Oh Hi Again - let me reintroduce myself!
Well, well, well....it's been a LOOOONG time! Looking at my last post, it's actually been 6 years, 10 months and 26 days!
What is prompting me to come back on here? I was sharing with a colleague and coaching client who was considering blogging that I used to have this little space in the inter-webs that I hung out and it was a great outlet for sharing all the things...family, running, relationships etc. It got me thinking -> there is a ton of stuff going on in my world and, while I do journal, that this was (and still is) a great place to capture my thoughts, work through my quandaries and also a place where my daughter can come when I am no longer in this world to know and learn and see a little bit more about me as, well, ME!
So - let me re-introduce myself...
Formerly WestCoastRunner - then WestcoasttotheBestCoast - and now WineWorkoutandWords.
My name is Michelle. I was 52 years old when I last posted in here and had moved to Boston in 2016. I am now 58 years old. I am no longer a runner thanks to two (2) meniscus tears (one in each knee). Prior to the pandemic I became a gym rat, going to a local bootcamp gym 6 days a week and finding my best self and best body in year. Then 2020 hit... no more in-person work outs, no more lifting heavy things. I found myself needing to have some sort of workout routine so I bit the bullet and bought a Peloton. I have happy to say that this has been a mainstay in my fitness routine and that I am currently on a track to have 208 weeks (5 years) of workouts that include over 1056 rides, 223 strength workouts, 169 walks and over 100 meditations. I am currently on a 100 day challenge and completed day 75 today. So - in short, fitness is still very much a part of my life but it looks so much different than when I used to be on her.
As for the rest of my world...my beautiful daughter is now 27 (I know...I know....she was just in middle and high school) and works as a RN in the emergency room in Las Vegas. She went to college there in the fall of 2016 and remains there to this day. She has a boyfriend of 6 years and is absolutely living and embracing her adult life in the best way possible. As for my LDR - we are married now, coming up on three years. I will do a whole post on that at some point. I moved to Boston in August of 2016 and have been here ever since. While it is my current home it is not my "forever" home. I do enjoy it here in the summer when I am on a boat in the harbor or playing around the city but I have come to realize that I am meant to be a sunshine and water girl....somewhere warm and tropical. Where that is, is yet to be determined -> but it will happen someday.
And since I last posted I quit my FT job, launched my own Virtual Assistant business and am now running a fully sustainable company. Because of my success I was also about to launch a coaching leg of my business, where I help other aspiring virtual business owners find their niche and launch into the world of virtual services. One of my clients offered me an opportunity last year to be FT and have benefits and I decided to do that and keep a small side hustle on the side. But that company has been having some growing pains and has had to do layoffs. This most recent round almost included me. It was a wake up call that, even though the benefits are a great perk, that I do NOT want to work and be subject to someone else deciding my livelihood. So I am still working there, coaching 2 clients and side-hustling with 2 more. Is it a lot? Yes. Do I love it? YES!
In other news - and I am going to make this perfectly clear from the get go here..
This is MY page and MY space and I will share MY views and MY thoughts. I am ALWAYS open to constructive and polite dialog but I will NOT tolerate anyone who is racist, xenophobic, hateful, discriminatory or misogynistic.
I believe in women's rights, in reproductive healthcare, in gun control reform, in supporting our veterans, in supporting our educators, in supporting my LGBTQ+ community, in ending systemic racism and,, for the love of all things good and pure, in being good and kind to one another!!
If you don't agree with those things then please feel free to unfollow me as bigotry and intolerance are not welcome here!
Okay - now that that is off of my chest...let's do this (again)!