Category Archives: Family

Looking Back At My Old Self (or I Guess I Did Gain What I Wanted)

Posted on February 11, 2020 | Comments Off on Looking Back At My Old Self (or I Guess I Did Gain What I Wanted)

I’ve written almost 2,000 blog posts. I actually didn’t realize the number was that high until I looked it up. 2,000 posts is a huge number. And I don’t really look back at old posts that often. Sometimes I look back at an old post to see what date it happened. Sometimes I look over an old post when I’m linking to it on a new post and I wanted to double-check that it’s the post I want to link to. But there are so many posts that I haven’t really looked back at since I wrote it.

Last week, I was trying to find a post where I talked about my exercise bike. I really thought there was one where I wrote about getting it, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. But I did end up looking over several old posts. And one that I had to read completely was one I wrote in November 2012 titled “Trying to Gain The Fitness Bug (or I Wish I Was More Motivated).

It was a short post as many of my posts in the first year of blogging were. This post was about how I was doing ok with my eating (which thinking back on it, I question a bit but at the time I felt like I was doing good) but that my biggest struggle was working out. At that time, I didn’t have something that hooked me and got me to go on a regular basis.

And I ended the post with this: “I know plenty of people who are essentially addicted to exercise. They crave it every day. I want to be one of them.”

I think it’s pretty clear now that I’m exactly the person I wanted to be! I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say I’m addicted to exercise, but there’s no doubt that I crave it. If I don’t get my 4 workouts in during the week, I feel like something is off. Even doing 3 workouts in a week doesn’t feel normal. I want my 4 workouts and I will go out of my way to make that happen if I can.

I do remember how I was feeling in 2012 wishing I could find some form of exercise that I would connect with. But for some reason, I haven’t thought about that old version of me in a long time. And I haven’t reflected back on that idea and that I’m exactly who I dreamed of being back then. And thinking about that has given me hope about so many things. There are a lot of things now that I dream of being or gaining in my life. They seem so far away from me now and I don’t know how I will get to that point. But that’s exactly how I felt about exercise back then. I never could have imagined that I’d be the person that I am now. I wanted to be this way, but I didn’t know how to get there. And then I found the workout that clicked with me and I never looked back.

I have no idea what I need to find that will help me gain the things I want in my life now, but knowing that I could go from being clueless in how I will achieve a goal to easily accomplishing that goal makes me optimistic. I won’t know what thing will get me to my goal until it happens, and being clueless about that doesn’t prevent me from getting there. I don’t need to know the way I will get to the answer now. Hopefully, the answer will come to me in some way. And then when that happens, I can look back at this time when I was struggling to get to my goal and be so grateful that I made it.

I’m sure if I didn’t have this blog that I eventually would have come to this realization, but it was nice to almost be forced into seeing what I wanted back then and how I have it now. I was having a bit of a low day when I was writing the post and I needed that boost. When I read what I was thinking in 2012, I had to think about how far I have come and how I really did become what I wanted. And that was a nice feeling and moment of reflection for me when I was really down on myself.

I really hope that I have this type of moment again soon because it really was a nice way to look back at the old me and see that I have become the me that person was dreaming of being.

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The Rest Of Thanksgiving (or Getting In Lots Of Family Time)

Posted on December 4, 2019 | Comments Off on The Rest Of Thanksgiving (or Getting In Lots Of Family Time)

I have already posted about the first half of my Thanksgiving trip. That time was mainly spent with my parents or my immediate family. But Thanksgiving Day was all about all of my family that was together for the holiday. We had 16 people (plus 2 dogs) this year in one place. And there was a bit of sadness as this was the first Thanksgiving since my grandma passed away, but we were all so grateful to be together with everyone in those 3 generations in one place.

Thanksgiving morning started with the family workout at Orangetheory. I love that we have that tradition now in the family and it was a great way to start the day. Even though the studio was really close to the hotel, it was really cold out so we ended up driving over to the workout. I made sure I worked out a little extra hard to make up for us having to drive over. But it was fine.

After the workout, we had some time at the hotel to shower and get ready plus some time to relax. There was no rush to get over to my aunt and uncle’s house and it was nice having time to read and not stress out about getting ready and leaving by a certain time. We were still over there a few hours before dinner, so we had a lot of family time. But we didn’t feel stressed that we had to get there by at a specific time and we didn’t have to worry about if we were going to miss anything.

Thanksgiving was originally planned for Sacramento because that’s where my grandma was (and she couldn’t travel). We knew that she wouldn’t be able to be at dinner, so I was prepared already for her not being there. But I had made plans that I was going to visit her before dinner so it did feel a bit like we forgot to do something. Starting next year my family will be rotating where we do Thanksgiving (which is what we used to do every year), so I think it won’t feel like we missed something. But it worked out fine for Thanksgiving to be in Sacramento and since all of us live on the west coast, it’s not too difficult to travel there. It was so awesome having everyone at dinner this year. We haven’t had the entire family together in a few years and I know how lucky we are that we can do this.

We were all hanging out in the kitchen and living room spending time together. A lot of the cooking was done in advance, so there wasn’t a lot of craziness in the kitchen. It felt very relaxed compared to some of the past Thanksgivings and I liked that. And it gave us time to enjoy things like the gorgeous sunset that we had that evening.

Also, I convinced my brother and my cousins that we should try to recreate a photo that was taken in 1988. This photo wasn’t from Thanksgiving that year, but it’s the first photo I think of when I think of a photo of all of us when we were little. I actually don’t love the photo, but it’s still the first one that comes to mind. My cousin Stephie was excited to do the recreation too, so she helped me get the guys together for it. And my cousin John even tried to match the pose from the original photo. I think it looks awesome!

I think that everyone loved the photos once I combined them and that they agree it was a good choice to take it. The 5 of us aren’t always together at Thanksgiving, so I am glad I took advantage of that. I remember the last time we were all together that we took a photo and it was only after we left that I was upset we didn’t match the old one. Now, I finally got to do what I regret not doing a few years ago.

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome as always. We had all the usual things that my family has and they are always delicious. My favorites are the green beans and the corn casserole, but everything that I had on my plate was so good!

After we had dinner, we did go around the table talking about our favorite memories of my grandma. Some people included memories of my grandpa too, but my memories were all grandma ones. She was very particular about her hair and makeup and always looked perfect. I remember when I was little that my grandma went on an amusement park ride and somehow she was the only one out of us that got wet. That was so funny. I also remember a Thanksgiving when we were young that my cousin convinced my grandma to try his rollerblades and she got on them inside the house and my cousin helped her stay up. I loved the memories that everyone else shared too and I’m glad that for the most part that was an upbeat thing. I was worried that it would be sad, but there was only one time that I cried. The rest of the time was all about smiling and reminding each other of these random memories that we loved.

After dinner, we had to get a family photo. And while I loved the one we had last year of all of us laughing, this one was a bit more normal. But I do love the dogs looking at each other.

Overall, it was a really great Thanksgiving and we had some amazing family time. And my concern about being sad while I was there didn’t come true. There was so much joy and happiness in being together and sharing memories that the sadness was minimal. And I’m so glad about that.

The day after Thanksgiving was pretty low-key. I had to work that morning so I worked in the hotel room. My brother and sister-in-law left that morning but they stopped by the room before driving home. And while I was working my parents took the dog for a long walk. I was fine being alone because it made me feel a bit better about having to work. When I work around all my family, it is fun because I’m a part of everything happening. But I also feel a bit guilty when I ask everyone to be quiet or when I can’t participate in a conversation or have to end talking to work with a customer.

When I was done with work, we headed over to my aunt and uncle’s house for some leftovers and a bit more family time. Unfortunately, I had to leave before some of my family was able to get there because I had to catch my flight home. But hopefully, the family that didn’t get to see me understood that I needed to be at the airport on time.

My flight home was much calmer than my flight there. There wasn’t as much turbulence so I was able to relax a little. I still don’t love flying, but this was much more normal and I only had my normal anxiety. And once we landed, it was pretty quick for me to get back to where I parked my car so I could get home. It was a bit weird when I was unpacked and everything felt normal when I was just with my family a few hours before.

Next year, we’ll be somewhere else for Thanksgiving. But I know we are going to have so many of the same traditions happening wherever we are. And I’m so glad that we all agreed as a family that our annual Thanksgiving gatherings are important to us so we are going to keep them going. I can’t wait for next year!

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

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My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts)

Posted on December 2, 2019 | Comments Off on My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts)

This past week of workouts ended up being a 3 workout week. I was thinking about trying to make it 4, but it was destined to be just 3. But it’s ok because one workout was my family pre-Thanksgiving workout and that should count for more than one! Not only was my family workout awesome, but this past week was also just a great week for me and that’s what I really needed.

Monday’s workout was a power day, and it was a really great day for me. I only get to take a 2 group class on Mondays (unless I take a class during a time I normally don’t), and this one was a perfect 2 group workout. Because it was a power day, things were short and that was perfect when we were at each section of the room for 30 minutes.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. Each block had the same pattern with a push pace, a pace pace, and then 3 rounds of all outs with recoveries after. The first block had a 90 second push pace, the second block had a 1 minute push pace, and the last block had a 30 second push pace. The base paces and recoveries changed between the blocks too. And all the all outs in the first block were 1 minute, all the all outs in the second block were 45 seconds, and all the all outs in the last block were 30 seconds. These were great little sprints for me on the bike and I was able to get some high numbers with my wattage and cadence. I kept the resistance level at my base level the entire time, but I think that was almost necessary with how often we were changing up what we were doing. I got one of my furthest distances on the bike that I’ve ever done and I felt awesome when we switched to the floor.

The floor was an interesting plan. It was one long block and we started with 3 rounds of bench hopovers to burpees and a 100-meter row. Then we had 3 rounds of push-ups to plank jacks, squats with hammer curls, and a 150-meter row. The last section was supposed to be shoulder presses to stands, plank work, and sit-ups with rotations with 200-meter rows, but I only got through the exercises once in that section so I didn’t make it to the row. I wasn’t going too heavy with the weights because we were moving around so much and I did have to modify things by using the bench, but it was still a great floor block for me. I know it was a lot of work, but because things were switching up so often it didn’t feel like that and the 30 minutes really flew by. I think it was the perfect workout to have right before traveling and to get me ready for my family workout on Thanksgiving.

My next workout was on Thursday for the family workout. We had 5 of us this year at the workout, so it wasn’t our biggest group and it wasn’t our smallest group. This year my dad, brother, aunt, and cousin joined me (next year or the year after my cousin’s oldest kid will be joining us and then we’ll have 3 generations at the workout!). We were at the Folsom studio again, which is where we were last year. And as always it was a partner workout.

The first half of the class was just 6 minutes in each section of the room without partners. We had 6 minutes of cardio with push and base paces, a 6-minute row for distance, and pull-ups on the straps, squats to bicep curls, and pushups on the floor. My family doesn’t row normally, so I think the 6 minutes of rowing was a bit tough on them but they all did great! Nobody stopped the entire time and that was so impressive!

The rest of the class was partnered in groups of 3. I worked with my dad and brother and the person on cardio set the switching. My dad and brother on the treadmills had a .4 mile run and I had 1.6 miles on the bike. The person on the rower just rowed the entire time they were there. And the person on the floor had squats, single-arm snatches, and sit-ups. We weren’t supposed to reset the rower the entire time, but my dad accidentally did it once so we were missing a bit of our distance at the end of class. But it was a fast-moving partner block and we were switching every 3-4 minutes.

And as always, we had to take a family photo with our coach after we finished the class.

We’ve now had this tradition for 6 years and every year our photos make me smile!

I was back to my regular studio for my Saturday workout. This class was a strength-based one and I continued my streak of having awesome workouts! There were 2 blocks in each section of the room and we switched between each block.

Both of the cardio blocks had the same pattern. We started with a 90-second push pace. After a base pace, we had 45 seconds at an incline and 45 seconds at a flat incline at a push pace followed by 30 seconds at an incline and our push pace. We had a walking recovery and then a 30-second push pace and 30-second all out at an incline. The difference between the 2 blocks was the incline we were supposed to use. I used the resistance levels when we were doing incline work, but for the flat road pushes, I just focused on pedaling faster.

On the rower, the first block started with a 250-meter row and 25 pulsing squats. We decreased the row by 50 meters and the squats by 5 until the block ended. The second block started with a 100-meter row and 10 pulsing squats with increasing the row by 50 meters and the squats by 5 each round.

And on the floor, we had the same exercises for both blocks. We had deadlifts, chest presses, single-arm rows with weights, lunges, and seated shoulder presses to stands. I tried to go heavy with the weights, but I think I wasn’t feeling 100% myself and was a bit tired from traveling so I had to go a bit lower than I would have liked.

This week and next week at Orangetheory are the 12 Days Of Fitness and they are supposed to be harder workouts than normal. If you do 7 of the 12 workouts, you get a pair of OTF socks. But only the first 100 people who complete it will get them. I can adjust my schedule to do 7 workouts (and I’m going to see about trying to do that), but I don’t think I’ll be one of the first 100 to do it so I’m not expecting to be able to get the socks. But I’m excited either way about seeing what these workouts will bring and what I’ll be able to do!

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff

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The First Half Of Thanksgiving (or My Pre-Thanksgiving Activities)

Posted on November 29, 2019 | Comments Off on The First Half Of Thanksgiving (or My Pre-Thanksgiving Activities)

My Thanksgiving trip felt like it was split into 2. What I did before Thanksgiving Day and what happened on Thanksgiving Day and after. So I figured I should split my posts into 2 as well. And this is the first part of my Thanksgiving trip.

As I previously mentioned, I was anxious about flying for Thanksgiving for several reasons. This has been an issue for me for most of my life, and I just have to work through it whenever I travel. I guess it is a good thing that I don’t travel that often. And while most of my fears I wrote about weren’t an issue, my flight for my trip wasn’t the easiest.

It was a totally full flight, which wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be. I wasn’t too squished in my seat, and I think the new seats that Southwest did help. Even though the seats are probably smaller, the armrests are up a bit higher so that makes it more comfortable for me. I do fit in the seats either way, but it’s nice to feel better about it.

The flight itself was one of the bumpiest I’ve been on. It was pretty horrible. The turbulence was constant and there were so many stomach-dropping moments. I really wished that I had some panic meds with me because that would have been the time to take them. But I just tried to focus on breathing and I listened to podcasts during the flight instead of reading so I could zone out a bit more. And we did land safely, which is what is important.

And all that stressful travel was worth it because I go to see my family’s dog again for the first time in a year!

The day before Thanksgiving was mainly family time with my immediate family. I had to work that morning and my cousin and her kids came over to the hotel to say hi to me and my parents. My brother and sister-in-law were driving up to us that day, so that afternoon was just my parents and me.

A few days earlier, we were trying to figure out what to do that afternoon because it was supposed to be pouring rain. My mom saw that “Stomp” was playing at a theater very close to the hotel so she got the 3 of us tickets. My parents have seen the show twice and I technically have seen it before (but I was 4 or 5 so I don’t remember it), so we were all very excited to check it out!

My mom got us great seats and we were close enough to see everything but far enough that we weren’t able to see the entire stage at once.

And the show was really awesome! The performers were so talented and what they were able to do was fun to watch. And they were all able to show personality with their characters even though they never spoke a single word. There were a few moments that were Thanksgiving themed, but those might be always in the show. But I liked those touches and everyone in the audience was enjoying it.

After the show, we headed back to the hotel where my brother and sister-in-law were waiting. Their drive wasn’t too bad, so they got to us with plenty of time to spare before we went out to dinner. We hung out in our hotel room and caught up plus we did our Hanukkah presents. I gave my brother and sister-in-law a candle that is supposed to smell like San Francisco (where they lived before) and I got my parents these really cute wooden tiles painted to look like Scrabble tiles that spell out SNOW. I know the gifts weren’t as good as the custom pet portraits, but they were still good.

After presents, the 5 of us headed out to dinner. We went out for Chinese food and it was a nice and casual meal. And even though it wasn’t that late, after dinner we were all pretty tired so we headed back to our hotel rooms to get some sleep before a big day the next day.

Even though the start of my trip got off to a rocky start (literally), I’m glad the first half of Thanksgiving was what I hoped for. I got to hang out with my family, go do some fun things, and enjoy a little break from my everyday life.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff, Travel

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Feeling Like Something Is Missing (or I Guess This Is Part Of The Grief Process)

Posted on November 20, 2019 | Comments Off on Feeling Like Something Is Missing (or I Guess This Is Part Of The Grief Process)

Today should be my grandma’s birthday. Her birthday was something that I celebrated with her almost every year because it is so close to Thanksgiving. The tradition in my family used to be celebrating her birthday either the day before or the day after Thanksgiving with a nice dinner out. Those dinners are so clear in my memory because they were such a big tradition. I loved having that extra time to celebrate with my family since we only really get together for Thanksgiving as an extended family.

Both of my grandparents passed away about a month before their birthdays, so I went through this with my grandpa’s death as well. But because I didn’t really celebrate his birthday with him, it didn’t hit me as hard as this is hitting me. I really feel like I’m forgetting to do something and that I will need to somehow catch up. Fortunately, I remembered to turn off the alarm on my calendar to buy my grandma’s birthday card so I didn’t have that alert about a week ago. But I still feel like I should be going to the store to find the perfect card for her.

My grandma loved butterflies so almost every single card I ever got for her had butterflies on them. I tried hard to always find birthday and Mother’s Day cards that were themed with butterflies or had one on there somewhere. It seems like it’s a common thing to find on cards, so I always seemed to be able to find them. Sometimes I would find the perfect card for her birthday months in advance and I’d get it and save it. I know that my grandma loved those cards and cherished them. I don’t know if any of my cousins ever got my grandma the same card, but I’m guessing that since there aren’t a ton of grandma cards with butterflies that it happened at least once.

I missed my grandma’s birthday dinner last year because it was done the night I flew in for Thanksgiving. It was sad to miss that dinner, but I understood why it had to be that night. That felt weird enough for me, but I knew I’d get to spend some time over the next few days with my grandma to make up for it. And she understood why I wasn’t able to fly in earlier for it. I was thinking that maybe this year would be similar to last year and I would just have a feeling of missing out. But it’s harder than that for me.

I’ve shared how grieving the loss of my grandma has been taking me time to get through. I’m not trying to rush myself through the grieving process and I’m allowing myself to take the time I need and not feel weird that it’s not over. There are things that are very different for me with this death compared to other deaths in my life.

When comparing this loss with the loss of my grandpa, I was much closer to my grandma. I knew I could depend on her and it’s a loss not to have that. I also have watched my grandma decline for several years, compared to my grandpa passing away a bit more suddenly. I would think watching someone decline would make it easier to accept, but I think I just assumed she would continue that path for a bit longer. Even though it was hard to watch her become a shadow of who she used to be, there were still moments where I could see the person she was before and it was a nice reminder of who she was when I was little. And I think the way I found out about my grandma’s death has made this a long process. I had to push the sadness away for a few days because I was busy working at the convention.

I’m sure that I’m going to struggle a bit for a little longer. I’m already expecting Thanksgiving to be tough for me and my family. And I’m a bit more prepared now for having random moments of sadness and grief when I can’t figure out what exactly caused it. When I had those last month, they really took me by surprise and I didn’t exactly know what to do with them. Now that I’ve experienced it, I still will be a bit unsure what to do but they won’t be as shocking or surprising.

Being sad on my grandma’s birthday was something I was more prepared for. There are a few other dates in the future that I’m ready to struggle through. But knowing that they are coming doesn’t necessarily make them easier. I just hope that time will help the sadness be a bit less and allow me to celebrate my grandma’s incredible life on those days and not focus on the loss.

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Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

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Forgot To Share Some Awesome News (or I’m Going To Be An Aunt!)

Posted on October 23, 2019 | Comments Off on Forgot To Share Some Awesome News (or I’m Going To Be An Aunt!)

A few weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law announced that they were having a baby! I am so excited for them! I knew that they were trying to get pregnant and I was so happy when they told everyone that they were! The baby is due toward the end of April, but I’m hoping it’s born on April 4th to share a birthday with my mom and it would also be on my aunt and uncle’s anniversary (so many people in my family have birthdays/anniversaries on the same day or consecutive days). But I’m guessing the baby will be born closer to the due date.

I love how confused their cat looks in their announcement photo. He has no clue what is happening and how his life will change when he’s not the only baby in the family. But hopefully, he becomes a good friend to the baby (I never have had a cat so I don’t know too much about how cats do with babies). I’m tempted to get the cat a big brother shirt to wear when the baby is here.

Even though my extended family has kids in that generation (I have cousins on both sides of my family with kids), but this is the first new generation in my immediate family. And this will be the first time I’m an aunt! And I can’t wait to be Aunt Jen to this baby, although it’s still so weird for me to type out “Aunt Jen” still. I’m sure I’ll get used to that name soon.

I was already excited about this future kid, but we also found out about a week ago that they are having a boy so I will be an aunt to a nephew! I knew they were hoping for a boy so I’m so glad that they found that out. I know they would be awesome parents to either a boy or a girl, but I’m excited it’s a boy. Most of my friends have had boys lately, so I’ve got a lot of cute baby boy outfits I am already thinking of getting my nephew. An aunt’s job is to help spoil the kid and be a bit silly, and I am totally ready to take that job on.

The news that they were having a boy happened around the same time as my grandma passing away, so I’m glad there was something happy to celebrate when I was feeling low. And I have a feeling my family feels the same way. I am sad my grandma won’t get to meet their baby, but this baby already has so many family members ready to love him and fuss over him.

I’ve had a few people in my life ask me if I was upset or feeling negative about my brother having a baby, and I’m not feeling that way at all. I know some people might think that because I’m single that I was jealous or felt weird that my younger brother was having a kid before I was married or had a kid. But to me, this wasn’t even a thought. I haven’t met the person I want to marry and have kids with yet, so why should I be upset that my brother has? Everyone has their own timeline, and this is theirs and mine is still to be determined. I know not everyone thinks that way or feels like an older sibling should do things first, but that’s not how my family thinks. And I’m so glad my family isn’t like that and we can all celebrate this awesome news without hesitation.

I will get to see my brother and sister-in-law in about a month when we are all together for Thanksgiving. I don’t know when I’ll see them after that, but hopefully we can figure plans for them to come to LA or me to go to Santa Barbara before they have their baby. And I’m sure I’ll be going to Santa Barbara after they have the baby to meet him. I don’t know the timeline of any of that, but I’m glad they live close to me so things can be flexible and I can easily go up there on a day off when the baby is born.

I’m sure it’s clear from my post about how excited I am for my nephew to be here! This is news that I have been hoping to hear for a while and I’m so glad it’s happening. And it’s going to be amazing to see who this kid is going to be as they grow up and the type of person they are. I’ve loved watching that with my friend’s kids and my cousin’s kids, and now I get to watch that with someone in my immediate family!

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Posted in Celebrations, Family

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A Big Loss In My Family (or Saying Goodbye To My Grandma)

Posted on October 17, 2019 | Comments Off on A Big Loss In My Family (or Saying Goodbye To My Grandma)

I’ve worked on this post multiple times and I keep deleting and re-writing it. I wish I had an eloquent way to write this, but my words are failing me. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, my grandma passed away.

She passed away peacefully on Friday. I actually found out while at my convention. I had just changed for the gala and was walking back from my car after dropping off my daytime clothes when my dad texted me. The text said to call when I had a break at the convention and I immediately knew that it was going to be about bad news. Several things went through my head, but I called my dad back right away and he let me know that my grandma passed away. My parents thought about waiting to tell me, but they didn’t want me to see it posted on social media or something before they could give me the news.

I immediately burst into tears. I knew my grandma wasn’t doing well and that she was probably going to pass away soon, but I had really hoped that she would make it to Thanksgiving so I could see her one more time. The last time I saw her or talked to her was last Thanksgiving (she wasn’t really able to talk on the phone anymore so I didn’t get to call her over the past year). So I wanted to see her again so I could feel like I had a chance to say goodbye. I hate that I didn’t get that chance, but I also know that my grandma wasn’t really herself for a few months.

I had been having weird dreams for the 2 weeks before her death that she would pass away while I was at the convention. I don’t know why I thought that, but in all my dreams I found out in the middle of convention voting. I never dreamt it would be as I was walking into the gala. I hung up with my dad quickly since I was trying to pull myself together. A friend of mine saw me crying hysterically on a couch and he went to find some tissues for me and sat with me for a little while. And when I went into the gala, I tried to hold it together but there were several times I started crying. I felt so lucky that I was surrounded by friends that night who were able to comfort me a bit. And I remembered during the gala that the purse I was using was one of my grandma’s that she passed down to me, so that made me happy.

I know when my grandpa died I wrote about his life and what he had done. But I can’t do that with remembering my grandma. I was closer to her than I was with my grandpa and everything about her is a memory of something amazing.

I remember being little and thinking my grandma was so glamourous. When she got ready in the morning, she would do her hair and makeup and then wore this mesh thing over her head while she got dressed to make sure her makeup didn’t get smudged. I loved that she did that. She always was protecting her hair and making sure she looked good. I remember when my grandparents went to an amusement park with us and my grandma agreed to go on a water ride because she thought she’d stay dry. Our raft got stuck under a waterfall and she was the only person under the water. She was soaked and we were all laughing so much.

She was also an amazing cook. When they had their house in San Diego, their kitchen always smelled delicious. It seemed like she could make anything and I was lucky that my mom had the same cooking skills. When my mom and grandma cooked together, the food was just that much better.

And my grandma loved playing backgammon. I think everyone in the family learned to play because of her. She was easily the best backgammon player and we joked that she was a witch because she could always roll exactly what she needed. She loved that she was able to kick all of our butts and never went easy on us. She played to win every time and her face lit up as soon as she knew there was no way for her opponent to beat her.

And just like my grandpa, she loved to travel. My grandma went to all 7 continents and loved to explore new places. And I loved traveling with her. I remember when we were on a cruise in Belize and there was a dance contest one night for all the guests. My grandma ended up dancing with the boat captain and she was dancing up a storm! I know we have a video of that somewhere and I’m so glad that I can watch it again one day.

I really wish I could say enough so you all could know how amazing and incredible my grandma was. Losing her was heartbreaking, but at the same time I know she wasn’t doing well for a while so I’m glad she’s no longer a shell of who she used to me. When I saw her a year ago, she wasn’t the same person I remembered most of the time. But every so often, the old grandma would reemerge and she would be who I remembered. Last year, the moment that stuck with me the most was when we were watching old family movies. We were watching a birthday party when I was little and my dad was on the screen. My grandma turned to me and asked me who that was. I told her it was my dad and she turned to look at him sitting on the couch near us. My dad in the video had hair and my dad now is bald. My grandma turned to me and said in a totally serious voice that my dad looked much better when he had hair. It was so funny and made me so happy to get a glimpse of the grandma that I remembered.

I tried to find a nice way to share photos on here, but there are too many that I love and no great way to organize them in this post. So here are some of my favorite photos of my grandma that I had on my computer (I don’t have any of my favorite photos with her from when I was younger).

And this is one of my favorite recent photos with her. I had picked my grandma up from where she was living in San Diego to meet up with my family. She couldn’t find her sunglasses but I had some extra ones in my car. They were much flashier than what she would wear, and my dad took a picture of us because he said my grandma looked so cool. I just love this photo of us.

The last photo I have with my grandma is from last Thanksgiving. We were trying to get a nice family photo and it was difficult. So I told my uncle to set his camera to take a video and I would find a still image that would work as a family photo. But instead of selecting a posed one, I love this candid one of us all and my family seemed to love it too. I’m glad that I have a silly photo of all of us together last year.

I’m going to miss my grandma so much. I don’t know if it’s hit me since I wasn’t expecting to see her until Thanksgiving. I think this Thanksgiving is going to be a tough one, but my grandma would want us to celebrate her and not be sad. She would want us to have fun, be silly, make crazy jokes, and enjoy life. And that’s what I’m going to try hard to do.

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Another Night At The Bowl (or My Parents Got To Rock Out)

Posted on September 18, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Night At The Bowl (or My Parents Got To Rock Out)

The timing for my parents’ trip was determined by a few things. First, they had hotel reservations in Catalina so I knew they’d be coming to LA either before they went to Catalina or after. But my parents and I also wanted to try to find a show at the Bowl that we could go to together. We had a lot of fun when we saw the Beatles celebration there, and we wanted to see another show. We had been trying for a few years to find a show that worked with their schedule that they wanted to see, but nothing was working until this season.

As soon as the Bowl announced their season, I shared it with my parents so they could pick out what looked good and what they would want to see. I had a few things that I suggested could be fun, but I wanted my parents to pick what they wanted and not just go to something that I thought they would enjoy. And when we looked at the season this year, my parents knew exactly what looked good to them: Earth, Wind & Fire.

I had heard of the band before, but since I’m not a big music person I don’t always know what songs are done by which bands. But it looked like it would be a fun show, plus it was going to have fireworks. And I knew that at the show I would recognize songs even if I didn’t know they were their songs before seeing them.

I tried to get us box seats for the Bowl so we could have an extra special evening, but I think because there were fireworks with the show, a lot of people wanted tickets. I was in the virtual line online hours before they went on sale, but I still couldn’t get us a box. But I did get us seats that were closer than I normally sit and we figured we could eat at our seats or try to find a picnic area.

On the day of the show, my dad and I worked out in the morning and then I had work. While I was working, my parents came over for a while because they were going to help me with a few things. My parents got me a Ring doorbell camera for my birthday (I have been wanting one) so my dad and I had to install it. And there were a few other small house projects for us to work on, but nothing too crazy. My parents left before I was done with work and we decided we were going to get food from Tender Greens to bring with us to the show.

We dealt with more rush hour traffic while on the Bowl Bus, but we were at the Bowl with plenty of time to eat before the show started. We didn’t luck out finding a picnic spot, so we went to our seats and ate there. Since we were early enough, the other people in our row weren’t there so we were able to spread out a bit. And since we were just eating salads, it wasn’t too hard to eat at the seats.

After eating, we waited for showtime. We had much better seats than we had when we went for the show before (when they were slightly obstructed seats). This time, we were more centered than before and had a great view of the stage.

The show was sold out so our row started to fill in before the show. Not everyone got there before the show started, and we were seated at the end of the row, so for the first part of the show, we were getting up and down a bit. A lot of the people seated around us were standing for the show, but we stayed seated (I was tired) and we could still see the stage and the large video screens so it was fine.

And as I expected, for a majority of the songs that they played I recognized them once they started playing. I knew them from various movies or random snippits I’ve heard on the radio but I just didn’t know who the band was. That’s how most concerts are for me and it’s always a fun surprise when I learn that a band I’m seeing is behind songs that I’ve randomly known for years.

But my parents knew all of the songs and they seemed very excited every time a new song started. I haven’t been to many concerts with them, so I’ve never seen them really get into a show. But there is no question they were into this show. I had a great time watching them have a great time. That might have been better for me than enjoying the show myself. My parents worked so hard and I love seeing them get to enjoy retirement. And their retirement has been them getting to do so much and discover new things they are into. They have done so many adventures since my dad retired and I am glad I got to be a small part of their adventure this time.

And, as I said, this was a show with fireworks. It’s rare to get to see fireworks at a show, but it is so spectacular.

When the show was done, we headed back to the bus and were able to get on one without having to wait. The drive back was much easier than the drive there, and I was glad we were back sooner because it had been a very full day. I was tired and I had an early morning the next morning. But the show was the end to my parents visiting me so it was a little bit of a downer. I will see them again in a little over 2 months for Thanksgiving, so that’s not too far from now.

Considering my parents were in LA for 2 days, we really packed a lot in. We had 2 shows, 1 workout, some fun meals, work around my house, and a little bit of relaxing time in there. Hopefully, they don’t need a vacation from their vacation now.

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Part 1 Of A Family Visit (or Letting My Parents Relax A Bit)

Posted on September 17, 2019 | Comments Off on Part 1 Of A Family Visit (or Letting My Parents Relax A Bit)

My parents were visiting me for two days last week. Their stop in LA was the end of their vacation, but it was timed that way for a show that we had tickets for (that I’ll be writing about tomorrow). They had visited my brother and sister-in-law for the beginning of their trip and then they were in Catalina for several days. Their trip to Catalina was a bit more adventurous than the trip I did earlier this year. They did a lot of hiking, kayaking, and exploring while they were there. So I wanted to make their LA stop as relaxing as possible.

They got to LA on Thursday afternoon while I was still working. Even though they could have come over to my house while I was working, they took a bit of time to themselves to check in to their hotel and do a walk around Culver City. They came over when I was done, which was probably for the best since work has been picking up a lot lately.

Before my parents came, I had asked them what they wanted to do the night they arrived. We didn’t plan anything for that night and I knew that just sitting around and doing nothing wouldn’t be the best option. They asked me what I usually like to do in the evenings, but I knew my typically after work stuff wouldn’t be right. We weren’t going to go to Disneyland for a few hours, I wasn’t going to bring them to a union event, and I already knew being lazy wasn’t the right thing. So I started looking around for shows that we could potentially go to.

My parents don’t go to plays or musicals that often, but they do enjoy them. Unfortunately, it seemed like last week was between the seasons for so many places. But I did remember that a friend of mine sent me information regarding free preview tickets for the Mark Taper, so I took a look at that and my parents agreed it would be something interesting and different to do.

We also made dinner reservations downtown so we could just drive there and stay there. Of course, we were driving during rush hour traffic and it took us a long time to get there, but we gave ourselves plenty of time to drive so it was fine. We parked at the theater and made it to the restaurant right at the time of our reservation.

Sorry for not having any dinner pictures, but I was more focused on spending time with my parents. Even though I talk to them all the time, it’s different when you get to spend time in person. They were asking me things about the election and the upcoming convention. This is my 3rd convention, but it’s still a weird concept to even union members who aren’t a part of it. And I know even more now than I did before so I could explain what happens more. And my parents had seen some of the news about the election and I could update them on some of the craziness.

After dinner, we went up to the theater. My mom hadn’t been to the Mark Taper since she lived in LA (so at least 50 years ago) and my dad had never been there. It was cool to get to introduce and re-introduce my parents somewhere. And we were at the theater early enough to get to spend time on the patio in front talking more and enjoying the view of downtown LA.

The show that we went to was “A Play Is A Poem”. It is not a full play but actually 5 different 1 act shows that aren’t directly connected. The only thing they have in common is that all the 1 act shows take place in America.

We didn’t know much about the show and sometimes that is a good thing. I figured I would just be enjoying the different plays and hopefully my parents would enjoy them too.

This was the second night of previews for the show, so I don’t know if anything will be changing before it officially premieres. I did enjoy the show overall, but I didn’t love all the 1 acts. There were 2 that I thought were really great and would actually like to see as a full-length show, 2 that were good but not my favorite, and 1 that I didn’t enjoy. My parents felt the same and from listening to people leaving the theater, many people had the same opinion. I’m still glad we went because I love going to the theater, I just wish that it was a show that we all loved and were super enthusiastic about.

After the show, my parents drove me back (which was significantly faster than our drive there) and then they headed back to their hotel which was only a few minutes from my house. They had a busy travel day and I knew they were probably tired because I was exhausted. And my dad and I had an early morning the next morning for our workout.

Plus, we were all excited and wanting to get some sleep for our exciting outing the next day. But I’ll be writing about that tomorrow.

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Part 2 Of Catalina (or Outdoor Adventuring)

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 comment

The second (and last) full day we had in Catalina was another day of exploring the island. The original plan was to take a jeep tour that was going to take us around the island and we were hopefully going to see some of the wildlife that lives there. We also were going to get to the airport and the isthmus. Even though it wasn’t a private tour, since we filled one jeep it was going to be just us on the tour.

But because of all the rain that they have been getting recently, we had been warned that the tour might not go exactly as planned. First, some of the roads have been closed due to the mud. They were hoping some might reopen by the time we got there, but there was a chance that we wouldn’t be able to make it out to the isthmus. Also, we might not see any animals on the tour. Normally, they hang out by the water reservoirs because that is the main source of water for them. But the rain made the entire island an opportunity for them to find water, so they might not be in their normal hangouts. Even with those possible issues with the tour, we were all excited to get to drive around and see what we could.

We started with going up the hill on the side of the island that we were staying on. When we got to the top, we had an amazing view of Avalon.

When we got down, we drove through Avalon to get toward the other side of the island. The beginning of that side was sections of the hillside that we saw in our tour the day before. But when we were on that tour we saw a road and the guide told us that it was a restricted area. But we had access to get up there and we continued up the hillside to get toward the airport.

Even though the rain was restricting some of what we could do on this tour, it did make the entire island look really green and lush. We all were saying how much this felt like we were in Hawaii.

We got to another hilltop where we could see toward the airport and where we were heading. And it was so clear out as well so the mainland was in view.

We got to the airport which is at the top of a hill and we were informed there that the road to get to the isthmus was not going to open that day. They were just so overwhelmed by the rain and the mud was more than the roads could handle. We already had a plan to stop at the airport and it gave us a good chance to warm up. It was already cold out, but being in an open air jeep made us even colder.

One thing that I was hoping to get to do on this trip was to recreate a photo that I have from my 16th birthday. My friends and I posed on a bench while on that trip and it’s one of the few photos I have from my birthday. It’s one of my favorite photos and I was hoping to find the same bench. But it was on the side of the island that we couldn’t get to, so I had to use a bench at the airport and do the best I could without the exact same bench (and missing my friends).

Since we couldn’t go as far on the tour as we expected, we were back at our rental house mid-day. We had the entire afternoon before we were going to get dinner and because the sun was finally out we went on a glass bottom boat to see the fish.

We were hoping the sun would be out so we could do the boat because when it’s cloudy you can’t see as much. The boat was pretty empty with just 2 other small groups besides us. It was nice not to be packed in there and it was a relaxing boat ride as we got out to where the protected area where most the fish would be.

The driver of the boat fed the fish and then the boat went over the area where he threw the food. Whenever he did that, the windows below us were filled with fish. It was so fun to see it and we definitely saw a lot of fish while we were out there.

The driver also told us once before he threw the food so we could watch outside the boat for all the fish jumping around. I tried my best to capture that in a photo, but it doesn’t do it justice. As soon as the food was in the water, it was really a feeding frenzy!

We were out in the protected area for about 30 minutes before the ride back to the dock. I spent some of the time watching the windows to see if we could see anything fun. But I also kept kneeling up on the seat to look at the view outside because it really was just so gorgeous outside and we all have had so much rain lately.

That evening we relaxed at the house and went out to dinner. And the next morning, we had another morning of sun while we got packed up and ready to head back to the boat back to the mainland.

We knew that it was supposed to start raining again that day, but we were hoping to not have to deal with it too much. And the timing of the rain was almost perfect because it started just as we boarded the boat to go home.

The drive back to LA was easy since it was the middle of the day between morning and afternoon rush hour. Everyone else had a much longer drive home than I did and they did encounter some rain and crazy storms. But I think we all agreed that it was so much better to have the storm happen then than when we were trying to enjoy our vacation.

I love this tradition of our trips when my dad and brother do their skiing adventure. They will probably go on another trip next year so hopefully we will do one as well. It’s one of the few trips I do each year since I can’t really afford to travel. We did talk about a few ideas of where we could travel to next year. We’ve got some that would be very extravagant, but maybe we could do it. Since my mom pays for me to travel with her on these weekends, I know that it’s up to her where we are going to go. But wherever we go next year, I know it will be another amazing trip that I will have the best memories from!

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