New Blogs

Me with a haircut, which only happens 3x/year!

Just wanted everyone to know that while there is still plenty of information to read here at Normal in Training, as there are over 400 posts, the majority of my new material can be found in two places:

  1. Normal in Training Podcast will contain podcasts and access to the original posts found here at Normal in Training so that you can multitask while catching up on all of the posts you’ve missed. And I will be reading them so you can also hear how they were meant to be read. I can’t add the entire blog to podcast lists until all of the sessions have been recorded, but I am adding a session a day, so you can get your daily dose if you subscribe to the blog for now.
  2. NEUROSPICY AND FLYING will contain all of my latest blog posts. Some of the posts about neurodivergence that I wrote about here at Normal in Training can be found in that blog, too. So if you’d like to keep up with my new material, please subscribe to that blog.

I have to say, it’s a little sad to be writing my last post here. But you can always find me on basically every social media platform using Normal in Training, because that’s still me. Except instead of training to be normal, I’ve got my training wheels on because I’m learning how to fly. And I want to take you with me so that we can all fly together. So hope to see you on social media and at NEUROSPICY AND FLYING!

I’m Elphaba!

Boundaries Podcast

Boundaries Podcast

When I was in grad school, everyone talked about how important it was to have good boundaries.  At first I thought, boundaries? What are those? I guess that was a sign of how far I was from having any.

In my defense, Asian cultures have a different definition of boundaries than American culture. For example, it’s perfectly acceptable for any Filipino adult to tell you that you’ve gained weight and that look fat now, that you should have a baby, that maybe you look fat because you’re about to have a baby?  OK then you’re just fat. This is one of the downsides of having all of those aunts and uncles that aren’t actually related to you.

The original post was written on October 14, 2013. If you would like to read it, you can do so here.

The Uses of Prayer Podcast

The Uses of Prayer Podcast

I’ve had an ambivalent relationship with prayer throughout most of my blog. I know “the World is not a wish granting factory, as John Green indicates in The Fault in Our Stars. Still, even atheists will resort to prayer at times when they’re feeling desperate. And while I know that God probably doesn’t care about any particular sports team or player winning, I can’t help but pray for some kind of outcome, even if it isn’t directly about winning.

This post was originally written on October 13, 2013. If you’d like to read the original post, you can do so here.

The Unathletic Athlete Podcast

The Unathletic Athlete Podcast

Despite playing tennis on and off since I was 10, I struggle to believe that I’m an athlete, which people think is crazy. And I guess it kind of is, but my logic is the typical logic that clients have that makes them believe all kinds of things that sell themselves short.

The original post was written on October 10, 2023. You can read the full post here.

Tennis Courtships Podcast

Tennis Courtships Podcast

This post was originally written on October 11, 2013, back before arthritis in the hip wasn’t a thing. Ahh, the good ol’ days. Although, in all honesty, I’m way more chill about competition now.I have always been more of a love to win vs hate to lose player. But mostly I was a love to hang out with my friends and eat dinner afterwards kinda gal.

If you’d like to read the original post, you can do so here.

The Courage to be Vulnerable Podcast

The Courage to be Vulnerable Podcast

This post was originally written on October 4, 2013. It was inspired by Brené Brown’s book Daring Greatly–one of the books that changed my life. I accepted her dear to be vulnerable since it was consistent with the theme of my blog. In the beginning, I was revealing so much about myself that I had masked that people kept commenting on how brave I was. Which really terrified me. But I kept doing it. And now I’m doing it in my new blog post, Neurospicy and Flying.

If you’d like to read the original post, you can access it here.

Sadie’s Interview with Me Podcast

Sadie’s Interview with Me Podcast

Since I spent several episodes interviewing Sadie, I thought it would be a nice touch to have her interview me to see what she was curious about, since she was very young while I was writing most of my posts.

As a bonus, I’m including the video we made last night of us singing For Good from Wicked. I’ve been practicing this song in voice lessons for a while and this is probably my best version. But the real reason I’m including it is because I’m helping Sadie to become the Broadway performer and singer/songwriter she is meant to be!

Isn’t she awesome?!

You Know You’re Filipino if…Podcast.

You Know You’re Filipino if…Podcast.

For the longest time, my identity revolved around feeling different. From my friends, my family, my community. It stayed with me probably until my 30’s, when I met my friends from Roanoke. They became the family that I chose. The people who loved me and could make fun of me for all my quirks but in a way that let me know that they accepted me exactly as I was.

One of the things that made me feel so different was growing up Filipino in a small rural town in Virginia. This post was originally written on October 3, 2013. Now I know that lots of Filipinos relish in all of the similarities we share as second generation Americans who share lots of inside jokes about how similar our childhoods were.

To read the original post, click here.

Karaoke Pusher Podcast

Karaoke Pusher Podcast

One of my missions in life is to help people let their inner rock start come out and sing, gosh darn it! Because I know they want to and I like to help people do what they want to do. Even when they don’t know they want to do it. I would have been a great drug dealer or salesperson. In fact, Amazon should be paying me commission for the number of red light therapy panels I’ve sold–even to physicians! Fortunately, I choose to use my powers of influence for good instead of evil.

This post was originally written on October 2, 2013. To read the full post, click here.


Sadie the Artist, Part 2 Podcast

Sadie the Artist, Part 2 Podcast

In Sadie the Artist, Part 2, I’ll talk about why I have included Sadie in my mission of promoting my podcast, feature a song that Sadie is working on, and talk about what this song means to her. Again, in listening to her talk so intelligently and with so much wisdom, I’m confident you will appreciate why I think she is a remarkable human being. Here are the lyrics to the song she debuts:

I miss New York

I miss New York

The land of the free

A nostalgic city

The melting pot of cultures 

And the aroma of tea

I miss the isolation

Just one in the population

Of all the coolest people

you’ll ever meet*

I wish I could say I’m a local 

So that I can be vocal

On what I believe*

The bright city lights call my name

Even though I’m not chasing

the fortune or fame*

But I wanna put “NYC” in my bio

Take the daily commute to Soho*

And I wanna sit on the rooftops

Sipping hot tea from a local shop*

Im warmed by the heat

of the lamp post

I need to buy that ticket,

I need to take that flight 

Cuz I miss New York all the time *

The people on the street 

Sing a pretty melody

There’s so much hidden talent 

Waiting to be found*

I miss the casual adventures 

When the whole day was

centered 

On discovering something new*

I wish I lived here in this city 

Where everyone is so witty 

And full of passion*

Roaming round the museums

with my best friends 

The party just never ends

Or so it seems*

But I wanna put nyc in my bio

Run around the parks like a child*

And I wanna walk everywhere 

Sun shining down,

wind blowing my hair*

I feel like this life would

make me so happy 

I need to bid goodbye

to the life I led before*

Cuz I miss New York*

Instead of cars I want trains 

Sitting on window pains

Watching people run in the rain*

I’ll always love my home

Call my parents on the phone

But New York is where I wish to be*

I can finally be free to truly be me 

As I make my way through

this city *

And I’m gonna work real hard 

Gonna be my own star 

Just like the lights

on the city skyline*

On this busy island

feeling of not being seen

Just another pedestrian,

trying to stay clean*

Every light makes up