January Recap

At the beginning of the month, our Premier put the province back in Step 2 Covid protocols and closed indoor dining, movies, gyms and reduced capacity for grocery stores etc. So the workplace stayed closed to match. I worked from home until Jan 28. It was great. I challenged my friends to go back to walking 10k steps per day and I met that goal every day in January except one when I got food poisoning.

It was brutal weather wise, many extreme cold alerts; I went out as long as it was less that -20C with the wind chill. On the days when it was too cold, I paced my apartment like I was on a mission! Once my step counter hit 10K though to the couch I went!! I also started back doing my Leslie Sansone Tone Every Zone DVD as I need to lift weights and 20 minute workouts are my jam! I tried to do both the upper and lower body workouts twice each a week. I have made some progress and am now using 10lbs weights, up from 5 and 8 pounds.

I read 9 books in January. Some of them are short to get my numbers up as I am trying to read 52 books this year. There are so many books I want to read, there is no way I will be able to read them all in my life time. 😦 I truly enjoyed A Man Called Ove and have put other books by Fredrik Backman on hold. How to Kill Your Family is not a book I would have ordinarily picked up but I had seen it several times on social media. It was just okay to me. Shari LaPena is a favourite author and I am slowly making my way through all her books.

Not much else is going in my life right now, winter and Covid have turned me into a homebody and I don’t mind it at all.

Hope all is well in your world.

December Recap

This one is going to short and sweet and mainly because when I look back I don’t want to see the jump from November to January on the blog and I can’t remember much.

The parentals had an overnight trip to visit my brother and so I was back on duty. It was only one night so not too disturbing to my routine.

Just before Christmas, one of my coworkers messaged me in the afternoon to advise me to stay home the next day. Seems that there were enough unrelated positive Covid cases that shut down the building to non-essential staff. If you could work from home, you were advised to stay home. The official email went out at 8pm… Since I was not scheduled to be in the office the next day, I was not affected but as someone who does not read work emails outside of work hours I would have been in the office the next day unaware.

I read 7 books in December. I started The Power of One back in 2013 and stopped part way through. And even though it is the basis for my favourite movie I still started back at page 1. I find I am reading way more romance novels that ever before. Mindless reading and happy endings for the win!

On Christmas Eve, I got back on the exercise bandwagon. I figured since I was working from home there was no reason I could not resume working out. I ended up working out for the rest of the month. 🙂

That about covers the it.

Hope all is well in your world.

November recap

I think all my travelling last month inspired my parents to do a bit of their own travelling. Only thing is that they have fur dependents who require care. Good thing I am such an agreeable soul. Full disclosure the most dog sitting I have ever done is a couple of walks, nothing more. So my parents had to explain the routine for their 2 dogs. Walks 3 times a day. Twice a day feedings. My new life for 3 weeks.

I will be the first to say that 3 weeks in someone else’s house is about 2.5 weeks too long. The first week I was sticking to my usual bedtime and learned that with the early morning walks I need to get to bed much earlier in order to not be grumpy since sleeping in was not an option.

I did learn that I do well getting up early when I have something to do that can not be postponed like a flight, meeting up with a friend or walking dogs. I was up every morning at 7am while at my parents’ house. It did not stick when I returned to my own home. 😦

I found having dogs to be a bit restrictive as it felt like I was always rushing back to take them out. It doesn’t help that they are old dogs and not going on schedule led to accidents. So I was very happy when my parents returned a day early. Although sleeping in my own bed was a bit strange as I live in an apartment and got used to not hearing anyone above me.

Three books were read during November. I really liked Anxious People. The other two were alright.

No exercising was done in November outside of walking the dogs. And walking my parents’ dogs is not really exercise as they walk slow and stop often.

That was November.

Hope all is well in your world.

October Recap

The view from someplace near Shediac, NB.

Yes I know this is long overdue but life got away from me.

The whole trip was filled with early mornings, which with the time change was not ideal. Having said that those early wakeups did not stick. The trip to the East Coast was not what I was expecting. Turns out it was more of a work trip than a leisure trip as my friend’s sister needed a lot of help to stage the Air BnB she owns. There was minimal sightseeing except for when we went to the coast to get lobster.

I did not eat my way around Moncton or eat locally as often I would have liked. The location was ideal, walking distance from downtown but we were too busy with getting the place ready for a photoshoot. It is a big beautiful home that has been renovated to my friend’s sister high end tastes. There was a lot of cleaning and moving and cleaning and rearranging. Did I mention the cleaning? Meeting with contractors and day dreaming about other properties was also done. But I did not really see New Brunswick, so a return trip will be made.

I did come back with a rug which my Dad has offered to use his carpet cleaner on, saving me some coin. The trip home was straight 16 hours which was not as bad as I thought it would be. Mostly because I was in the back seat and might have taken a couple of naps. LOL

Can you tell what city I am in based on the two images above? Toronto on the left, when I started my trip and Vancouver on the right when I landed.

I went to Vancouver for 7 days. It rained every day except 1 while my friends were there and they apparently took the rain with them when they left on day 5. We toured all over BC and it was beautiful, except for the rain. Actually broke my heart to see Abbotsford under water a couple weeks after we were there. While we did not go on the Capilano bridge or on a gondola like we planned, it was still a great trip.

The mountains are beautiful. Will definitely need to return when there is less rain.

I had a great month travelling to both coasts. Absolutely need to see more of Canada.

I read a lot as the driving was done by not me! This might be the most I have read in a month ever. I enjoyed all books except The Other Black Girl. This was the 3rd or 4th time it came home from the library.

Well that was October, November to come before too long.

Hope all is well in your world.

September Recap

I had every intention of writing this post 2 3 weeks ago, but you know what they say about good intentions. I think my reluctance to recap September is nothing really excited happened.

There were 12 days of exercise. Not great. I will give the excuse that there was lots of time spend in the office as we had visiting staff. I also increased my availability at the night job and picked up a few shifts as I knew there were 2 weeks in October I would not be working. This all contributed to my lack of movement. I know I keep saying it but I really need to figure out how to be a morning person. If I could move my workouts back to before work, life might be easier.

There was no reading done. Well that isn’t exactly true. There were no books finished in September. I started “The Other Black Girl” and well it is still unfinished. It will be going with me to the West Coast tomorrow so I have no excuse.

The only big win for me in September was that I went the whole month WITHOUT paying to eat out. There were a couple of coffees bought by friends but other than that I ate out of my kitchen ALL month. This is huge for me. But again I thought it was something I should attempt as there are 2 weeks of travelling and eating out in October and I was trying to balance things out.

Sadly my freezer is still not empty enough to defrost yet but it is getting much closer. After my next trip, I will be focusing on using up what’s in it and throwing out what is past its prime.

That’s all that’s going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

August recap

Another month down. I swear it will be New Year’s Eve before I blink again. Time is flying.

There was not a lot of walking done in August as the hot days were too much for me and I find that if my friend is not available I am less likely to go out. 😦 I have been doing the Callenetics 17 minute workout 3 times a week. Having said that there were only 12 workout days in August. Not ideal but better than nothing.

It was not a busy reading month. I took longer than I thought I would to get into False Witness. Not because it was a terrible book but because it was the only book by Karin Slaughter book that I hadn’t read and I didn’t want it to end too quickly. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a great collection of short stories. Not what I was expecting but enjoyable none the less.

I didn’t get the PT job at my old company. They wanted a lot more availability that I was willing to commit to at this time. A little disappointing but for the best. I had an interview for a new FT job. It went well but the salary expectations were way too low for me at this stage in my life. I have slowed down on the search temporarily as I have 2 trips scheduled for next month.

I will be visiting the East Coast at the beginning of October. I am joining a friend and her family on a road trip. It will be my first time on the East Coast and I am very excited. It has been on my list for at least 5 years. So happy that this is becoming a reality and crossing my fingers that there are no lockdowns between now and then.

At the end of the month, I am going to the West Coast, cheap plane tickets will get your friends inspired and make you think why not? A friend of a friend recently came back from Vancouver and said she was ready to return. My friend in turn reached out to a few of her friends to see if there were any takers. I along with another mutual friend said sure. Then the original friend dropped out so it is now just the three of us. I have extended my trip by 2 nights to spend some time with a cousin I have who has been asking me to visit for way too long. It has been way too long since I was in BC and I want to see and do everything as I am not sure when I will return.

Tonight I committed and finally picked up a new cell phone that I have been lusting after for quite some time. It is not a good financial decision as I am sure I could have got one for cheaper but hey I “need” a better camera to capture all my adventures, right? LOL

That’s all that’s going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

July recap

This month was not as productive on the walking front. I only walked on 7 days. The extreme heat and rain did not inspire me to go outside. I did go back to doing Callanetics and managed to do it 13 times in July. I also did 1 The Firm workout which left me in pain. I lost another 5.5 lbs, which is rather surprising as I gained 4 pounds last weekend. This brings my total weight lost to almost 20 pounds since the beginning of the year. I lost another 9 inches which brings the total inches lost to over 23! 🙂 I think the inches are a result of Callanetics, which I will continue to do 3 times a week in August.

I read 5 books in July. I actually thought it would have been 6 as I got the new Karin Slaughter book from the library and I usually read them in 2 days. But I decided to be a good friend and help the friend I usually go fishing with pack up his house as he needed to be out by today. I enjoyed all the books I read last month, although the book on Fred Hampton left my blood boiling. I wanted to read it before watching Judas and the Messiah.

My cousin got engaged last Saturday and her fiancé planned a surprise congratulations party so I went to help set up. There were lots of adult beverages and I was happy to partake. This along with the 4 scoops of ice cream and slice of carrot cake consumed the day before, it was not a surprise that I gained 4 pounds in 2 days. What did surprise me is that I thought it would take at least 2 weeks to lose the weight. Reaffirming that so called cheat days can be recovered from in a timely manner and do not derail progress.

On the work front, a team lead from my former PT job contacted me regarding working for head office. This would be an hourly position that would require 20+ hours a week. I decided to throw my hat in the ring and have had 1 phone interview, 2 zoom interviews and a request for references. I should know by the end of this week if I am in or not. I do not plan to keep my current PT job if this new one pans out. My only concern is that I was trying to give myself Saturdays off and that does not seem to be possible right now with this new gig.

I booked the rest of my summer half days and will have most Friday afternoons off this month. Hopefully I can wrap up the 2 projects I am on before too long so I can leave with a clear conscience. I have no plans yet for my early leave days, except to maybe nap or read.

That’s all that is going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

The Real June Recap

Confession time – I only realized on Friday, as in 2 days ago Friday, that the May recap was titled June recap… Yup took me all this time and I am not going to change it.

There were 21 walking days in June. and 2 workouts. I lost another 5 pounds which makes me think it is time to kick it up a notch. Since I go into the office 2 days a week now, I have committed to doing some sort of workout on the days that I am home. I figure that I can commit to 3 days a week to start. This will be in addition to my walking. I also started tracking my calories. This is not fun. I eat a lot of fruit which is a ton of sugar so I need to get that under control. I am going to say it is a summer problem. I am still eating relatively clean otherwise. Minimal gluten, processed sugar and gluten.

I read 4 books in June. I had high hopes for The Wrong Family but it didn’t thrill me. The other 3 were great. I attempted to finish 2 books that I had previously started. That did not go so well. I don’t seem to be in the right frame of mind for those books.

There were 14 no spend days in June. Still spending too much on food. I might have to ban myself from going to the stores. I might have overstated my grocery purchases recently as I don’t separate out my Costco bills and up until recently just groceries or cleaning supplies were available for purchase. Will keep an eye on this in July.

I had another massage and the poor RMT fought with good effort but I think my knots won. So I have been trying to more foam rolling in my life. I think it is helping. My left shoulder is very problematic. I might have to try to put a few yoga workouts in my life.

Towards the end of last summer, the AC in my car died and I decided it could wait. Well these hot days reminded me that I need AC. I took my car to the mechanic and it seemed like they fixed it. I was supposed to go back within a few days to see if everything was ok. I forgot until it was another hot day. In my defense I only leave the house a few times a week, so I wasn’t really focused on it. Anyhow, the condenser was leaking in multiple places so I spent a fortune to be cool in a vehicle I am not in often because I am foolish and like to be comfortable.

One of my neighbours passed away a couple of weeks ago. I usually only ran into her when I was on time to work so rarely, but other neighbours noticed her absence. They were reaching out to her sister to get her help but I don’t think that worked out like it should have. The police came one Saturday for a wellness check. I thought they got in contact with her. I was wrong. Two days later, they returned and had to get the fire department break open her door. She was dead, apparently had been for 10+ days. Very sad really. Even sadder is her apartment was cleared out and is now for sale. I hope she rests in peace.

This month, I have a day trip planned to get ice cream from this little town 2 hours away. I am really looking forward to this outing. Ontario is slowly opening back up and I am no rush to get out. The lockdown has been good to my wallet. 🙂 We have summer hours at work which means there are 5 Fridays of my choice during July and August that I get to leave at noon.

That’s all that is going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

June Recap

Well, I am not getting better at getting these up in a timely manner.

Another month in the books. I swear every week feels the same. Get up, go to work, walk, read, rinse, repeat. Other than my building starting work on the balcony, which now has me looking at a space I never use with fresh eyes, life has been the same as the month before.

I walked 21 days last month and did 4 workouts. This seems to be my routine. I have lost 5 lbs since last month. Not a ton but I’ll take it. Plus my weight is going in the right direction. 🙂 Towards the end of the month, I did the Wild Rose D-Tox Cleanse. I haven’t done it in years, but it came back to me. 12 days of no dairy, gluten, sugar, vinegar or soy. I am continuing to follow this “diet” loosely for the rest of the month to see how it goes for me. Summer is a great time to go more plant based. Hopefully I can keep it up. I have gotten it down to meat once a day if at all. I ate the last steak in my freezer and did not replace it. I have mainly been eating chicken and fish as my meat options. A big change from my usual pork and beef.

I read 5 books in May. Just As I Am and The African Lookbook were both books I started before May began. There are 20 books in my Goodreads account that I have started but not finished. I am trying to half that by then end of the year.

There were 12 no spend days in May. Food still remains a bigger chunk of the budget than I’d like. More was spent on groceries than eating out last month, but still. Produce remains a constant line item on my list. And now that it is cherry season … all bets are off.

I had my first massage almost a year and was reminded that I really need to put self care higher up the list of things to do. I scheduled my next massage for later this month and will try to keep a monthly massage on the agenda. If I was less of a procrastinator I would figure out how to consistently put 15 minutes of stretching in every day. I think it would make a big difference.

That’s all that’s going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

April Recap

Hmmmm … well this recap is a bit overdue. I think that is because not much happened to me in April that was outstanding. I have been racking my brain and April was a mundane month for me. Other than getting confirmation via a baby shower invite that one of my cousins is pregnant, no big happy news happened. I think with my friend experiencing so much loss that my focus, as much as it can be, has been on her.

Exercise is now mainly walks as I am still trying to get 10,000 steps done 5 days a week. My new shoes were hurting my feet but my Mom told me how to tie them and it has made all the difference. There were 21 days of walking in April. I also managed to work out 4 times which is a surprise to me. I would like to get back to lifting weights but haven’t managed to motivate myself to do it. Interestingly enough my weight has remained steady, no real loss but no gain either!

I only read 3 books last month. I started Cecily Tyson’s autobiography late in the month and was not able to finish it before the month changed over. I vaguely recalled some controversy when Matthew’s book came out. I can’t remember what it was and after reading the book whatever it was did not register on me.

There were 9 no spend days last month. There was way too much spent on food considering my freezer is still not empty. But sometimes a girl just wants someone else to cook. Plus I am addicted to bubble tea and dragon fruit. I also find that if it is not in my house, that’s the meal I want . 😦 Time to get myself under control. With the stay at home order extended, there should be more no spend days this month.

My decluttering has been paused. No reason other than laziness. I was hoping my cousin would say she is coming for the shelving unit that I offered sooner rather than later and that would be the kick in the pants I need. But so far she is trying to get settled into her new place before figuring out how to get this large shelf to their space. Right now I am using the shelf as an excuse not to do any more as I will be moving the furniture around as soon as it is gone.

The microwave that I took from my Dad stopped working a few weeks ago. I am hesitant to buy another one and have been finding creative ways to reheat my food. Steaming is working really well for me. The lack of a microwave is also influencing what I cook and eat. More plant based food and salads for the win!

That was April in a nutshell.

Hope all is well in your world.