141. Notes on a day

Random Notes on the day:

I was happy to pay two different bills today without freaking out. One came from my dentist, charging me for my recent root canal. The other was my mortgage payment. I paid them both without going off the cliff of financial anxiety.

One, I’m lucky that I have an Health Savings Account from work that I could dip into for just such an occasion. I almost forgot about it, but it paid for the whole procedure. I’ve also (finally) figured out a good budget for me, so I was able to pay the mortgage without a complete and total meltdown.

That’s really awesome. I feel good about that.

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I’ve started going to a specific yoga class on Thursday nights. I like the teacher that does the class at the time. I feel like most yoga instructors do the same thing: lead the poses and guide you through the whole process. This teacher added her own little touch to the practice. She’d use some aromatherapy in the class and sometimes she handed out postcards with flowers and quotes of affirmation. She also knew my name. I’d like to think she knew everyone’s name, but I was one of the only guys who came on a regular basis, some I’m assuming that’s what did it.

She told the class that she’s switching studios, which is too bad. That always happens to me.

Even with that change, I’m glad I’m doing yoga again. It feels good to do something other than running and it feels good to just hit pause on the day sometimes. (I’m also pretty sore today.)

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I walked home for a second day in a row. It takes me a little over an hour. I like that time as well. I realize that I probably won’t have that luxury whenever the next stage of my life comes around.

There was also an ice cream social at work today with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I had the Phish food. It had chocolate, marshmallow, and caramel, and some dark chocolate fish. It’s good stuff. I like the combination of all of those things. I’m glad it came in a reasonable size too. I really just can’t eat a large bowl of ice cream like I used to.  

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I’m grinding out the July issue of the Hennepin Lawyer magazine. I think it’s going to be a good one. The theme is criminal justice and the issue editor did a good job of wrangling authors for pertinent articles. I’m excited to see them all in print and get the next issue done.

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I’m heading to Chicago in a couple of weeks. I know I basically did that for vacation last year, but this trip sort of just happened. I’ll be seeing the USMNT with Jack in the Copa America cup. I’ve never seen the national team play live, so this will be a fun experience. I’ll be able to see some other friends as well. It should be a lot of fun.