Category Archives: Fun Stuff

Some Fun With Mistaken Identity (or At Least I’m Not Being Sued)

Posted on September 9, 2022 | Comments Off on Some Fun With Mistaken Identity (or At Least I’m Not Being Sued)

I know that my name is not the most common name, but it’s also not something so unique that nobody else would have it. I know that if people search for my name but put a first name that isn’t my legal name, it’s a bit more common. But if you search for Jennie Levin, there are other people out there but not too many. So if something arrives at my home that is addressed to me, there’s a good chance that it actually is for me.

So the other day, I had someone call me through the callbox at my building saying they had a delivery for me. I wasn’t expecting anything, but I buzzed them in to see what it was. I answered the door, and it was a process server telling me that I had been served with a subpoena. I was in shock and so confused, so I didn’t sign anything but I took the paperwork and decided to look more into it. I received a subpoena once before the pandemic when I was on the witness list for a drunk driver’s trial to discuss what I had seen at the scene. But I had been given a heads up before that came to me and this one arrived with no warning. I also looked at all the paperwork that I was handed and I didn’t recognize anything in it, and I was shocked when it said I was to appear in court next week.  But after trying to figure out what was going on, I noticed the information on the top of the cover page.

While it did have my name on it, it had a business address that I didn’t recognize. So I decided to look up the address, and it’s the office address of a lawyer named Jennie Levin. I was so relieved when I realized it wasn’t for me because I was really panicking for a moment. I contacted the law firm that sent the subpoena to confirm that they sent it to the wrong person, and the lawyer apologized for the mistake and told me that it was not for me and I could throw out the papers that were handed to me. I also let the other Jennie Levin know that I received paperwork that was theirs but that I would be shredding it. I figured that was a weird 20 minutes that I was trying to figure out what was going on, but that was the end of that.

Then the next evening, I was finishing up dinner when someone called me on the building callbox again. I asked who it was since I wasn’t expecting anyone, and they said they had a gift delivery of wine. This seemed really weird since I don’t really drink and I asked if they could confirm it was for me. They said yes and they said my name and address and that it was a gift so they couldn’t say who it was from. I buzzed them in and didn’t open my door for them. Once they left, I opened the door and there was another subpoena on my doorstep! And again, the subpoena had a completely different address on it so I don’t know why the process server said it was for me. I know that they can lie or mislead people and that’s why they said it was a gift delivery. But I don’t know why they are using my address when the address on the paperwork is completely different.

Again, I contacted the law firm that sent out the subpoena and explained that my address is my home and I don’t know why they are sending people to my home when the address on the form is the office address for the person they are trying to reach. The lawyer said he was sorry and that this shouldn’t happen again. But honestly, I’m just waiting to see if another process server will be at my door another time because they refuse to use the address on the paperwork. Hopefully, they get it right so the correct person shows up to court since they have to appear in a few days.

While I did panic the first time I got the subpoena when I was worried it was actually for me, it became a bit funny once I realized the mistake. And when the second one arrived, it was more of a “you’ve got to be kidding me” feeling. I haven’t had a lot of random things make me laugh and feel ridiculous, so at least this added a bit of fun to my week. And at least I’m not in any legal trouble and my panic was for nothing.

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Default ThumbnailJust A Fun Dinner Out (or Remembering To Have Fun) Default ThumbnailI Guess This Is The Risk With Getting So Many Deliveries (or Thank Goodness For Good Customer Service) Default ThumbnailBeing A Business (or Making Things Official) Default ThumbnailBeing Typed (or A Fun Actor Activity) Default ThumbnailMaking Strides In Class (or Relaxing And Having Fun) Default ThumbnailDriving and Voting (or Having A Fun Afternoon)

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Feeling Very Lucky In This Heat Wave (or I’m Totally Spoiled Now)

Posted on September 7, 2022 | Comments Off on Feeling Very Lucky In This Heat Wave (or I’m Totally Spoiled Now)

I’ve gotten used to being pretty miserable during the summer at my old place with my window a/c doing what it could, but still living in a very hot house. I have had to figure out ways to stay cool when it’s unbearable inside. I have sat on ice packs while working, gotten extra sheets so I could keep a top sheet damp on top of me to try to cool down, and taken multiple cool showers to try to feel better. It was a lot better with my window a/c than it was before I had it, but that’s comparing being over 100 degrees inside my house to it being 85 degrees inside my house.

For most of this summer, LA has had a relatively mild summer. I haven’t been miserable while I have been home. I’m not overheating while working or sweating and feeling sick while I’m trying to sleep. I’m still getting used to having central a/c and making sure that my electric bill doesn’t get too expensive, but I think I probably use it less than many people would since I’m used to things being so warm inside. Plus, I’m much better insulated in my place now than I was at my old place. I don’t have the same issues with direct sunlight that I used to, and I don’t have all the walls exposed to heat. So while the summer was mild, I also thought it might be because of being in a much better home than I was in before.

But right now, LA is in a heat wave. It’s really hot and shockingly muggy here. When I’ve been leaving my place it’s almost a shock how different it feels. I’ve been so comfortable in my house and don’t always check the temperature before leaving. I haven’t had to leave too much lately to do things and I’ve been trying to rest at home as much as I can, so I am glad that my time in the heat is limited. And as soon as I get home, it’s seriously so nice and cool and I feel instantly more relaxed. I don’t leave my a/c on while I’m gone, but I can set things from my phone so when I’m heading home from a workout or running an errand, I can start cooling off my place before I arrive so it’s not as warm when I walk in the door.

I know how lucky I am to have a/c and to live somewhere that is comfortable. I haven’t had this luxury before. I had a/c at the last two places I lived, but neither of those places had efficient a/c units. At the place I lived before the house I was in for 12 years, we had a unit in the wall that only faced the kitchen and had no way of cooling down any other space. And it wasn’t that long ago that I was living at my old place so I very clearly remember how bad it was, especially in a heat wave. So I have put it out to my friends that if they need a place to cool down, they are welcome to come over here. Nobody has taken me up on that offer so far, but it’s an open invitation to my friends. I didn’t have many places I could go and cool down in heat waves before, and I don’t want anyone to feel as miserable as I used to during the summer.

I remember when my parents and I were looking at condos and one of the non-negotiable things for my parents was that my new place needed central a/c. I said that wasn’t a must-have for me and I would be ok with a window unit. But now that I’m living in my first place with central a/c, I’m feeling very spoiled and know that I won’t be able to go back. And I’m grateful that it was something my parents required for a new place because they were right that it is very worth it!

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Default ThumbnailDealing With Heat And Humidity (or I’m Very Lucky The Pandemic Didn’t Happen A Few Years Ago) Default ThumbnailHeat Wave In LA (or Another Post About The Heat) Default ThumbnailAnother Post About The Heat (or I’m Not Getting As Upset This Time) Default ThumbnailOut Of The Heat (or Finally Getting A/C!) Default ThumbnailUpgrading My House (or Feeling Lucky) Default ThumbnailI Hate Complaining About The Heat (or Can It Be Fall Now?)

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Getting In Some Extra Rest (or Feeling Like It’s A Super Long Holiday Weekend)

Posted on September 6, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting In Some Extra Rest (or Feeling Like It’s A Super Long Holiday Weekend)

My weekends are usually shorter than what most people get. Since I work a half day on Saturdays, I get about a day and a half each weekend without work. I used to have more time when I was mainly working my box office job since I had all of Sunday and Monday off, plus a half day on Saturday. But since I’ve been back to working both jobs, I’ve gotten pretty used to only having Sunday entirely off of work. And besides only having only one day off of work each week, I’m also used to getting up early every day. Before the pandemic, because my workout schedule was a bit different, I usually got up around 7am every day. Now, I get up at 5:45am most days. And since I do that most of the time, I don’t usually sleep in later than that on my days off.

But I’ve been able to enjoy several days sleeping in recently. I didn’t work out on Thursday or Friday, so I got to sleep in until about 7am both those mornings. And since this was a holiday weekend this past weekend, I also got to sleep in a little bit on Monday. I don’t sleep in that late, but it still feels really nice getting up at 6:30 instead of 5:45 in the morning.

To get 5 days of being able to sleep in a little bit later was such a luxury. I’ve been going to bed a bit too late and not getting enough sleep and this allowed me to be much closer to my sleep goals for multiple days in a row. And I really have felt a lot more rested because I’ve been able to do that. And as much as I want to say that this has motivated me to work on getting to bed earlier, I know that I still need to work a lot more on getting that done. I know that I don’t need as much sleep as some other people might, but I also know that I’m getting less sleep than my body wants and I have been feeling the effects of that.

The last time I had the opportunity to sleep in a bit for so many days was when I had the minor surgery on my foot. But that didn’t feel too restful since I was in pain and dealing with healing. And when I was going through that, I still had my full regular work schedule. So this time, it was much better since I wasn’t working each of those days and I really did get to feel like I had some time off.

I didn’t do much with my extra long weekend. I did need the time to do a lot of nothing. I am still trying to get my back to feel better so I’ve been doing a lot of stretching and pain management. I’m not completely better yet, but I’m doing significantly better than I was last week. I feel like the pain is much duller and like a bruise than muscle spasms. And it’s not happening as often so I can move more with less pain. I also did a lot of cleaning that I had been putting off last week since my back was hurting. I usually start to feel uncomfortable when my place starts to feel dirty (even though I know it’s still clean), so being able to take the time to clean and then rest when my back was hurting too much was nice.

I probably could have been more social with my long weekend, especially since I did have the chance to sleep in later so I didn’t have to worry about being out late. But just relaxing at home and not doing much ended up being the perfect way for me to spend a long weekend and get myself ready for another busy work week.

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Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key Holiday Weekend (or Enjoying A Real 3 Day Weekend) Default ThumbnailGaining Back A Bit Of My Weekend (I’ve Really Needed This Extra Time) Default ThumbnailTime For A Short Christmas Post (or I Hope You Have A Great Holiday Weekend) Default ThumbnailSuper Productive and Super Lazy (or A Balance Over 2 Days) Default ThumbnailReally Having A Lazy Weekend (or I Guess Sometimes Bad Days Can Be Helpful) Default ThumbnailFeeling More Like Myself (or I Know Getting Back On Track Takes Time)

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Getting Back Into Good Routines (or Healthy Eating And Cleaning Up)

Posted on September 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Back Into Good Routines (or Healthy Eating And Cleaning Up)

I feel like August flew by and was such a short month! I felt like I had more time in August so I was putting off getting some of my birthday freebies like the free products at Sephora. But I guess the month slipped by and I missed getting to do that. Oh well. Some months are just faster than others I guess. And since it’s now September, it’s time to recap my August monthly challenge and plan out my September one.

Last month, I wanted to make sure that I was eating more fruits and vegetables. And as it normally goes with my challenges, I wasn’t perfect but I had some great progress. I know in the past, I was better about eating fruit than I was about eating vegetables, but this time it felt like the opposite. I did get some fruit in my meals, but it didn’t feel as often and it felt much more deliberate when I was doing that. But with vegetables, I was able to make plans for meals that just included them and didn’t have to think about it as much.

I made sure that I always had some frozen vegetables so I could easily microwave them and add them to a meal. I also got a new veggie chopper so I could prepare things easier. I had a similar one before, but I can’t find it. I think I lost a box or two during my move because I keep finding random things that I am missing. But having something to make vegetable prep easier is a nice tool to have. I know I could just cut things with a knife, but I like having things that are about the same size, and using a veggie chopper is the easiest way for me to do that. And if that’s what it takes for me to eat more vegetables, that’s an easy thing for me to do.

I’ve been trying to prepare a big salad once or twice a week so I can just have it in the fridge and ready to eat when I’m having lunch or dinner. This has been so helpful with my goals this month and I know I will be keeping it up. I’m also trying to get back into making smoothies with fruits and vegetables, but that hasn’t become as much of a regular habit for me just yet. But I’m in a much better spot with my eating now than I was at the beginning of August.

After making some great progress in August, I’m hoping I will have the same results this month. And I’m doing a challenge this month that is new to me, but also similar to a past challenge. This month, I want to work on doing a nightly reset of my home before going to bed. In the past, I have made it a challenge to do a quick clean every day, and I’m still doing that and it’s very helpful. But something that I’ve discovered in my new home is that it is much easier for me to leave things dirty or not put away.

For example, in my old house, I couldn’t leave things in my sink or on my counter because I wouldn’t have any space left in my kitchen. This also made it hard to be motivated to cook sometimes since I knew that everything would need to be put away. But now, if I leave something in the sink and not put it in the dishwasher or if I leave some things out on the counter after cooking, I still have space to use my kitchen. I don’t feel the same urgency to put everything away. In a much smaller home, every little bit of clutter was magnified. I’m still a pretty clean person and I think most people walking into my house will say it’s clean, but I know that I’m not as clean and tidy as I would like it to be. So I want to do a bit of a reset every evening.

This will be different from my daily cleaning. This will be more about taking a few minutes in the evening to put away things that I took out. Sometimes it might be things I need to put away in my kitchen and sometimes it might be something I put on my dresser in my room that should be hung back up or put back into a drawer. I know if I just spend a few minutes each day doing this, things won’t pile up like they have the potential to do. And it should continue to help me figure out what other organizational things I need in my home. I know I still need more things like some shelving in my bathroom. But until I really focus on resetting my space every day, I know that I will still be a bit unsure of exactly what I want.

I know that when I started doing these monthly challenges several years ago, it was all about helping me become a better person and improving myself. And I feel like recently I’ve been really embracing that idea again after having some struggles with the challenges and goals I’ve set in the last year or so. But I’m really feeling good about what challenges I’ve been setting and so happy to see the positive results from them each month.

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Default ThumbnailTrying To Refocus On Goals (or Doing Another Reset This Month) Default ThumbnailFinding A Balance (or Eating Healthy And Fun At The Same Time) Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Feeling Pampered) Default ThumbnailAlways Cleaning (or At Least The Pandemic Helped Create This Habit) Default ThumbnailGetting Rid Of Extras (or Cleaning House) Default ThumbnailAnother Bombshell Partnership! (or Doing A Healthy Detox)

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Really Having A Lazy Weekend (or I Guess Sometimes Bad Days Can Be Helpful)

Posted on August 30, 2022 | Comments Off on Really Having A Lazy Weekend (or I Guess Sometimes Bad Days Can Be Helpful)

My weekends have been busy but not busy since I moved. I’m usually doing something for my new place over the weekend. I might be organizing things, trying to unpack things that I have still in boxes, cleaning, or doing some shopping for things that I still want. Because I work Monday-Saturday, my weekends are more like a day and a half off each week, so I don’t always have all the time to do what I want to do. But sometimes it also feels like I don’t do much each weekend since I don’t see a lot of results from my work. It’s weird to feel like I’m so busy and I don’t have time, yet it seems like I didn’t do much when I’m preparing for another work week.

I don’t feel like I’ve had a really lazy weekend recently because of all the random busy work I’ve been doing, but this past weekend I was forced into having a lazy weekend. I was really feeling nauseous and in a lot of pain over the weekend so a lot of the things I wanted to get done were put off. I had a full list of errands that I wanted to run, but I had to limit it just to getting groceries for the coming week and everything else will just have to be done at another time.

So for my time after work on Saturday and most of Sunday, I was laying around my house. I did make it out to the grocery store on Sunday, but that’s the only thing I worried about doing. The rest of the time, I only did things I felt like doing and wanted to do. That really felt like a luxury and I think I needed this reset weekend. Most of the time, I was either in bed or on my couch reading. I got through multiple books this weekend which was really fun. I now have Kindle Unlimited, so my to be read list continues to grow and I got to work through some of the books I’ve been wanting to read. I watched a little tv, but I’ve been noticing that I’m not watching as much tv as I used to, especially when there aren’t new shows to be watching. I don’t usually watch reruns, and I don’t watch a lot of tv just randomly. I tend to watch things that I planned on watching or already recorded on my DVR.

Because of how I was feeling, it wasn’t the most relaxing weekend. I did have to deal with all the symptoms I was feeling and I tried to make sure I was taking care of myself. And there was plenty of time that I was just laying down with my eyes closed and waiting to let the nausea or the pain pass. But I was lucky and the bad moments really weren’t that much of my weekend and I was able to just enjoy the time I spent being lazy at home. And even with how I was feeling some of the time, it did feel like a bit of a reset weekend. And that’s not something I feel like I have really done in a while.

I have done resets for part of my weekend. Most weekends, my Sundays are all about getting ready for the week and getting groceries, doing laundry, and cleaning. But doing all the things I need to do to get ready for my week can feel tiring and like I never had a break. Because I really didn’t do much this past weekend (including not doing my usual Sunday cleaning), I got to have a bit of a mental reset instead of just getting my house and things reset for the week. And that almost felt like a bit of a splurge.

I know having a mental reset like this isn’t something I can do every weekend. I just don’t have enough time in my limited time off each week to take this much time to things that aren’t productive. But I think that I really needed this time this past weekend. I feel a lot better going into this week than I have for a while. I’m not necessarily feeling physically better, but I know that will come soon. But at least feeling bad physically allowed me to feel a bit better mentally.

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Default ThumbnailJust A Normal Weekend For Me (or Lazy Days Are Surprisingly Busy) Default ThumbnailLack Of Plans (or A Lazy Weekend) Default ThumbnailMaking Busy Days Busier (or I Guess I Like To Maximize Only Certain Days) Default ThumbnailHaving Another Lazy Weekend (or Trying Not To Feel Like I Missed Out) Default ThumbnailI Guess I’ve Been Very Lazy (or I’m Sorry This Isn’t That Interesting) Default ThumbnailI Wasn’t Expecting To Write About The Heat Again (or Lazy Days)

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Still Finding Little Ways To Upgrade (or Figuring Out What I Want To Save For)

Posted on August 26, 2022 | Comments Off on Still Finding Little Ways To Upgrade (or Figuring Out What I Want To Save For)

At the start of the pandemic, I bought a lot of new things. I think a lot of people did that, probably because there wasn’t a lot to do when everyone was staying home and a lot of people were out of work. Some of the things I bought were things I needed because I was staying home, such as stuff to work out at home. And some things I bought because I wanted to upgrade the place I was living in. I got things to organize my kitchen better, new decorations because I was bored looking at the same walls all the time, and other little upgrades of things that I didn’t need but wanted.

And when I moved, I didn’t take all of those upgraded things with me since many things were bought specifically for my old place. I didn’t need any of the kitchen organizers I got because I have 4 or 5 times the storage space in my kitchen and the organizers I’m looking at are different dimensions. I upgraded my curtains and bedding, and those wouldn’t fit into my new room. I did bring all my workout stuff with me, but they are currently in my closet since I’m not using them.

But there have been some things on my list that I wanted to upgrade for a while that I never got around to at the beginning of the pandemic. And when I found out about a year ago that I would need to find a new place, I stopped focusing on finding those things since I wanted to see what my living situation would be like. Most of these things I put on hold were for my kitchen. I’ve been wanting to get new dishes and new pots and pans for quite a while. But I also didn’t want to just get anything and not make sure it was the right thing or something I loved. I also had wanted to get new silverware, but I lucked out and found a new set that I loved right when I was planning on moving, so I didn’t bring my old ones with me in the move and just had the new ones. But I haven’t been as lucky with everything I wanted to find.

And now, I’m feeling much more settled and I have a better idea of the things I need and want. It’s probably better that I didn’t get things before I moved because I can plan out better. For example, there are some baking pans and dishes I was looking at before, and I found a new set just the other day that would fit in much better into my space that I never would have gotten at my old place because there would have been no room to store them. If I’m looking at pots and pans, I can take the measurements of my drawers and find a set that will fit in perfectly. For the dishes I will eventually buy, I can find a set that goes along with the colors of my condo instead of what colors I had at my old place. I think when I finally get some of these new things, it will feel like a big refresh of the space and I know it will be a huge upgrade since some of the things I have now aren’t in the best condition.

Of course, everything costs money, and if I’m going to invest in nice things that will cost more than if I just got something cheap that I didn’t care about. But I don’t want just buy whatever I can find on sale or for cheap. Even though some of the things I have now aren’t perfect, I can manage. Some of my dishes are chipped and can’t go through the dishwasher, so I just handwash those items and put the rest in the dishwasher. It’s not perfect, but it works. And it is giving me time to save up so I can get some very nice things and continue to upgrade my amazing home.

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Default ThumbnailShopping More To Shop Less (or Finding Ways To Be Less Wasteful) Default ThumbnailFinding Ways To Treat Myself (or I Wish Money Wasn’t An Issue) Default ThumbnailA Bit More Technology In My Home (or Continuing To Upgrade) Default ThumbnailAnother Small Upgrade (or Making Things Easier To Watch) Default ThumbnailCleaning Up And Giving Things Away (or Finding More Space In My House) Default ThumbnailDoing More Cooking (or Maybe It Does Save Time)

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An Almost Free Dinner (or Continuing The Birthday Tradition)

Posted on August 18, 2022 | Comments Off on An Almost Free Dinner (or Continuing The Birthday Tradition)

I haven’t done a lot for my birthday this year and I don’t know if I’ll be doing much else. As I said before, I’m ok not celebrating as much as I used to, especially with how busy I’ve been with work and other things. But I do still like to celebrate and continue traditions when I can. And the tradition I look forward to the most is going to Truxton’s with my birthday twin, Joanna. We aren’t exactly sure how long we’ve been doing this, but we know it’s been at least 11 years, which is a pretty long time. And while we rarely can do our dinner on our actual birthday, we get it done within our birthday month.

2 years ago, we ordered take-out and had our dinner as a picnic since that was the safest way for us to have a meal. Last year, we were able to return to the restaurant and eat there. And this year, we continued with having dinner at the restaurant. If either of us felt uneasy about doing that, I know we could have done a picnic again. But I’m glad that eating there was an option for us. And because we went on a random weeknight, there was almost nobody else there so that helped us feel like things were a bit safer.

As we have done since the birthday deal changed to a dollar amount and not just a free entree and free dessert, we knew we’d order an appetizer to split, entrees for each of us, and a dessert to split. In the past, our meals have been completely free. And if we only ordered entrees we could have done that. But it’s ok that it’s not free anymore because we still get a total of $40 off of our bill, which is usually almost the entire thing.

We knew we wanted to have monkey bread to start, so we ordered that and ate it while we looked at the menu to figure out what else we wanted for dinner.

And once we ordered the rest of our meal, it was time for our catch-up chat. We had seen each other a few months ago when she helped me put together my bed. So there wasn’t as much to catch up on as there normally is when we get together for dinner. But we both had updates on our lives and our homes. When she was helping me with the bed, the renovation wasn’t done so I updated her on that. And she’s also going to do a renovation on her place so she updated me on that progress with planning everything and picking out what she wants. And as always, we had some gossip about dating and other random things that have been going on in our lives.

For our dinners, I had a burger and she had nachos. We’ve only had delicious meals at Truxton’s and we both really enjoyed our meals. But since we knew we’d be having dessert, we tried to save some room and not fill up too much.

We do like to give our server a heads up that we are using their birthday club coupons since sometimes they have to do the bill a different way (lately, they split the bill and then apply one coupon to each half to let us use both). So when our dessert was brought out, they put candles on it and sang Happy Birthday to us!

We got a new dessert, and I think we picked the perfect thing! It was a lemon cake with strawberry sorbet on top. It wasn’t too heavy, which we needed after a big meal, and it was so flavorful! I’m glad that’s what we picked because I think some of our favorite desserts would have been just too much for us.

Our meal wasn’t free, but it was pretty much under $10 for each of us so we could leave a really big tip. What we’ve been doing lately is tipping $20 each since that’s what our coupons take off the bill. So we spend the same amount we would have without the coupons, but that also allows us to leave a nice tip for our server and hopefully make their day a bit better. I love that we have always paid it forward because I know sometimes people who get a discounted meal tip on the discounted amount. We like to make up for that.

We were both really full after dinner, but it was worth it. This is one of the best birthday traditions and I think my birthday wouldn’t have felt complete without it. And since I rarely go out for dinner these days, it feels like a real treat.

I’m not sure if Joanna and I will be able to hang out again before our traditional cheesecake outing around the new year, but even if we don’t see each other until then we know we will have another great catch-up when we have our next meal!

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Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailBelated Birthday Dinner (or We Don’t Mind It’s Not Totally Free Anymore) Default ThumbnailBirthday Twin Tradition (or An Almost Free Meal) Default ThumbnailBirthday Twin Dinner (or Zero Dollar Bill) Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure) Default ThumbnailAn Almost Free Meal (or Amazing Food And Crazy Dating Stories)

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Getting In Some Birthday Workouts (or Switching Up My Schedule For This Past Week)

Posted on August 15, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting In Some Birthday Workouts (or Switching Up My Schedule For This Past Week)

This past week, I got to celebrate my birthday at Orangetheory. My original plan for last week was to take my birthday off since that is usually the weekday I don’t go to work out. But I found out a coach I hadn’t seen in a while would be there for that class and I knew that I would regret not going to class more than I would regret getting up early on my birthday. So I switched up a bit of my schedule to make it work.

Monday was my normal class and it was the last class I would have as a 38-year-old. I know age is just a number and I don’t feel my age at all, but it’s still cool to see how much stronger I am now than I was in the past. Maybe having the regular workouts in my routine is keeping me young or aging me backward. This workout ended up being a 2 group class instead of a 3 group class, so I didn’t have quite as much rowing as I expected.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. In the first block, we had rounds of a 75-second push pace, 30-second all-out, and 1-minute recovery. We did 3 rounds of that and I really worked on trying to pedal faster for the all-outs since they were short and I wasn’t pushing myself with the resistance levels more than I normally do. In the second block, the intervals changed up a bit. We had a 1-minute push pace, 30-second all-out, and 1-minute recovery. And again, my main focus was on the all-outs and going as fast as I could. And the last block had 30-second push paces, 30-second all-outs, and 1-minute recoveries. By the last block, I was getting a bit tired since I’m usually not on the bike that long, so I was at more of a normal speed and not pushing myself quite as much.

And on the floor, we also had 3 blocks and each block started with a 300-meter row before we moved on to the rest of the floor. In the first block, we had chest presses with weights, push-ups, and hip dips. In the second block, we had lunges, squats, and back extensions. And in the last block, we had sumo deadlifts, hip bridges, and bicycle crunches. I did try to go heavier with the weights since I had time to work a bit slower than I normally do. And I did go very heavy for the sumo deadlifts and hip bridges.

Tuesday’s workout was special for multiple reasons. It was my birthday class, Benzo was back as the coach (who I hadn’t seen in months), and it was a signature workout. This was the Everest workout, which isn’t one of my favorites and if it wasn’t my birthday I wouldn’t have switched my schedule to go to a class on what is normally a day off. But I knew starting off my birthday with a good workout would be the right thing to do.

For cardio, the entire block was doing the Everest workout. For Everest in a 3 group class, you have 14 minutes and every minute for the first half you go up 2% in incline until you get to the top and every minute for the second half you go down 2% in incline. For me on the bike, I changed my resistance level by 1 each time, but I didn’t start much lower than my normal base pace level. If it was a 2 group class, I would have started lower so that I didn’t get too high in the resistance levels. Everest always starts pretty normally since they are the levels I’m used to using. But once I got above what I use as an all-out level things get really tough. Once I was at the top of the hill, my legs felt like they weren’t moving that much. But I wanted to push as hard as I could go because this is also a distance challenge to see how far you can get in the workout. I didn’t pay attention to what I had done before, but when I was done and entered my distance in our tracker, I realized I got a new PR with the furthest distance I’ve done for a 3 group Everest class!

On the rower, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 500-meter row and then we had lunges once we were done with the row. We continued that pattern and decreased the row by 100 meters each time. And in the second block, we started at 100-meters and increased by 100 meters each time. We had the same lunges between the rows in the second block as well.

And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. And most of the exercises in both blocks had a rep range we could use so we could try going heavier with the weights than we normally do. We had single-arm low rows, overhead tricep extensions, single-arm reverse flys, and hammer curls that had rep ranges. In the first block, we also had side planks without a rep range. In the second block, we had crunches without a rep range. I did try going heavy with the weights since I could do the lower amount of reps, and I think I did pretty great.

And of course, I had to take a post-workout birthday photo!

Since I worked out on Tuesday, I skipped Wednesday and then continued my workouts for the week on Thursday. I don’t know what happened, but it seemed like everyone on Thursday struggled to sleep. This wasn’t just with people at the workout, all my friends were saying similar things too. So I was dragging just a bit in the workout. Thursday’s workout had 2 blocks for each section of the room, and I just tried my best.

For cardio, both blocks started with push paces and then we focused on all-outs for the rest of the block. The first block started with a 90-second push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of a 1-minute all-out and 30-second recovery. Only having 30 seconds to recover isn’t a lot and it almost felt like endless all-outs. In the second block, we started the same way with the push pace and base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of a 45-second all-out and 45-second recovery. This was a bit easier to do since the all-out was shorter and the recovery was longer. But it was still a lot of all-outs to do in one day.

On the rower, both blocks were all about doing 400-meter rows. In the first block, we had lunges between each row, and in the second block, we had rainbows with the medicine ball between each row. A 400-meter row isn’t a really long row, but it’s also not a sprint so I did have to work on pacing myself so I didn’t burn out too quickly each time.

And on the floor, both blocks had 3 exercises. In the first block, we had reciprocating rows with weights, bicep curls, and lateral step downs with toe taps. I did do the step downs instead of switching to lunges, but I made the bench shorter so I didn’t have to step down quite as much and I did balance by holding onto the wall. But I still think that’s better than not trying to do those at all. And in the second block, we had bicycle presses, tricep extensions, and hip bridges.

And I finished up my workout week on Friday like I normally do. I was a bit less tired on Friday, so I felt like I could push myself a bit more than I did on Thursday.

For cardio, for both blocks we timed ourselves and we had distance challenges. For both blocks, the treadmills had a .25-mile challenge, and I had a 1-mile challenge. In the first block, we started with 2% more incline/resistance than we normally do and after completing the distance we had 30-seconds to recover. Then we went down 1% in incline/resistance and repeated the pattern for a total of 3 rounds. In the second block, we had the same distance and recovery, but we didn’t use extra incline/resistance levels so we could really push with the speed. I noticed a difference between each block and how easily I could complete the distance and how I felt in my recovery.

On the rower, the first block had 200-meter rows. I tried to sprint as best as I could, but I know I need to work more on my rowing form again. Between each row, we had in and out hops. And in the second block, we had 150-meter rows. Again, I tried to sprint them as best as I could, but I know my form is holding me back. And between each row, we had high knees.

On the floor, we had 2 exercises for each block. The first block had split squats (which I did as lunges) and hip bridges using the bench so there is a bigger range of motion. And in the second block, we had chest flys and single-arm high rows. And to finish out the workout, for the last 45-seconds on the floor we were doing push-ups.

Overall, I think I had a pretty great birthday workout week. I was feeling good, which honestly makes the week so much better. I tried to push myself when I could, and I got an unexpected PR. I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to kick off being 39!

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An Unexpected Digital Cleanup (or Finally Getting A New Kindle)

Posted on August 12, 2022 | Comments Off on An Unexpected Digital Cleanup (or Finally Getting A New Kindle)

In June, I made my monthly challenge all about cleaning up my digital clutter. One of the things I never considered decluttering or organizing was my Kindle. I have a lot of e-books and the way I’ve organized them before was by author or book series. And I had no need to change that or go through the books I have and get rid of any. There are so many books I have gotten that I haven’t read in a while or that I haven’t read at all (I like to stock up when there are free e-book sales), but that was fine since I always had enough memory.

But like with so much of the technology I own, I used my Kindle until it was starting to really die and become unusable. My Kindle was almost 9 years old and was not holding a charge for more than a day or two and it could take 15-30 seconds to turn a page. So I knew it was time to finally upgrade and get a new one.

Fortunately, when my Kindle was dying it was about to be Prime Days so I knew I’d be able to get at least a little discount on a new one. I knew I wanted to get a new Paperwhite since that’s what I had before. And I didn’t want anything too crazy or fancy. I only use it to read on. But I do like buying the one that doesn’t put ads on the lock screen, so that is a little extra. I was looking at the different storage options, but then I realized how little storage there was on my old one, so I would be fine with whichever I ordered. So I got a little bit off of the one I ordered and because so many people were ordering Kindles that day, it was backordered and I had to wait over a month for it to get here.

But it did arrive just before my birthday and I was able to get it set up.

But I didn’t realize that I hadn’t updated the software on my old one so the new one looked very different. The way collections were done wasn’t what I was used to and I figured out quickly that I would need to make some changes to how I was used to organizing things.

And as I was figuring out what I wanted to do, I was looking at the books I had and noticed I was missing quite a few. And then it hit me, a lot of books I owned were originally for my Sony e-reader and I had to convert them to work for my old Kindle. But I had no way to convert them again since I didn’t have the original files. So I lost quite a few books when I got a new one.

After I worked on setting up new collections (which are now split into books I’ve read, books I need to read, library loans, books from Kindle Unlimited, and categories like that), I went through my old and new Kindles together and took some notes on what books I was missing. I started a new list on Amazon for e-books I was missing and that I wanted to rebuy when they were on sale. Most of these are books that are a part of a series where some of them made it onto my new Kindle and others did not. But as I was doing this, I also had to think about what books I really cared to get again.

E-books can get expensive which is why I usually get them from the library or Kindle Unlimited now. I don’t remember the last book that I paid for. Even though I do pay for the Kindle Unlimited subscription, I don’t consider those books I bought. And I only think of buying a book if it’s an author I really want to support and that I know I will want to read that book over and over again. It is a good thing I’m not spending money on e-books the way I used to, but it is weird to see how many I bought when I had my Sony e-reader compared to what came over to the new Kindle.

Doing a cleanup of books doesn’t really happen that often for me. I have done cleanups of physical books I own since those take up space, but I don’t think I’ve ever done a cleanup of the digital ones. And while I don’t love that I probably lost a hundred or so books, I know that I can rebuy the ones I really want and it’s ok to not have the ones I rarely read or didn’t worry about losing. It’s a fresh start with the new Kindle, and I know that I’ll be getting a lot of use out of it and will be reading hundreds or thousands of books on it!

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A Very Chill and Low-Key Birthday (or Being Ok With Not Doing Much)

Posted on August 10, 2022 | Comments Off on A Very Chill and Low-Key Birthday (or Being Ok With Not Doing Much)

This is going to be a bit of a shorter post. But I first wanted to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. I really appreciated each and every message, text, comment, and phone call I got and it made my birthday feel special.

As I expected, my birthday was a pretty low-key day. I had my workout, then a full day of work, and I ended up ordering in so I didn’t have to cook and could have something a bit nicer for dinner. And all I did after work was have dinner and catch up on tv. And while it would have been nice to spend the day with other people or doing something really fun, it was totally fine with me to not do much.

Obviously, since it was a work day and I didn’t want to take a day off (nor could I really due to some meetings), I knew most of my day would be filled with work. And I don’t always have a ton of energy after work so I tend to be pretty lazy at home on weeknights. And I didn’t want to do anything crazy when I knew I’d be tired from work. If I’m going to go out and celebrate, I want to make sure I feel up for it and can really enjoy it.

I remember hearing when I was younger how you stop caring about birthdays when you get older. And I don’t know if that’s really the case for me. But I’m not as particular about when I might celebrate or doing something that isn’t as elaborate or crazy. I care but in different ways. And for me, at least for this year, spending the evening after work at home and just relaxing was the perfect way to kick off being 39!

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