-“Focus on what you have to gain rather than what you have to lose…” Starting off the year finally listening to Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s book Forever Strong and I found this quote very pertinent not just relating to muscle gain/fat loss but also to mindset in general. She also reminded me of Carol Dweck’s growth mindset philosophy – something that I was probably first introduced to at one of the kids’ preschools. Not sure why this was never a part of my childhood understanding of life outlook – anyhow, perhaps it’s time to revisit some of that work since I do feel positive outlook, taking control of emotional stress in one’s life, and growth mindset is a skill that continually needs active working on and has personally made a big impact in me/my attitude towards a lot of things most especially since the closing of TheShopFWP days.

-Jasper and Juniper are back to school tomorrow. Heading to bed because I obviously was more tired than I expected today.

-Made some very good sandwich bread in the bread machine today. Recipe was for #3 sweet bread, omitted the raisins and added flax seed (3 or 4 scoops) instead. Everyone approved and so will be making another loaf for the morning. Inspired to find some better bread flour to increase macro nutrient content + avoid GMO sprayed with pesticides wheat…Started pondering an upgrade for a Japanese bread knives (hinted to kids/Eric it is my birthday soon) & Jasper is 3D printing a bread slicing guide so we can try to have more even slices…trial in the morning!

-Morning walk of 3 miles with 10# weighted vest, did 7 minute workout with Eric, and started the day with some much needed yoga to wake up the body…was super tired around 2 and ended up taking a longer than 15 min nap.

-Family bike ride for the last day of Xmas vacation with Eric…kids don’t go back till Tuesday. 10.32 miles! Not bad for our first bike ride of the year. I guess the kids in actuality ditched us at Coyote Point and headed home while Eric and I got some sunshine and coffee at Equator. It was the first blue sky we’ve had in a long while.

GRATITUDE:

Being very aware today that my kids are capable of being home alone, and/or bike home from a couple miles away all on their own which in turn is allowing me a little more free space to think on other aspects of the day to day.

MINDFUL MOMENT:

Truly terrifying murder of crows that took over this one block on our morning walk.

-A real Saturday morning weighted vest walk but a few many hours later than the usual 5:30am. Stayed up too late waiting for mom & dad to confirm they got on their plane to the Philippines…at least they did make it, and it appears they’ve arrived safely.

-A rather lazy rest of the day spent watching movies, playing video games, lounging on the couch next to the giant stack of laundry that still needs folding.

-Did 5 pull-ups with the assistance of the black and yellow resistance bands…held the 78 lb trap bar for another minute while walking in place. Day 4 of everyday 7 minute workout routine. Hopefully we’ve gotten enough days in before the craziness of the week begins to make it all stick.

GRATITUDE:

Probably have spent too much time getting coffee I don’t really need this past week but again enjoying just spending the time with Eric.

MINDFULNESS:

Noticed how the water slowly, smoothly and consistently the new Rorra water filter filled the larger mason jar…1 minute of patient watching.

-Morning wake up call from Eric this morning after sleeping in for an hour past alarm

-Rainy morning but started a new D&D puzzle with the family while drawing spaghetti sticks to see what order we would shower

-Quick stroll at the building Eric worked on close to Oyster point…pretty desolate and quiet there which then led us to eating at a pretty yummy Korean place in South City

-Took mom & dad to SFO hoping there is space for them to catch the flight to the Philippines tonight

GRATITUDE:

Rainy day outing to check out a building that @estimmel worked on and has gleefully pointed out at least 100x for the last couple years while it was under construction every time we passed it on 101. Also, I now disappear in photos with my kids because they are as tall (or taller) than me!

MINDFULNESS:

Nothing comes to mind today. Feeling a little behind with cleaning and house chores…everything a little cluttered…hard when everyone is home during Xmas vacation.

-Trying to formulate ideas on how to get kids to be more participatory in the making of meals. Even though it was on the later side, we took a family walk to Safeway, split up in the store and did our shopping, got home and collectively baked some chicken breasts for dinner.

-Watched Contagion as a family which was made in 2011…crazy to have lived through something like this so real with COVID, flashbacks to vaccination lines, news about overflowing containers with dead bodies, already understanding what the R-0 value means…

-Eric finished installing the silver baseboard in our kitchen today (woohoo!) while I made his coffee and cooked boba.

-Was wiped out after lunch but was compelled by Eric already asleep in bed to also take a nap while kids continued their Star Wars marathon.

GRATITUDE:

Very thankful these days for this morning walk turned coffee shop date that Eric and I have been having. It usually happens on a Saturday morning starting between 5:30-6am, which seems ungodly. But really it’s been so nice to find this quiet time to connect with each other on a weekly basis. Feeling spoiled today because it’s only Thursday and we slept in past 6:30, but somehow snuck it in…we talked about habits and tried to figure out how to better use the Reminders and Notes apps. It’s the 2025 version of prior couch laptop dates.

MINDFULNESS:

Seeing the shape of the full shadow moon behind the bright crescent on our walk to the grocery store this evening.

Working on getting habits organized and distractions minimized today. Will need more structure to this blog but for now this is just the mark of beginning again and keeping the routines I’ve built up over the past year just a little stronger – Eric says it’s “small improvements” but I think the idea of “1% gains” resonates more with me seeing as how that has been an effective state of mind the last few years with all that has transpired with Jasper, my health journey with the anemia problems, getting physically stronger, eating better, reading more, carving out more time (even if it’s just a small bit) with Eric – listened to a podcast with James Clear (Atomic Habits) today and he described it as “fewer moves, bolder strokes”.

Last year was the year of Strength, and this year will be the year of 1% Gains.

I’d like to make a point to make a note of gratitude in this daily writing also. I’ve been good at implementing this with the kids, and have seen the benefits it’s had for them. I know it would likewise be good for myself but have failed to be consistent in this practice.

GRATITUDE:

-Starting the new year with the best things in life this morning. None of us stayed up till midnight, but we did wake up and get to Cowell beach early and had the beach to ourselves for a good hour.

-Speed puzzling with my family at the dining table today to finish another Magic Shift puzzle.

-Really feeling good that this year will just keep building on. the momentum of refining what made 2024 so good.

MINDFULNESS:

The warmth of the sun on my face while laying on the sand with my Rumpl blanket wrapped around me and Juniper sitting next to me.

Books I read (or listened to) this year…wish I had a list of all the podcasts and subject matter I took in also.

Finally unlocked the 1 year (365 days) of walking everyday goal of 10,000 steps! Decided around October to just start walking 11k a day since it was telling me I was averaging that already. Increasing 2025 daily goal officially to 11k.

I got a little stronger in 2024. Lifted this yesterday for 1 minute (just picking it up and literally holding for 1 minute)…78 lbs. A pretty drastic difference remembering back to the beginning of 2023 when I could barely lift the 3lb weights without my right forearm feeling strained and was barely doing 10 minutes of yoga daily.

So I walked a little more…

I slept a little more too.

And actively exercised on purpose too.

For record sake, putting the two DEXAscans from this year here too.

And from our scale, which never really seems to change but I guess there have been some very small improvements in muscle?

This always makes me smile and since today marks 20 years of meeting on New Year’s Eve 2004, it seems appropriate to post and remember how much he still makes my heart smile.

And just like that he’s turning 12…remembering that this night 12 years ago was the most physically painful and scary nights/days of my life. What a journey it has been and continues to be…

The sun was shining brightly today. And! This is a great opportunity to actually use the Japanese that I know since we did things that are exactly like the sample sentences I’ve learned! This is pretty exciting if I’m honest.

きょう、テニスをしました。

家族と公園にいきました。

Today, I played tennis.

I went to the park with my family.

Got a pretty good night of rest last night and was able to get on the yoga mat first thing which felt good.

We watched the BHS musical performance of Footloose and it definitely brought back some nostalgia of the many hours in the pit for rehearsals back in my high school days. I hope that my kids can find their place and friends where they can feel that same sense of belonging. Afterwards we walked in more sunshine to get boba and enjoy an afternoon pastry at Maison Alyzee. Hard to wrangle Juniper to stay with us long enough but we did manage to squeeze a little family time where the two kids weren’t totally fighting or snapping at each other. Hopefully we can all get proper rest this week and also all find ourselves with better moods.

FOCUS: Hoping to get a little garden time in this week. Mom & Dad come back from Vegas tomorrow and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take mom out for a short birthday outing one morning before they head to Minden again. Jasper’s birthday is this week and I should probably figure out some kind of amazing surprise for him….