Seabright's 2021 Battle Log of Awesomeness

[Seabright]

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALS!

 

Yay for 2021! 

 

I feel like I ended 2020 in a really good mental place. Calmer than I've been in a  long time. I've got things I'd like to work on, but more importantly, I think I figured out what I don't really want to work on. Har har. 

 

So, let's get 'er done! I've picked ONE goal, and articulated 3 ways to get there. Then, I've picked ONE power word to help me focus all year long.

 

 

GOAL FOR 2021: Find my way back to the Tai Chi Me!

• I did some Deep Thinking in the last 2 weeks of 2020, and thought about the last time I felt REALLY good, body, mind, and spirit. My mind drifted back to the Before Time days, back back back, before the tech world, before systems and process and levels and driving and striving, back to the days I made my living as a Tai Chi instructor.
• I'm going to spend 2021 finding my way back to those feelings, physical and mental. 
• I'll do this by leaning in to my health as my number one priority this year.

 

1. The Tai Chi Me and Diet

• I'm STILL dealing with this nagging cough and the Tai Chi Me never had this problem. Eating right will help me get there.
• I'll follow the Paleo way of eating,  sticking with the things that make me feel great, and eliminate the things that don't.
• If I can eventually fit in to my Goal Pants (or even my Tai Chi pants from long ago), that's great. But the point is to get healthy.
• I'll track stuff here in my battle log.

 

2. The Tai Chi Me and Exercise

• Tai Chi FTW! Standing meditation, chi kung, open hand forms, and the two weapons I know. Something every day.
• Yoga FTW, too, as well, also! On rain days, or to change things up, a little yoga before breakfast is just the thing. 
• Walking and hiking, too -- anything gentle that opens up my lungs and puts some gentle pressure on my breathing.

 

3. The Tai Chi Me and Fun

• We had so much fun at the Golden Lion Martial Arts school! Fooling around, pushing hands, working on our forms, learning new things. I was working there when i got together with the spousal unit, and when I really got good playing the guitar and learned a lot of songs.  My heart was light then, and things seemed easy.
• Something I've been thinking about lately is that the spousal unit is a bit older than i am. I don't want to waste a single extra second stressing about work or putting work first and not doing stuff together. That's over. 
• So we'll do things that are fun in 2021, and we won't take anything too seriously. Learn to pull a trailer and back it up. Go down to the beach and watch the sun set now and then. Cook a nice meal. Do an online yoga retreat. Play the guitar now and then. Maybe revisit the ol' mandolin, if that seems fun. Gentle things, no pressure, no pushing. Gentle and flowing. Go where the spirit moves me. 

 

 

POWER WORD FOR 2021: Health

 

In the last 4 years, I've done the toughest thing I've ever done. I learned a lot--and it was an honor--but I skipped my own doc appts and check-ups and ignored the growing lung issues. This year my health is my Number 1 priority. Everything I do will first be prefaced by: Is this good for my health? The Tai Chi Me enjoyed buoyant good health, which paves the way for so many other things: patience, discipline, kindness, fortitude, strength and truth. And a bit of bravery, too.

 

---------------------------------

 

Okie dokie! That's it! 

 

Other things may come along throughout the year, and I can have little sub-goals for those, but everything needs to speak to one of the three above. This will keep my focus on my health, and help me to move that forward at all times.

 

Yay! Let's do some Tai Chi in 2021!

[Seabright]

Tues, Jan 5

 

Freezing cold and wet here at the ol' ranch this morning. A bit tricky to get going, but I girded my loins and got out of bed. In the dark. Before the cat walked on my bladder. Win!

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and red bell peppers.

 - Lunch - chicken chili with broccoli.

 - Dinner - salmon cakes with broccoli - I made 'em my own self.

 

Exercise

 - Meditation and a little chi kung before breakfast.

 - Short form at my mid-morning break.

 - 20-minute walk around the neighborhood at lunchtime.

 - 20-minute walk through the redwoods at the end of the day.

 

Fun

 - Stood in the cold morning and watched the zillions of pine siskins zooming around.

 - Knocked off early and drove up to Henry Cowell.

 

Side quests

 - Did the thing and made a doc appointment. There may not be anything  additional that I could be doing, but there may be, and it's time to find out.

 - Other stuff that's pending:

     - Distributed trust stuff to back-up trustees.

     - Send out New Year's cards.

     - Finalize evac plan, print, and put in folder.

 

 

 

[Seabright]

Wed, Jan 6

 

Ooooh! Super-chilly here this morning. I am a trained professional, though, and this did not phase me.

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and red bell peppers and a leftover salmon cake.

 - Lunch - chicken chili with broc

 - Dinner - turkey burger with zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes and carmelized onions, a dish I made up out of my very own head.

 

Exercise

 - Meditation and a little chi kung before breakfast.

 - Short form  (to the right) at my mid-morning break. Got tangled up towards the end, but this is the best I've done this one so far.

 - Longer walk after work down to the beach and back. About 30 minutes. Felt the difference in length.

 

Fun

 - Made a stress-reduction plan to go in effect on Jan 21, as follows:

         - Starting Jan 21, no Facebook and no Google News.

        - Starting Jan 21, the phone is on the dining room table for the night, instead of by my bedside.

        - Starting Feb 1, the NYT daily briefing is filtered out of my inbox and into a separate folder. 

 - Stood on the cliff above the beach and gazed at the waves.

 

Side quests

 - Consult with doc on the coughing. You know, again. Appt set up for Thursday!

 - Distribute trust stuff to back-up trustees.

 - Send out New Year's cards.

 - Finalize evac plan, print, and put in folder.

[Seabright]

Fri, Jan 8

 

Well my oh my. Weren't the last two days somethin'?

 

I ended up walking down to the beach after work, just to make sure. And, yes, the sea and the far-off hills are where they've always been.

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - veggie scramble with chicken-apple sausage mixed in. thank you Harbor Cafe takeout!

 - Lunch - chicken chili with broc.

 - Dinner - chicken w/veggies. It was fabulous.

 

Exercise

 - Gentle stretching throughout the day. 

 - Felt the need to take it easy this first day of taking, you know, drugs.

 

Fun

 - Knocking off early to go for a drive up Highway 1. The ocean awaits!

 

Side quests

 - Consult with doc on the coughing. You know, again. DONE! Got some stuff to try, starting today.

 - Distribute trust stuff to back-up trustees. DONE!

 - Send out New Year's cards. DONE!

 - Finalize evac plan, print, and put in folder. Partly done. Finalized the thing, now need to print and file somewhere grab-able. 

[Seabright]

Mon, Jan 11

 

Oh dear. What happened? I woke up this morning feeling seriously down, and I'm getting downer by the minute. Taking various drug-like substances to try to address the coughing and what-not, a long sleepless night, over-sleeping so I didn't have time to do a single morning-routine-related thing, general social unrest, and a message from company leadership this am basically saying 'business as usual' starting in August---whoa. Wow. I think maybe the drug-like substances are contributing to all of this, but, well, I can't remember the last time I felt like this.

 

Ahem.

 

Onward! Time to gird my loins and show up! Shake off the crushing weight of this strange, strange feeling and get 'er done. 

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and bell peppers. 

 - Lunch - the  last of the chicken-chili-and-broc cookup.

 - Snack - 2 mandarin oranges.

 - Dinner - grilled chicken and ratatouille that I made my own self. 

 

 

Exercise

 - Wonderful brisk walk. 20 mins, but kept up a nice pace the whole time. A first!

 

Fun

 - Pet the neighbor's cat. He seems to love our yard, so I decided it was time we became better friends.

 

Side quests

 - Print evac plan and put in folder. Partly done. 

 - Respond to the LinkedIn stuff. DONE!

[Seabright]

Tues, Jan 12

 

Woke up feeling 100% better this morning. Yay! I think the ratatouille-related comfort food for dinner last night really helped. 

 

More please.

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and bell peppers. 

 - AM Snack - 2 pears.

 - Lunch - fish tacos on flour tortillas (just the fish and tortillas, no cheese er nuthin') and a few tortilla chips.

 - Dinner - turkey burger lettuce wrap and a few sweet potato fries.

 

Exercise

 - Whoa. All the medicine-ish stuff, while helping with the coughing and what-not, definitely wreaked havoc on the ol' digestive tract today. 

 - Just did a little stretching. 

 - Note: my new approach to this stuff is, what would I tell someone else if they told me they had been, um, indisposed for most of the day and was wondering if they should still go for their brisk afternoon walk?

 - Power word moment: Health.

 

Fun

 - After work I took care of some things that had been on my mind. Felt good!

 - Played with little Dolly at bedtime. She's learning how to play with a real toy!

 

Side quests

 - Print evac plan and put in folder. DONE! 

 - Start planning next steps for the bathroom. 

[Seabright]

Wed, Jan 13

 

Sleepless night, but up and at 'em bright and early! Did my morning stuff, too!

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and bell peppers. 

 - AM Snack - 2 mandarin oranges.

 - Lunch - turkey chili and broc. I love a good cook-up.

 - Dinner - salmon cakes and leftover ratatouille. 

 

Exercise

 - Morning chi kung.

 

Fun

 - Went to the garden center at lunchtime, just to hang out.

 - Went for a drive along the cliffs at the end of the day, along with the rest of town. Gorgeous evening!

 

Side quests

 - Start planning next steps for the bathroom. 

[Seabright]

Fri, Jan 15

 

Another sleepless night. What the heck? Last day of drugs was yesterday, so maybe that will help.

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and bell peppers. 

 - Snack - handful of macadamia nuts.

 - Lunch - 3 fish tacos, no cheese, no sour cream, yes flour tortillas and a few chips.

 - Dinner - turkey burger and sweet potato fries. 

 

Exercise

 - Morning chi kung and stretching.

 

Fun

 - Drove over the mountains to take the spousal unit to have his car fixed. On the way back, got off at the summit and took the long way home through the hills. 

 

Side quests

 - Update address book

 - Start planning next steps for the bathroom. Broken down into a few steps:

      - Make a list of must-have, nice-to-have, and delighters.

      - Start researching contractors; narrow to 3.

      - Call the first one and just see what's what, knowing we probably won't be able to actually do anything for a few months. 

 

[Seabright]

Wed, Jan 27

 

Holy smokes! My oh my how the time has slipped by. Time to catch up!

 

Here's some stuff, in no particular order:

• Drugs now done. Coughing is much more under control. A couple of episodes, but things that could clearly be tied to behavior. Feeling fatigued, but much much better overall.
• Eating pretty much all good. Champagne on the 20th. A couple of fish tacos here and there. Otherwise feeling good about this, and can now REALLY see how diet plays a role in the coughing thing. Bio feedback FTW!
• Exercise currently taking the form of chi kung in the morning, tai chi on the weekends if it's not too cold outside, and lots of walking on gardening days. Always mindful of my power word: Health. Am feeling like I'll be able to have the energy to return to my walking program as soon as it stops raining. Looking forward to it!
• Fun has taken the form of pretty drives in the hills and along the coast. We decided that when the time changes we're going to go down to the beach to watch the sunset at least twice a week. In the meantime, the urgency to stay away from people and stay safe is keeping us close to home. Oh, and we started watching Parks and Recreation again. 😉

 

Other stuff:

• Finally finished all Estate Planning activities. So many little things to do! 
• Created a must-have/nice-to-have list for a bathroom remodel.

 

Okay! All caught uppified!

 

Onward to additional awesomeness!!

 

[Seabright]

Tues, Feb 2

 

Night after night of sleepless non-sleep nights. Argh. Plus, the ol' cough is back with a vengeance. Actually said my power word out loud (Health!) and made an appt to see the good doctor. Why fool around? Let's do this thing!

 

Diet

 - Breakfast - eggs with spinach and bell peppers. 

 - Snack - applesauce (no added sugar).

 - Lunch - cobb salad, scraped off the cheese. hey...I think the avocados may be doing me no good. dang it. will skip next time.

 - Dinner - scheduled: grilled chicken breast and ratatouille.

 

Exercise

 - Morning chi kung and stretching.

 - 30 minute brisk walk yesterday. Ended up back at the house just drenched in sweat. Sobering.

 - Raining today. Just as well, 'cause I think I need to rest. You know, just a tad. 

 

Fun

 - Took a little extra time this morning over breakfast and talked about music, learning new things, poems and prayers and promises. 

 

Side quests

 - Update address book

 - Start planning next steps for the bathroom. Broken down into a few steps:

      - Make a list of must-have, nice-to-have, and delighters. DONE!

      - Start researching contractors; narrow to 3.

      - Call the first one and just see what's what, knowing we probably won't be able to actually do anything for a few months. 

[Seabright]

Wed, July 21

 

Well well well. WELL. 

 

Catching up...and then putting updates intentionally on pause (as opposed to mindlessly, like I've been doing). Updates, in no particular order:

• Went to the doc, got an x-ray, then got an inhaler and other drugs, which I took, which helped, until I started experiencing side effects, so I stopped, and it seems like the ol' lungs are holding steady.
• Existential despair, which turns out to be a side effect. Doh! Who knew? Getting back on track.
• Just started Noom, because weight gain also turns out to be a side effect. Double-doh! 
• Walking, stretching, yoga-ing - all now-and-then, all sorta intermittent. Turns out that lack of motivation and general malaise are also (you guessed it) -- side effects.
• It's fun just to get to write 'malaise.' 
• Got a book on prepping for a remodel and it's hugely helpful. Decided to do the kitchen and bathroom at the same time. Bold.
• Eating good, drinking less, work is fine, garden looks good and I saw a Cooper's hawk taking a full-on BATH in the bird bath this morning. No kidding, he had his shower cap on and his soap on a rope and he was just splashing around and singing his morning song. So cool.

So, some good, some not-so, but the not-so seems to be greatly medication-related. 

 

Officially taking a break from updates, though. (Yeah, I know, no updates = break, but I'm trying to hold it together here.) 

 

I'll be back in a few months. How can i live without all my little rebels? 

 

See you in a bit!

 

Walk the straight and narrow and stay strong and true!

[Seabright]

Jan 20, 2022

 

YEAR-END WRAP!!

 

2021 was another funky year, with health issues all up the yin yang. I made some progress here and there. Let's take a look!

 

I was going to return to the Tai Chi me in 2021-- a time in my life when I felt light-hearted and full of energy. Here's that all went down:

 

1. The Tai Chi Me and Diet

• Not bad!
• Subscribed to Noom in July!
• Lost 16 pounds!
• Stayed strong and true with steady-eddy eating most of the time, but learned how to incorporate things I love judiciously. This definitely worked for me!
• I've come farther than I ever had with just cutting out entire food groups. I never thought that I could be this in control of my diet, and feel this calm around a donut. 😉
• A+

 

2. The Tai Chi Me and Exercise

• Got up to walking 4+ miles a day...and then kablooey.
• Foot injury - boo!
• Hip pain - boo!
• Tai Chi, and exercise in general, or even just standing, became a no-go, although I thought about it all the time.
• All camping put on hold, too, as well, also.
• Insert sad face here.
• C

 

3. The Tai Chi Me and Fun

• We did have fun!
• It took the form of long drives along the coast and up into the hills.
• We rented movies, and put our feet up on the coffee table. 
• We had occasional dinners with friends.
• So, fun was had, it just came along in a slightly different form.
• B

 

 

Power word: Health

• This was an EXCELLENT word for 2021!
• I went to the doc and got my foot pain diagnosed.
• I went to a different doc and got help with my lung issues.
• I noticed a skin thingy and got that addressed early.
• If I wasn't feeling up to factory specs I laid down.
• I feel like I made progress, and learned how to seek out help when I needed it much, much earlier. 
• A+

 

So, there ya have it! Some good, some not-so, but definitely learned a lot -- how to be resilient, how to find a way around, and how important alone time is for thinking and creativity and balance. All the Tai Chi things.

 

Yay! That's a wrap!