Last weekend, I went on a fun little jaunt to a pretty Washington town called Oak Harbor, where I visited and reconnected with one of my sisters who I haven’t seen in over almost 20 years, on account of she lives Florida, and jobs and kids (hers) and general adulthood have kept us from getting together all of this time. It was a total delight (at least on my end, I haven’t asked her if she feels the same way), and it was fun learning all about her life in Florida and hearing all of the things I’ve missed over the years as we have both grown into quasi-middle age. She was here with her husband visiting her daughter on the naval base, so I finally got to meet that stellar gentleman, and also spend time with my niece, who I haven’t seen since she was a wee one. She has truly grown into a fine young woman. During this excursion, I played disc golf for the first time in my life under my brother’s tutelage, ate my weight in Italian and Mexican food, and took a tour of the base, during which my sister narrowly avoided getting stuck in a turnstile and having to be sawed out. Fun times! I really need to get out more often, even it’s just someplace a few hours away. Here is a view from Deception Pass, and a cool-looking tree log on the beach:
My newest trainer has lots of knowledge, and with knowledge comes theories, and one of his theories is about push days and pull days. In all of my time working with trainers, I have never heard of this push/pull thing, but according to him, the best way to organize your workouts is not by upper or lower body, but rather by push movements and pull movements. Personally, my approach has always been to cram in everything possible during every workout, since I was under the impression that was the best way to get the absolute most of out my workout time. According to this trainer, that is not the best approach for building strength, because it doesn’t allow enough recovery time, and will actually slow down strength-building. I’m a bit skeptical, but I’ve started trying his approach. It’s too early to tell if it’s working, but it has made planning my workouts much simpler. And, he was somewhat vindicated by the massage therapist I saw recently, who mentioned unprompted that he himself does push/pull days. I wonder if this is some new trend in exercise science, or just something that I somehow completely missed all of this time. We’ll see if it helps my lifts.
Not to brag, but compared to most diamond painters, I have the discipline of a Navy Seal. I don’t keep stashes and I don’t buy new paintings, even ones I really want, until the one I am working on is completed. I resolved at the very beginning of this that I was not going to be one of those dotters who hide their purchases all over their domiciles, take over entire closets and garages with unopened kits, and spend themselves into debt on their hobby. The very few extra kits I have were gifts, with the exception of a unique project I am working on of my friend’s artwork. I’m in it for the long haul with “Bathroom in Paris,” and no new kits shall be purchased until it’s done, no matter how long it takes. However…even though I had convinced myself I was not susceptible to Diamond Art Club’s skillful marketing tactics, they almost got me, folks. Recently, they posted in their Facebook group that they were selling five “mystery kits” for $100.00. One DAC kit runs around $80.00, so this was a fantastic deal. (Of course, you didn’t know what you were going to get, so it was also a gamble.) I don’t know what came over me, but I found myself completely overcome with avarice and a near-uncontrollable desire to buy those kits. I was practically sweating. I really, really wanted those five mystery kits. I felt completely helpless against their pull, like a sailor lured by the song of sirens.
Fortunately, with a little help, I was able to pull myself out of my trance and think logically about it in the end, and I’m glad I did. It turns out that most of the people in the Facebook DAC group who succumbed were disappointed. The kits were mostly undesirable cartoon stuff like Spongebob and Teletubbies. There were a few people who just happened to love everything they got, and I’m happy for them, but I know I would have regretted it. The whole near-debacle is a good lesson for me never to get complacent and let my guard down around DAC’s seductive marketing ploys. That was a close one!
—Kristen McHenry
The world needs to read very fun, interesting post! 😋
Thanks for sharing your family reunion adventure. Congratulations on “pushing” yourself away from the diamond mega-deal purchase.