Random Ramblings

Since moving to Vancouver in 2020, I've been more active than I ever had in my life. Part of that is because I started working out with a personal trainer who I super super clicked with -- we've become good friends and I've been seeing her weekly for more than 3 years now.

But I did NOTHING over the holidays. I just took an enforced period of sloth. So, getting back into working out this week has been a bit of a journey. I went to the gym yesterday to do weight lifting. It was busy with the New Years Resolutioners*, but they mostly were not looking for squat cages, so that wasn't a problem. I just did my regular workout (squats, dead lifts, pushups, rows, hip thrusters, flys on the bench) with a 10 minute warm up on the elliptical, but I was WIPED after. It required cheese and a nap to recover.

Today we had our first workout of the year with our trainer (my partner and a couple of my neighbors have joined the workouts) and OOF. In addition to working some of the same muscles as yesterday (more reps, much lighter weights) she just made us do a lot more high-intensity cardio. It wiped me/us out! But was good.

*I wish only good fortune to the New Years Resolutioners, but it's just a thing that all gyms get really, really busy in January.

I always like taking some time at the end of the year to think about how the year went. And, for 2024, I mainly want to do more swimming, singing, and woodworking! 

Swimming: I became the president of VOWSA (Vancouver Open Water Swim Association) in March 2023 or so. It's a volunteer position and it involved a lot of work over the summer, when we're doing two ocean swims a week as well as organizing three races. I met some amazing, super fun people working with the org though! People with very intense hobbies (like the woman who regularly does 30K swims). I had started in 2022 as the social coordinator but so much of the board stepped down in early 2023 (because most had basically seen the org through the pandemic and were ready to be done!) that I ended up volunteering to be president. (I am v good at meetings; not the greatest ever swimmer.) Honestly, it's been a great experience. I'm planning on staying on as president for another year.

In my own swimming practice, I think I've been slowly improving! In the Spring, I took another class with Coach Stewart and then did one of his open-water swim classes over the summer. This Fall I felt like I saw the most improvement. I took one of his 12 week classes and managed to do a pretty good job of getting to the pool one other time/week to practice. I'll be doing another 12 week class starting in Jan, although I'm finally graduating to his level 4 class! (I took level 3 four times.)

Choir/singing: I joined a choir in January 2023! We sing indie-pop stuff. I feel like non-church choirs are less common in the US but, in Canada (or perhaps just Vancouver?), they're super popular. I have always liked singing but, even though I know this isn't actually true, I've always thought of it as something that you were either talented at or not. But, of course, like lots of skills, it's something where you can improve. And so, in September, I started doing private voice lessons twice a month. It's been great and really helped my confidence. I'm definitely improving a bit, but it can be hard for me to hear the improvement. But I am trusting the process and will keep plugging away at it. It's something that's been bringing me a lot of joy.

Woodworking: I have always wanted to learn to build things in a wood shop. Over the years, with the help of friends, I have made a few things (a coffee table, a couple of bookcases, a pretty cutting board). This summer, at Daisie's suggestion, I started making some shelves for our house (again, with the help of a friend who knew more). This inspired me to take a woodworking class beginning in the Fall. We made a box with a lid and I feel like I learned some important things. My goal for the coming year is to try to build something on my own. I also got a whittling knife and a book about whittling. Whittling is a different skill than woodworking with powertools, but I think it will also be fun.

In addition to continuing with the above, my other goal is to write more. I always have ideas for little pop-history articles that I'd like to just put up on my own website or in a newsletter. So I'm going to try to actually FINISH some of them. Trying to bring some 'shitty first draft' energy into 2024.

And the first step of that is actually hitting 'post' on this instead of letting it languish half-done for weeks and then deciding not to post after all. I had meant to say more things, but this is enough! 

My cousin is driving cross-country next month. She's emailed me for some travel advice, but I thought I'd check with you guys to see if you had any thoughts.

They can't go more than about 400-450 miles/day since they're driving with the cat. They'll be stopping in the following cities and are looking for things to see and do. Any advice is appreciated.

Amarillo, TX, Oklahoma City, OK, St. Louis, MO, Dayton, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.

I told them about the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, the OK City Bombing memorial and botanic gardens designed by IM Pei in OK City, the Arch and visiting the Budweiser Brewery in St. Louis, and that Pittsburgh was generally awesome but didn't know of specific things to see.

Any help is appreciated.