Recently we had a new front door installed. If this project happened last year, it probably would have been in place months ago. This, however, is the time of Covid-19 and nothing seems to go as planned. It all started early this year (before February) when Doreen saw a show about Seattle houseboats and saw the image of one with a beautiful custom door. She is a seasoned cyber sleuth and managed to track down the artist, Laura Burkhart. We reached out, learned she was available, and kicked off the project.
Laura would do the artwork, we would buy the door (a nice, solid, single panel fir door). Laura would attach the art to the door, and the door company would install it. Simple, right? She got to work on the project and we found a local company to provide the door, materials, and installation. Then the pandemic struck. The company shut down, and it was unclear whether they would open again. We began to explore alternatives. Doreen decided to check-in after several weeks and discovered they would indeed open back up. We picked out our door and moved forward.
I won't bore you with the details after that. There were delays, deliveries, pick-ups, attaching the artwork, sealing, and re-sealing. We had an installation day but the worker wasn't able to finish and then he was no longer with the company. The next installer was able to work on most of the project but had to come back to finish the exterior. Then heavy rains hit and delayed the finish. Then we found the single panel door proved challenging to size a peephole for. Then we found a peephole.
Here is the new door:
We love local art and support local artists. Every year we travel down to Seattle to attend an art show where we pick up custom mugs. Here's my favorite:
There's a lot of magic in the Pacific Northwest! Behind the magic door, life goes on. I continue to push myself to stay ahead of Parkinson's Disease by working out intensely and regularly. My most recent workout looked like this:
30 burpees
7 pull-ups
4x 70 second plank hold
30 burpees
50 squats
36 push-ups
25 burpees
50 lunges per leg
5 second handstand
25 burpees
13 one-legged squats per leg
5 one-armed push-ups per arm
33 back extensions
38 crunches
It was the 13th workout in a series of 36 that I put together. Each workout takes me about 45 minutes to finish. I recently looked back at my first 12 workouts and was very happy with the total stats:
1,640 burpees
72 pull-ups
17 minutes of plank hold
800 squats
520 push-ups
800 lunges
6 minutes of headstand
144 one-legged squats per leg
44 one-armed push-ups per arm
464 back extensions
544 crunches
I alternate that with a 30-minute boxing session (in virtual reality) and some Beat Saber. Sounds like fun and games, but I work up a major sweat and burn quite a few calories. Here are the stats from my last session:
The workout is great because I can take it with me on the road. We've enjoyed taking weekend or day trips to various areas. A favorite town of ours to visit is Gig Harbor. We drove there a few weeks ago and it was beautiful.
Of course, we don't have to travel far to enjoy beautiful sights. Here's the view we enjoyed on a recent sunset walk in our neighborhood.
We recently traveled to Florida to visit Doreen's father and his wife. The gym in his community was closed, so my daughter, her husband, and I decided to work out in the garage. The humidity and heat took their tool, and although I finished all of the burpees, I skipped some of the exercises after overheating. It's the first and only workout I've cut short since I started training in earnest around March.
I've been participating in some Zoom calls with a local support group for those affected by Young Onset Parkinson's Disease. It is really great connecting with people who face similar challenges and informative to learn from those who have lived with it longer than I have. I look forward to joining them next week for an outdoor event. It will be my first time meeting most of the group in person.
Our church is open again. We have been avoiding most contact in preparation for our visit with Doreen's dad. Now that the visit is in the past, I decided to attend church this weekend. Of course, that ended up being the one weekend service was canceled. Although I have my bible and can watch services online, it's not a replacement for experiencing worship in person with friends.
I would go next week, but we'll likely be out of town. Our daughter and son-in-law are joining us for a few weeks before they move to a new state. We're planning some events with them to make the most of the time we'll have. It's been wonderful spending time with them and they will be living closer so we'll get to visit more often.
When I started this blog in March, I set a goal to raise $15,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. It felt like one of those "pie in the sky" goals. I wanted to challenge myself but I've never raised funds for charity before and the goal seemed pretty lofty. I am so excited to share that we recently passed the $10,000 mark and are over 2/3rds of the way there! I have a few more months to close the gap, so if you or anyone you know are interested in contributing to research for a cure, please consider contributing via my fundraiser page.
I'll continue to post updates when it makes sense, but so far,, it's felt like a long holding pattern waiting for trials to open back up or receive funding. Fortunately, my symptoms continue to stay under control and improve. Until the next time,
