Goodbye 2025!!

 Well geez, I sure have been a slacker on my blog!    

So here is to the one and only entry for 2025, hard to believe but true!    

This has been a very good year and we are blessed beyond measure.   My business has had a record breaking year and I have managed to keep my life/work balance, so I'm not killing myself with work which was a common theme prior to the pandemic and prior to moving to Nevada.   I love what I do and am blessed to have such amazing clients, many of whom are friends and family!

Line Dancing - blessed to teach twice a week in our Community and share my love of line dancing with many friends and neighbors.  I'm also grateful for the dance community in Reno that we have become a part of, I hate that we have not seen most of them since the middle of November but we've been so busy otherwise that we have not been dancing outside of the classes that I teach.  I know we will get to dance with everyone again real soon!    We attended the first annual Line Dance conference held in Reno, called "BLISS" and run by the two most wonderful dance friends who are amazing dancers, choreographers, event planners.  The event was a HUGE success, so naturally we can't wait to attend every year.   During this annual event, I entered 6 dances into the Choreography Competition, though I did not win or place, I gained valuable feedback from judges who are well respected choreographers, dancers who I highly admire, so it was a great experience.  Heck you miss all the times you don't try! 

Bill's work is going well, though I can tell he is itching to retire and he's not looking forward to a longer commute once his shop is relocated to Minden.  We are hoping to get our finances in order sooner so perhaps he can write a new ticket for his employment until Medicare kicks in.  We will be in such a better position once our house is paid in full and that is really not that far off, we've been making great progress in paying it off sooner than planned.   Hoping we can continue on this path.

Our 2025 travels have taken us to several places.  We enjoyed a long weekend in Puerto Vallarta in the early Spring and stayed at the Hotel Mousai.  We soaked in our Vitamin D and Sea, while sleeping in, enjoying fabulous food and sunsets that only Puerto Vallarta can deliver.    In May, we flew to Maui for a week with our friends Julie & Craig.  We used our timeshare at the Westin Nanea, had great weather and saw parts of Maui through Julie & Craig's eyes as they have gone for years and knew of some hidden spots for dining.  We had evenings with games and puzzles and mornings serenaded by their Ukulele playing.  Daily walks along the beachfront walking path, all in all, a great vacation!   Bonus, with a night prior in the Bay Area, we were able to do a quick meet up with Daniela who was visiting from Italy and got to see Deanna & Dave too.   I traveled to Vegas in June for my annual Travel Leaders Network conference and then we spent a few nights in South Lake Tahoe to celebrate our Anniversary and Bill's birthday with two great shows at Harvey's Outdoor Theatre:  Kane Brown and then Earth, Wind & Fire.

In July, Jeanne & Mike were supposed to come visit but just had too much going on and needed to cancel.  I flew to Boise for Suzanne's mom's 90th birthday party and I am sure glad that I did.   Though all talks were about how she will plan her 100th birthday party when the time comes, sadly she passed away unexpectedly in November.   The end of July, we traveled to Sonoma for the Drag Races but also spent the weekend with Robin at her Sonoma house with Fred.  We enjoyed strolling around downtown Sonoma, met up with the Enes family for a day at Anaba Winery, played games at the house and really enjoyed a fantastic weekend together. 

As soon as BLISS dance event was done in August, we were in the air flying to Lisbon Portugal for our 2 week adventure with the Regency Travel Group.  We spent 3 nights in Lisbon, then traveled to Porto where we boarded the Ama Vida River Cruise for 7 nights and ended with 3 nights in Madrid.   We visited amazing places along the way with some of the highlights being Salamanca, Toledo, Port Tasting in Porto and just some great times with a great group of travelers.   

Several weeks later, I was off to NYC to meet up with my gal pals to collectively celebrate our 60th birthdays.  I was able to spend a day with cousins Jeanne, Ray & Greta.  We took a fabulous Architectural Boat tour around Manhattan.  Super informative, we had great weather, enjoyed some appetizers and cocktails and conversation together.  I enjoyed a few dinners with the gal pals and we had a fantastic Brunch and Show to see "Death Becomes Her" but in the middle of the trip, I literally took a trip off uneven sidewalk and landed pretty hard on my knee...was convinced by Bill and my friend Julie over the phone that I needed to go to Urgent Care.  Yep, they were right.  Seventeen stitches later, a wrap and a cane and I was back at the hotel.  I ended up spending Friday night and all of Saturday by myself in the hotel resting and elevating. Not the trip that I signed up for, but I am grateful that I was able to enjoy what I did enjoy and that I didn't break anything.   This was a first for me as I've never been to an Urgent Care and I've never had stitches before!   It all healed well and I'm walking and dancing without any problems.  

In November, I turned 60 and that did not go unnoticed or uncelebrated!   If you know me, you know that I celebrate and I celebrate BIG!   I was given a huge party at our Clubhouse, hosted by Bill & Robin.  They hired Audioboxx Band, catered food by Carolina BBQ, ordered a cake and cupcakes from Kimberly (our cake gal), had several helpers who all made this such a special event.  Robin's kids Mark & Delia came up from Sacramento and helped with balloons, Fred bartended and had help from Leslie & Dan.  We had about 95 people in attendance and about 15 of those were from our local dance family who live outside of the community.  The band played very danceable music and then played my list during band breaks for the line dancers, it was a perfect party.  No detail missed.   It was the first time in my adult life that someone has planned a party for me.  It was not a surprise as I am not very easy to surprise (sorry)...but boy was it FUN!   

We flew to the Bay Area the week of Thanksgiving, went to Monday Night Football, had dinner with my Pams Path to Travel team, had a birthday lunch with Deanna & Dave, a birthday dinner with Jamie & Ron, Thanksgiving with the family in Walnut Creek and then the day after flew to Miami to start the Birthday Cruise vacation with 25 friends/family.   We boarded Celebrity Beyond for a 7 night cruise and had our Regency/Reno family and our Football/Tailgate family on this cruise to celebrate my birthday and to also celebrate Denise's 60th birthday during the cruise.  We had great weather, calm seas, wonderful food, entertainment, service- really a perfect cruise from start to finish.  

We got back and a week later, I was off to Vegas for a girl's trip that was gifted to me by Robin to see Zac Brown Band at the Sphere - what an amazing 24 hours, literally!  We spent one night at the Wynn, had dinner at Delilah's, saw the show, had some after show cocktails, breakfast the next morning and flew home.

We have also had our trips to the Bay Area for baseball and football games, we had a High School graduation and a 60th birthday party for a friend and celebrated Rob's 30th birthday.  I managed to schedule 3 celebrations in one day starting from Belmont to Walnut Creek to Oakland to San Mateo and back to our hotel in Belmont.    We went to a Bay Area dance family event, sort of a pop-up Saddle Rack event, though I don't think it was as successful as they had hoped as subsequent events were canceled due to low ticket sales, it was still good to see our dance fam! 

Life in Reno this year has consisted of many gatherings, celebrations of birthdays, of life, walks outside, rock painting, cookie decorating, our friends from the Bay Area came to play for our Rodeo Kickoff party (Rob Tracy Band) and my sister came to visit a few times.   We had my brother & Rob stay with us for Easter and Christmas and of course my sister & Roger were here for the holidays too staying at the casino. 

It's been an amazing year, no wonder I never had time to blog!! LOL  

I had plans of losing 60 pounds by the time I turned 60 and I was on track until the August-November vacations and injury to my knee happened, but I've made it through all of this with only a 5 pound gain (most of this happened in the 2 weeks of the knee) and now that the holiday are almost behind us, I will get back on track again and lose the 60 while I am 60.   60 sounds so weird, it looks weird, I don't feel it and I know that I don't look it but dayum....60.    Here's to making the most of 2026, staying happy and healthy!! 

Cheers! 

Cruises that I've Taken - Part 2

Well, I had another blog post that had all my cruises listed and I was about to add to it and could not find the edit button.  Not sure if there is a time limit as to how long you have to edit after the last touch on a blog post....but we're going to try this again.   

My previous blog post can be found here:   Cruises 1-54,   Ironically the last cruise in that blog post was pre-pandemic - so maybe it's supposed to be that way! 

Our cruising took awhile to come back, first the industry was shut down for close to 18 months and when cruising resumed, there were lots of rules in place that didn't make it very attractive and personally I was in the middle of an inter-state move of house, home and business and then putting lots of extra money into the new home.   We finally resumed our cruising in 2023 and hopefully, I can continue to add to this blog post! 

55.   August 22, 2023 -AMA Waterways-AMA Prima - 7 day River Cruise- my first River Cruise from Amsterdam to Luxembourg.  (Bill's 44th cruise)

56.  April 12, 2024 - Explora Journeys - Explora I - 6 day Coastal Cruise from LA to Vancouver.  Brand new cruise line, all ocean view, all suite, small ship with 900 passengers! 

57.  June 23, 2024 - RCCL Harmony of the Seas - 7 day Western Caribbean from Galveston - Bill's 60th birthday Cruise with a group of 19 friends/family.

58.  August 23, 2025 - AMA WATERWAYS - AMA VIDA - Flavors of Portugal - Porto to Madrid

59.  November 30, 2025 - CELEBRITY Beyond - 7 day Eastern Caribbean from Miami - Pam's 60th Birthday Cruise with a group of 25.

60.  May 11, 2026 - OCEANIA Nautica - 11 day Isles of the Mediterranean,  Athens to Rome - My 60th Lifetime Cruise- WOO HOO!!! (at the age of 60, I might add)

Happy 2023!!

 

Well, here we are in the year 2023 already!!  Where does the time go?   It's been awhile since my last post and though I have a gazillion other things that I should be doing right now, I feel inclined to blog.   I have somehow managed to go on a two week vacation, return in time for Thanksgiving and birthday festivities, live LARGE the entire month of December with Social Functions, throw a Christmas party for 30 people, bake countless dozens of cookies (& eat more than I care to share), host family for Christmas Day and enjoy family visiting for a week after.   LOTS of eating and LOTS of drinking.    Though I've seen the scale creep in the wrong direction--key word here is creep!  

When I left on vacation, I had just hit the 20 pound loss mark and I had close to 100 consecutive days of 10k steps or more.  After Thanksgiving, the weigh loss was at 19 pounds and today in 2023, I'm at 18 pounds--but I had a blast the last almost 2 months, so I'm calling this a win!  My 10k a day steps got derailed in December and I've had a hard time getting motivated to resume that goal, in part due to Reno weather and a few snow storms.  I'm terrified of slipping on ice, I feel as though this is the equivalent of tripping over uneven pavement, which I've done often in the Bay Area--we don't have uneven pavement in a new development--but in winter, we do have ice from time to time. 

I know that I will get back on track and step one is attending my support group meeting this afternoon and I am sure that I will find that I'm not alone, we have all had our challenges the last several weeks/months.   

Weight Watchers did toss me into a tailspin, as they always do at the end of the year, they make program changes and always have some fancy reason as to why- but when the changes impact one of your favorite 0 point foods and you lose 3 points per day, it plays with your mind.  I've decided that my 0 point food is still going to be 0 points- it was working just fine before, and losing the 3 points per day would not be as big a deal if I was MOVING more and getting my 10k steps per day, I can earn a lot of activity points, so it's just a matter of making it happen and I will. 

We had a great two months of vacation and holidays.  It was so special to have my family here for Christmas in our new home and I think everyone had a great time.   Our home is now almost complete on the inside, I guess for all intents and purposes it is done on the inside- we finally have our pendant lights, chandelier, fans in the office and bedroom and all switches changed over to Lutron--thanks to my brother and nephew who worked hard on these tasks the day after Christmas.   I no longer need to hit 3 different switches in different locations to turn the lights off at night- I can simply click "all off" in the app.  YAY!  Though I guess those are now lost steps! LOL 

We had a HUGE snow storm on New Years Eve, enough that ended up canceling our party at the Clubhouse but that was just fine, we walked through a foot of snow to our neighbor's house across the street for a party with the best neighbors...and I started 2023 with my 1st ever snow angel...those are harder than they look!   It was magical though watching the snow fall all day long on 12/31 and we took down the Christmas trees and decorations inside while enjoying the snowfall.   It'll probably be a month before we can take in the outside lights as they are buried under a foot of snow and frozen cords! 

January is usually a let down type of month, but I am looking forward to at least one and maybe two more trips to the Bay Area for 49er games and playoffs.  When your team plays in January it adds a little more excitement to the otherwise blah month.  

I'm hopeful for a great year of business, everyone seems to want to go to Europe this year and I am working on several European trips.   Though I am busy, my goal for 2023 overall is to maintain a reasonable work/life balance--putting myself first so that I can become healthier and skinnier (I hate that word) but I would like to be down 40 pounds by the time we go to Europe in August and that will be me well into ONEderland.  That's only 5 pounds per month, I may actually be able to be down 50 pounds but I think 40 is a reasonable goal. 

I'm still very undecided if I want to return to teaching classes at the gym.  I do miss my Les Mills BodyPump, BodyCombat and BodyFlow and have considered joining a local gym to go take classes.  My primary certification and CPR expire in March, so I need to make decisions very soon about this to either renew these or let them go.   Decisions, decisions! 

Ok- back to work!! 

Attitude Adjusted

 

Last year, when I knew we would have some sort of "normal" routine once Bill's work moved to Reno, I packed workout gear, I packed my Body Pump equipment- thinking that I would have space in the AirBnB to start working out from "home".  Well, the place looked much larger in the photos and though it was an adequate space for us to live in temporarily, there was definitely no space to work out! 

I wanted to try walking around the neighborhood, but it was all so new and though I knew it was a safe neighborhood, I was also a bit fearful that I might get lost or not find my way back home.  Then on July 20, 2021, when Bill got home, I suggested that we walk to Safeway to get the few things that we had on the list.  I STRUGGLED BIG TIME!!

I felt so out of shape, I was huffing and puffing and wondered how much of the huffing and puffing was the 4000 elevation that I'm not used to, the extra weight that I was carrying, the lack of activity that had been my life for two years or perhaps a combination of it all.   I was in tears and in pain walking back.  This was just over a mile roundtrip and it took forever, but I kept pushing.   But I also felt very defeated and did not start going for walks again until 13 months later.  

Now I've been walking or dancing or doing something to get my 10k steps in daily and have been consistently doing so for 8+ weeks.  In fact, today will be my 60th consecutive day of 10k or more steps per day.  I might not always like to get up and go for my walk, but once I get walking I love it.   I'm no longer huffing or puffing and I'm feeling more fit.   I range between 2.5-3 miles most days and if for some reason I don't make it out to walk, I end up doing laps in the house to get my steps.   My longest walk so far this year was 3.83 miles and it felt great.  I wanted to walk more but didn't have the time. Bill is walking with me on the weekends, he's so supportive and I'm so blessed to have him as my partner in all things! 

I've also been on Weight Watchers for 8 weeks and have lost 16.2 pounds and 9+ inches.  I weight myself regularly but decided to measure once a month and am about due for another measurement.  The program has been easy for me.  I have learned to make choices and decided that I'm choosing a smaller version of myself instead of that cookie or that bag of chips.  I am measuring everything!!  Each night, Bill will ask if I am having a glass of wine and how many ounces.  I want to fit into the numerous pairs of jeans and shorts that I've hung onto for years.   I've been lucky that even though my weight was out of control, I've still been "healthy" as far as all the tests go with blood work and my Doctor has said that I was just a "fit fat person"--but eventually my luck with that was going to run out.   I'm loving my new life here in Reno and want to be around a long time to enjoy it.  We're not getting any younger!!!  I'm not even sure how it's possible that I will be 57 in a little over a month.  I feel as though I was just 40 and meeting Bill yesterday!!! 

I was way overdue for an Attitude Adjustment and needed the kick in the ass to get moving again and I attribute my success to our Weight Management Group in our new Community.  Even those who are not in the group, who know that I'm doing WW are being so supportive.  We had an invite for dinner over a friend's house and she said, "I was thinking of having grilled meat for dinner to make fajitas- will that work into your WW plan" - sometimes it's the little things like this that make you realize who you can count on for support! 

Well it is just after midnight and I must get some sleep- that's another thing- I am consistently getting 7-8 hours of sleep almost every night and I've had very little caffeine in 8 weeks.  Let's face it- Cappuccino for 5 points of 6 ounces of wine for 5 points, choices.  Priorities. 😂🍷  I want to get my walk in tomorrow morning before 11am Water Aerobics....which I have to say that I am enjoying water aerobics.  It's a great workout, easy on the joints and adds some resistance training to my routine.  The Body Pump bar will be coming out soon, I miss it and need to start doing that work out! 

1st Entry from a Nevada!!!

😲😲😲Wow, it truly has been a long time since I last blogged!    Well, we are officially Nevadans!  LOL😂😍

2021 was a long year as we waited and watched our new home being built, out initial November-December move in date was shifted twice and we ended up closing 1/31/22.   As luck would have it, we closed on the sale of our Redwood City home 11/1/21 and we had 3 free months of rent back through the end of January, so we had one simple door to door move ~ just as I had hoped it would be.  Mother Nature cooperated and though she dumped tons of snow in Reno the week between Christmas & New Years, she held off with more snow until mid-February, so we could get all settled! 

✈🏨We did two mini-vacations in 2021, mainly due to our focus needing to be on the home build and Bill's shop being short-staffed with the move, he was not keen on taking off too much time.   We spent 2 nights at the Ritz Carlton Truckee for our Anniversary in June and that was a delightful stay, we spent the afternoon sitting by the beach of Lake Tahoe, enjoying the beautiful scenery and witnessed another couple's proposal!   Then in August, we surprised our friend Lisa for her 50th birthday and crashed her Disneyland trip!  She was surprised and we had a great time helping her over this milestone!  We did spend a week in the Bay Area over the holidays that turned into a little bit longer due to the Reno snow storms and our canceled flight, but we made the best of it and packed up the kitchen! 

We LOVE Reno!!  We LOVE our neighborhood!! We LOVE our new neighbors/friends!! We LOVE our new home!!   Living in an AirBnB from June-January was tough and I did spend the majority of my time in Reno, the drive was easy most of the time and I'd go home every other week for 2-3 nights to collect the mail, get my nails done, sometimes get my hair done and always planned lunches/dinners with friends.  We spent the majority of our non-working hours at the Clubhouse, meeting new people and hanging out with new friends.  🍷🍸🍹

I started teaching Line Dancing at the Clubhouse and became the group leader for two resident groups:  The Travel Group and the Line Dancing Group.  I've organized a European River Cruise for 2023 and have 55 of our neighbors signed up, we have some other trip ideas to bring to fruition soon.   I've choreographed my very first Line Dance just a few weeks ago.  We had a live concert at our Clubhouse this past weekend by a local artist, Jake Jacobson and when I knew he would be coming, I listened to his songs and decided to choreograph a dance to one of his songs.  It was SOOOOOO COOL to see people on the dance floor, dancing my dance to a song being performed live by the original artist.   The dance is called, "I'm getting over you" and it's danced to his song, "Speed of Neon Light" and it is listed on the Copperknob website of line dances!   💃💃😍😍

We have spent most of this year (2022) enjoying our new home, new friends and new community.  There is always something going on:  Bocce Ball, Bunco, Wine Tasting, Excursions to local events.  We've gone to see the Van Gogh Exhibit, we had a Catamaran Mimosa Cruise on Lake Tahoe, we've toured Fallon Naval Base, we had a group movie night to see Top Gun,  Memorial Day party, 4th of July Party,  Concerts at the Amphitheatre...the list goes on.  Plenty of days poolside for sure and the weather has been wonderful this summer.  2021 was not a great summer, lots of fires miles and miles away that gave us unhealthy air for weeks at a time!   So blessed that did not happen this summer! 

We have made a few trips to the Bay Area for weddings!! 💒💒We went to Petaluma one weekend for Kimmy & Ryan's wedding, managed to sneak a visit in with childhood friend Laura (John) and a visit to the Charles M Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa.  I've always wanted to go, but it was always so far away.    We had another weekend in Redwood City/Morgan Hill to see our dear friend Tiina marry Rob Tracy and that was special as we got to spend time with some of our Dance Family!  We also snuck in some time with Diane/Mike and my brother!   Then the big trip was to Kentucky for nephew Michael's wedding followed by a week in Nashville.  We had a great time!!    We have a few more trips to the Bay Area planned coming up in the next month to see a few⚾ Giants and 🏈49er games and we will get to see some friends as well!   Our next big trip will be in November when we go to Mexico for 10 days and then spend some time in the Bay Area for Thanksgiving. 

I am FINALLY getting back to ME and my FITNESS.   I've been teaching Line Dancing twice a week and counting calories for what feels like forever but just not seeing any movement in the weight from the last 5-6 years (the last 3 years don't count)...but in any case, it's time to get serious and do whatever I can to lose the extra weight.   I joined Weight Watchers again,  it worked well 22 years ago and I hope that I can make it work again.   There is also a Weight Management Group in my community and the support is already amazing.  We all agree that it's very hard to stay on track when living in such a social community, so we're all learning on what works and what does not.  The Support is AMAZING!!  My first week, I lost 3.8 pounds and I'm back to working out regularly!!  

Last week my workouts were amazing and felt so good!  Monday- Line Dancing, Tuesday-Zumba & Yoga, Wednesday-3 mile walk and Water Aerobics, Thursday- Zumba & Yoga, Friday- Line Dancing, Saturday-Water Aerobics and 30 minute walk, Sunday - Line Dancing.  This week, I'm off to another good start with Monday Line Dancing & a 40 minute walk with a friend and today I really needed to sleep in, so I busted out my BodyCombat 👊video and did the 50 minute workout and I didn't DIE!!  I feel as though I'm getting into a groove again.

We have found a place to go dancing and have been dancing on Sunday nights which has worked out very well at the Pure Country Canteen. There are still a few other spots that we need to check out soon but happy to be on a dance floor again! 

Labor Day weekend is coming up, I'm not sure where the summer went and time keeps flying by so quickly.  There will be a party at the Clubhouse with live music in the Amphitheatre Saturday.  Our friends Suzy & Charles are coming into town Sunday so we will get to see them all day Sunday and may join them Monday for the Rib Fest at the Nugget.    Speaking of friends who have visited, we have had very few people actually use our guest room but we have had day visits from Jamie & Ron,  Diane, Mike, Nolan & Brooklyn,  Brad & his family.  Bill's childhood friend Joe has stayed a few nights at the end of his quarterly business trips, my sister spent 2 nights with us in July and our friend Robin has made the most use out of the guest room because the 1st day she came up, she put down a deposit on a new home in our community!  She's been spending long weekends with us during the summer but now has an apartment in Reno so she can come and go more freely without reserving the guest room!! She's been a wonderful long term guest though!   We have had a few friends in town that we've met up with for dinner.  In June, a group of 10 from the Dance Family were in town, so we met up with them for dinner and our friends Richie & Nancy come to town often and we've met up with them for dinner too.

Well, I think that about sums it up for the last 15 months!   We are settled, we love it and are so happy with this decision to move to Reno! 

Time if Flying!!

As we have been preparing for our move to Reno, we both knew that the time would come when we'd have to face that we are going to spend some time apart.   Bill moves at the end of this month, just a few months ago it seemed like so far in the future, but here we are.  The machines start to move May 11th, it's a tedious process to move these gigantic machines and will take 2+ weeks to get all 25+ of them moved and re-connected.  It's a huge undertaking.

I stress about everything, it's just my nature.  I overthink, I freak out, I try to control as much as I can---I am struggling with all of this because I do not have control over much of it.  We finally secured his housing for the next 6 months, it will likely become "our" permanent temporary housing once we sell our townhouse.    That was a big relief to me knowing that at least we have decent rentals, fully furnished with utilities and wi-fi included, located in decent neighborhoods for this transition period.   We still don't know when Bill will have to go up to Reno to help facilitate getting the machines up and running, so any plans that we have made for the month of May are "penciled in"-this is not me, this is not the way that I operate. When I make plans, I commit to them and plan for them.  I'm struggling to deal with this but there is also a part of me that knows how to "go with the flow"- I might not like it, but I adapt.  

I try not to think too much about the time Bill & I will spend apart.  We will be celebrating 17 years together and 15 years married next month.   We just do not spend much time apart outside of working hours.  I have had my gal pal trips over the years when I'm gone for 4-5 days max, he's had fewer boys trips over the years, but we seriously miss each other because we love just being together.  We complete each other, we are a good team.   So tonight, when Bill went to bed, he saw his side of the bed "pulled back" like I do many nights- not every night, but I do try to make a point of straightening the bed and pulling his side down and he notices.  He loves it and tonight he tells me how much he's going to miss this when we're apart. 💖💖💖💖😢😢😢😢

I'm going to miss everything about him.  I am sure that I am over-reacting and I will probably be spending much more time in Reno with him than I will here at home.  I am fortunate enough to have a business where I can work from anywhere.  But, I also need to get things ready around the house and prepared for putting on the market.  Of course, I'm going to try to get most of it done this month so that I am free to head up to Reno whenever.  We started this weekend and did a major cleaning of about 2/3 of the garage.  It's amazing how much junk you hang onto!   We had Bill's car filled with stuff for the dumpster and my car filled with donations.  My brother took care of the few items that the donation place would not take. 

I have to say that in January when we put the deposit down on our new home, November seemed SO.FAR.AWAY., but it's already May!   We have a foundation, who knows we might actually have some structure that has been erected in the last two weeks.   We are both excited for this new adventure and excited to start participating in all of the activities that Regency has to offer.   They are adding line dance lessons to the schedule this month, so that is exciting.   👢👢👢💃💃💃  We have already begun to make new friends.  

We're getting to many of the "lasts".  Bill had his hair cut this weekend and came home saying, "that might have been my last hair cut with Linda." 😢  Today, we received notice that our Chiropractor is taking a few long weekends this month, we usually see him on a Friday, so this Friday may be the last time Bill sees him.  Again, we just don't know when he's going to need to be in Reno to set up the machines but as the month keeps on ticking and he's here, that date for him to go is getting closer.  We were having brunch last Friday at our favorite place, Angelica's and that will soon come to an end.  Bill said to me, "I'm really going to miss this place."--they treat us so well, we don't even order drinks and they just show up.  They know that I love the Bivio Pinot Grigio, they know that Bill has a Bloody Maria without the pepper, they have stopped decorating my breakfast plate with "garnish" because I never eat the fruit, they put my entire order on one plate without my asking because they know.   I know this last year has been really hard on everyone and we have tried to support our favorite restaurants as much as possible, I know that they appreciate it.   They know how to make you feel appreciated.   I'm sure  that we will find similar places in Reno, it'll just take some time.  Change is hard!! 

I'm truly a very lucky girl to have met Bill.   I would seriously follow him to the ends of the earth.  The decision to move to Reno was not a hard one and we made it pretty quickly.  His work is moving, he would be totally stressed to change jobs and it would not be the best financial decision/gamble for him to change jobs, I really had no problem embracing the new journey, which really does surprise me sometimes.   I get giddy thinking about our new life in Reno and everything that lies ahead.  Our quality of life is going to improve ten-fold. 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Time for a new post - long overdue!

Let's talk about friendship.  I've made a lot of observations over the last year.  In truth, I've probably been making these observations for a long time, but last year I had more free time on my hands and could focus and analyze my observations in greater detail. 

I have friends from all areas of my life.  I have my childhood friends and even though we don't always see eye to eye, we have a very deep rooted bond.  We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, but we are still very connected with group chats during the week, every week.  We were on a roll of getting together more often before the pandemic and we always have a good time.  These ladies are solid.  We all have our shortcomings but we know them and we love each other regardless. 

I made a few friends in High School, but nothing that withstood the test of time.  I went to H.S. with a fairly good size group of friends from Grammar School which just strengthened those bonds.   I also kept in touch with two friends from Grammar School who moved out of the area and attended other High Schools.  I saw both of them very often and I am still in touch with them.  In fact tomorrow we are attending the baby shower for the daughter of one of these friends.  Hoping to attend her daughter's wedding in a couple weeks if our Reno responsibilities don't conflict.   These are the times you look forward to when you have lifelong friends, seeing them raise a family, watching their children grow up, get married, have babies.  Because of Facebook and my key role in planning our High School reunions, I have become friendlier with a few of my H.S. classmates over the last 15 years, but I have been reminded of why I didn't pursue many of the friendships in H.S.to begin with, teen women can be mean and sometimes they don't grow out of that catty, backstabbing behavior.  I've never been the "clique" type, I've always had the "more the merrier" mentality when it came to my friendships and always took joy in co-mingling my inner circle of friends. I don't seem to get that same respect in return.

I have made several friends in my "adult life"- starting in college to the present.   Some friendships I expected to last a lifetime and sadly that was not meant to be.  I put great value on my friendships, so when something goes wrong, I try to fix it, I try to make it right again even if I was not the one to do the wrong.  Sometimes a heart-felt apology or lack thereof can make or break a friendship.  I know I apologized and extended some grace, but true colors were revealed.  

Other friends, we can go months or years without seeing each other and then pick right back up where we left off.   I know that we all get busy with life and everything else, but I've noticed that some people are way too caught up in their own lives and their own self-importance to pay attention to how they are treating others.  At least, I hope that they are not aware of how they treat others and how unimportant they can make others feel.  There I go again, giving people the benefit of the doubt. 

2020 was rough and I had a lot of time on my hands and I used that time to check in on my friends.   I picked up the phone and called, had long conversations like we used to when we didn't have any cares in the world.   I started weekly Zoom Happy Hours with three different groups of friends to help us all get through the pandemic together.   Over a year later and we're still meeting up over zoom weekly to catch up, in many ways the pandemic has helped to strengthen some friendships that might not have had that chance in the real crazy life! These are my kind of people, I appreciate them more than they know.  I do need to tell them. 

With our upcoming move to Reno this year, I've stopped to reflect even more about friendships.  Who will miss us?  Who will come to visit us?  Who will be eager to make time to see us when we visit the Bay Area?  I guess time will tell.  (I do know that my brother is going to miss us something awful & we are going to miss him too).  But I do know that I am not going to continue to water dead plants.  When people lie and keep secrets from you, those are not true friends.  Time to stop being so damn nice.  I'm also done with narcissists and gaslighters.  Also, my reunion planning days are over.  It's a lot of work and though I know it is appreciated,  I really don't get to enjoy the party because I'm too busy with everything and when I do have time to enjoy, I'm with my core friend group anyway.  I don't need a H.S. reunion to see them.  Time to pass the torch! 

I am looking forward to the new friendships that will be made in Reno, in fact we have already begun to meet people and have been super impressed with how friendly everyone has been.  When you think about it, most people are transplanting to Reno from some other place, some do have family or other friends in the area but most are starting fresh.  I am really looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.  I think it's going to be fun and a great new adventure. 

At the end of the day, Bill truly is my best friend and I am so blessed to have him and thankful that we share so much in common.   Looking forward to life getting back to normal, finding our new dance hangouts--which I already think we've determined to be Pure Country Canteen and GSR, we will make new dance friends.   There is so much going on at our Clubhouse, we will have the opportunity to meet plenty of new people.  Looking forward to getting back to traveling again, too!   2021 is the year of change, 2022 is the year that things start to feel more like 2019! 

 

Patience - Week 4

 

Another good week.  I was within my calories every day last week.  I met my step goal of 35K, which was about 5k better than the week before.  I have been making small weekly goals so that I can feel successful.  I tend to be an all or nothing person.   I tend to be a now person.  Patience is not my strong suit.  I'm trying to remind myself that I did not gain all of this week overnight, so losing it is also not going to happen overnight.  

I did weigh myself after my cleanse day last week and I have hit the 5 pound loss mark, it's slow and I am a wee bit frustrated with how slow, I am also trying to accept it and know that losing is better than staying the same or gaining.  

We did go out to lunch on Friday & even with a skinny Margarita and two glasses of wine with dinner, I still managed to be within my allowed calories.  We also went out to dinner for Valentine's Day which is technically the start of this week and I was about equal on calories in and calories out.   I have to say that wine consumption is WAY down.  I split a bottle of white Friday & Saturday nights and then Bill & I shared a bottle for our Valentine's Day dinner.   I'm not missing it, to be honest.  I'm pretty satisfied with my 2 glasses on those few nights that I'm allowing myself to have it.   My brother is still baking cookies, which are hard to resist & I still have my mini-drumstick for dessert at night.  They are only 70 calories!! 

I have been doing Cammie's daily fitness challenge.   I have let myself get behind a few days, but I have caught up and made sure to do each and every day.  It does hurt a wee bit more when you procrastinate and end up having to do 3-4 days at one time!  But I am doing it.    My step goal this week is 40k, which should be an easy goal to achieve because we are back in business with our Parking Lot Dance Parties this weekend.  If all goes well, I should end up with 20k steps on Saturday alone!  However, I am still trying to get a little more each day this week vs the same day last week.

I did buy a few warmer clothes items from Kohl's since our outdoor dining is open again & I wanted a few choices for our Friday lunches or our dinners that we are planning on doing each week.  There was a very cute "oversized" sweater.  It only came in S/M or L/XL.  I didn't even hesitate and purchased the L/XL, well it was on the really oversized side.  I decided to order a few more sweaters but ordered the S/M and they fit!   I have now ordered all 5 colors that the sweater comes in and have 2 to return that were the larger size, so that felt good! 

The other patience testing part of my life now is our move to Reno.   I am so ready for things to happen and they are out of my control.  We have to wait for the permits so that they can break ground.  They aren't supposed to break ground until March and I realize March is less than two weeks away, but I want to know NOW.   We have our Design appointments set for April and I know that will be stressful but exciting at the same time.  I have been obsessing just about every evening on various websites building wish lists for things that we will need after we move.  Closet Organization System, a few pieces of furniture, blinds/window coverings, outdoor ideas.  It's all very overwhelming.  

It's also very stressful not knowing our timeline.  We don't know exactly when Bill's work will move, because of that we don't know when we will for sure put this place on the market.  We have a closing date of 11/26/21 (a really good date-my birthday), of course we want it to be earlier but if that's the date, it's a cool date.  Not knowing how long we will be overlapping with paying a mortgage here and renting something in Reno or do we sell as early as we can and just rent something for 3-4 months and "suck up" the double address change?   If it was just our personal stuff it would be an easier decision, but I'm moving a business also and moving a business twice does not sound fun at all.   

I have always said that the ideal scenario would be to move once.  This would mean putting our house on the market after Bill's work moves, figure that's August, by the time it sells and closes we're at the end of September, hopefully rent back from the buyers for two months and be moved into our new place by the end of November.  However, we'd still be looking at 3-4 months of Bill needing to pay rent someplace in Reno and even an AirBnB is going to end up running about $3k/month.  I know we've talked about hotels, like Residence Inn or similar because he would be coming down the Bay Area for some of the time too to help pack up/get move ready in that situation too.  

I know it will all work out, I do have tremendous faith- it's just the lack of control and the lack of patience that I need to work on.   For now, I am going to focus on my weight loss efforts.....tomorrow is Cleanse-day Wednesday.   I have not done a two day cleanse yet, in large part- it's hard to stay focused with it when everyone else in the house is eating at dinner time.   I tried last week, but I had such a headache not because I was cleansing but I know that I was not drinking enough water.  I will find the right week to do it, again in the right time. 

Progress = Results, Week 3 Accountability

 

Three full weeks since I said "enough already" and decided to get serious about my fitness and nutrition.  I need to remind myself that forward progress is good regardless of how little it may be, in the end it will be baby steps of progress that will result with the big goal in the end.  My end goal is not small.  I know I need to lose at least 70 pounds, but ideally want to lose 90 pounds.  And of course, I want it yesterday!  Patience is not my strong suit and it appears that 2021 is going to test my patience with every chance she gets. 

I had a good week.  Ok, I think I had a pretty damn good week.   My fitbit is set up for a 250 calorie deficit which should equate to about a 1 pound weight loss per week.  Of course, I'd much prefer to have the 500 calorie deficit which would be a more desirable 2 pounds per week.  I'm not there yet, but I will get there.  I am proud to say that every day this past week, my calorie grid was green (in the zone) or blue (under the zone).  Under doesn't bother me because it was a day that my deficit was between 250-500 calories, so it just means to me that I am getting closer to being able to set that 500 calorie deficit as the goal. 

What amazes me is that I did this with 3 social outings.  Monday I had breakfast with a girlfriend at Stack's.  I had eggs and bacon, no toast and no potatoes.   Wednesday, I had lunch on the patio with two girlfriends and stuck with my cleanse day.   "Lunch" was about getting together, not so much about eating, so it was just fine that I was drinking my cleanse drink.  I couldn't do that at a restaurant.   Friday night we went out to dinner with another couple.  I had a cocktail and two glasses of wine, I splurged with chocolate mousse for dessert, but I was on point all day, burned more calories than normal, so it didn't matter that my dinner was 1100 calories, it balanced out with the 700 calories I had earlier in the day.  What I did not do was have more wine when we got home.  We still had a few hours together watching TV until Bill went to bed, he had more wine & I chose not to.   Saturday night I had a zoom Happy Hour with two gal pals, I had a glass of wine with them and then another with dinner but saved the remainder of the bottle for Sunday night.   This is all HUGE progress for me.   

I did get on the scale mid-week (which I said I would not do) but I was curious to see what my weight was after the cleanse day.   Of course, it still confirmed that I'm on track for 1 pound per week and I have lost 3 pounds so far, but I am hoping tomorrow will show more on my true weigh in day and I will not weigh in again until the following Monday. 

Activity is getting better.   Each day I had better step counts, I got up more, moved around the house more.  Those 3 social outings got me moving more as well.  This staying at home stuff for the past year has truly killed my fitness because I was always going somewhere!  I danced off and on Saturday in between getting some natural vitamin D on the patio and ended the week with a total of 31K steps which is an improvement from the previous week and that is ultimately my goal- to do better than the week before.  Today (Sunday) was the start of the next fitbit week and my steps are low thanks to the Puppy Bowl, the Kitten Bowl and then the Super Bowl but I will make up for it during the week. 

My friend Cammie has been posting various workout challenges each month.  Everyday is a small task just to do something.  I started on Feb 1st and then dropped the ball.  On Saturday, I decided to make up and did the workouts for Feb 2nd-6th.  This meant 45 squats, 65 minute plank, 19 chair dips, 32 crunches, 26 leg lifts and 13 push-ups.  That was a lot of fun 😂 and I felt it today!! However, I still managed to do today's challenge which was another 25 squats, 7 push-ups and 16 leg lifts.  💪👊

I did not get to my Body Pump workouts this past week as I had hoped, but will make sure to get 1-2 in this week.  I'm really craving a good Body Combat workout and my body NEEDS a good Body Flow workout.  I really am out of shape, lack major flexibility - it's embarrassing. 

I could have done better on sleep this past week, I had two days that were under 7 hours because I had 9am work zoom meetings for 3 days and my late nights are hard to break.  My average sleep for the week was right at 7 hours.  I like to average 7.5 if possible.  I will aim to do better with that this week. 

This coming week is pretty light with meetings, so I really should not have any excuses!!  Going to make it a great week! 

Dance is Good for the Soul

 

As I've stated in previous posts, finding the motivation to "move" over the last 10 months has really been difficult.  I had a few really good stretches of getting my 10k steps per day and most of the time, I got those steps by Line Dancing in my living room.   Dancing is my gig.  No doubt that dancing gives me peace, joy, exercise and it makes me happy.   Lately, the last few months though I've had a hard time motivating myself to dance.   I miss my dance family.   Line Dancing is not quite the same by yourself.  But knowing all of this and knowing that this year I need to make some positive changes to lose weight and get back into "fighting shape", I decided to make myself dance.   It didn't take long for me to feel that joy, to feel that peace once again.   I danced a good 7k steps yesterday and a good 4k steps today.  I'm not focusing so much on the 10k per day - YET.   Right now I just need to do better than what I've done, so if I can achieve a weekly goal or a daily goal to be better than the week before or the month before, then I have been successful.    This past week I had just over 28K steps...I have not had that many since October 31st and the only reason I had 44K steps the week ending 10/31/20 is because we had a dance party on Halloween and I logged 20K steps that day! 

I have been pretty "OK" with the nutrition this week.  I still have some work to do to really be on track in this part of the equation.   It doesn't help when my brother bakes chocolate chip cookies.   Today the house smelled of freshly baked cookies and crockpot lasagne. But it's all about balance.  

I'm not sure what the scale will say tomorrow.  I was able to successfully cleanse one day this past week and am hoping to cleanse two days this week.   Our outdoor dining is no longer restricted, which is great.  These restaurants need to be open so that they can try to survive through this pandemic.  Bill & I resumed our Friday brunch at Angelicas and it felt so nice to be outside dining again!   I have 3 "dates" this week with friends for safe outdoor gatherings, so I am trying to be very aware of my calories so that this does not backfire on me.   One of the gatherings is lunch on my patio and that will be a cleanse day, I can easily drink my bone broth during lunch, so much easier than being at a restaurant.   And I know that my friends will understand why I'm not eating "food" with them! 

My goals for the upcoming week:   maintain my calorie intake and try to keep the caloric deficit.   Continue to dance.   Break out the weights and start doing BodyPump in the living room.  I want to start doing this 3 times a week.   Alcohol is out of the picture until Thursday or Friday. 

Hello February! 

GOALS: Week One Accountability

Week one:

As I said in my last entry, it's time for me to get back in shape.  On Monday, I weighed in and took my measurements.  I compared those to previous measurements and let's just say,  WOW!  It was pretty eye-opening.    Not that looking at myself in an unexpected mirror was not eye-opening enough the previous week, but still just WOW. 

I am pretty proud of my week overall.  I have been logging my food intake and have stayed under my burned calories for most of the days.   My activity has been low, so I have resisted the urge to splurge.   If I don't have the calories to spend, it's not going to happen.    One day was even, one day was over but the rest of the week I was under the calories burned.  I am hoping for a positive sign on the scale tomorrow morning.   I have been successful with my 2 shakes per day with the exception for the weekend, I didn't have any on Saturday but had one on Sunday.  I know I need to work on this, it's hard when my brother cooks breakfast on Saturdays.  I don't want to say "no" because it is thoughtful, but it's so filling that I really don't eat anything else until dinner.  I know that's not good for weight loss. 

Today I had the most activity.  Today is "day one" according to Fitbit and I have more than 1/2 the number of steps today than I did all of last week!   So that should give me a good jump start to make it a good week.  How did I get so many steps on a Sunday?  I took down Christmas.  I kept saying I was going to leave it up until our lockdown is lifted, but it sounds as though that could be coming sooner than I thought and we will be able to once again go out to restaurants!   However, even though I was active today, I am in pain and have been in pain most of the time that I was active.  I'm also sad and pissed off that I'm in pain.  The reason that I'm in pain is because I'm so fucking out of shape and so fat!  It's this vicious cycle.  But ultimately, I am so pissed that I allowed myself to get to this point.  I realize that though I take full responsibility, this last year has been a shit show and so hard to be active and stay accountable.   But I can't let that dictate my life , I am determined to snap out of it, now is the time.   I had to take two advil and have been icing my back once all was done and put away.   

Tomorrow will be a better day, though now I'm tempted to do a little dancing to get my 10k steps- I'm only about 8-9 dances away! I think I can do that, I think I should to this! 

2021- Goals & Adventures

 New Year, New Beginning and to be cliche- New Me!   I'm overdue!   

2020 was not kind to me.   My Travel Business came to a stand-still, I lost more earned money than ever before.  I do not have any hope of making money until late 2021 and even that is shaky at this point.  Seems every day we get another blow.  This past week was a new CDC requirement for travelers to test negative before flying back to the USA.  Enough already! 

My fitness career also came to a stand-still.  Gyms had to close with the pandemic and even though my home club, the JCC has re-opened with outdoor classes, there are very few and they are not Les Mills.  During the course of the year, the JCC "broke up" with their management company, so we are all supposed to be employees of the JCC now, I completed everything but never heard a thing.  I don't even receive instructor emails anymore.  I spoke to another instructor who I know does not want to get back to teaching until the pandemic is gone or at least controlled with vaccines & she was told that she's on the sub list.   I kept procrastinating getting in touch with my Director about this but of course began all of the negative self-talk.  "They don't want me", "I'm not good enough to teach there", "I'm too fat", "I'm not fit enough"--the list goes on.   At this point, I'm going to let it ride.   I don't know when/if they will bring back the classes that I teach and I'm not sure that I'm ready to go back to teaching with masks, etc.  At this point in time, I am fat and I am not fit.   2020 was not kind.

All of this being said, we have a new beginning this year and that will be a move to Reno, NV.   Bill's work is relocating and we decided to take on the new adventure.  Of course, I am also a realist and given that he's worked there for 32 years and is currently our sole supporter financially, it makes sense.  We are both excited about this & have put a deposit down on a new build in an Active 55+ Adult community.   It's really time to get back on track.  Honestly, the physical aspect of moving might kill me (not quite literally) but I am so out of shape and not very strong anymore, it's pathetic.  I weigh the heaviest that I have ever weighed.  EVER.  I don't eat right, I drink too much wine and I am not exercising.  

Eating: probably the least part of the problem.  I am aware of what I am eating, I just don't think I'm being consistent or on a good schedule.  I wake up and usually have my coffee first and then I'm not really hungry for hours, then I get my Isagenix shake, maybe a decent snack later in the day and then it's too close to dinnertime.  We normally cook something decent for dinner and I eat small portions. But I do act out.  I will have chips, cookies, ice cream, etc.  Not all of the time, but if I splurge I'm all in. 

Wine: well the drinking starts in the evening and I often will drink a bottle over the course of 4-5 hours. Honestly, it's not a terrible amount but I should not be doing this every night.  I get bored or I get depressed and then I don't care and it becomes this vicious circle.  I have tried and been successful to limit the drinking to 2-3 days a week and that's what I need to get back to.  OR restrict myself to 2 glasses per night.  I know what I need to do, I know that I can do it and I think I am finally at the point where I want to do it. 

Exercise: with all the free time that I have, you'd think I would be going for 4-5 mile walks every day (like I used to when I was busy), you'd think that I would do BodyPump, Combat or Flow in the living room to one of my training videos but I lack serious motivation.  As for the walking, I think I need to delete the Citizen App from my phone.  I get alerts of all sorts of crazy crimes going on in the neighborhood, I don't know if it's because of the pandemic and people are desperate but I'm just not comfy going walking by myself like I once was.   I did have a good spree of dancing in the living room but then I got burned out with that and it's just not the same as dancing with my friends.  I have probably worked out (including dancing) maybe 30 days in the last 10 months.  Maybe.  I know it'll be hard to get going again but I also know once I get going, I will feel energized and will get back into the routine.

Sleep & TV & Social Media:  though I track my sleep and most nights I am getting enough sleep: 7-8 hours per night, I stay up way too late.  I am a night owl, this I know.  I have always been a night owl, but I need to start going to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier and drink my shake, attack my workout and then have my coffee.  I need to develop the good routine that I once had.  I waste hours late at night watching the game show network & scrolling around on Social Media.  Good Lord.  Obviously, this is all new since the pandemic because I don't have anything to get up early for--but I really do, I need to get up earlier for me.  It would be one thing if I was staying up late to work on trip quotes or catching up on paperwork! 

I know when I exercise, I make better choices with food and alcohol.   I want to lose at least 50 pounds before we move, it would be even better to lose 70 pounds by then.  I think that would put me at a very comfortable weight.  It's still not my Wedding Day weight, but it would still be a healthy weight and good size for me.   Though I had body image issues when I was teaching classes.  Over the last few years, I experienced weight gain due to Menopause (twice), I think I'm over that hurdle by now but now the weight gain is covid weight gain and lack of lifting weights means that I've lost muscle mass, so I am fat and flabby.  I usually like to say fluffy but I'm beyond fluffy.  I was sitting on the guest room bed the other day while the house cleaners were cleaning my office.  I was in direct view of the full mirrored closet doors- OH EMMMM GEEEEE!   Not pretty, it was disgusting if I'm being really honest with myself. 

I am coming up on the renewal of my ACE Primary fitness certification and my CPR (which is required to renew the CPR), I've considered letting it lapse and hang up my teaching hat, but doing that means that I am doing it because Covid happened, not because I decided to stop teaching.  Today I looked up online to see where there might be Les Mills classes close to where we will be living in Reno.  I discovered that there is an Athletic Club about 10 minutes away that offers just about every Les Mills format.  I decided to be brave and posted in the LM Instructor group on Facebook to see if anyone taught at this club or knew anything about this club.  Well, the Group Exercise Director messaged me & another well-respected industry friend of 20 years chimed in on the post.  I feel good about this and  having hope to teach again will help to get me back on track, will keep me focused.  I know that teaching kept me accountable with my own healthy choices and it also did wonders to my mental health.  There is no way that I will audition to teach at a new club in the current state of my body! 

I just want to feel good and healthy again.  Once we do get to Reno, I want to feel in shape, I want to go line dancing and fit into my cute jeans and cute tops.  I have not been to a Ross store in over a year. I've had no need!    I want to get back into my cute bikinis since we will have a Community pool, it's an Active Community- I want to be Active.  I also want to feel as though I can go hiking and exploring around Nevada.  As we make new friends and start doing things with others, I don't want to be that person that holds everyone up because she can't keep up.  I have always been the one that people couldn't keep up with!! 

The time is now.  I need to do this for myself.  I want to enjoy our new adventure.  I want to get back to having a purpose and right now my purpose is to get back in shape to make the move as easy as possible and to get back to teaching.  I think I will have plenty of free time for the next 1-2 years until my business fully recovers or comes close to recovered.  I can't continue to eat cookies, ice cream, chips, popcorn and drink wine and expect to be healthy!  Behaviors need to be reframed. The time is NOW. 

CORN DIP RECIPE

 

CORN DIP RECIPE

Many of you have had the yummy Corn Dip and wanted the recipe- so here goes

I typically make a double batch--but here is the single batch measurements:
 
1 cup mayonnaise
2 cups shredded cheese (I usually mix Jack and Cheddar)
3/4 cup parmessan cheese grated
1 small can green chiles
1 can (15 oz) corn
1 small can of jalapenos-diced

Mix it all up, put into 8 X 8 baking dish (spray first with my namesake), 

then bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
 
FYI- a double batch will still fit in the 8X8 dish, even though 

you won't think that it would!
 
Serve with Tostitos Scoops!
 
Another tip- I wanted to make this for a girls weekend in Tahoe, 

but didn't want to take up all the ingredients- 

so I mixed it the night before and put it in a ziploc bag- 

when we got up to Tahoe, I transferred it into the pan and baked.
 
Another tip--the Double Batch is SUPER EASY because the 

ingredients come in proper amounts-

get a 2 cup bag of shredded jack, a 2 cup bag of shredded cheddar,  

one tub of grated parmesan cheese, 2 cans corn, 2 cans chiles, 2 cans jalapenos-

-the only mess is the mayo that you need to measure out into 2 cups

...then mix it all up! 

2020- Reflections on an "unprecedented year"

 

2020 - you were a challenge, but you weren't all bad!! 

January:  started out with sickness, I was sicker than I've ever been starting 1/4/20 and it lasted at least 3 weeks.  I will forever wonder if I didn't have covid.  I had all the Classic symptoms:  dry stubborn cough that would not go away,  fever that would look like it was breaking only to come back again and some breath shortness when moving around.  Of course, we didn't know what covid was in January!   That being said, I pushed myself to attend both 49er playoff games at Levi's and they earned their ticket to the Super Bowl.

February:  Super Bowl!! Though the Niners didn't win, we still enjoyed the thrill of cheering them on during the game!   We enjoyed time with friends & celebrated Valentine's Day at a great party.

March:  I got to meet a fellow TA friend from Nebraska as she was visiting the SF Bay Area.  We had a lovely dinner down at Fisherman's Wharf & we stayed overnight in the city (little did we know)...and we also went out to dinner to celebrate our good friend Linda's birthday- again having no idea that would be our last time to eat out at a restaurant- inside!    I taught my last Body Pump class on March 11th & danced my last night of dancing at the Saddle Rack that same night.  The Saddle Rack closed the next night, taking a prevention stance before official lockdown (which is to be respected) & March 17th the state of CA was on lockdown orders, only allowed out for "essentials". 

April:  I surprised my sister with a special Zoom for her birthday, she thought it was just going to be the immediate family, but I arranged to have our cousins in CT & some of her best friends to join in.  She cried.  It was a success.   We also changed with the times and celebrated Easter over zoom!  Being empathetic to friends who live alone, we also surprised another friend on her birthday with a plant and card that we delivered to her doorstep.

May:  A bittersweet month.  The Saddle Rack announced that they would not reopen when the pandemic was over or under control or whenever they would be given the green light to re-open.   Our dance family was shattered & heartbroken.  However, we did get together on Memorial Day weekend for a parking lot party with all the necessary precautions and it felt so good to dance with friends again - even though we found out later that we were not allowed to do this- yet.   More zoom social hours, sunshine arrives and I spent numerous afternoons taking in "Vitamin D"

June:  No real graduation ceremony for Nolan (8th grade) or Brynn (HS), but we watched ceremonies on the internet.  I also watched the very last graduating class on FB live graduate from Mercy.   I had a picnic lunch with my sister on her patio. Bill & I celebrated our 14th wedding Anniversary and we were super thankful that restrictions began to be lifted, so we stayed overnight at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, ate at their outdoor restaurant twice, enjoyed an afternoon at Filoli Gardens and then had a nice dinner outside in downtown Redwood city.  We felt human again!   We got to go out to dinner two weeks later for Bill's birthday!  We finally got to see our Godkids and their parents with a lovely outdoor gathering in their backyard.  However, June did not come and go without sadness, my fitness family lost a truly beautiful & sunny soul when Wendy passed away after several cancer battles. 

July:  A fairly quiet month.  Many days on the patio enjoying the sunshine.  We were finally cleared to have another Parking Lot Dance Party.  Brynn had a graduation party that we sadly had to decline, with covid guidelines we just did not feel as though going was the right thing for us to do. 

August:  We enjoyed more days on the patio both by day and night.  Card games, dice games, Mexican Train - all to keep us busy and entertained.   We had a few more parking lot dance parties, which were always a highlight.  Zoom happy hours on a weekly basis, which were truly a Godsend to stay connected with great friends...and then a Thunderstorm induced fire storm throughout much of the greater Bay Area.  There were 3 huge complex fires that burned for months.  Thankfully, everyone we know remained safe and free from any property loss.  Bill & I also started having outdoor dining lunch on Fridays to help support our favorite restaurants.

September:  Got to enjoy a lunch out with Diane and Mama Yelinek to celebrate Diane's birthday.  More Zooms.  More parking lot dance parties & 49er football season began!  I also had a sister lunch in Walnut Creek on her patio! 

October:  We went on vacation!!  Took a trip to Cabo for 10 days and had the time of our lives!   Our dance family even went "live" from their parking lot party to include us from Mexico!!  Went out to dinner with the Barron family to celebrate Shelby's birthday!  We enjoyed a wonderful parking lot party for Halloween with live music provided by the Rob Tracy Band & I finally got to see my very good friend Tiina!  More football, more baseball (LA won the world series- boo!  But it is 2020!!!) 

November:  An election to remember.  The earliest that I've ever decorated the house for Christmas, my combined Thanksgiving/Birthday celebration and my first Thanksgiving to cook!  We decided to be "covid safe" and did not gather outside of our house for Thanksgiving.  I did receive a wonderful surprise visit from the Barron girls who delivered the Happy Birthday song and flowers.  Made me feel super special!  And of course, more zooms!   Lockdowns started to be implemented again and Santa Clara County was one of the first so our November parking lot party ended up being canceled. 

December:  Usually our busiest month because we have a gazillion social gatherings.  Not this year.  We missed seeing our friends & we missed hosting our annual party that has become a big hit with all of our friends.  It was heartwarming to see people post memories of our parties showing that they miss it too!   However, we had time to do things that we never had time to do before:   we visited Filoli with the holiday lights at night & we did Christmas in the Park in San Jose which became a drive through event this year.  Both were fantastic!  Of course, more zooms with friends and colleagues, many nights of playing cards or dice with Bill and other friends over zoom, binge watching various shows and movies.  Christmas Day was just our household & it was nice.  We did manage to have a drive by Christmas Day Mimosa toast with the Barron family (modifying tradition slightly).  We also did a quick getaway to Reno to contemplate our future.   It was a really great mini-getaway. 

Overall, 2020 may not have been the year we expected to have, but it wasn't all that bad.  We have connected even more deeply with certain friends,  we have strengthened what was already a strong marriage (we really do love being together), we are thankful for our health & for the health of our family & friends.  I completed all of my photo books & have enjoyed reliving the memories.  I did a puzzle & confirmed that I really am not a puzzle person. We are grateful for the roof over our heads, food on our table & for Bill's steady income/employment! 

Excited for 2021.  I know that this year won't magically be "back to normal"  & we probably won't be back to normal anytime soon, but there is hope with a new year that things will change, things will get better.  I have already received inquiries for travel for late 2021 and into 2022, I won't see any income from trips traveled until late this year and early next year, but we're prepared to continue to weather this financial storm. I did not invest 30 years into this career to walk away from it, my business will flourish once again.   We are also looking at some other changes that will be happening this year, more news to come.  😁

Happy New Year everyone!