Today is Monday, February 3, 2025
National Women Physicians Day
Quote of the Week
“There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss and no loss without pain.”
– Rick Warren
Happily Ever After
https://www.everafterphotographypnw.com/
Ever After Photography PNW is owned and operated by photographer extraordinaire, Mira Nachtigall. Mira specializes in birth, maternity, and newborn photography. She shares her art each week to help beautify the My Monday Memo. Mira and Rachel’s friendship spans back to 2007 in Las Vegas. They now reside very close in Washington.
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
- Brady– Khhhhhhhh-ppppppphhhh.
- Belichick– What the?
- Brady– Don’t wake me up!
- Belichick– Why do you always sound like Darth Vadar when you sleep?
- Brady– I simply don’t know what you are talking about. Go clean yourself.
- Belichick– Hey, I do much better cleaning myself these days, thank you.
- Brady– Uh huh. Sure you do. I saw mom’s reaction the other day when you crop dusted her while she was working.
- Belichick– Booahhhh, I got her good, didn’t I? She thought I had a dangler.
- Brady– You are gross.
Belichick (pictured top) & Brady (pictured bottom)
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. Brady is a short hair and very dominant and athletic, much like his namesake (Forever Patriots). Belichick, aka Beli, the long hair, was the runt of their litter and is much more passive, until provoked. These two cute boys turned one on May 4, 2024.
Zoo Day- Visit 2 of 25
Rachel’s goal for 2025 is to visit the zoo at least 25 times. This shouldn’t be tough with her annual pass to the beautiful Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) in Tacoma, Washington, which happens to be a 15-minute drive from home.
Rachel intends to make visiting the zoo a Mondays after work activity, if able, and if she is feeling like leaving her apartment. As of late, with a lot going on in her life, she’s been more apt to post up on her couch for a Netflix marathon than get out of the house. She is intent on getting back to doing more of what she loves.
Wait, she loves movie and show marathons. Life can be conflicting sometimes. She will simply share the time between loves and cut back a bit on the streaming.
This zoo visit, in particular, was a maybe yes, maybe no when she woke that Monday. She would stick to her normal routine, work and gym, but wasn’t sure what would be next. At the gym, she was chatting with her friend, Bill. He asked her if she had the day off work, as it was a holiday. Nope. Rachel doesn’t take holidays off. She can’t stand work to pile up.
She told him she was going to try to leave her apartment and go to the zoo after work. He said that he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, had errands but would like to join her afterwards. This was welcome news. Bill and Kenzie are a fun couple to hang out with, especially since they are the same age as her kids.
They enjoyed all exhibits in the zoo. Rachel learned that the lone elephant, Suki, was no longer at the zoo. Suki passed in August at nearly 60 years old. She had been a resident at the PDZA since 1996. The exhibit sits empty with signs of something to come. Rachel will anxiously await the new resident.
Rachel was excited to see Pretzel, pictured below. Pretzel is a one-year-old female muskox that has been brought in to be the companion of one-year-old Willow. Yay, Willow has a friend. She will surely be excited to hang out with a friend her own age, rather than her parents, Hudson and Charlotte. There will be more to come on Pretzel and Willow’s budding friendship in future issues.
As they were walking out of one of the aquariums, they came across a photo booth. Those are still around? Yep. It wasn’t weird at all for Rachel to climb into this tiny photo booth with Bill and Kenzie for a souvenir photo reel. It may have been cramped but they got a good laugh and ended up with a pretty funny set of pictures.
Rachel is always happy to spend time with these young friends, and even more happy that they will hang out with an old lady.
Last Month at Orangetheory Fitness…
Rachel with friends after a workout. Pictured above LT to RT: Andrea, Rachel, Jennie and Coach Christine.
January had a plethora of things to focus on for members of Orangetheory Fitness (OTF). The biggest would be the Transformation Challenge that would begin on January 13th and run for eight weeks. Interested members sign up for either fat loss or muscle gain. With Rachel’s recent chocolate binge of Q4 2024, she opted for fat loss.
The month began with the 200-meter row benchmark. Painful. With some helpful rowing tips from fellow member, Danika (pictured below, back row, right side, second person in). These tips led Rachel to a new personal record of 36.15. She was thrilled. Thanks, Danika.
The dreaded one-mile treadmill benchmark was the kickoff class to start the Transformation Challenge. Rachel was not feeling ready for this one, or so she thought. With only 6 seconds from her personal record, she counts that one as a win. Big win.
Another one she will count as a big win is the 2000 meter row benchmark. Ten seconds? Really, come on… So close. Still a win.
No, No, Inferno… Rachel can’t even put into words what happens to a person during this challenge. You better have eaten your Wheaties, that is for sure. Here is the gist:
- Set your rower timer for a 23-minute countdown. Your goal is to gain as many meters as possible during your combined time on the rower.
- Row 100 meters. Once you are done, your rower will continue to gain meters until the water in the tank stops spinning each time.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 200 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 300 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 400 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 500 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 600 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 700 meters on top of what your already rowed.
- Get on your treadmill and run .1 of a mile.
- Row 800 meters on top of what your already rowed.
Hopefully your 23-minute countdown has ended by now. Sounds fun, right? For those of us that enjoy torture, yes, yes, it is fun. While Rachel didn’t do her best, she still did well and loved the class. Plenty of friends reached new personal records, so the day was a win either way.
Rachel is keeping to her healthy eating habits, while enjoying a treat here and there in moderation. Moderation… if she could only have that in her life at all times. Oh well, she’s feeling great just with the last few weeks of healthier eating. Friends are also participating in the challenge, which makes it all the more fun. Until next time, be well.
