Ramblings

Saddle Up!

Giddyup bitches. It’s Monday and that means it’s time to get ready to ride. I mean, let’s be real. Are you even living if you’re just sneaking into Monday? Storm that bitch like you’re storming the castle. Let Monday know who’s the fucking boss around here. Guess what? It ain’t Tony Danza.

As it goes, I’m feeling all sorts of energetic which is par for the course for a Monday. I got big plans! Which is also par for the course on a Monday. This is the week I’m going to try to get back onto my daily schedule. I feel like I’m off to a pretty good start considering that I’m actually getting to this blog post at the time that I’ve allotted for doing so. Yay me!

This past weekend was the first in a while that I had no classes to either teach or attend. It was weird, lol. But in that free time, we went for a little jaunt out to Marie Selby Gardens. Quite lovely although there were a few mosquitoes or no seeums that had quite the feast on my yummyness.

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I do believe that I’m starting to find some focus once again. Perhaps it’s due to the gummies I’ve been taking, perhaps not, but finding the focus is all that matters, regardless of where it’s coming from. It’s right on time also as I really need to be getting right back into learning all of this WordPress goodness. Know why? Because I can. It isn’t difficult. It’s truly just applying myself and not being lazy. And not being scared. For once, stepping into my power and owning what I’m good at and monetizing it. I really have to stop standing by and watching other people do the things (and get paid for them) that I know that I can do. Come on, Stuart! You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and gosh darn it, PEOPLE LIKE YOU!

We had stepped away from the natal chart stuff for a bit because I had some other things to chat about, but let’s get back to that now, shall we? Today’s planetary overview includes Jupiter (my ruling planet), Saturn, and Uranus (insert your own joke here). So, Jupiter is about how I expand (not my waistline, lol) and grow. A recurring theme is that I value freedom pretty much the most. So some good:

  • Open to new methods
  • Intelligent
  • Tolerant
  • Sincere
  • Generous (seriously, you can have money, but don’t waste my time)
  • Work hard, play hard

But on the down side:

  • I get discouraged trying to live up to my own visions and high ideals
  • Cynical
  • Self-contraditctory

SHOTS FIRED!!! If you’ve read this blog for more than this post, then you know that this is true. I live this every single day. Like, right now, I’m thinking about the things that I “should” be doing. Shoulding all over myself. Is it all bad? No, probably not. I push myself and then I push back against myself. It always varies which part of me wins out. But I suppose that too is a part of my personality. From whirling dervish to slug in an instant!

Ok, next up is Saturn, our hula hooping planet. Saturn is all about structure and my inhibitions. How I challenge authority. In my head, I’m way tougher than in real life I’m pretty sure. This one is heavy on the emotional baggage which I’m really not here for, but on on anyway. Quite possibly the most “off” of the planets as it regards to me (I think):

  • Determined
  • Practical
  • Empathetically authoritative

But when the day is shit:

  • Feeling fundamentally unloved and unsupported (monkey brain says this)
  • Fears being without money (nope, not this one)
  • Not always open to others’ ideas
  • Egotistic
  • Will freeze you out physically and emotionally

Yeah, well, nobody’s perfect. Notice me not holding on to this planet. Not trying to hear what it says. LOL. Moving right along to Uranus and more about my swelling ego. Let’s talk about my individualism and creativity. Funny place for it to be shooting out of, right? Uranus? I crack myself up. What you got for me, planet?

  • Independent
  • Creative
  • Spirited
  • Freedon-loving

Ohhh, this is a tough one. There are simply more things that I need to work on, or there are more things that I embrace as negative, lol.

  • Inconstant work efforts (see also, this blog)
  • Undisciplined (see also, any flow art I’m not practicing)
  • Rebellious
  • Indecisive

Yeah, look. I can recognize my issues when they are pointed out to me. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to work on all of them at the same time. Or any of them at any time to be totally honest. Surely I’m a work in progress, but I progress at my speed – no one else’s. Fuck all that noise, for real for real. Just do you, boo!

Ok, that’s what I have for today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll come back and tell you how I did so many things today and felt so accomplished. Maybe not. But I do gotta get a few things done, so see ya!

The Journey Does Not End

First off, I just love this song. Secondly, because I don’t really watch much TV any more and I didn’t know anyone still made videos, I had no idea that this existed. I also don’t watch movies so I don’t even know what, if any, movie this is from. Plus, it just went along with today’s theme.

And what is today’s theme, ladies and gentlemen? Why, fitness, of course. And I don’t mean fitness this whole slice of pizza in my mouth. I’ve been active ever since childhood. I come from that generation where in the summer, you got up early, ran around the neighborhood playing hard all day, probably stopped for a snack at some point but maybe not because there was just too much playing to do, and went home before the streetlights came on. Weight wasn’t something I ever thought about and that’s a good thing. Flexibility is also something I never thought about. That is not a good thing.

In early adulthood, I worked in a lot of jobs that kept me on my feet, be it working outside or working in a restaurant. That was in the days before Fitbit. I can only imagine how many Fitbits restaurant warriors are going through these days (or pre/post pandemic). Again, never thought about exercise. When I moved on from restaurants but stayed within hospitality, I did slip up for a little bit and put on some pounds, but I lost it all again and kept it off because we were hella active in our roles.

Once I left hospitality and ventured into, eww, corporate America, I stopped moving around as much. There were work lunches and snacks and all kinds of crap. I slipped again. It was the fact that I was going to meet up with some old hospitality buddies that had me look at myself and say, “Oh girl, we better do something with *points to my body* all of this.” And so I did. I saw an infomercial for a program that looked like fun. It said that it was full of dance. I didn’t have to get on the floor. It didn’t take super long per workout. I pulled the trigger and ordered it. That program was Hip Hop Abs. And that was thirteen years ago.

Fast forward a couple years and I’m still doing the corporate America thing. I haven’t fallen off the deep end by any means, but I’m getting married soon and of course I want to be on top of my game. I was willing to do what it took. And what that took was a 12 week program called P90X. I looked fan-fucking-TASTIC on my wedding day. It’s true!

Hawt

For a while I rotated between the programs I had. Then I joined a gym because it was SUPER cheap through my job for a REALLY nice gym. I stopped lifting weights and instead went to Zumba twice a week in the evenings and did yoga for 75 minutes three times a week. And pole, and trapeze, and hike in the summer and snowboard in the winter. Right, I was a little active.

I think it was about this time that I was introduced to Beachbody On Demand. I already knew that they had churned out a couple programs that I had already done. I saw that there were more programs by the people that I already had done their programs. That made it a pretty easy decision to go ahead and sign up. All of the signs were there: the per year cost was less than the gym even with the steep discount, no travel left a few more morning minutes, my favorite yoga instructor was leaving, I was already set up for a home gym that was collecting dust. It’s early 2017.

There is literally a plethora of programs that fit everyone and I’ve been running through them. I think I’ve gone through a total of 20 at this point, and they keep releasing programs. I’ll never be bored.

Over the time that I’ve been doing these programs, I’ve been on social media. Now and then I would post about doing one of the programs, and, inevitably, a Beachbody coach would reach out and ask me if I was interested in becoming a Beachbody coach too. Four years of no thank you to whomever asked, but I kept doing the programs.

Well, after all those asks, I finally said yes recently and now, I am a Beachbody coach. But what does that even mean? Truthfully, it means different things to different people. Some folks get in to have play money, some work at it to make it their full time job. I’ve heard people are making 6 figures at this. But that’s not it for me. I don’t care if I don’t make any money at all. I really don’t. I have a 9-5 that takes care of that. What I do want is to keep exercising and reaching my goals and I want to walk alongside you in your journey to do the same. I want to encourage you. I’ll kick you in the ass (virtually) if needed. You want me to nag you? I can. But none of it happens if you don’t take the first step and sign up.

Is it free? No, it isn’t. But it also isn’t over-the-top expensive. I bet that you go to Starbucks or McDonald’s or even WaWa twice a month. Yeah, so for the cost of that twice a month over the course of a year, you could be working out with me and a whole bunch of other people. You could be getting into the best shape you’ve been in for a while. You could be putting yourself into a position where, when you do go into Starbucks or McDonald’s, you won’t feel bad about it at all because it’s a treat from the work you’ve been putting in. And you’ll see results. You don’t need to be a slave to the scale. Your clothes will fit differently. You’ll have more energy. But you know, that’s just me talking after doing this for more than ten years.

Ok, last bit because I’ve gone and gotten long-winded. I just started as a coach and already, I have had an insanely cool opportunity. I got to chat with Shaun T, who created that first program I started with, Hip Hop Abs, and his hubby on their weekly Wine Night IG live. The fun levels are off the charts. So yeah, you could join me at the Virtual Fit Inn. Cuz the Fit Inn is where we get it in. And maybe one day you’ll be talking to a Beachbody trainer on IG live. Til then, lemme know if you’re ready to sweat. And here’s a chat screenshot.

Do It ALL!

Ohhhhhh, hai there! I know, I know. It’s been a minute. Sometimes life (or work) gets in the way of my scheduled blogging time. Dammit all to hell!

Anywho, let’s catch up. It’s been a busy few days. For whatever reason, work has been really busy recently. Either that or I’ve been unable to properly focus recently. I’d hate to say that it wasn’t proper focus when I’m three days into a regimen of gummies that are supposed to support brain health and function. (I also hate when I do something random and hurt myself and don’t know how but it coincides with taking these gummies. Do I really think that these gummies caused a pain in my calf? No. But it’s a coinkydink I don’t like.) So yes, let’s stick with work got busy there for a little bit.

Staying on the topic of work for a few minutes here. Like many to most of us, I’ve got this 9 to 5 job. I like it. I like the people I work with. My boss knows about my teaching after work and respects that. Just the other day, we were going long after 5pm and she interrupted to make sure that my time was respected and made sure that I didn’t have a class to get to. I mean, come on! How many bosses are out there doing that? Not a lot, I bet. So yeah, big ups to Sandy.

But am I ever content with just one job? No, I’m no lazy lima bean.

I’ve fallen into the side hustle world. This keeps happening to me so I’m gonna go ahead and assume that it’s just part of my grand scheme. I mean, teaching pole is SH #1 which isn’t really a side hustle. I mean, yes there is a monetary exchange, but the mental health benefits I get from being able to throw myself around the pole without being concerned that it’s going to come loose and crash through the front window of our rental, yeah, those outweigh everything.

I’m still (working on) learning WordPress. What does that mean? It means that I got started and was on a roll but then I went on vacation and then work got nuts and I fell all outta my schedule. Case in point, this is not my scheduled blogging time, but I did still want to get it done, so everything is wonky. I do feel that I’ve retained most of what I’ve gone over so far although it has been more review than new knowledge. I would truly be some sort of computer powerhouse if I could really knuckle down and go in-depth with what I know a little bit of. CSS, HTML, PHP, SQL. Hell, I’m already a web developer, I just don’t know it. Ha! But yeah, come on through, focus. I do enjoy doing this stuff too. I’m just weird.

Right, so I don’t just teach pole dancing (and handstands), I teach FabPole, which is the combination of aerial silks and pole. So, I like to put out videos (which I should do more regularly…see schedule issues) showing what FabPole is and whatnot. I’m also an ambassador for them. Speaking of being an ambassador, I’m also one for Namaste As Fuck. That one doesn’t require any work, I just wear their gear and post pics when I do. Discount codes are available! I’ve had a couple ambassadors from other companies reach out about doing this sort of thing for them too, but my plate is kinda full because….

After over ten years of doing the programs (and at least 5 but probably closer to 10 others asking me), I decided to hop on the Beachbody Coach train. A lot of people have a lot of different money goals with the company, but that’s not where my stream of income originates. I won’t be mad if some money comes through, but I won’t be the pusher that folks who are making the big bucks will be. And OMG speaking of Beachbody, this past Friday, no bigs. Just got to talk to Shaun T and his hubby Scott on IG live. I’m hoping someone will send me a screenshot because, you know, can’t really screenshot yourself like that.

Yep, so that’s all the things. When I write them out here, it doesn’t seem like so many. Even if I add flow arts it seems manageable. Until I try to put it all into play. Then there’s a fly in the ointment and he got mushed between some gears and he’s slowing everything down. Gross, right? I know! That’s where I’m trying to avoid…again. I can pull myself out, but I need to not get there in the first place. Ok, I’m gonna start that by finishing this, lol. See ya tomorrow.

Birthday Friends

It’s only June and yeah, it’s already hotter than July in many places. For real, it’s been unseasonably warm here. It was downright hot when we visited Pittsburgh. Like, where the hell are we hot. But global warming is a bunch of malarkey. *Insert eye roll here*

I think that previously I’ve talked about some of the commonalities between me and Lovey like how we have the younger sibling of the opposite sex with the same age difference and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s really kinda crazy how all kinds of numbers match up for us. Even though we are kind of opposites (ok, really opposite), we have just tons of stuff in common and that’s why we work.

And that brings us to the topic of today’s post: birthdays. (I will get back to the natal chart as soon as I stop having other things to talk about. That should be tomorrow because Monday I’ll have a BIG share. Can’t wait!) So let Stevie sing while we chat. See, Lovey and I both have a close friend. Prior to their introduction at our wedding, they had not met each other. They lived more than a thousand miles from each other. And yet, the similarities! There are many. In their style, their attitudes, just everything, including…their birthdays. Come on with the numbers!

Seriously, how often does that sort of thing happen? I mean, do you know ANYONE who is partnered up where both partners have a friend with the same birthday and those friends could be the north and south versions of the same person? Probably not. We probably have equal amounts of crazy stories even though the amount of time known is greater for him. Calendar time. Club Med time changes everything. If you’ve known someone there for 6 months, it’s probably the equivalent of about 3 times that long on the “outside world”. You might think that’s a load of crap, but when you see the same people day in and day out, and you work with them, and you play with them, and you do both of those things pretty hard, you find out all kinds of things about people you did (and didn’t) want to know.

So happy birthday to AR and JPT, you mofos are important to us. And that’s all I have to say about that.

A Trip To the 412

After a 20 year hiatus, I returned to Pennsylvania this past weekend that we made a long weekend. It was strange to be back at first. There is simply so much that has changed, but duh, it’s been 20 years since you’ve been there. With the whole pandemic thing going on, we didn’t end up taking the anniversary vacation we really wanted (an all-inclusive, likely in Mexico) oh, and my passport issue, lol, but we still managed to get out of town and we had a great time.

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Your virtual tour awaits…not really.

See how nice I am? I even gave you pictures that you don’t have to work hard for. I give. What can I say?

I’d been hesitant to return. I had a picture in my mind that I didn’t want to see. The day that we were going to head out to the country, I was antsy as all get out. Basically, I didn’t want to be depressed by the area. Fortunately, it looks pretty good. I mean, I definitely stayed in the areas that I knew wouldn’t suck (so I didn’t go to Monessen, Donora, Smithton, Charleroi LOL) but I did drive past the old house. I was really expecting the nostalgia to hit me once we started down our road but there was nothing. It seems that I have fully moved past everything about being there. That chapter is closed. I didn’t even have a desire to have our land back. The whole book is closed and I might have thrown it in the fireplace. See ya!

Going back to PA made me realize that no, I definitely don’t want to live there, but visits are good. There really is a lot going on over there these days, but I just don’t think it’s enough to make me want to be there 24/7/365. That is NOT to say that I love it where I am. I do not. But it is where we are and it is where we’re staying so I deal with it.

After seeing all the everything over there, it has certainly made me want to see what the fuck is around here besides elderly folks. I think I’ve reached my limit of nothingness. I think that now is the time (after being here for like 2.5 years) to find some local parks for some morning grounding. Hopefully I can avoid fire ants. Ugh. I just. Ugh. I hate it here.

Anywho, it’s just a couple days into the new month and that’s always a good time to keep things poppin. Got my long string ready for lots of wand practice and a little hoop challenge thrown in there too. I’m feeling the flow arts I do believe. I gotta be feeling something, ya heard? Things have a tendency to go downhill fast (like I’m on roller skates….I have those too, lol) if I don’t have some sort of something to place my focus. I wouldn’t say I’m ADHD but I certainly have some focus issues. Case in point, I had this open in two windows and I thought that I lost all of this post. I was super mad and wasn’t going to re-do it. HA! Glad I found it.

Ok, I gotta go. I’m very behind schedule for my day and sitting here trying to pound out more words ain’t helping. Hope you’re humping on hump day.