Tag Archives: family

Meeting Rory (or This Made Isolation Worth It)

Posted on April 22, 2020 | Comments Off on Meeting Rory (or This Made Isolation Worth It)

Before I get into this post too much, I want to explain something because I know some people might question why I did this. I understand that we are currently experiencing a global pandemic and that it is important to stay home unless absolutely necessary. And for the past 4 weeks, I have not left my house (not even for essential errands) except one time. Most people are still going out once a week or so. I have not. So the chances of me having COVID-19 is extremely low. I also did this under the guidance of my brother (who is an ER doctor), my dad (who is a retired OB/GYN), and my mom (who is a retired pediatric nurse). I did everything they said would be necessary plus some. And now, I am in 2 weeks (minimum) of strict quarantine of not leaving my house for any reason. I am not going to see anyone that I could pass this onto if I happened to be exposed by my family (who also have not been leaving their homes for any reason). Please understand that I did things beyond what the current guidance to stay safe and healthy and that I do not recommend people just go visit family unless you have been in quarantine before seeing them.

When my nephew Rory was born, I wasn’t sure when I would get to meet him. I was sad that I wasn’t there when he was born, but I knew I would get to meet him one day soon. I wasn’t going to ask my brother or sister-in-law when I could come to meet him, because I didn’t want them to feel pressured to let anyone see him if they weren’t ready. But when they asked me if I wanted to come to meet him, I immediately said yes! Because I had been avoiding all people for so long, they felt safe that I wasn’t a carrier. There were still going to be rules to be at their house, but I didn’t care. I wanted to meet my nephew! Plus, my parents were going to be there (they also followed the same guidelines I had and would have the same restrictions) and I wanted to see them too. My parents were supposed to come to see me next month and that trip has been canceled. And they had a few things for me, like some weights for my workouts, and I wanted to pick those up.

So this past Friday, I drove up to Santa Barbara to spend a few hours with my family. I made sure I wore clothes that I hadn’t worn outside recently and I had a mask with me since that was required to be around my nephew. Fortunately, a friend of mine made me a mask so I had a cute one to wear! The drive was very easy with very few cars on the road so I was able to get there a bit earlier than I expected.

And being so lonely and isolated at home was completely worth it when I walked into their house and got to meet Rory. He is so tiny and so adorable. And I instantly fell in love with him. Which also meant I took a million photos.

He was only 2 weeks old when I was there, but he was already starting to have a little personality. He’s a very happy and content baby and only cried once or twice when I was there. He is very snuggly and likes to be crunched up in your arms. He especially likes having his feet and legs crunched up and close to his body. He’s seriously so adorable and I felt so lucky that I was able to meet him so much sooner than I expected.

Just like I wasn’t going to push for going to visit my brother and sister-in-law, I wasn’t going to push to hold Rory. I really wanted to, but I know that these times are not normal circumstances and I knew they were being careful and cautious. But they said as long as my hands were clean (I washed my hands and used hand sanitizer) and wore a mask, I could hold him. And it was one of the best moments ever!

I know you can’t see my smile under my mask, but trust me when I say I was smiling! Of course, we were all joking about how you couldn’t tell what anyone’s emotion was under the masks, but we knew they were necessary. I only wish I had one that had something to be tighter around my nose because the fabric mask made it a bit tough to see Rory if I was holding him super close to me. But I found a way to prop my arm up higher on the couch so I could stare at him while holding him. And he pretty much just slept in my arms and seemed very content.

I also loved getting to hang out with my family. I haven’t seen anyone in so long with the exception of a few moments, and I was seriously needing this type of human connection. Virtual hangouts are not as good as in-person ones and this made me feel so much better than I had been feeling earlier in the week. I felt content and like life was almost normal. I really needed this time to get myself back in alignment and feeling like I will be ok.

I would have loved to have spent a ton of time with my family, but I was only there for a few hours before I had to head home. I had things I had to get done in LA so I couldn’t stay too late. Also, my brother and sister-in-law have a cat and I’m very allergic to cats. I took allergy medication for almost a week before I was there, but after only an hour I was starting to feel symptoms of an allergy attack. When my throat started to feel funny and my voice was getting very raspy, I knew I had to leave. And when I got home, I showered immediately to get any cat dander off of me, but I still had several marks on my body where I think some fur got under my clothes. I don’t know what I’ll do for future visits, but I’ll figure something out. But even if my allergies were worse, it was still worth it. There’s no question in my mind.

I’m now doing 2 weeks of strict staying at home. No going out for groceries or supplies (thank goodness for delivery options). And if I have to do these strict quarantine rules before I go see Rory again, I’ll do it. Hopefully, there will be some new guidelines soon that we can use to help make sure we are keeping everyone safe. I’m not sure when I’ll be going back to Santa Barbara again and so many things can change from week to week. So I’m not doing any planning on what I’ll need to do for next time. But I do know that whatever I have to do, it’s completely worth it.

 

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I’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!)

Posted on April 8, 2020 | Comments Off on I’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!)

I’m so excited that my nephew is here! He was born last week and now he is home with my brother and sister-in-law. I know that the original plan didn’t quite happen, but I’m still so excited.

Originally, I was going to go up to Santa Barbara when my sister-in-law went into labor. My parents already had plans to spend the month of April there (my sister-in-law’s parents live in Santa Barbara so they didn’t have to travel). When we were at the baby shower about a month ago, we all assumed that’s what we’d be doing. I remember saying goodbye to everyone and saying how I’d see them in a month. I was so honored that my sister-in-law wanted me to be there when my nephew was born and I couldn’t wait to meet him.

Of course, with everything going on, there was no way for us to be there. Even if we were in Santa Barbara, we wouldn’t have been allowed at the hospital. But none of us traveled because it’s really not the smart thing to do right now. We had an idea of what day he was going to be born, so we were all keeping our phones near us to find out the news as soon as possible.

And when he was here, I got photos immediately from my brother. And I am thrilled to introduce you all to Rory James Levin.

I knew his first name would be Rory (and obviously knew his last name would be Levin). The gift I made for the baby shower were bookplates that said “The Library Of Rory Levin”. But I didn’t know his middle name until he was born. I think it’s a super cute name and he looks like a Rory to me.

I’m glad that my sister-in-law’s parents are near them so they can help my brother and sister-in-law out with things. I know that they are working on keeping their house as clean and safe as possible so nobody else is able to come over. But as soon as things are normal again, I know my family and I will be traveling there to meet him. For now, we just have to see him through technology.

I am sad I wasn’t there when he was born and I don’t know how long it will take before I get to meet him, but I also know it’s for the best for everyone’s health. And if everyone just went to see one person, people are going to keep getting sick. So staying home, even if it means missing out on something my family has been looking forward to, is what I have to do. And I’m sure my parents feel the same way since they were so excited to get to spend several weeks with Rory. But they will be there as soon as they can and I’ll probably time out my trip to be at the same time so I can see my parents as well.

I have several friends who are pregnant and close to their due dates and I know that there are so many unknowns or weird things with trying to give birth right now. Everyone is handling it the best that they can and I hope that my friends have a similar experience to what my sister-in-law had. Even if my family couldn’t be there to support my sister-in-law, I’m glad my brother was there and that they do have some family nearby that can help them if they need it. Plus, everyone has gotten more familiar with different delivery grocery options lately so I know they know how they can safely get groceries without having to leave their house.

For now, I’m just going to enjoy knowing that I’m officially an aunt and I can get so excited for when I get to meet Rory in person (hopefully) soon! And I now have lots of time to find really cute presents to get him so I can bring lots of things when that happens!

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A Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!)

Posted on March 10, 2020 | Comments Off on A Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!)

Even though my brother and sister-in-law live pretty close to me, I don’t make it to Santa Barbara that often. I haven’t been up there for a while and I know that I should make plans to do that more. It’s only about 90 minutes away from me, so it’s not that far. But I know I will be going up there more often soon because my sister-in-law is pregnant and my nephew should arrive in about a month!

I’m so excited to be an aunt and I’ve already got a lot of things that I can’t wait to get for my nephew. And when I found out the date for the baby shower, I immediately started to think of a good gift.

I looked at a bunch of different websites to get inspiration for a gift, and I found something that I loved and could make myself. They were bookplates (stickers that say “Library of Baby Levin”) and I knew that would be perfect! I know what my nephew is going to be named and I knew the theme of the nursery is safari animals, so I made some really cute stickers with different animals on them. The only problem is that they aren’t telling most people the name yet (only family knows right now), so I couldn’t give a gift with his name on it. So I had to get something to go along with the bookplates to give at the shower. The obvious gift was to get some books, so that’s exactly what I did!

I wanted to find books that relate to things that my brother and sister-in-law like so they could be an introduction to those things for the baby. So I found a book on San Francisco (where they met), Santa Barbara (where they live), world-traveling (which they love to do), and wine (which is one of their favorite activities). I will say, finding a baby book about wine wasn’t easy, but I was so thrilled when I found it!

The baby shower was this past weekend and I drove up to Santa Barbara just for the afternoon. I drove with my great aunt (who lives near me) and we went a bit early so we could spend time with my parents and dog. The dog had knee surgery recently so I really wanted to get to see him. And I hadn’t seen my parents for a few months and I knew they had some stuff for me. We got up there about 2 hours before the shower started, so that allowed us some time to relax after the drive and hang out. Shockingly, I didn’t take a single photo of the dog when we were there!

And when we were at the shower, I didn’t take many photos either! Part of the reason I didn’t take photos was that I was dealing with a lot of nausea that day. It’s unfortunate that a bad nausea day fell on the same day as the party, but I can’t really control that. But the other reason I didn’t take a ton of photos was that I was focused on enjoying being there. I wasn’t sure how many people I would know there, but I did end up knowing quite a few people. I knew I’d know my family and my sister-in-law’s family. But most of my brother’s friends who were there were people that I have known for a while too. I think the last time I saw them was at the wedding, but since everyone stays in touch through social media it didn’t seem like it had been that long. And I did chat with some people that I didn’t know so I did end up feeling like I knew everyone there.

The few pictures I did take were of some of the decorations.

And of Ross and Krystle when they opened up gifts.

I had given them a heads up that there was a part of the gift that had the name on it, so they opened that without showing anyone else before opening up the books for all the guests to see. I think they were just as surprised as I was that there was a baby book about wine! And I think they loved all the other books I got them too.

After they opened the gifts, the party started to wind down a bit. My great aunt and I hung around for a while so we could catch up with family, but we didn’t stay too late since we did have to drive home. We were there for quite a while, and I should be back soon since I will go to Santa Barbara when my nephew is born. My parents will be staying there next month so they don’t have to worry about driving down when she goes into labor. I’ll just be in LA basically waiting for the call to get into my car and head up. I can’t wait!

I’m so excited that there will be a new member of our family soon and I can’t wait to see what he’s like and what he will add to the family dynamic!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Default Thumbnail3 Cities 1 Day (or My Christmas Adventure) Default ThumbnailGrandma’s Birthday Dinner (or One Of Our Thanksgiving Traditions) Default ThumbnailMore Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week) Default ThumbnailPre-Burning Thanksgiving Calories (or Working Out In LA and San Diego) Default ThumbnailFirst Half Of Thanksgiving (or Hanukkah Gifts And Birthdays) Default ThumbnailPre-Thanksgiving Pampering (or Trying To Get Everything Done)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Default ThumbnailA Night At The Bowl (or Movie Music With Friends) Default ThumbnailA Night At The Bowl (or Combining Several Of My Favorite Things) Default ThumbnailLast Minute Bowl Adventure (or A Very Hot And Humid Night Out) Default ThumbnailA Perfect Night At The Bowl (or Checking Some Things Off My List) Default ThumbnailAnother Bowl Night (or Not Letting Rude People Ruin My Fun) Default ThumbnailSaturday Evening With My Parents (or I’m Posting A Little Out Of Order About My Weekend)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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This Felt Like Hell Week (or An Unexpected But Fun Workout Week)

Posted on September 16, 2019 | Comments Off on This Felt Like Hell Week (or An Unexpected But Fun Workout Week)

This past week of workouts was so tough. I wasn’t the only one who said that, so many people felt like this past week was getting us prepared for Hell Week. And I went into the workouts planning on working hard anyway so they felt even harder for me. But they were great workouts and I had some reasons to have even more fun with them.

Monday’s class was endurance based and it was a weird one for me. Not because the class was weird, but I went earlier than I would normally go. I originally had a meeting on Monday that would have prevented me from going to my normal class at the Brentwood studio, and even my early class in Culver would have been too late. So I went to an even earlier class and went at 6:20 am! I’m not used to working out that early so I think it felt harder because of that.

For cardio, we had push to base pace intervals. Half of them were 90-second intervals and half of them were 30-second intervals. But the push and base paces always matched. I was using the different resistance levels for the 90-second intervals, but for the 30-second ones, it was hard to switch back and forth. So I just kept the resistance level at my base and increased my speed.

On the rower, we started with a 3-minute row for distance. Then we had medicine ball lunges which I modified to be medicine ball squats. Then we took 200 meters off of our 3-minute row and did the medicine ball work again. We repeated that for the first half. Then, we followed the pattern of the treadmill with the 30 second intervals of push and base paces. The rowing for the second half was a lot, but it was good.

And on the floor, we had a lot of lower body work. We had goblet lunges (I modified them because we were supposed to use the Bosu), swing lunges (which I modified by using the straps for stability), sit-ups on the Bosu, lateral lunges into bicep curls with weights, and crunches on the Bosu. My legs were so tired after the workout and I was actually glad the meeting I was supposed to have was canceled so I could recover a bit at home before I had to go out to do other things that day.

Wednesday’s workout was a power day, but it almost felt more like an endurance day. Another hard class that felt like a Hell Week class to me.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block had a 90-second push pace, 90-second base pace, and 1 minute all out. Then we repeated that but with 30-second intervals. The second block was almost the day, but when we were doing the 30-second intervals we took out the base pace. I was working with the resistance levels when we had 90-second intervals, but I skipped them for the 30-second intervals. It’s just too hard to reach down to adjust the resistance level when there is so little time to work.

On the rower, we started with 3 rounds of 100-meter rows. Then we had 2 rounds of 150 meters and 1 round of 300 meters. Between the rowing, we were supposed to do lunges but I did squats instead. The second block had the same rowing plan but with squats instead of lunges so I guess I got double squats. On the floor, we had sumo squats to high rows with weights, sit-ups, plank work, toe reaches with weights, and rollouts on the straps. It was a lot of work work and a lot of getting up and down.

Friday’s workout was a power day and also Friday the 13th themed. But it was a workout I had been looking forward to for a while because my dad was joining me for it! My dad doesn’t go to Orangetheory that often. Normally it’s just for the family Thanksgiving workout. He’s also been to the Brentwood studio for 2 classes (once when I started at OTF and once when I didn’t need my liver surgery). But this would be his first time at the Culver studio and also the earliest workout he’s done with me.

I warned my dad it would be a hard workout and I was right! For cardio, we had 13 rounds of all outs to walking recoveries. All of the all outs were 30 seconds and the first 6 recoveries were 30 seconds before increasing to 45 seconds. My dad kicked butt doing the all outs on the treadmill and he was increasing his speed throughout the block. I was on the bike and skipped increasing the resistance but worked even harder than normal with trying to pedal faster. I think having my dad there motivated me to try more.

On the rower, we had rounds of 130-meter rows. We started with 13 squats to overhead reaches with the medicine ball between the rowing and decreased the number of squats each round. My dad and I raced for the first 130-meter row, and I think I beat him by a fraction of a second. But we didn’t race for the other rowing since we were both going at our own pace.

And on the floor, the theme of 13 continued. All the exercises were reps of 13. And a few times during the floor work, the screen went black and white and we were supposed to do 13 burpees. The regular floor work had ground to presses with weights, calf raises with weights, Y raises on the straps, crunches, and knee tucks and hamstring curls on the ab dolly (I modified the hamstring curls to be weighted hip bridges). It was a lot of work and really hard, but I was having so much fun having my dad in class with me. Having family in class is a real treat for me, and of course, my dad and I had to take a sweaty post-OTF photo with my Friday coach.

On Saturday, we had a strength day. I was a bit sore from Friday’s workout (and from doing other things on Friday), but I knew I had to finish the week strong. And I had been taking it easy with the resistance levels on the bike, so a strength day was the perfect thing.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a 3-minute hill. The resistance level for the first block was between my push and all out and for the second block was my push level. After the hills, we had base pace with no incline/added resistance before a push and all out. And the all out was supposed to be on a hill so I set the resistance higher than normal for me. It was hard and I was moving slowly, but it felt good to do it.

On the rower, we had slow pulls only. That means that we count for a specific number of strokes but the goal is to go super slow on the rower. We were told to try to wait until the water tank wasn’t moving as much before pulling the handle again. Doing slow pulls is hard and takes patience, but it really helps with rowing form. The first set was 4 rounds of 20 slow pulls with squats between each round. The second set was 15 slow pulls with squats between, but I only got 1 round of those in before the block was done. I focused a lot of going as slow as I could and I think I did much better with my form than normal.

And on the floor, we had a lot of upper body work. We had bicep curls, pullovers, uppercuts, chest fly, and hip hinge upright rows. All of the work was with weights and I tried to go heavy since it was a strength day. I was glad it wasn’t lower body work because my lower body really did need that break.

Even though these workouts were really hard, I really loved them. I was also having a good week without pain or nausea affecting the workouts which helped. This week might be a bit tougher for me, but I’m ready for it.

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