Category Archives: Fun Stuff

My Orangetheory Anniversary (or 7 Years Of Workouts)

Posted on June 3, 2021 | Comments Off on My Orangetheory Anniversary (or 7 Years Of Workouts)

7 years ago, I went to my first Orangetheory class. My first class was a preview before the studio officially opened, and I had no idea what I was in for. I just was excited to check out a new workout and see what it was all about. And that first class changed my entire life. I never knew what a single workout class could do for me until that first workout. I had tried to get into a lot of other workout routines and plans in my past, but they never seemed to stick. And while I didn’t want to assume that I would feel that way about Orangetheory, I knew it was possible. But I’m so glad that it didn’t happen like that for me.

After my first class, I knew immediately how tough the workout was. I was so sore and struggled to walk for a few days after. But even with the soreness, I was motivated to see if I could do better. So I started going to workouts 3 days a week and pushing myself in each and every workout. And I have been able to do things that I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ve never felt like an athlete before, and now I do think that I’m at least a little bit of one. I never understood how strong I really was. I didn’t know that having a regular workout routine like this could do so much for my mental health and my self-esteem.

In the past 7 years, so many amazing things have happened to me through Orangetheory.

I have fun traditions like having Christmas Eve workouts with Coach Bruce almost every year.

I also have had so many amazing coaches over the past 7 years and they all are special to me in their own ways. Some coaches are ones that I have every week who have gotten to know me and I’ve gotten to know as well. And being in their class can sometimes feel more like a hangout time. And there are other coaches that I’ve had only once or twice who have seen something in me that I never knew was there or who taught me a cool trick or correction in my workout that has stuck with me ever since then.

I have done workouts with my family on Thanksgiving morning.

I’m so grateful that my family wants to work out with me. Even if nobody else went with me, I would still go on my own. But it’s become a really fun tradition to have a family workout before dinner. And even though we weren’t able to be together last year, we all still did a workout that morning so we could consider that as completing our family workout.

I celebrated completing 1,000 workouts.

And in those 1,000+ workouts, I have also made some incredible friends. When I started working out, I stuck to myself and didn’t really talk to others. But then you start to see the same people every week and get to know them. And some of the friends I’ve met in my workouts are some of my closest friends now. I haven’t gotten to see most of them in a while, but we are all still supporting each other and staying in touch however we can.

And most recently, finally getting to be back in the studio after everything being closed for over a year.

And I think having a history of consistent workouts is one of the only reasons I was able to get through the isolation at home without completely falling apart. I never thought I’d be able to do home workouts and stay motivated. And over the 13 months that I did work out at home, I did have moments when I wondered if I should just not do it. But because I had over 5 years of regular workouts, I was able to find a way to make it work. There is nothing like being in the studio and I’m so glad that I’m back, but I’m so grateful that I didn’t stop doing workouts when the studios were closed and used excuses to start bad habits.

I know that of the 7 years I’ve been working out at Orangetheory, there is a year that technically I wasn’t there. But it still counts to me since I was doing the Orangetheory at Home workouts and continuing my workout journey. And I was still connected to the Orangetheory community in the ways that I could. But now that I’m back, I’m ready to see what will happen with my workouts and what other accomplishments I will have.

7 years in and I’m still as excited about my workouts and being under the orange lights as I was for my very first class.

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Default Thumbnail4 Years Of Orangetheory (or Some More Reflection) Default ThumbnailContinuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory) Default ThumbnailCelebrating At Orangetheory (or 3 Years Down) Default ThumbnailChecking Out A New Orangetheory (or So Many Morning Workouts!) Default ThumbnailMy Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts) Default ThumbnailNew Year’s Workouts (or Ending 2016 and Starting 2017 With Orangetheory)

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff

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A Working Memorial Day (or Just Having A Regular Monday)

Posted on June 2, 2021 | Comments Off on A Working Memorial Day (or Just Having A Regular Monday)

Last year, for Memorial Day, I had a virtual hangout with my friends. That was one of the first big virtual hangouts I had with my friends last year and I remember us thinking that we would hopefully be together by Halloween last year. It was also one of the first big traditions that I missed having since I usually am spending the day with my friends and enjoying a fun BBQ. But last year, we all understood why we couldn’t be together and I am still grateful that everyone in my friend group has been able to stay safe.

This year, I know some people were able to get together and the guidelines do say that vaccinated people can be together. But my friends and I have all been very cautious about things and I knew that we weren’t going to have a hangout this year. But that was ok with me since I had to work on what is a day off for so many people.

When I was only working my box office job, having Mondays off was a normal way of life. I never worked on Mondays so having a holiday on a Monday just felt normal to me. But now, I do work my other customer service job Monday-Friday (between all my jobs, I’m working Monday-Saturday with occasional Sundays). So having a Monday holiday would usually mean a day off. But at my customer service job, we also rotate who does holiday coverage.

Working on a holiday does mean extra pay, so that’s nice. And it’s only one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. And I didn’t have to stress too much about getting all the work done because holiday work means that you look for the most urgent issues. There would likely be a lot of customers that I could wait to do until we reopened on Tuesday, but I also had the option to do some of the other work if I had the time. This was my first time doing the holiday work, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

And I’m glad that I did it because I was able to get a lot of work done that I would not necessarily have had time to do on Tuesday. I did have some slightly urgent client issues that I immediately handled first when I logged in for the morning, but I was able to do other work to fill the rest of that hour. Then I had several hours where I could relax if I wanted to. And I spent that time getting a few things done around my house and reading before I had to log in for the evening. And somehow, I managed to almost complete all the work before I had to log out. I know that saved me at least 2 hours on Tuesday, and when I was working on Tuesday I had a lot more work to get done. So I never would have completed everything from the weekend in a single day. It was nice to have a day to get myself caught up and ready for the week.

And honestly, it was fine working on a holiday. Maybe I would have been a bit more upset if there was going to be an in-person hangout and I was going to miss my first chance to see my friends in person in over a year. And if there had been something planned, I’m sure I would have been able to figure something out so I didn’t miss out on it completely. But I’m glad that I didn’t have to add that stress into my day. And even though I had a working holiday day off, I was still able to relax a bit and enjoy my free time.

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Default ThumbnailThe Longest Week (or Having A Regular Work Week Again) Default ThumbnailLow Key Labor Day (or Just A Regular Weekend) Default ThumbnailMemorial Day Weekend (or Not Really Doing Much) Default ThumbnailWorking On A Work/Life Balance (or Almost Repeating A Recent Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailJust A Simple Dinner Out (or A Union Working Hangout) Default ThumbnailProductive One Way And Slacking In Another (or Working On Finding Time)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Work

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A Failed Monthly Challenge (or I’m Possibly Going To Fail Again This Month)

Posted on June 1, 2021 | Comments Off on A Failed Monthly Challenge (or I’m Possibly Going To Fail Again This Month)

I hate when I fail my monthly challenges. I try to set them up to be things I can be successful at as well as things that I want to do. I always feel so accomplished when I end a month and see what I’ve been able to do. And so many of these monthly challenges are things that I still keep up with every day. I love that I have created so many positive and productive habits. And I always hope that whatever my next challenge will be that I have the same outcome.

But that wasn’t the case for this past month. Honestly, this may have been the biggest failure of a monthly challenge for me. I challenged myself to try to work on creating some weekly meal plans that I could have ready to go. A weekly meal plan seems easier to me than figuring out each day one by one to be ready for a week. And while having a meal plan still feels like a bit of a reach for me to be able to do, having a plan is the first step to making it happen. So even if I only planned out a good weekly meal plan but never used it, I would have considered that a win with this challenge.

I didn’t even get started with planning last month. Some of this was due to being busy with other things, but I can’t use that as an excuse. I could have found the time to do this if I really wanted to. But I never had the motivation to do it. I know that this would be something good for me, but I just didn’t want to. And this is the ongoing struggle I’ve had with being better at cooking at home. I don’t like to meal plan. I don’t seem to always feel motivated to cook. I don’t know what it will take to make this click for me, but I really want to be hopeful that something will. And I just have to keep trying until I figure it out. And I guess this idea wasn’t the right thing for me at this time. I’ll keep the idea in case I do find the motivation to do it, but I guess this past month made me realize while I loved the idea it wasn’t right.

And while I would love to have a monthly challenge this month that I know I will be able to be successful at to redeem myself from last month, I’m not going easy on myself. I picked another challenge that I have been putting off and I know there is a high risk of me having another big failure at doing. My challenge this month is to reorganize my desk and filing system.

This might not sound like a big deal, but my desk has become a catch-all place in my house. If I have paperwork I need to save for taxes, it gets dumped on my desk. Eventually, I’ll put it in the file folder I have for taxes, but there is almost always a huge pile of paperwork on my desk. And if there is something I want to put into my filing cabinet, all my file folders have labels for things that I don’t need or use so I don’t know where to file them.

I’ve been putting off organizing my desk for a long time. I know I need to do this, but I was always finding excuses why I shouldn’t. When I wasn’t sure what my job situation would be, I was putting it off because I wanted to make sure I was creating files that would be right for my new job (even though I knew almost every job I have is mostly digital files and I wouldn’t need to file things away). I’ve held onto things that I know I do not need or use, like information from when I was a substitute teacher.

And because I spend so many hours of my day at my desk, I want the space to be much more functional and not feel cluttered and hectic. And the only way to accomplish this is to do a big cleaning and organizing mission. And I also know that to do this, things will have to look messier for a while. I need to pretty much clear everything out of my desk and sort through them before seeing how to put things back. And maybe because things have to get worse before they get better, I’ve been putting this off every time I tell myself I need to do it.

I do hope that this month, I follow through with this. I know I might keep putting it off and fail again, but I have to set it as a challenge because I need to try. And maybe I’ll surprise myself and this won’t be as bad as I think it might be. And in a month, I might be writing about how I was overreacting about this challenge and it wasn’t that hard to get done.

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Default ThumbnailNot Perfect This Month (or Challenged With The Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailMonthly Challenge Check-In (or Doing My Own Version Of An OTF Challenge This Month) Default ThumbnailTaking A Month To Reset (or This Doesn’t Really Feel Like A Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailFailing And Succeeding In One Monthly Challenge (or Another Repeat Challenge This Month) Default ThumbnailAnother Monthly Challenge (or What To Do When You Are Crazy Busy) Default ThumbnailMy First 2017 Monthly Challenge (or Working On My Tumors)

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I Might Have Overreacted A Bit (or A Temporary Fix For My Computer)

Posted on May 26, 2021 | Comments Off on I Might Have Overreacted A Bit (or A Temporary Fix For My Computer)

Earlier this month, my keyboard on my laptop broke. It seemed like it broke in a pretty dramatic fashion. Multiple key covers fell off, one bracket was broken in half, and multiple keys stopped working. After writing the post about the broken keyboard, I first ordered another keyboard that I could use since I needed to be able to type. And I also tried to see if there were any repairs that I could do.

After I calmed down a bit, I realized that it looked like the bracket for only one of the keys was broken. The other keys were able to be snapped back into place. They still weren’t working the way they should be, but at least all the parts were back where they were supposed to be. And I decided to do some more research about fixing the one that was broken. I had asked a friend who knows more about computers and that’s where I had gotten the information that the entire thing would need to be replaced (and would be expensive). But when I talked to them again, I mentioned the broken brackets and sent some photos, and they let me know that there was a chance that I could actually fix things.

I got the information for a company that sells replacement key covers and brackets and tried to order a key from them. They were all sold out so I put myself on a waitlist and did some more searching. Then I found another company that had good reviews so I tried to place an order on their site. I was able to order it, but soon after got an email saying they were out of the key that I needed (which was the “a” key). They gave me a few options, and one option was to fully replace the keyboard which was as expensive as I originally thought. But they also said they could sell me a key that didn’t have the “a” on it and they could put a sticker on it too. I would have been fine with just a blank key since I don’t need to see the letters when I type, but I decided to get the one with the sticker so it looks a bit more like the original keyboard.

Before the replacement arrived, I watched some videos online about how to make this repair. I’ve never fixed anything on my computer like this, and while I knew I couldn’t necessarily make things worse I still wanted to give myself the best chance for success. It didn’t seem too hard, but I know those are famous last words and things aren’t always as easy as they seem in an instructional video.

The key arrived the other day and I got the tools I thought I’d need plus a few extras. I ended up using needle nose pliers, tweezers, and a few different mini-screwdrivers that my dad got me in a set a long time ago. And I turned on the super bright light I have on my desk for self-tape auditions or Zoom meetings. And like I guessed, it wasn’t as simple as the video made it look. I was so sure for about half an hour that they sent me the wrong size bracket. I couldn’t make it fit even when I was sure that I was following the instructions properly. I still don’t know how I got it in there, but eventually the bracket clicked in. And putting the key cover on top was pretty simple. I just had to press it down and it fit on there.

You can tell from the photo that it’s not a perfect match, but it looks good. And once I got the bracket and key cover replaced, the other keys that weren’t working started working again. Maybe it’s some sort of fail-safe that they don’t work when there is a key without a key cover on it? Or maybe it was random luck that they broke at that moment and started working again. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter because I have a working keyboard again.

Even though I was able to fix things, I am still looking at getting a new computer later this year. The keyboard wasn’t the only issue I was having with the computer. And while I can make things work for now, I also don’t want to wait until things are really bad. There are supposed to be new computers released later this year, so I’ll be seeing what those are like and figuring out if those new ones will be right for me.

But at least for now, I have a working keyboard and don’t have to use the external one (which was fine, but I didn’t love it). And I know that if another one of my keys breaks off, there is a chance that I can fix it myself and not freak out too much.

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Default ThumbnailMore Tech Issues (or This Was Typed On A Phone) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailMore Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping

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Another Speaker Series Evening (or I Really Should Read Emails)

Posted on May 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Speaker Series Evening (or I Really Should Read Emails)

Earlier this year, I got to be on a Zoom for a speaker series that my parents subscribe to. The speaker was W. Kamau Bell and it was an incredible talk. I know my parents miss getting to go to those in person, but since they are online they can share one of their tickets with someone else. They have been enjoying other speakers this year and have invited friends of theirs to use the other ticket. But last week, my dad asked me if I wanted to be a part of another one.

I would have said yes without knowing who the speaker was since I knew it would be a great talk. But I was excited to find out that the speaker this time was going to be documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. I haven’t seen too many of his documentaries, but I love documentaries in general and thought this would be an amazing chat to learn about all the different movies he has done and he would be full of stories.

When my dad asked if I wanted to have the extra ticket, I was working so I took a note of the information from it. He told me the start time and let me know he’d be forwarding me an email with the link to the Zoom. I saw the email come in but didn’t worry about opening it since I had notes of when things would start.

That day, I went about my day like normal, planning for watching the Zoom later in the evening. I had a pretty relaxing evening before logging in and took my time making dinner and then doing some reading. Then, when I finally opened the email, I realized I wrote down the wrong start time! I had written down that it started at 8pm when it started at 7pm!

I was so mad at myself for this! If I had just opened the email earlier I would have seen this. But I was so sure since I wrote down a start time that I had it right. But I’m guessing I was distracted enough with work that I misheard my dad or wrote down the wrong thing. But instead of worrying about it too much, I tried to get logged in as quickly as possible. Since I was trying to log in early to have time before I thought it would start, I was about 45 minutes late and not a full hour late.

And even though I only got to hear the second half of the talk, it still was awesome. I haven’t seen a lot of his documentaries, but this talk made me want to check more of them out. And I loved hearing about the stories behind the filming and what inspires him to find new projects.

There is a chance that my parents will get a recording of the talk that they can forward to me so I can see what I missed. But even if I can’t, I’m still glad I was able to watch some of it. Even though I am starting to do more stuff outside of my house, I like having virtual events too. I can be a bit more relaxed at home for virtual events and that’s always nice.

The speaker series that my parents are a part of is done for this season and next season will be starting later this year. If they have more virtual events, maybe I’ll get to watch more of them. I hope I do because I do enjoy these deep dives into someone who is an expert or master of their field. And this particular series gets some of the most amazing speakers to be a part of it.

I just know that next time, I’ll look at the email to confirm the time instead of thinking I wrote it down correctly so I don’t end up missing half of the talk.

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Default ThumbnailA Night Of Learning (or Watching A Lecture Online) Default ThumbnailThe World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports) Default ThumbnailTrying To Find More Fun (or Being More Ok With Spending Some Money) Default ThumbnailAnd Another Virtual Party (or A Secret Santa Hangout) Default ThumbnailInside The Box (or Enjoying Some Virtual Theater) Default ThumbnailSaturday Evening With My Parents (or I’m Posting A Little Out Of Order About My Weekend)

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It’s Almost Election Season! (or Planning For My Summer)

Posted on May 20, 2021 | Comments Off on It’s Almost Election Season! (or Planning For My Summer)

Every other summer for the past 6 years, I’ve spent a lot of my time campaigning for the SAG-AFTRA election. I’ve done this 3 times so far and each time has been a little different.

The first year I was running, I was running as a delegate and didn’t have much of a leadership position within Unite For Strength. I did end up having a little bit of leadership with some of the in-person campaign events, but it was just because I was going often and could help make sure people had the information they needed. The second year, I had a bit more of a leadership position within the slate with social media work. I was much more comfortable campaigning and felt like I really knew what to do. And the last time I was campaigning, I was even more involved. I was running for both a delegate and local board position. I was fully running the Unite For Strength social media. I didn’t attend that many in-person campaign events, but I worked hard in other ways to make sure members voted and encouraging others to support my slate.

And it’s starting to be time to campaign again now! And this year will be even more different than before.

First, I’m not sure yet if I’m running for both delegate and local board or just delegate yet. That’s still being decided and there is time before that has to be figured out. Either way, I’m excited to be a part of union service again and I hope I’m elected.

But the biggest difference is how to have election season during a pandemic. I am glad that we weren’t doing this last summer when things were much worse, but things still aren’t back to normal again. It’s already been announced that the National Convention will be held virtually this year. I’m not sure how it will be compared to the past 3 conventions I attended, but I know it will be different. I’m going to miss the time I had to meet members from other locals and the social aspect of Convention. But we will still be able to work hard for our members just like we have in the past.

And I don’t know how much campaigning will be able to happen in person either. Last time, we didn’t get to campaign at the DGA since the Film Society didn’t happen the same way it did before. And I’m pretty sure the Film Society won’t be back by this summer, so that will be out. So there will be a lot of virtual campaigning this time, which is something I am used to.

I’m still in prep mode for election season. There is a lot to still work out for both the social media work and all the rest of campaigning. And while I do have time, I know the real election season will be here before we know it. Even though this year seems to be moving slower than normal, I know that the end of the election and Convention will be here quickly. And I hope that I’m just as successful, if not more, this election season as I have been for the past election seasons.

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Default ThumbnailThe Official Start To Election Season (or I Can Finally Share Some Things I’ve Been Working On) Default ThumbnailElection Season Time (or Being A Part Of Unite For Strength) Default ThumbnailMore Election Fun For Me (or I’m Running For 2 Things) Default ThumbnailElection Campaigning (or Being A Captain And Getting Out There) Default ThumbnailUnite For Strength (or SAG-AFTRA Election Time) Default ThumbnailThe End Of The Election (or Actors Please Remember To Vote)

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Friends Are Living All Over (or Another Thing Because Of The Pandemic)

Posted on May 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Friends Are Living All Over (or Another Thing Because Of The Pandemic)

Over the past year, so many people have moved. Some moved home to be with family so they didn’t have to be alone. Some moved in with roommates or someone they were dating for the same reason. And some people moved away because of work or other opportunities.

I was very lucky that I wasn’t in a spot where I had to worry about moving. While paying my rent wasn’t easy when I was out of work, I had the money I could use even if I wanted to save it for another reason. To me, staying in my place was important because I love where I live. I toyed with the idea of seeing if I wanted to go stay with family or see if someone wanted to be temporary roommates. But that didn’t happen. I just didn’t find a way to make it work and be a good idea when things were a bit more normal again.

But throughout the past year, several of my friends have moved away from LA. Some of them had these moves planned out before the pandemic started. The timing just happened to be after things shut down. But it was unfortunate because they couldn’t really say goodbye to people. Since they couldn’t have a goodbye party, some people moved and shared that they moved after the fact. And as much as I would have liked to have said goodbye, I knew there was no way I could have done that so I understand why they decided to move that way.

For most of the past year, having friends moving away didn’t really hit me. I wouldn’t have seen them even if they lived down the street while things were shut down. But as things are starting to reopen, I’m missing those friends who moved away more and more. I’m not making plans to see them at workouts or go out to do the things that are finally open again.

And while everyone says making friends as an adult is tough, making friends as an adult while we are coming out of a pandemic is even harder. I’ve had to find new friends before as an adult, and the friends I gained were people I met at different social events or parties. I have no idea how to make new friends who live in LA now (I have made some amazing friends who aren’t local through my Movie Club group on Teleparty).

I know I will find ways to make new friends eventually, and I really am excited for my friends who moved away because they all have moved somewhere that has made them happy or allowed them amazing opportunities that they couldn’t have in LA. But it’s hard not to be sad as this is another part of my old life that is over because of the pandemic. I do try to focus on the excitement of my friends with their new lives in their new cities. And seeing them happy makes me happy. I hope that I can visit some of them when I feel like travel is a bit safer, and I love knowing I have friends all over the country that I could see and explore new cities with.

I know that things always change throughout life. And having friends move away is just a part of that. But I think having it happen with so many friends and combined with the isolation and other issues of the pandemic, it just hit me harder this time. But one thing that this pandemic has taught me is how to stay in touch with people when I can’t be face to face with them. I did that for people who lived down the street when we were all isolated and I can continue to do that for people who are no longer local. I have built the skills to stay virtually connected and I will just have to keep using these skills to stay in touch with my friends.

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Default ThumbnailReflection (or I’m Totally Living My Dream) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailIt Sucks To Say Goodbye (I Don’t Like It When My Friends Move Away) Default ThumbnailA Year Into The Pandemic (or This Is Still Such A Weird Time) Default ThumbnailMaking Friends As An Adult (or Am I Weird?) Default ThumbnailThoughts Almost A Year Into The Pandemic (or Things Still Seem So Weird)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Doing Even More Organizing and Redecorating (or Continuing To Change Things In My House)

Posted on May 13, 2021 | Comments Off on Doing Even More Organizing and Redecorating (or Continuing To Change Things In My House)

About a year ago, I did a lot of work around my house. I wanted to keep myself busy with all the craziness going on in the world. But I also realized I was going to be spending a lot of time inside my house and I figured it was the perfect time to change things up in my house. While I do change things up from time to time in my house, there were a lot of things that have stayed the same since I moved into my house in 2010. And because I was spending a lot of time inside, I wanted my house to be the best set-up that I could.

I got some new decor things for my house, changed up some artwork, and reorganized a lot. I didn’t spend a ton of money and tried to do things for free or with what I already had if I could. But I did spend money on getting a few new things and gadgets to help me organize. Making it feel like everything had a good place to live in my house gave me a small sense of control in a world that felt like it was in chaos.

And throughout the past year, I have changed a few things but I haven’t done a big project as I did at first. That was partially due to realizing how much I had spent before, but I was also feeling satisfied with how things were looking around my house. And lately, I’ve been getting the itch to do some more projects.

I think this feeling is because of being bored in my house, but a lot of the projects I’m considering are things I’ve thought about doing for a while and just didn’t do it before. For example, I wanted to change my bedding again. It’s not a crazy change to get a new comforter, but I just haven’t picked out something I like. But I really want to change it up soon because I feel like I’ve been putting it off. I also have tried for a while to find storage for my bathroom because it’s very tiny with limited space. And I saw on a random list online about a new slim storage tower and I got it and it fit perfectly! Of course, getting that led to me buying other things to organize other parts of my bathroom, but I haven’t gotten all of that in yet.

There are other little things I’d like to do and haven’t done because I wanted to go into a store to find what I want. That’s finally something I feel like I could do and still feel safe. But I’m trying to do the projects that are being shipped to me first before I go into a store. I might change my mind about what I want, so I want to wait a bit. I also want to try to be careful about how much I spend. I am in a better financial situation now than I was for most of last year, but that doesn’t mean I can spend whatever I want without worrying.

It took me a long time between moving into my house and when I did all the projects last year. I wasn’t expecting to feel such a push to do more projects so soon and to change up even more. But maybe being home so much for a year has made me think more about everything I have in my house and what I have wanted. I will always be limited by space and money, but I can still make my house feel more like what I want. If I’m going to be spending a lot of time at home (although, hopefully less than this past year), I should make sure that I’m happy with everything I have and change things I don’t like if I can.

And if adding silly little things or new ways to organize stuff makes me happy and even more like my house is perfect, then that’s what I should do when I can.

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Default ThumbnailMore Empty Space In My House (The Cleaning And Organizing Continues) Default ThumbnailStill Doing More House Projects (or Just Trying To Find Busy Work) Default ThumbnailEven More Organizing (or This Was An Overdue Project) Default ThumbnailHaving A Lot Of Repeat Days (or More Organizing and More Virtual Hangouts) Default ThumbnailMaking My House Look Fancy (or Doing Some Upgrades For The New Year) Default ThumbnailGetting Rid Of Extras (or Cleaning House)

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A Little Of My Old Life and A Little Of My New Life (or Yet Another Thing To Balance)

Posted on May 12, 2021 | Comments Off on A Little Of My Old Life and A Little Of My New Life (or Yet Another Thing To Balance)

When the pandemic started, everything shut down very quickly. I have said it was like a light switch. One day, things were open and seemed normal. The next day, I didn’t know what do to or what I would be able to get done. And while it was a little tough to go from feeling safe and able to live my life to feeling locked in my house, I think that transition also was easier because there was no thought necessary. I didn’t leave my house unless I had to. Most places I would have gone weren’t open anyway. So I just stayed home and went to the grocery store when I had to (if I wasn’t getting my groceries through a delivery service).

And I got used to my isolated life. I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but it became familiar and easy enough to do. I didn’t have much in my life, but I also didn’t think too much about things since I didn’t have many other options.

I’ve shared on here before how it’s been tough for me to feel ok going out and doing more. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I still am nervous about being out and about. The more that I do it, the better I feel. I think seeing how careful so many other people are has been helping me. I have only seen people throw a fit about wearing a mask a few times, and they were either removed from that location or left when they realized that nobody else there was on their side. And every time I add something back into my life, I am reminded about how much joy those things bring to me. For example, going out to dinner was amazing and made me feel more like myself again. Going to the grocery store more often than using delivery services is something I didn’t know how much I’d appreciate until I’d do it again.

But there are new routines and habits that I have started over the past year and I’m not necessarily giving them all up. There are some things that were almost an even switch. Such as no longer working out at home because I’m back at Orangetheory. That was easy for me to decide to do and I didn’t think twice about it and didn’t think about trying to do both the studio workouts and the home workouts. I would have done it if I needed to, but fortunately, I haven’t had to do that yet.

Then there are things like how I am dating. That’s not an even switch. Even with me going out for in-person dates again, I’m not completely giving up on virtual dating. I do still have the goal of meeting someone in person, but it is nice to almost have a pre-date to see if I want to take the time to meet them in person. I’ve joked to friends that with virtual dates, you don’t have to wear pants and you can make sure you just look good on camera. Much less effort than going to an in-person date. But dating in real life is still the plan for the guys I actually want to date, but I’ve been mixing up what I did before and what I’ve been doing this past year.

And then there are things that are new to me because of the pandemic that I’m still doing and plan on trying to keep in my regular routine. A big one is still doing things with my Netflix Party group. We’ve been watching things together for over a year now. And we have a good routine down. We watch a tv show together as a group on Wednesdays and movies on Saturdays (although we have watched some of the MCU mini-series on Saturdays too). This was started so none of us would feel too alone or isolated when things were at their worst with the pandemic. But it’s become something I look forward to every week now! And even though I can go out and do things with others in person, I want to prioritize my schedule so that I can still join on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

I know that this transition is going to be something I need to be aware of so I don’t overwhelm myself. I know that if I have too much on my schedule, I can almost struggle to do anything. But I also feel like I have to make up for lost time from this past year. But I know that at some point, I will find a balance of what I want to do from before and from now and it will make things in my future feel like a really amazing and full life.

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Default ThumbnailWorking On A Work/Life Balance (or Almost Repeating A Recent Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life) Default ThumbnailStill Finding New Life Lessons With Dating (or Some Skills I’m Proud Of And Some I’m Not Sure About) Default ThumbnailFinding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed) Default ThumbnailMore Thoughts On Pandemic Dating (or I Wish I Didn’t Miss Dating As Much) Default ThumbnailYet Another Life Lesson From Dating (or Finding Power When Not In Control)

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Feeling Normal and Less Anxious (or Sorry I Keep Writing About The Same Thing)

Posted on May 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Feeling Normal and Less Anxious (or Sorry I Keep Writing About The Same Thing)

A year ago when the pandemic started, I worried so much about what I would blog about. I wondered if I would have to cut back on how many days I’d have posts to go live. I wondered if every post would be the same and I’d have nothing to write about. I’m still surprised that I was able to maintain my regular blogging schedule even at the worst points of the pandemic.

But what I didn’t think about as much is how often I would write about things being normal again and how happy it makes me. Maybe it’s because things shutting down was such a shock that it seemed so different and the idea of things coming back seemed normal and boring. But I feel like I’m constantly writing about how happy I am as things come back into my life and things start to feel more like my life before.

Of course, I’m still being very cautious about what I do and where I go. I do have some anxiety as I go into a new place or am around a new person because I have to judge how safe things are. I know I’m pretty safe between being fully vaccinated and staying masked (except the few moments I am not masked in certain places). But I still need to be careful with my own safety and the safety of those around me.

But that anxiety about staying safe is easing as I get to do more things in my life. It’s not that I forget to be anxious or I don’t care. But my anxiety isn’t the primary emotion in my life anymore. I have other things to focus on so my mental health is in a much better place. My baseline isn’t where it was before, but it’s much closer to that than how low I was feeling during the worst of it. And as I add more and more back into my life, my baseline is getting to a better place.

I think having Orangetheory back into my life is a big thing that has made me feel better about everything. That routine and that workout helps me in so many ways. Even though it’s still tough to struggle with things I didn’t struggle with before, I’m feeling so much better about myself. I don’t even mind that I have to wake up so early to go to class. I’ve always appreciated Orangetheory and what it did for my body and mind, but I appreciate it at a whole new level now. And as I go to each class, I notice that working out in the studio is helping me feel better and better. I’m sure at some point that will level off, but for now it’s making a huge difference in my life.

Going out to eat was another big thing that has helped make me feel more normal and less anxious. This was a little harder for me to do since going out to eat means you aren’t wearing a mask. But going to Wood & Vine felt a lot safer than so many places I’ve been going in the past year. I knew I could trust the management and staff to be doing the right things to keep people safe, and I was right. I have seen some restaurants doing outdoor dining and the tables seem really close together. But Wood & Vine really was careful with how they set up the space, even when that meant they couldn’t have as many people there as they wanted.

Just going out to eat with a friend felt so normal and even though we were very aware of things, it also allowed us to forget that we were still in a pandemic for a little bit of time. And having any time where the pandemic isn’t dominating my thoughts is a nice escape. I spent far too long since last year thinking of nothing but my safety and health. And just like how Orangetheory is helping my mental health, having another focus is doing the same. Going out to eat is going to have to be a rare treat because I do want to be careful how much I go out, but it’s nice that it’s an option again in my life.

And even my dating life is starting to feel a bit more normal again! I’m still doing some video/virtual dates, but meeting up in person is getting a bit easier to do. Coffee dates are much easier now than they were for most of last year. I feel safer hanging out outside with someone new. Being on a date without a mask is still something I think I’m only ok with if the other person is vaccinated (and most people who are vaccinated are happy to show their vaccination cards to prove it) and there are still not a lot of options to have creative dates. But as things reopen again, there will be more places I can go on dates. And hopefully, just like with so much else, things will continue to feel safer for me and I won’t be as worried about my health.

My life is still not fully back to normal, but in the past month I have been able to have a lot of things back. And I’ve been feeling more calm and relaxed and home, which is having a lot of positive effects. I’m able to sleep better. I’m more focused. I am enjoying silly little things again. I feel like the doom and gloom feeling is still in the background, but it’s not taking over my life. And I needed this happiness back.

Just like with so many other posts where I have written about things being closer to normal, I had no idea how much I needed this until I had it. I knew I wasn’t doing great last year, but I had no clue how bad it had gotten for me until it got better. And I’m trying to stay hopeful that it is only going to continue to get better from now on.

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Default ThumbnailA Return To Wood & Vine (or Feeling Even More Like Things Are Normal) Default ThumbnailFeeling A Bit Less Stressed At The Dentist (or Just Having Normal Panic) Default ThumbnailFeeling Normal Again (or Happy To Be Back In Control) Default ThumbnailGetting Outside A Little More (or I’m Still Hesitant) Default ThumbnailMore Pandemic Dating Stories (or I Can’t Wait Until I Have More Normal Dating Problems) Default ThumbnailMaking It Through The Week (or Going From Feeling Horrible To Feeling Normal)

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