Damage Control

Hi! Happy New Year! We had a great time visiting Aaron. His new place is better than his last so he feels good. He's in Santa Monica since last December and even though his company moved some of their offices back to San Francisco he wants to stay where he is. We would be happy to go back to San Fran though. The traffic is not nearly as bad and we've learned how to use the public transport there. LA is so spread out.

We saw the new Bob Dylan movie with him and went to the California Science Center to tour a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit. It was great. We also saw an IMAX show at the center on the future of cities amidst global warming. It was positive and made me feel so much better about civilization surviving. We also had too many good meals and got to hang out and walk our granddog.

The travel was ok. We got home last Thursday/Friday night at 11 and then had to drive 2.5 hours home so it was a long day. Then I worked Friday-big mistake-won't do that again! I also got some kind of upper respiratory virus for a few days so laid low until Tuesday when I went back to work. I feel ok now.

We didn't do anything on New Year's eve-we've been watching The White Lotus since getting a deal on MAX for 6 months (2.99 a month). It's a satirical show highlighting the differences between classes. It's very funny.

Workout wise I have not done much. I was happy to be able to walk 5 miles in steps a few days in California. I've been doing my stretches and PT strenghthening moves. Maybe today I'll do an upper body? I don't know. I have to work tomorrow. I feel like I might still be recovering from my cold or whatever I had-sleeping in, going to bed early, reading a new book. I'm just taking it easy.

I'm glad you got your hot water heater fixed! I can't believe how much it cost! I hope you recoup a good amount-that is insane. Your hoarder sounds like my hoarder. I went into his room last week and asked him if he needed any help cleaning his room-"No...it's fine". A bit frustrating.

This Sunday my parents, two uncles, aunt, and brother are all coming for dinner. My oldest uncle is not well and the three brothers will have one last visit. So sad. My mom is of course overwhelmed with the visit and I offered to have everyone for dinner so she didn't have to deal with that on top of getting the house ready for their stay. They are driving up Sunday and going home Monday.

Any resolves for the New Year? I am going to try to save more for retirement by not buying any clothes. I'm also cutting back to one cup of coffee and am going to try to limit my alcohol to one serving a day or less. Caffeine and alcohol are not good for bone building and I need to do as much as I can. I'm also gearing up to make homemade pho this year. We loved eating it in California and we love soup so it seems like a good dish to learn.

Glad you have a long weekend ahead!

Beth
 
It sounds like you had a wonderful time. The drive home-not so much. LA traffic is the worse. My company has a large campus there. One of the younger gals I work with, her rent is more than my mortgage for 2 bedroom apartment. Santa Monica is a nice area. Did you go to the pier? It's so nice of you to take on the dinner for your mom. Sorry to hear your uncle is not doing well.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I am putting in as much as affordable into my roth 401K. My company match goes to the pretax portion of my 401K. I have been reading some financial books as I gear up for retirementin the next 5 to 7 years. Well, I listen to them on audible or spotify. I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi is very good. I also read Vivian Tu's Rich AF. The one I just finished listening to is The Millionaire Next Door. I also like James Conole on youtube. He's a certfied financial planner and founder of Root Financial. He provides a lot of withdrawal scenarios and is very easy to listen to.

Let's see, Thursday was a full body buy in-super fun and challenging. Friday was back and shoulders, and I got to use my landmine. It was also a very good workout, I marked it as a favorite so I can come back to it later. Today was, bi's, tri's, shoulders, a bit of legs and cardio. It was a nice mix.

Not much going on here. I did clean part of my office. We have so many bills due in Jan-the annual condo fees, my car insurance, HOA dues etc. Just by paying all those, taking care of filing and throwing away/shredding a bunch of junk was enough to make good headway.

I have massage scheduled for this afternoon. It is someone in the neighborhood who will come to my house. She is offering a neighborhood special, 60 min massage for $70 which is very good.

Did you see that Cathe had knee replacement. I'm looking forward to reading more about that.

Enjoy your family this weekend!
 
Another work week is behind me. I know I just had a break from work but already feel like I need another one. I'm not really enjoying what I'm doing right now, and the fear of being laid off is just very stressful.
I did workout on Tuesday, Chest/abs and some cardio. Today GVT legs, and it was brutal. I struggle with regular workouts when I'm working.

I met friend that I used to work with for lunch today. She is a bit older, and lost her husband this past year. We visited for 3 hours, it was so nice. We are planning on getting together again.

How is Aaron? Did his apartment builiding survive? I know from the Marshall Fire we had here a few years ago, that the smoke damage to homes can make then unihabitable. Something when the electronics burn leaves something in the walls that is very dangerous. I'm praying for your family.

How was the dinner? What are you up to?

bbl
 
Hi! Thank goodness-Aaron is ok. He's back at his apartment. I haven't had a chance to talk to him about the smoke damage. I plan on calling him later today.

All is pretty good here. It's nice to be home and I'm planning on doing some deep cleaning this weekend-the cobwebs are taking over! The dinner went well. It was wonderful seeing my uncles and everyone.

I did see Cathe's post about her knee. It will be interesting to see how her workouts are affected. I hope she heals well!

Let's see-I've got a new puzzle going-it's of the Italian coast. It should take me a while. I also got organized for my next photo album. I finished the one of Dan's extended family and am going to start Dan and my album. I can't really do my extended family since my parents have most of the pictures I'd need. We have a wedding album so the album will be after we get married and through the kids' childhoods. I'm going to try to do it. I get awful emotional seeing the pictures of when they were little!

I think focusing on weights is great. You get your heart rate up with heavy weights and it's good for you stress. Just do what you can. I'm sorry work is so stressful and hope you get some relief from the worry about getting laid off soon. I heard the job market is really good so maybe you won't lose your job?

Off to get this Saturday started!

Have a great weekend. I wish you and I could have lunch together!

Beth
 
How was your week? Not a whole lot going on here. I'm doing two upper and two lower body weight workouts a week and throwing in a walk or pool when I can. I'm feeling pretty good-my hamstring is still super tight so I'm doing a lot of foam rolling for it.

Been baking bread, playing cards, working and reading. Last weekend I got my kitchen thoroughly cleaned (no soccer on!). Soccer is on this weekend so I just plan on making chili, working out/stretching, and getting the usual chores done like laundry in between the matches.

I'm trying to plan a trip for my 60th birthday in March. I took a week off and am looking at Florida gulf places(Fort Meyers, Sarasota area). Trying to get DH to book it.

Have a great weekend!

Beth
 
I didn't realize I hadn't checked in for a while. The first couple weeks of January were good work wise. Not too much going on. That has all changed and I just don't handle all this stress like I used too. It's really becoming too much for me.

I'm getting in 3 to 5 workouts each week and feel pretty good about that. There were a few days where snow shoveling was my workout. I'm so sick of the cold and snow. We are supposed to have a warmup this week, enough to melt the snow that has been hanging around the past 2 weeks. I've been dealing with pretty significant hip pain. I finally made an appt. for it.

DS1 and I did a 3 day juice cleanse. It was pretty expensive, but the juices were so good. There was only one I didn't care for. I wasn't hungry at all during the cleanse. I have a really nice juicer and could make the juices myself. Purchasing, prepping, and juicing all the veggies is pretty expensive and time consuming.

Sounds like you are keeping yourself busy, and enjoying your time off when you have it. A trip sounds wonderful. Somewhere warm, sunny and relaxing sounds perfect!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend.

ttyl
 
Hi! I hear you about the cold and snow and dark days of winter-harder and harder to stay warm! I heard yesterday that it's only 42 days from then that it would still be light at 7 PM. So hang on.

We ended up booking a 4 night stay at a beach on the gulf coast side of Florida in March. We fly out Monday at 6 AM-get to Florida at 11 and then leave Friday around noon. It will be nice to just relax and enjoy the beach. We had some leftover miles to use from our cancelled Italy trip (my back/hip/foot just not good enough to go at that time) so we had to use them or lose them by April. We went to see Aaron at Christmas to use the rest of the miles. So it worked out. I've been really wanting to go to the beach. We usually go to Delaware for a few days, but haven't gone since September 2020. As someone who lived at the beach every summer during college I miss it!

Not much going on here at home. Things are not good again between my parents and myself. It's exhausting. Apparently they are narcissists. They really don't like each other and I think they blame me for their unhappiness (had to get married). We're not talking again. DH wants me to just stop trying to accept the way things are with their decisions and move on. So naturally I'm not sleeping well at all. I get about 4-5 hours and then toss for 3-4 hours. I think my mom doesn't want me to be happy and that's why she brings stuff that's hurtful up all the time. Our mutual lawyer flat out told us at bridge last week that she tried to talk to them when they did their will and asked them if they were sure about only giving my brother the house and how that would make me feel and they both responded they did not care. So that set me off again. Apparently she has talked to my brother in law about it (they are friends) so he knows everything and he brought it up at cards last week. What a mess. They are jealous that DH and I have had a good, happy marriage and have lived in a nice house. It's such a difficult situation.

Otherwise, things are good. My leg issue is manageable with my stretching, foam rolling, and strengthening work. Work is fine and I have Florida to look forward to!

Hope your week is going well!

Beth
 
No workouts to report for this past week. My job is exhausting and I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. We have ridiculous deadlines that are not attainable. We've brought it up to our managers but they are also being pressured by higher ups. I've been asked to do work that I do not have any experience with. I don't have a programming background and with our deadlines, this is not the time to learn. I've been working 10 to 12 hour days. I'm not sleeping very well either.

My sweet mother-in-law has invited the girls and me for lunch today. I think my nieces and SIL will be there too. A girls lunch she said. It should be a nice day. I do plan on working out this morning before we head over. I really need the break of working out during my work day, but it's not happening. It also makes it hard to follow a rotation.

I'm glad you have your birthday trip planned. Something fun and relaxing to look forward to. I'm so sorry to about the strained relationship with your parents. It almost sounds like they are jealous that you are happy. We should all want our children to be happy. Maybe your brother will make things right when the time comes. Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but my stepmom changed after my dad passed. Although my Dad wanted the house to go to us 3 kids, she left it to my brother. I was angry about for a while, but it doesn't bother now. My brother did mention to me that one of his kids thinks she's getting the house. Honestly, someone gave it to him-why wouldn't he pass it to his kids. I don't really understand why he wouldn't, but I chose not to discuss it with him. We don't always agree on things.

Enjoy the weekend!
 
Thank you for understanding. You would not believe how much better I have been sleeping since I have let things go with my parents. The turmoil I am in trying to accept things is just too much for my mental health. Aaron and I had a long talk about it this past week and it's nice to have his support. My brother in law and husband support me as well, so I'm feeling a lot better. DH wants me to not cave (again). He feels like they are toxic and that we're too old to deal with it anymore and need to focus on today. I don't know how this will impact my retirement goals. I'm still aiming for 62. It'd be a lot easier in a country with national health care.

I read somewhere that one option for workouts is to do what feels good that day-so if it's cold and and wintry-do weights, if it's sunny and pleasant-walk or bike. I'm basically trying to do something for 20 minutes and if it goes longer-great. If not-so be it. Sometimes 20 minutes on the indoor bike is plenty! It sounds like you're super busy at work and I'm pretty sure all that concentrating burns calories. Hopefully you can get back in a rhythm again soon.

Just rolling through the week. It's super cold here again-front after front of frigid temps. I've been making soup and bread and trying to eat enough calcium foods. Started a good book by Tana French called They Wych Elm. It's a murder mystery set in Ireland.

Hope your week is going well.

Beth
 
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