Category Archives: Fun Stuff

A Santa Barbara Friend Hangout (or Meeting Another Baby)

Posted on April 7, 2021 | Comments Off on A Santa Barbara Friend Hangout (or Meeting Another Baby)

The main reason I went up to Santa Barbara this past Saturday was for family stuff. And that’s usually the reason I go up there. Over the past year, I’ve gotten used to driving up to Santa Barbara for the day and heading back home the same day. It’s not too long of a drive, and it’s shorter than the times I drove to San Diego just for the day. It’s pretty easy for me to do and I usually have a lot of podcasts saved up for my drive. But this Saturday, I had something else to do before I drove home.

My friend Rayshell has had a lot of changes over the past year. She and her husband bought their first place and they had a baby! And because of the pandemic, I haven’t had the chance to see her for a long time. Her new place is on the way to or from Santa Barbara, so we made plans that I would see her either that morning or evening. But then, Rayshell realized that she would be at her parents’ house in Santa Barbara the same day and asked if I wanted to come to hang out in the backyard with her. Of course I said yes!

Her parents’ house was only about a mile away from the rental house my parents were staying at, so it was really easy to get there after I was done with family time. And even though I was pretty much considered fully vaccinated, we still took precautions while hanging out. We stayed outdoors the entire time and I was sitting a little further away (it was easily more than 6 feet away). Even though we’ve been doing all this for a year, it is still weird not being able to hug a friend and have to sit further from them than I’m used to. But at the same time, I’m so grateful I have the opportunity at all to see friends! And especially getting to see Rayshell and her baby (and her husband and parents who were hanging out with us too)!

And it was such a great time! Of course, we had a lot of our usual catchup chat like we always did at our happy hour hangouts. But we both had so much to update each other on. I loved hearing all about her baby, and he was so smiley and adorable the entire time I was there. He was not shy even though he had never met me before. He was a little social butterfly and one of the happiest babies I’ve ever met. I wasn’t able to hold him, but just getting to see him always smiling at me made me so happy. And it was amazing seeing Rayshell as a mom. I knew she’d be an awesome mom, and seeing her with her son proved me right. She looked like a natural!

And Rayshell also updated me about her new place. They haven’t really been able to have anyone over since they bought it right before the pandemic hit, but I hope that I’ll get a chance to see it soon. It sounds like an awesome place for them, even if they moved a little further from me and I wish that she lived closer.

And Rayshell asked me about what’s been happening in my life. I filled her in about what’s going on with work and what has been happening with my family. And she wanted to hear if I had any crazy dating stories, and I did! I have written on here how I haven’t dated that much over the past year, but I have a little bit and I had plenty of stories even about guys that I never ended up meeting. And at least, for the most part, the stories are so ridiculous so even I have to laugh while telling them.

I was able to hang out with Rayshell for almost 2 hours before she needed to start doing her evening routine with her son. And I knew I needed to start heading back home too. I wish we could have hung out longer, but considering that we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, any time I could get was amazing. I’ve said this a lot before, but this past year has made me so grateful for any time I get to spend with the people I care about. And it has shown me how strong some of my friendships are when we can just pick things back up even if it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.

Hopefully, I will be able to see Rayshell and her baby again soon. I know that it seems like things are getting better, so I’m optimistic about it. I’m still being very careful with what things I take chances on, but being outdoors with social distancing seems pretty safe. And I’m glad that it is finally safe enough for these things to start happening again without anyone having to worry too much about getting sick. And as long as we all continue to be safe and not take too many chances, it won’t be long before we don’t have to worry about any of this.

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Default ThumbnailA Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Day (or A Little Bit Of Social Interaction) Default ThumbnailA Bridal Shower Celebration (or My Morning In Santa Barbara) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Weekend (or Family and Friends Time) Default ThumbnailA Little More Time In Santa Barbara (or Hanging Out With My Sister-In-Law) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Engagement Party (or Sunburn and Rain)

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A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

Posted on April 6, 2021 | Comments Off on A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

This past weekend was my nephew Rory’s first birthday! It’s so crazy to think that it’s already been a year since he was born, but then again it was one of the craziest years of almost anyone’s life with the pandemic. But even with the pandemic, I knew that there would be a small party for Rory to celebrate his birthday. Plus, we had to celebrate my niece Presley being born!

The birthday party was just going to be family. My parents and my sister-in-law’s parents have all been vaccinated. The day of the party was going to be 1 day before I was considered fully vaccinated (which is pretty close to being there). And my brother was vaccinated at the end of last year. So even though we all still have to be careful and cautious, this was a pretty safe gathering since everyone except my sister-in-law and the babies would be vaccinated.

I got to Santa Barbara as Rory was opening his gifts. He got a lot of really adorable things. I got him a set of fabric tents and tunnels that can be used by themselves or combined to make a bunch of different things. He seemed curious about them, but I’m sure the gift will be a bigger hit with him when he’s a little older. I think his favorite gift was the kid cleaning kit that my sister-in-law found for him!

I hadn’t seen Rory in a while, so I had no clue if he’d remember me or not. And he takes some time to warm up to people, so I knew that he might not want me to be super near him. And my guess was correct. He wasn’t upset by me being there, but he didn’t want me to hold him or help him with toys. But that was ok because I had my new niece to hold!

Presley is about 6 weeks old and she’s very tiny! And she stayed asleep almost the entire time I was there, so she was calm and quiet. I think she looks a little like Rory did when he was born. She’s got the same long fingers as Rory, so I wonder if they will both be piano players one day. And I thought she was super cute and adorable. Hopefully, the next time I’m in Santa Barbara she will be a bit more awake and alert. And I can’t wait to see what her little personality will be like.

The birthday party was a very low-key day. After Rory was done opening presents, my brother cooked burgers on the grill and we all ate lunch outside. It was fun getting to hang out with my family and I hadn’t seen my sister-in-law’s parents in a while. I was supposed to see them this past November, but I missed that trip to see everyone since that’s when I got vertigo. I haven’t had a lot of social time with people lately, so any meals I get to have with someone is great. And having it be with family makes it that much better!

And of course, Rory had to have a birthday cake. I joked that he was going to act like their cat and push the cake over the edge of his highchair tray. And that’s exactly what he tried to do! I don’t know if he was trying to get more frosting or what, but it was really silly. And of course, we all took a ton of photos of him with frosting all over his face. The cake wasn’t Cookie Monster themed, but I joked that the photos looked like he ate Cookie Monster.

And of course, I had to get a photo of Rory with my brother and sister-in-law.

After he was done smashing his cake and eating some of it, Rory was having a bit of a sugar crash and it was time for him to take a nap. Since he was going to be sleeping and Presley was still asleep, that pretty much was the end of the party. So I went with my parents over to the rental house they were staying at so I could see Tucker since he was at the house during the party.

Tucker was as silly and goofy as always. He is finally recovered from his knee surgeries, so it was great to see him running and bouncing around without him being in pain. But he also looked a lot older this time because he now has a ton of white fur on his face. It’s like he became an old man overnight! But he still has so much energy and he was so happy to see me there.

I spent some time hanging out with my parents and the dog outside before I headed out. I actually had something else to do that afternoon in Santa Barbara (more about that tomorrow).

I only spent a few hours with my family that day, but it was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I don’t know how much more often I would be seeing everyone if we didn’t have a pandemic, but this past year has made me appreciate any family time I get at all. And I appreciate having anything to celebrate right now as well. So having 2 things to celebrate with my family really made the day that much better!

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Default ThumbnailI’m An Aunt Again! (or Welcome To The World Presley!) Default ThumbnailMore Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week) Default ThumbnailI’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!) Default ThumbnailHaving Fun With Photos (or My Brother And Nephew Are Twins!) Default ThumbnailFamily Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Weekend (or Family and Friends Time)

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff

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Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Posted on March 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Before this past year, I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a drive-in event or movie. It just wasn’t something I heard about a lot and I figured if I wanted to see a movie I’d rather see it in a theater. But since the pandemic, it seems like there are more and more drive-in things to do. Some new drive-in theaters have opened and there are other types of drive-in events like the For Your Consideration screening I went to over the summer.

I’ve been saying I should go to more drive-in events, but I just haven’t really been doing it. There are only a few people I trust to be in a car with right now and I don’t want to spend money if I don’t have to. But as I’ve written about more and more recently, I need to have more fun in my life. I just haven’t been great about doing it and figuring out what to do.

But earlier this year, my friend Dani found a drive-in drag queen show with some of the contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race and asked if I was interested in going. It sounded awesome so we got tickets for it. The tickets were per car, but you were limited to only 2 people in the car, so it was just going to be us. Then Dani had a conflict and no longer could go, so she gave me the tickets and I decided to ask my birthday twin, Joanna, if she wanted to join me.

Normally, Joanna and I have 2 regular hangouts a year. Once for our birthday when we go to Truxtons and once around the New Year when we go to Cheesecake Factory. We had both of those hangouts in the past year. Truxtons was a picnic outside and Cheesecake Factory was with each of us at our own homes and having dinner over Zoom. And while we’d both love to hang out more than just twice a year, with both of us having crazy schedules it doesn’t always happen. So when she said she’d love to come with me to the show, I was so excited!

This show was at the Rose Bowl, where the other drive-in event I went to was. But it was held in a field and not in the parking lot. Things were a little disorganized trying to get in there. We were following a line of cars, but we didn’t realize that the line we were following was the second part of the check-in. There wasn’t a sign for the first part, but the security officers there told us where to go. And once we got to the correct area, the check-in was pretty easy and moved quickly. We were given information for the food trucks that were there, but Joanna and I brought a ton of snacks with us so we were good with food.

And while I’d love to give this show a great review, there were some issues we encountered while we were there. We were directed to a parking spot which was right in the center of the field. But we were several rows back and because I have a shorter car there was no way for us to see the stage.

They had a few screens on the sides to see what was on stage, but they were off on the sides so for us to look at them we had to sit almost sideways in our seats. There were also screens much further up, so I tried to look at those more often so my neck could have a break. But the screens near us were pretty tough to see.

But Joanna and I didn’t let that get to us too much. Even though we would have loved to have been able to see the show better, we both had a great time because we were able to hang out together! Also, the screens had speakers that played the music, so we didn’t have to use the radio in my car to hear what’s going on. So we were able to listen to the show but also be able to chat and catch up.

And the performances were good. Like I said, we wished we could have seen things better, but we still enjoyed it. And we were having so much fun being out and doing something. Both of us are so careful with what we do these days and not really going out and doing much. So this show was a great change from what we’ve been doing for the past year. And any fun things we can do these days are really appreciated!

The show was about 90 minutes long and I will say that the location where we were parked did allow us to have an easier time leaving than other people did, so that was a bonus. And we continued to catch up on the drive home. It was honestly a hangout that I really needed. Even though we did our cheesecake dinner over Zoom, it wasn’t the same as being together in person. So this show was the missing element from earlier this year.

Hopefully, it won’t be that much longer before we can hang out and not have to think about how careful we are being. I think that it’s a safe guess that we will be able to feel that way by the time we have our birthday dinner in August. Of course, we’ve all seen this past year how quickly things can change. But right now, it seems like things are finally changing for the better and I want to think it will stay that way from now on.

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An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

Posted on March 23, 2021 | Comments Off on An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

It’s been a while since I’ve had some new headshots taken. I know I need to do some new ones soon, but I’ve been putting it off for a bit. Before the pandemic, I was hoping I would have a different enough look to need them (like if I changed up my hair or lost weight). I know you don’t have to wait until you look different for new photos, but that was the excuse I was telling myself. And then during the pandemic, I’ve been telling myself that I wanted to wait until it was safer. I know several photographers have been doing headshots and have found ways to stay safe, but I was still using that as an excuse.

But last week, I had to get some photos done for my social media day job. We all needed official work photos done. Some people had some that were taken before, but everyone was getting new photos taken even if they had them done in the past. These photos are going to be used on the company website, in our work emails, and when we are doing something where we are representing the company. But because many of us who work there are also actors, they wanted the photos to be great for work and also possible to use as headshots.

The photos were taken with The Headshot Truck. I’ve known about The Headshot Truck for several years now and I hadn’t shot with them before. But I loved their work and was really excited to get a chance to shoot with them. Because of safety issues, the photos would all be taken outside but I knew that they were going to be great no matter what.

Since these photos are primarily for work-related purposes, there were a few things we all had to do. The main thing was that we all had to wear blue since that is the company color. That was fine with me since I think I photograph well in blue. So I wore one option and brought a few others in case I needed to change. We all only had 15 minutes for our shoots, so there wasn’t really time to do multiple looks. But I wanted to have options just in case I needed to change before we started shooting. Fortunately, the outfit that I wore to the shoot was perfect and I didn’t have to change.

One other difference between other headshot shoots was that I had to do my own hair and makeup. I almost always have someone to do my hair and makeup, but since this shoot was a mini-shoot and mainly for work, I wasn’t going to hire someone this time. So I did my own hair and makeup and hoped it would look ok.

The shoot itself was really fun and easy. There were 2 outdoor locations were did the photos in. And halfway through the shoot, the photographer let me look at the photos so I could see if there was anything I wanted to change. I’m glad I did look, because there was something odd with how my hair was going over my shoulder. It wasn’t anything bad or something anyone besides myself would notice, but I’m glad I could fix it because I know it would have bothered me looking at the photos. I will also likely do retouching (since you always need to do that) so I could have fixed it in retouching too. But I am glad I could change how my hair looked so I could feel better about my photos.

I haven’t gotten the images back just yet, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only seen a few shots from their computer screen after the shoot was done, but they look great!

I know my photo of their screen isn’t the best and it’s not easy to see the photos, but I was happy when looking at them. And I’m sure I’ll have a few different ones that are my top choices and I’ll ask friends to help me pick the best one. And maybe I’ll find one that I love for my work shot and another that I love for a headshot!

I love that I had this chance to take some new photos. Even though the main reason for them is for work, this is another thing I was able to do to get ready for being back to auditioning again. I’ve been doing self-tapes over the past year, but I know in-person auditions will be back in the future and I want to have myself in the best spot possible for those when they happen.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Work

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Doing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Posted on March 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Doing More OTF Live (or Easing Back Into More Hard Workouts)

Last week, I wrote about how I tried my first OTF Live workout. It was a bit of a shock to my system because it was so much harder than most of the workouts I’ve been doing. But I also know that it probably is easier doing one of the OTF Live workouts than it is to do a regular studio workout. That made me a bit nervous but also motivated me to start working harder. I know I won’t be back in the studio right now, but it’s getting closer and closer to being an option.

So when my Orangetheory studio said they were going to continue doing community classes through this past week, I knew I was going to do more. Community classes allow us to take classes even if we aren’t technically current members. My membership has been on hold since the studios shut down just over a year ago. If I want to do some of the OTF Outdoor classes, they have a different membership level I can join at since I won’t necessarily need my full membership. And that outdoor workout level will also include the OTF Live classes. But since I didn’t want to start up my membership just yet, having community classes was perfect!

Because of my schedule and the times the OTF Live classes were available, I was able to do 2 OTF Live classes last week and then did 2 weightlifting workouts on my own. The weightlifting workouts were good. I think it’s getting hard to be super enthusiastic about them when I am comparing them to the OTF Live workouts. But like I always say, something is better than nothing. And I think doing those workouts is less frustrating for me than trying to find another video workout. But if I could have done all 4 workouts with OTF Live, I probably would have done so.

But I also think it was for the best that I only did half my workouts with OTF Live. Because they are harder than what I’ve been doing for a while, I need to ease back into them. Even though I haven’t worked out in the studio in a year, I still remember what I was able to do there. And it’s hard not to try to go that hard at home. But I can’t do that just yet. My body needs to work back up to where I was. And I forget that while in the workout a lot. But after the workout is done and the soreness sets in, it hits me.

But I really enjoyed the Live workouts. The coaching makes it so much better than doing a video. Feeling like I’m working out with a group and not alone makes me happier. And even though I can’t push myself as much as I used to, it is still pushing me to do better and work harder. I don’t slack off when I’m doing the Live workouts. Part of it is to not let others see me slack off but I also feel pushed to do and try more in that environment.

This week, the community classes are done and if I want to do more Live workouts I need to restart my membership. And I might do that since I know soon I’ll be doing the outdoor workouts. As I’m writing this post, I haven’t gotten my second vaccine yet. But as you are reading it, I have gotten the second one. But because I’m writing this before the vaccine, I have no idea how I will feel this week. I want to hope that I will be able to do 4 workouts this week, but I might be taking Monday (today) off. It just depends on how hard the side effects hit me.

But once I’m feeling better after the vaccine, I’m going to look more into starting an OTF membership for the Live and Outdoor classes. I still don’t plan on trying an outdoor one until I’m fully vaccinated in 2 more weeks, but doing the Live ones will be worth it as long as I’m feeling ok. But if I feel off all week this week, I’m not going to push myself to do them. I have workouts I can do at home and be ok with them. And if that’s what I do this week, that’s still good.

Each week, I’m closer and closer to being back in the studio at the workouts that I have missed so much over the past year. But I’m glad I’m finding steps to bridge the difference between my home workouts and the studio ones. Hopefully, by the time I am back in the studio, I will be ready and it won’t be as much of a shock to my system.

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One Step Closer To My Regular Workouts (or Trying OTF Live)

Posted on March 15, 2021 | Comments Off on One Step Closer To My Regular Workouts (or Trying OTF Live)

It seems like every week, there are positive steps that seem to be bringing us closer and closer to whatever normal is. The new CDC guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated are showing us more about what is safe to do. And now, more counties in California are moving into a less restrictive tier. As of today, Los Angeles County is out of the purple tier (which is the most restrictive) and we are in the red tier. This means more things can open, including gyms! Right now, there isn’t a reopening plan for Orangetheory yet, but I hope that it comes soon!

But I’m getting excited for things to maybe be opening soon and that’s also bringing up a few nerves about how I’m going to do when I am able to go back, whether that is doing an outdoor workout or an in-studio one. I’m trying to focus on the positives more than the fears or the negative, but it’s not always easy. But I also won’t let fears stop me. So I am continuing my workouts each week and not giving up.

And this past week, 3 of my 4 workouts were what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. I did the strength-based, weightlifting workout without worrying too much about cardio. I know it’s not the best workout I can do, but it’s one of the less frustrating ones I can do on my own. And I know that this isn’t a forever thing, so I’m not worrying too much about missing cardio.

But on Friday, I got to do a really special workout. The Orangetheory studios in LA are now doing OTF Live classes! These are virtual workouts that are coached live. It’s similar to what I was doing with the Zoom workouts. But OTF Live workouts aren’t over Zoom, so they can have more on the screen than just the video. On the top of the screen was the graphic/video showing what exercise we were doing. On one side of the screen was the coach and on the other side of the screen was my heart rate information. And at the bottom of the screen, we could see the videos of other people in the class. You had the option to make your video private to just the coach or it could be seen by everyone. I made mine able to be seen by all.

The class on Friday was coached by Coach Michael, who wasn’t one of my regular coaches but who I had as a coach several times in the past. So it was awesome to get to see him again. And while the actual workout didn’t have all the elements of an in-studio class, it was much closer to a class than a lot of workouts I’ve done lately. I would say it was between an in-studio class and the videos that OTF has been putting out on the app.

There’s no doubt in my mind that one of the things I’ve been missing about my workouts has been the live coaching. I can’t do the workouts on my own. And even if I was working out with others, there’s something about being coached that is different. And even if I’m not getting any specific coaching, having some guidance and encouragement is more than feeling like I’m on my own.

And I have to say that it was a tough workout! I think I might have overdone things a bit. There were a lot of squats in the workout and I was already dealing with hip pain. I tried to push through when I could, but the next day I was feeling the soreness and had to be very careful with what I did over the weekend.

And of course, I had to take a celebratory photo after the workout was done. My last in-studio workout was 363 days before my first OTF Live workout. As of today, I’m a year past my last studio workout. But having my first OTF Live workout was something to be proud of!

My plan for what I’m going to do for the next few weeks is still a bit up in the air. I think I’m going to try to do at least a few OTF Live workouts this week. But because of the times they are available, I’m not sure which days I can do them. And if I want to continue doing them, I do need to find out about restarting my membership. I know that they are doing a membership that is good for both the Live and Outdoor workouts, I just need to find out more about them. And like I mentioned, things are starting to open up and I’ll be considered fully vaccinated in about 3 weeks. So the next few weeks might be changing often. But my goal is still going to be to continue to do 4 workouts a week.

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Thankful To Have Some Guidance (or I’m Almost Fully Vaccinated)

Posted on March 11, 2021 | Comments Off on Thankful To Have Some Guidance (or I’m Almost Fully Vaccinated)

With my second vaccine coming up in about a week and a half, I’ve been starting to plan more and more about what I want to allow myself to do. I’m still not planning on changing too much about my life, but I can start thinking about what I am willing to do that won’t be too risky. There are things that people have been doing unvaccinated that I haven’t been ok with. Such as being outdoors with friends while masked or attending outdoor workouts. And I’ll probably be a bit more open to doing grocery shopping on my own and not just using delivery services.

I’ve written before about how it’s weird to think about trying to get back to normal. And while I can’t wait until I can see friends without worrying about my health and I can go out and do things again without considering the risks, it’s been hard to think about what is safe and what isn’t. I still don’t want to do anything stupid that will put myself or others at a higher risk than necessary.

But the other day, the CDC released some guidelines about what can be done once you are fully vaccinated. Being fully vaccinated means being 2 weeks after having both vaccines (or 2 weeks out after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine). So for me, I will be fully vaccinated right around my mom’s birthday. Until then, I’m still staying home and not going out as much as I can. The things I’m considering adding to my life won’t be until April. But I’m only a few weeks away, so I know I can wait.

And the timing of when I will be fully vaccinated is perfect because that’s when I’m hopefully seeing my family again! And almost everyone will be vaccinated (my nephew and niece won’t be and I don’t believe my sister-in-law will be) when I see them, so according to the CDC, we will be safe to be around each other. And knowing that I won’t be putting my family at risk when I see them is a huge relief.

And I’m glad the CDC released this information because it’s nice to know that the things I’m adding into my life again are considered safe. I don’t like having to make the decision on my own if the risks I’m taking are too much. When they said that vaccinated people can be together without wearing masks or distancing, I didn’t have to think about it more than that. And while I rarely have had anyone over at my house, it will be nice to know that the next time Dani and I hang out we won’t have to worry as much. But as far as going out in crowds or meeting up with people I don’t know or trust, that I will hold off on for now. Not everything is known yet, and things will just continue to get safer as more people are vaccinated.

There’s been a joke in some Facebook groups I’m in about how they will need to add a filter on dating apps if you’ve been vaccinated or not. I did add the photo I took after getting my vaccine to my profile. While some guys do write that they are fully vaccinated, I don’t know if I can trust that just yet. Maybe for a while, we will have to show everyone our vaccine card to prove we are safe. Going back to dating the way I used to seems so far away still, so I’m not too worried about rushing it. I’m slowly finding ways to date that feel safe, and I don’t need to push anything too much.

I know that everything over the past year has changed so much and so often. And these new guidelines could change at any moment. Maybe they will take back what they said and vaccinated people cannot be unmasked. Maybe there will be more things that will be safe soon. When I’m fully vaccinated at the beginning of April, things could be drastically different. But it’s still fun to start thinking about what I will be able to do soon and not have to worry as much. Just having that weight off of my shoulders is going to be a much-needed change.

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A Different Type Of Taxes Appointment (or Sometimes I Do Better Than Expected)

Posted on March 9, 2021 | Comments Off on A Different Type Of Taxes Appointment (or Sometimes I Do Better Than Expected)

When I had my taxes appointment last year, it was before everything shut down. It was one of the last things I did before the shutdown and it seems like that was a million years ago. And I didn’t think too much about my tax appointment this year until recently and wondered how it would happen. I forgot that a lot of people who did their taxes last year had to do them after the shutdown so there was already a good system in place for not doing them in person.

I wasn’t able to get as early of an appointment as I usually do, but it was because I wasn’t going to schedule it until I had all my tax forms from my jobs. I didn’t want to be someone who makes an appointment and then doesn’t have everything needed. But I still got an appointment on the earlier side so I didn’t have to stress about things happening at the last minute.

The way appointments worked this year was a pretty great system. You make your appointment, but it’s for a week and not a specific day and time. Then you have to have all your paperwork and forms to the office the Saturday before your week and then your preparer reaches out to schedule a time for a phone call to finalize things. And I was very grateful that they let me submit my paperwork and forms through email so I didn’t have to drive to the valley. I wouldn’t mind driving since I don’t drive much, but it was just much easier to do it all at home when I only had to drop off forms.

I was a bit worried about how my taxes would go this year. I knew my income was lower than it was before, so my estimated tax payments were higher than they probably needed to be. But I also got unemployment, and I know that gets taxed and a lot of people owed money after getting unemployment. I did select to have 10% deducted for my taxes each payment, but I knew that wasn’t enough to cover everything I would owe. And I had very few deductible business expenses over the past year, so I didn’t know how much that would affect what I owed too. But as always, I was trying to be hopeful about how it would all turn out and I knew that I’d be ok no matter what happened.

My phone call was the other day and it was really nice getting to talk to Daphne. I think we both missed having our fun chat in person like we normally do and we couldn’t do a lot of chatting on the phone, but it was so nice getting to talk to her. It was a much faster appointment than normal because almost everything was entered by Daphne before our call. Normally, I bring my paperwork with me to the appointment and she does everything in front of me. But this time, she only had a few questions and it turned out I was missing one form about my healthcare (which, fortunately, I was able to access online and send to her right away).

Because there was so little as far as income and deductions, it was a bit simpler than before and not as many things that we had to figure out. I thought having unemployment would make it harder, but obviously, Daphne is a pro at this and it really wasn’t a big deal and there were no weird things we had to figure out with my forms. This was much easier than times in the past when I was on unemployment, which was nice.

And in the end, I did much better than I expected with my taxes. I’m getting money back for both federal and state, which is not normally the case. I always owe on my state return, but this year the healthcare forms were different. So some of the overpaying I did for my healthcare covered what I owed for the state. So I’m getting refunds for both and my taxes for 2020 are basically complete. I’m just waiting on the refund to be direct deposited to me.

And I have things set up for 2021 as far as estimated payments go. But because my income was so low in 2020, my estimated payments are significantly lower than I’m used to. If I paid them at the rate they are listed at, I would likely owe money when doing my taxes next year. So I’m debating about paying more than what it has on the forms. Overpaying doesn’t result in a penalty like underpaying does, so that’s a good thing. And if that helps me not owe money in a year, it’s a good thing. I’d rather pay in installments ahead of time than owe a big amount at once. But I have some time to think about it before I have to make my first estimated payment for 2021.

But for now, I’m not too worried about my 2021 taxes. I’m just glad that I got my 2020 taxes done and they were so much better than I was expecting them to be. Now I can move beyond 2020 and not have to think about money worries that the year might have caused me.

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Still Working On Creating Better Habits (or Getting More Prepared For “Normal” Life Again)

Posted on March 5, 2021 | Comments Off on Still Working On Creating Better Habits (or Getting More Prepared For “Normal” Life Again)

I’ve written a few posts about getting ready to be back to “normal” life again (whatever normal means in the future). I know I have created some habits that I have used to get through this pandemic and being isolated that I know are not good. And I’ve slowly been working my way through some new habits and seeing what I could turn into something productive and what I need to work on switching.

The biggest new habit I have gotten very used to is being alone and not reaching out to others. While I am not always the most social person, I used to try to make plans with friends and see if there is something I can go out to do. Or I’d see fun events happening around LA and see if anyone I know wants to join me. But now, I don’t really do that at all. I have seen plenty of virtual events posted online (which I’m now trying to make more of an effort to do) and I’ve never really thought about asking around to see if anyone else wants to do the same thing. And even though I had the recent monthly challenge of being more social with people in my life, I’m still not great at doing that. It’s hard to think to make a phone call instead of sending a text. And maybe when things are normal again, I won’t want to do phone calls as much. But it’s still something I want to work on making feel more normal in my life.

The habit I’ve been struggling with the most in the past few months has been my sleep routine. When I was out of work, I got very used to staying up later than I’d like to and sleeping in a bit (although, for me, sleeping in is usually 8am). Once I started working, I had to get into a better routine. And while I have a much better habit of waking up on time and it no longer feels early, I’m still struggling with making sure I go to bed on time. And I know I’m not getting enough sleep these days. It’s affecting me already, and I can only imagine how much more it will affect me when I have more things happening in my life. This is a habit that I mainly need to fix since I can’t see how having a lack of sleep could be turned into something good.

And while this isn’t necessarily connected to my lack of sleep, I know that part of staying up too late is because I’m watching a lot more on my tv. I have been watching a lot of shows and movies to fill my time. It’s a good way to help pass the time when there is nothing else happening in my day. And just like sleeping in, this was a habit I was doing more when I wasn’t working. Once I started working, I didn’t have as much free time to watch everything I wanted to. And I had to look at my viewing habits and see where I could cut back. Right now, it’s a bit of a hard time to cut back on movie viewing because I have SAG Awards screeners to watch. But I know that after I’m done with those, I need to limit how many nights I watch movies. And the same idea with tv. I added a lot of random shows to my DVR just so I would have things saved that I could watch when I needed something. But I’ve slowly been deleting the shows that I feel are just filler shows and not things that I want to keep up with.

I know there are other habits that I picked up over the past year that may not be things I should keep doing when life starts getting normal again. And there are other habits that I started that I will try extra hard to continue, like cooking more at home. It’s a bit weird to keep thinking about when life is back again because everything shut down so quickly and instantly. But things will be reopening slower so there will be less of a drastic change. But I still want to be ready for whatever the next safe thing will be to do so that I don’t have to keep having adjustment periods as this year goes on.

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Getting Vaccinated (or I Didn’t Believe This Until It Happened)

Posted on March 4, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting Vaccinated (or I Didn’t Believe This Until It Happened)

For several months, I think we have all started to understand that the pandemic was not going to end here until people were vaccinated. That’s not how it had to be, but because of the very loose restrictions that were put in place, that’s what’s going to happen. I know other countries have gotten past this without a vaccine, but most Americans have been waiting on when they could be vaccinated to have that same feeling of safety.

When vaccines started, I knew I wouldn’t be vaccinated right away. Other groups were more urgent than anything I would be listed under. And for a little while, it was unclear what other groups would be prioritized after healthcare workers and older people. I assumed that there would be an option for people at a higher risk of death and that I might be in that group. And that’s one of the first groups I had heard about that I would be eligible for. But it wasn’t too clear when that group would be vaccinated or how it would be determined they were at high-risk.

I started to get some vaccine envy over others who could be vaccinated and it wasn’t hard for them to prove their eligibility. And then I discovered that I might end up being eligible about 2 weeks earlier because of one of my day jobs. My data entry job is technically in emergency and county communications, and that was one of the groups listed. But I decided to call Kaiser at the end of this past week to talk to them about my options and I figured I would be waiting until later this month when high-risk people would be eligible and I just hoped I would discover how to make that happen while on the call.

To my surprise, when I called in, they agreed I would be eligible in the group for my day job. I wasn’t expecting that at all, and I sure wasn’t expecting to get an appointment so quickly! I called in on Friday and they asked if I wanted to make an appointment time for a vaccine on Sunday! Of course, I said yes because I have been saying for so long that I couldn’t wait for the vaccine.

But even after I had the appointment set and could see it listed on the Kaiser app, I was worried something would happen. Maybe they would decide I wouldn’t be eligible or that it was a mistake that I had an appointment. I brought a lot of paperwork with me to my appointment to show my job (like tax forms, contracts, agreements of responsibilities), but it was a very simple process when I got to Kaiser. I was very overprepared for what I needed.

When I arrived, I checked in and was immediately brought over to a desk to set up my second vaccine appointment. Since I had to have an appointment 21 days later, they wanted to make sure that I would have my spot before I got my vaccine. Then I had to wait in a waiting room for about 10 minutes for my turn to go back. I was nervous because I hate needles no matter what. But I was also excited since I couldn’t believe that something I have been waiting for was finally here.

The actual shot wasn’t too bad. I did black out a little (as expected), but I didn’t completely pass out. And even though others have said that it was painless and they didn’t feel the needle, I did. But it didn’t hurt much worse than a flu shot. Then I was brought into another waiting area where I had to wait for 15 minutes so they could make sure that I didn’t have any bad reaction. I wasn’t too worried that I would since nobody I know who has been vaccinated had a bad reaction after the shot. But I know they have to be careful. So I sat there and read my book before the nurse came over and told me I could leave.

I know the vaccine doesn’t change everything. Especially since this is only the first vaccine. I will still be wearing masks and staying home whenever I can. I’m not going to be making any huge changes to my life, but at the same time, it is a huge relief. I know that I don’t have to be in as much fear as I have been in the past year. I know that I won’t be as high-risk as I have been. And I know that for each of us who is vaccinated, we are that much closer to being at the end of this.

And of course, I took a selfie in my car with my vaccine card after. I feel like everyone is doing it, and I’m not ashamed to be a part of this trend. It is exciting and something to celebrate.

My next vaccine is in about 2 1/2 weeks. I’m not too nervous for that one beyond the normal nerves I have with shots. I know several people had bad side effects for a day or two after, but I’m ready for that. After this first shot, I had a bad headache and a lot of pain in my arm for about 2 days. But whatever side effects I have for the next one, I know it will be temporary and worth it. And in about 4 1/2 weeks, I will have the antibodies and should be fully protected. Again, that won’t change my behavior that much, but I will be more willing to take some risks (like going to the outdoor workouts) once that happens.

I still can’t believe I was so lucky. And I know that now vaccine production has been increased, everyone should be able to get a vaccine within the next few months. We are almost there and I can’t wait to be on the other side of this.

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