Light at the End of the Tunnel
COVID Vaccines
It sounds like there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to COVID. There are multiple vaccines that seem promising, which is excellent news!
My brother-in-law, who works in a hospital, will be getting the vaccine next week. People like my husband and I will likely have to wait until spring to get vaccinated. That’s fine, there are obviously people out there that are in more need of it than we are.
Family Visit
My sister and my nephew, Stephen, were at my parents’ house in Iola, my hometown this past weekend, so I decided to go and visit on Friday. I hadn’t seen my favorite little ginger (Stephen) for awhile.
It was a good visit. It was just the original four of us, plus Stephen. Just missing the husbands. At times it almost felt like back in the day before Erica (sister) or I went off to college and eventually moved out permanently.
Walks
Mental Health
It has been unusually warm (over 70!) for the past week! That is unheard of for November in Wisconsin. I have taken advantage of the gorgeous days by taking walks each day.
The weather has been good for my mental health, especially this past week with all of the Election drama. All of the walks I have taken help me clear my head a bit.
On Wednesday, the day after the election, I took Charlie over to Voyageur Park and we walked around all of the pathways. It was so pretty, despite most of the leaves being gone.
Election Week
Last Tuesday was Election Day.
It gave me plenty of anxiety, just as I knew it would. I sent messages to my Talkspace therapist when I was in the thick of my anxiety around midnight on Election Day.
I had to focus on my mental health a lot last week while the country waited for ballots to be counted. There were a ton of mail-in ballots to count! Joe Biden is officially the most voted-for presidential candidate in history.
Though it was mathematically unlikely, he could’ve still lost the election because of the Electoral College. The Electoral College should be abolished. It has no purpose.
Halloween 2020
Last weekend was Halloween!
This was the first year in some time that I didn’t dress up for Halloween because I didn’t go to Halloween Zumba. I’ve had memories from past Halloween Zumba pop up on my Facebook timeline. They made me kinda sad.
End of an Era
I mentioned in my previous post that one of the Zumba instructors, “S”, in my community of Zumba friends announced that she is retiring from Zumba next week. She was the only reason that I was going to possibly hold on to my Y membership since her class was the only class I went to anymore.
In my last post, Election Day & Covid Thoughts, I wrote about how I had pretty much decided that I was going to switch to a new gym. The ONE thing that was keeping me at the Y was that my Zumba friends all went there.
Election Day & COVID Thoughts
I am glad I started virtual therapy a few weeks ago with TalkSpace. I knew my anxiety would be leveling up as Election Day got closer.
I want all of this to be over. The election, COVID-19 (which unfortunately won’t go away after the election), racial inequality. All of it.
Even when the election is over, I expect there will some civil unrest, no matter who wins.
When COVID gets under control, I don’t think anyone’s life will return back to whatever “normal” was for them pre-COVID. I know mine won’t.
The Girl He Used to Know-Book Review
Yesterday, I put off work in order to finish a novel I started the night before. I usually wait until the evening, after I’ve gotten some work things done before I sit down to read, but I was itching to get back to the story.
The book was The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves.
Obviously, I enjoyed the story.
Here is a book description from Goodreads
Changes at The Game Capital
Changes are happening at The Game Capital and they are happening FAST!
Just a few weeks ago, we had about 6 staff members, not including myself or Jeff.
We now have 21 staff members (including myself and Jeff)!
Wow. That’s crazy.
And we are working on hiring a couple more!
Game On! Diet Competition Update
Game On! Diet competition update:
The first week was easier than I thought it would be. To be honest, I was excited to be able to eat right after I woke up. I was intermittent fasting before I started the competition, so I was used to waiting until 1 pm to be able to eat after having quit eating by 9 pm the day before.
“Pussy Pants”
In February, we had taken a vacation to Cancun with a big group of some friends from Zumba. This gave Jeff a chance to get to know everyone. And, for everyone else to get to know him, since he hadn’t gone to many gatherings with me before this. He’s also a little shy when he first meets people. He gets over it quick, though!
Talkspace
At the beginning of this COVID quarantine, I was nervous about the virus, just like everyone else. But, I won’t lie, I also kind of enjoyed staying home. Especially since almost everyone else was staying home as well.
I did have a feeling that things wouldn’t get back to “normal” easily. I knew that once things started to shift back to normalcy, I would likely have some anxiety issues. Due to change, if nothing else.
You know, back when we were “all in this together”...
Kate’s Simply Skinny Sausage Supper- The Game On! Diet
Sharing another favorite recipe from the Game On! Diet Book! I am finding that I have liked every recipe I’ve tried from this book. I also love that they are all pretty easy to cook. That’s the only type of cooking I like to do!
Aversion
Moist.
A lot of people don’t like hearing that word. I don’t understand why, I actually have no problem with it (I just said it out loud 3 times to confirm that it doesn’t bother me).
Apparently, there are people who have a physical aversion to “moist”, among other words. I can’t say that I have ever had a physical response to a word. I HATE the “N” word, but I don’t have a physical aversion to it.
I may not have Word Aversion to any words, but there are a few words that irritate me.
Krista’s Quick and Easy Breakfast - The Game On! Diet
I started The Game On! diet along with some friends a couple of days ago. I have tried a few of the recipes included in the book, The Game On! Diet: Kicking Your Friend’s Butt While Shrinking Your Own.
So far, my favorite recipe is Krista’s Quick and Easy Breakfast. Not only is it actually quick and easy, it is also really yummy. And it includes bread! Major bonus for me.
Game On! Diet Competition
I started a new diet on Tuesday. It is based on the book, The Game On! Diet: Kick Your Friend's Butt While Shrinking Your Own.
A friend of mine from Zumba did this diet recently to get rid of the “COVID 17” she put on during the COVID-19 quarantine.
A group of 8 of us split into teams of 4. For the next 4 weeks, we have to abide by the meal plan, water intake, and exercise plan. We also have to get rid of one bad habit and pick up a new good habit.
This is a points-based game. You get points for eating each meal (correctly), drinking 3 liters of water/day, exercising for 20 minutes, and so on.
The Charlie Chronicles (Part 5)
I was on my exercise bike this morning when the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center finally called with Charlie’s biopsy results.
I ran upstairs to get better reception.
Dr. Leonard, the vet, let me know that the tumor was unfortunately malignant.
Not the news we wanted.
The Charlie Chronicles (Part 4)
We got updates from the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center (FVARC) throughout the day letting us know Charlie was doing well, eating a bit, getting love from the staff, and spending time in the sun.
The staff member who seemed to be spending the most time with him told us that he would probably be ready to come home the next day, assuming things kept progressing as they were.
YAY!
The Charlie Chronicles (Part 3)
We got a call from the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center at around 2 am. Charlie was apparently not as receptive to the blood transfusion as they were hoping, so they were going to try different blood (I think). They needed our permission to proceed.
They got it.
Around 10 am, we got the text that Charlie was headed to surgery. We had been told it would take about hours. So, for the next two hours, we tried to busy ourselves around the house.
The Charlie Chronicles (Part 2)
The following day (Sept 2), the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center (FVARC) called us and we learned that it was indeed a tumor they had found.
They asked if we wanted to proceed with an exploratory surgery to see what was happening with the tumor/mass.
They told me that they may find that the tumor had spread and he may not have a lot of time.
It could also be benign, and hopefully, something that could be taken out and biopsied.
It is an expensive procedure, and they said choosing to euthanize was an understandable decision.
I cried.
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