Holiday Wish List
As always, December is speeding by way too fast. I still have cookies to make… gifts to purchase… and lots of wrapping to do. The #1 item on my own wish list is a new left foot. I’m only partially kidding- today my doctor did the scans which will be used to make my orthotics. I’ll be seeing him in a month for another shockwave treatment, and the orthotics should be ready by then. It’s going to cost $450 and, naturally, insurance doesn’t cover it. So I really shouldn’t be asking for any additional gifts, but… I did take the liberty of making a little list. Why not? Here are a few things I have my eye on: Anyone who read my blog in November knows that I do NOT need any more mugs. But I love this mug I saw on The Time For Change. I’ve been searching Harry Potter mugs and can’t find any as good as this one. But I’m trying! A lot of them have the names of the houses on them, which is a bit of a sore spot with me. Years ago I took a quiz and was sorted into… Hufflepuff. SERIOUSLY? I mean, give me Ravenclaw! Or Gryffindor, of course. But Hufflepuff??? Hrumph. There will be no Hufflepuff mugs in my kitchen. Let’s move along. Last year I got a foot massager for Christmas, and this is what it looks like now: Okay, I used it a lot. But still! It would have been nice if it lasted at least a year before falling apart. I have my eye on a new one though: In addition to the foot massager, it has an air compression calf massage function. There are probably better massagers out there, but this one is reasonably priced. I just can’t spend a lot of money on another massager- I’ve spent so much money on this foot already. On the other hand, do I want another econo-massager that will fall apart in nine months? Hmmm…… Okay, next one. As you may know, I’ve been loving my Denis Morton yoga classes on the Peloton app. But I’m also intrigued by this: Julie Piatt is Rich Roll’s wife, so I know of her through his podcast. When I first heard her talk, I thought it was going to be a bunch of “spiritual” BS. But then I realized what she’s saying is genuinely profound. Every time she’s a guest on the podcast, she’s fascinating. It’s not that I want to leave my Peloton classes with Denis… I just want to try this as well. iFit is only a little more expensive than Peloton, but they seem to offer a free trial month. Maybe it will be a gift to myself in January. Here’s one more thing I’m looking at: A friend of mine just recommended this book. She said it explains, in a very clear way, the importance of sleeping, eating, and exercise, but more importantly WHEN these activities should take place. After reading it, she completely transformed her health and her life. Granted, she had been on an insane schedule where she was sleeping from 4 am- 11 am (I know- who can do that???) So she seriously needed an intervention. But the information sounds helpful to everyone. I know my sleep schedule needs some serious tweaking. That’s my list! The truth is, I just love presents. I can always get the book out of the library, continue to use my old foot massager, and get a free trial month of iFit. My family can surprise me with whatever they want (as long as it’s not a Hufflepuff mug) and I’ll be happy. Do you have a wish list this month? Have you ever tried iFit? Anyone read The Circadian Code?
Weekly Rundown- The 100 Year Week
Does anyone else feel like this week was REALLY long??? I can’t even believe last weekend was still November. November? That was ages ago! I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah as always. Let’s see if I can remember way back to last Monday to start this rundown. Monday Since this was November 29th, I was almost at the end of my month-long yoga challenge. I did a 45 minute power yoga class with-who else- Denis Morton on the Peloton app. This day went south pretty fast. As I shared in my last post, after work I stopped at the grocery store, where my car battery bit the dust. I had to wait for roadside assistance to come get it started and didn’t get home until 8 pm. Arg. Tuesday. Okay, here’s the thing. I had no functional car. I had to get a jumpstart to get it to the dealer for repairs. I had no idea how long the repairs would take, or if it would even be fixed that day. I had to get my daughter to school, and after school I had to get her to the high school for a rehearsal, and at night I had to get to her jazz band concert. My first thought on waking up was, “I have to do yoga.” It was the last day of November. I knew the day would be unpredictable, and I could just picture saying “Yes, I completed my daily yoga challenge for November. Well actually, I did yoga for twenty-nine days in a row- the last day I had a car problem.” No, no, no- I wasn’t going to let that happen. I started the day with a 20 minute power yoga class, which was all I had time for. November yoga challenge… done. It turned out that my car was fixed by the afternoon, and in between getting my daughter to her rehearsal and returning to hear the concert, I had time for a quick 3 mile run, yay! Wednesday Although I was happy to have completed my month of yoga, that 20 minute class wasn’t really how I wanted to end it. So on this day – December 1st- I did what I thought of as the official end to the challenge, a 60 minute flow class. It was so nice to spend an hour with Denis- thank you for a great month, Denis! Thursday A 3 mile run first thing in the morning! My foot is… hanging in there. Sometimes I think it’s better, sometimes not. I had to miss my shockwave treatment on Tuesday because of the car fiasco, but I’ll be going next Tuesday. I’m going to discuss orthotics with the doctor. The first time I saw him, he thought I would benefit from orthotics but wanted to get my foot feeling better first. Well, I don’t see the point in waiting. I’m hoping we can get moving on that soon. Thursday night was my daughter’s band concert (Tuesday night was a combined jazz band concert with the high school jazz band- this was the regular Symphonic Band holiday concert.) It was SO FUN! Obviously a middle school band doesn’t sound like the New York Philharmonic, but it’s touching how hard they try. My son also went through the band program, and now that he’s in college I’m well aware of the fact that these concerts are numbered. Someday I’ll be missing the concerts with out-of-tune playing, clarinet squeaks, and wrong notes. So precious. Friday Thursday was the first day in over a month that I didn’t do yoga, and I missed it! I started this morning with a 20 minute glutes focus flow. It was a short, but great class. The short class was all I had time for, because I also had to put together a batch of cinnamon rolls for my son’s birthday. Both my kids have December birthdays. I planned it that way, because there’s not enough going on in December to begin with. JUST KIDDING. I absolutely did not plan that. After my son was born, I spent the next six years saying that I wanted another baby, just not in the month of December. And then I gave birth to my daughter in… December. Whatever. Anyway, my kids always get cinnamon rolls on their birthdays. This is the first year my son won’t be home on his birthday, so I sent them to him. Now I’m hoping the USPS doesn’t screw up (again) and they get there in time. After work I did another short 3 mile run. I’ve been enjoying these late afternoon runs. When I run in the morning there’s so much prep work- loosen up my foot, activate my glutes, etc. etc. It seems like a lot for such a short run. But in the afternoon everything already feels loose and ready to go. Saturday O.M.G. BAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a game. The Bears upset Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 Championship 21-16. It was a thrilling finish (I almost had a heart attack) where, in the final seconds of the game, Oklahoma missed scoring what would have been the winning touchdown by inches. I actually felt bad for the Oklahoma players and fans… what a heartbreaking way to lose. But luckily I’m a Baylor fan! After all that excitement, I took a nap, ha ha. What can I say… it was a long week. When I woke up, I did a 30 minute yoga class, a quad focus flow. I’m really liking these focus flow classes! Sunday Did my usual 5 mile “long” run. Our weather is so beautiful this time of year, and I love the fact that I got in four runs this week. But I’m a little unhappy with the fact that my running is taking such a backseat to everything else in my life right now. Once again, I’m looking forward to a nice talk with the podiatrist on Tuesday. For the rest of today, I have to get our outdoor
Festive Coffee Date!
It’s finally December! I can listen to holiday music and wear Christmas clothing without people glaring and telling me it’s too early! I love how even ordinary things feel festive and exciting this time of year. Things like, oh, I don’t know… having your car break down. Yes, that happened… read on for details. Thanks to Coco and Deborah for hosting the monthly coffee date! If we were having coffee together, I would tell you about Monday. I stopped at the grocery store after work, and when I came back out my car wouldn’t start. AAAARRRRRRG! These things only happen when my husband is entirely unavailable. Any other day he would have been able to come right over, but this day he was working until 10 pm. As I sat there waiting for roadside assistance to arrive, I thought about a recent blog post by Elisabeth, where she told the story of how they had a water leak, into the closet where she was hiding the wrapped Christmas gifts. Instead of going berserk, she started to make a list of things she was grateful for (running water, the privilege of having a stack of gifts in the first place, the fact that most of the presents were undamaged) and got up at 4:30 am the next day to re-wrap the presents. Let’s ignore the astounding fact that she already had her gifts wrapped. I like wrapping as much as the next person, but not twice. I figured if she could be grateful in that situation, so could I. I started making my own list: I was stranded in a parking lot, not the side of the highway. It was the parking lot of a grocery store where I could use the bathroom (phew.) It wasn’t too hot or too cold. Roadside assistance was on their way (although they took their sweet time, ahem.) And I saw a nice sunset… After a quick jumpstart, I was able to get home. Early Tuesday morning I got another jumpstart and drove straight to the dealer to get the car fixed… well, almost straight. I stopped at Starbucks on the way to get my favorite tea, heh heh. Yes, I left my car running in the parking lot while I got my drink. My car could have been stolen, but I had my priorities straight! To my delight, the waiting room at the dealer was decorated for Christmas, and Christmas music was playing. I had a nice table all to myself, and I spent the morning sipping tea from my festive holiday cup while reading and commenting on blog posts. And then my car was fixed! You never fully appreciate these things until they suddenly don’t work- now every time I get in my car I’m so thrilled that it starts. The icing on the cake was the car dealership is right near a Trader Joes! Obviously a shopping trip was in order. Does anyone else do this? I do my shopping at Trader Joe’s and grab the Fearless Flyer on the way out. When I get home I read the Fearless Flyer and discover all sorts of amazing things I didn’t get. Well, the worst thing about the car issue was that I had to reschedule my podiatrist appointment. So I’ll be going next Tuesday for my shockwave treatment and it happens to be right near another Trader Joe’s. More shopping! Meanwhile, I’ve been following along Sally’s Cookie Palooza! Every December she posts ten new cookie recipes in a row. So far every cookie this year looks amazing, and easily vegan-izable. Her “Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies” are on our cookie plate every year… I suggested to Coco that we have a long-distance cookie bake-a-thon this month. We can pick a weekend and make our cookies, then share the pictures. I probably won’t bake this weekend because I seem to be the only one in my neighborhood who hasn’t put up outdoor lights yet. I know what I’ll be doing Sunday! Maybe next weekend can be our bake-a-thon. Well, that’s it for this coffee date. I hope you’re all enjoying your own holiday beverage! Are you enjoying the holiday season so far? Do you want to join the cookie bake-a-thon?
NaBloPoMo, Yoga, and the Iron Cowboy (What They Have in Common!)
You guys- it’s over. I just completed NaBloPoMo, publishing thirty blog in thirty days for the month of November. I also completed my own personal yoga challenge, which was to do a yoga class every day as well. When I set out to participate in NaBloPoMo, I literally had no idea what I was getting myself into. I only heard about the challenge from San about a week beforehand and thought, “Sure, why not?” I did not know what I was going to say for thirty days in a row. On October 31st I had a list of about ten ideas. Not ten posts written, just ten loose ideas. When the month started, I realized that the other NaBloPoMo participants seemed more like actual writers. Well, some of them are actually writers. I definitely had a touch of imposter syndrome, but I forged ahead. And I’m so glad I did. Getting a blog post written every day was hard at times, and it took up a lot of time. Writing the posts, commenting on the other blogs, and answering comments people (generously) left on my own blog kept me busy. My life was full, but in a good way. I met a whole new amazing group of bloggers that I love. I felt a camaraderie with my fellow NaBloPoMo-ers, most of whom were complete strangers to me prior to November. One interesting thing I hadn’t anticipated was that I felt completely immersed in every single day- I realized I usually kind of “bunch” my time into week segments- just get to the weekend, or everything revolves around the Sunday long run. Publishing a blog post every day made each day seem significant on its own, and it felt like time slowed down, in a good way. November is my favorite month and it usually rushes by much too fast. Yesterday I listened to Rich Roll podcast episode with the “Iron Cowboy,” aka James Lawrence. James’ most recent accomplishment was completing 100 Iron distance triathlons in 100 days. That’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run- every single day, for 100 days. That was his goal, and then on day 101 he got up and did it one last time, just to show that when you think you’ve given everything you have, there’s still a little bit more. Here’s my favorite quote from that podcast: “Nobody’s the expert at the beginning of their journey. You have to meet yourself where you’re at today.” I’m not comparing writing 30 blog posts in 30 days to completing 100 Iron distance triathlons in 100 days (no, I would say there’s a slight difference.) But the idea is the same. You can’t wait until you’re an expert (we would all be waiting a long, long time.) We have to start where we’re at. Not that I’ve become an expert these last 30 days, but I feel I’ve come a long way. As for the yoga… to be honest, that was a much easier challenge than the blog. I did a class every day on the Peloton app. How hard is it really to take a class in your own home? And they were all different lengths- I tried to do longer ones whenever possible, but there were definitely some fifteen minute classes sprinkled in there. This was a stress-free challenge because I never expected myself to do it perfectly. I know for sure that I can’t do all the poses- at least not as well as the instructors. My favorite instructor- Denis Morton- gives a little pep talk at the beginning of each class where he stresses that yoga is all about trying your best, and he gives modifications for poses as he goes along. I knew all I had to do every day was my best, and that took away any stress and made it fun. That got me to thinking- why can’t I apply that to every aspect of my life? What more can you really do other than show up every day and do your absolute best? Start where you are- show up every day- do your best. Thank you to everyone who read my posts and left comments. And to all my fellow NaBloPoMo-ers- Congratulations! We did it! We will meet again in November 2022. In the meantime, let’s keep in touch. I’m so glad I discovered your blogs, and I’ll continue to follow along. Namaste, everyone.