Moms of school-aged kids and tweenagers, Oct-Dec 2020

[Pratima]

TonyaK, your stay at the cabin sounds nice! I feel like any change in routine helps these days. By keto, do you mean avoiding carbs? Or is it more specific/detailed? Do your kids eat the meals from Hello Fresh? I've looked at some of those services and always wondering if a) mine would and b) they're enough food. Sometimes the vegetarian options seem kind of lame.

Your experience with remote learning sounds a lot like ours. Initially it was technical issues, then more academic, and then exactly what you're saying--DS did everything at the bare minimum unless I sat with him, and DD was failing.

It seems pretty much all the districts here will be offering in-person after fall break. There were a few that sounded like they would hold out through the year and then switched. I haven't seen anything about a huge increase in cases lately BUT our district doesn't publish that info. I did see that cases in kids have gone up nationwide over the past few months. That makes sense, of course, since schools reopened.

My kids are on fall break this week. We're heading up north Wednesday. But first I have to survive my daughter having two friends sleep over. I'm realizing we've never done this before! She had one friend (neighbor) sleep over when she was maybe 8 or 9. I'm sure it'll be fine, I'm just always a little overwhelmed with extra people around.

The job I was hoping for fell through, so I'm sticking with the one offer I got. It's about a 13% cut in pay and not super great benefits, BUT it's 100% remote and puts me into a new area. It does offer some benefits, and health insurance is actually free for me. I need to check whether DH's can be modified to only cover him and the kids.

I started seeing a PT Wednesday for my hip. I couldn't run or even hike without it getting all tight and sore. I'm seeing a new PT this time. They always stay with you and every appointment is only an hour. Yesterday we spent most of the time on moves to engage my transverse abdominus. I am impressed at how they've managed to help me accomplish that! Of course I'm getting a bit impatient.

This week's workouts were all cycle and barre. There was a Peloton barre challenge (because they put out new barre workouts) so I did 8 barre workouts in 6 days or something like that. They're short--10-30 minutes--and relatively simple. I'm hoping they come up with more! I will probably stick with cycle and barre for now.

What's everyone thinking for Halloween? DH is putting up our many decorations but we're leaning towards no trick or treating so far.

[Pratima]

Hi all! I'm feeling a little lonely.

We went up north last week for the kids' fall break. That was really nice! We rented a great house, saw the Grand Canyon, did some hiking, and enjoyed the cool weather.

I started my new job yesterday. I have to work EDT hours so I'm trying to be at my computer by 6 AM! It's a little tough to have to drop the kids off. I'm hoping next week DH makes it home in time for that. Tomorrow I have a meeting at 6 AM, and three other meetings about every 2 hours.

BUT I'm not really doing any work yet. The company is contracted with the Coast Guard to develop training. We're sort of on retainer, waiting to be handed projects, and don't have any yet. I guess some of the others have been waiting a while. I don't mind, I mean, I get paid either way.

The early mornings though, I've gotten up at 4:30 the past two days and worked out and it was OK but tough to fit that in, getting the kids out the door and simultaneously starting work. I thought about dropping them off earlier but that wouldn't help a ton.

In all honesty I don't know if this job will work out long-term, but of course I'm willing to try it out for a while and see how it goes.

I'm seeing a PT twice a week for my hip. I went to a different one twice before. The new one is taking a very different approach. She's working more on loosening my hip flexor and helping me learn to engage and strengthen my transverse abs. I feel like I'm making progress, though quite slow. Still, maybe this will help more longer-term.

So, no running for now. I've been walking, on my spin bike, and doing barre the past couple of weeks. It's finally cool here in the mornings so hopefully I'll get to do some hiking soon.

[TonyaK]

Hi all!
Pratima, sorry you've been hanging out here alone!
Keto is super-low carbs, medium-low protein, and high fat.

I hope your new job will be okay until you want to move on! Ugh, getting up at 4:30 is so early! That timing really interferes with your normal workout schedule.

I hope this round of PT will be really helpful.

I have told the kids that they won't be able to trick-or-treat this year. DD really wants to go. Her friends who are going to school in-person are planning to go (she talks to them online). We will see what is going on with the infection numbers when it gets closer, but right now our state is on a bad trajectory and there is talk of shutting things down again. My kids' school seems to be doing really well - I haven't heard about them sending any classes home yet. The charter school in our neighborhood has sent home several classes because of infections. Our local grocery store recently had 36 employee cases, so we've been shopping other places. I doubt we will trick-or-treat! I think we might make little bags of candy and deliver them to friends' doors. What are you going to do?

I'm continuing on with STS, still! I can tell that my posture is better since I'm stronger. I feel better in lots of little ways. But my feet are sore lately! I don't know why, since I haven't been doing lots of cardio or anything.

[TonyaK]

Hello friends!

I'm not sure how, but I became enamored with Lindsay Brin's newest streaming set, Balanced Body. I guess it sounded like what I need, after months with STS and not doing much cardio or flexibility. She gives you a week free, then the next three months are discounted and you can cancel any time. So I subscribed. I'm enjoying it right now, though I know I would be annoyed if I were in a bad mood She is perky as usual (which can be a plus or a minus for me, depending on my mood), a little forgetful, and doesn't keep track of reps evenly. She looks fantastic and is supportive and cheerful. The workouts are all around 25 minutes, which is nice, too.

I just finished my 5th workout of hers and tomorrow I will go back to STS for a couple days. I just have four workouts left in that series and I plan to mix them in with Lindsay. I've worked out six days in a row, which is a lot for me! 25 minutes x 5 days a week seems super doable for me right now. Hopefully I continue to feel that way!

Yesterday was nice and warm until about 5:00 when new weather blew in. Today it has been drizzly, cloudy, and around 35 - 40 degrees. We are expecting snow a few days from now. It feels kind of nice after a hot, hot summer and early Fall.

I hope you are all well!

[Pratima]

TonyaK, I figured that's what you meant by keto but it seems there are some variations. I've tried going low carb and just can't! I feel and smell awful (like ammonia) after just a couple of days. I'm really surprised you're into Lindsay Brin! Such a contrast with STS. I have always liked her though, and still pull out those old Pretty Fierce workouts. I was wondering about her new ones, so let me know how they go!

We're not letting our kids trick or treat either. The past few years we've done an outdoor potluck with neighbors. Well, some of them aren't going out, some have moved away, and others are too old now for that (in college). DH and I were at Costco today and I told him we need to think of something. For now, the plan is dinner at home (beef stew and deviled eggs, which we'd normally have), a movie, and we got each a box of candy. Kind of lame but it's all we have!

DS normally has a taekwondo Halloween carnival with games, candy, etc. but of course that's not happening. DD does have a gymnastics team party tonight. They wear costumes and carve pumpkins for the second half of practice. Oh and the kids' school is doing something next Friday, a virtual event, but so far I have no idea what.

Oh and DH did decorate. I'm thinking maybe we just put candy outside and let kids help themselves?? That seems a little weird though.

Still not really doing anything at work. But I'm telling myself it'll make for possibly a mellow year and I could use one of those. I did buy myself an amazing new laptop so I can keep my personal one for only "fun" stuff. Got a standing desk riser at woot.com a few weeks ago which I love, and am looking at chairs right now. My however many years old chair is SO uncomfortable!

I've gone back to Burn Bootcamp streaming workouts. I did one last week and was SO sore afterward, I realized I need the weight work. I'm also walking as much as I can since it's finally in the 60s for the lows! Next week is supposed to be MUCH cooler, with highs in the 60s for at least a couple of days.

I'm still doing PT. It's quite different. At the other place, I always started with moist heat and electrostim, and then a few stretches. Then I'd do the strength work, always the same sequence, with more moves added on every so often. It took probably 90 minutes, and then at the end they'd do some massage or scraping.

At this one, she does a lot of manual mobilization at the beginning (e.g. pulling on one leg to release it, pushing down on and massaging my hip, etc.). She stays with me the whole time. There are a few exercises I always do but the rest varies. And every appointment is always an hour.

I feel like initially my hip hurt, then it sort of moved to hip flexor, now it's my side oblique. She said that's expected, we're kind of working that whole area progressively. I'm hoping it resolves soon! I'm paying $65 a visit for now!

I really wanted to go to an arboretum this weekend. It's a 45 minute drive, which isn't horrible. But I told DH about it literally every single day from Sunday to Wednesday because he'd start to say he was doing something Saturday and I'd say no, we're going. By Thursday morning, my at least 5th time doing that, I was super annoyed and said I don't want to go.

I do of course want to see it, hike there, etc. but also figured it'd be just a nice little getaway for us. It shouldn't be work, I shouldn't have to keep reminding him. And he went on about how he forgets and I'd probably forget if he told me we're going to Disneyland (um no, I wouldn't). Most ridiculous comparison ever, right? Anyway, we're not going so oh well!

Thought about just going myself but would rather go in the spring. There might be some fall color now, but it should be cooler in spring and there will be wildflowers. Maybe in a couple weeks we'll go...we'll see.

Anyone else feel like that? Like the "cruise director" for the family?

[Pratima]

Hi all! The temperature dropped 30 degrees here pretty much overnight. The highs last week were around 95 and this week around 65! It'll warm up over the weekend though.

It's been so tough to get up early with the dark and now cold. I do still get up early, get dressed and check in at work, but still no actual projects. I'm just reading lots of stuff.

Sticking with my Burn workouts. I can tell my muscles are shaping up some. Trying to walk as much as I can but it does seem to aggravate my hip/abs. I'm planning on what I saw Cathe supposedly does--3 or 4 weeks of heavy, one "anything goes" week, then 3-4 weeks of light weights.

The PT used a Hypervolt on me Tuesday and I really liked it! I had a massage once where the therapist used it on my back. That was weird, but on my quads it seems to work well. Today she's going to try needling. Apparently there's a spot that just won't release, sort of deep in my back/abs/hip area. She thinks two sessions might help. We shall see!

I've been trying and trying to come up with something fun for Halloween and just can't think of anything. I don't want the kids to go out. Watching a movie is what we do EVERY Saturday. I was thinking maybe we grill and make s'mores, but it's a poor substitute for our usual potluck and trick or treating! :/

[TonyaK]

Hello! Well, I've taken two non-consecutive rest days since my streak began, but I got right back to it both times. I'm still using Lindsay's newest set, which is okay. She loses count a lot but so far, I'm not bothered by it. It's nice to do something so different from what I've been doing lately (even though I love heavy weights!) It feels right to move faster and use smaller muscles. I can't say that I love the workouts, but I love that they're short.

Pratima, that summary of Cathe's plan is interesting! It makes sense to mix things up to stay all-around-fit.

Is a Hypervolt electrical stimulation? It sounds good that they are trying something new -- maybe this bunch of sessions will help more than what was tried before.

We made some Halloween goodie bags and left them on friends' doorsteps. The kids really liked it! But they still want to go trick-or-treating. I don't want them to - our area just had to increase restrictions due to increasing cases. I was wondering about making a pinata for them, but I didn't do it. Would your kids think that's fun?

[Pratima]

Hi all! So we did end up trick or treating. I told the kids they couldn't go up to any doors, they could only take candy from bowls or buckets left out. Fortunately that's what most people did. DS tried to head to doors a couple of times but DD basically strongarmed him away from them! After going around a couple of streets (one below and one above ours), we came back home and sat at our firepit with the neighbors.

We have this headless butler that you can control with a microphone, so we sat there and took turns making him say different things. We had him right near the table with the candy, so he was talking to the trick or treaters. It was entertaining!

I thought about a pinata or treasure hunt. I think for my kids, it was of course about the candy but also about getting out and seeing other people. We walked around part of the time with neighbors (different ones than the ones that came over) so they were happy. A

The Hypervolt is a percussion massager. It basically bangs your muscles out! It really helped, as did needling.

The needling was interesting. The first one was inserted into my abs. That one hurt the most! She kept it there for a few minutes and fiddled with it a few times. Every time she fiddled, it would hurt again. Then she took it out and inserted several into my hip and side of my thigh. Those weren't as bad but she left them in much longer. Afterward, I did feel like everything had released! And still feel good today.

Cathe's plan was actually something I saw in an old post. I guess that's what she does on her own to maintain fitness. I can see why it would work.

I'm still doing the Burn workouts, cardio and weights. I can see a difference after a couple of weeks! I'm also trying to walk whenever possible and also hike and ride my spin bike occasionally.

It heated up again (90s for the high) but is supposed to cool off this weekend. I believe the kids and I are off Nov. 11 for Veteran's Day so I'm thinking maybe I can get them to hike.

Sort of glad Halloween is over and went well! Now to worry about Thanksgiving.

[TonyaK]

Hello!

Tuesday I woke up around 4:00, realized it was election day, and knew I'd never get back to sleep. I got up and worked out.

Wednesday I did my workout - I know I'll feel better if I get enough rest, exercise, and good food. Kickboxing felt great!

Thursday, I just couldn't do it. I pretty much sat around most of the day.

Today, I'm up! I dressed to work out! I'm procrastinating! Hopefully I'll get started in a few minutes.

I have officially finished STS. It took me months longer than planned, since sometimes I only did one per week! But I eventually did them all, and I am definitely stronger. I can already feel improvements and gains from adding in Lindsay Brin. I think anything different would have this effect, but I like this Balanced Body set of workouts for me right now. I need lots of core work, adding in cardio to everything, and using multiple body parts at the same time. The short length is also huge for me.

Pratima, DH took our kids trick-or-treating around two blocks. They could only go to places where the treats were in a bowl or on a table - not where someone was handing them out and breathing in your face Most of our neighbors left out a bowl. A couple neighbors made ziploc bags full of candy, so my kids got plenty of candy. I had bought them some, too, since I didn't think we'd let them go out.

I'm so glad your different PT techniques are helping! It's interesting to hear about them.

[Pratima]

TonyaK, I'm struggling this week too. I've been SO tired! I'm not sure if it's because I'm doing tougher workouts or because of all the stress of waiting on election results. Probably both! Hope you got in a workout today!

Ha, our kids got the same Halloween! We walked about two blocks and we'd bought candy just in case too. One benefit is that my kids seem a little more interested in the neighbors we hung out with now. For whatever reason, they never want to play with them. The oldest is the same age as DD. DD actually went over there Sunday to see if they could play and they had a Nerf gun battle. The youngest is 5 and just loves DD, so she played with her a bit too.

You're amazing for finishing STS. It's always intimidated me so much I never even bought it. Are the Lindsay workouts all lighter weight?

Xtrainfit has a new series that seems similar. I think it's only on their streaming platform for now. It's called Define and Align and is barre-based, I believe. If they come out with DVDs, I might get those.

Yesterday my PT exercises were shifted to more run-focused moves. She had me doing a running motion on a BOSU (sort of running onto it with one foot over and over) to help me figure out what's going on. I have NO glute activation on one side so she had me do just a few simple exercises to help with that. I was so sweaty! I only have about 8 sessions left, I believe, so hopefully it'll be enough. It's such a different approach than the other PT.

For workouts I'm still sticking with Burn streaming. I think I'll do one more week and then switch to lighter weights I did subscribe to Les Mills. They have BodyPump and Grit for weights, so I'm thinking of doing those for a month.

I am still literally doing NOTHING at work. Just waiting for projects. I sat in on a call for someone else's project this week. I guess the Coast Guard hasn't really figured out what they want us to do. Part of me wants to look for other jobs and part of me is enjoying getting paid to wait. I think I might get a free trial for this software I know how to use and do some tutorials to learn to use it better.

Waves to mbramer and Stephanie!