Boxes, Scaffolding and the Absence of Struggle

May 1, 2022May 25, 2023Leave a comment

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I posted on social media recently that being less active online usually means I’m more active in the real world. The past couple weeks have been ACTIVE! Contractors started work on the outside of the house. I was painting walls after work and moving furniture around inside the house to prepare for more furniture and boxes arriving this past Friday. The house is officially full, and I’m pleased to announce that future house guests will have beds to sleep in!

The dogs weren’t too sure about losing all of that empty space to run around in, but I think they’re adapting. We do have 60 acres outside to run around in! I also took a minute to start the next phase of my home office setup. The rest of the room is a wreck of boxes and random items that need to find their place, but at least this corner looks finished.

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Everyone’s Doing the Best They Can

April 16, 2022Leave a comment

*Photo by Roussety Gregory on Pexels.com*

I belong to a fitness accountability group and earlier this week, I posed a question. I wanted to know how the others in the group managed their workouts when Life got really crazy, like it has been for me this month. They seemed to be so much better at doing their workouts consistently and reaching their weekly fitness goals. I was sure I was slacking somewhere and I wanted the secret sauce. What was the magic ingredient that I was missing that made me less consistent and less successful?

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Lessons at 39

April 9, 2022May 25, 20231 Comment

I had a birthday a week and a half ago! Birthdays are a time to reflect on my life over the past year, and this particular birthday, I found myself reflecting on the past decade. The last couple weeks, I have been reminded of some important lessons I’ve learned over the past 10 years, so while the literal paint dries (more on that later), I thought I would make the time to share.

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My First Winter in Maine

March 27, 2022Leave a comment

I think it’s safe to say now that I’ve officially survived my first winter in Maine. For someone who lived the previous 16 years in Southern California (where 60 degrees is “cold”) and has experienced symptoms from seasonal affective disorder, moving to a state so far north was a risk. The thought of living through months of dark and dreary weather made me hesitate even when I knew in my core that Maine was the place I was meant to be.

Turns out it wasn’t that bad!

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Dancing in Multiple Directions

March 12, 2022May 25, 2023Leave a comment

I left the house to go dancing three days this week. It almost felt reminiscent of pre-pandemic life, except the variety of dance here is much greater. It’s a different experience working on different dances through the week instead of continuously building on my ballroom skills. My personal dance world is expanding as I learn and practice different styles. I’m getting to meet different people who all love to dance, but in different ways. It feels a little aimless, but as you’ll find out, I’m feeling better about that aspect.

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Going with the Flow is Scary

March 6, 2022October 23, 20221 Comment

We plan, God laughs.
Yiddish proverb

It’s March already, and while I’m not surprised that there is still a foot of snow on the ground, I am surprised and disappointed that I’m not back to taking ballroom lessons. I shouldn’t be surprised because I was there at every turn that delayed my return to ballroom. Always a good reason! But silly me still didn’t want to let go of her original plans.

If any four words were to sum up Life, it would be these four: We plan, God laughs.

You can interpret it in different ways, but I see it as a reminder that we cannot control the world around us. The Earth keeps rotating and Life keeps going, whether we like it or not. We try every day to control or at least predict, what the future will bring, but the best we manage is an illusion.

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When Your Swan Song Was More of an Ugly Duckling: Reflecting on My Last Competition

February 12, 2022March 3, 2022Leave a comment

It’s officially been two years since my last ballroom competition, the 2020 California Open. To be honest, it was not the performance I wanted to go out on. But how was I to know that a global pandemic was about to turn Life as we know it upside down?

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A Winter Tango and the Passage of Time

February 6, 2022Leave a comment

It was another week of weather up here in Maine! Last Sunday, I spent about 2.5 hours shoveling snow after Winter Storm Kenan. It’s been decades since I’ve shoveled that much snow; I was so sore on Monday!

I still went to my 90-minute ballet class on Monday evening. I knew it would be an “interesting” challenge. My body was exhausted and anyone who’s taken ballet knows it’s not easy even when you’re feeling tip top! So no surprise – my pirouettes went from “not great” to “really bad.” Focusing on maintaining form when your energy is waning is a great way to build up stamina though! I did not have that positive of an attitude while I was falling across the floor in front of everyone, but at least I gave myself a break because I knew I was tired.

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Things You Ponder During a Blizzard

January 30, 2022Leave a comment

If you live anywhere on the northern half of the East Coast, then you heard about Winter Storm Kenan, a nor’easter turned “bomb cyclone”, pub crawling its way up the coast Friday through Saturday night. We’ll talk about that in a minute. First, I want to share that after I posted last week about my dance journey currently not including a whole lot of dancing, I got to dance for 2.5 hours on Monday!

Since moving here, I’ve been able to connect with a few other dancers who, like myself, want to continue challenging themselves technically and creatively in their dancing. Monday was our first meetup where we played around with choreography for an hour before my 90-minute ballet class. By the end of the evening, my body was tired and sore, and my soul was happy. We’re aiming to continue our Monday dance sessions, weather permitting.

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