Early Morning Thoughts - Yes, A Bit Of Rambling

DH is up early today. He dragged himself to bed quite early last night, in pain from too much lugging and hauling on Thursday. Some specialized concrete blocks that he had ordered had come in, so he was hauling those from the truck down the bank, and he also was working on assembling the framework for my new raised strawberry bed that he's building from some extra treated lumber that he had on hand. So, because he was exhausted and went to bed at 8:00 pm, he's already up and making noise today at 5:45 am. 

DH had some extra wood that he wasn't going to
use for his current project, so he decided to build
a raised bed for my strawberries. I didn't get
much of a harvest this year, but a new bed
would give the plants the space they require. 

It was a nice night for sleeping for a change, but since we're back under a heat warning for today and tonight, I suspect tonight won't be nearly as pleasant. Still, I take those days when I don't even have a fan going as a plus, enjoy the cooler early morning hours, and run from there. 

It was really nice to hear from Meg. We had chatted a few times
during stay-at-home when she was driving by and stopped to
chat at the side of the road. I miss my early morning friends. 

A note was left in my mailbox from my neighbor a couple of blocks west of me. We're swimming friends at the YMCA, and she said "We are all wondering??? Coming back to the Y soon? Call me!" and left her phone number. I phoned her last night and left a message telling her to call me back anytime between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. I hope I hear from her today. We've managed to intersect a couple of times since stay-at-home, but I haven't actually had a chance to speak with her for at least two months, even though we live so close to each other. It would be nice to catch up a bit. 

I'm not just sitting around, I'm working out at least three
times a week on my barre. The routine is tough, but every
time I'm doing it, I'm noticing an improvement, so that's
a plus. 

The outdoor pool at the YMCA opened a week-and-a-half ago, and here I am, not swimming, not going to the gym, and missing my friends. I understand why I have to stay away for a while, but I really miss my friends. I don't mind not swimming, although I miss that a lot, but although I'm not a very social person, the group of people I would intersect with every day as we waited for the gym doors to be unlocked were a great group of people, and I miss that daily interaction. 

On that note, I'm plugging in photos, eating breakfast and heading out to work. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Abs and Decisions - My Summer is Getting Scheduled

I'm working hard on incorporating exercise back into my schedule. After 2 1/2 months of forced "leisure", I'm finding it hard to get back into the groove. But I set my alarm for 4:00 am, today and resolved to start the day off at the barre. I'm really glad I did. "They" (I never know exactly who the heck "they" actually are) say to exercise 2-3 times a week for true benefit, so I'm trying to keep to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule on the barre. Every time I'm working at it, I'm noticing slight improvements - movements that are coming more easily, muscles that are stretching out better. It's a nice feeling. 

My abdominal muscles are pathetic - weak and rather
useless (not working as intended). I really need to
strengthen them, but since I'm noticing this,
obviously I'm unable to do the ab exercises.
Baby steps. I'll get there. 

I have two problem areas - my right thigh is considerably weaker than my left, and my abdominal muscles are pathetic. I have hopes for my leg muscles - they'll get there. My abs, however, are a problem that's been a problem for more than 15 years. I have some serious work to do on those, and since they help keep me sitting properly, able to get in and out of bed, and also are called in when bending over and pulling back erect, they're pretty serious. I'll see how much I've managed to improve in a month, but really, any improvement would be good. 

This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Renaissance
Festival. We'll attend, but not as frequently as usual. We'll
switch our season tickets over to next year. 

The Renaissance Festival is still planning to hold their event this year, but have offered any season ticket holders the opportunity to switch their tickets from 2020 to 2021. I think we'll do that. We probably will attend Fest for one or maybe two times this season, but with COVID, I don't think we want to be out there every Sunday the way we usually are. I'll email them today and get the tickets transferred over to 2021. 

I guess that's about it today - not much news, but that's not always a bad thing. I hope your day goes well, that you are safe and happy. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Improvement, Elation and Heartbreak - It Was A Day

Yesterday's exercise session went much better than the first session last week, although I'm still appalled at how weak some muscle groups in my body actually are. Lots of work to do there, so it's good to have a goal. I figure I'll try to work the barre in every other day - three times a week. That should be a good start. It's only a 30-minute workout, so not a major chunk of time, and the portable DVD is working great for the visuals. 

I do NOT look this good while working on my barre, but
I have hope that eventually I might. LOL In any case, it's
nice to be working on a full body workout from top to
bottom. I have groups of muscles in really great shape,
and others that are horrid. This type of workout will
be very helpful as an all-around workout. 

Yesterday I spent some serious time with our final paperwork for the County Grant, and sent it all off in the afternoon after a lovely conversation with the woman assigned to our application (she wanted to make sure we had received the email asking for signature and documents - that it hadn't been caught in spam filters). I had a notification waiting for me this morning, that the funds will be posted to our bank account on Friday the 17th. I'm totally breathing a little easier today. It's been a rough few months and this grant will be a real help. 

In the heyday of the Bead&Button Show, it was a treasure trove for
the eyes and the imagination. Tables upon tables strewn with beads of
all colors, sizes and shapes. Glassworkers with their own hand-made
extraordinary beads, all one-of-a-kind. When I look back, I'm really
happy I purchased what I did when I did. I'm, fortunate to have
a fantastic collection of specialty beads from almost every
glassworker or beadmaker whose work I wanted to showcase
in my own designs. 

On a more negative note, my annual bead show, Bead & Button, as well as the publications and books published under that name are ceasing publication and the show is permanently cancelled. I've attended the show since the third year it existed, so for 25+ years I've been at the Bead & Button Show every time they held it. I met hundreds of friends, interacted and learned from teachers from all over the nation and the world, and exercised my own creativity in their contests. I was a student at the shows and I taught at a few as well. Having the show end on such a down note after postponement and then cancellation due to COVID ... it's a bit heartbreaking for me. I had heard the rumors, of course, and thought they were probably true, but I'd been holding out hope. Hope was dashed in emails and on-line posts yesterday. 

I guess that's reflective of life in general - we get good and bad thrown at us, and we push onward. I'm not happy about the bad, but I'll celebrate the good and that'll have to be good enough. On that note, I'm moving onward into my day. Have a stunning and wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Stay safe, Be well, Practice kindness. 

Dancing - Exercise and Joy

With perfect timing, my new leotard, tights and dance shoes arrived via Amazon yesterday at the shop. I've already pulled them into the laundry and they're drying on hangers right now. I found my weight-lifting gloves, so my hands won't slip off the barre like last week, and my new portable DVD player is charged up and working. I think I'm ready to tackle my Fluidity workout once again. It's my hope that I do a bit better with the exercises today than I did last week, having had some experience with the program and the equipment. If I do, then I can start working it into my morning routine 3-4 times a week which will make me very happy. 

My old leotard was toast, so I ordered a new
short-sleeved leotard and tights similar to
this, but in a deep wine color. I also bought a
set of full soled dance shoes. That should let
me move freely during exercise, but not slip
on the mat. My weight lifting gloves of
old will keep my sweaty hands from slipping
on the barre. 

My trip to see my podiatrist yesterday was very successful. I'm cleared to go for any activity, only ordered to pull back if I feel any pain. That includes pointing and flexing my foot in dance moves, so I'm very pleased. Again ... we'll see how I do in today's barre workout - LOL. 

I'm absolutely relieved that the County Small Business Relief
Fund application was accepted and that we'll get funding
through it. I'll breathe a bit easier when the funds are in
my bank account. 

On another front, also good news. My store has been awarded one of the County Small Business Relief Fund grants. It's for $10,000. I'll read through the documents carefully today and scan, e-sign, and submit the final bits they are asking for tonight, and then we'll be set. I'll breathe a bit of a sigh of relief once the funds are in my account. It's been really hard, opening again. I'm relieved that we're open and we are bringing in some customers, but our sales volumes are down more than 50% pre-COVID dollars and we can't survive on that for long. This grant will give us a bit more time and that's a true blessing. 

On that note, I'm hungry. I'm going to go upstairs, make my morning oatmeal and tea, and start my day. Since DH harvested another pint of fresh raspberries yesterday, I might treat myself to some of the berries on my oatmeal. Heaven ... whoot!!!! Have a truly wonderful day, enjoy one thing to the maximum today, and be kind. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Doctors, Exercise and LOTRO - My Life in a Teaspoon

Today starts off with my final appointment with my podiatrist to make sure my bones are healing appropriately. The swelling is decreasing, but not fast enough for my taste. Still, when I think back on how incapacitated I was after breaking all those bones on May 1st, and where I am now, two-and-a-half months later, it's night and day. I can't dance yet (although I'm not sure I ever truly could), but I'm almost back to normal. I still am hesitant on steps sometimes, but that's understandable. Now to work on getting back into good physical condition - this stay-at-home weight has GOT to leave. 

I've been working on my Fuildity Barre, and it's HARD! I've got
a long way to go before I can actually do the beginning section
of the DVD well, and then I have intermediate and advanced
sections still awaiting. I'm really happy I bought it, it's quite
the workout. 

DH went shopping yesterday morning (he usually does a trip on Monday mornings for this and that). He noticed they had my favorite brand of chicken on sale, so picked up a pack for me. For some unknown reason, he didn't get the sale price on it and didn't realize it until he was looking over the bill later. I'll take the bill with me on Wednesday when I do the weekly household shopping and raise a fuss. It seems a bit silly for a $5-$6 saving, but it's the principle of the thing. 

For the wedding, they have the ceremony taking place on the prow of
Minas Tirith. If Gandalf looses his balance and steps too far back, he'll
be falling to his "death" once again, without a Balrog this time.
Fortunately that doesn't happen, and the fireworks at the end of the
ceremony are lovely, both behind him, and around the actual
Tower of Ecthelion (think blooming white tree). 

I'm happily playing my way through Midsummer Festival on Lord of the Rings Online. The event starts out with the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen on Midsummer, and continues with various events (challenges) throughout Minas Tirith and the Banquet Hall. Be warned, if you haven't entered LOTRO for Fest yet, the wedding and subsequent mandatory banquet interactions will take you approximately one hour. Afterward, you're only dealing with the Festival itself, which I have down to approx 35 minutes for each character. It only goes through the 20th, so the clock is ticking. 

So, since it's going to be a busy and very scheduled early morning for me, I'm going to sign off here and call it done. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with good news from my podiatrist and a clean slate for final recovery. As always, stay safe and be kind. 

The Weekend Is Almost Here - It's Going To Be A Hot One

It's hot - wilting, humid, no breeze hot. There's nothing really to do about it but cozy up with fans in the upper levels and enjoy the relative cool of the bottom level of the house. Still, it makes for sticky, cloying clothes and makes going to work an anticipated, wonderful opportunity because I do have A/C at the shop, and I use it (sparingly). 

I've been looking at purchasing a portable personal air conditioner. They're
quite the new thing, very popular, and are getting good reviews. I don't
want anything that requires me to put hoses through my windows, these
small units don't require outside ventilation or air, they're self-contained. 

DH went grocery shopping for the holiday weekend yesterday and brought home what seemed like half a pig - long lengths of ribs for this week and for next and bratwursts. Just for the sake of novelty, he added ground beef into the mix for some killer burgers on Saturday. So we'll have brats and burgers for Saturday and I'll stick half of the ribs into the crockpot on Sunday - easy, peasy. We won't be starving, which is a good thing and I'm always grateful for food on the table. 

DH picked up two racks of ribs, one for this weekend, one for next. I can't
fault him on this because they're a super easy cook - marinate, add a
rub, put into the crockpot with liquid and Bar-b-que sauce, and let the
crock pot do the work. Easy, peasy. 

Chickie made me two more awesome masks. I'm going to sew the elastic into them today and I'll take a photo of all of my Chickie-masks to share with all of you. The subjects for these two new ones were Egyptian hieroglyphics on one and bicycle racers (a-la Le Tour de France) on the other. She also made DH a wonderful skull and crossbones fabric mask, and he also got a bicycle racers one. We're in the top of fashion, for sure - LOL. 

I've owned a Samsung 7" Portable DVD Player for years now. It
was a holiday gift from DH. I keep it in a handbag that is perfect
for all the different cables, charger and clicker, as well as
DVD's to watch. I'll use it for my Fludity exercise routines to
make sure I'm doing it properly. It might be old fashioned,
but I love my portable DVD player. 

I took a half hour or so and looked at the beginning exercise routine for my Fluidity barre on my laptop. It's a good routine - really hits the muscle groups. I pulled my portable DVD player out of my closet last night, charged it, and I'm ready to go. I love my little player - a holiday gift from DH many years ago. It's one way to watch DVD's without having to load up or tie up the computer or the main TV. For my Fluidity workouts, I think the portable will be perfect. 

On that note, I'm going to wrap this up so that I don't melt away onto my keyboard. Have a wonderful day, I'll be back for a short "Happy 4th of July" post tomorrow, and then return to my "extended" weekend.