NaBloPoMo 2023!

Here we are at the end of November and I have successfully blogged each day this month! Making the time to do it every day was easier than I thought it would be, but having something worth saying was definitely a challenge some days and I’m sure it showed. I love writing, but I know that I am not a great writer. That’s okay with me. With November coming to an end, I don’t anticipate blogging every day, although perhaps I can be a bit more consistent with it than I have been for most of the year. But who knows?

Black Cyber Giving Rant

Apparently yesterday was Giving Tuesday. While I definitely love the concept behind it, I find it extremely ironic and sad that something selfless like a day about giving comes directly on the heels of an entire weekend focused on spending money and shopping madness, which also immediately followed America’s day for giving thanks. I realize that I am probably in the minority here, but I am generally disgusted by the way our culture revolves around spending and making money. Things cost money, people need to be able to pay for the necessities of life, it is nice to have entertainment, variety, fun…I get it! I am not opposed to capitalism, but I do think our capitalistic society is becoming an insatiable monster and I’m not sure how sustainable it can remain.

There is something very weird about gathering to be thankful for friends, family and all we have right before we rush to the mall to buy, buy, buy. With Cyber Monday now we don’t even have to leave home to spend, spend, spend. That’s okay, I guess, because on Giving Tuesday we will think about donating to charities, volunteering and doing good, but we’re not going to hear about Giving Tuesday as much as we do those sales.

Okay, I’m done ranting now.

This is Why We Use Safeties

I missed a bench rep today for the first time since my competition nearly 7 months ago. Thankfully, the failure came during my final set, so I just had to put all the plates away after wriggling my body out from under the barbell on the safeties. I thought I had the safeties set high enough but apparently not!

The failure came on the third set at 130 pounds. My rep target was 2 to 4 reps, but I had only managed 2 reps for each of the previous two sets and only expected to get 2 reps for the final set. I am not really sure what happened, why I couldn’t finish the rep, as the one rep I did manage actually felt better than any of the previous reps. My right should seemed to lose its’ position on the first rep as soon as I initiated the pressing motion, and the second reps were slow and tough. The shoulder seemed to stay in place better on the first rep of the last set, but I couldn’t get the bar high enough on the second rep to even force a slow, grindy finish.

My right shoulder and elbow have been bothersome for months and months in varying degrees of pain or discomfort. Most recently, both have been generally fine with the bench press, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have an impact on my performance. While I slept well last night and was well-fed this morning, work was rather exhausting and maybe that played a role in my failure. What I don’t want to say is that I am just not strong enough, because I know that I am. Bench press is my weakest lift, but that doesn’t mean I am weak. Regardless of the how or why behind the missed rep today, I am still happy with what I did get done and for grinding out all but one of those tough reps. Some training sessions are amazing and some are tough; that’s just the way it is.

Do the Work

Someone asked me today how long I had been training before I took part in my first powerlifting competition. My answer was to say however many months between September and July, which is 10 months but I couldn’t do the mental math in the moment. I was then asked if I was already buff prior to starting training to which I laughed and said no, not even close. My questioner was surprised and impressed. I tend to not think too much about it, certainly not in quite that way. It doesn’t seem all that impressive to me, because it has just been a part of my life for so long now that it feels rather routine; however, I suppose that it is impressive to someone who hasn’t walked that road.

That brief conversation got me thinking again about the importance of consistency. Almost anyone can do what I am doing and plenty of people can do it better than I can. There are women stronger and faster and more athletic than me, but we all had a starting point.

I had started to write that we all started at the beginning, but I changed it as I kind of feel like we don’t all actually have the exact same beginning. Stepping into a gym for the first time as a 40 year old is likely quite different than a 20 year old stepping into a gym. Someone who had a mostly sedentary lifestyle wouldn’t have the same starting point as someone who worked on their feet in a fast paced environment. We all start somewhere but what that looks like will vary.

Everyone’s goals are also unique. Before my injury, I wanted to chase after records. All these years after my injury, I am chasing records of a different sort, the personal ones that are meaningful to me and not the type to garner recognition within an organization. Some people want to lose weight or get in shape or be stronger or just stay healthy and active as long as they can. There is no right or wrong goal.

Yes, I competed 10 months after first stepping into a gym and touching a barbell, but I was still new to the process, still learning and growing. I failed my final bench press attempt and didn’t even crack 100 pounds. Today I can bench press 100 pounds for six or more reps quite easily. You need to start somewhere, but then you need to keep going if you want to see results. They don’t happen for wishing and hoping really hard. They don’t happen if you skip more workouts than you complete. Results are harder to come by if you don’t push yourself to do a little more and a little more. You gotta put in the effort! And this applies to so much more than just lifting weights; it applies to almost everything!

Feeling Festive

It’s beginning to look like Christmas around here. We pulled the tree out of the garage, and I have already set it up, played with the branches, and got it all decorated. Last year, I put Grogu (Baby Yoda) at the top of the tree. This year, I have the Millenium Falcon on top, which is an iconic Star Wars space ship. My husband looked at it and said I need therapy. I think it looks pretty good.

There is Christmas music playing, and I have a batch of white chocolate biscotti baking in the oven to kick off the start of Christmas baking. More baking will need to wait for another day though. The biscotti is probably my husband’s favourite, so I have decided to make two batches this year. I am glad that I was always planning on making the two batches on different days, because I didn’t realize I was out of almond extract for the recipe! Since I had already just made a last minute quick trip to the store for the necessary orange juice, I wasn’t going to head back out just for some almond extract. I spun the lazy Susan holding my extracts and such a couple of times, hoping I’d find a bottle of almond hiding somewhere and also figuring out how I could salvage the recipe I had already started. My extract choices were vanilla, chocolate, coconut, rum, peppermint, and orange. Since there is orange juice in the recipe already, I figured that orange extract might be okay. I’m sure it won’t be terrible, but I am still going to pick up some almond extract before I make the next batch. My husband’s only reaction was to ask how long until he could eat some, and he was disappointed to learn that biscotti needs to bake twice.

I also started my 1000 piece candy cane puzzle yesterday. It’s tradition! There are a lot of life lessons that run through my mind when I work on that puzzle, so I might blog about that another day.

Friday’s shopping excursion was somewhat successful, but there are still a few things I need to find or decide on. My daughter was shocked that I had gone shopping on Black Friday. Black Friday was not my motivation in going, but I did end up taking advantage of a sale or two. The plan is to hit the big craft market this coming weekend. Not sure if I can finish my shopping there, but my goal is to be finished by this time next week!

The Doctor Will See You Now

I am super excited about the return of Doctor Who today. My favourite doctor actor, David Tennant, and my favourite companion actress, Catherine Tate, for three special episodes leading up to a new season with a brand new doctor! The first episode is actually already available on Disney+, but I am making myself wait until this evening to watch it. I want to savour every minute, because the last few seasons were more disappointing than exciting. Some might like to lay the blame for that on having a female doctor, but I do not think she was the problem. The writing just wasn’t interesting or good. Hopefully these special episodes and the new season will be better, so I can continue to feel excited about Doctor Who.

Start Your Shopping Engines

As I begin this blog it is currently 8:30am on Friday, and I am twiddling my thumbs, killing time, waiting for stores to open. I am feeling surprisingly motivated to get some Christmas shopping done today, but most of the retail world does not operate on my normal schedule. I have already been to the gym, had coffee and breakfast, paid bills, and played around with a puzzle. There is the option of online shopping, but that’s not really my thing. My shopping motivation has absolutely nothing to do with today being Black Friday. This is just a good day for me to do it, and most Black Friday sales are of little interest to me anyway.

I do not know how much I will get done before I am driven crazy with the shuffling movers and aisle blockers, but I need to get as much done as possible as conditions will only get worse as we head into December. Thankfully the number of gifts I need to find isn’t anything crazy. Honestly, it is quite reasonable, as is our budget. The real challenge is in finding things that are truly needed or will be put to good use by the recipient. I have a few ideas for most but not all, yet even that doesn’t make my time shopping very enjoyable. But the sooner I get started, the sooner I will be finished!

Writing in the Dark

I have some of my best blog writing moments at the worst possible times, like when I’m away from home and busy or when I am laying in bed on the verge of falling asleep. Last night was one of those most excellent in my head blog posts, which has now become lost in the light of day. Please do not tell me to keep a notebook by my bed or talk into my phone as a memo! For one thing, I don’t know how to use my phone that way. Yes, I could figure it out, but I really don’t care to learn that skill. As for the bedside notebook, I also do not want to do that, because I try to avoid doing things while in bed that may derail my sleep efforts and awaken the inner night owl. I may go to bed at 6pm, wake up around 3am and do it as a fully functional human, but being a night owl was my nature for a long time and I can easily slip back into that routine. Okay, maybe not so easily with my schedule! What I really mean is that disruptions to my sleep routine make it more difficult for me to fall asleep, and those disruptions are easily created by even the smallest actions, like the effort of jotting down some notes when I’m supposed to be sleeping.

After today’s blog post, I have only seven days left in this NaBloPoMo challenge, and I haven’t missed a day yet! In a twisted sort of way, I am enjoying the need to force myself to sit down to blog each day. There are definitely days where I feel crunched for time or at a loss for words to write, but it feels good to be doing it anyway. Part of me will miss the challenge of blogging every day when December rolls around, but I think that sadness will be short-lived. Goals are best when they have an end point, at least for goals such as these.

Mandarin Oranges

I stopped in at the grocery store after work today, and one of the items I picked up was another box of Mandarin oranges. Out of all of the fruit that I enjoy, I think these oranges are my absolute favourite. I am just old enough to remember when the availability of Mandarin oranges was limited to a small window around Christmas, and it was a treat to find one in your Christmas stocking. If I had put an orange in my kids’ stockings when they were little, they would not have felt the same way I did as a kid. Now they roll their eyes at me every time I bring home another box. Living here in the Okanagan valley, we have a plethora of fruit in the summer. And, while I do love a lot of it, I definitely do not consume as many apples, peaches, pears, or cherries as I do Mandarin oranges.

My little neighbourhood store had regular Mandarins and organic Mandarins today, both on sale for the same price. After peeking in the box, the organic oranges were larger and nicer looking, so I took a box of those. (This is one instance where I do miss a local produce store that closed down a few months ago, because they always made a point of checking your box at the checkout for spoilage, removing the bad ones and then topping up the box.) As is the case with everything these days, I have noticed the price of the oranges has increased, but the sale price of $7.99 for a box beautiful, plump organic Mandarin oranges doesn’t seem too bad. At least I am getting plenty of vitamin C and other good nutrients, as well as a better snacking option!

Calling Mr. Sandman

Even with my alarm set for 3:20AM several days a week, I am rarely woken up by my alarm. No, I am usually already awake anywhere between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning. For much of the past 6 years since herniating the disc, sleep has not been kind to me, so I am generally very happy with how my sleep has been for about the last year or so. It still isn’t always great, but at least I am getting decent chunks of sleep between the waking periods. Not so last night.

This morning at 3:20, The Imperial March blared through my ear plugs, waking me up very much against my will. It felt as if I had been woken up in the middle of a deep, deep sleep and many hours too soon. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep and staying asleep last night, and I do not know why. My back was fine. All other typical muscle aches and pains were minimal. The nerve pains in my legs and feet were no worse than any other night. Nothing was on my mind. I had taken my magnesium and some melatonin and did some foam rolling before bed. I was definitely tired and ready for bed, but sleep was elusive once I crawled under the duvet. Just one of those nights, I guess. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to bedtime tonight!