It’s Almost Spring! What’s Been Going On?

So much for that, “I’ll try to post more than a few times a month,” promise, huh? I don’t really have much of an excuse aside from: things have been busy. Which feels more like a constant state of being, to be honest. But in lieu of a witty entry about a recent observation or life event, I shall fall back on the tried and true method of filling a page with words… That’s right, a catch up post!

It’s a reflex to ignore how busy I actually am and say, “Not much has been going on, really,” when that is just a big ol’ lie. So to borrow a well-tested phrase from YouTubers and TikTokers everywhere, “Let’s get into it!”

Dental Stuff

I have never been great about my oral health care. Which is silly because I hate going to the dentist even more, especially when you get the judgment of, “If you took care of your teeth, you wouldn’t see me as often!”

But even with a very diligent brushing (and, I admit, occasional flossing) routine started and maintained during the pandemic, things still wear out and I had a slight incident which meant needing to see a dentist sooner rather than later. Which presented a problem as I didn’t have a regular dentist, meaning I’d go in as a new appointment. And anyone who’s tried to start seeing a medical professional lately knows… they’re all booked up.

Still, I called my friend and asked who he goes to, since he is very happy with their care and service and I made an appointment but stressed if there were any openings, to book me in. Because it’s the way of things when you have a dental issue that you can’t get it taken care of on the first visit, or often even the second. That’s for exams and cleaning.

I got lucky, they had a cancellation and got me in that week to get things started. And wow, were they all up in my mouth, however there was none of the anticipated judgment or scolding, just a lot of “Let’s work together to get you feeling comfortable with your oral health and smile.” I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting that. Nor was I expecting the amount of work I’d need, however I shouldn’t have been surprised.

But aside from some extended travel to and from the dental offices (and a lot of time off work), things have been progressing steadily and I feel good about the treatment plan. My wallet doesn’t feel too good about it, but now is the time to leverage the money saved from not going out for cocktails and brunches over the past few years. I don’t think I’ll ever opt for a “Hollywood Smile” but I’ll just be happy to keep my own teeth for as long as I can at my age.

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Exercise/Fitness

Speaking of my age, my regular doctor, at least my non-dentist doctor since dentists are also doctors… though my non-dentist doctor was also on my case about seeing the dentist because “oral health is linked to overall health”. But he was getting on me about more or less checking all the boxes and making sure I’m taking care of myself.

Since I don’t see him as often, these are mostly prescription refill visits, and scheduling things that, again, someone at my age should get checked out. The Cologuard at-home test was an interesting experience, to say the least. Beyond that, it was the “usual” advice: eat better, get some exercise, try to get a good night’s sleep. Things that sound great in theory, and turns out, once I actually applied a little effort to them, weren’t bad in practice either.

I adjusted the settings on my devices to something achievable. Step counts, move totals, stand hours, exercise minutes, closing the rings, etc. and did a little research on what kind of small change I could make and stick to, that might have some kind of an impact. I settled on 30 brisk minutes of walking each day. I also settled on this in January, when it was cold outside, so I had to lean heavily on the treadmill in my apartment’s fitness center.

Way back before the pandemic, I was an “up with the sun” person, getting in trail and park walks right at sunrise, to get it out of the way so I could enjoy the day’s activities, and I kinda became that person again, except with the gym, it doesn’t have to be nice out. The treadmill is a lot more boring than being outside, but with the right music mix, it’s an intense, but not grueling 30 minutes and I’m done.

Now that we’re getting to the 60s and 70s outside, I’ve been shifting to afternoon walks, and other than dealing with pollen allergies, it’s great. And I gotta admit that it’s had an effect. My weight has gone down over the last quarter, it hasn’t been this low in a while. My overall mood is pretty good. I still have good and bad days, but mostly good. My jeans are loose on me and I just shopped for a smaller belt, so maybe I’ll be fit and flirty for Spring this year! (While still mostly staying inside and not going out dancing or to bars just yet, so… anyway.)

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Breakout Con

Rounding out the mid-March news, I’m going to Breakout Con, the premiere tabletop gaming convention in Toronto! Y’all might know that I generally only semi-professionally attend one gaming convention a year, PAX Unplugged, but they reached out to invite me as a special guest and I mulled it over for a bit before saying yes. So I’m headed to Canada for a few days! I’d be remiss if I didn’t post what is always the first pop culture reference that comes to mind for my international travel…

But hey, I gotta use my passport for something, right? Looping in the other updates from this post, I was sort of in a rush to get my mouth stuff handled, and honestly, lose a little weight before attending, so I’m feeling good about having a bit of time off to geek out and meet friends that I usually only interact with online.

What’s going to be most interesting is that I’m not “booked and busy” for this convention. Usually I’m running around on several panels a day with some breaks for meals and seeing friends. I admittedly do that because I’m not great with unstructured free time. Especially when I’m not in a familiar setting.

I am far more likely to sit in my room or at a bar with a book than wander around a convention. I don’t really do shopping at cons anymore, I have way too much stuff in my apartment already. And I am never so presumptuous to assume people want to spend time with me. Not being down on myself, but while I’ll know people there, they won’t be closer online friends, so sometimes I need a more explicit invite to hang out than an implied one.

Still, I’ll get to meet cast members from of my Cyberpunk Actual Play podcast and see Storm Crow Manor — which amuses me as they were a sponsor of Rivals of Waterdeep, and I had no idea they weren’t in the Chicago area!

I’m going to bring my Crystal Dragonborn Bard Sylvester to a D&D live play, and talk about streaming RPGs. I’m mostly looking forward to seeing friends and making new acquaintances, and honestly just getting away for a little while. It’s hardly a glamorous vacation, but it is a whole other city, in another country, well away from home. I haven’t started packing yet, but my travel prep list is all set with boxes to check off. With the free time, I might actually explore a little bit. But it might be nice to let myself get a little immersed in the convention as I don’t usually have time to just enjoy them. We’ll see.

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And that’s what’s been going on for the past month or so. It’s been busy, but not overwhelming. I’m trying to deal with things as they happen, like an adult, and not fret over things outside of my control. For the most part, I’m healthy, things are good and I hope that continues. Spring is right around the corner, and even if my allergies don’t like it, I’m looking forward to being outside a little more. Maybe even catching the Cherry Blossoms this year, who knows?

Perhaps the next update will be about something specific, or it might be a rambling catch-up mess again. Regardless, it was nice to put digital pen to paper for a bit. 💖