing and turning, I made my hip hurt a lot. It wasn’t ideal going into a strength workout, but I was prepared to try my best.

The cardio work was similar to what the regular Everest workout is like, but we had a break in the middle. For the treadmills, they increased the incline by 1% every minute. For me on the bike, I increased the resistance level by 1 every other minute (I have done every minute before, but it gets really difficult and I didn’t want to risk it with my hip). We did that for about 11 minutes and then we had about 2 minutes to have some recovery. Then we did the same 11 minutes as we did before but we started at the top and decreased the incline/resistance level until we had a flat road all-out at the end. Because I was only doing the increases every other minute, I never had the resistance level too high. It was still higher than I normally use, but not as bad as it has been for hill work.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. We started with 2 rounds of high rows on the straps, alternating chest presses, side plank rotations, and sit-ups. Then we had a 200-meter row before going back to the exercises again. And the second block had a similar format. We had 2 rounds of chest presses on the straps, bird dog single-arm low rows, and palms to elbows (which I did as shoulder taps) before another 200-meter row. My row wasn’t fast, but it was better than it was last week. And I tried to go heavy with the weights, but I wasn’t able to go as heavy as I would have liked to.

Wednesday’s workout was a mix of strength and power. It wasn’t as bad with inclines as Monday was, but it still had some hill work.

We had 4 blocks for cardio. Blocks 1 and 3 were similar and blocks 2 and 4 were similar. For blocks 1 and 3 we started with a 90-second push pace followed by a 30-second base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of 1-minute hills with 30-second base paces between each one with a 30-second all-out at the end. For the first block, the inclines/resistance levels got higher each time and for the third block, they got lower. And for blocks 2 and 4, we had 2 rounds of a 30-second all-out with a 1-minute recovery after. So between all 4 blocks, we had 6 minutes of hill work and 6 all-outs.

On the floor, we also had 4 blocks. And blocks 2 and 4 were done on the rowers and timed out with the treadmills. So for each of those blocks, we had 2 rounds of a 30-second all-out row followed by a 1-minute recovery row. For the regular floor work, we had sumo goblet squats, squat jacks (which I did as side step squats), lunges, and plank rotations for the first block. And for the third block we had good mornings with weighs, lunge to hops, and plank alternating leg lifts. My hips and legs were definitely feeling it after this workout, but this was a much better type of pain and soreness than what I was dealing with on Monday.

Friday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. But it was a really bad day for me. I had gotten my booster shot on Thursday and didn’t have that many side effects when I got it. But the next day, I was really feeling it. I usually have reactions to any vaccines I get, so don’t let this dissuade you from getting the booster or vaccine. But I guess I was too hopeful I wouldn’t have side effects this time and I was wrong. So I spent a lot of my workout dealing with a lot of body aches and a bad headache.

This was a run/row workout for cardio. We had 2 blocks that were very similar. We started with a 3-minute push pace and then had a 1-minute base base. Then we had rounds of a .1 mile (.4 for the bike) run and then a 30-second all out row. In the first block, the incline/resistance level increased each round and in the second block, we started at the top and decreased the incline/resistance level each round. Because I was so slow on both the bike and rower, I didn’t make it through that many rounds.

On the floor, we had 4 blocks. Every exercise we had was for 10 reps, so it was easy to remember how much I had to do of each exercise. Block 1 had chest presses and hip hinge low rows. Block 2 had push-ups, back extensions, and mountain climbers. Block 3 had close grip chest presses and squat to Y raises on the straps. And block 4 had tricep extensions, plank pull throughs, and lateral crunches. Just like on cardio, I was pretty slow so I didn’t make it through a lot of rounds. I also had to go a bit lighter with the weights because of how I feel.

Saturday’s workout was a special one. First, it was a signature workout called The Chipper. But also, this was my traditional Thanksgiving workout with my family. I know that it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but my family decided to do it earlier this year because it’s less expensive to travel if we celebrated a bit early. We were spending it in Santa Barbara (more about that day in tomorrow’s post) and there was a brand new Orangetheory studio that was only minutes away from where we were staying! So it was perfect for us to work out that morning. This year, it was just me with my dad and brother, but we still had a great time.

The idea of The Chipper is to chip away at the workout each round. So for cardio, you started with a 3-minute push pace and that decreased each round after a 1-minute base pace. The bike at this studio was different from the bike at my studio, plus I was still having some side effects from my booster shot, so I know I didn’t do as well as I could for the workout. But I tried my best and it was fun to experience class at a different studio.

On the floor, we had intervals of an exercise and then rowing. We did just 1 exercise before the row and the number of reps started at 40 and went down by 5 for each exercise. And the row started at 400-meter and went down by 50 each round. The exercises we had were bench tap squats, leg raises, sumo squats to upright rows with weights, low rows on the straps, palms to elbows, chest flies, and bicep curls. This studio also had the new rowers with the screens, and I loved seeing all my data while rowing easily displayed. I didn’t make it through all of The Chipper, but I did better than I expected.

And of course, we had to take our traditional picture with our coach after class.

I’m still having some side effects from my vaccine, but they get better and better each day. So hopefully this week will bring more wins and less struggles in my workouts.

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Having To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween)

Posted on November 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Having To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween)

Last year for Halloween, I only celebrated over Zoom. I did try to have a bit of a costume by making a fun Zoom background, but it really wasn’t the same as seeing my friends. I knew this was how we had to celebrate so we could all be safe, but it was just another reminder of what we were missing out on during the pandemic.

This year, things are a little different but they are still not as safe as they were before. So while I would have loved to be at a big party with all of my friends, I knew again this wouldn’t be possible. Fortunately, I was invited to a small party with a few friends who only had vaccinated people there so I was able to enjoy Halloween with other people again this year.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for my costumes, so I tried to see what would inspire me. Like so many people, I joined TikTok to entertain me this year. And there are a lot of accounts I follow that are just silly. And one of those is Noodle the Dog. Noodle is a 13-year old pug and each day as his owner tries to get him up from bed he will either stand up or collapse back into bed. So the saying is that he either has bones or no bones and that determines what the day will be like. I know it’s silly, but we all just need silly things these days.

So I decided that a fun and silly costume would be to go as a No Bones Day. I wore all black, made a pug mask from a photo online, and emptied out a dog bone container (I had to buy dog bones but I’ll be giving them to my parents’ dog). Not a super fancy or elaborate costume, but I think it did a good job representing things. And I got confirmation of that when I posted it on Instagram and tagged the Noodle account and they shared it on their Instagram too!

I’m aware it’s also a bit creepy since I had a very realistic looking photo for my mask.

When I got to the party, most people had no clue who I was so I had to show them the TikTok account so they could get what I was supposed to be. There were other people there who also had low-key costumes like I did, so I didn’t feel too out of place. And I think the focus for a lot of us was about being around other people and not the costumes. It’s still so rare to get to be around friends, so I am enjoying whatever chances I get. And we did try to make sure things were as safe as they could be. We were all outside and I know everyone was vaccinated. And not going to a big party was probably smart too.

This was much closer to my normal Halloween than what I did last year, but it still wasn’t what I was used to. I remember thinking last year that of course things would be normal again by Halloween. I think it’s still surprising to me that by this Halloween they still aren’t. But as tired as I am about having to always be careful, I do know this is what we need to do to get past this. And maybe by Halloween next year, we will be 100% back to normal and I will be at a crazy costume party surrounded by my friends again.

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Celebrating And Future Planning (or Preparing For What Comes Next For Me)

Posted on September 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Celebrating And Future Planning (or Preparing For What Comes Next For Me)

Last month, my challenge was to celebrate what I could in my life. I knew I needed to do this. I have been focused on a lot of negative things lately and I wanted to change that. Things are still not normal or feeling really safe, but there are still good things happening in my life even if they are silly. And celebrating the silly things was kind of what this challenge was about.

There were the obvious things to celebrate like my birthday and how I celebrated my birthday. I didn’t celebrate my birthday as much as I would have liked to, but I still celebrated. And seeing friends and going out for a meal are really things to celebrate these days. I celebrated little victories I had in work like when I got good news or figured out something that will make my work better. And I celebrated anything I could think of. I still use grocery delivery a lot (I have to admit it’s pretty convenient), and I would celebrate if I got everything I ordered without a substitution or something being out of stock. I celebrated when I found a good deal on things I was looking at buying. I celebrated when I felt like I accomplished everything I wanted to within a day.

I really did notice a change in my mindset as I celebrated things. I have been doing gratitude lists every day as I’m getting ready for bed, so I usually take some time each day to focus on the good things that happened to me. But I usually don’t think about it all day, just when it’s the end of the day and I’m reflecting on things. But this past month, I did keep it in mind as I went about my day. Even taking a moment to recognize something to celebrate put me in a better mood for whatever I wanted to do next. I don’t know if I’ll continue to celebrate everything I can the way that I did this past month, but I want to continue at least some of this habit because it did help me each day.

And this month, in a way my challenge is a bit of the same thing but also a bit of the opposite. I know a lot of people do this in different situations, but I tend to think way ahead in the future whether it is good or bad. If I have an amazing audition, I think about how my life might be if I booked the job. If there is something that worries me that may be happening in the future, I start thinking about all the bad things that might come. I was doing that recently when I found out about my landlord selling where I live. I dream of what the future might look like, whether it is good or bad, and I get myself either worried or excited about things that might not happen. So I want to work on curtailing that.

I know that I can’t prevent it completely nor do I think that would be smart. I do want to plan ahead, both good and bad. I do want to celebrate if a good thing could happen and imagine some great things. But I don’t want that to be a big focus for me. I want to maybe spend a little time on that future planning and then move on to things that I can work on at that time. For example, when I was panicking about my place being sold, I spent a lot of time wondering what I would do and where I would go. I started to stress out about a lot of things that may not happen for months depending on how quickly my landlord finds a buyer. Instead of worrying about all the things that might be coming, I refocused on what I could change. I started looking at options for where I could move instead of just imagining a plan. I started to make a plan that I think will be a really great thing (but more to come on that when I have more information). I can’t change how quickly some things might happen, but I can be prepared for what I have ready at that time. And that’s how I want to manage my future planning.

The same idea can work for when my future planning is about good things. Using my union election as an example, I can imagine how great it would be if the people I want to be elected win and what it might be like if I am elected to the local board. But right now, I can focus on the work I was doing to get out the vote and help other candidates campaign by what I post on our social media. Planning for the future with tangible things and not just daydreaming.

I’m curious how this will work out for me this month. It might be a great thing or it might feel stifling. I’m not sure yet. But that’s why it’s a challenge I’m going to try out and see how I feel in a month. And if I love it, I’ll keep doing it. If I don’t, I’ll adjust as I feel necessary and maybe try again. And maybe in a month, I’ll be writing about something new I learned about myself or how I manage things that come my way. That’s what these challenges are all about. Pushing myself to try something and see if it benefits my life and if I want to keep doing it.

I guess we’ll have to see in a month what happens!

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2 Decades In LA (or Another LA Anniversary)

Posted on August 20, 2021 | Comments Off on 2 Decades In LA (or Another LA Anniversary)

Just like so many things that happened over the past year and a half, it’s surprising when milestones or anniversaries happen because it doesn’t feel like time has really been passing. I feel so stuck in an endless cycle of a few different things and I really have trouble remembering that things are still going on and time has moved. But just because we are not living our full lives due to the pandemic doesn’t mean these things aren’t happening. And I am now celebrating 20 years of living in LA.

I’ve been a bit shocked with different LA anniversaries in the past. When I celebrated 18 years in LA, that marked when I had spent half my life in the Bay Area and half in LA. Because it always felt like I had spent so much more time in the Bay Area, it felt so weird to know I had spent half my life in each place. But all milestone anniversaries in LA have been things I have celebrated. I haven’t necessarily done anything big to celebrate, but I always think about how many years it’s been since I moved into my dorm room. Somehow, I always knew I was meant to live in LA, and it felt right to me as soon as I moved here. I didn’t always have the perfect situation in LA, but I learned how to make it my home.

And maybe one of the reasons the pandemic has been so hard on me has been how much I have made this city my home. I had things I loved to do and routines I enjoyed. And that all ended so quickly for me and most of it still hasn’t returned. I don’t really feel like I’m living in LA right now. I’m existing but not living. And I miss living in the city that has been my home for 2 decades. I also feel sad for the losses that the city has had. The loss of people and places that so many loved so much because of death and closures. Things that we all assumed would be around forever in LA are gone now. I don’t know if all of it will hit me until I’m out and about in the city more because I’m not confronting things that have changed that much. But I do notice the change and different feelings in the air when I am out and doing something.

But even if I’m not able to celebrate my LA anniversary the way I would like, I still want to celebrate. I’ve experienced so much in 20 years of living in LA. Some of it has been amazing and some of it is very sad. But I have gotten through all of my good and bad days. I have built a life here (even if I’m not really living it right now) and I have grown so much as a person because of the choices I’ve made. And I do look back occasionally with regrets of things I wish I had or hadn’t done, but every choice from my past has made me who I am now. And I am grateful for that.

20 years ago, I had no clue what this city had in store for me. I knew I was going to college and what I hoped to do. But I had no clue how it would happen. And so much hasn’t happened the way most people would accomplish different goals, but it’s ok that I’ve found my own way. And I’m sure if I had told myself 20 years ago what I’d be doing now, I’d never believed it. But I have created a life that I appreciate and am celebrating on this milestone anniversary.

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Returning To A Birthday Tradition (or A Rare Meal Out)

Posted on August 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Returning To A Birthday Tradition (or A Rare Meal Out)

I’ve had my birthday tradition of eating at Truxton’s with my birthday twin for a long time now. I say every year how much I love having this tradition of going to dinner with Joanna because we always set aside this time for each other each year. We don’t necessarily get to hang out as much as we’d like to over the year, but this time is sacred and we will always make sure we find a way to have this dinner.

Even last year when things were so unclear with the pandemic, we made it happen. We might have had a picnic instead of what we were used to and we were both being so cautious and careful about everything we did, but we still had our dinner. And at that point last year, I was seeing so few people that any real face-to-face time was special to me.

So even though things have taken a turn for the slightly worse with the pandemic recently, we knew we would still have our birthday dinner. We didn’t decide until the day of what the final plan would be. For me, I really did want to eat there if possible, but I wasn’t sure how Joanna would feel about it. But since they had tables outside that were set pretty far apart from each other, we agreed that eating there would be nice and safe enough.

We ended up arriving at the restaurant within about a minute of each other, and since there was nobody sitting outside at the time, we were able to be seated quickly. Since the pandemic, I’ve rarely gone to eat at a restaurant. I’ve gotten take out and delivery, but this dinner was only the 3rd time since March of 2020 that I have sat down at a restaurant and had a meal. Even if this wasn’t our birthday dinner, that alone would have made this feel so special.

Even though we have been going to Truxton’s for a long time, we always still see what is on the menu in case there are new things. And I’m not sure if they changed things earlier but last year it was a limited menu or if these were more recent changes, but there were so many new items on the menu this time!

We pretty much always get monkey bread to start and then share a dessert, plus we each get our own entrees. But this time, there was a new burrata grilled cheese sandwich that sounded so good to both of us! So we decided we’d get 2 sandwich meals and then each take half. So we got the grilled cheese and the turkey avocado club (which is a sandwich that I have gotten before and really like).

And I’m glad we split the sandwiches because the grilled cheese was so good but so rich! I never could have the entire thing myself!

Besides enjoying a nice dinner out and having a good meal, of course I loved getting to catch up with Joanna too. Both of us haven’t had a ton going on because of how we are being careful, but there is always something to update each other on. I was filling her in on some random dating stories that happened recently and she was telling me about a trip she was going to go on soon. Despite all the craziness going on in the world around us, this dinner was a nice sense of normalcy that I feel I don’t get to have that often. And while I can’t escape thinking about everything happening in the world, it was so nice to have just a bit of time to focus on something else that is more positive.

And yes, it was almost a free meal. The completely free meal isn’t really an option for us, but that’s ok. It ended up being about $5 each after our discount and we each left $20 (so our server got a $30 tip). The meal was beyond worth the $20 each!

And considering that our last 2 traditions (our birthday last year and cheesecake around the new year) had to be done in an unusual way, getting to have this almost normal dinner tradition was really one of those things that made me hopeful and grateful that more normal things might be coming soon.

I have no clue if by the end of this year or the beginning of next year things will be normal enough for us to have our cheesecake dinner the way we are used to. Worst case, we find another way to do it like we did the last time. But at least for our birthday dinner, we did get to return to an almost normal way of us celebrating.

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Having Some Workout Celebrations (or I’m Glad I Felt Ok At The Beginning Of The Week)

Posted on August 16, 2021 | Comments Off on Having Some Workout Celebrations (or I’m Glad I Felt Ok At The Beginning Of The Week)

I knew going into this past week of workouts that it was likely going to be one of my bad weeks. But I really hoped it wouldn’t kick in as soon as I thought it might. And I’m glad it didn’t because my week of workouts kicked off with a big celebratory workout!

Monday was my birthday workout! I do laugh a bit at the fact that I worked out at 6:30 in the morning on my birthday. I still can’t believe I’ve turned into this person. But why should I change up my routine for Mondays? And I like doing a workout on my birthday so this was perfect.

It was a power workout (which is usually my favorite so that was a nice birthday treat!) and we had 4 blocks on each side of the room. 2 of the cardio blocks were run/row blocks and 2 were timed cardio blocks. For the run/row blocks, we had .1 miles on the treadmill (.4 on the bike) and then a 100-meter row and repeated that until the block ended. And the other 2 blocks we had rounds of 30-second all-outs and 45-second recoveries. All of the blocks were tough because I made them tough, but they were really good too.

On the floor, 2 blocks were regular floor blocks and 2 blocks were times exercises (that were when cardio had timed blocks). For the regular blocks, we had pull-ups, triceps, chest presses, and bicep curls on the straps. In the first timed block, we had neutral thrusters with weights during the 30-second intervals and hops during the 45-second intervals. And the second timed block had hip hinge low rows during the 30-second blocks and lateral hops during the 45-second intervals.

And of course, I had to do a birthday workout picture with my coach!

On Wednesday, we had an endurance workout. I also started to have to deal with pain and nausea (I did appreciate that it didn’t start on my birthday). So that made the workout a bit more of a challenge.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Each block was intervals of push paces followed by 1-minute base paces. We started at a 3-minute push pace and it went down by 30-seconds each round. The entire thing was split in half so we did the first half of it as the first block and then had some recovery time before continuing the intervals until we were finishing with a 30-second push pace.

On the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block was a bit of a balance focus. We had pullovers, hip bridges, plank work, and hyperextension all on the Bosu. After doing 2 rounds of all the exercises, we had a 500-meter row. I was a bit slow and didn’t get a chance to finish my row. The second block had 2 rounds of front squats to shoulder presses and hammer curls before having a 500-meter row. This time, I did get to finish my row even though it wasn’t that fast.

Friday’s workout was themed for Friday the 13th. And besides the workout being themed, it felt like the situation in the studio was a bit cursed too. All the wi-fi went down, which meant we had no heart rate monitor screens to look at and the screens that showed the workout were down too. I’ve done classes without being able to monitor my heart rate and they can be an interesting challenge, but I usually have to be careful because I know my heart rate can be a bit crazy too. But this time, I didn’t worry too much about it because my pain and nausea were really awful so I was doing a very light effort through the entire workout.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks and 2 of them were rowing blocks. For the first and last block, we had 5 rounds of 30-second all-outs on the rower with only 15 seconds to recover between each round. On a normal day, this would probably have been a fun challenge, but because of how I was feeling I was just trying to keep rowing. I did make it through all of the rowing, but because I wasn’t rowing hard I didn’t get a lot of distance for each block. And on the treadmill and bike for the middle block, we had 3 rounds of a 3 1/2-minute distance challenge with 75 seconds to recover between each round. I did better on the bike than I expected. I was able to keep my resistance level at my push pace level for the entire time for each of them. I still didn’t get as much distance because I wasn’t pedaling as fast as I can, but at least I had the resistance up.

On the floor, we also had 3 blocks and the first and last blocks were timed with the rowers. We had 30 seconds of effort with 15 seconds of rest. In the first block, the exercises were neutral half thrusters and skater lunges. And in the last block, we had ground to press with weights and high knees (which I did more like marching in place). And for the second block, we had 13 reps of a lot of exercises. We had pull-ups on the straps, rollouts on the straps, push-ups, bench tap squats, sit-ups, and bear planks. I didn’t have to do too many modifications due to my nausea, but I did move slowly since I needed time to let the pain and nausea pass.

Saturday’s workout was the toughest one for me because of how I felt. I had spent a lot of Friday after my workout really miserable and having to be very careful with timing out my medications because I didn’t want to miss anything. Saturday wasn’t as horrible as Friday day was, but it was still worse than Friday morning had been. So again, I just did what I could in my workout and didn’t stress too much about what I could or couldn’t do.

For cardio, we had long push paces with all-outs after. It started with a 3-minute push pace with no incline and each time we decreased the time but increased the incline/resistance. And every time we had a 1-minute all-out after the push pace. And I did make the effort to increase the resistance level each time, even if I was feeling horrible. I just took a lot of breaks to let the pain and nausea pass when I needed to and then continued when I could.

On the floor, we started and ended with a 2-minute row. For both rows, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go that hard so I just tried to row without stopping. And I’m proud of myself because I was able to do that even if I got a very low distance at the end of the row. Being able to row without stopping has been a struggle, so knowing I can do that when I feel my worst is a great feeling. We had 2 other blocks between the rowing. In the first block, we had lateral hops, sumo deadlifts, and sumo squats to froggers (which I had to split into 2 different exercises). And the second block we had squats, weighted squats, and skier swings. I wasn’t going super heavy with the weights because of how I felt, but at least I did use weights for all the exercises that asked for them.

I’m so glad I had a great birthday workout and felt like myself for it. That really started off this past week on a great note. I wish I had been feeling amazing for the rest of the week, but I knew that was very unlikely so I am not too disappointed that happened. And for this week, it’s still up in the air how I’ll feel. I might be only a little off or I can have some of my worst days. I’ll just have to wait, see, and let you all know in my workout post next week!

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A Busy Birthday (or I’m Not Sure What I Expected My Birthday To Be Like)

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Comments Off on A Busy Birthday (or I’m Not Sure What I Expected My Birthday To Be Like)

Yesterday was my birthday, and I knew it wasn’t going to be anything too crazy. It was on a Monday, we are still in a pandemic, and I had to work. I figured it would be a bit different from my birthday last year since things are a bit better right now, but I still wasn’t going to be going out and celebrating. At least not on my actual birthday. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy my birthday however I could.

My day started off with my workout. I’ll do a recap of my birthday workout next week, but it was a good workout.

I don’t think I ever believed that I would be someone who would do a workout at 6:30 am on my birthday, but that’s exactly what I did! I’ve done birthday workouts before and it’s always a nice way to enjoy the day. And this time is was the perfect way to start off my day!

Then I had work for my day job. Monday was the first day I had my new, longer work schedule. It’s not too bad so far, but I know that it might be adjusted if it becomes too much. But at least for kicking it off, it was ok. I had a lot of work I had to get done, but it’s what I’ve been doing before and now I had more time to get all my work done.

And while I was working, I was getting texts and messages from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. Even though I wasn’t going to see any of them, I still love getting messages from them. And my friend Dani, who moved away from LA a few months ago, messaged me and also asked when I’d be home because something was going to be delivered to my house. I let her know when I had a break and I thought that she was having food or something delivered to my house.

I was so shocked when my doorbell rang, I opened the door, and it was Dani and her new puppy!

I was speechless. All I could say for a few minutes was “oh my god!” and other exclamations like that. She was in LA for some work stuff and decided to not tell me so she could surprise me! And it was the best surprise! I was not expecting to see her or any of my other friends on my birthday and it really made my day! And I’ve missed our hangouts since she moved away, so it was nice to have a little time to hangout and chat before she had to leave and I had to get back to work.

The rest of my birthday was pretty low-key. I worked a few more hours, I did some stuff for my union election, and after work I ordered in some dinner (I figured I should do something nicer for dinner) and watched some tv. Nothing too crazy after work since I didn’t feel like trying to go out to a restaurant or organize anything else. I will have a birthday dinner coming up this weekend, but it didn’t feel right doing much else since things are still not that safe.

Overall, this was a great birthday. I didn’t do a lot, but so much of it made my day feel so special. I didn’t have a plan for what my day would be like, but I wouldn’t have guessed this. But it was exactly what I needed and besides wishing we weren’t in a pandemic, I don’t know if I would have changed a thing. It was the perfect Monday Pandemic Birthday.

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Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailAlmost Getting My Lazy Birthday (or Staying In And Staying Busy) Default ThumbnailA Birthday Celebration (or An Orangetheory Reunion) Default ThumbnailMy Birthday! (or Laundry, A Bike Ride, and Dinner!) Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure) Default ThumbnailGrandma’s Birthday Dinner (or One Of Our Thanksgiving Traditions)

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9 Years Of Blogging (or Just Keep Writing)

Posted on July 16, 2021 | Comments Off on 9 Years Of Blogging (or Just Keep Writing)

9 years ago, I published my first blog post. Or at least I published my first post on here. I had attempted a blog before that failed after only a few days. But I was trying again and just started writing. I wasn’t sure what I’d be writing about or how long I’d be able to keep it up, but I had to try. And here I am, 9 years later, still posting every weekday without missing a single day.

I know I don’t have to write every day. Some people might say it’s actually smarter for me not to because if I was worried about my reader numbers some studies show daily posting isn’t ideal. And I did start my blog originally to be something more than just me rambling and putting out my thoughts into the world, but now I am ok if it’s like that. Yes, doing sponsored posts and things like that are fun and I do consider opportunities that come my way. But I don’t do everything that is offered because I don’t want to do things just to make money off of a post. I have found my authentic voice and true self over these past 9 years and that’s something I don’t know I would have done another way.

There have been a lot of times I wondered what to write or what to do with this blog. But I just keep on writing. Even when I have nothing to write about, I find something to say about being bored or having writer’s block. As much as I try to plan out what I will be writing about in advance, there are times I’m still trying to figure it out late at night and just write whatever I’m thinking.

And last year, when the pandemic hit, I wondered what I would do. Even when I have writer’s block, I usually have things coming up that I could write about and look forward to. But when things were shutting down, I knew I wouldn’t have much to say. Except not having much to say ended up being something to write about. I am grateful that I have a written record of my time in this pandemic. I have my thoughts and fears in my posts and I’m sure that one day it will be interesting to reflect back on this time (we just have to get out of this time first).

Even though I have been consistent for the past 9 years, I know that can change in the future. Maybe I will decide to write less frequently. I think I would still want a blogging schedule so I have something regular, but maybe it won’t be every day. As of right now, I don’t have any plans to change things up. I want to just keep writing because I learn so much about myself from doing that. Even if these posts are just for me and nobody else sees them, I benefit from them and that’s awesome. And if someone else finds the posts and either learns something about themselves or doesn’t feel as alone in their struggles, that’s amazing and incredible! Both helping myself and helping others is what keeps me going.

Next year, I will have been blogged for over 1/4 of my life. That’s crazy for me to think about but I’m also so excited for that milestone. And that is going to keep me going when I feel like I have nothing to say this next year. I’ll keep writing, even if they aren’t super amazing posts, and then I can celebrate 10 years of blogging in 2022!

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Almost Forgot My Hip Surgery Anniversary Again (or 15 Years Down)

Posted on July 9, 2021 | Comments Off on Almost Forgot My Hip Surgery Anniversary Again (or 15 Years Down)

Every year since my hip surgery, I try to remember to celebrate the anniversary of my surgery. The first few years were a little less celebratory because I was still worried that each year that passed meant I was one year closer to the next surgery that was supposed to be necessary soon. But once I surpassed what my hip surgeon predicted I started to celebrate more and more and I didn’t worry about when the next surgeries would be. Even though I know I will still need a few more surgeries, they don’t seem like they are looming over my head as something I will need to do soon.

I rarely forget my hip surgery anniversary, but it does happen sometimes. And this year was one year that I almost forgot. I didn’t remember it until the day was half over and I realized what the day was. And this was a big anniversary because it marks 15 years since I had my hip surgery!

Almost forgetting about my surgery anniversary is a sign that this isn’t as big of a deal in my life as it used to be. But I don’t think I will ever stop thinking about each year being something to be excited about. And 15 years is a big one. In a few years, my hip surgery will be half a lifetime ago for me! But for now, it is a significant chunk of my life ago. And just like any other surgery anniversary, I’m still impressed by how much I have been able to do since surgery.

I’m so happy that I don’t have to deal with as much pain as I had in the past. I do still have pain every day, but most of the time I don’t have to take anything to deal with it from day to day. Compare that to before my surgery when I was maxed out on 2 different painkillers and still in intense pain. Even though I do have to take a painkiller when things get really bad, those moments are rare and I’m not taking something regularly. Sometimes, I can even go several weeks without needing a painkiller. That would have been impossible to think about before my surgery.

I have accomplished so much that I was told may not be possible after having surgery. I know that sometimes I take a few more risks than I should, but I also have decided to not live in as much fear as I used to. I don’t do the things I was warned about the most, such as things that are real fall risks for me, but I do take chances with things that I was told aren’t the best for me to do but also not super dangerous. And this has allowed me to live life a lot fuller than I thought I would be able to.

I do still spend time every day to make sure that I’m taking care of both the hip that was operated on and the other side which will likely be the next surgery. I stretch almost every day (I’m working on being better about doing it every day). I use foam roller balls to help with my muscles since I depend on them to help support my hip joint. I try to move around during the day when I can so I don’t get too stiff. And I make sure that any shoes I get won’t be too hard on my hips. This means I can’t always wear the shoes I want to and I have to be a bit more practical at times, but after dealing with several days of pain from wearing unsupportive shoes, I know that is something important.

With all the issues I have regarding my health and body, I don’t have a ton I celebrate. But this is one that I should celebrate and be proud of. My hips have been able to do things that I didn’t think I could do. Even with all the medical issues and things I was warned about, somehow my body has overcome that and I haven’t had to focus too much on the negative over the past 15 years.

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Finally Seeing Some Friends (or Having An Almost Normal 4th Of July)

Posted on July 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Finally Seeing Some Friends (or Having An Almost Normal 4th Of July)

My 4th of July in 2020 was so unusual for me. I normally am with my friends, and last year we couldn’t do it. I think we had all hoped that life would be normal by then (I miss how innocent we all were when we thought the pandemic could be over by then), but there was no safe way for us to be together. And as much as I missed everyone, I’m glad we were able to be safe and make sure nobody got sick. I think I’m pretty lucky with my friend group. So many of us were at higher risk and very few people got sick. But I know that’s because we were taking so many precautions.

And even though things are better this year, I think we all agreed that having a big hangout wasn’t the right choice. As much as I would have loved going to a big party, I’m glad I didn’t have to turn it down because it would have been hard to not see my friends and celebrate with everyone. I know most of us are vaccinated, but not everyone has been (such as the kids of my friends), so we are just going to have to be safer for a bit longer. But that just means when we are all finally together again for a big party, we will be celebrating even more. I’m trying to be hopeful for Halloween this year.

Since I wasn’t going to go to my usual big party again this year on the 4th, I had to figure out what to do. And this year, I didn’t really do anything on the 4th. I had a few things I had to do around my house, but I took advantage of having a day off and just relaxing. I needed that little break and I didn’t even go out to watch fireworks. I had gotten comfortable at home and didn’t feel like leaving to deal with crowds (especially when I can’t trust everyone will be either vaccinated or wearing a mask). So the actual 4th was a bit of a bust compared to the past, but that was ok because I had my little celebration on the 3rd instead.

I was able to join some friends for a small gathering at their house. We were outside almost the entire time, everyone attending has been vaccinated for at least a month, and we were all people who do take other precautions when we are out in public. While staying home alone is probably the safest option, this was one of the safest ways I could see some of my friends.

This was actually the largest group of friends I had been able to see since the pandemic started. And I was afraid I’d be crying in happiness to see everyone, especially since I hadn’t seen any of them since the beginning of 2020. But I managed to hold it together and I was able to enjoy a night that felt so normal to me.

I don’t really have photos from that night because we were all focused on spending time together. Seeing friends on a screen is so different from seeing each other in person. And taking photos would have taken away from the in-person time we had together. So while I wish I had some photos of celebrating seeing my friends again, I’m just so happy that I got to see them and spend time reconnecting with people who I have missed for so long!

I know that I am lucky that I was able to see some of my friends and feel safe. Not everyone has friends who have been vaccinated or able to feel this safe around others. And it has taken a long time for things to get to this point with me and my friends. But I am hoping that this is just the beginning of my in-person hangouts with more and more people as things are a bit safer for those of us who have had the vaccine. I wish things would just be normal again and we didn’t have to worry about this, but I know that we are getting there and soon it won’t be a worry. We’ve made it this long, we can keep being careful for a little bit longer.

And yes, I know we had a 3 day weekend for the 4th of July. I’ll be sharing the unexpected thing I got to do on Monday in tomorrow’s post!

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