working out for Disney

[Songbird76]

Maybe it is the covid stuff catching up to me. I am an introvert, so all of the restrictions didn't bother me too much, but I guess even I have been approaching my limit. We went to the beach last week and we ate inside the restaurant. It's been at least a year since I've done that. Maybe it's just getting used to everything again. Who knows?

I totally get that. I am not a partier or anything and while I love meeting new people and such, I don't enjoy large gatherings and crowds. I've really enjoyed not having a bunch of social engagements this past year and not being obligated to invite people to my house for things. I loved finally actually having a mothers day this year where I didn't have to get up early and make breakfast for everyone else. The only thing I really miss is being able to go to a museum or zoo and then out to dinner. Restrictions eased a bit last week and E and I were able to have a shopping day and go for lunch, which was really nice to be able to do that for the first time in months. And we were able to visit my in-laws for the first time in months, too. Museums and zoos opened last week, too, as did restaurants, but we're not quite comfortable with it yet...the government has had a habit of opening things too soon. We want to see where the numbers go before we jump into anything. We still need our 2nd shots and kids aren't being vaccinated, though there's talk that they might consider vaccinating kids older than 5.

I read in the paper that the European Union has decided that people who have been fully vaccinated for at least 2 weeks can travel throughout Europe freely this Summer, but they still don't have a way to show you've been fully vaccinated or when. Most countries seem to be doing a sort of vaccination passport, but the Netherlands isn't doing that. We aren't given anything to show we've had our shots. An App has been mentioned, but it's not done yet. And kids over 12 will still need a negative test to prove they don't have it, since they aren't getting the vaccine, or at least not in time if they do decide to vaccinate them. So we can't travel anyway. That's the worst thing...that we can't travel and site see. I don't really get a break unless we travel. Laundry still has to be done, cooking every day, grocery shopping...unless we go on vacation, I'm on duty 24/7 and I really need that break sometimes. My husband and the kids get weekends, and he'll take a week off of work, but even if I take a week off of my outside job, I still have to do everything at home. I'm the only one who doesn't get a break. So I NEED that travel now and then to kind of hit the reset button.

 

[Songbird76]

Hello-


Checking in with my workout. It was just light weights and abs. I'm going for a long walk later. It's a little chilly outside, so I want to wait until we hit the high (71) before venturing outside. It has been a bit hot and humid all week, so it feels cold when you go outside.

I spent 2 hours on the phone the other day to buy Boo Bash tickets. That doesn't include the times I got through and got disconnected. I called over 200 times--my phone stops counting at 200. I typically wouldn't bother with this type of event, but I am concerned about the crowds, so this will give us a bit of breathing room. Also, since I canceled my Sept. (Halloween on the High Seas) cruise, I will miss the adult costume party, so this will fill that gap and I can wear my costume.

The TR thread is riddled with stories of people trying to get through for HOURS to buy Boo Bash tickets....I have to wonder if it will be any less crowded if the phone lines were so busy for it. And I didn't think anyone was going to be willing to pay for it. It's more expensive than the MNSSHP tickets were, and this is without the fireworks and parade and it's just a bit more than half the length of time. It seems Disney is banking on people being concerned about crowds and forking out dough to avoid them. I hope they don't over sell and make it massively crowded. Did you manage to get tickets eventually?

 

[Songbird76]

There were talks of banning it, but I don't think it ever happened.

They said on our news that the executive order banning it was being revoked, so apparently it did happen, but maybe there was no way to enforce it? Or maybe it flew under the radar? I don't know.

Ah, I looked it up. It was blocked from app stores in the US, but there were court challenges, so "the most extreme effects of those orders were forestalled".

 

[Sans Souci]

I'm introverted too, but it was definitely getting to me. My doctor put me on an adder to my antidepressant back in February. Of course, my adoptive grandmother died suddenly in January and I did not handle it very well. That was my trigger, but I'm still on it. I think I was like, "Everything's fine, I'm all good" and then suddenly I was like, this is not fine.

I am sorry about your grandma. This pandemic has made the crappiest things 10X than they already were. I was like you, where you tell yourself it's fine, but you're not. I would wake up in the morning and list out a few things I was grateful for, but I don't think that is effective in a time like this. It was beginning to feel like "toxic positivity" to me. I know we're starting to 'get back to normal' but honestly, it's going to be a new normal. Things aren't gong to be the way they were pre-pandemic and that feels like a loss to me. I know I will adapt, but I just need some time.

 

[Sans Souci]

I totally get that. I am not a partier or anything and while I love meeting new people and such, I don't enjoy large gatherings and crowds. I've really enjoyed not having a bunch of social engagements this past year and not being obligated to invite people to my house for things. I loved finally actually having a mothers day this year where I didn't have to get up early and make breakfast for everyone else. The only thing I really miss is being able to go to a museum or zoo and then out to dinner. Restrictions eased a bit last week and E and I were able to have a shopping day and go for lunch, which was really nice to be able to do that for the first time in months. And we were able to visit my in-laws for the first time in months, too. Museums and zoos opened last week, too, as did restaurants, but we're not quite comfortable with it yet...the government has had a habit of opening things too soon. We want to see where the numbers go before we jump into anything. We still need our 2nd shots and kids aren't being vaccinated, though there's talk that they might consider vaccinating kids older than 5.

I read in the paper that the European Union has decided that people who have been fully vaccinated for at least 2 weeks can travel throughout Europe freely this Summer, but they still don't have a way to show you've been fully vaccinated or when. Most countries seem to be doing a sort of vaccination passport, but the Netherlands isn't doing that. We aren't given anything to show we've had our shots. An App has been mentioned, but it's not done yet. And kids over 12 will still need a negative test to prove they don't have it, since they aren't getting the vaccine, or at least not in time if they do decide to vaccinate them. So we can't travel anyway. That's the worst thing...that we can't travel and site see. I don't really get a break unless we travel. Laundry still has to be done, cooking every day, grocery shopping...unless we go on vacation, I'm on duty 24/7 and I really need that break sometimes. My husband and the kids get weekends, and he'll take a week off of work, but even if I take a week off of my outside job, I still have to do everything at home. I'm the only one who doesn't get a break. So I NEED that travel now and then to kind of hit the reset button.

That's how I am, too. I don't need to socialize with others, but I do like to get out of the house to go to museums and stuff. My husband refused to go to any indoor venues this winter/early spring.

That's how I feel about vacations, too. It's time off where I am not cooking every night or getting laundry done. I was fortunate enough to go to Virginia Beach last Sept. But when you're in the house all the time, every day starts to blur into the next and I feel like I am hamster in one of those wheelie things.

Can you ask your husband to help a bit on his time off, even if it's just doing a load of laundry or some vacuuming?

 

[Sans Souci]

The TR thread is riddled with stories of people trying to get through for HOURS to buy Boo Bash tickets....I have to wonder if it will be any less crowded if the phone lines were so busy for it. And I didn't think anyone was going to be willing to pay for it. It's more expensive than the MNSSHP tickets were, and this is without the fireworks and parade and it's just a bit more than half the length of time. It seems Disney is banking on people being concerned about crowds and forking out dough to avoid them. I hope they don't over sell and make it massively crowded. Did you manage to get tickets eventually?

I did get them. I know they were expensive for what the Boo Bash is, but we're not going to the parks everyday. I haven't bought park tickets yet, but we're going for a week and I'll likely be getting 4-5 day tickets. We're going to have a pool day and then go to the Boo Bash that night. We're also going to the Kennedy Space Center one day. The Boo Bash tickets were kind of like a little celebratory thing for my husband getting a promotion. It is just the two of us going in early Sept. This is going to be a relaxed vacation, not being in the parks every second. The Swan Dolphin has a really gorgeous grotto pool and I intend to use it to the fullest extent (with adult drink in hand).

I was disappointed in the last Christmas party I went to in 2018. THAT was crowded. There was an hour wait for Space Mountain and I thought that was ridiculous.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Good morning,

Well, I'm exhausted. Some is lack of sleep, but I think it's just because we were so wound up when we got home last night. It was a long and extremely hot/humid weekend of softball. We're starting to get into our average temps for this time of year and our bodies aren't quite used to it because we had so much rain and unseasonably cooler weather during the time when there are normally gradual increases to help us acclimate. We need to adjust because we have a couple of big travel tournaments coming up that are sure to be scorchers.

Friday- Workout was unconventional. Husband and I spent about 60 minutes trying to mount the cargo box, which involved us trying to move the roof rails. It was early evening, but still about 95-96 degrees out there and humidity building. After realizing it wouldn't work, I had to move the rails back into place and box the thing for return. I then washed the car for the next hour. I was so ridiculously exhausted.

Saturday and Sunday- Each day, I got in a shorter workout before heading out to softball. 30 min on the bike for each day...Saturday a hair over 10 miles and Sunday, I know it was over 11 miles. Saturday was arms and Sunday was legs. After that, it was off to spend our days in the sweltering heat, watching these kids play ball and trekking the quarter mile or so back and forth from the car for all sorts of things all day long. I think it was something like 12-14 hours we were out there each day, and yesterday, our actual temps hit 99 with a heat index around 110. Welcome to summer...even though it's still spring.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yesterday wound up being a break day. I'm still not sleeping well. I jumped into bed right after work just to rest, woke up over an hour later and was just not good for anything the rest of the night. My husband gave me a lecture on how a nap like that will ruin me at bedtime, but a nap like that happened because I'm sitting in bed for hours not sleeping. The girls are quieting down, so it's not really them keeping me up. They just built in that anxiety at the worst time...when there's so much stress. They really are trying not to be disruptive, but one of them knocked on the other's door at 5am and it woke me up. Shortly after, the younger one went to the bathroom and while she claims she was sleeping, her snarky comeback with too sharp. In other words...she was still awake.

So, I guess today's workout will be trying to mount the cargo box and washing the car. It needs to get done. Not sure what I'm going to do this weekend. The younger one is playing in a tournament (wake ups are going to be brutal for her) and it's not a good place to get in a walk. I think we're also expecting highs of 97 each day. We were planning on driving separately anyway, so I may just go a little bit late each day.

My sleep went wonky just before DST ended. I used to get up 4:30-5 AM to workout and have some time where I had the house to myself. I am finding it difficult to do that now. I wake up at 6 and it's hard to get out of bed. I, too, take naps--not just one, but two! It's embarrassing. I don't stay up late, but I do wake up here and there in the night.

I'm a light sleeper, too. The quietest things wake me up. The attic fan shutting off, the AC kicking on, it's so ridiculous.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I am sorry about your grandma. This pandemic has made the crappiest things 10X than they already were. I was like you, where you tell yourself it's fine, but you're not. I would wake up in the morning and list out a few things I was grateful for, but I don't think that is effective in a time like this. It was beginning to feel like "toxic positivity" to me. I know we're starting to 'get back to normal' but honestly, it's going to be a new normal. Things aren't gong to be the way they were pre-pandemic and that feels like a loss to me. I know I will adapt, but I just need some time.

Yeah, it was absolutely not okay when she died. She had a heart attack and was seemingly fine, but then told my longtime bestie, who is her bio granddaughter, earlier that day that she wasn't feeling well. Then longtime bestie and I were having dinner when we got the call from out parents. It was awful. I can't remember ever being sick with grief before, but I was literally sick with it. I took the next day off of work because I couldn't function. I do think the pandemic made it worse. But yeah, before that I was like, "Oh this is fine, I'm good, we're all fine." And then it wasn't fine.

I think the pandemic has brought out the worst in people. I've seen posts on my Hersheypark FB group that people are being awful to the staff there. These are mostly teenagers and college kids working there. Hershey finally had to put up signs that say, "Be kind and courteous or you'll be asked to leave". It's just sad that they have to do that

 

[StarWarsGirl]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

My sleep went wonky just before DST ended. I used to get up 4:30-5 AM to workout and have some time where I had the house to myself. I am finding it difficult to do that now. I wake up at 6 and it's hard to get out of bed. I, too, take naps--not just one, but two! It's embarrassing. I don't stay up late, but I do wake up here and there in the night.

I'm a light sleeper, too. The quietest things wake me up. The attic fan shutting off, the AC kicking on, it's so ridiculous.

I used to wake up early like that for my workouts, but something changed and my body just struggles with it. It's now a matter of when I can work things in during the course of the day. Sometimes it's during my lunch break at work, sometimes it's right after work, and sometimes everything else going on pushes it to early evening. Unfortunately, I've never been good with going to bed early. Anything before 10:30pm is early to my body. I bought some new ear buds that were supposed to have a 9 hour battery life on a single charge, hoping I could use them to block some of those little noises that cause me to wake, but the battery life isn't as advertised. They only have about 5-6 hours before dying. It would be great if they just silently died, but all of the ones I've tried play a message as the battery is about to die, which of course wakes me up. I'd return them, but the cheap pair I had before them that had up to a 6 hour battery life was given to my older one...and she lost them this weekend. These will at least ensure I get some sleep when we travel.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning,

Well, I'm exhausted. Some is lack of sleep, but I think it's just because we were so wound up when we got home last night. It was a long and extremely hot/humid weekend of softball. We're starting to get into our average temps for this time of year and our bodies aren't quite used to it because we had so much rain and unseasonably cooler weather during the time when there are normally gradual increases to help us acclimate. We need to adjust because we have a couple of big travel tournaments coming up that are sure to be scorchers.

Friday- Workout was unconventional. Husband and I spent about 60 minutes trying to mount the cargo box, which involved us trying to move the roof rails. It was early evening, but still about 95-96 degrees out there and humidity building. After realizing it wouldn't work, I had to move the rails back into place and box the thing for return. I then washed the car for the next hour. I was so ridiculously exhausted.

Saturday and Sunday- Each day, I got in a shorter workout before heading out to softball. 30 min on the bike for each day...Saturday a hair over 10 miles and Sunday, I know it was over 11 miles. Saturday was arms and Sunday was legs. After that, it was off to spend our days in the sweltering heat, watching these kids play ball and trekking the quarter mile or so back and forth from the car for all sorts of things all day long. I think it was something like 12-14 hours we were out there each day, and yesterday, our actual temps hit 99 with a heat index around 110. Welcome to summer...even though it's still spring.

This is what happened up here, too. It was on the cool side for the longest time and then boom, high heat with high humidity.

I can't even imagine sitting out for 12-14 hours with high heat/humidity. We had high temps here last week with heat advisories. I went out for walks, did yard work and I thought I was keeping myself hydrated--but I guess not. I woke up with the biggest headache on Saturday morning. I took Advil and got no relief. I only felt somewhat better after I drank a couple of liters of water.

Major props to your girls to be able to play for so long in that heat--plus those uniforms. Ugh!

 

[Sans Souci]

Yeah, it was absolutely not okay when she died. She had a heart attack and was seemingly fine, but then told my longtime bestie, who is her bio granddaughter, earlier that day that she wasn't feeling well. Then longtime bestie and I were having dinner when we got the call from out parents. It was awful. I can't remember ever being sick with grief before, but I was literally sick with it. I took the next day off of work because I couldn't function. I do think the pandemic made it worse. But yeah, before that I was like, "Oh this is fine, I'm good, we're all fine." And then it wasn't fine.

I think the pandemic has brought out the worst in people. I've seen posts on my Hersheypark FB group that people are being awful to the staff there. These are mostly teenagers and college kids working there. Hershey finally had to put up signs that say, "Be kind and courteous or you'll be asked to leave". It's just sad that they have to do that

It's really hard to lose someone quickly. My BFF passed suddenly and I remember getting the phone call. My heart started racing and I got sick to my stomach, too. I hope your bestie is doing better, too.

I agree about the pandemic bringing out the worst. I am flying in a few weeks and I am worried about some clown creating drama on the plane. It seems like the passengers are getting involved quickly to subdue these idiots. But, my goodness, it makes me kind of glad I wasn't hired as a FA. I like the teeth I have in my head.

I've been reading about "radical acceptance" and it helps somewhat. It's about just accepting a situation as it is. It's not surrendering or giving up, but it's acknowledging a situation sucks--even if it's not fair. I keep telling myself that this covid nonsense does suck, but it doesn't mean that there won't be good things in my life again.

 

[Sans Souci]

I used to wake up early like that for my workouts, but something changed and my body just struggles with it. It's now a matter of when I can work things in during the course of the day. Sometimes it's during my lunch break at work, sometimes it's right after work, and sometimes everything else going on pushes it to early evening. Unfortunately, I've never been good with going to bed early. Anything before 10:30pm is early to my body. I bought some new ear buds that were supposed to have a 9 hour battery life on a single charge, hoping I could use them to block some of those little noises that cause me to wake, but the battery life isn't as advertised. They only have about 5-6 hours before dying. It would be great if they just silently died, but all of the ones I've tried play a message as the battery is about to die, which of course wakes me up. I'd return them, but the cheap pair I had before them that had up to a 6 hour battery life was given to my older one...and she lost them this weekend. These will at least ensure I get some sleep when we travel.

Are they noise cancelling ear buds? I have a white noise machine that helps with noises outside, but all of these little clicks and creaks inside the house still wake me up.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I did an ab and cardio workout this AM. It was 30 minutes. THat's about my max for work outs nowadays. I went out for a long walk, too. I am still not doing yoga, because my sciatic nerve is not quite healed. I am hoping I can return to it in a couple of weeks.

I made a paneer and pea curry in my instant pot for dinner tonight. I've been using my IP so much lately. It's great for keeping the house cool when cooking.

 

[Figgy1]

Hi! Busy as heck with the end of the school year. Things are slowly returning to normalish but we'll be masking up until.................. my inlaws got J&J and are are on medications which make it less effective so everybody they want to have contact with has to be careful even if fully vaxxed. The good news is my younger ds will be heading down at the end of the week to help them with yard work and such. If being able to see them means masks so be it. Less makeup I'm trying to get out and walk when it's not raining which hasn't been often I'm thinking about switching up some of my yoga time for weights now that everything seems to have finally healed. and workout times in the house are at crazy hours because dh is still on nights @Sans Souci so glad you're back and I wish I had a way to reach @epcotisbest I miss him so very much!!!!!!

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning

Checking in with my upper body strength training w/o. I'm going out for a walk once the crush of kids walking to school ends. This is the last week for that.

I am making this dish that keeps getting recommended to me on YouTube. It's called rosé ttoekbokki. It looks like a hot mess. It's a Korean dish made with rice flour that's been formed into cylinders--they remind me of gnocchi. My grocery store was out of these rice things, so I am using gnocchi. So I am making a fusion Korean-Italian dish. I am not sure my husband will like it, but I wanted to shake up our dinners.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Are they noise cancelling ear buds? I have a white noise machine that helps with noises outside, but all of these little clicks and creaks inside the house still wake me up.

Yes, they are noise canceling, but I've also found I can hear enough if something big is going on outside of my bedroom...like the girls are screaming and tackling each other in the hallway.

I use an app called Sleep Machine, which allows me to mix up to four sounds for sleep and relaxation. It also has a mixing board feature, so I can control the volume of each sound and the pitch. It's got somewhere between 50-60 noise options that can be combined and modified. I used to try just playing it through my phone like a standalone white noise machine, but I can still hear all the little things that cause me to stay awake. While not ideal, I think I've found my solution to lower than advertised battery life. I'm just going to have to rely on two sets of ear buds. I've found I can go back to sleep pretty well after the low battery notifications, as long as there are no noises to keep me up (like snoring). So, I just bought another cheap pair rated at 5-6 hours on a single charge and I'll just have to start swapping them out when the first pair starts to die.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

This is what happened up here, too. It was on the cool side for the longest time and then boom, high heat with high humidity.

I can't even imagine sitting out for 12-14 hours with high heat/humidity. We had high temps here last week with heat advisories. I went out for walks, did yard work and I thought I was keeping myself hydrated--but I guess not. I woke up with the biggest headache on Saturday morning. I took Advil and got no relief. I only felt somewhat better after I drank a couple of liters of water.

Major props to your girls to be able to play for so long in that heat--plus those uniforms. Ugh!

It's interesting that you bring up heat advisories. For as hot as it was, we had no advisories. I guess similar to winter weather advisories, different parts of the country have different thresholds for advisories. I forget all of the factors for us, but I think actual air temp needs to be at least 103 or 104. I actually don't mind it as much when we start getting into triple digit heat because it's usually far less humid.

At times, I wish the US would go back to wearing shorts vs. full pants for softball. I believe Japan is one of the countries that competes in shorts. Then again, I have a kid that usually slides head first and is constantly ripping the knees of her pants. I guess the pro to that is that she doesn't need sliding shorts like her teammates who favor a hip slide. It's got to be at least a little bit cooler not having to wear sliding shorts under her pants.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I napped a little during lunch yesterday, hoping it would be enough to energize my workout later in the day. Nope, but I didn't totally abandon my workout. Fox Sports was replaying night 1 of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, so I just sat on the bike, pedaled at a comfortable speed and watched the dogs. I eventually hit a point where I just didn't want to be on the bike, but I still got in a little over 10 miles. I did arms after that...the usual...but added two extra sets to make up for how blah I was feeling and then finished with weighted oblique twists. I have a feeling today will be an instant replay of yesterday...well, maybe with a bit more energy, since I got more sleep, but more biking while dog watching...especially since my favorite dog breeds are in night 2 groups. We got home on Sunday as best in show judging was about to start, so I already know who won the groups and the top prizes. Other than that, just trying to prep for another weekend of travel ball. I'm looking at this weekend as sort of a dress rehearsal for our FL tournament. If my husband doesn't raise a fuss, I might hang back and use the hotel gym each morning, since we're taking both vehicles. Heck, I may even swim!