Journaling Archives - My Scattered Brain

Our Favorite Places to Eat

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 03:29:31 +0000

Everyday Dining / Take Out Grub Sushi Hana Rubios Mendocino Farms - Beet Salad Oggi's Grub - Napa Salad Chez Nous Panera - Strawberry Poppy Salad Santana's Knotty Barrel Phil's BBQ Pizza Rev Ki's Restaurant Regents Cheesecake Factory Places to Hang Out Cordiano's Orfila Ballast Point Cutwater Newtopia Cyder Juneshine Fine Dining Poseidon Vintana Tom Ham's Lighthouse Brunch Yanni's Dessert Extraordinary Desserts Cheesecake Factory - Godiva Flourless Chocolate Cake Brunch Only Places Broken Yolk Swami's Nutmeg Bakery Breakfast Republic Places to Sit and Work Pacific Coast Grill Wilson Creek Phil's BBQ Don't Like Habit Burger Salads

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My Journaling Journey

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 23:21:26 +0000

I journal in many ways, in my planner, in my notebook, in a reference notebook, I've tried to keep a separate writing journal and I've tried Day One. But there was always something missing. Hence I landed on this blog. Before starting this blog, I looked into several tools including: Revisited Day One Evernote OneNotes And I briefly looked other journaling apps that are out there like Penzu Day One Day One has a beautiful interface and I liked how it pulled weather and social media into your posts. However, I didn't want a big dump of information. I only wanted the journal to collect what was most important to me, or things that I want to reference and record. So this was just too much information. It had tagging so I could tag for multiple categories, but it didn't have a view where I could click on a category and easily see the entries for that category. There's an "excerpt" view but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. As you can see in this blog, I like to see the full post. Also, you had to upgrade to a paid version to have multiple photos per entry, multiple journals and to sync across devices. I actually had the paid version when I tried it in the past, but I never utilized it which is why I'm now on a blog in this journaling journey. Evernote Evernote also has the except view which doesn't work for me. Also, it's a dumping ground for notes and reference info that I use frequently. I wanted my journaling to be memorialized and articulated thoughts and ideas. OneNote I created one note in One Note and decided it wasn't for me, for the same reasons Evernote didn't work for me. Why I Chose a Blog In general, journaling apps are date specific. This is not what I wanted. I wanted a place to write my thoughts where it is evergreen and can be easily referenced across multiple categories. I wanted to have mixed media and share links. I wanted the customization where I can present writings and media in different formats. Privacy is generally not too much of a concern because I want these things to be memorialized and to exist after I am gone so they can be read and shared with family. Maybe some of this information is helpful to others who have stumbled on this page too.

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Key Takeaways – Running

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 21:43:56 +0000

Everyday Runs Drink my tea and get good sleep to fully recover. Drink a lot of powerade for hydration and electrolytes before a run. Read more Need 3 hours after eating to digest I run best on salads Watch Game Changers - enlightening to see how the blood changes based on what you eat Focus on the back kick - I tend to shuffle and not bend my knees especially when I'm tired. I noticed this from looking back at race photos Recovery Get in the pool!! - This made a world of difference. Remember how floating in the lake at Harsen's Island helped me recover from that super hot run. Drink sleepy tea to get good night's rest Marathon Notes/Tips Packing List Bring breakfast, high carb snacks, bottled water and Gatorade with you Bring compression socks Bring gels Bring large garbage bag – use in case of rain or at starting line when it’s really cold. Bring baby wipes (to wipe your hands after using porta potties) Before the race No roughages starting 2 days before the marathon (fruits and vegetables). Hopefully you can predict your potty schedule and can adjust accordingly. Lean protein the night before the race Hydrate the week of the race Drink Gatorade Stay off your feet and out of the sun the day before. REST Drink as much water as possible until 3 hours before the race. Then STOP. Drink again at the starting line. This will give you time to get it out of your system before the race. Anything you drink at the starting line, you will sweat out before it hits your bladder Eat breakfast 3 hours before the race During the race Do NOT start too fast! Keep your pace from the very beginning. I let everyone pass me and focused on keeping my own pace. By mile 18, I was passing everyone Hit every water stop – drink early and often When your legs get tired, take a few steps where you vary your stride to wake up the other muscles. I would do knee lifts or butt kicks to change it up. Raise your arms above your head. Stick your chest out and check posture to bring more air in your lungs. When you feel like shit, SMILE!! SMILE Often!!! After the race Keep walking Eat right away Ice your legs Playlist I streamed Pandora only because it was too much effort to put together a playlist I kept the metronome going the whole time.

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I Needed an Extra Recovery Day

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 19:55:03 +0000

Monday I went for an easy 6 mile run. I didn't eat very well, but made sure to drink a lot of Powerade before my run to be hydrated. I ran late, around 8:00 pm because it was hot and super humid. I ran easy and felt pretty good, but when I looked at my paces, I was at an overall average of 10:00 pace. Even though I did the Black Mountain hill, the last time I did an almost similar route, my overall pace was around 9:16. This told me I was still not recovered. It was a struggle, but I finally decided to take last night off and not do my hill sprint workout. I haven't been sleeping well lately, it was hot, humid and my body just felt tired. Rob and I watched TV and I went to bed "early" for me (around 11:30). I drank the sleep tea and had the best sleep ever. I slept for 7.5 hours and had 2 hrs 23 min of deep sleep. Hopefully I'll be more recovered for my run today. Takeaway Drink my tea and get good sleep to fully recover. Drink a lot of powerade for hydration and electrolytes before a run.

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Photo Organization – Removing Duplicates

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 19:28:30 +0000

Here are tools to help with de-duplication of photos. I found this in a Facebook group and saved it here for future reference. Highlights: DupeGuru a free cross-platform deduplication app for initial heavy lifting of dedupe efforts. Lightroom Classic with Teekesselchen, a free cross-platform plugin for second pass. Photosweeper for Apple Photos. Tips on How to Deal with Photos That Are Very Similar But Slightly Different It's all about the eyes. If the eyes aren't in focus, delete immediately Keep the first one and get rid of the rest At the start of the emotion - When Ashley and I were going through Big Sur photos, this one stood out. There was a photo of Nicole and Savanna, one when they were starting to laugh and another where they were in full on laughter. Ashley picked the first one, when the emotion was first triggered. Go quickly from one photo to another and back and follow the first response each picture awoke. Go with overall impression. If you go into the details, there's always something in the photo that is worthwhile. Group: Advice from the Photo Organizing Pros https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotoorganizers/permalink/2585836638394281/

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Things to Help Me Sleep

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 16:19:18 +0000

Here are the things I do to help me sleep: Watching a show. Big Bang Theory usually helps me sleep. I need to “watch” a show that doesn’t keep me so engaged that it keeps me up, or where I have to keep my eyes open to know what’s going on. The show just has to help me shut my brain off from thinking. Delta sleep waves on YouTube Insight Timer sleep meditation app Toe separators to relax my feet. Remember to set a 15 minute timer so you don’t fall asleep with them on your toes Flip upside down so you’re head is by the footboard Are you hungry? You can’t sleep if you’re hungry Take Zyrtec. If something is triggering your allergies, it makes you feel agitated and high strung. Move to the couch Are your feet cold? I can’t sleep if my feet are cold Neck stretcher. I need a new one of these. I used to use it all the time and I would fall asleep on it but it broke Accupressure mat. I haven’t used this in a long time. Works best without shirt Herbal Innovations sleep tea – I drank this for the first time in a long time last night and I had the best sleep. 2 hours and 43 minutes of deep sleep and plenty of REM. I haven’t slept this well in a long time Other things to try: Lavender pillow spray. I have this but haven’t tried it again in a long time. I don’t think it made much of a difference but willing to give it another try. Essential oils Chiropractic Care Another note is the best I’ve slept in for an extended duration was when I was seeing the chiropractor last year. Dr. John Paul worked on my neck and shoulders a lot. I was going 2-3x per week. I also wasn’t running at the time because I was injured (lower left back and right glute). I was getting 8+ hours of good sleep during that time. I was about 2 month into treatment when I started sleeping better. Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

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Decision: Why I Stay With iPhone

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:23:54 +0000

It is easier when the family is all in the same iPhone ecosystem. We can find each other, share photos and airdrop each other, even just to name our family group chat. You can’t do that if someone isn’t on iPhone. And you can FaceTime too. I know there’s other apps, but it’s just easier. I really like the Photos app on Mac and iPhone and how it syncs with Cloud. I love the Live Photos, especially when it app creates a memory from the photos. I love how the live photos bring it to life. When 3rd party apps like Adobe Elements or Google Photos creates videos from them, they are still photos presented as a slideshow and it does have as much impact as the live photo. I had considered switching to a Samsung a year ago because of the better camera, but I am glad I stuck with the iPhone. Photo by Bagus Hernawan on Unsplash

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How I Plan to Use This Blog

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:04:26 +0000

Journaling This blog will be used for writing and journaling where dates do not have too much importance. I already have a planner where I capture things that are date/calendar specific and I capture things that Spark Joy every day. This blog is for adding more context and detail and memorializing things that I had written online and can copy and paste from emails, facebook posts, etc. It will record decision made and why, the outcome and any key input into those decisions. The information here should be searchable so I can reference in the future. A lot of things captured here is because the information is captured digitally and wouldn't make sense to put in my planner or notebook Training Log It will also be used to capture comments in my running/training journal. What's Going On In the World I curate my photos in the Mac Photos app, Dropbox and Google Photos. However, that will be for personal photos. I like to keep memes, quotes, etc because it captures what is going on this world during that time and will put them in an image gallery here. How I Use My Paper Planner Spark Joy Every day, I capture something that SPARKS JOY in my beloved planner. Date/Time Specific Events Events and date specific notes are also recorded in my planner. Notes Dedicated section for handwritten notes. There's a primary notebook used to capture all incoming notes and a Reference notebook which is applicable all year long. All my notes are indexed at the front of the book

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How I Want to Be Remembered

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 21:16:29 +0000

I saw a post where someone’s mother had passed away and they had a Pierogi dinner in her honor. It got me thinking about how I want to be remembered and celebrated. We have started a tradition of New Year’s Day hikes, Mother’s Day hikes, birthday hikes. I imagine the family would have a hike in my honor. I want to be remembered for my love of running, my Keep Smiling motto, ingraining the importance of health and fitness and eating right for my kids, my love for the outdoors, for the piano, for my planner, outdoor dining. Of course, all of this is in addition to my love for my family.

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Diet, Allergies and Intolerances

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 20:56:47 +0000

I am gluten intolerant. I also cannot have peanuts, cashews and mold grown cheeses. Mold grown cheeses include: Blue cheeses: Gorgonzola, Roquefort, Stilton and other blue varieties Soft ripened cheeses: Brie, Camembert Humboldt Fog, and St. Andre This is consistent with me being allergic to Penicillin which is a mold based antibiotic. Seasonal allergies are the worst in: July in the Midwest October and any time the Santa Ana winds come in to San Diego. I seem to be allergic to the desert. I’m also allergic to dust and animals, especially cats!

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