Tag Archives: racquetball

Too Busy To Think

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Since the arrival of my cousin, I’ve found myself increasingly busy. Not that its a bad thing; in fact quite the opposite! Because I am often busy trying to juggle several things at once or think of ways to entertain my guest, I’ve found that it has kept me from dwelling too much on things and succumb to depression. Too much thinking = depression or anxiety or what have you. Of course, the downside is sometimes not having enough down time for myself to do the things I need to do, but its something I am feeling quite content with. Probably the only constant thought that has been plaguing me is being unable to contribute enough financial resources, but I am going to hopefully be able to recoup the losses if I can land the part time jobs I’ve applied for. Here is hoping!

So far, everything has been going pretty smoothly. I say this because at times my temperamental sibling can often really drive a rift between parties with her anger management issues, and it has been the case during previous visits from my cousin. Thankfully it hasn’t scared her away 100% as is proofed by the fact she came to visit us again this year.

This year, we had even done something I never once thought I would do or enjoy doing: ride a duck. Now this might seem strange and you might be asking yourself, “Calaera, how on earth are you able to ride a duck!?” Easy! By riding one of these:

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During my time working in Seattle, I had often seen these vehicles and the faces of the poor tourists who looked embarrassed to be sitting with people daring to sing, dance, clap, scream, and wave at nearby people who are either in their car or out or even on another duck vehicle. I swore that I would never ride one. It seemed silly and ridiculous and really weird. Then, of course, I was given an opportunity to ride one this month. Typically I would have said no but the choices left to me by saying no left me were less than desirable and I decided to ride without shame and even touting a loud and very annoying duck whistle. The ride itself was actually enjoyable. Silly? Yes. Embarrassing? Without a doubt! Fun? Most definitely! I actually learned more useless facts about Seattle, Sleepless in Seattle, and found other little areas that I had trouble finding on my own during previous excursions. Would I recommend it? Yes! But if you are in town and want to ride it, definitely take it from the West Lake center. They allow more time to float in the water and are able to talk about more interesting trivia info that you may not have otherwise heard on the Seattle Center location.

I also had experienced my first 3D movie at the Seattle Pacific Center IMAX theater and was sorely disappointed and also justified in my view point of the uselessness of 3D. We had seen the last Harry Potter movie a few days ago (Harry Pottery and the Deathly Hallows part 2), and I had suffered through too many cons to actually find the 3D experience worthwhile. They were:

1. Eye Fatigue
2. Lack of meaningful 3D moments. The instances they did use 3D was very short and few and far between.
3. Made me feel more tense because of the constant eye fatigue

Ok, so that was just three points I was able to make and I will make the concession that I realize that this movie in particular was probably not the best way to experience 3D for the first time. Yet even knowing this, I doubt I will really want to experience a 3D movie again. It is paying extra money for watching a movie that is often not originally shot in 3D and has the effects tacked onto there as an after thought. What do I get out of it? Eye fatigue, physical stress from trying to continually adjust to the glasses, and then the realization I paid a few extra bucks for an experience that leaves me walking out of the theater wishing I could have been able to watch the movie in 2D instead and without the feeling of wanting to gouge out my eyes. Whew.

Aside from the awful experience, the movie was great and has me feeling sad that the series has now come to an end film wise.

I would honestly like to write more at this point, but I know I should start heading to bed. The weekend will be kicking off to a Jazz concert at Benaroya Hall, a day of racquetball and maybe badminton, and a two day visit to Victoria, BC. Exciting, no?

Journey to Lose Weight

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Since I was about six or maybe seven years-of-age, I had been struggling with weight issues and had brought a lot of contention in my family and home since, well, I was a chubby Filipina kid. I remember frequently being scolded to exercise when I had no concept of the idea, and it didn’t help at all that running around brought upon fits of asthma attacks that created  frequent trips to the hospital. Years later, I had went through phases of losing weight, gaining it back, and continuing that cycle up until now.

This time, I am trying hard to beat that cycle and continue to stay healthy. I’m not getting younger and I my desire to live long to enjoy life with my loved ones has become stronger as of late. It hasn’t been easy, however, as two persistent problems have cropped up to make things difficult: my lower back and my chest. My chest has only started up recently and I’m not sure what exactly is wrong. I think it may have been an adverse reaction to Advair that I had experienced a year ago, but the lingering pains has me worried it might be something else. I’ve had to turn down my workouts quite a bit just to ensure I do not end up in the ER, again…

As for the back pain? Proper lifting technique and knowing ones limits goes a long way. I had foolishly attempted to lift an extremely heavy box with awful lifting technique and tweaked my back. Its gotten better, but I always need to be careful of what I do or else the pains will come back. I’m currently laughed at because the pains make me look and feel as though I am 60 or older.

Despite these two continuous problems I’ve faced in the past few weeks, I’ve also made great strides thanks to my sister, brother, and boyfriend. They have said that success rates for exercising is greater if you have a partner to help encourage you; it doesn’t work if you have someone who will demotivate you or be the little devil to tell you its ok to go for one day, then another, and another! I had practically begged for her help in being my workout partner at the newly built YMCA, so that I would not be alone and that I could have someone practically nag me to go even when I didn’t feel like it. My boyfriend does almost the same thing but in a different way. Because I manage a linkshell on XI and XIV, I often worry if I am neglecting it and if I need to do more or be on more. Couple this with the occasional bouts of depression and anxiety, it brews for rather anxious ridden times when I feel reluctant to want to go exercise. Derrick is the one who will then give me the permission I have trouble giving myself to go do what I need to do to take care of myself. My younger brother, however, is an anomaly. He doesn’t really get me to workout, nor does he motivate me. In fact, he taunts me in subtle ways and is possibly mocking me as well. Actually… he’s more of a pain in the ass. Yet I cannot deny that his actions amuses me at times and that before my persistent chest pains, he was able to push me further than I would have originally done on my own.

Since the eight weeks I’ve started to workout, I haven’t really lost much weight except for the initial water weight loss. I have, however, began to build up more muscle mass and have started to tone up my body. Though I guess I have lost quite a bit of weight as certain articles of clothing have either started to become loose or have started to become noticeably baggy on myself. Hah! I have a long way to go, however, but I am not really caring about it. I feel that loosing weight is sort of the natural result of me just getting back to being active. Hell, I had a <i>blast</i> just playing Racquetball even if I sucked at it. Then again, who would have thought that the goggles really would have come in handy and I would have my eye hit within minutes of starting play? Did you? I for sure did not. Thank goodness my normal glasses were not on, because I shudder to think about broken pieces of glass shoved into my eye… *shudder*