Running through the May Flowers - Page 12

[sparkletruck]

We stopped by the new house and oh. my. The floors look so lovely
Kids are done with school tomorrow. We move into a VRBO in town for a week until the floors are done, and then on the same day I fly to San Diego for a climbing comp

Plady - heads up that the snip, at least in our case, knocks 'em out for a day or three. My dh was on the couch for 2 days I think. In any case, the recovery was a lot worse than I expected. Poor thing. They're all doped up on pain meds, walking around in tighty-whitey's with an ice-pack on their crotch

Lisa - can you use the sugar and then get rid of it? Powder sugar is seriously cheap? Or hide it. I have a tin that I keep stored with the pots and pans (not somewhere the kids would look for goodies) that I put all my baking candy in, b/c yeah, ds might just put some brown sugar in his milk, or nibble on the unsweetened chocolate

[Mel38]

Lisa: About the sugar, I can sympathize with that behavior, as I definitely hid sugar consumption, too. I would eat brown sugar with a spoon straight from the bag well into my teen years. And I remember hiding a container of Nesquick and a spoon under my bed once when I was maybe 9 or 10...

So, I would probably not hide it, but try to limit access (like you are doing) and find something to substitute that has one of those other sweeteners in it.

I just remember how driven I felt to find something (anything) sweet.

[Plady]

RM - If the sugar is such a problem then I guess I'd either hide it/lock it up or just only buy what I need for a specific purpose and get rid of the rest.  It just seems to hard to have the temptation around if he can't handle it at all but I can understand what a pain that must be.  But, it does have the advantage of being super healthy for the rest of you!  It must be hard though to have such an overwhelming urge to eat sugar, and this society certainly doesn't make it easier does it?  Poor kid!  Poor mama!

Mel38 - I like your post-op suggestion!  I already bowed out of going to the preliminary meeting with the doc because I figure I'll just sneer unsympathetically and maybe start yelling anyway.  Will I need to send him a permission slip if I don't go too?   Good job on diffusing your politic-baiting bro-in-law.  I believe that's the high road, though I'm on it so rarely don't take my word for it!

MelW - Breathing a sigh of relief for you.

Gaye and Real - Cute pic! 

RR: Finally figured out today that it takes me about 45 minutes of warm-up (read: full on exercising) to get into a groove.  Our boxing class today was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done, a nice way to round out the decade seeing as I doubt I'll work that hard again before Sunday.  It was good.  Now to figure out how to push myself that hard that long alone.  

[Geofizz]

Lisa, no advice, just commiseration.  DD does the same, and it really worries me that she has so little control.  She very much seems unable to focus on anything else if she knows something is in the house.  Any idea if it's linked to the anxiety or ADHD?  DD has anxiety and is "in the grey area" on ADHD, though ranks in the normal range for impulsivity.  Indeed, I've begun to wonder about myself on the sweets as well, as I certainly seem to sneak it whenever I can, going to significant lengths for sweets when little is available.

[1jooj]

RM, I think I'd toss the leftover, if I didn't use it under normal circumstances. And probably try to keep something better on hand and push him toward it (fruit or dried fruit, dates, something like that). In fact, we do have a similar issue only my ds has a lot of self-control for a kid. So, he asks, and gets upset when I say no, and gets frustrated by my suggestions, but doesn't actually consume the stuff clandestinely. But if he gets candy from someone (teacher, for example), he makes sure to eat it before I know it happened--even though I have historically never actually taken away candy (unless it contains gelatin).  I don't love being "Mom who says no," but it really is not to punish. I assure him that someday he'll have the very same rules.

I mowed a lawn today. It was really, really hard, so it totally counts as RR. Yesterday, I walked a couple of miles. I am trying to come out of my lameness, but yesterday I also slept two hours in the late afternoon, which I never, ever do.

I also discovered the beauty that is a batch of spicy kale chips. And I bought myself a pair of Levis. Men's apparently fit me better than women's, which makes no sense but is nevertheless true.

Kids are having so much fun visiting with their cousins and friends. Aaahhh.

[MelW]

I loooove kale chips. I'm more of a salty then sweet person, and cannot be trusted with potato chips in the house. So rarely keep them. I'd do the same with sugar.

Right now the things kept out of reach from kids in my house are meds, chocolate chips, sharpies and dental floss. My youngest will lick an entire roll of floss if left within reach. And sharpie is soo hard to wash off hands/faces/walls

Mel, awesome mileage! Enjoy your upcoming long run.

Plady, 45 minutes is a long time to get into a groove. I admire your persistence. I often loathe the first 10 minutes of a run, but am not convinced I'd stick with it long enough to hit 45 minutes if it felt that way.

RR- Quick 5k this evening. I skipped trail running group because I worried about my knee after the fall on Sunday's run, but it's pain-free. I'm still glad I ran on my own and didn't push it.

NRR- Still no word on the lupus tests. I'll call the ped tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon's plan is to rearrange the garage to accommodate the freezer I'm getting for my birthday on Saturday. I'm thrilled with the freezer and can't wait to store more food this summer!

[tjsmama]

mel~can you add Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon on June 23 and Courage Classic Bike Tour July 21-23?

A whopping 3 hours of sleep for me today, since DS got home at 11:30. I was happy to see him, though, so I guess it's ok. We spent the afternoon running errands and grocery shopping for his party on Saturday. Oh, and commencing my annual birthday cake decorating extravaganza. We have one dinosaur-shaped cake baked, and lemon buttercream frosting made and colored in preparation for tomorrow night's decorating. Thank goodness for the fact that this year's cake only involves three colors, one of which is white!

I have the nanny coming over so I can get a run in in the morning, and then we're picking up DS's friend and going to the fancy pool/mini waterpark for the day. I'm a little nervous...this will be my first time taking a friend somewhere. Is it weird that I've never driven another child in my car, with the exception of my niece?

[Realrellim]

tjsmama--sorry about the little sleep, but glad he's back.

MelW--hope you get good news from the doctor tomorrow.

RM--I too would just toss the sugar.

In the who'd have thunk it category: today was R's last day of school and we were planning to head to the mountains this evening. We were mostly packed when R fell off the toddler slide in our backyard and broke her arm. The same arm. In the same place. Apparently she was "skiing" down the slide when she fell sideways and backwards. She's had her cast from the January fall off for all of three months--and that doesn't count the extra three weeks she spent in the splint after the cast.

and and :cry and (not mad at her, just at the whole thing. and the universe.)

Yeah.

And--no bleeping kidding--I had just paid the last bill from January's broken arm 5 minutes before she broke this one.

After that it was urgent care and then Children's Hospital because the break was bad enough they needed to do a reduction and cast it tonight. This was mostly good: the five days in the splint were awful last time and it also meant we didn't have to worry about trying to get a cast for her on Monday while still in Steamboat Springs. Unfortunately, they didn't want to do the sedation until after 10 pm to allow enough time after dinner. R doesn't respond well to sedation and kept waking herself up ( this was supposed to make her sleepy and she'd start to drift and then pull herself awake), so they ended up giving her extra. Afterward she was really nauseated, and eventually they gave her some Zofran, but even that took a good 30 minutes to work. So, it was 2:15 am by the time we arrived home.

And all the dashed summer dreams, at least until mid-July. No hot springs in Steamboat, no swimming lessons, no playing in fountains, no sprinkler, no bike riding (much less learning to ride on two wheels). She'll miss out on the first part of violin group lessons though I'm guessing she'll be able to take part in the second half and still do the concert in the mountains at the end of the summer. And another six weeks of having to buckle her in the car because she can't do it with the cast.

I know, it can be so much worse. Still. Argh. Thanks for listening. Things will look better in the morning, I'm sure.

[Nickarolaberry]

Oy, Lisa! That is such a drag. I'm so sorry for you and your little one! Ugh ugh ugh.

Plady, great workout!

Mel, sharpies are also on our banned list. Ds cannot be trusted with any kind of writing implement without supervision. For some reason he finds writing on his clothes to be the most intriguing so we have sacrificed many an undershirt to a superhero or team decoration (sharpie style). I also have to hide the scissors and index cards from him because if given half a chance he will cut them all into pokemon game pieces and leave teeny bits of cut up index card all over the house. I have not had to hide food or anything, except from myself.

Gaye, you make gorgeous cakes! Can't wait to see a pic of this one. Happy birthday to the little man. 

Jo, so happy to have you back here! 

I had my first good run in a week this morning. I have been struggling mightily with really overwhelming fatigue and difficulty breathing. Today it is dry out and still nice and cool. I guess whatever heat acclimation advantage I had from Florida is gone now. I still think the Advair has something to do with it. I also have been feeling kind of bloated and funky in my stomach. This could be a gluten contamination thing or related to the meds, who knows. I'm bagging this Sunday's half marathon (that can be taken off the list) and instead I'm going to do the Providence (RI) Rock n Roll Half in August, with one of my best friends from college. That should give me some time to recover I hope.

As for the other stuff....I'll say more on the yahoo group. Here I'll just say that, despite my own tendency to wonder which choice would be the biggest mistake of my life, I'm getting very close to making the choice that's been coming down the pike for a while. Had a productive meeting yesterday with the person that can make that happen (like her very much) and I have a tentative plan to have it all come down after I get the girls to camp at the end of June. Maybe.   I have total clarity about it during the days. It's when I'm lying in bed at night panicking that i start to double guess myself.

[Geofizz]

Lisa and Nic

[bec]

Lisa - I think I would throw out the unused sugar. 

Real - Oh no!  Your poor DD.  And poor you!  I hope the rest of the summer is incident free!  No possibility of a waterproof cast?

Gaye and Real - Awesome race!  And, I love the picture!  have fun with your DS and post a pic of the cake!!!

Plady - DH's snip was really pretty easy.  Ice, tightie whities, and a lot of beer.  Poor little dear.  He knew better than to complain about anything regarding that.  It would have only gotten him a detailed account of each and every pregnancy and birth!  Although, I kind of like the idea of you being in Hawaii for his recovery!  That would be a birthday present I could get behind!

Nic - Lots of love and support for you!!!! 

RR: So, no sooner had the stomach bug disappeared, than something bloomed outside and my sinuses decided I shouldn't inhale!  There have also been gobs of children around.  I did spend a day, helping a friend that's moving pack up the storage pods in her driveway.  I call that strength!

NRR: Taking the girl scout troop on one last hurrah overnight to the indoor waterpark (actually hoping that the chlorine and controlled environment will get rid of the allergies).  It will be fun, but chaotic.  I have a LOT of money I need to blow on these kids.  The troop is disbanding and I have nearly $700 to spend before noon tomorrow, and the accommodations are already paid for!  That's a lot of pizza and ice cream!

[Plady]

Real - NO WAY!!!  That's crazy!  Poor R!  Poor you!  Was the old break not healed correctly or did she just manage to hit it in exactly the wrong way?  I hope this is the last time you all have to go through the whole process.

Bec - What a nice problem to have!  Maybe you could take them to a really fancy meal instead and have it be a sort of manners-in-action thing? 

Nic- I hate that middle-of-the-night voice!  But I'm sure you know that your middle-of-the-day one is totally trustworthy.  Keeping you in my thoughts.

Sparkle - Good call on the VRBO! 

MelW - I'm not sure I'm persistent, I'm just willing to follow instructions.  I need to generate some persistence to take me through the days that I'm not in a class.

Oh, Happy June! 

[tjsmama]

real~That is so unfair. Poor R.

nic~Thinking of you. No matter what road you take, there will always be doubt and uncertainty, trust me. You just have to have faith that the decision you make will ultimately be the right one for you and the kiddos. And given how unhappy you've been, I think the status quo has got to go.

I'm fighting frustration on multiple fronts. The appraisal appeal came back exactly the same. Which is ridiculous. There is no freaking way my condo nosedived 30k in 2 years when the market is coming back. It's solely based on comps, and there just haven't been any truly comparable units that have sold within the past 6 months. So, now I'm screwed with mortgage insurance.

And on the cake decoration front, my buttercream is KILLING me. Sigh. It's just too soft, and too warm in my condo. I should be done by now, but I have to put it back in the freezer every 5 minutes. Oh well, it will taste good, and from a distance, it will look good...just don't look too closely.

The trip to the waterpark went pretty well, with only minor drama. DS's friend was tall enough to ride the waterslide, but unfortunately DS wasn't. I had to have a little talk with the friend about the fact that he was hurting DS's feelings by riding the waterslide instead of playing with DS. I wouldn't have said anything, but the kid had been going nonstop on the slide for seriously at least 1/2 hour, maybe longer, leaving DS all by himself. The friend is a good kid otherwise, and they had a blast other than that, but I felt bad for DS (and that I had to say something to the friend...it just felt weird and uncomfortable).

rr~3.5 miles this morning. My feet hurt from standing so much the past two days, baking and cooking and such, but otherwise it was ok. A little weirdly humid for CO, but whatever...

[JayGee]

real ~ oh no!  That really, really stinks.

Plady ~ make sure he doesn't weasel out at the last second like my DH did

nic ~ stay strong and keep on moving toward a better future.

Ugh.  That is all I have to say.  My parents are leaving tomorrow and it's been Go, Go, Go for the last 8 days straight.  I'm exhausted.  DH is angry for some reason that he won't tell me.  It's so tense around here that I could scream.  And, as I always do in my mother's presence, I've been stuffing my face nonstop for the last 3 days.  Gah.  I want my usual life back, my nice happy husband back, and my normal eating patterns back.  And a run certainly wouldn't hurt either.

[tjsmama]

jaygee~Hang in there, mama. The end is in sight!



Not too bad from a distance, just sloppy close up because the buttercream is too soft. Oh well. So what if the claws don't look sharp? DS will still love it, right?

[Shantimama]

tjsmama - great cake! That is too bad about the water slide.

real - oh no! a few summers ago my dd broke the same ankle twice in a row and then kept spraining it. She managed to break off some front teeth while recovering too. I kept threatening to wrap her in bubble wrap.

jaygee -  I hope things even out and settle down soon.

nic - 

1jooj - welcome home!!! 

This cafe I am working at has a narrow flight of stairs that I am up and down all day long. That is my current workout plan. The food is amazing and I get fed while I am there - yesterday I had a bowl of deal completely different than how I make it and I loved every bite. I even got to bring some home at the end of the day  I should figure out how to use the pedometer app on my iPod and stick it in my pocket while I work tomorrow and see if I am moving as much as it feels like I am!

[Plady]

Lovely cake Gaye!  As always!  Bummer about the waterslide thing, but it sounds like you handled it well.

Originally Posted by JayGee 

Plady ~ make sure he doesn't weasel out at the last second like my DH did

Hmm, thanks for the heads up!  The visit I'm bowing out of is just the initial interview, apparently the SOP here is to do a meet and greet with the doc and then schedule the actual snip.  But I'll make sure I go along for the final cut.  Sounds like your dh has in-lawitis, I hope it subsides as soon as they're gone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantimama 
 The food is amazing and I get fed while I am there - yesterday I had a bowl of deal completely different than how I make it and I loved every bite. I even got to bring some home at the end of the day  I should figure out how to use the pedometer app on my iPod and stick it in my pocket while I work tomorrow and see if I am moving as much as it feels like I am!

Shanti!  It sounds like this job is feeding you in a variety of ways! 

RR: So I went back to the old bodyrock.tv for a workout yesterday.  Our boxing class is on a two week break and I'm feeling anxious about going into full sedentary mode.  But the workout was great and quick and then I broke through my inhibitions about using the punching bag at the gym (nobody ever uses it and it's right smack in the middle of the group class/treadmill room).  It turns out that it's an okay one and just a few rounds after the bodyrock workout were just enough.  Today I don't have anything on the schedule but maybe something will come up.

[MelW]

Real, that is unbelievable! I hope that you're able to make the most of your summer despite the cast.

Gaye, gorgeous cake!

Nic, sending lots of Love and strength your way.

bec, I hope your sinuses feel better. Enjoy the campout!

JayGee, wishing you a smooth final few days with the family visit.

Plady, I always admire the body rock workouts, but never actually do them. My sister uses them and got so strong doing them daily. Thanks for the "party favour"! I just checked my mail this morning, so it was a perfect birthday gift

RR- Bootcamp last night, where I was the smallest and least strong person by a lot. This really didn't pay off when we did a new piggy-back run exercise carrying a partner. My partner was 7 or 8 inches taller than me and I could only manage a fast walk. We also did a post-bootcamp social at the trainers house, and I let the kids stay up waaaaay to late.

NRR- It's my 33rd birthday! I got a deep freeze, which I've wanted for a while, and we had family breakfast at our favourite cafe. I also treated myself to a bunch of boxwoods to finish I strip in the front yard between our driveway and the neighbor's and some herb and tomato plants to fill out the veggie garden.

Also, peds office is closed on Fridays, so no results. And my youngest has another cold and was wheezing a lot last night and we discovered her steroid inhaler is empty. The pharmacist gave me an emergency supply so we avoided the walk-in clinic visit.

[Realrellim]

MelW--hope your little one is feeling better and you get results first thing on Monday.

Nick-- lots of them. These decisions aren't easy either way. But I don't have a lot of perspective either, as I'm the woman who didn't even get her husband an anniversary card this year and yet am hoping that relaxing in the hot springs tomorrow (or hopefully relaxing) will help bring us both some much-needed stress relief and perspective. (We're taking the kids, so "relaxing" probably isn't the right word, not least because R's cast can't get wet.)

Shanti--I'm strangely comforted to know R isn't a freak of nature. Bubble wrap has also been threatened here.

Plady--that sounds like a fun workout.

tjsmama--sorry about the waterslide, but what a great cake!

bec--feel better! May all sickies be banished from your house until November or longer!! Also, hope you had fun with the girls spending what was left in the scout budget.

RR: 2 miles about 12 miles before the marathon. Had hoped to do it before dinner but it probably doesn't make a difference. I ran along the Yampa River trail and it was pretty. And now I just need to get everything ready so I can be at the bus at 6 am or sooner. The hotel is probably a 10-minute walk from the bus pick-up (and only 2 blocks from the finish line!) so that will be nice come morning.

Goals, in ascending order:
- to finish
- to finish faster than five hours (previous time was 5:03:something).
- to finish faster than 4:45
- to finish faster than 4:30
- to finish faster than 4:15
- pie in the sky: to finish just under 4

All the race calculators put me in around 4:05. But, it's got 2000 feet of downhill and that was a great thing for me at the Slacker half three years ago. So....we'll see!

NRR: R is doing ok. The people at Children's seemed to think the break was a combo of her being really thin (and not having any cushioning when she fell) + the bones still being weak from the last time she broke them + the way she fell + a potential growth spurt. She was having a growth spurt and tripping all over stuff this week.

All that said, I'm wondering if we're missing something. This is a kid who's not only lactose intolerant but also doesn't seem to metabolize dairy (it was at the root of the FTT issues from 9-15 months), who had cavities before she was 2 (though thankfully, none since), and whose bone density looked good on the x-rays but has broken her arm twice. I'm going to ask them to test her vitamin D and maybe talk to a homeopath. It just makes me wonder.
Edited by Realrellim - 6/2/12 at 11:09pm

[tjsmama]

Happy birthday, Mel!

GOOD LUCK, REAL! Rock it, sister! Can't wait to hear your report!

DS's birthday party was pretty awesome. We had it at Dinosaur Ridge, which is a local place where some dinosaur tracks and fossils have been found. They did a fantastic job, I was really impressed. All I had to do was bring the cake (and ice cream) and some juice boxes/water. The kiddos decorated their own goody bags, played dino bingo, dino ring toss (on casts of t rex teeth), and dino limbo. They got to go on an abbreviated version of the tour of the fossil sites, there was a puppet show, they decorated their own dino tracks that they got to take home, sifted for (real) fossils, and wrapped up with a dino pinato. The kids had fun, the dads (all dads!) who stuck around thought it was pretty awesome, and I didn't have to do much of anything except take pictures and pay at the end!

And now, tonight is the first of four shifts in the next five nights...so far, so good. DS and I got a good nap in this afternoon. He's been so tired that I thought he might lay down with me, and sure enough, I woke up and looked over to see him conked out next to me.