tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12421876205286459432024-03-13T04:48:06.002-07:00The Nard DogsJenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-64652742701287735382023-12-30T12:52:00.000-08:002023-12-30T12:52:13.243-08:0024 for '24<p><br /></p><p><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Personal:</b> </p><p>1. Hit state #50, Alaska! </p><p>2. Figure out the yard/landscaping situation. </p><p>3. Hit the last of the 4 big Hawaiian islands, Kauai. </p><p>4. Clean out my closet and get rid of items that no longer fit/serve me by August. </p><p>5. Go to NYC at least once. </p><p>6. Get back into normal shoes - continue to heal my foot. </p><p>7. Host a party at our house. </p><p>8. Jump off the diving board at Brookridge. </p><p><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Health/Fitness:</b> </p><p>9. Complete two serious cut phases with Bailey and focus on true maintenance. </p><p>10. Finish at least 5 Peloton programs and redo Ben's program in June to track progress. </p><p>11. Hit 18K Peloton minutes in 2024. </p><p>12. Go to the gym at work at least 24 times over the year. </p><p>13. Work out at least once with Alyssa.</p><p>14. Go to a class with Anastasia. </p><p>15. Make at least 20 new MFF recipes. </p><p>16. Transfer fully over to Macros First. </p><p><b><u>Professional:</u></b> </p><p>17. Continue mentee relationship with Wendy.</p><p>18. Develop relationship with Shannon. </p><p>19. Find a cool speaker for a Project Services mgmt team meeting.</p><p>20. Help everyone on my team in some way. </p><p>21. Be intentional about continuing relationships with Dave, Brenda, Agnes and Audrey.</p><p>22. Monthly HH with Anastasia, alternating times with Audrey. </p><p>23. Hire intentionally to support NIA. </p><p>24. Figure out a project to work on in T&D and figure out if PMI is my path before my renewal in November. </p><p><br /></p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-77350990099425972812023-12-29T10:56:00.000-08:002023-12-29T10:56:50.231-08:002023 Year in Review<div style="text-align: left;"> <b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">1. What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?<br /></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;">Ripped the roof off the house and added a second story. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? </b></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">As usual, don't do resolutions. I royally sucked at my to do list. <i>(same answer as last year, LOL)</i><br /></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? </b>two new babies in our VDN/KC Crew! </span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Did anyone close to you die? </b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think so this year... that is lucky. </span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><b>5. What countries did you visit? </b>Germany, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, France</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you didn't have in 2023? </b>Similar answer to last year - more consistency. I really found myself this fall and want to keep that going. Keep making the journey in healing my relationship with food. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2023 will be etched upon your memory, and why? </b>Adam's 40th birthday in Paris, the day I interviewed for and got a new job, my day at PSNY </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? </b>Leap of faith to apply for a new job and got it. Survived the house remodel! </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure? </b>Other than not having my life together for my to do list - I don't think much was a failure. This year was a year of immense personal growth for me. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration? </b>our family - we had a great year and I think all of us grew in a positive way. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? </b>Same ole same ole, just general work suckiness. I struggle with people who do not get their life together. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go? </b>Paid off the NEW!!! Lexus, Adam golf, the contractor, Drybar</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? </b>Our big trip for Adam's birthday. I wasn't super excited leading up to Hawaii because I was generally stressed but it was such a fantastic trip. </span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2023? </b>anything Taylor Swift</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">a) happier. I love everything in the new house. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">b) def thinner</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">c) same same, I think although our retirement savings is pretty excellent these days and we drive a way nicer car and have wealth in our house<br /></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of? </b>celebrated the small things</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of? </b>eating and drinking things that aren't super great for my body <i>(same answer as 2022)</i></span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas? </b>woke up and flew to Vegas and had a fantastic dinner at Mon Ami Gabi then had a top 10 meal of my life at the Bedford on 12/26</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2023? </b>fell in love is a weird phrase but I definitely had a lot of self growth and did a ton of functional self-care</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program? </b>Emily in Paris</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? </b>not really but I definitely found myself disappointed by some people </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read? </b>I don't think I finished a single book. Dammit. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery? </b>Midnights <i>(same answer as 2022)</i></span></span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b> a new job - recognized for my efforts</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get? </b>probably nothing, I am spoiled rotten</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2020?</b> The Taylor Swift Eras movie</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? </b>My actual birthday was a random Tuesday but I did spend the weekend before in NYC living my best life with Peloton and some really good food. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? </b>fighting various ailments over the course of the year, my heel SUCKED. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2023? </b>getting back into smaller clothes</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane?</b> friends</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most? </b>Trump. God I don't want him running again. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss? </b>all the friends we've met along the way that we don't get to see as much, my family being further away</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met? </b>Audrey, by far. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023. </b></span></span><br />That my diet does not have to be all or nothing. </div></div></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-27846849443198221872023-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:002023-12-29T10:40:26.274-08:0023 for '23 in Review<p> 1. Track Food (X365) <b>Big time fail but I did get my life together from August-December</b></p><p>2. Peloton every day (X365) <b>Also failed, I think I got sick the first week in January. Lesson learned - every day things are not good goals for me. </b></p><p>3. 8K Steps (X365) <b>See above but I did increase my step count trends intentionally despite having horrible foot problems for half the year. </b></p><p>4. Lunch Bunch (X/12) <b>James moving to Florida kind of messed this up but we did pretty darn good! </b></p><p>5. Sharon Says So Bookclub <b>Shit. Didn't finish a single book. </b></p><p>6. Phone down at 8:40 pm. <b>CRUD. </b></p><p>7. Fly with Dave to Cincinnati <b>Ran out of time so moving this one to 2024</b></p><p>8. Get to know 5 new people (work) (X/5) <b>massively crushed this one - Shannon, Wendy, Audrey, all my new T&D peers and new boss</b></p><p>9. Get to know 5 new people (non-work) (X/5) <b>not so hot here but we did hang out with our neighbors more</b></p><p>10. Survive the reno and move upstairs <b>WOOT WOOT CRUSHIN IT! </b></p><p>11. Drive to North Dakota <b>nailed it</b></p><p>12. Read 10 books (X/10) <b>epic fail</b></p><p>13. Budget every month (X/12) <b>even more epic fail</b></p><p>14. Try a new recipe every month (X/12) <b>crushed this thanks to Elyse Ellis and MFF </b></p><p>15. Make sourdough <b>tried and failed :) </b></p><p>16. New ballpark <b>Dodger Stadium was VERY cool</b></p><p>17. Figure out the yard/landscaping <b>ran out of money but the new dining room is worth it all day every day</b></p><p>18. Be involved in WTS <b>did ok with this</b></p><p>19. Organize new office and work from home more (1-2X/month) (X/20) <b>did great with the office but not so much on WFH but I don't think I want to WFH more</b></p><p>20. Organize craft space in the basement <b>it was so great having an away place to wrap presents this Christmas and I also use it to actually iron my clothes instead of paying a fortune for dry cleaning</b></p><p>21. Go to the library once a month (X/12) <b>we did great until March then train wreck</b></p><p>22. Take a golf lesson <b>did a golf clinic again and decided that maybe this is not a great goal for me, I don't think I care that I don't golf </b></p><p>23. Do yoga at least 30 min/week (X/52) <b>I think I made it to Feb. ugh. </b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As I typed this out (wrote them on 12/31 and just never got them here, already failed at a perfect on a couple, OOOOOPS), I realized that half of these are habits and half are to do and probably 1/3 of them are pretty tough BHAGs for me. </p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-1984230428382886142023-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:002023-01-22T17:52:34.103-08:0023 for '23<p> 1. Track Food (X365)</p><p>2. Peloton every day (X365)</p><p>3. 8K Steps (X365)</p><p>4. Lunch Bunch (X/12)</p><p>5. Sharon Says So Bookclub</p><p>6. Phone down at 8:40 pm. </p><p>7. Fly with Dave to Cincinnati</p><p>8. Get to know 5 new people (work) (X/5)</p><p>9. Get to know 5 new people (non-work) (X/5)</p><p>10. Survive the reno and move upstairs</p><p>11. Drive to North Dakota </p><p>12. Read 10 books (X/10)</p><p>13. Budget every month (X/12)</p><p>14. Try a new recipe every month (X/12)</p><p>15. Make sourdough</p><p>16. New ballpark</p><p>17. Figure out the yard/landscaping</p><p>18. Be involved in WTS</p><p>19. Organize new office and work from home more (1-2X/month) (X/20)</p><p>20. Organize craft space in the basement </p><p>21. Go to the library once a month (X/12)</p><p>22. Take a golf lesson</p><p>23. Do yoga at least 30 min/week (X/52)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As I typed this out (wrote them on 12/31 and just never got them here, already failed at a perfect on a couple, OOOOOPS), I realized that half of these are habits and half are to do and probably 1/3 of them are pretty tough BHAGs for me. </p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-78680208780367059462022-12-17T13:03:00.001-08:002022-12-17T13:03:08.831-08:002022 Year in Review<p><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">1. What did you do in 2022 that you'd never done before?</b></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Did the whole board of zoning appeals thing for permission to renovate the house. It was kind of a months long shitshow but we're approved. </span></span></p><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? </b></span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">As usual, don't do resolutions. I royally sucked at my to do list. <br /></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? </b>I have a new nephew, Hayden! And my stepsister had a baby, Diego. </span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Did anyone close to you die? </b><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Oh... I almost said no but then... Higgy boy. 14 years and a very peaceful end. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>5. What countries did you visit? </b>UK, Belize, Korea, Mexico!!!!</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you didn't have in 2022? </b>Consistency. Showing up for myself more. Finding things I like to do and doing those things! </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2022 will be etched upon your memory, and why? </b>Hmmm... this is a tough one this year. I feel like the whole thing was a blur. I think going from zero to 60 in terms of people getting back to more normalcy post-covid made it overwhelming a lot of the time. </span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? </b>Also tough... I don't feel like I achieved much. Again, it was another season where survival felt like the important thing. I bit off a lot more than I could chew for much of the year and it showed. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure? </b>Taking care of myself. Setting up healthy habits. Making good choices on a consistent basis (especially food and exercise related choices). </span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration? </b>Not mine :) </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? </b>An unnamed colleague. Goal for 2023 - care less and try to get out of working with them as much as possible. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go? </b>Paid off the Lexus, architect bills, Adam golf, inflation, the contractor</span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? </b>London! Belize! Korea! Mexico! all the smaller trips we got to do. It was a great year for wanderlust. </span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2022? </b>Lizzo's new stuff, It's ME, HI, I'm the problem, it's ME! </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">a) mostly happier. I love it here. I've identified what doesn't serve me, now it's time to leave that shit behind. </span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">b) so much fatter. UGH. </span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">c) richer, but about to be crazy spending on what will basically become a new house. YOIKS. <br /></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of? (same as 2021) </b>exercised. I'm such a bitch without endorphins and I consistently suck ass at remembering that when life gets hard. </span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of? </b>eating and drinking things that aren't super great for my body. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas? </b>Plan is to wake up, open Santa presents and head to NYC! </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2022? </b>Ohhh Lucy dog. I miss her so but she's living her best life. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program? </b>sports? I enjoyed the World Cup and EPL soccer a lot more. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? </b>see above re: unnamed but I think the disdain was already highly developed by this time last year </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read? </b>Little Black Stretchy Pants</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery? </b>Midnights</span></span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b> a new title</span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get? </b>a new job description that makes more sense</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2020?</b> Downton! </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? </b>I turned 41 on a Monday. We didn't do a ton, which was fine. One of my bosses sent me some amazing flowers and we had a low key dinner at Johnny's. I got to do tea at the Brown Palace the following week, except Adam had covid, oops. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? </b>Adam not getting covid. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2022? </b>wearing the few items that fit</span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><br /></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane?</b> friends</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most? </b>Roe v Wade</span></span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss? </b>Lucy, Higgins, all the friends we've met along the way that we don't get to see as much, my family being further away</span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met? </b>Didn't meet this year but developed a closer relationship with a friend and she's going to be a life friend. </span></span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022. </b></span></span><br />I feel like I didn't spend enough time learning lessons this year. Good food for thought to go into 2023. </div></div></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-64964864706403357502022-12-17T12:44:00.003-08:002022-12-17T12:44:56.956-08:0022 Things to Do - Review<p>Normally I go over this in June-ish and most certainly did not this year. I feel pretty disappointed in myself. Without further adu, here's how I did. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://narddogs.blogspot.com/2021/12/22-things-to-do-2022-edition.html" style="color: #213abb; text-decoration-line: none;">22 Things To Do - 2022 Edition</a></h3><div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2173145478203085953" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 490px;"><p><span style="color: #222222;">1. Figure out my next steps at BMCD and what I want my path to look like. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Kind of but not really. Especially in the last month, I feel more further away from this than ever. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">2. Find and hire a designer to help us with our master renovation since this is going to be a little outside of my wheelhouse. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Another kind of but not really. Does an architect count? I can handle the design decisions but thankfully Wes did the space constraint heavy lifting for us. Should be starting the addition any day now! It was a lot more of a journey than we anticipated.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">3. Find at least 2 volunteer opportunities. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">UGHHHHHHHHHHH yes. no. sort of. I am still doing Lead to Read so check for that! I did Big Brothers Big Sisters for half the year but that I definitely bit off more than I could chew and was slightly mislead about how involved Adam and Owen could be with me. We ran a very successful food drive at work and also did a day cooking meals at the Ronald McDonald house, not terrible for a still slightly covid weird year. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">4. Figure out our landscaping situation and what works here in Kansas. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Nope but our yard is about to get destroyed during the renovation so this turned out not to be a priority at all. Maybe in 2024. </span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">5. Go to London. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">FINALLY. One I accomplished. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">6. Celebrate Alli's birthday in Belize. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Make that 2. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">7. Take Mom to NYC for her 70th. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">We leave next week! </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">8. Eat 3/4 veggies at nearly every meal and quit being so stupid about it. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Epic fail, nothing more to say. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">9. Do something Peloton every day even if it's just 5 min core or a mediation if I'm sick/injured/whatever. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I don't think I even made it out of January on this one. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">10. Find a local race to run since we're missing Rock the Parkway and run a 5K with Owen. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Check! Owen won his age division and we did a second one! </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">11. Cooking class with friends. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Nope. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">12. Find new doctors/dentists/etc (GAH!) </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Kind of. Owen has a doctor. I figured out how to utilize the on site clinic. Dentist = fail</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">13. Read 10 books and put my damn phone down. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I think I read one. Ugh. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">14. Master the sous vide. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I think I decided I don't like it! </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">15. Figure out our plans for KC theater tickets. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This is also a pretty solid fail. I got season tickets and we have only seen a couple of shows because we have too many other things going on. Not sure how to handle this for next year. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">16. Find friends/community/whatever here and figure out if we are wanting to do church or not. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This is a half credit goal. Church = not right now</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">17. Mother/Son trip </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Nope. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">18. Go visit the farm. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">BOY DID WE EVER... This led to our 6 month foster of Lucy dog. HA! </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">19. Go to the lake. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">We managed to do this! </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">20. Plan a CDC trip now that we all live in the Midwest again. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Half credit, I got to see Kristen in STL. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">21. Visit a new ballpark. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Brewers game!</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">22. Go to a Chiefs game. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I think I accomplished this 3 times with another one next week! </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">7 and a bunch of partial credit... not my finest year. </span></p></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-21731454782030859532021-12-31T15:53:00.000-08:002021-12-31T15:53:06.033-08:0022 Things To Do - 2022 Edition<p>1. Figure out my next steps at BMCD and what I want my path to look like. </p><p>2. Find and hire a designer to help us with our master renovation since this is going to be a little outside of my wheelhouse. </p><p>3. Find at least 2 volunteer opportunities. </p><p>4. Figure out our landscaping situation and what works here in Kansas. </p><p>5. Go to London. </p><p>6. Celebrate Alli's birthday in Belize. </p><p>7. Take Mom to NYC for her 70th. </p><p>8. Eat 3/4 veggies at nearly every meal and quit being so stupid about it. </p><p>9. Do something Peloton every day even if it's just 5 min core or a mediation if I'm sick/injured/whatever.</p><p>10. Find a local race to run since we're missing Rock the Parkway and run a 5K with Owen. </p><p>11. Cooking class with friends. </p><p>12. Find new doctors/dentists/etc (GAH!)</p><p>13. Read 10 books and put my damn phone down. </p><p>14. Master the sous vide. </p><p>15. Figure out our plans for KC theater tickets. </p><p>16. Find friends/community/whatever here and figure out if we are wanting to do church or not. </p><p>17. Mother/Son trip</p><p>18. Go visit the farm. </p><p>19. Go to the lake. </p><p>20. Plan a CDC trip now that we all live in the Midwest again. </p><p>21. Visit a new ballpark. </p><p>22. Go to a Chiefs game. </p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-23976885724495089062021-12-31T15:42:00.003-08:002021-12-31T15:42:27.627-08:002021 To Do List Review<p><br /></p><p>1. Choose restaurants with intention, rather than "I'm tired. I'm hungry. Let's go for burgers and beer."</p><p><b>Did great with this until we didn't. HA. But even with the move, we were intentional about choosing restaurants we wanted to go to before we left and restaurants we wanted to try when we got here. </b></p><p>2. Complete at least one session with Stronger U and my coach. (along with this comes macro tracking and being more mindful about the things I'm eating and drinking)</p><p><b>I did this. I had pretty decent success but slid back into old habits when we started the move process. I just didn't have the bandwidth to keep it going all year. </b></p><p>3. Lose 30 lbs by my 40th birthday. (12/5/21)</p><p><b>Yeah. Nope. </b></p><p>4. Go somewhere new. This is going to be challenging but I'm going to make it happen. </p><p><b>Yes! Big Island Hawaii! </b></p><p>5. Go to a new National Park. </p><p><b>Hawaii Volcanos</b></p><p>6. Get my vaccination card! Technically this all occurred in 2020 but I want that card of sweet, sweet beauty as proof. </p><p><b>WOOT! Got that sucker in January. </b></p><p>7. Remodel our master bathroom. </p><p><b>Check done! </b></p><p>8. Go on a trip for my birthday. I want to go to Germany but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. </p><p><b>Arizona, check done! </b></p><p>9. Master our sourdough starter! </p><p><b>Houston derailed that a bit, it was not easy to have a starter in the heat and humidity but we will press on in KC and try a new one. </b></p><p>10. Run a half marathon before my birthday. </p><p><b>Oops, nope. </b></p><p>11. Figure out how to compost. </p><p><b>We did this but sadly left our bin in Houston and don't have space here in Leawood for a new one. </b></p><p>12. Grow a garden. </p><p><b>We had a really great garden this year until we had too much rain in June and most of our plants had root rot. </b></p><p>13. Keep my houseplants alive. </p><p><b>I managed to do this with a few plants that got left in Houston but I got two new snake plants and we carry on. </b></p><p>14. Figure out my next step in my career. Goal is to not be in my same position by next January, however that happens. </p><p><b>This one, I crushed. Kind of by accident but I have an infinitely better job now and way better prospects for growth. </b></p><p>15. Do another cooking class, even if that has to be virtual. </p><p><b>I did a charcuterie class and a cocktails class this year in person and Adam and I did two awesome beer/cheese pairings classes online. </b></p><p>16. Take an iPhone photography class. </p><p><b>I need to do this still. </b></p><p>17. Hike a mountain. </p><p><b>Did it! We did some great hikes in Colorado and I climbed Camelback again. </b></p><p>18. Get my CEOP and RSTBS certifications. </p><p><b>Did not do either of these things but I was well on my way before we moved. No sweat because I am onward and upward! </b></p><p>Goals that are a hold over from 2020 - Let's try this again! </p><p>19. Take Owen on another mother + son trip. </p><p><b>We drove in the same car from Houston to Kansas, does that count? </b></p><p>20. Date night once a month</p><p><b>Not intentionally but I bet we came really close if I were to think about it. We did so many trips to KC without Owen that we wound up having a lot of parent date time. </b></p><p>21. Monthly budget. I need to follow through with this and work to pay the car off. </p><p><b>NOT EVEN CLOSE. </b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-82855852584795247662021-12-31T15:32:00.002-08:002021-12-31T15:32:35.214-08:002021 Year in Review<p> <b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. What did you do in 2021 that you'd never done before?</span></b></p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Ha. WOW.</span></span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">1. Fired a realtor. (Adam says technically he did it, and I suppose that is fair.)</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">2. Tore apart the interior of a house to have piers put in the foundation. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">3. Touched both sides of a canyon. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">4. Turned 40. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">5. Worked to stop caring so much about stupid things (like what other people think) and started trying to take up more space in the world (DO NOT cut in front of me in line, Old White Man, because 2021 Jen will NOT have it).</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">6. Moved to Kansas. <br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? </b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't make resolutions but I think, despite all the things, I did pretty darn well with my to do list. And the good thing is that I make my to do list with the expectation that 50% of the stuff might turn out to be epic fails. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? </b>Hmmm. I don't think so? Our neighbor in Houston had a baby but that's about all I can think of. </span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Did anyone close to you die? </b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">No funerals that I attended this year so that is a small win. We had a close family friend pass away but that's all I can think of. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>5. What countries did you visit? </b>COVID IS STUPID. But I'm booked for two trips in 22 and I WILL BE GOING unless the world falls apart or something stupid. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you didn't have in 2021? </b>Pretty much the same answer as last year. "Normal" life back. And I don't mean that as much as I did then in the nostalgic "life before Covid" sense but more so in terms of us finding our routine and balance here in KS. I feel like 21 was one long year of crazy. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2021 will be etched upon your memory, and why? </b>September 23rd. We drove from Houston to Wichita, KS. Didn't quite make it all the way but it was 3/4 of a really long journey that was a really long time coming. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? { 2021 answer: </b>Not being admitted to a mental hospital. Seriously. <b>} </b>2022 answer: Same (ha!) but also surviving. It felt like a long slog of a year due to all of the things we had going on as a family. Every day was just a lot to get through. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure? </b>It's complicated but it's all related to the way things ended at my job in Houston. I shouldn't classify it as a failure, it's more just a sad state of affairs that things wound up the way they did. Instead of failure, I think I'm landing on "crummiest thing" of the year. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration? </b>All three of us in our little family. We made it to the other side of some really crazy times and some really hard things. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? </b>I wouldn't say appalled but a person in my family disappointed me in a lot of ways this year. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go? </b>Renovating the house (again, HA!), realtor commissions and closing costs, moving, restaurants while we lived in temporary housing, thankfully, OH SO THANKFULLY we got to spend some money traveling this year again. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? </b>MOVING OUT OF HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hawaii. MOVING OUT OF HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2021? </b>Pretty much anything by Doja Cat, Levitating by Dua Lipa</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a) FIVE MILLION TIMES HAPPIER. Seriously. Moving and subsequently turning 40 and losing a lot of the ability to give a fuck has been amazing for my mental wellbeing. Also not working in a toxic hellhole with actual terrible people helps a lot. Midwest Nice People make it really hard to be sad. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">b) a little thinner (thank goodness) but not by much. Dammit. Ooops. Will remedy this in 2022. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">c) richer, thankfully. But about to spend all the monies ripping apart our master suite. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of? </b>exercised. I'm such a bitch without endorphins and I consistently suck ass at remembering that when life gets hard. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of? </b>waiting. It felt like I was always waiting for something this year. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas? </b>We drove home from Preston's wedding in Colorado and had 4 glorious days off that we spent organizing our house and garage and we had a really quiet day at home. We went to the movies to see Sing 2 and it was kind of a debacle, life in the Covid world continues to be ridiculous at times. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2021? </b>with Leawood, Kansas. Aka Mayberry. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program? </b>Ted Lasso</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? </b>probably not? Other than really any politician that I was unaware of in 2020 and know now, I probably hate them. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read? </b>Atomic Habits</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery? </b>Doja Cat</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b> a move out of Houston</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get? </b>the move to have taken place before school started</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2020? </b>Sing 2 was awesome, In the Heights was also great</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? </b>I turned 40 and we went to Arizona for 5 days. It was great, we got to climb Camelback, do the spa, cross two off the bucket list (Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon), spend time with my cousin and we ate and drank a lot of really great food, including a best meal at Mariposa in Sedona. Arizona just has a vibe that I dig so it was a very happy time. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? </b>Not having the Delta or Omicron variants. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2021? </b>having to actually buy business type wear</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane? </b>the idea that we were GTFO Houston</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most? </b>Covid continues to irritate me - how it's political, how one side is moronic in their feelings about how science works and how the other side continues to spew all this "we're ALL GOING TO DIE" rhetoric. It's so dumb. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss? </b>I miss our friends in Houston and moving so far away made me miss our friends in Dallas and Chicago quite a bit, too. It was weird to feel homesickness pangs but not really for a place, more the idea that we weren't quite home. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met? </b>Pretty much everyone in my new department at work. Everyone is incredibly nice, supportive and we have a lot of fun while getting shit done. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021. </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I learned how to assert myself a little bit more and I also realized that I had to demand solutions to being sad and depressed, that life wasn't going to get better unless I worked toward that. </span></div></div></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-34735124699840270652021-07-17T07:46:00.002-07:002021-07-17T07:46:21.234-07:00Midpoint 2021 review! <h3 style="text-align: left;">Halfway (oops a little over) through review. Hoo boy, did not see a lot of this coming. </h3><p>1. Choose restaurants with intention, rather than "I'm tired. I'm hungry. Let's go for burgers and beer."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">So much better about this in 2021. We did no restaurant month in January and crushed it. Even in times of chaos, we have been a lot more intentional about restaurants and choices. </h3><p>2. Complete at least one session with Stronger U and my coach. (along with this comes macro tracking and being more mindful about the things I'm eating and drinking)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">I spent 6 months with my coach through a LOT of ups and downs. ✅</h3><p>3. Lose 30 lbs by my 40th birthday. (12/5/21)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Down 15 as of July. Have some work to do here. </h3><p>4. Go somewhere new. This is going to be challenging but I'm going to make it happen. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Goal I thought would be the hardest, was the easiest. ✅</h3><div>• Big Island, Hawaii</div><div>• going to Monterey, CA this week</div><p>5. Go to a new National Park. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Hawaii Volcanoes! Boom! ✅</h3><p>6. Get my vaccination card! Technically this all occurred in 2020 but I want that card of sweet, sweet beauty as proof. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Got it in January! One upped myself and got Owen into a trial so he’s been vaccinated well before his peers! ✅</h3><p>7. Remodel our master bathroom. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Finished in early June! ✅</h3><p>8. Go on a trip for my birthday. I want to go to Germany but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sedona is booked! Hoping to get to Antelope Canyon if it’s reopened. </h3><p>9. Master our sourdough starter! </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Work in progress but I gave up trying in Houston. </h3><p>10. Run a half marathon before my birthday. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Hmm. Not sure if I want to do this but I should have opportunity to in the fall if I want to. </h3><p>11. Figure out how to compost. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Done! But leaving it in Houston 😂😬❌</h3><p>12. Grow a garden. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Had the best garden ever but it’s kind of crapping out at the moment because it NEVER STOPS RAINING. </h3><p>13. Keep my houseplants alive. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">😬❌ discovered that our house doesn’t have enough natural light. TBD on how this goes in Kansas. </h3><p>14. Figure out my next step in my career. Goal is to not be in my same position by next January, however that happens. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">✅ and ❌ I quit my job so this goal will be met no matter what. Remains to be seen what the next step will be. </h3><p>15. Do another cooking class, even if that has to be virtual. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Need to figure this out when we move. </h3><p>16. Take an iPhone photography class. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bought one and have yet to do it 🤦🏻♀️</h3><p>17. Hike a mountain. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Done! ✅ Gem Lake trail in RMNP. Going to do Camelback again in December. </h3><p>18. Get my CEOP and RSTBS certifications. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">❌❌ no longer applicable. </h3><p>Goals that are a hold over from 2020 - Let's try this again! </p><p>19. Take Owen on another mother + son trip. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Not sure how this will shake down but we spent a lot of time alone together in Kansas City on one of Adam’s work trips so does that count- ish?</h3><p>20. Date night once a month</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">I think this has mostly been an abysmal fail although we are making up for it currently on Owen’s trip to Utah. </h3><p>21. Monthly budget. I need to follow through with this and work to pay the car off. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Shit. 😬</h3><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-5194714227231037552021-01-18T09:58:00.003-08:002021-01-18T09:58:35.247-08:002020 To Do List Review<p>It's January 18th, can you tell I've been dreading this? I've spent a lot of time in the last 2 plus weeks processing all the bullshit that was 2020 and this feels like the last step. Let's close this book, shall we? </p><p><br /></p><p> 1. Leave the country at least once. - <b>Dammit. Our Paris/Amsterdam trip was a dream trip. We had direct flights, it was super inexpensive when we booked it. I mourn that we may never get that lucky again. I'm so sad we didn't get to go. </b></p>2. Run the Chicago Marathon and beat my time from 2009. <b>Canceled. STUPID. But it was helpful because I'm not sure I want to run 26 miles again. Will have to think on it more. </b><br /><br />3. Take Owen on another mother/son trip. <b>We never did this. I hate that the window we had to travel was really March-May when it just wasn't possible but that was when it was most flexible for us in terms of virtual work and school. </b><br /><br />4. Keep working on strength and yoga classes (goal is 4X of each per week) <b>I did really well with this until I didn't. The renovation really threw me off. </b><br /><br />5. Do at least one major house project to get it over with! Likely O's bathroom. <b>WELL! ONE THAT WE JUST CRUSHED. We did Owen's bathroom, the entire kitchen, the powder room, the laundry room and a complete overhaul of the attic. A full gut job. Not to mention the millions of other little things we took care of. </b><br /><br />6. Date night once a month in Houston. <b>Another one we just lost track of in the chaos. </b><br /><br />7. Figure out better sleep habits with the Whoop. <b>I almost quit wearing it so many times this year. It was the one thing I stayed committed to, even if I didn't do any of the things I need to for real success. </b><br /><br />8. Get back to 2017 fighting weight and eating habits. <b>Beyond epic fail. The only time I've ever been heavier was the day I gave birth. </b><br /><br />9. Start budgeting every month with discipline. <b>HAAA BUDGET? We blew that baby with All Restaurant Fall but no kitchen is a pretty good excuse. </b><br /><br />10. Astros away game in Atlanta. <b>No fans were allowed but we did get to go to Atlanta. </b><br /><br />11. Go somewhere completely new. <b>OOOH I DID THIS! We did an awesome West Texas trip for Thanksgiving. Big Bend, Terlingua, Marfa, Alpine, Ft. Davis. </b><br /><br />12. Galleria staycation at Christmas and summer at the Marquis. <b>We wound up doing a night in Galveston before going back to work/school and a night at Memorial City for my birthday, I call it a win, we just adapted to the circumstances. </b><br /><br />13. Do something creative, even if it's just one of those drunk painting places. <b>Not really a great option this year. </b><br /><br />14. Take Owen to College Station. <b>We were scheduled to go in April. Cancelled. </b><br /><br />15. Meet Pelo peeps at HRI and hopefully meet Jess Sims or Matt Wilpers! <b>DOOOONNNNNNEEEEE CHECK CHECK AND CHECK! NAILED IT! </b><br /><br />16. Continue to learn to be a better listener, you know, talk less, smile more. <b>Nope. </b><br /><br />17. Let's try this again. 3/4 fruits or veggies with every meal. <b>Nope. </b><br /><br />18. Do something really fun for my birthday since it's A) on a Saturday and B) the big 3-9! <b>We did the best we could. Enjoyed a haircut and color, an awesome brunch with Erin, a great dinner at Killen's and a fantastic suite at a hotel. It was pretty darn alright for a covid birthday. </b><br /><br />19. Reorganize things I can change at work. <b>I completed my three huge projects and we got 2 awards and a really big accreditation the district had never gotten before so I'd say this was a big success. Docusign and covid solved a lot of my other issues for me :) </b><br /><br />20. Figure out my new retirement savings situation. <b>Crushed this. We started an account with TD Ameritrade and faithfully put money in it. My original Roth that I can't use anymore is just killing it right now so I feel pretty alright about the things I'm doing toward retirement. </b><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Phew, I guess all things considered, that wasn't all that bad! </div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-64910267367566692952021-01-18T09:47:00.002-08:002021-01-18T09:47:41.668-08:0021 things for 2021<p>2020 felt like this thing that was happening to me, my overarching theme for 2021 is to be more intentional about everything I do. And then to commit to all of the things that I'm being intentional about. I want to feel good about turning 40 in December and entering the next decade of my life. Here goes nothing: </p><p>1. Choose restaurants with intention, rather than "I'm tired. I'm hungry. Let's go for burgers and beer."</p><p>2. Complete at least one session with Stronger U and my coach. (along with this comes macro tracking and being more mindful about the things I'm eating and drinking)</p><p>3. Lose 30 lbs by my 40th birthday. (12/5/21)</p><p>4. Go somewhere new. This is going to be challenging but I'm going to make it happen. </p><p>5. Go to a new National Park. </p><p>6. Get my vaccination card! Technically this all occurred in 2020 but I want that card of sweet, sweet beauty as proof. </p><p>7. Remodel our master bathroom. </p><p>8. Go on a trip for my birthday. I want to go to Germany but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. </p><p>9. Master our sourdough starter! </p><p>10. Run a half marathon before my birthday. </p><p>11. Figure out how to compost. </p><p>12. Grow a garden. </p><p>13. Keep my houseplants alive. </p><p>14. Figure out my next step in my career. Goal is to not be in my same position by next January, however that happens. </p><p>15. Do another cooking class, even if that has to be virtual. </p><p>16. Take an iPhone photography class. </p><p>17. Hike a mountain. </p><p>18. Get my CEOP and RSTBS certifications. </p><p>Goals that are a hold over from 2020 - Let's try this again! </p><p>19. Take Owen on another mother + son trip. </p><p>20. Date night once a month</p><p>21. Monthly budget. I need to follow through with this and work to pay the car off. </p><p><br /></p><p>Ok. Let's do this. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-22933781957985309852021-01-16T10:38:00.004-08:002021-01-16T10:38:42.482-08:00<p> <b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2020 Year in Review</b></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?</span></b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Where do I even start?</span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lived through a global pandemic. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Survived a major home renovation. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Got an experimental vaccine as part of a pharmaceutical trial. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Made it through a lot of really dark days where I wasn't even entirely sure I wanted to be alive anymore (that was the worst). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Switched Owen's school at the literal last second. That was a painful one. <br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? </b></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">LOL. This question can suck it. Survival was all that was manageable. <br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? </b>My stepsister had a baby in August, which totally sucked because we totally didn't get to celebrate the way we should have for someone's first baby. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Did anyone close to you die? </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm trying to think back and I think this was maaaaaybe the only negative thing that didn't happen to us but with Covid, it felt like everyone was dying all the time. Thankfully, in 2020, we only tangentially knew a couple of people who passed away. </span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>5. What countries did you visit? </b>We were supposed to go to Cozumel 3 days after the world shut down. We also had a Paris/Amsterdam trip booked for November that didn't happen. 2020 CAN SUCK IT. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you didn't have in 2020? NORMAL LIFE BACK. </b>Travel. Big Events. Not having to wear a freaking mask everywhere. My family to be vaccinated. LESS DAMN STRESS. One thing I am getting is not having an egotistical maniac as President anymore!!!!!!! </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2020 will be etched upon your memory, and why? </b>March 11th. I've written about it at length here but that is what I will always think of when I think of 2020. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? </b>Not being admitted to a mental hospital. Seriously. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure? </b>Succumbing to stress all the time. Drinking too much. Spending too much money on restaurants. Not finding a way to feel fulfilled without the things that normally fill my cup. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>10. Did you suffer illness or injury? </b>I got sick (thanks O Bear!) with some sort of stomach bug big time in January. I had immune response to both of my shots in Sept/October and I got food poisoning in October. Other than that, I feel like they were all super minor and the fact that none of my household peeps got coronavirus is pretty excellent. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>11. What was the best thing you bought? </b>my new house :) </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration? </b>Owen. He handled the pandemic and the mask wearing better than anyone. The summer with him was hard but since he went back to school, he's been amazing. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? </b>DONALD. J. TRUMP. He is such a child. I hate him so much. BYE FELICIA. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go? </b>House. Renovation. Buying Adam a new car. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? </b>Being done with the house!!! </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2020? </b>I can't remember the name of it but it's some song that comes on XM chill and it reminds me of the random days when you'd get in the car during the hard core shutdown and it was apocalyptic with no one else around and every business closed. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">a) way sadder, I don't have words to even describe this. I have hope for the future but man, I really did not see the bullshit that was 2020 coming. I'm getting better at getting out of the black hole but I don't have that same innocence that I did at this time last year. This is going to be the defining moment for our generation, our world war, our depression. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">b) ugh, way fatter. I gained so much weight. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">c) probably richer. Our house is worth infinitely more now and we started screwing around with the stock market and have done really well. <br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of? </b>ordered salads, traveled, saw my family more</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of? </b>crying, having sleepless nights, being generally depressed</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas? </b>My in-laws and mom where here in Houston. We had a great Christmas Eve dinner, opened presents on Christmas morning and then caught a plane to Las Vegas. Enjoyed Christmas night at Mon Ami Gabi and got to enjoy a beer while watching live music at the Cabaret at Paris... it's the little things, live music was super hard to come by in 2020. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2020? </b>not really</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program? </b>The Crown</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? </b>Oh yes, it's not really a story to tell online but oooh boy, yes. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read? </b>I think I read some books? I have no idea. I'm finding this question exhausting. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery? </b>blah</span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b> a Louis (except I can find a way to even be salty about this, ha, I was supposed to get it in Paris)</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get? </b>travel, for my kid to go back to school last spring</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2020? </b>HAMILTON!!!! (except we watched it the day we were supposed to be seeing it at the Hobby Center, see ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS WERE CRUSHED BY A VIRUS)</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? </b>I turned 39. Our house was almost done and they were there doing a TON of work to finish it so we stayed at the Westin Memorial City in an amazing suite. We had dinner at Killen's STQ and I went to bed early. I did get a haircut (woo!) and enjoyed a really fun brunch with a friend. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? </b>Having never heard the word coronavirus. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2020? </b>Daytime pajamas and nighttime pajamas. Blurred lines. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane? </b>HAAA. NOTHING. I was not sane. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most? </b>This question really sucks for people who've just lived through the actual most ridiculous election cycle. At least Trump lost, that was my only concern. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But if you want to assume that BLM and women's rights are political issues, I'd say that stuff stirred me quite a bit, however, I don't believe that either of those are political. Same with public health. That is all human rights and human decency stuff. <br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss? </b>Most of my friends and family. I've come to realize that I completely suck at being a virtual friend. </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met? </b>What is a stranger? What is it like to meet new people? </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020. </b></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Pandemics suck. I guess I learned how to wear a mask? </span></span></div></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-12098549118800320902020-06-29T13:50:00.000-07:002020-06-29T13:50:37.649-07:00everything is awfulHaaa.<br />
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It's better, by a little, than March. At least we're used to and completely desensitized to things being cancelled by now. But it doesn't suck any less when it happens.<br />
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Texas started the reopening process at the beginning of May. We never saw a dramatic drop in cases, despite being mostly closed for 1.5 months. I think that was problematic for reopening but also, how were we going to stay closed for longer when our case count was still so low. <br /><br />Things were incrementally increased throughout the month of May, more businesses allowed to open, more capacity in open businesses, etc. Some social gatherings were allowed if outdoors. I don't know what happened in there (some blame it on Memorial Day, some blame it on protests, some blame it on increased testing) - I personally believe it was just a mix of all the things and that everyone was just complacent after being cooped up for months and not seeing a big rise in the cases. Either way, I believe Texas's case count has tripled or more in the last 3 weeks. It's not great. We actually know people tangentially that have or have had Covid. Offices were opening but now are closing back up again. Restaurants are back to 50% capacity from 75%. Bars are once again shut down. <br />
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Last week felt a lot like March again. I drank too much, had trouble sleeping, it was just hard. I have major doubts about what the fall will look like for Owen for school and for both of us for work. Thinking about the future gives me a lot of anxiety.<br />
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Adam did an antibody test through work that came up non-reactive, which was a total bummer. We were sort of hoping he'd been asymptomatic and that maybe we'd all already have antibodies. <br />
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It's been a roller coaster. I vacillate between being overjoyed when we get to do anything abut also feeling the despair of feeling like I'm living a watered down version of my life, where nothing is as good as it once was. It's a weird spot to be in and a strange way to feel, to be certain. <br />
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Last week I was in this place where I thought I'd lose my shit if I heard one more person say, "I'm waiting to do XXX until there's a vaccine" as if that is guaranteed. This week I feel more hopeful that maybe there will be a vaccine and we'll get past this. I keep thinking about the Spanish Flu pandemic and hoping that this just takes it's course over the next few months and rides off into the virus sunset (NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN GTFO CORONA). It's a pretty unhealthy place to be in terms of my mental health. <br />
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I'm up a little more than 10 lbs since this started. Goal is to work on that in baby steps first. Lose the Covid weight. Work on the Move-To-Houston weight. Work on drinking less. Work on sleeping more and consuming less news. Work on the things that I can change. <br />
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<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-2284964585959349672020-06-29T13:23:00.000-07:002020-06-29T13:23:14.905-07:00Halfway through 2020Let me start of by saying - this year sucks. We'll be halfway through on Wednesday. It sucks to look back and think "cool. six months of the year are gone. two of them were fine. four of them sucked." What's even worse than that is knowing that the next six of this year are likely to continue to be pretty crappy. <br />
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Without further adu, let's see where we are on this goals list. BLAH.<br />
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1. Leave the country at least once. - <b>THIS IS NOT LOOKING PROMISING. Dammit. </b><br />
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2. Run the Chicago Marathon and beat my time from 2009. <b>Just waiting on them to cancel. I've already planning on not running because I don't want to do a watered down version of it. </b><br />
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3. Take Owen on another mother/son trip. <b>This is still in the realm of possibility... we'll see. </b><br />
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4. Keep working on strength and yoga classes (goal is 4X of each per week) <b>Strength A+++ I've done probably 200+ classes this year already. Yoga... abysmal fail. </b><br />
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5. Do at least one major house project to get it over with! Likely O's bathroom. <b>We refinanced the house and for the same payment we were able to pull out about half of what we need. That plus some aggressive savings means that we're getting ready to gut the kitchen, laundry room, powder room, O's bathroom and do some of the not so glamorous stuff like re-piping the entire house and reinforcing our attic. </b><br />
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6. Date night once a month in Houston. <b>I think we've actually been managing this???? YES. </b><br />
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7. Figure out better sleep habits with the Whoop. <b>Sleep? HA. To be fair, I was doing really well with it before COVID so I'll give myself some grace on that one. </b><br />
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8. Get back to 2017 fighting weight and eating habits. <b>EPIC EPIC EPIC FAIL. I've come real close to gaining the Covid 19. </b><br />
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9. Start budgeting every month with discipline. <b>I didn't do well with this but I am ready for you July. We now have a car payment that I will attack with vigor. </b><br />
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10. Astros away game in Atlanta. <b>WAHHHHH. </b><br />
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11. Go somewhere completely new. <b>Fingers crossed we can go to Panama City Beach in September (rescheduled from May) so I can get this one. </b><br />
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12. Galleria staycation at Christmas and summer at the Marquis. <b>Summer is not looking great at the moment... we. will. see. </b><br />
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13. Do something creative, even if it's just one of those drunk painting places. <b>Yeah. They're all closed. Add to the list of I will do it if I can. </b><br />
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14. Take Owen to College Station. <b>We were scheduled to go in April. Sad day. I might take him in the fall if the kids are back on campus. </b><br />
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15. Meet Pelo peeps at HRI and hopefully meet Jess Sims or Matt Wilpers! <b>DOOOONNNNNNEEEEE CHECK CHECK AND CHECK! NAILED IT! </b><br />
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16. Continue to learn to be a better listener, you know, talk less, smile more. <b>Nope. </b><br />
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17. Let's try this again. 3/4 fruits or veggies with every meal. <b>So far so terrible. </b><br />
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18. Do something really fun for my birthday since it's A) on a Saturday and B) the big 3-9! <b>All I want for my birthday, Christmas, all the everything is an effective vaccine! </b><br />
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19. Reorganize things I can change at work. <b>I think this is going well ish. </b><br />
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20. Figure out my new retirement savings situation. <b>Work in progress. On the positive side, Peloton stock tripled since we bought it. WOOT. </b>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-45686779854997166782020-03-30T15:21:00.001-07:002020-03-30T15:21:13.846-07:00Camp Corona Diaries - Edition 5 Since we had a week of Spring Break for both Owen and me, it was really boring. I consumed way too much news and social media. I had no real work to do. I think on Monday or Tuesday, they announced the school closures would go until Easter (anticipated return of 4/13) which is where we still stand.<br />
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They opened a bunch of drive-through testing centers in our area. Cases went up by a lot but not exponentially so I'm still of the hope that we caught it early here in Houston.<br />
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I think it was Wednesday that we decided to make a run to Total Wine and Adam's office to get a few things he'd be needing for working at home. I was in the car in the parking garage waiting for him and Owen to come downstairs when I called my dad. He was on his way home from the hospital where Eileen had just been admitted. She always has a low level cough but she got sick at dialysis and had a fever so they took her to the hospital as a part of their normal precautions. Except nothing is normal right now. Dad left her at the hospital where she was waiting to be tested for COVID among other things. He was crying, she was super sick. Once he went back to the hospital, he'd be there for the duration. He described people sitting in chairs outside the hospital, not able to be with their loved ones. After I got off the phone with him, I lost my shit. The gravity of everything was hitting me. If someone in your family dies right now, you can't even have a funeral or be there to comfort each other. I was upset about all the celebrations and the fun we'd be missing but I never even thought about the human need to be there for each other during the really shitty times, too.<br />
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That night was TOUGH. I slept so shitty that whole week. I remember panicking at one point thinking of this invisible virus holding all of us hostage that we can't see or even feel until it's too late. I was horrified and remember crying, "This thing is EVERYWHERE."<br />
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Thankfully the next day, we found out that Eileen was negative for COVID but she did have pneumonia. We knew she wanted and the hospital wanted her released as soon as possible so we waited. When I talked to Dad later that day (now Thursday) he said she was doing MUCH better and that we could call her. Owen and I got to FaceTime with her later, which thank goodness for FaceTime during this time or I think we'd have lost our minds.<br />
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Some random non-chronological asides:<br />
1. I got a gallon of milk on 3/12 in my panic curbside order, when schools were closed. I looked at the expiration date (3/30) and thought as I put it in the fridge, "this will all be over then". When I threw out the last tiny bit of it today, that made me REAL sad. We are only at the beginning, I'm afraid.<br />
2. Trump said yesterday that we're looking at April 30th. My baby's birthday. That was depressing.<br />3. At this moment, I'm watching a Harris County press conference and they said it's not a matter of extending the stay at home orders, it's more how long to extend for. I'm waiting for school to extend until at least the end of April at some point this week.<br />
4. I'm sick thinking how many restaurants we love will have to close because of this.<br />
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It feels a bit like we are still in the very beginning of a nightmare.<br />
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<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-62094508998703650202020-03-26T10:44:00.000-07:002020-03-26T10:44:07.494-07:00Camp Corona Diaries - Edition 4Day 14.<br />
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We started this two weeks ago. Holy shit.<br />
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I'm discovering that it's easier for me to journal about this on crappier days. Therefore, I'm sure you've deduced that today is crappy. Haha. In the present moment, I woke up not wanting to wake up. I can't decide if that has more to do with margarita consumption or more to do with general malaise over the economy. I think people are all getting stir crazy and it shows. Taking a break from social media for the rest of the afternoon will be beneficial for me. Owen has his first Zoom meeting with his class today. Going to attempt to not lose my shit and cry. Last night Ms. D called the school with one of her recorded messages and at the very end, her voice broke and that was it. I had several days in a row where I didn't cry - streak busted.<br />
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Picking up where we last left of, we started this two weeks ago on Friday, March 13th. It was very unclear as to whether I was expected to be at work. I opted not to go (this turned out after the fact to be totally fine as we were paid for that day anyway) mainly because my husband was traveling all week and I was concerned about potential exposure and Owen was going to be at home so I felt like I should stay with him. I think at that point, this still felt like it was going to be a little bit of time off? I don't know, I don't remember. I remember being shell shocked but mostly life was going on around us. <br /><br />I got up early and went to Food Town, our local market that is super close to the neighborhood. I also had a Curbside order scheduled at HEB for the late afternoon that I tried to cancel but I couldn't get through. I was concerned that none of it would get filled anyway so we left it as is. Food Town was crazy. The lines to check out made me think of what life would be like in a socialist country. It was horrifying on a million different levels. I got a cart full of groceries - not gonna lie - a LOT of snacks and junk food. I was exhausted from not sleeping and I feel like I possibly had a little hangover that day? I was freaking out about my brother and Sara getting out of Paris. They were scheduled on the super late flight. I wondered what would (or wouldn't) await them at US Customs. I started freaking out about my flight attendant friends. <br />
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GAH. Sidebar. I just got an email from the credit union we keep Owen's money in locally that you can borrow up to $4K right now with no collateral and no payments for 60 days. That is so depressing.<br />
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Anyway, we ate dinner at home, I think we had my mom over once or twice for dinner that weekend? I drank A LOT. I watched too much depressing news. I was so bummed about not getting to go to Cozumel. That whole weekend sucked. I kept thinking about the Sliding Doors version of life where we were doing laundry and packing for our trip. The one bright side was that we finally bought stock in Peloton, which I'd been wanting to do since they went public. <br />
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Mikey and Sara made it home super late Friday night. Texting with them (they got internet on the flight back to the US) as they worked their way over the Atlantic was so sad. They were trying to piece together what on earth was going on in the United States. They were facing a 14 day quarantine away from their kid. Dad and Eileen decided to keep him over that time. In my head it was still just a two week thing we were looking at. <br />
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Fast forward to Monday 3/16, the first day of "Spring Break" for Owen and I. Since we weren't going out of town, Adam canceled his PTO and went into the office to work. I was adrift. There was nothing to do work wise, nothing to do for Owen school wise (lots of my friends already had school work to do with their kids). I just watched the news like an idiot and sat around feeling totally bummed. Owen watched ALL the Nick Junior that week and eventually moved into the guest room with the TV. On Monday afternoon, Trump had a press conference and I went into our bedroom to watch it. I was sitting on the floor in front of my bed texting with Tara as we watched the horror. The CDC changed the social distancing guidelines to be "no gatherings of more than 10 people for the next 8 weeks". That shit hit me hard. EIGHT WEEKS. EIGHT WEEKS. Coming from freaking Trump. Holy shit. At some point soon after that, school pushed back to starting 4/13, the week after Easter, but privately they've been telling us all along not to expect to come back at all to finish the year. Right after that, Harris County and the City of Houston ordered bars and restaurants to close their dining rooms and move to take out only. What in the fresh hell was going on? <br />
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No sports. No theater. No spaces where people gather. No travel. No restaurants. A really large portion of the things I love, stripped from life in what felt like an instant. It was a LOT LOT LOT to take in. I kept thinking, this has never happened in not only my lifetime, but even in my parents' lifetimes, which is kind of bananas. <br />
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I remember Monday night being really surly on Facebook. We were already pretty damn close to lockdown status in Houston, but it seemed like a lot of the country still didn't get it.<br />
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We switched gears from "Eat All Dinners At Home From Our Grocery Stockpile" to "Order Takeout Every Night For Dinner". Which is no big deal but again it was another crazy shift from Life Before Corona to what we're living now. I realized this was NOT going to be a two week "vacation" from responsibilities. This was the long haul. I hoped and still hope we have restaurants to go back to when this is all over. <br />
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At that point, Adam and I were anticipating that Trump had laid the groundwork for what we assumed would be a nationwide shut down by the end of the week...<br />
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<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-35246716102587753802020-03-21T15:16:00.002-07:002020-03-21T15:16:52.852-07:00Camp Corona Diaries - Edition 3 Day? 9? 10? I don't know anymore.<br />
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Back to Thursday, March 12th. That day was a cascade of everything canceling and closing. It was crazy. Every website for a business that you checked had some sort of COVID-19 pop-up or disclaimer. I knew shit had gotten real when I realized that Hilton and IHG hotels were waiving their cancellation polices and letting people get refunds even on non-refundable rates. It was one of those surreal experiences where everything was happening so fast, each closure more shocking than the next. I think THAT has been my overarching crazy feeling about this entire time - my ability to remain surprised every time that something has happened. One would think that we'd all get used to it but when all of our societal norms have been stripped away, one by one, it's been shocking every single time. The sports all canceled or postponed seasons. Which bled all the way into high school athletics here in Texas.<br />
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Another place that I'd like to backtrack to. When the rodeo cancelled, that cascaded everything else here locally. We were asked to pull up all our student travel contracts. The Board planned an emergency meeting in which they revoked all permissions for student travel indefinitely. Because we were about to go on Spring Break, this was quite a few trips. The District also gave all administrators forms for us to fill out of anywhere we were going over the break, if it were international. I was pretty salty because we had people that were traveling domestically to places where they were more likely to get it than me going to Cozumel. Anyway, I'd like to go back and tell past me to not even worry about filling out the stupid paperwork.<br />
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We worked all day in between watching press conferences and staying informed on the seemingly endless list of closures. Right before the end of the day, most of the school districts that had been out on Spring Break that week canceled classes for the following week. I felt like things were imminent for us. I can't remember when I got the call but it must have been shortly after Owen and I got home because when I picked him up, I remember telling the after care girls good bye because who knew when we'd all see each other again. All of that was a half joke, so it's crazy what has come to pass since then.<br />
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HISD called - it was official, classes canceled at least until March 31. <br />
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At that point, mom asked if we wanted to go to Moderno. Uh, hell yes, margaritas were 100% needed. I had no idea at that point that it would be the last time we'd be dining in a restaurant in community with our neighbors for a long time. I think we all were shellshocked but also just in disbelief. Others showed up at the restaurant as we were there. That was when school closed at Spring Branch, too, so I think basically every private school in our area closed. There were no sports on the TVs. It was just a crazy time to be in a restaurant. I remember feeling like, yes, we needed to do this and be in that moment but also, isn't school closed so we'll all stay home? Terms like social distancing, self-quarantine, isolation, etc. were just being really introduced into my vocabulary and despite that I was probably MUCH more informed than the average bear, I still had no idea what I was doing. Things I remember - telling Owen his school concert was canceled. His reaction was, OH, that's ok, we will still have Field Day on Friday. Telling him that Field Day was also canceled and his confusion. I think he said, OH, that's ok, we're still going to Cozumel. Welcome to your 2020 Year of Disappointments, kid. We're all invited to the same shitty party. Telling him the Astros wouldn't be playing for awhile either was also a totally crappy parenting moment.<br />
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We went home, I'm pretty sure we had another drink and watched the news. I can't remember if I cried that day or not. I remember being SO upset when the rodeo canceled. Then all the sports. Then our trip. Everything we had been planning for months for over the next several months. I was overwhelmed. I'm still overwhelmed days later. Our entire way of life, and especially the things that my family enjoys, all gone in the blink of an eye. At some point, they decided that we should go into the office the next day. I told my boss I would be staying home with Owen. Adam made plans to work from home, as he'd been traveling all over the country that week. At that point, I remember thinking, please just let him not get sick. I can't remember what night it was but before bed, he asked what our plan would be if one of us did get sick. I barely slept because I had nightmares of us getting COVID-19 all night long. <br />
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More tomorrow.Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-8904927047073200552020-03-20T11:46:00.000-07:002020-03-20T11:47:11.137-07:00Corona Diaries - Edition 2Picking up where we left off yesterday, Wednesday March 11th. I had no idea the magnitude of how much things would change that day. I still hadn't thought to screen shot the statistics but I was monitoring the Johns Hopkins COVID dashboard all day. Which, now when I look, I'm amazed I was horrified then because the numbers were SO much smaller. But I had concerns about the day-by-day growth in Europe, especially Italy.<br />
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A thing I forgot to mention yesterday (and btw, this is all going to be word vomit because I just want to get stuff out), my brother and SIL went to Amsterdam and Paris on Friday, March 6th as they were scheduled to do. There just wasn't enough compelling info at the time for them to cancel. I would ABSOLUTELY have gone and in fact, from where I sit, I'm super jealous they got to go because God only knows when we can travel again.<br />
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Another thing I forgot to mention that now seems almost cryptic looking back, Owen's school had a Market Days on Wednesday morning. I was there and one of his classmates' moms, who happens to be French, came up and started kind of going crazy at me. Due to her accent and the fact that she was speaking panicked and fast, I had the hardest time understanding her but eventually figured out that she was yelling at me about the school still having this event with all the parents there and why hadn't they canceled anything else yet and why was no one taking coronavirus seriously. I was pretty shaken up because LITERALLY NONE OF THAT is/was within my control. I understand that she was upset but it was just such a weird encounter. I emailed the principal to tell her what had happened and we both dismissed her as a germophobe (at this point, the district had already said you didn't have to send your kids to school if you were concerned about COVID.<br />
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I was talking to my dad daily that week as things were building and I remember getting this not so great feeling from talking to him on Monday 3/9. He seemed nervous about them being over there, about the virus being a big thing here, about Eileen getting sick, it was just so weird and out of character for him.<br />
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Anyway back to Wednesday.<br />
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Once the rodeo canceled things got REAL in a hurry at work. It seemed like a closure was imminent and the real questions were: 1. How long? 2. Would we make it to Spring Break on Friday?<br />
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Most of the school districts in Houston were out on Spring Break, with the exception of us, HISD, Alief and Montgomery that I know of. Montgomery immediately canceled for Thursday and Friday since the community spread case was in their county but HISD and SBISD were still planning to finish out the week. Senior staff was in non-stop meetings and conference calls. The stress level in our office was high as we tried to do our normal prep leading into 9 days out of the office anyway + all the other coronavirus stuff going on. I don't remember much about those two days (Wed/Thurs) other than being strung out.<br />
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I picked Owen up from school on Wednesday. We came home and turned on the news. I was peeved because there was some dipshit involving the cops in a high speed chase so that was all we were able to see before his baseball game. We headed there and obviously the Rodeo cancellation and impending school closures were all everyone was talking about. At this point, as I was talking to our friend who we had concert tickets for the next night with, I was still planning to go to the concert and planning to go to Cozumel on Sunday.<br />
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We got home from baseball, Adam was on his way home from Detroit. I put Owen to bed and then headed to the couch. I normally don't like to drink when Adam isn't home but I was so emotionally exhausted from the day at work and the mom yelling at me that morning and the general stress of impending doom (remember, I had been intensively studying the data from Italy all week) required a beer.<br />
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I'll never forget the whirlwind of that night sitting on the couch. I can't remember what I watched. I think I missed most of Trump's address from the Oval Office. I just know that I remember texting friends at one point and saying "holy shit, when Adam lands and gets cell phone service he's going to be overwhelmed by the world ending while he was on that flight".<br />
<br />
Things that happened in the space of maaaaaybe 2 hours:<br />
- an NBA player, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the virus just before he was supposed to play in a game (Jazz vs. OKC Thunder, in Oklahoma)<br />
-Tom Cruise and Rita Wilson came out on Instagram saying they were positive<br />
-the NBA suspended their season indefinitely<br />
-Trump instituted a travel ban from Europe (which was especially nerve wracking with Mikey and Sara being in Paris)<br />
-Italy was officially a nationwide "Red Zone" instead of the previous Red Zone just being the hard hit areas in the north of the country<br />
<br />
It was as though we couldn't ignore COVID-19 anymore. I remember reeling. It was living in the information age gone wrong. Too much info and too quickly.<br />
<br />
Consequently, I can't remember much about Thursday. Work was insane. I realized about halfway through the day that everything I wanted to do for the next several months was canceled. I realized that we couldn't go to Cozumel. I realized this was way bigger than I could ever comprehend.<br />
<br />
And that was only the beginning.<br />
<br />
<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-91273813075885119522020-03-19T11:56:00.000-07:002020-03-19T11:56:13.714-07:00Camp Corona Diaries - Edition 1 I figured I should start documenting this since at best, we are living through a global pandemic and at worst... well, I'm not going to go there today. It's too scary.<br />
<br />
It's Thursday, March 19th, which means it's been 8 days since the bottom really fell out, but I want to start at the beginning.<br />
<br />I don't watch a lot of news, but we usually turn it on in the early mornings when getting ready for work and then I catch the very beginning of Good Morning America. I can't remember when they started rumbling about the coronavirus in China but I know it was likely beginning of February. I thought about it like "Oh, another SARS, no biggie." When we were in New York City (Feb 13-16th), they had CNN on loop in the hotel lobby and that was when shit was really hitting the fan in China so they talked about it non-stop. Again, I figured it was just like SARS and wouldn't really affect us. <br />
<br />
Toward the end of the month, I feel like they started talking about cases in Northern Italy, but again, too far from us to be a big deal. I remember someone saying they canceled their trip to Italy on Facebook near the beginning of March and I remember reacting to it with frustration, thinking it was too soon to panic and man, this was going to suck for the travel industry. <br />
<br />
March rolled in and we had a busy month laid out on the calendar. I was anxious about fitting in baseball, swim practice, games, theater, trips, work, all of it. The first week of March, the talk about coronavirus or COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus) became louder and louder. I saw that someone started a petition to close down the Houston rodeo. We started getting travel related cases here in Houston, but they could all be traced to a cruise ship in Egypt that a big local group went on. We kept going on about our lives but on 3/6 we went to see the musical Come From Away, which is all about 9/11 and the aftermath and the airline industry and I sobbed because so much of it was so personal to me, but also there was so much going on regarding this contagious virus that it felt weird to be in a big room with that many people. The talk was escalating so quickly each day, I had started buying extra groceries and stockpiling a little more than I normally do just in case. Places were running out of hand sanitizer and toilet paper. We had an unexpected day off school/work when a water main broke in Houston and I remember starting to get freaked out about school closures due to the virus - if we were going to close for a water main break across town.<br />
<br />
The following day, we went to the Rodeo (I will never not be thankful for this). I remember being kind of surprised there wasn't a ton of hand sanitizer around since everyone had been going so crazy about it. It's so strange to look back, to think that might have been the last time for a long time that we got to do something like that. It was a great day. I am happy I feel like we did everything we wanted to do and I soaked up every minute of the rodeo and the concert. I'll never feel the same way about Maren Morris again.<br />
<br />
The next week began and was BUSY. Adam left for a trip (unfortunately not on his normal routine and on Delta Airlines and all over the place with long airport layovers). I took Owen to swim on Monday. The swim teams must have had an off week because the pool was eerily empty. I brought a book to read but I wound up spending the entire time in a COVID Facebook group reading the day's news and reading about people's personal experiences. Things were escalating rapidly. Italy was in crisis and I believe that day was when they went on a nationwide lockdown, instead of just the northern region being a "red zone" lockdown. I think that is when I started aggressively researching the disease and it's pattern around the world. <br />
<br />
We started talking about it more in our office the following day, Tuesday, March 10th, but we were still all going about our normal business. My boss caught wind of plans to close Owen's school district for 2 weeks (1 week past our scheduled Spring Break). WHAT? WHY? We still had all of Spring Break ahead of us! Why would they make such a drastic decision so soon? Looking back now, they must have had wind of what was coming from the city and county and chose to make proactive plans, instead of reactive. But in that moment, I was confused, horrified and really freaked out. What would I do with my kid? (HAHAHA JEN.)<br />
<br />
I started getting really anxious about Adam still being out of town, he wasn't sure if the clients would even let him in the office for their meeting in Detroit. They kept that portion of their trip just in case and wound up being able to have their meeting. I wish I had known I was soaking up my last few minutes of my Pre-Corona life. I say that because I don't know how I, or really any of us, will ever be the same after this. Seattle was rapidly deteriorating day by day. Cases there seemed to double each day. Cases in the US seemed to more than double each day. Looking at the data periodically in my office was starting to freak me out. <br />
<br />
I'll finish with the next day, 8 days ago, March 11th, 2020. We were working away and sometime in the morning, Wayne and Ann called me from the warehouse and said they hated to tell me but the Rodeo was cancelled. Adam and I were supposed to go see Lizzo on Friday night and they knew how much I was looking forward to it. That was the defining moment where this got real and real fast. <br />
<br />
There was a case in Montgomery County. A police officer who hadn't traveled abroad or had contact with anyone who had. This meant we had local community spread and even worse, the officer had been to the rodeo cook off, a HUGE event. (We now know several others caught it then.) The city and county made the drastic decision to call off the rodeo, which is a gigantic economic driver. It was becoming more and more apparent to me that this was way bigger of an animal than I was expecting and I was a very early adopter of this reality, as I'd come to see. <br />
<br />
More next time...<br />
<br />
<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-29249039506383320912020-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:002020-01-02T14:17:29.652-08:00<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2019 Year in Review</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">1. What did you do in 2019 that you'd never done before?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Went back to work full time while having a kid. I wasn't expecting to do this at this time last year but it worked out fine! Everyone is good. Most especially me, mental health (and less grey hair wise).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? </b>Like I'm new here or something, I didn't review my list so that big time played into me not doing as well as I'd like to have. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? </b>Not really, again, I think that ship of super close friends has sailed. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>4. Did anyone close to you die? HAAAAA. </b>My answer from last year is epic. "we narrowly escaped this with an almost 94 year old grandpa and 17 year old dog." SHIT. Grandpa died just days shy of 94 in early February. While I expected it and also wanted him to be free of earthly suffering, it still sucked so much ass. I cried way more at the funeral than I expected do. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Our Milo boy crossed the rainbow bridge in July. That also sucked and I also cried way more than I expected to. So I guess my life lesson is that death sucks donkey balls and to try to give myself the grace to just be with the grief for a little while. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>5. What countries did you visit? </b>We went to Belize with our friends in February (which holy shit seems so long ago) and Scotland/England in May (also seems like approx. 100 years ago). Both trips were amazing and I'd do again in a heartbeat. I was not expecting to fall in love with London so hard, having always disliked it previously. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you didn't have in 2019? </b></span>better self-control over my diet (same stupid answer as last year, dammit)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2019 will be etched upon your memory, and why? </b>July 17, my first day back in an office in 13 years. September 6, I officiated Laura's wedding! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? </b>Probably starting said job, not going insane and carving out some sort of work/life balance. I managed to get up early to workout more often than not this fall and that makes me really proud! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure? </b>Parenting. Just expect that to be my answer for the rest of my life. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>10. Did you suffer illness or injury? </b>Not really! Nothing major. So I'm either working out not hard enough or just right, right? haha. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>11. What was the best thing you bought? </b>Every time we swiped the credit card for travel related purposes. I just tried to come up with a top 9 photos of the year and I was at like 24 in 6 months. We made memories out the wazoo this year and I will always be 100% behind spending money for that. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration? </b>Owen. He's really come into his own as an excellent traveler. He's a joy to be with 99% of the time. I love taking him places and we usually get compliments on his excellent behavior. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? </b>Not appalled by any means but I'm still depressed things didn't work out for me at my former job. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go? </b>The mortgage and travel, that was SO much of the annual budget, haha, sorry I'm not even a little sorry. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? </b>Our Scotland/England trip, really all of our trips. Having something constant to look forward to was awesome. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2019? </b>Anything by Lizzo. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span>a) way happier<br />b) same, but only because I was tubby year end last year, too, oops<br />c) way richer</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of? </b>ordered salads </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of? </b></span>eating and drinking crap. basically same as last year. SHOOT. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas? </b>Had an epic Christmas Eve dinner after going to church. Woke up and opened presents. Ate french toast casserole and played in the yard until we went to Drafthouse to see Cats. Did a lot of packing as we got up in the early morning to go skiing the 26th. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2019? </b>Yes! With our new family member, Daisy Mae! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program? </b>Schitt's Creek</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? </b>No. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read? </b>I read something that I cannot remember the title but it was about Queen Elizabeth going to Scotland to see the Royal Brittania and we'd just been so it was so excellent to read. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery? </b>Lizzo, definitely</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b> a new job, a Peloton Tread </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get? </b>probably nothing other. I am spoiled rotten.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2019? </b>Downton Abbey</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? </b>I turned 38. On my actual birthday, I worked and we went to Hopdoddy for burgers. We also did a staycation at the Westin Galleria for that weekend and it was awesome. We got a lot of Christmas shopping done and recharged. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? </b>In reading my answer from last year, Holy Shit, 2019 was a LOT better than 2018. Yeah. Nothing. This year was SO SO SO SO SO MUCH better. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2019? </b>Office wear for the first time in MANY MANY YEARS. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane? </b>Vodka and beer. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most? </b>Politics at the moment exhaust me. I did enjoy watching British news during our time there and realizing that we aren't the only country with a vocal minority of morons. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss? </b>Our friends in Dallas, most definitely still. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met? </b>Probably Emilyn, my work bestie. She taught me all the things I needed to know in the beginning when no one else would. It's nice to have someone have my back at work. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Travel is my happy place. I need to keep figuring out how to feed that beast. </span></span>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-5610918890245020722019-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:002019-12-13T18:52:31.526-08:0020 To Do In '20Holy shit. We're in the Roaring 20's.<br />
<br />
1. Leave the country at least once.<br />
<br />
2. Run the Chicago Marathon and beat my time from 2009.<br />
<br />
3. Take Owen on another mother/son trip.<br />
<br />
4. Keep working on strength and yoga classes (goal is 4X of each per week)<br />
<br />
5. Do at least one major house project to get it over with! Likely O's bathroom.<br />
<br />
6. Date night once a month in Houston.<br />
<br />
7. Figure out better sleep habits with the Whoop.<br />
<br />
8. Get back to 2017 fighting weight and eating habits.<br />
<br />
9. Start budgeting every month with discipline.<br />
<br />
10. Astros away game in Atlanta.<br />
<br />
11. Go somewhere completely new.<br />
<br />
12. Galleria staycation at Christmas and summer at the Marquis.<br />
<br />
13. Do something creative, even if it's just one of those drunk painting places. <br />
<br />
14. Take Owen to College Station.<br />
<br />
15. Meet Pelo peeps at HRI and hopefully meet Jess Sims or Matt Wilpers!<br />
<br />
16. Continue to learn to be a better listener, you know, talk less, smile more.<br />
<br />
17. Let's try this again. 3/4 fruits or veggies with every meal.<br />
<br />
18. Do something really fun for my birthday since it's A) on a Saturday and B) the big 3-9!<br />
<br />
19. Reorganize things I can change at work.<br />
<br />
20. Figure out my new retirement savings situation.Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-19499148912314729152019-12-13T18:35:00.002-08:002019-12-13T18:35:57.338-08:00I didn't do a progress report this year. Crap. 19 for '19 in ReviewI completely forgot to review this but this year, to put it really mildly, did NOT go according to plan. Which was fine, more than fine, but I'm so interested to review this now so without further ado...<br />
<br />
1. Go to Scotland and London. <b>Nailed it! Loved it. Would do Scotland differently next time, but completely fell in love with London, which when I flew was a place I was meh about at best. </b><br />
<br />
2. Spear fis<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">hing in <span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">Belize. <b>Went regular fishing in Belize. Caught a fish. So, nailed it? </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">3. Take Owen to see our cousins in Boston/NH. <b>We had the BEST time. Currently vascillating between</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>going somewhere else or just making this an annual thing. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">4. Astros road game in California. <b>Did it and it was awesome. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">5. Find a cleaning lady and lawn people. <b>Best ever. Got rid of subpar cleaning people and found the best lady</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>ever. Our lawn guy is everything. This freed up so much time this year for both of us. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">6. Ride 5000 miles on my Peloton. <b>I haven't looked but I'm certain I did not do this. However, I didn't anticipate</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>buying a tread and going back to work full time. Overall, I'm fine with where I ended up in fitness. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">7. Hit the 1000 ride milestone. <b>Again, circumstances changed. I'll likely hit 700 shortly after the new year and I'm </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>totally cool with this. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">8. Lose the 15 lbs that I gained in 2018 (I hate that this is on my to do list but it must be done.) <b>Lost and</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>gained the same 5 lbs at least 6 times this year. My diet self-discipline blows. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">9. Get my Bar Method Century socks. <b>This is sad but I did not. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">10. Save 20% for retirement. <b>Again, this plan got foiled for reasons. I need to figure out my retirement </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>vehicle for 2020. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">11. Read 20 books. (God, that is so lame. I better do it. I will read on the bike if I have to.) <b>Oops. I lost count at </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>maaaaybe 6. Crap.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">12. Three quarters fruits/veggies with my meals. <b>Yeah. No. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">13. Either go to or plan a Hawaii trip when SW finally gets it together to fly there. <b>Not sure where we'll land on</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>this goal. It's not convenient to go from here but I hope we get there soon. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">14. At least one date night or day date a month. <b>I think we got awfully close to this, but mainly via trips. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>It's a mixed bag - Owen is awesome and we have no issue taking him anywhere with us. I'm hoping that</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>we can be more deliberate about Houston date nights in 2020. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">15. Do some work to make joining the PTO easier for people and create a FB group for existing members. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>OMG. This goal makes me want to cry. I wound up with way more than this on my plate and it's been</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>sheer survival mode. </b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">16. Two summer staycations. <b>We wound up doing one in the spring, one in the summer and one at Christmas</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>time so I'm not mad at missing this one by a hair. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">17. Work on being a better listener, especially when talking to people with different beliefs than me. <b>I think I have</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>really made good strides on this one! </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">18. Continue to work on letting go of the things I can't change. More serenity prayer. Less road rage. <b>I think </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><b>I have less road rage? I don't know, I am lucky and I live in a tiny bubble and drive very rarely but I </b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><b>still get pissed when people are rude drivers so maybe this one is a no? </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">19. Make a decision on Big International Trip 2020 for our 10 year anniversary! <b>I think we landed on Germany! </b></span></span><br />
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<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-80483168764096841892018-12-31T19:13:00.001-08:002018-12-31T19:13:07.727-08:002018 Year In Review<span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Moved to Houston. Actually started to really like Houston as a place. Ha. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Overall, I'd give myself a solid 92/100 for an A! Goals for next year are below. Mainly, I need to take the reins of feeding my body things it needs and I'll be al good in 2019. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth?</b></span>Not really. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>4. Did anyone close to you die?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">No. We narrowly escaped 2018 without that but with an almost 94 year old grandpa and a 17 year old dog, I do not expect to have the same answer next year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>5. What countries did you visit?</b></span>Belie, twice (my stupid keyboard is broken and I cannot type the right word but it's in Central America). I fell in love with Ambergris Caye. It is my happy place. We're strongly considering buying some land there when we go back, yet again, in Feb. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you didn't have in 2018?</b></span>better self-control over my diet. This year was gawdawful. I know what I need to do and I just did not execute. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>7. What dates from 2018 will be etched upon your memory, and why?</b></span>May 8th - we drove to Houston</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">May 10th - the Peloton was delivered</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Basically the whole month of May. So many firsts and so many lasts and it was just overwhelming. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I got certified to teach at the Bar Method. Which was INTENSE and took from March until Labor Day weekend. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>9. What was your biggest failure?</b></span>Momming. I always feel like I can do better at this whole parenting thing. It's so hard sometimes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>10. Did you suffer illness or injury?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">The Bar Method was my healer. I've been ALL good this year, despite kicking my own ass on the Peloton. They are not playing when they tell you the workout and method was done with a physical therapist. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>11. What was the best thing you bought?</b></span>Scotland trip that we booked on Christmas Day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I think our whole family for handling the move and all of the challenges that came along with it as best we could. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?</b></span>My mom. I feel like she aged 25 years in this past year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>14. Where did most your money go?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Moving. Travel. House things (homeownership kind of sucks sometimes like the time the tree limbs kept breaking in the front yard and it cost $$$$ to have it removed)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?</b></span>Adam finishing school. All our awesome trips. Seeing Hamilton. Calvin Harris. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2016?</b></span>The Middle (from our Cali trip) One Kiss (from my Bar Method intensive in Brooklyn)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?</b></span>a) way happier<br />b) a little fatter, womp<br />c) way richer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I wish I'd gotten in to the bike faster. I'm obsessed now. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of?</b></span>eating crap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>20. How did you spend Christmas?</b></span>Christmas was kind of random! We woke up, opened presents (the last one was surprising my mom and Owen with tickets to see the Rockets). We all got ready for the game, which turned out to be a blast. When we got home, Mom left, which was awesome because she'd moved out only 5 days earlier after living with us for 8 months. Adam and I stayed up and enjoyed ourselves. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>21. Did you fall in love in 2018?</b></span>I don't think I fell in love with it but I really have grown to love our house and neighborhood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>22. What was your favorite TV program?</b></span>Fixer Upper. Adam traveled SO much this year and Owen and I got in a habit of watching Fixer Upper together on Tuesday nights. It was a really good way to spend time with my small guy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Probably not? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>24. What was the best book you read?</b></span>Reading was not a thing that happened for me in 2018. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>25. What was your greatest musical discovery?</b></span></span>Seeing DJs is totally awesome. Calvin Harris was A+ and a top ten moment of the year for me, for sure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>26. What did you want and get?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">the Peloton</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>27. What did you want and not get?</b></span>a really cheap house in Houston, hahaha! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>28. What was your favorite film of 2018?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Mary Poppins Returns, Cray Rich Asians</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I turned 37 this year. It was an average Wednesday. I went to Bar for a class, taught at noon and 5:15. Adam had a dentist appt that afternoon so I met up with him and we went to Kendra Scott together. He got his bonus that day and it was actually good this year so we had a really nice (and full of relief) celebratory dinner at Hopdoddy. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">The situation with my mom being better. She had a rough year. Breaking her foot cost her her independence for months. She had to live with us a lot longer and it cost her a ton of money to do so. She had trouble finding a job. She had trouble buying a condo. It was just a lot to deal with for almost 9 months of the year. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I also could have done without basically the entire month of January. Also, buying and selling houses freaking sucks. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2018?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">In summer: running shorts and a tank (holy hotness, Houston)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">In other seasons: jeans, black shirt, various colors of tieks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>32. What kept you sane?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I learned how to drink cocktails. Margaritas and Moscow Mules being my favorites. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>33. What political issue stirred you the most?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Kavanaugh. The midterms. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>34. Who did you miss?</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span">our dallas friends</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>35. Who was the best new person you met?</b></span>Cora. our swim team people. The staff at WBE. My boss. We got so lucky to stumble upon a great spot here in Houston.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.<br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">That it really always will be ok if you just sit back and let it be ok. January almost broke me but we got out of it alive and now everything is fine. </span></span><br />
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Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1242187620528645943.post-87668990879148210312018-12-27T18:40:00.001-08:002018-12-27T18:40:17.811-08:0019 things to do for 2019ummmmmm. what am I going to do when it's 2056? do 56 things? that seems exorbitant. maybe I should have thought this through better.<br />
<br />
Anyway. Here's the 19 things I aim to do with my life in 2019:<br />
<br />
1. Go to Scotland and London.<br />
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2. Spear fis<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">hing in <span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">Belize.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">3. Take Owen to see our cousins in Boston/NH.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">4. Astros road game in California. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">5. Find a cleaning lady and lawn people. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">6. Ride 5000 miles on my Peloton. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">7. Hit the 1000 ride milestone. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">8. Lose the 15 lbs that I gained in 2018 (I hate that this is on my to do list but it must be done.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">9. Get my Bar Method Century socks. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">10. Save 20% for retirement. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">11. Read 20 books. (God, that is so lame. I better do it. I will read on the bike if I have to.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">12. Three quarters fruits/veggies with my meals. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">13. Either go to or plan a Hawaii trip when SW finally gets it together to fly there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">14. At least one date night or day date a month. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">15. Do some work to make joining the PTO easier for people and create a FB group for existing members. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">16. Two summer staycations.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">17. Work on being a better listener, especially when talking to people with different beliefs than me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">18. Continue to work on letting go of the things I can't change. More serenity prayer. Less road rage. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;">19. Make a decision on Big International Trip 2020 for our 10 year anniversary! </span></span><br />
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<br />Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654383731229979528noreply@blogger.com0