Running through the May Flowers - Page 2

[MelW]

Sparkle, a friend once said "small crushes can be life-sustaining". Some days I'm inclined to agree, but with caution. Make sure that boundaries are clear, and then write some terrific haikus!!!

Real, crazies for sure! It's especially scary with the school trustee since she has some degree of power.

NRR- I had a terrific phone call today with a prof at UVic to talk about grad programs there. He's a health geographer who teaches in the social policy stream on their MPH program. He was very kind and helpful and gave good advice. The program is low-residency and currently seems like a good possible fit for 2013. At some point I'll quit researching and just go to school already

RR- Bootcamp tonight. My right knee is a bit achy after yeaterday's run, likely from a little slip on the trail.

[Dmitrizmom]

Subbing... It took me a few days to figure out why there weren't any new posts on the old thread. 

[sparkletruck]

MelW - No worries. Its not a crush, which is why Im puzzled as to how to proceed. Its an old, albeit serious, relationship, and I just feel like talking to him sometimes. But haikus is not what I had in mind. The crush is on the 26 year old! C'mon, Ive got my crushes in order The low-residency option sounds really promising. do it!!

[Runningmommy]

subbing!

[kerc]

Plady: the dells? I'm in.
Jo too.
I hate the dells.
But I would do it.
Six hrs from here.

[1jooj]

Originally Posted by kerc 

Plady: the dells? I'm in.
Jo too.
I hate the dells.
But I would do it.
Six hrs from here.

I hate the very concept of "water park." There's one maybe two miles down the street from me. I have not taken the kids to it since the one time we went shortly after our arrival here. Of course, at $70 to have my feet seared on hot cement while queuing for rides, why would I?

So, dh took me for lunch yesterday. It didn't turn out well. He kept trying to shove bread into my mouth. I finally acquiesced by eating some stuffed vegetables (rice and meat inside). I felt terrible immediately afterward, tired all afternoon, and this AM, I am stiff, sore and swollen.

Sparkle, I'd probably use the concept as a creative prompt and let it go at that. Because then the only boundary is the one between imagination and reality. 

I believe I may have O'd, and luteal phase has gotten really ugly in this body the past couple years.

Anyway, right back on the wagon. Don't need that stuff, and glad I didn't do worse, because I definitely had the opportunity.

[tjsmama]

My bathroom is carpeted. It was the base option when we built the place, and I thought it was kind of weird but we didn't want to spend the $ to upgrade. I have to admit, it's grown on me. And also was a great excuse to make DS sit down to go potty (i.e., you can do whatever you want at daddy's house, but at mommy's house, we sit down to go potty! ). The floor is never cold, and you never see the dustbunnies/hairballs floating around the floor.

DS didn't have school today, so we had a nice day together. We went to the Y for a swim (well, for me...he played) and then up to Boulder for a hike. I picked a trail that I knew had a ton of stream crossings, and a nice little waterfall/pool area for DS to play. We picnicked, DS played and I read my kindle, and then we hiked out and got some froyo and drove home to grill out. It was a good day.

rr~I forced myself to go for 3 miles yesterday after waking up, since DS had enrichment and I didn't have to pick him up until 4:30. It was a little painful energy-wise, and my foot is still bothering me. I'm thinking I should probably get it checked out before I need to start serious training, but then it doesn't hurt at all. Blah. So, a swim today seemed like a good idea to give it a break. 1500 yds in the pool, in a not-terrible time. And then 2.5ish miles of very slow hiking this afternoon.

[Plady]

Shanti - I'm thinking about you mama and hoping your ds's new meds help him.  It's great that you've got the math teacher to help him too. 

I'm all here.  We just heard from C's teacher that she's been caught lying about something that happened at school.  And she lied so seamlessly and well that I really had believed her.  And so now I'm wondering about all the other drama that has gone on with her all year and how many of those things might not have happened either at all or happened in a substantially different way.  And I think about having gone to bat for her and now being unsure if any of it was true.  I was explaining to her in a kind of pedantic way that once someone has lied it is hard to know how or when you can trust them again, and then I realized how true that is and how much it sucks.  I want to trust my kid.  Now I feel like that has been so compromised there is really no spot on the horizon I feel I can look ahead to and feel like that's where we get to go back to normal.  And even as she cried and promised to never lie again I just found myself thinking, 'yeah, right.'  What she lied about wasn't a big thing, it was just a small thing and the fact that her lie was so smooth and calm and practiced gives me the chills.  I've always been pretty up front about how telling the truth is always a better way to go and that even if the truth is really bad the consequences of lying will be worse so it freaks me out that she would risk so much for so little.  You know?  Have any of you dealt with this? 

Oy.  Beware the full moon.
 

[JayGee]

Plady ~  oh dear.  The old "Girl who Cried Wolf", eh??  My middle DD has a tendancy to bend the truth, but I can usually see right through her.  Honestly, I really don't know how to deal with it.  She's going to have to rebuild your ability to trust her again, and the best way to do that is to not only TELL the truth, but to back up the truth with facts, and to tell the truth when it might not put her in the most flattering light.  I wish you peace and understanding in this.

Gaye ~ your afternoon with DS sounds absolutely wonderful!

jooj, kerc, plady ~ Dells?  I hate waterparks too, but my kids and DH LOVE them!  I'd be willing to endure just to hang with the three of you .  Plus, we are totally reworking our summer vacation plans, yet again, to accomodate the summer swim team schedule.  I will have to mention the Wisconsin idea to DH....

jooj ~ seriously?  He tried to make you eat bread????  I'm angry FOR you.  Good for you for not caving, and a little rice is okay.

sparkle ~ haiku?  Really?  You may not be interested anymore, but it sounds like he might be flirting just a little.  Have fun gazing at the 26 yo climbing instructor though!  About the candida, what herbal anti fungals can I try?  I don't want to go about getting a prescription antifungal, but am willing to try something I can pick up at the health food store.  And I'm going to make my Whole30 into a Whole60 to see if that helps.  Day 5 today!

MelW ~ cool school opportunity for you!  I say go for it!

RR ~ Pilates yesterday.  My core is so strong these days.  If only you could see it beneath the layer of fat .

NRR ~ DH and DS are at a soccer tournament in Champaign-Urbana, so we're having a "Just the 3 Girls" weekend.  Last night I endured shopping at Justice (oh, I how loathe that store, I'm constantly telling the girls that half-shirts and short-shorts are not okay) and today we're treking to the new American Girl store in St. Louis.  They are bringing their own money they've saved for this day, so hopefully my wallet won't be hemmorhaging too much at the end of it.  Tonight is a movie and nail painting.  I want to take them out for a bike ride too, so we can get a little exercise.

Edited by JayGee - 5/5/12 at 6:01am

[sparkletruck]

JG - Yeah, which is why I havent responded. Our relationship had a lot of intellectual sparring, which was fun and felt romantic at the time, until it didnt. So the *challenge* of responding with a really good poem is fun I remember, but ultimately I have to remind myself that my goal is just to talk to him, in a real way, and it's probably the case that we cant (which is what my haiku is about and why I am so tempted to send it ) I was even thinking, for a brief moment, of seeing his haiku, and raising it to a Shakespearean Sonnet
There are herbal antifungals, although Im not sure how they would NOT harm good bacteria too. They include oregano oil, grapefruit seed extract, and clove oil, all of which are REVOLTING. Coconut oil is also supposed to be antifungal (although also antimicrobial so ). I just used powdered Nystatin, which was a prescription (Dh wrote it) and was FOUL.
Enjoy the girl time

Plady - oooh, I am so sorry. We have a bit of that with DS, and I came up against that realization about a year ago; that trust is the most important thing, and the biggest loss for him if he loses it! I can love him until the cows come home but if I dont trust him, our relationship is fundamentally undone. He hasnt ever told a lie that is so bad that he has ruined our trust, but its been close, and we underscore for him often (whenever he's trying to pass a, transparent to us, lie) that his life will be harmed if people dont trust him. Its that big a deal. The real question I imagine you're wrestling with is why? Why did she feel she needed to lie. The fact that it is easy for her only shows that she's probably done it before and that its become comfortable (it's worked before). But worked to what ends? Belonging? Attention? I think most kids lie, or try it on, and often its to see what happens when they cross a boundary (i.e. what is life like on the other side), and then there are lies that stem from some real emotional need. Maybe she is precocious and can see through the flimsy authority us grown-ups purport to have. DS does that now-and-then: calls us on the fact that we really dont have so much power, and then we're like; DOH. Or maybe she wants something more. What does she say about why she did it? I'm really sorry you are in this position and

Gaye - that does sound like a pretty ideal day (does it get any better?!)

RR: I was going to do a bike/run brick today but Im sore, and under-slept, so.....

NRR: Hair removal yesterday. There is no modesty in the waxing room, wow

[Mel38]

Plady: That is a tough one. My middle DD lies (I even hate to write that, and I might come back and edit it out, it just makes me feel strange to put it out there ). We have talked a lot about it, the whys and the consequences and all that. It makes her feel terrible. Getting caught is embarrassing. There's just barely any up-side to it, and yet, it still happens. Just . I definitely told lies when I was little, too, particularly things to avoid getting into trouble. It is fairly natural and normal, I think, and despite all the talking I do on the subject with DD, I also try to remember to just let it go and not make it into a huge deal. I hope that she grows out of it.

On the topic of your DD, wasn't there an issue with her teacher a while back - somehow the sense that the teacher might be overly critical of her? That popped into my head when you mentioned the teacher had informed you that your DD was looking into lunch bags. I thought jeez louise, lady, leave the kid alone. It's not like she did anything wrong.

Sparkle: ouch on the hair removal.

MelW: Wow, that sounds awesome! My dad worked at UVic many eons ago, in the theater department.

RR: This morning, DH and I drove to Jamestown, SC for a 10k called the Hell Hole Swamp Gator Run. Yikes, what an experience! It is a tiny town out in the boonies of the Francis Marion Forest about 45 minutes from here, and this weekend is their town festival with a parade. Oh my goodness, I saw a lot of confederate flags out there. The race was started with a shotgun! The runners were pretty much the same people who I see in Charleston and surrounding towns, actually a very competitive group, so I didn't stick around for awards. Which is a shame, since a mounted gator head was awarded to 1st through 3rd place in all the age groups. DS would have loved that. I think my time was a new PR of 1:02:40-ish, though I forgot to stop my Garmin.
 

[Dmitrizmom]

Originally Posted by Mel38 

since a mounted gator head was awarded to 1st through 3rd place in all the age groups. DS would have loved that. I think my time was a new PR of 1:02:40-ish, though I forgot to stop my Garmin.

That is awesome!  Both the PR and the award. 
 

[MelW]

Congrats on the PR, Mel!! And about the gator head. I wonder how that trophy would look on the mantle...

Plady I wonder, given what you've shared about C's life this year if she has told some of the lies to test your relationship with her. You've really gone to bat for her this year with the school, and maybe she's looking for you to "prove" your love/trust without realizing the consequences of lying potentially harming this trust? Or seeing if you really love her even when tested hard? Not necessarily all on such a conscious level, but it sounds like she's really hurting. So rough for you. Hang in there, and go box off some of the frustration, okay?

Gaye, sounds like a lovely afternoon. I did have to google froyo (so close to grilling I was imagining some special mexican grilled food), then felt kinda . Frozen yogurt.

sparkle, I've always been confused by the combined antifungal and antibacterial of many of the natural remedies. I sometimes sprinkle probiotic powder on my athlete's foot with messy but decent results. I think the powder is a bit drying which probably helps.

NRR- Massive clean up of the top floor of the house this morning, followed by bike ride to coffee shop and trip into town for a multi-venue arts festival. The kids played in a massive cardboard box structure that was being built in an alley, we visited my SIL at a craft fair, watched capoeira on a street corner, saw a circus performance in front of the art gallery, a fiddle group and heard part of my husband's reading in the museum.

RR- After all of that I came home with the kids and dug out, built and filled a raised garden bed. And mowed the lawn with the push mower. I have the terrific whole body worked out feeling that comes with heavy yard work.

[bec]

First, a huge thanks to Geo!  My secret sprinter!  She sent me some super yummy coffee (going to try that out today!). 

RR: I am home from the Mini.  Overall, it was a good run.  It is always a fun race to do.  The crowds, the energy, the flat course, it's a blast to run through the speedway.  But, I was corralled in the back of beyond (corral T), so I was weaving back and forth dodging walkers the entire 13 miles.  That part isn't so fun.  It was also pretty hot and very, very humid.  Normally, this isn't too much of a problem, but there really is no shade on this course, so there were times when the sun just beat down on you.  But, with that said, I felt like I ran hard, and did a pretty good job pacing myself.  I was having some intestinal issues around mile 5, so had to slow to a walk for about a quarter mile while everything sort of settled.  I think I was a little overheated by the end as well.  But, overall, I'm happy.  My official time, with one potty break, and a couple of walk breaks was 2:47:22. 

This morning, I got up bright and early, and went on a 30 mile bike ride!  I was sore and stiff, but it was a good ride, and helped stretch out my legs.  Gotta get ready for that half ironman after all!

[JayGee]

bec ~ maybe I'll be in shape to do the Mini next year.  I really enjoy that race too.  Nice job on the race and the bike ride this morning!

Speaking of Geo, where is she???

sparkle ~ thank you for the tips.  I think I'll give the GSE a try.  I hate the smell of oregano oil.  Bleech!

Mel ~ great race and nice prize!

Carpet in the bathroom?  Yuck.  My MIL has carpet in the kitchen .  And she put it in.  The mind, it boggles...

RR ~ nothing

NRR ~ took the girlie-Qs to the American Girl store yesterday.  Crowded, but so fun!  They both got their doll's hair done at the doll salon and got some accessories.  Since I made them spend their own money and not mine, the choices were somewhat limited .  If they had those dolls when I was a girl, I'd have been all over them!  Today we're heading to the YMCA for a swim after we finish cleaning up the house. 

[sparkletruck]

JG - If I recall, you do 3-5 drops of gse 1-3X/day, and it is so nasty that they recommend taking it in OJ, but since that defeats the purpose (duh), I might try it in or with black coffee. I cant remember what I took it with, but I generally rely on coffee to wash down anything gross (hello, fish oil)

[1jooj]

JG/sparkle--I have a pharmacy nearby whose pharmacist is very well-versed in natural remedies along with conventional western med. I could probably get the nystatin without a doc rx, since it's not a narcotic  (even remotely), and if that's more specific than some of the natural remedies that also kill bacteria, well, maybe that's on my to-do list for the week. Along with STOP EATING NUTS.

Plady, MelW is so insightful. Honestly, I was thinking about myself around that age, and my own (quite traumatic) childhood, and things I did and how I really did at one point rely on a totally alternate reality. Not saying your dd is currently living in a traumatic situation, but sometimes behaviors and thought patterns become comfortable, reliable and habitual. I was thinking about where I was as a child at that stage while I was walking yesterday...I was teetering on the edge of serious mental illness. That was the age I started having auditory hallucinations (I still get them when very stressed, my gma was schizophrenic, so this is scary). I was thinking, rather than counselor, maybe it is time for you to consult with a psych, first having an honest discussion from your POV and then assessing dd to get an idea of what's up. I don't want to sound scary, but sometimes talking isn't enough. Just my own experience and thoughts, mama. 

On a much lighter note, I had a lot of fun shopping yesterday. I drove down to the old town, which is just more fun by myself, and spent like an hour in a perfume shop with a perfume maker, and I left with 12 tiny little bottles of different perfume oils--a HUGE cultural thing here is perfume. And I bought a few other things, some nice prayer rugs and prayer beads, and little bowls inscribed with Quranic verses. And all the guys I dealt with were so nice to me, and everyone gave me free presents because they were just so happy to meet an American Muslim. Today, I will hit the other side of the Creek, and get the kitschy stuff. I have limited time, because I have to get my beach workout in the AM before it hits 100F, and then everything closes from 1PM until 4PM, and I need to be home for the kids.

And with that, off I go.

ETA:

RR: A surprisingly energizing 5 miles this morning, mostly running, even in this heat. There seemed to be an almost comical shared sense of urgency among the walkers and runners this morning on the beach. Tide was waaaaaay out, so there was more densely-packed sand to run on, and some under a few inches of water, so it was a splashy, fun kind of run. 

Edited by 1jooj - 5/6/12 at 10:04pm

[MelW]

JayGee and jo, glad you both had good shopping experiences :)

RR- 5k this morning, then a ton more heavy gardening today- turned the compost, digging, building trellises for raspberries. 

NRR- My youngest and my husband are down island overnight to drive FIL to cataract surgery together. I had a terrific afternoon and dinner date with my 6 year old, who is really so wonderful and easy-going. It's the first time we've had an overnight with just us since her sister was born. We gardened for hours, then played piano/fiddle together and rode our bikes to the local pizza place. She was fascinated by the crosses in the trellises, and wondered if it was a symbol of love in our backyard. I told her that I was worshiping in the church of the great outdoors. The afternoon in the sun turned a sad mood around. 

[Realrellim]

sparkle--have fun with the haikus. And on waxing: I bought some strips for the DIY job and tried that yesterday, just on (ok, near, I'm a chicken) the bikini area. Ouch. I'm still kind of hopeful that it will last longer though.

Mel38--great 10K time!

Shanti--once again, I'm hoping this week brings some resolution, especially regarding your son's medication.

MelW--that sounds like an interesting program.

Plady--I'm so sorry about your daughter and the whole situation. No advice, but a lot of sympathy and wishes for solutions.

1jooj--Sounds like a fantastic beach fun, the heat aside. I love the visual of your feet splashing in the wet sand.

JayGee--Sounds like a fun weekend.

tjsmama--hope the foot problem turns out to be nothing.

Carpeted bathrooms: our trailer's bathroom used to be carpeted. I loved never stepping on cold floors. The floor around the toilet was rotting though (probably due to water leakage, not male leakage), so we ripped out the carpet, put in a new sub-floor and then put in hardwood (nothing special, just those little hardwood squares. I forget what they're called).

And yeah, the kitchen there is carpeted too. DH wants to tear it out, but I keep stalling because it will mean I'll have to wash the floor and I much prefer the carpet shampooer. If we lived there year-round it would be different, but it's great for a mountain place.

RR: Yasso 800s on Saturday (all 10) and an easy 12 today. The 800s stunk, actually. My first three were awesome but when I hit #4 everything suddenly felt miserable and hard and despite pushing even harder, it ended up being 10 seconds slower. The rest weren't as bad but it was an uphill battle (on a level track). I'm guessing it was a combo of not enough sleep, not enough fuel and asthma stuff. Today's 12 felt fine and easy, so go figure.

NRR: We got a new loveseat in our living room! It replaces the one that's probably 30 years old that DH got from his aunt, who was going to give it to Goodwill, about 20 years ago--and it wasn't in good condition then. (Need I say more?) We needed one that was small (60" width or less), and I found a couple on Ikea's website that fit the bill. We made the trek there on Friday, picked out a loveseat, a chair and looked at the bunk bed frame we want to get for the trailer. The bunk bed wasn't in stock, but we did get the trundle bed that fits under it. It's a twin over a full bunk, and with the trundle we'll be able to fit four kids into the tiny little shoebox of a bedroom at the trailer. The funniest part was watching us drive home. We hadn't realized how big the loveseat would be ('cause they advertise flat boxes and this came in two cubes), so there was a very large cube of furniture tied to our roof rack as we drove north on I-25 at rush hour.

[Nickarolaberry]

Hi mamas.

Not around much the last few days. Well I have been here lurking but feeling kind of overwhelmed in a variety of ways so not posting.

Plady, . I think the other Dingo Wise Women have much more valuable things to say than I so I am going to echo them. Speaking from the educator's point of view though, the non-truth-telling thing usually revolves around wanting to preserve an image, please people, etc. Also it's rather easy for a teacher to turn around and 'catch' a child doing something but not really know the whole story. You simply can't have eyes on everyone at once and if a teacher is, say....well, predisposed...to think the worst of a child or have a negative reaction to them, that teacher might also accuse a child of frequent lying or fibbing without knowing the whole story. Or, unfortunately in some cases, to protect his/her OWN image. I'm not saying this is what's happening, but there is a bad dynamic there with her teacher, and you are not getting the whole picture from either side I think. Follow up on your end with what the other mamas have suggested for sure, but also you may want to recognize all is not necessarily as it seems on the teacher's end. 

Carpet in bathroom...icky. I had that in one of the apartments I lived in post college and it was so nasty. Mildew etc. Yech.

Dd1 is reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (young reader's edition) and she is now going through everything in our cabinets and saying CORN GMO CORN!  I think I'll have to do another cupboard overhaul but if this gets her making more mindful choices about her food (she's already a vegetarian but it tends to the 'pastatarian') it's very well worth it.

I still don't know what's going on with all these jobs. I have another model lesson to give this week at the high school; that could turn into either a teaching job and/or the potential administrative job (although I have good reason to think I'm no longer a candidate for that though I haven't had that confirmed). I have a few resumes out in the local public districts and the administrative job at the community day school next door that I'm not sure I want even if it is offered (for a variety of reasons). If and when anything becomes a real choice and not just theoretical, I will be posting here for advice! 

Long run yesterday was not so fun, I'm getting sick with a cold and my throat and head are really killing me. 10 miles instead of 12. I have a half marathon scheduled for this coming Sunday...hoping to break my goal time but it's apparently a VERY hilly course so no high hopes for that. IF I do break it, I'll probably skip the half marathon on June 3 and do the 5k with my kids; if not, I'm going for the half marathon. Now I"m trying to plan a fall/winter marathon...

Off to find where my 6 y.o. has disappeared to...