Car Talk
Wednesday morning I read Leo Babauta’s article The Body as a Vessel For Living. He compares our bodies to a car- a car is a vehicle we use to experience a journey, but not the journey itself. Likewise, we can see that our bodies aren’t who we are- they’re a vehicle for our life experiences. That doesn’t mean we can’t polish our cars or try to improve our bodies, but our attention should be on the scenery we’re moving through or the adventures we’re having. Ah, what a nice article. Funny that I should read it on a day where we went on to experience a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF CAR STRESS. Get a load of this… First, the AC in my car stopped working several days ago. Anyone who lives in Florida knows that if your AC isn’t working in the summer, you might as well just drive your car to the junkyard and leave it there. Driving in the heat is absolute torture. No problem though- I have Wednesdays off so it was the perfect day to bring it to the dealer. And it’s under warranty- what could possibly go wrong? Ho ho. We’ll get back to that in a minute. After we left my car at the dealer, my husband and I stopped at Trader Joe’s. As he opened his car door, a gust of wind suddenly caught it, and it hit the car parked next to us. We got out of the car, and a woman barreled towards us yelling “You just HIT MY CAR with your car door! It’s a BRAND NEW PORSCHE and now it’s DENTED! You DENTED MY CAR!” Yep, there was a tiny dent- but the way she yelled at us, you would think she had found us demolishing her car with a sledgehammer. I assured her that we didn’t do it on purpose- I mean, obviously- and she calmed down enough to exchange phone numbers, but boy- she was a total jerk. Because I was afraid my husband would end up throttling her, I thought it was best to have her communicate with me. She apparently went directly to a bodyshop and got an estimate, and forwarded a copy of it to me- $880. Well, I didn’t think it would be cheap. Someone drives a brand-new Porsche into a bodyshop, and they’re not going to give them the bargain rate. But here’s the capper- she texted me “And of course I’ll have to rent a car for 2-3 days.” Oh, REALLY??? That’s funny, because I could see on the estimate that the job would take five hours. At this point, we called our insurance company and filed a claim. It will cost us $500 (that’s our deductible) but it’s worth every penny- and the thousands we pay to Allstate every year- not to have to deal with a woman like that. So let’s get back to my car. The one that is now STRANDED AT THE TOYOTA DEALER. They can’t work on it until they get the approval from the warranty company, and for some reason that’s taking several days. We thought that maybe we could take it back until they’re ready to work on it- because we really need two cars- but they said no, because sometimes the warranty company sends someone out to inspect the car, so it has to be there. If we take it back we’ll be starting over from square one. Hmmm! Maybe WE’LL be the ones renting a car for 2-3 days. Or maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. Stay away from cars from now on… I could just start running everywhere. Or riding my bike. Yes, I can picture myself showing up to work, ready to give a massage, drenched in sweat. That probably won’t work. In all seriousness, what would I do without running? I’m so glad I get to go for a run this morning, first thing, before anything else stressful can happen. When I’m running like that I’m reminded that none of the rest of it really matters. What’s the most frustrating car experience you’ve had?
Favorites Lately
Ahhhh… June. I’m enjoying it so much! I love all the sunlight and leisurely mornings. Leisurely, because I don’t have the extra job of getting my daughter off to school. I love being able to do my workouts and eat breakfast without rushing before work. Here are some of the things making me happy right now. Favorite Workout The “run sandwich.” This came about because I’m still babying my foot, a little. I want to run four days a week, but other than a long run and one day of speed work, I’m keeping the runs pretty short. I’ve hit upon a sequence that I’m really liking- first I do a glutes and legs strength class, then a short run, and then either a core or upper body strength class. I get in my run, my strength, and it feels great. Insert run in the middle for a run sandwich! Favorite Run As much as I want to say it’s a trail run, I had to face the fact that my trail runs were getting really uncomfortable. There’s very little shade on my trail, and it’s so hot here. I’m better off starting a long run super early but I don’t feel comfortable on the trails in the dark. So… for now, my speed work runs are winning the “favorite” spot. I didn’t do any speed work for almost two years because running fast hurt my foot, so it feels great to do some speedy runs again. Of course, “fast” and “speedy” are relative terms. The truth is I’m so slow compared to where I was… but I’m working on it. Favorite Dinner Well, dinner continues to be a challenge. After making the large Asian feast, my son has not wanted to cook another dinner. I mean, he’ll help out in the kitchen-as will my husband- but no one really wants to get in there every night and cook. Sometimes I’ll do it, but my new favorite is a little game I’ve introduced called “What’s in the kitchen?” The premise is, everyone looks through the pantry, fridge and freezer, and is challenged to put together a dinner based on what they can find. The first time we played this game, my husband looked worried and asked “Can I run out to the store?” “Yes,” I replied, “But then you lose the game.” We usually end up teaming up on these nights, and my husband and son make something together. I throw something together for my daughter and me. Sometimes the dinners are a little… unusual… but we get to be creative and use up food that might otherwise go bad. Best of all, I’m not expected to cook for everyone. On Sunday my kids had some friends over for a pool party, and at the end of the day we had leftover chips, guacamole, and Impossible meat (my son made burgers for his friends.) This turned into Ultimate Nachos for dinner on Monday! We added a can of refried beans, vegan cheese, pickled jalapenos, olives, salsa, lettuce… We truly asked ourselves “what’s in the kitchen?” and then created a masterpiece. Of deliciousness, that is… I can’t say it was the healthiest dinner, and my stomach let me know about it. It was fun to eat though. Favorite Movie This one’s cheating a little, because I’ve only watched one movie. My son and I continued our viewing of the Fantastic Beast movies with the latest one, Secrets of Dumbledore. Great movie! Except… I REALLY missed Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. For that reason, I didn’t like this movie as much as the second one. I’m so bummed out that Depp won’t be returning, because I love the rest of the cast so much, and he was the perfect evil, yet charismatic, depiction of the dark wizard. Oh well… still an enjoyable movie. What are you enjoying lately? Do you have a favorite current workout? Did you see Secrets of Dumbledore? What did you think of the new Grindelwald? I hope everyone is enjoying June as much as I am!
Weekly Rundown- Oh, Hello June!
Well, it’s June and our rainy season has officially begun. There was a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico which threatened to head our way, but luckily all we got was two days of rain. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the first week of summer vacation! Not that I’m on vacation… but my daughter is, and that made everything easier. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown- let’s get started. Sunday A ten mile run to the beach! This was the run I wanted to do on my birthday, but couldn’t because of my foot. Here I was, only a little more than two months later and able to do it. Hooray! I ran from my house to the beach and then jumped in the ocean. Monday I started the week with a yoga class, as always with my yoga bff Denis Morton on Peloton. Tuesday I like to call this workout a “run sandwich.” First I did a 20 minute glutes and legs strength class (all classes on Peloton), then did a two mile run, and then finished with a core class. I like this combo if I’m only running a short distance. Wednesday Global Running Day! Luckily it coincided with my day off of work, so I decided to do a 5k time trial. I treated it like a race, so I did a warm up run, and some strides and drills. Then I started my “race.” Well, it was a learning experience. The first two miles went well, and I ran at my planned pace. At the beginning of the third mile I was uncomfortable and I thought “You know, I could just stop”. WAIT! How did that thought get in there??? I suddenly became convinced that I couldn’t continue at my pace, and basically ran the last mile like a fartlek- alternating between slow and faster running. My last mile was an ENTIRE MINUTE slower than the first two. I really felt dissatisfied with the way I ran, but I certainly wasn’t going to beat myself up about it on Global Running Day (that would just be wrong!) But moving forward, I have to work on my mental game. 5Ks are hard, but it’s okay to be uncomfortable. I definitely could have run that last mile faster than I did, so it’s something to work on. Either that or I have to start specializing in two mile races. Just kidding. I have a 5K coming up on July 4th. Thursday I didn’t sleep well because of a stomach issue (sigh) so in the morning I luxuriously turned off my alarm and slept for an extra hour. I still had time to do a core class and pull-ups before work. So I got a good upper body workout, but didn’t get to do yoga. That’s okay- I needed the extra hour of sleep. I decided to try one of the new classes with Logan Aldridge, a 10 minute core class. My first thought was that there were too many breaks, and then I realized that it was a super hard class. There was a lot of time spent on moves where your head is not supported, and I’ve mentioned before that it makes my neck really sore. A couple people gave me suggestions, like Lisa said to press my tongue against the roof of my mouth, and Judy said to make sure I’m looking at my belly button and not the ceiling. I employed both those techniques, but my neck still hurt. Friday The rain has started! But luckily it was just rain and no thunder or lightning, so I got out for a three mile run. After the run I did Matty Maggiacomo’s 30 minute glutes and legs strength class from 3/22/21. This is a hard class, my friends! But I like it. I think it’s my favorite of all his lower body strength classes. While I was eating my breakfast I noticed that my throat seemed very tight and sore. Swallowing was vaguely uncomfortable, and my thought process went something like this: “What’s wrong with my throat? What if this is the start of some weird problem that’s going to get worse and worse until I can’t swallow? Will I have to have a feeding tube? I don’t want a feeding tube!!!” As the day went on I realized that it was actually DOMS from Logan’s core class! Darn you, Logan and your V-ups! I’m never doing your class again! As a matter of fact, I’m not doing any core moves where my head isn’t supported from now on. Saturday Yoga day! I did this class, which I’ve done before and liked. If you think yoga is just a bunch of gentle stretching, I urge you to try this class- it starts off with child’s pose (to lull you into a false sense of security) but goes on to some very challenging poses. Sunday On tap for today… a shorter “long” run. Everything is feeling good and I want to keep it that way, so this is a cutback week- I’ll probably run six miles. The rain has stopped so now it’s nice and steamy. That’s okay- bring it on! I’m ready for the summer heat. Do you have a favorite Peloton glutes and legs class? –I’m open to suggestions! Do you run in the rain? –I always do, unless it’s an electrical storm. My husband hates running in the rain though.
June Coffee Date
It’s June, hooray! I always have a sense of freedom when school is out for summer. I have more time to leisurely sip my tea in the morning and enjoy a coffee date! Thanks to Coco and Deborah as always for hosting. If we were having coffee together… I would ask you how you enjoyed middle school. For me, “enjoy” was definitely not the correct word. Is there a word that means “suffered permanent damage to one’s self esteem”? That’s the one I’m looking for. Seventh grade ties for the worst year of my life (the other being the year my daughter was two, but that’s a whole other topic.) Both my kids loved seventh grade, which boggles my mind. It may partially be because they didn’t have to take PE, which was the worst bane of my existence in middle school. But I also think the schools are doing a much better job of preventing bullying. Do you remember the Judy Blume book Blubber? When I reread it as an adult, I noticed that most of the really bad stuff happened while the kids were unsupervised during lunch. How odd, I thought, that they would allow the kids to eat lunch alone in a classroom. But when I look back on my own middle school experience, we were strangely unsupervised a lot of the time as well. I think the schools now realize that packs of middle school kids are not to be trusted, and have cracked down accordingly. Whatever the reasons, my daughter is actually SAD that seventh grade is over! Go figure. Speaking of books, I just finished this one: WOW. This was fascinating and intense. Dystopian novels aren’t usually my thing, but I read about this on another blog and it sounded so interesting I decided to read it. In the futuristic world of this novel, Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, abortion constitutes murder, and convicted felons are injected with a virus that alters the color of their skin to match the class of their crime. The main character, Hannah, is now a Red after being convicted of murder (having an abortion.). Life for chromes is fraught with danger, and this is a suspenseful story. When I was close to the end my husband tried to start a conversation and I was like “Get away from me! I have to see how this ends!” This book was written in 2011, and it’s interesting that a topic so current in 2022 is part of a dark and dangerous “future” that the author imagined eleven years ago. Thank you to whoever it was that recommended this book- I can’t remember which blog it was (if you’re reading, please let me know it was you in the comment section!) I’m almost through my library holds, and I have another one waiting for me, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This is another one that got some amazing reviews, so I’m excited to start it. AND, the next Cormoran Strike mystery (by Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling) comes out in August! I already have a library hold on it and am counting down the days. That’s it for this coffee date! What are you reading now? Ever read Blubber? What was your experience in middle school?