Category Archives: In the Rail blog

For years, my parents have been trying to get me to take boxes of family Christmas decorations from their house back to my place. It was never important to me because I always travel for the holidays. But in 2020, I anticipate that Nick and I will be spending the holidays sitting around the condoContinue reading “A very 2020 Christmas”

Any personality test I takes puts me in the strong empath category. This means that I feel other people’s emotions heavily. So, when big things are happening, I often retreat. It might give the illusion that I don’t care but it’s just the opposite. I care so much. When I’m hearing other people’s emotions, IContinue reading “An empath’s guide to anxiety”

For years, I’d been doing chaturanga dandasana wrong in yoga. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s when you’re in plank pose (or the top of a push-up) and lower down slowly. Sometimes after a sweaty vinyasa yoga class, I’d end up with shoulder pain for a day or two. I figured I just needed to get betterContinue reading “Mental health is health”

This week my childhood school district decided that stating Black Lives Matter in schools is political and shall not be done. I cannot standby and let that decision go unchecked. h/t to my friend Nicole for getting the letter writing campaign started. Here’s mine: Dear Superintendent Baumann, It made me sad to read about theContinue reading “An open letter to my (very white) hometown”

At the end of winter 2019, Nick and I were walking home. It was cold, dark and rainy and I had had enough of it. Channeling my inner toddler, I let loose an epic whine about how I was sick of being cold or wet all the time. I had a nice warm winter coat,Continue reading “Preparing for Winter”

When people ask how Nick and I are doing in quarantine, I like to joke, “It’s all quantity time now!” I mean, there’s no denying it has been a lot of one-on-one together time since March 6, 2020 when our offices closed, sending us to work from home. At the same time restaurants, the gym,Continue reading “My quaranteam”

I put on my workout clothes, moved things aside in the living room and made room for my yoga mat and some weights. I positioned my laptop so I could watch the Zoom workout class I was tuning in for. I watched as my colleagues signed in and waved to one another. Then we startedContinue reading “Intuitively moving”

I never thought of my cat as a role model for wellness before quarantine. But as we spend our fifth month together at home, I realize that cats are the masters of self-care and that I could learn a thing or two. My cat, Gatito, is a 13-year-old American shorthair. I took him in whenContinue reading “Cats, the self-care masters”

Seattle in July is more like April in other parts of the country, so I put on a pair of jeans to work from home. After work, I sat on the living room floor, as I do several times a day, to brush the cat. When I stood up, I noticed my jeans had ripped.Continue reading “Ending Fast Fashion”

I don’t say I love you very freely. I say it to Nick and my immediate family. My nieces and nephews hear it. Though maybe I should be more specific with them and say, “I am obsessed with you and love to hear what’s going on in your head. I remember when you couldn’t liftContinue reading “Saying I love you”