The Sound, or Sickness, Take One

My kids have always been great sleepers at night time, even when they were newborns. I remember when Lindsay first slept through the night at close to 2 or 3 weeks of age and I woke up alarmed that I'd slept that long. I don't function well on little sleep, so it was a huge blessing that both of the girls were good night time sleepers. (Now, napping was a whole different story and neither of them did that well. Oh well, you get what you can, right?) The only time that the girls consistently wake up at night is if they don't feel well or have a bad dream. Both have had "achy legs" (or as Kera sometimes calls it, "eggy lakes") from growing pains that have required ibuprofen in the middle of the night. Kera often times has bad dreams that require some middle of the night or early morning loves. And last, but certainly not least, then there is the sound.

You know what sound I'm talking about. It comes in the middle of the night and wakes you up abruptly from sweet slumber. There is no slow waking up to this--it is eyes popping open, jumping out of bed and hoping, hoping, hoping she made it to the toilet. And it comes with surrender to the fact that you probably won't be going back to that sweet slumber, tonight at least. Yes, I'm talking about distinct sound of retching, (aka vomiting, puking.)

That is the one sound I dread to hear in the middle of the night, and on Tuesday at around 2 A.M., I got to wake up to it. It was Lindsay and no, she didn't entirely make it to the toilet, besides my best hoping. So that meant both Erik and I were up, dragging out the shop vac, the spot shot and finding a trashcan/bucket she could put by her bed. We cleaned everything up and got her back to bed, but for the rest of the night she continued to be sick at irregular intervals. I would doze between episodes, but I never really got back to sleep, and she surely didn't either. Poor thing, she continued like that until almost midday on Wednesday. She was so miserable and I was miserable for her. I hate that there's nothing you can do for that besides let it run it's course. There is nothing worse than being helpless to ease my daughter's pain.

She finally was able to fall asleep to take a nap around 2pm after eating some saltines and drinking some Sprite. (Is there anything better after being sick? I think not.) She woke up around the time Kera got home from the bus and I could tell she was on the mend, thank goodness. She went with us to Kera's first piano lessons and then ate some toast for dinner. I kept her home from church and had her to bed early to try catch up on lost sleep, I was so grateful she was feeling better.

Now, my four year old nephew has been staying with us part of this week while his mom is off playing in the sand. Yesterday morning I had him and Kera stay very clear of Lindsay before I got them out the door to school and daycare. I did not want those germs spread! Unfortunately you never really can tell when a kid was contagious or even where they got something, so I was still a little scared that Lindsay would be only the first sickness and not the only one. Well, last night around bedtime, my nephew started to complain about a stomach ache.

Remember, he's only four so the communication isn't a clear and precise as with my girls, so I wasn't sure if he felt sick or if he was hungry or if he just had to go poop. I got him a bucket and tried to explain that he had to use it if he felt sick, and put him to bed sort of early. He fell asleep before I even had the light out. Lindsay went to bed the same time and so the house was quiet. I read for a bit while I waited for Erik and Kera to get home from church. It was about the time they got home that he started to cry a bit. We decided Kera should sleep with me (she'd been sleeping on her top bunk while he was on the bottom bunk of her bed) because he was crying and writhing around. After she got settled and the house was quiet again, he also got quiet.

I went to bed soon after with the thought that I'd better get some sleep while I could. I wouldn't have been surprised to be woken up in the middle of the night by the sound again. I slept fitfully at first, waking with every cough or weird noise from his room. And he coughed quite a bit. But I finally must have fallen into a deeper sleep because all of a sudden it was morning. Blessed morning!  I cannot tell you how grateful I was that no one else got sick!!  I know that illness is a given with kids, but I just didn't want to deal with two nights in a row of it, especially not the pukies. Everyone is off to school, work and daycare like normal today and so my main goal is going to be disinfecting the house, Hallelujah!

Weird Heel "Pain" Follow-Up

Last summer I developed a stress fracture in my left lower leg/shin and had to stop running smack dab in the middle of half-marathon training. While all my runner friends went on to run 10-milers and run in the race, I was stuck on the sidelines with my fancy icer-cup. It sucked, big time. I never did go see a medial professional to be officially diagnosed for that, I just talked to a family friend physical therapist. I didn't see the point in paying for someone to tell me what he told me, "Stop running for 8-10 weeks". So, I did and it got better and I've been running consistently ever since.

 So, when I started to notice a weird numbness/tenderness in the bottom of my right heel, I started to get nervous. I'm only three weeks into training for this years half-marathon and everything was going great--to get injured again this year would be a huge disappointment. So, I kept an eye on it. I called my mom, because I always call her for medical advice first. She told me it didn't sound like plantar fasciitis, which she had, and to just keep an eye on it, noting anything that made it worse. I wasn't too concerned after talking to her, because it didn't specifically hurt, it just felt weird. So, I tried to make sure I wore supportive shoes around the house and I made a point to get my new running shoes before running anymore. I was due for them any mile and I figured it wouldn't hurt.

It was all fine and dandy until I ran five miles on Sunday. It still felt numbish, until I hit the 4.5 mile mark and then it began to hurt. I finished the run (yeah, I know) and iced it when I got home. As the day progressed I noticed that it hurt more than was numb and I got these weird pulling sensations if I shifted my body weight too much if that leg was supporting me. I mentioned it to my runner friend Coleen, who mentioned her runners group had been talked to by a representative of a local urgent care section of the local bone and joint care practice. She gave me their number. I wondered if I should call or just wait out the weirdness, but when I noticed yesterday that the pain was becoming more constant and my heel even ached when I was at rest, I called. I decided that a)if I take care of it now as opposed to later, there would be still hope for the half, b) it might be nothing and I'd rather be safe than sorry, and  c)I just needed to know what the heck was wrong with it.

I had my appointment today. The PA I saw is pretty sure it's not plantar fasciitis and took x-rays which shows my bones are all where they are suppose to be, so no stress-fracture or heel spurs or anything weird like that (hallelujah!). So she thinks its a inflammation of the nerves of my foot, specifically the Baxter's nerve, which runs right through/to the area that feels weird. I guess my symptoms are pretty right on for that.

The treatment? Well, I get to wear this plastic heel cup in my shoe for 2 weeks, ice my foot with that fancy icer-cup every night for 10 minutes and take 2 weeks off from running. The pain should go away and I should be able to ease back into running after 2 weeks. I feel a sense of relief. Two weeks is nothing! I can do two weeks, it's a drop in the bucket compared to 2 months. :-) So, I'm wearing my heel cup and hoping this does the trick. I'm sure I'll let you know.

Randomness

1. I had a great birthday until I got sick. Sinus pressure, sore throat & ears, achey body and being oh so tired meant spending the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday in bed or on the couch. Bleh. I'm on the mend but still not 100%. Sometimes I wonder why I even get sick--I watch what I eat, take my vitamins, wash my hands, and work out pretty regularly--I should be healthy! I guess I could chalk up the short duration of my sickness to my healthy lifestyle. I'm sure if I wasn't a generally healthy person I'd probably be hacking up a lung right now.

2. I love my new fleece shirt I got for my birthday. I told Erik not to get me a present but that I wanted to order a few things from Title 9, especially this soft lil' beauty that I've been eyeing since last winter....

I love it. I wish I had it in all 3 colors. I could seriously live in this thing the rest of the winter.

3. I think I'm on speeddial down at the girls' school. Well, maybe not, but I sure know the number when they call me, which has been a lot lately. I've had to go pick up Kera from school four times in the past few weeks due to bellyache and diarrhea issues. I had thought it could be the school lunches, and so had a plan to send only homepacked cold lunches this week, but got the call around 12:30 after she'd eaten. Now I'm thinking it could be lactose intolerance (I'm hoping its as easy as that) and so we're gonna keep a food log and limit milk products to see if that makes a difference before I call the doctor. It's frustrating because she's fine now, probably won't have any more diarrhea and isn't crying from intense pain. I hate that she's missing as much school as she is because of this.

4. Guess what's in stock at the grocery stores now? Egg nog!! I had my first egg nog latte last week and it was heavenly! :-) I refuse to buy my own carton until Thanksgiving however.  

5. As soon as I feel good enough, I've got some baking to do this week, so hopefully I'll have some stories, recipes and/or pictures to share with you!

Keeping it simple

This year is half over, actually over half over, and I don't feel very accomplished in reaching my goals for the year. Part of it is out of my control, like the races and running, can't exactly run while injured, but the year isn't over and I could still reach these goals. But the rest of it isn't out of my control. Sure, some of it I've worked on, but when I look at that list of goals, I feel like I haven't really been trying to reach them. But its not like I haven't been working on anything, it's like I see something else I want/need to work on and I get sidetracked.

For example, catching up on my scrapbooking and finishing my NaNo novels. I've had time to work on both of these, but I keep finding novels that I want to read and so I spend weeks at a time where my free time is filled with reading. I just need to put the books down and do the other two once in a while.

The one area of my goals that is really bothering me lately is my weight loss one. I had hoped that I would've dropped a good majority of my weight by now, that I would've been running the half-marathon as a "not-so-fat" runner. I finally weighed myself the other day and I don't think I weigh any different than I did back in January. True, I haven't been running for the past four or five weeks, and its hard to lose weight (for me) without that, but when I look at what I have been doing, it isn't what I set out in January to do. My goal was to workout everyday and count calories, plain and simple. The good ol' calories in vs. calories out. So, what am I doing? I have been cutting out dairy, and gluten, then adding dairy back in, baking all sorts of gluten free goodies and trying lots of new recipes. I've been reading about the state of our food and making goals to feed my family healthier. I've been indulging in all the fun foods of summer and not keeping very good track of what goes into my mouth. Looking back on it, I think that I was making it more complicated than it really is.

I made a mental note to myself back in January, that if I couldn't reach my goals on my own by the middle of the year that I would try either a. WeightWatchers or b.Using a bodybugg. I figured that going with WeightWatchers would keep me accountable and help me figure out what I was eating without counting calories (I hate counting calories, thought maybe points would be easier) or that by using the bodybugg I would know exactly how many calories I was burning which would make the counting calories more effective. I need to talk to Erik before committing to either one, but I am leaning towards wanting the bodybugg more even if it is more expensive. I think it might help me with more long term success, but usually with Erik it all boils down to the expense.

In the meantime, however I decided that I just need to keep it simple, you know the acronym K.I.S.S.? Keep it simple, stupid? What I need to do is focus on two things:
1. Workout everyday
2. Count my calories and keep them down to 1400.

That's it, plain and simple, right? Well the working out frustrates me because I can't run, but I've been sort of doing the P90X Lean routine and I like it--it gives me about an hour workout pretty much everyday, and most of it is low impact. I do have to tweak some of the plyometric type moves (if I can't run, I better not jump either!) but for the most part its a decent workout. I haven't done it enough to really see any effects, but I figure doing something is better than nothing at this point. When its time to try running again, hopefully I can just add in a few easy runs along with the P90X.

As for the calorie counting, I'm not going to worry about cutting anything out (i.e. gluten) but just focus on eating healthy foods (closer to their natural form) and keeping track of how many calories. In order to not starve and have energy to workout while counting calories, you kind of naturally go towards the more healthy options anyways, a half turkey sandwich gets me farther than say, a snicker's bar. I probably will try not  to  eat too many breads, seeing as I did have success on lowering my cholesterol when eating a low-glycemic diet, but I'm not going worry too much about it, instead I'll just focus on the calories. And by that I mean counting them all day and even including the blt's (bites, licks and tastes) when I'm cooking. I usually start the day out great keeping track but then it falls apart by dinner time. When I plan what is for dinner and know how many calories it will be around, its easier to stay on track for the first part of the day, so I will probably get back into better meal planning. At least with summer we eat a lot of grilled meat, salad and fruit!

But I have been thinking about this the past couple of days, and instead of just blogging about this and then trying to go succeed on my own, this time I'm going to take it one step further. I thought about logging my food on here, but then decided I didn't want to bore you with that, besides I have a little notebook on my kitchen counter and I do better when using real pen & paper to track my food instead of relying on the computer. So I decided that I would post weekly about my weight and how I'm doing. For years I've sort of kept track on a little sheet of paper in my bathroom, but I'm probably the only one to see the actual numbers (besides my doctor and sometimes Erik). I think I need more accountability than that, obviously what I have been doing isn't working. Wednesdays will be my weigh-in day, hopefully I will remember, and then I will post my weight loss or gain here for the whole blogosphere to see. It scares me a little, but not as much as what could happen if I don't take this weight loss issue seriously. I've got to get it under control now while I'm still "young". I totally have my mother's build, and she's been struggling with it for as long as I can remember, partly because that's just how we're built and also because it just gets harder to as we get older. I don't want to be struggling with this same twenty pounds in thirty years. So, stay tuned for tomorrows post, and the beginning of the end of my weight loss goals (hopefully).

What I brought home from the lake

Isn't she purrrdy? This is my "New-to-me" bread machine that I picked up from a garage sale this past weekend for a whole $7. I've been wanting one for a little while and so I figure at $7, if its something that I don't end up using as much as I think (or if the machine doesn't actually work) its not a huge loss. Now I'm in the process of finding a good bread-machine recipe for gluten-free bread. It'll be experimentation time one of these days.

 

This sideways picture is mint I brought home from my mother-in-law's bountiful garden. I still need to figure out where to plant this stuff.

This is thyme, again from my green-thumbed MIL.

This is some sort of daisy.

Oregano  & possibly some marjoram

Chives!

All the new plants (but the mint) in my front flower bed. It was looking sort of empty, so this was great. I hope they grow and get healthy and fill the bed.

And just because I came home to my poppy blooming and it looks so pretty.

I also brought home a sore leg. After my last post, I did suck it up and go for a run. I managed to get a 3 mile run in, but my right lower leg hurt the whole time, which was rather discouraging. I iced it after but it hurt the whole rest of the day, that night laying in bed and the next day. Even yesterday it hurt a bit when I first woke up. So I'm back on the "no running" plan for a few days, ice and rest. I'm really hoping this clears up on its own and soon, but I have a sinking feeling that my desire to run the half marathon this summer is going to be squashed and that is really discouraging to me. In the meantime I'm going to try to focus on watching more closely what I'm eating, doing some strength training, yoga, Pilate's, etc and walk on the treadmill. It sounds torturous, but its all I can do. There was talk of me going to a Physical therapist or doctor, but after chatting with Erik's bike/fourwheeler/snowmobile buddy on the phone who is a PT we decided to wait and baby it a bit longer. Honestly, I just want to go in and find out exactly what is wrong with it, part of me thinks that knowing what is wrong will help me deal with it better. But actually, whether is just a strain or shin sprint or stress fracture, they all require rest anyways, so it won't hurt to just keep resting. It's not like learning what it is will enable me to run sooner. I'm not too happy with it though.

Off to hang out with a dear friend and her new baby after getting my hair done, and I'm tired of these long longs, so I'll for sure have a new 'do I can show ya later.

Monday Randomness

Today is the day that I get things figured out for the week ahead of me. I finalize the menu plan, the grocery list(s), do the errands, and basically recover from the weekend and start a new week. It's actually one of my favorite days, as I don't usually plan anything extra, so it tends to be pretty productive. And with that intent of being productive, I don't want to spend a ton of time drafting a huge, thought-out blog post, so I leave you with randomness, which is where my brain is right now anyways...

• My shin hurts. My right one, specifically. I'm afraid I may have overdone it somewhere along the way of my 1/2 marathon training. My shins are quite temper mental--if I increase incline, distance, time, intensity, etc too quickly, they get whiny. So, I will be taking it easy on the running this week (translation: no running, just walking) which I hate to do. I mean its a good thing I still have a month, but then again, I only have a month! Please pray that my shin heals quickly, I will be.
• I made two new things yesterday: Rhubarb compote & rhubarb muffins. Both are yummy. Especially when you use the compote in the muffins, like Shauna does in her fabulous recipe here. Super yummy.
• My girls are done with school on Friday, but before that they have Fun Day today and then the youngest has  field trip tomorrow, both of which I'm helping with. I like helping with their school stuff, its one of the biggest perks of my "job". I hope they realize how lucky they are to have their Mamma at their school as much as I am!
• I started P90X today. I am borrowing the discs from my folks. I wanted something different to shake up my workouts a bit, and I love a challenge. I also love watching a workout video as opposed to trying to follow moves out of a book. I must be somewhat of a visual learner. Anyway, I'm not doing the classic program, but the lean one. It's got less of the upper body weight training and more cardio. Not that it is suppose to be any easier, I just don't need to spend three or four hours each week pumping up my arms. Today was a workout called core synergenics (or something like that) and even though it was tough, I actually enjoyed it. I'm going to just take a day at a time because I don't want to do too much and get injured (more) and not be able to run, so we'll see.
• We watched the movie, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" this weekend. The girls and Erik liked it. I thought it was a bit weird. I like more of the traditional animation, I think.
• I don't remember how I found this blog, "This Blessed Life", originally, but I am really interested in the journey she's been documenting towards "clean" eating, especially after watching "Food Inc." She's blogging about two foods each month that she's been able to replace the chemical-laden store bought kind with a homemade, chemical-free kind. It's fascinating to me and I've already found several recipes I'd love to try. That's one of the biggest benefits I've seen from going gluten-free, as well, is the amounts of processed foods bought in my house has drastically decreased and I've started to make a whole lot more things from scratch. It makes me very grateful I have the time to cook things from scratch. (Thank you God for my awesome job!)
• Kind of along the same thread as clean eating, I want to ask you, how much do you know about what you put on your face or skin? A good friend, and my Mary Kay consultant, pointed this article from the Dr. Oz show out to me, all about the hidden dangers of beauty. I will be changing a few of my beauty products for sure after reading this. It's not just about what we put in our bodies, but also about what we put on it!

Okay, that's enough rambling. I'm off to help second graders play games, as long as the rain stops! Stop, rain, stop, if just for this afternoon!

Ignorance is not bliss

Not too long ago I never ever bought anything organic. I didn't know anything about eating food in season or locally grown/produced. I read labels, but only to watch out for fat and calories, nothing else. The only thing I worried about in my food was the price, if it was somewhat healthy and if my family would eat it.

Then I read a couple books on healthy eating and tried to start eating more organic food, like milk and yogurt and kiddo snacks. Not too long after that, I read an article on beef. I blogged about it here. That really opened my eyes to the state of our food in this country and I started trying to purchase more organic than not.

But, I must confess, I have gotten out of that habit. I still buy organic milk and I love visiting our local farmer's market, but the rest of it is kind of hit or miss, depending on convenience, price and taste. I have sort of put up this cloud of ignorance to it all again, figuring that it didn't really matter.

Guess what, it does matter though. I watched the movie, "Food Inc." last night and my eyes have been opened once again, but this time to more than just the state of our beef. If you havent' seen this movie, I highly suggest you do so. You will learn a ton about where our food comes from and it will make you think twice about what you spend your money on, and even more so, what you feed your family.

It's a little overwhelming to me. I found myself thinking, "well, how can we change this?" while watching the movie. The cool thing, is that they end the movie with suggestions for what you can do.

You can choose with your money. Every time you spend it on a food item, you are choosing that item and everything that goes into it, whether its locally grown/organic or produced by one of the big food companies. So it's like you're voting every time you put something through that check out line. And yes, most of the time, organic products are more expensive, but the only way to change that is for there to be higher demand for them instead of the other stuff. It's all supply and demand. What are you voting for? Unfortunately I have been voting for the yucky stuff.

So, I've decided that I will change how I feed my family.

I will buy more organic.

I will support local farmers, frequenting my farmers market and finding local farmers who sell grain-fed beef/pork.

I will try to purchase food seasonally. (I need to research this as I have really no idea what is in season and when.)

I will no longer purposely buy anything with high fructose corn syrup in it.

I will cook more meatless meals. I do this already a little, but I need to do it more.

And, of course, I will talk about it, telling my friends, family and you what I think, because the more people that know and that are on board, the quicker things will change.

Have you seen that movie? If so, what did you think? Have you changed how you eat as a result? Or has there been something else that has spurred you to change something in your life?

Woe is me (or a long, rambling post with no pictures)

It's been a busy past week for me. My great aunt had cataract surgery on one eye and with me being her transportaiton, that pretty much ate up all of Monday day. Then it was a mad dash home to get the girls' ballet outfits, pick them up and rush back across town to their ballett class. After that I had to stop by the store because we were completely out of milk, which I hate shopping with the girls, least of all at 5:30 pm when we're all starving, but it just couldn't be helped. We needed that milk so we could make our latte's on Tuesday morning. It was necessary. Thankfully the girls did just fine, well, as fine as can be. It was mostly painless. But by the time I got home Monday night I was exhausted, and yet I still had to warm up dinner and make lunches and help with homework and all that normal after-school/evening stuff that us Mom's get to do. I was so glad to be able to go to bed that night!

And the week just continued like that. Everyday I had something to do that took up most of the day. My to-do list didn't get much crossed off and the house stayed dirty. Except the trash got taken out and the bathrooms were wiped down because I hate dirty bathrooms. Oh and the sheets, I changed them yesterday at least. I just amazes me how busy things are right now, between the girls's activities and my activities and responsibilities, its almost as if it is busier now than during *gasp* December. I'm just exhausted, even still today.

Despite my exhaustion I did get outside to "fix" my flower bed. I was dismayed to see that none of my crocuses or tulips were coming up this year. The only thing that has bloomed was the daffodils, which is unusual, usually the other two are up first. Erik had said a month or so ago that he thought we'd had a rodent of some sort out there, it looked dug up, and so we are thinking that whatever was out there maybe ate the bulbs or destroyed them in some way. My flower bed was looking dismal. So, I decided to dig up a couple of the perennials that I've grown out of love with and plant some new stuff. We picked up a couple plants out at Home Depot and in an hour, or less, I had dug up the uglies and planted the pretties. I also let the girls pick out some annuals and so we put a couple pots of those on the front steps, which looks rather nice I must say. It all looks good now, but I decided that I really dislike gardening. There is absolutely nothing I enjoy about digging in the dirt, getting dirty, kneeling/squatting down to try to get stuff planted. It just does nothing for me, so I really hope that what we planted today will live for several years so that I don't have to do it all again too soon. Although, I will pick up some new tulip & crocus bulbs in the fall and plant those, because I love how they come up first thing in the spring. But planting bulbs is easy compared to actual plants!

One of my lovely appointments this week was with my doctor for the much loved annual exam. I don't mind it, after having a couple of babies, its not really a big deal, but I had a million other things I would've rather been doing. But just like going to the dentist, I do it because I know that if I treat my body like a car and take care of the routine maintenance, it is less likely to brake down later.  While I was there, I was rather encouraged to find out that there is a benefit to getting old. I guess that the medical community has decided if you're older than 30 and don't have any risk factors, you can get by with only having the actual P*A*P* once every three years. Isn't that wonderful news? Although they still recommend the rest being checked every year so you still get to see the doctor, just not that cold metal tool. Anyway, while there I talked to my doc. about my weight loss, or actually lack of it, and cholesterol. For an active 30-some year old who eats healthy, my cholesterol is high, like 213 & 140. Basically, the bad cholesterol is too high and the good one is too low. Now, that is from last January, I'm due to get it tested again next week, but still. It's not good. And when you add into that equation the fact that my hormones were on the wacky track the past couple of years, it becomes a complicated puzzle. And here is where the woe comes into it. My doctor suggested that it might help all those things (in a complicated way that I have a hard time explaining) if I stop eating two things: gluten and dairy.

*sigh* Have I ever mentioned my one-to-two a day latte habit? How about my love of peanut butter on toast? Or pasta? Or anything whole wheat? How about my newly developed love of greek yogurt?

Yeah. Woe is me.

It was rather intimidating at first to think of giving up two huge parts of my diet. But since then I have talked to some friends that eat either gluten and/or dairy free and I've found a couple of blogs with yummy looking recipes and I've thought about what I do eat and how difficult it would be to change it, and I'm not completely hopeless. I actually think its do-able and I'm almost excited for the challenge, especially if it makes a difference. I still have questions and a lot to figure out, like what exactly do I do with all the gluten products in my pantry already that I won't eat? And how do I eat gluten-free and not spend an arm and a leg? (Most of the specialty gf products in the stores are pricey). And how do I travel/go out to eat?

I have pretty much decided that I will do it, though. I have too much to possibly gain by trying it. I have to at least try. I'll give it a month or two and if there is no change in any of it (weight, skin, etc) than I'll know that isn't the solution and I'll do something else. But I won't know unless I try, right? All I know is I'm gonna have to find me a really good gluten-free chocolate chip recipe! :-)

Frustration.

This has just been one of those weeks, you know, where the wrong things just keep happening and the good stuff is hard to find. So, forgive me while I rant for a moment.

Erik and I went out to dinner for a friend's birthday Monday night, and although the company and food were great, I started feeling a sore throat about halfway through the evening. By the time we'd picked up our kids and were headed home, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck--I was just so exhausted. So, I went to bed shortly after the kiddos did, hoping I wasn't getting sick.

Tuesday morning dawned with the sorest throat I've ever had and a all-over feeling of blah. It's gone downhill since. Although my throat no longer hurts, I'm coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, headache, earache blahness and I have successfully shared it with Erik and Lindsay (although her's is really mild right now). I've been taking dayquil and nyquil pretty regularly in order to fight off the sinus pressure headache stuff, but I just don't feel good. I've kind of sequestered myself at home most of the week in an attempt to get well faster. It hasn't worked and now, here I am a day before I'm suppose to leave for Spokane and 2 days before I'd planned on running in the Bloomsday run there. I walked Lindsay to the bus this morning for the first time this week and it exhausted me. Suffice it to say, this body of mine will not be running 7.1 miles on Sunday and I'm not about to subject my friends to 3 hours of being crammed in a car with me and my germs. So, it turns out I'm not going and I'm quite disappointed. I've been training for this race since January (I think) and I was ready and really looking forward to it. :-(

I'm trying hard to look on the bright side of it. And the only one I've found is that tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day and I've decided if I cant' go have a weekend with the girls I will spend the majority of tomorrow scrapbooking. And I'm gonna pick up some goodies just for that later when I head out to the store for milk that we desperately need.

One nice thing about being sick is that you feel the love from your friends. On Tuesday a good friend whose daughter is in preschool & gymnastics with Kera offered to take her to gymnastics for me and not only took her there and back home but also got her a kids meal on the way home cuz the girls were hungry. I didn't ask her for any of it, she just stepped up and did it as soon as she heard I was sick when we were picking up the kids from school. She was so sweet to do that. And my other friends have asked if they can do anything or get anything for me, which is nice too.

After Lindz gets off the bus this afternoon I'm going to venture out into public for the firs time this week, well besides the school/bus drop off/pick up. I'm already exhausted thinking about it, taking both girls on errands like that is horribly draining when I'm healthy, so it'll be worse since I'm not quite up to par. But we need milk and dayquil and toilet paper, so I can't put it off any longer. Wish me luck.

When the Mom gets sick

I've been fighting a cold for what seems like weeks now. I'll go a couple of days feeling fine and then a day will dawn and I feel extra worn-out, so I'll take it easy and then feel great the next day. I think I finally pushed my body as far as it would go, however, and today I woke up feeling horrible. My throat and ears hurt, my nose is running and my body is achey. So, I've tried to stay in bed. But I've also realized its really hard to be sick when you are the mom.

When the mom gets sick...

She will lay there with the list of things that still need to be done, running through her head preventing her from really, truly resting.
Her kids call to her for the things that only Mom can do.
Her husband, although he's trying his best (bless his heart) to do what needs to be done and let her rest, ends up needing something.
Her house is loud with said kids and husband, making rest difficult.
The week still looms with kids homework, grocery lists and laundry to be done in preparation of said week, which will arrive tomorrow whether she's healthy or not.
Her mind whirls with all the things she could be doing (like blogging!) besides laying in bed and so she gets up to try and make the time somewhat productive. Heaven forbid she waste even a minute...

And, I'm back...

Wow, sorry bout that! I post all my travel journal recap and then I just disappear for almost two weeks...Oops! I'm thinking back on what I've done and although its true I've been busy, I haven't really been too busy to blog. I think the main problem is that I've been uninspired to blog. That, and I haven't taken any cool pictures, because let's face it, what's a blog entry without at least one cool picture? Admit it, you are disappointed to find that one of your favorite blogs has a new entry but that entry is just words and no pictures. I'll admit it. Oh sure, I'll read the picture-less entry, but for some reason I'm always excited to see a good picture too, it just makes the entry feel more, I don't know, complete maybe.

So I haven't taken any pictures lately, although I've thought about it.

Last weekend I had a scrapping day and made like 30 cards, some are really cute and I've thought about taking pictures of those and of the few layouts I've actually accomplished this year so far. (Out the window goes the goal to finish all 2008 pictures in January. My goal now is to just catch up sometime this year).

The other day the girls made a disastrous mess...Lindsay had for some reason colored the bottoms of her feet with red marker and then realized it wasn't a good idea, so she ran all the way upstairs, down the hall and to the bathroom to wash them off. She made a huge mess in the bathroom not to mention the pink footprints leading me to the scene of the crime. I got mad and made her clean up the footprints. But I should have taken pictures first!

I went to the dr. the other day and found out my cholesterol level has dropped by like 3o some points. I was ecstatic! All I did was change my diet (took out most carbs & red meat) and tried to make sure I was working out everyday. Even with the holidays bad food rut, it went down so I was pleased. I should've taken a picture of my results! Hah, hah or not. I may not have lost any weight lately, but cholesterol level coming closer to healthy levels is a good thing. I'm excited to keep up the diet and see if I can get it to where it belongs.

Erik and I are helping out with the campus ministry at church now, which has kept us busy but has been fun too. There is just something refreshing about spending time with excited young people. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has planned this semester.

I'm training, officially, for the Bloomsday run in Spokane in May. We've even reserved our hotel room already, so its a for sure thing. I'm going to run it with my half-marathon running buddy Coleen and my other running buddy Sonja and I'm so excited. Its going to be a ton of fun. The weather hasn't been too good the past month or two so we haven't done any long runs together since like November, I think, but tomorrow we're doing one, five miles, and I'm really looking forward to it. In thinking about training for the half-marathon again, which I plan on doing, I started to think about how many miles might be on my shoes. I have this cool fitness journal I use online that will track the miles on shoes, so I looked it up and I was surprised to see I'm almost to 500 miles on my "new" pair!! They are almost a year old because I bought them around this time last year, but I was amazed to find that I've run that many miles in a year! Its crazy but really inspiring too. Its also exciting to know I'm due for another pair of new shoes! ;-) I should take a picture of my well worn shoes and make a scrapbook layout all about them and running.

I fully intend to change this inconsistent posting, too by the way. I'm going to try to post something daily and take more pictures, I promise!

Aaaa, my back.

I have discovered a contradiction. I've been told and read about how women my age are just hitting the prime of their athleticness in sports like long distance running. And I can see that--not that I'm blessed with huge lungs and slow twitch muscles--but that I enjoy running more now and can focus better than I could've years ago with all the distractions of youth. But, I don't think that whole "prime" thing applies to activities like Yoga or Pilates. Yes, they sound like wonderful workouts--stretching and working on the core that so often goes a bit (or a lot, depending on the person) flabby. I have done them via home workout dvd's off and on for almost seven years now with varying results. But its only been recently that I've decided maybe I'm too old for them.
The first time was about a month ago I tried out a new dvd that incorporated a lot of yoga and it went fine. Until the next day when I woke to a slight throbbing in my lower back that got worse with any major back twists, turns or when I tried to lift anything. It wasn't horribly incapacitating, just annoying and It went away the next day but I decided I wouldn't do that video again, or at least take it easy the next time.
The second time was Tuesday. I was getting Kera into the car after preschool when all of a sudden my upper back, like between the shoulder blades, just started to hurt. I thought maybe I tweaked it a little and that it would go away. But it only got worse--last night I could barely turn my head or move around--the only relief I got was from sitting up in my bed as still as I could while I watched The Biggest Loser and CSI:New York. It was horrible. It still hurts today, though not nearly as bad so I think its getting better. I have been wracking my brain to figure out when I might have done something to injure it, and the only thing I can think of is the pilates video I did on Monday morning....I think one of those moves aggravated my back. The irony is that when I googled what to do about a hurt back, one of ways listed to help prevent it is to strengthen your core.....
I haven't had any back problems ever in my life until now, so the logical conclusion is that I'm just too old for that stuff, right?

Other than walking around like a ninety year old woman, I'm excited because my brother and his girlfriend and their beautiful baby girl are here visiting from Germany. I got to see the baby this morning and she is sooooo cute. It will be nice to have them around for a couple months. I'm also working on a homemade halloween costume for the first time for one of my kids. Lindz wants to be a bat so I'm gonna try to make it instead of buying one--we'll see how it turns out. I'll definitely post pics as I go! Kera is recycling one of Lindz' which is nice and cheap, too. I'm still kind of working on my writing, its just been so busy this past week I haven't had time to sit down and do it, although I've been thinking about it and reading my books about it, so that's better than nothing. Fall is here in full force and acting like winter--the leaves are changing colors and falling as quickly at the temperature, but its okay with me. I love the crisp air and pulling out the winter sweaters and cuddling up on the couch with a blanket and some hot tea.

Random Thoughts

I heard parts of a debate on a local radio station a while back. It had something to do with how many folks use their bath towel once and then wash it vs. those that use it more than once before washing it. The DJ was very vocal about only using his once because he didn't want to wipe his face with a part of his towel that could've been on his butt the day before. At first I thought that was a valid point, but then I got to thinking...don't we use our towel after we take a shower/bath and get clean?? So even if we did use our towel on our rear and our face, both would theoritically be clean, right?! Think about it.

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School for Lindsay starts tomorrow. She'll be in first grade which I find very hard to believe at times. I'm a bit nervous but not nearly as bad as last year. I dont think she's nervous at all now, though she probably will be tomorrow. Actually she'll probably just be annoyed at getting up early and going instead of lounging around watching cartoons.

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Kera is up at her grandparents for the week, but she starts preschool next week, which is a logical time to start school after Labor Day weekend. I'm excited for her to finally have "her" school. I'm also excited for my 2.5 free hours I'll have in the mornings then.

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I went to my nautruralpath (is that how you spell it?) yesterday and found out I have high cholesterol. *sigh* Its genetic and frustrating since I'm one of the most active and healthy eaters I know. So now I'm going on a strict lowglycemic diet, something about the insulin/fat interaction. A couple of foods moving over to the "do not eat" or eat sparingly list are bananas, carrots, sugar, milk, red meat and pork.

I hope it works cuz that sucks.

the Sickies

Out of nowhere, Kera threw up yesterday before church. Actually it was moments before I was to leave to get to an early women's meeting, and of course my mom had already left her house to pick me up, so I couldn't intercept her and save her the drive. It was so icy yesterday, that when she came around the bend to our cul de sac, she ended up sliding down almost the entire thing. She was not happy that she'd risked her life twice to pick me up and I wasn't even going! I am sure she'll forgive me, I'm a lot like her when it comes to driving and when the road conditions are less then ideal, we get a big cranky. :-)
So, I stayed home with her, hoping that she wouldn't be in the bathroom every half and hour, and surprisingly, she wasn't. She lay (is that the right one, or is it laid? I always forget) around for a while, but then wanted to play and wanted to eat. I fed her some crackers expecting to see them again, but nope, she was fine. She didn't really eat much the rest of the day, but she had all normal bm's and no more pukies, so I don't know what was up with her. The pukies are totally going around -- my dear friend Yvonne is on her second round of them in like 2 months which totally sucks-- so I was sure that it was our turn for them. But by bedtime last night I was feeling hopeful. I was praising this whole "staying home" thing compared to all the bugs we brought home when the girls were in daycare.
Until this morning. I'm not pukey, but I can feel achy in my body, scratchiness of my throat and a general "unwellness" that I am certain will be the start of a good ol' bug of some sort. You know I feel bad if I'm not working out, and I'm not. Oh, and my ears are kind of starting to hurt a little. And now Erik's air compressor is going off in the garage, oh how I LOVE it when that goes off in the middle of the day and he's not home. It just makes this loud noise for five minutes or so and then turns off, only to repeat it a few hours later. (insert roll of eyes here)
So, wish me "well", I've downed some airborne, ibuprofen and am drinking tea. I'm gonna go relax for a bit.