Friday Coffee Date
Uh oh… the dumpster fire mug is back. Nothing has gone horribly wrong, but this week was a series of mini-emergencies, and when it came time to choose a mug my hand naturally reached for this one. Our TV stopped working (during football playoffs???) My son’s luggage was lost on his flight back to school (but was luckily found.) His contacts didn’t arrive in time- supposedly because of the weather situation- so we had to mail them to him at school, and he got them the day he used his last pair. We forgot to order the music for my daughter’s flute solo in a timely manner (she was playing off a copy, and you need the original for contest) and it arrived one day before she needed it. The biggest freakout was, my son’s college told us we owed them $24,000. GAAAAAAH. It turned out one of his teachers hadn’t registered him for class this semester, so he wasn’t considered a full-time student, and one of his scholarships didn’t come through. Luckily that was fixed as well, one day before classes started. Everything worked out, but obviously this isn’t a fun way to live. When my husband got up this morning he saw me looking at my phone and said “What’s the emergency du jour?” Not everything was our fault, but some of it was- we really need to pull it together. Let’s move on. Another thing I would tell you over coffee is that I got my copy of The Blue Castle for Engie’s book club. I like to think I was the deciding vote, because I voted for this book on the last day, and Engie said it won by one vote (so if anyone doesn’t like it, you can blame me.) Of course, AFTER I voted I discovered that my library doesn’t carry this book. Oops. I ordered it from Amazon, and I had a nice choice of covers! I chose this one: The last thing I would talk about over coffee is our weather. Brrr… Okay, hear me out. I know this isn’t cold compared to the rest of the country! But this is very unusual for us. Cold, drizzly and gloomy just isn’t normal South Florida weather. And look at Saturday! I hope we’ll finally see the sun. I definitely shouldn’t complain though- northern Florida got a ton of SNOW (nine inches in some areas!) I’m sure those cities were completely paralyzed. Southern cities can’t function with even a couple inches of snow, let alone nine. So I’m not complaining about our weather… I just feel bad for anyone coming down for a beach vacation. This is definitely not what you expect from Florida! Are you joining the Cool Blogger’s BOok Club? Have you gotten your copy of the book yet? How was your week? Any mini-emergencies?
Our Best Days
During my long run today, I listened to the latest episode of Sally McRae’s podcast where she asked the question, “Do you think your best days are behind you, or ahead of you?” My gut reaction was, “AHEAD!” That was apparently the direction Sally was going, because she talked about having hope and big goals. But Eddie (her husband and cohost) said something like “Well, when I was younger my back didn’t hurt, so I wouldn’t mind going back there.” It got me thinking… why do I think my best days are still ahead? When I really delve into it, there were pros and cons to all the phases of my adult life. In my 20s I was working as a musician. I traveled all over the US and Europe, lived in New York City, and generally had a lot of fun. But there was a lot of angst in those years as well- I had some big breakups, struggled with loneliness, and a general lack of self-confidence. In my early 30s I set all my running PRs, from the 5K to the marathon. I met my husband when I was 34 and we got married the following year. We also moved to Florida, and I made a career change. My husband likes to joke that I joined the witness protection program- changed my job, location and name all in the course of a year. When I was 36 my son was born, and I became a stay-at-home mom. In my 40s I was just getting my bearings when, at the age of 42, I had the very happy surprise of finding myself pregnant again. The rest of my 40s were tumultuous. I dealt with a very difficult toddler, lost both my parents, and finally went back to work as a massage therapist. 50s! I can honestly say that, while there are still ups and down, my 50s have been the best decade so far. One of the big reasons is that I care so much less about what other people think of me. There’s actually research to support this- post-menopausal women generally report a lack of concern about other people’s opinions. There’s also something to be said about being “older and wiser.” I can look back on some very difficult situations in my life with a new perspective. I can better understand what motivated some challenging people in my life, and I’m able to be kinder to “past Jenny” who I can now appreciate was doing the very best she could at the time. I guess that’s why I have optimism about the future. And, there’s more research that shows people generally do get happier as they age. People in their 50s are happier than people in their 40s, 60s are happier again, 70s happier still, and then 80s and beyond depends on health. I imagine you continue to get happier unless you have debilitating health issues, in which case I suppose life starts to, well…kind of suck. What do you think? Are you getting happier the older you get? Do you think your best days are behind you, or ahead of you? Top photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
Fredagsmys
Over the weekend, I read this article about the Swedish term “Fredagsmys,” which translate to “Friday night coziness.” Instead of partying, it encourages you to get as cozy as possible at the end of the week to unwind. Um- yes, please! Except, can I have Fredagsmys on Saturday? This week, I had a very busy Friday, even working at night (which I hate!) and then I worked Saturday morning. When I got home, I put on my pajamas, plunked down on the couch, and got ready for an afternoon and evening of coziness- and laziness. I took a couch nap and watched two football games. Since I wasn’t doing any cooking we ordered pizzas… and yes, I did have a small regression. My Christmas pajamas were washed and ready to be packed away, but I snatched them out of the bin for one more weekend, because they’re SO comfortable and cheering. After some serious relaxing on Saturday, I was up for a little more action Sunday. To keep the house from completely falling apart, I cleaned, did laundry, and went grocery shopping. But there was more football, so I broke out the new charcuterie board! Just to clarify, this is all vegan! Here are some of the products I used: I absolutely love this board- it even has little signs you can write on. I didn’t really NEED to label anything, but the signs were so cute I couldn’t resist. Anyway, after a weekend spent largely in my pajamas, on the couch with my cat (where I belong) I was ready to go out into the world again on Monday. Have you heard of “Fredagsmys?” Do you think it will become as popular as “hygge?” What’s your favorite way to spend a Friday night?
Weekly Rundown- January Advent
Since I now haven’t been to the gym in weeks, I decided some remedial strength training was in order. Caroline Girvan has an Advent Series, 24 shorter workouts which I assume were designed to keep you in shape in the busy days leading up to Christmas. Obviously, a great time to do this series would have been… December. But, the second best time is now! I’m not doing them in order and I’m not doing the cardio workouts, but my plan is to work my way through all the Advent strength workouts. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Monday In the morning, I started the Advent Series with a 20 minute shoulder workout. Given my recent lack of strength training, this was hard (I have a feeling I’ll be saying that about all the workouts). In the afternoon, I did a 4 mile run. Tuesday I did Caroline’s deadbug workout, which kind of felt like cheating since I do that one all the time. But it IS part of the Advent Series, so I counted it. I also did my hip stability exercises, and called it a day. Wednesday Long run! Here’s where I made a questionable choice. I decided to do the 15 minute glutes workout from the Advent Series before my run. I figured it would be a good warm up. GAH. WHY did I think this would be “easy?” I should know Caroline Girvan by now! Somehow in this 15 minutes there were a gazillion hip thrusts, and three sets of sumo squats. The problem was, it didn’t just work my glutes- my quads felt trashed by the end. Then… a 14 mile trail run. I definitely felt the fatigue in my quads the entire time. I can’t decide if this was a stupid mistake, or a brilliant strategy- a hard workout before the run to get me used to running on tired legs? Hmm. Thursday My quads were SORE. In the morning I did the Advent back superset workout, and after work I ran 3 miles. Somehow I neglected to get a photo! Friday Okay, I’m not going to sugarcoat it- this day was hideous. My son left (boo hoo) and my husband, normally the airport chauffeur, wasn’t able to drive him. So I took him to the airport, which involved two solid hours of driving BEFORE I WENT TO WORK. I worked all day and then had two private clients in the evening, and then had to pick up my daughter from a rehearsal. Yes, I realize people just had their homes burnt to the ground so I really shouldn’t complain, but I’m complaining anyway! It was an exhausting day, mentally and physically. BUT! I didn’t want to break my Advent streak, so I did the 15 minute “tucked abs” workout in the morning. There is no rest in this workout (WHAT.) I still can’t decide if I loved it or hated it, but it felt good to do SOMETHING before a super busy day. Saturday 4 mile run before work. My quads are STILL sore from Wednesday (???) but I added some speed work. After work I plunked down on the couch to watch football… and there I stayed. I had a vague idea to do an Advent workout in between games, but in the 4th quarter of the Chiefs game, pizza arrived, and, well… don’t be ridiculous. Thus endeth the streak. Sunday Okay, I’ll get right back on it! I think a lower body Advent workout is on tap, because I’ll have a few days to recover before my next long run. Has anyone else done Caroline’s Advent Series? Are you watching football this weekend?