May Goals

When I rewind my life about 50 days or so I had no idea what my future would hold.  Really, none of us do ever.  But I had at least a general idea or direction that my life was going.  A lot of that based on planning, scheduling and the normalcy of which I lived my life.  Sure, it can always be expected that little bumps come up in the road or even slightly bigger ones.  But I always press on and get back to life as I knew it.  This, however, has been different than any other time in my life and it's not only effecting me, but everyone around me.

It never occurred to me to set goals during this time.  I was naive to grab hold of the mind set of ok, I got this, it's just a few weeks, maybe a month, then everything will just resume.  Life as I knew it would return.  Specific goals were not necessary because this was going to be very short term and my goal in general was just to hunker down and survive.  Slowly, as I now realize, this has not turned into something short term.  Yes, it is enough to declare and even be happy with the general goal I set.  I'd say I've done it fairly well.  

As I look ahead, I know this new normal is here for the time being and it's not anything that I'm used to.  There are also other factors in my life that are a new normal for me that have coincided with this global change making this extra.  In many ways those changes I can handle because I was in control of them and brought them on myself through other life events.  The global changes though are being handed down through things that have nothing to do with me directly, yet they have drastically changed how I live my life.

Since today is May 1st, it's a good time to take a step back and set some goals for this month.  The last 50 some days were a grace period of sorts, but now it's time to focus and be intentional.  Here in short is my list in no particular order:

1)  Run 200+ miles in the month of May.  My running has really taken off  like crazy.  I have run such milage before, but it's probably been 5-6 years since I was at a peak and routinely running this much.  I looked late last night and was just 2.5 miles short of 200.  I honestly considered going out and logging those few miles real quick, but decided not to.  At that point I was honestly truly tired and talked myself into being sensible.  So for all of you who deem me craaaaazy, I'm actually sometimes not.  Sometimes.  

2) Read 4 books.  I love to read.  I don't love to sit still.  Those two opposites keep me from getting much reading done.  Yes, I know there are audio books.  I've tried that.  Not my cup of tea.  Yes, I know there are e-books.  Also not my cup of tea.  Perhaps old fashion, but I really like to sit and read an actual feel it in my hands book.  Often once I sit and get in the groove I can knock out books left and right.  But that first step is the hardest for me to overcome.  I'm working on this.  I did read 4 books in the last 50 days.  So I'm making progress.

(Just a few of the books I've read recently)

3) plant my garden and pay a lot of attention to it.  I love to be outside and be a total soak up the sun and fresh air person.  I've attempted to have a garden before, but it was in my years of having younger kids while also trying to work outside the home.  Since I work for the school system now I am afforded summers off to be home during this time.  My kids aren't so little any more either.  Yes, they still need a lot of my time and attention, but I've turned that corner to having self sufficient humans and that makes a big difference.

4)  organize and purge, specifically my basement and garage.  I still have many boxes from my divorce that are packed up just waiting for me to go through.  Honestly a box could disappear and I might be none the wiser which begs the question do I even really need it.  Yes, I have slight OCD issues and being extremely sentimental have a hard time getting rid of things.  I'm far from being on the show Hoarders, but don't touch my boxes cause I will likely freak out.  So let's goal this issue and go through, purge and organize.

5)  weight management.  Don't even roll your eyes and tell me how great I already look.  Even before all this hit I was packing on weight and it was getting out of control.  Maybe not My 400 lb. Life out of control, but for me it was!  This pandemic and stay at home stuff made things even worse.  I wish I can say that I knew exactly what got me in gear and turned around, but in the last 40 days I have lost 10 lbs. and am working on a little bit more. It has helped that I joined an online fitness challenge that is helping me zone in on my eating and food habits.  We know exercise isn't my issue, but food is.  This Spring Into Action fitness challenge is exactly what I need to help reel things in and tighten up this ship.

6)  play my french horn.  I picked up my for the first time in many years and began playing to have something to do and pass the time.  I wish I could say I was more consistent, but it's a struggle and I easily put it off and before I know it, it's 11 p.m. and I'm tired and want to go to bed.  So I'd like to set a goal of 2-3x a week to pick up my horn and practice/play.  I don't need to be perfect.  I don't need to be ready to try out for an orchestra.  I just need to play.

I can sit here much longer and come up with some more goals to focus on.  The list and possibilities are endless.  These are some that have come to mind and I want to focus on.  I hope that by taking the time to sit and write it all down it sinks in even more and gives me that mindset to go after it and get it done!

What about you?  Do you have any goals for May?  What are you working on?  Let me know, I want to hear!

Gratitude

I know I'm not the only one stuck in this endless cycle of stay at home order.  I have such a wide variety of thoughts and feelings about all of this.  Everything from "this is stupid" to "we'll hunker down as long as we need to" and so much more in between.

I'll be honest and admit that I'm not doing it perfectly either.  To me there's this big black hole of doing exactly what we're told to do vs. me assessing each day, my life (and my children's), each situation and making decisions based on what I think is best.  Sometimes the two do not match up with each other. That conflict and what I do/don't do can end up with so much stigma, judgement & criticism.  I've had to work long and hard to simply not care about what others thinks, say or do about MY life.  Yet being a highly empathetic person and simply caring All.  The. Time. fights to put me right back in that box.  It's an endless cycle of who I am.

Despite all that is battling within me each day, one thing I've tried to control is my gratitude.  This takes constant effort and some days or even moments are easier than others.  This is an area that I don't think I struggled with before, but feel like this pandemic and all the life changes that are happening with it are really testing me in this area.  I'm also guilty of making my gratitude bubble very small and focusing on only the closest of things that I have any control over.  While there's nothing wrong with that, it makes it pretty easy for me to feel challenged by other bigger situations and happenings.  It makes me realize how much I need to focus on gratitude no matter how big or small the situation.

I woke up this morning with a renewed sense of gratitude.  This was the view as I sat in my bed.  I'm not 100% sure why, but I LOVE this view.  I felt calm.  I felt at peace.  I felt SO thankful to be alive for another day.  For me, this was a moment that God had put in my heart.

Perhaps it was too easy to embrace this feeling since it's such a small controlled environment.  I'll admit that in the time since I took the picture and now, even as I wrote this post I've been tested A LOT.  And being my emotional self  have shed some tears and struggled.   I'm going to go ahead and keep focusing on all that I'm thankful for.  Big and small.  I have so much to live for and for that I am thankful!

What are you thankful for?   Is this something you struggle with?  Talk to me, I want to listen 😊

So Emotional

Everyone experiences emotions differently.  I for one am a very emotional person.  I tend to feel and experience any/all emotions deep in my core and with every fiber of my being.  It's not an exaggeration or me being dramatic.  I am just wired to be this way and it's in no way a bad quality to have.  I've had to learn and work on keeping my reactions to those emotions in check.  It's not an excuse to let myself be out of control, although some times that does happen. 

It can be frustrating when people don't know or understand how deep rooted my emotions can be.  One of the worst things you can tell me is "calm down, don't be so emotional about this!".  While I can work to calm down in many situations, there is no way I can not be emotional about things.  I know I'm not the only person who is wired this way, a lot of people are.  And probably just as many are wired to not be an emotional person. It's one of the many things that all makes us different and I strive to accept every person's differences.

One of the main emotions that most people are experiencing right now is grief.  You usually think of grief as something that someone goes through when they've lost a loved one to death.  However,  I've read many articles that talk about the grieving process that many of us are going through right now.  You may not even realize it or be able to identify it yourself.  But our lives have all changed in the last month and we've all lost something(s) that at the very least was normal to us.  Some of us have lost more than others, but we're all at a loss for what we knew as our life.

When I left school on Wednesday, March 11 I thought I was going to be gone for a scheduled 4 day weekend.  In addition to my primary job in the classroom, we had just started track practice and the season was on the verge of getting in to full swing. 

This was not any regular track season.  Not only for me, but for the school itself.  After 4 years of being an assistant coach, I was promoted to head coach of the boys and girls Lombard track team.  I was scared, but so excited and ready to take on this role!  Not to mention this is Lombard's last year as a Jr. High.  The schools here are restructuring and after this year Lombard will be a 5-6 building with no track team.  That also means there will no longer be this historic Churchill vs. Lombard divide.  All year there has been plenty of focus on this End of an Era between the two Jr. High schools.  One that dates back for over 60 years.  I didn't grow up here, but my kids have all attended Churchill, but I've been equally loyal to the kids I coach at Lombard.  To be honest they are both great schools and a part of the larger Galesburg school district, which I love and support.  So I've never been a fan of the rivalry, but was honored to be the one to lead Lombard through it's end and final days.

In the beginning days of the quarantine and stay at home initiative I was hopeful and optimistic that we could still have a track season.  Even if it was a shortened one.  I encouraged my kids to remain active so that we wouldn't lose too much ground.  As a mom, I have a son who was hopeful in that *perfect* 4x4 team that could honestly make it to state this year.  So we tried to hold onto that hope that things could still happen and if it was not the norm, it would still be something!!  We wanted to be ready to go when all of this was lifted. 

As the days turned into weeks, my hope began to fade.  I had to begin to accept that we probably wouldn't have a track season.  I kept telling myself it was what was best and simply something we had to accept, even if we didn't like it.  Finally the silver bullet came in an email from the IESA which officially cancelled the State Track Meet.  I knew then that my track season was officially cancelled.  I was crushed.  Devastated.  I knew somewhere deep inside this would happen, yet it did nothing to lessen the pain or stop the flood of tears that engulfed me.  Was I being too emotional?  Absolutely not!  My heart and soul was being crushed.  Not only for my personal reasons and goals, but for my students who have been robbed of this track season.  For the 8th graders, my son included, who would never get this track season back.

It's been weeks since I got this news and even as I typed this out I still had to fight back the tears.  I know and understand it is what is best to keep everyone safe and protected.  It's nobody's fault.  It's the reality of what this entire nation is going through.  I know this adds to a long list of other life events that have changed for many people.  Events, moments, dates they have been robbed of.  Some things can be postponed or still held, but in drastically different ways than one imagined.  However, many will have last moments, last chances, last events that they will never get back.  My heart, my head, my body will grieve this for a long time.  I won't forget it too easily.  I never do.  Not because I can't let go of things and move on, but because of the deep emotional attachment I have to them.

Has there been anything that you are grieving for during this time?  It can be anything, big or little, if it's important to you then it's important!  Are you an emotional person?   I'd love to hear about it!
 

Feast or Famine

One thing I know about myself is that I tend to be a feast or famine person.  I'm either on or off.  Often times there is no in between for me.  However at the same time I feel like I'm a very steady, reliable person.  I'm predictable.

A few weeks ago I came on strong and ready to change the world with my blog and each post that I had in mind (and I have plenty in my mental queue, plus all the ones that I'll write about as they happen).  It was on like donkey kong.  Then just as quickly I was nowhere to be found and no matter how much I thought about posting I just couldn't seem to get it done.

If there's one thing I can't complain about during this shelter at home time is that the time does not go slow.  Days are clicking away faster than I want them to.  I have a mental to-do list each and every day and it never fails that I can't get that list done.  It's not even a long or big list.  Some basics to get done, sprinkled in with some bigger projects that I want to work on.  Some days it's a struggle to get even just the basics done.

It's no surprise that I have horrible time management skills.  HORRIBLE!  How I've managed to survive years of not only managing my own time, but that of my 6 pack, is beyond me!  Granted the important stuff always got done one way or another.  It never failed though that I would often get so many compliments about how I just had it all together and managed things so well.  I always wanted to yell "I AM A MESS! AND DEFINITELY DID NOT HAVE MY SH*T TOGETHER!"

Either way, none of that has ever kept me from pushing forward through life.  At some point I realized that nobody has it all together.  While I can certainly have goals or work to improve in certain areas, I really just have to keep being and doing me and that's all I can focus on.  If I can own and acknowledging my strengths and weaknesses (ie my feast or famine qualities) I can better tackle each day.  It's an unspoken on my list and maybe one of the best things I can focus on during this time!

What are some of your best or worst qualities?

Panic Shopping

A relatively new term that's surfaced amongst this pandemic is panic shopping.  I can attest though that I recognize this process.  It was often seen before when a big snow storm was coming.  Many would rush out to the store and stock up and get ready to hunker down for a few days.  Things like bread, milk and other essentials would be cleared off the shelves in a hurry from anyone and everyone.  Having at one point 6 kids at home which to hunker down with I know I did this on occasion as well.  Not sure I'd say I was in a panic though, just went out cause I knew I needed to be prepared.  Having a cart entirely full of groceries was not unusual for me at all.  It was a normal reality or #bigfamilyproblems as it's referred to.  Sometimes I needed 2 carts.  That was normal every day shopping.

Two weeks ago when the beginning of this pandemic started to hit our nation even more I was needing to get groceries no matter what.  Just my normal routine of shopping.  It was a Thursday and reports of stores being out of toilet paper were going around like crazy.  I didn't really want to go to the store.  Time got away from me and it would've been easier to put it off until Friday.  However a little too much time on social media combined with some anxiety and gut retching feeling had me going to the store no matter what.  I did not want to be among the masses of people who waited too long to go to the store so I went out and got it done.

Some may call it panic shopping, some may call it getting ready to hunker down for awhile.  Either way I completely gave into this anxiety and uncertainly that was looming over me.  Again, I needed groceries no matter what.  Not only did I buy plenty of food, I bought 2-3 of each item.  When I saw that toilet paper and bottle water had a limited quantity one could purchase, I called my daughter and had her come and buy some too.  I definitely don't feel like I hoarded anything.  I took a respectable amount to be able to feed and provide for my family for quite some time and left plenty behind.

The next day came the first of many announcements that began to change how we are living our lives.  Social distancing.  Ok, I got this.  I am set with food so no worries and I was so thankful that I was not out battling the public at this point.  After a couple days of this though and I heard the first of many "I'm boooooored" and "there is NOTHING to do!".  So I ventured to the store again, just to grab a few would be nice activities.  Books, puzzles, games, etc.  No problem, I got this and certainly no harm in all this family fun and bonding I was envisioning us having.  Except panic crept in again and before I knew it I had a cart full.  Trust me I had a moment of what the heck am I doing?!?!  Anxiety, fear and uncertainty gave way though and I bought it all anyway.

A week later and with news of a shelter in place directive coming I panicked again.  Once again I headed to the store and bought even more food.  In case anyone was worried, it will be a long time before we starve.  I know and understand that I can still go to the stores during this time.  However I can be a worse case scenario thinker.  In my mind I played out the idea of while there's plenty of opportunity to go to the store now, what about down the road?!?!  What happens when a new directive comes into play and marshal law goes into effect.  Stores are on lock down and guarded by the military with special requirements needed before one can go in a buy things.  I know, I know!!  My mind is my own worse enemy. 

I'm being honest and just admitting that I panicked.  And yes, I gave in to panic shopping.  While I'm sure to many others I was seemingly fine, calm and going about business as usual.  However I know that deep down I was stressed and freaked out!!  I still don't feel like I've hoarded anything, but I am certainly very well stocked up.  To look at the positives of this situation I don't need to go to the store for a very long time.  In fact, it's now been over a week since I have set foot in any kind of store.  To help justify my craziness I did tell myself that I would NOT go out any more after these several trips of panic shopping.  I know I can if I need/have to, but I am trying my best to stay home & away from people.  I've also tried to use my abundance to help others when I've known they needed something.  I reached out to my community and neighbors and offered up anything they might need.  Helping others is definitely something I always strive to do.  My panic may have been unnecessary, but I'm determined to use it for the greater good and to help keep my family home and safe.

Did you do any panic shopping?  Buy anything in crazy amounts?

Homeschool

Like many others in this nation I have been thrust into the world of homeschooling.  To begin with here's a great summary of what the 6PM (6PackMomma)School looks like:

For over 20 years I have chosen to send my 6pack through the public education system for their formal education.   For the most part I have been extremely satisfied with what has happened through that process.  It's not a perfect process or system and perhaps I just chose to see the good in most things, but really I think our school system (or really it's the people in our system) is pretty darn good.

I purposely stressed the word formal education because I believe education happens in many different ways at many different times from the moment someone is born.  I have always been my children's educator.  I kind of thought that's what everyone was supposed to do.  Granted we live in a flawed world and no, not everyone does do that and even then despite anyone's best efforts no one is going to do it perfectly.  However I chose to focus on and hold myself responsible for my own thoughts, beliefs and choices.  So yes, that is what I have done since the day my child(ren) have been born.  I've been homeschooling all along.  Even though most of my kids are adults, if/when given the opportunity I will continue to teach them in any way that I can.  In a twist of things, sometimes the student also becomes the teacher and vice versa.  Life is an never ending process of learning.  (Remember my favorite quote).

Everyone learns differently and I would be the first to claim that I am not smart.  Book smart that is.  Wait, wait, wait!  I did not say I was dumb or stupid.  Although to be honest this is an area of low self confidence I do struggle with.  However, aside from any joking or silliness, I stand firm that I am not dumb or stupid.  In fact, I am very smart in many different aspects.  Perhaps genius from time to time, just not very often in my case.  And really, that is ok!  I don't need to be perfectly smart and genius all the time.  I'm just over here trying to be me, embracing who I am and the strengths God has given me.

The public school system seems to thrive and be based on being book smart.  I'm not claiming that to neither be good or bad.  I'm certainly not wanting to debate anything about this topic either.  Just my perspective.  So a system that is based on lots of formal benchmarks of reading, writing, math, science, etc. that mostly involve BOOK WORK is not really my jam.  While there has not been any mandated e-learning put into place yet many teachers and putting forth an effort to get some school work and activities out there to the students.  Bravo and thank you for those efforts.  Unfortunately I'm failing miserably at even enforcing such work. (I am trying though!!)  I've seen many claims that the ages of my children should only need 2-3 hours of school/book work every day anyway.  TWO to THREE HOURS?!!??!!?  Sheesh, even I'm the first to jump in and protest and say whaaaaat that is just too much.  Tell me I have to spend that much time cooking in the kitchen, doing P.E., cleaning out and organizing something....OK!  No problem, I've got this.

Interestingly, for anyone who doesn't know this about me, I work full time for the public school system.  I fully recognize and conform to this system mentality and formality every day all the time for my employment.  And honestly I LOVE it!  It's not what I personally prefer, but I roll with it and enjoy it so much.  My 6pack, for the most part, have always enjoyed and thrived in this environment as well.  However without this formality in place it goes to the wayside, but really for the most part though we are still learning a lot every day and all the time.

Right now I'm really rocking my version of school which is pictured above with a few minor book academia sprinkled in.  Honestly though it's probably less than 1 hour a day right now.  Depending on what happens with this quarantine and pandemic we are all trying to survive, it might change.  If the school system implements some formal e-learning I will oblige.  In the mean time it's time to wake the natives (yes, I know it's 11 a.m.) for a day of life and learning at 6PM School.

Must. Not. Complain.

Oh the great roller coaster of this shelter in place directive.  Trust me, I'm all supportive of it.  However as an extrovert this is really REALLY hard for me.   But I get it, let's do this and kick COVID-19 out of here.  I am completely enjoying this time home as it's left me with plenty of opportunities to participate in more of what I wish I had more time to do.  More time to run ✔  More time to clean ✔  More time to organize ✔ More time to sleep ✔  More time with my kids ✔ (unfortunately some of them don't live at home any more).  My list can go on, but I'm seeing the positives here.  So me?  I'm not complaining.

For the most part I'm just taking it well and in stride.  Or I thought I was.  Until I just had a complete toddler meltdown.  I was already on edge because they just made the big announcement about the Olympics being postponed.  Which I understand, but it's tough for me to digest and think about.  Sports are a huge part of my life.  Especially running.  They already had the marathon trials and knew who was going to represent in that event.  Pushing it back another year changes so much.  The realistic effects of this are just mind boggling.   It's easy to roll with the punches until the effects of it start to trickle down and change so much.

Within a short time frame of hearing this official Olympic news I saw an update about Les Miserables.  My FAVORITE musical of all time.  I had been planning to see it in July in Toronto.  That is months away.  In a different country.  I know a lot of things in the here and now, maybe even for the next month or two are going to be postponed or cancelled.  But July?  Toronto?  Surely we'll all be over this quarantine and readjusting to life outside of home by then.  Well, they just announced that the entire North America tour is cancelled until the END OF JULY.

And insert some screaming yelling, thrashing around and throwing a fit like a toddler.  Fortunately my kids were outside playing and the house was empty.  But to be honest it wasn't my finest moment.  We're all guilty of them.  Complete meltdown over something semi (or completely) trivial.  It's not like I'll never get to see the show again.  My life isn't over.  But I had a moment, several of them in a row.  And then was like Wow!  Where did that come from?!?!?  I'll get over it.  Move on.  See it somewhere else at another time.  But it was still emotionally crushing even if just a little bit.

What has effected you with this quarantine and shelter in place directive?  It can be big, it can be trivial.  I want to hear about it.

This is Me

Woah-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh

Come on, you totally heard that title in your head & you probably sang it too!  Of course, some people who are not musically inclined have no clue what I'm talking about and that's ok.

I got started last week of my Great Revival and then promptly had my "normal" schedule changed up for a few days which left me days without sitting down and touching a computer.  Granted I was on my phone plenty, but I don't blog from my phone.  Something about sitting down to a computer is easier for me.  More official and stately, professional perhaps about being on a computer to do some blogging & writing.  But then again, I am sitting here in my jammies, hair pulled back into a messy bun and glasses on.  Yeah....official, stately, professional..... ok......

Before diving into my blogging mind I thought I'd start with a post about me!  Many of you may know me.  I'd venture to say many of you know me in a very superficial social media way.  That's neither good nor bad, just an honest truth.  If you stumble across this blog, you may not know me at all.  Either way, I would suggest that you go back through & read my blog from it's inception and get to know me that way.  Although I would throw the disclaimer that there is a lot about me that has changed.  Oh yes, I am still a mom with 6 kids, although most of them are grown now.  Still mom none the less.  Forever and always a mom.  Running is still a passion.  Albeit now in an older body.  Ugh, don't get me started on how my body has changed so much aka gotten older and falling apart.  Still a runner none the less.  Those are my 2 main identities that I had previously put forth on this blog.  Those while ever changing are yet still the same.  However me, so much of me has changed.  I am not the same person that I was even just a couple of years ago.  I have a completely different lense, filter, mind set than in previous years.   Everyone is ever changing, life has a way of doing that to us.  I get that.  I will certainly explore this topic more, but wanted to put a disclaimer out that I am not the same person at all!

I won't write a novel on this topic.  Trust me, I'm such a verbal processor, I could!  I thought I would start with some basics.  I'll list it is simple fashion.  Some I plan to write about and explore even more.  Others will just be or can maybe speak for themselves.  

1.  I am a 43 year old mom to 6 kids ranging in age from 24-12.

2.  Music & movement are ingrained in me to my core.  Has been for as long as I can remember.

3.  I am very spiritual.  I believe in God.

4.  Running is my jam!  Old falling apart body and all.  

5.  Life is a two way street.  I am entitled to my thoughts and beliefs, just as you are yours even if they are completely different.

6.  One of my favorite quotes, which is actually a song:  
The more I live - the more I learn.
The more I learn - the more I realize the less I know.
Each step I take.
Each page I turn.
Each mile I travel only means the more I have to go.
What's wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
Just a piece of sky?

Super bonus points if you know this song without Googling it.  Be honest now!

I'll start with this and leave it be.  With this stay at home directive I hope to write plenty and attempt to get back into a healthy balanced habit of writing.  Personally I plan to soar!!

The Great Revival 2020

In light of our worlds completely & drastically changing within the last week, I thought this might be a great time to revive this blog!  When I look back I used to blog quite frequently.  When I entered the working world, even at first in a very limited part time fashion, I slowly but surely stopped blogging.  I tried to hang on for awhile, but eventually I started to work even more and then I just had to let it go.  

I wouldn't say it wasn't important to me.  Connecting has always been important to me and duh, of course running and my family has always been near and dear to me.  I was ill prepared for how to balance and do it all.  I mean do we ever really know how to "do it all" until we are knee deep into life or new situations?  Social media made it easier to connect with others, but it's a much limited version of what I wanted to say.

Fun fact about me:  I once dreamed of being a writer.  Specifically a journalist.  My Aunt Elaine worked for USA today and I wanted to grow up, go to college, get a degree in journalism and be just.like.her.  In jr. high and high school I wrote frequently.  I have a box full of stories and poems.  Granted those deeply reflect my teenage mind, but it's where I can trace my early and beginning days of wanting to be a writer.

So I took classes in high school, entered a few writing contest, etc., which sounds like the equivalent of I slept at a Holiday Inn last night.  Haha, so that sums up to me not exactly being trained or educated in being a writer and I won't claim to be the best at this.  However, I have thoughts.  I have ideas.  I have things I want to say.  I'm wired for connection, so many of us are.  So I thought in light of having "all the time in the world" right now I'd breathe some new life into this blog.

Welcome and thanks for joining me for the ride!