Oooh...aaahh...Dingoes Dodging Fireworks in July! - Page 7

[MelW]

Madly catching up! Quick recap of my week: contractors/restoration folks delayed until next week. Interview went okay, though the other interviewees were also internal and who knows which way they'll decide. I'm pretty zen either way. Fit in a quick run post-interview, pre-family dinner with kids, sister, nieces, etc. Second to last week of clinical teaching.

Yesterday we made the trip up for extended weekend and family celebration for grandma's 99th. I'm staying with a friend who lives nearby, and husband has gone up to visit friends/colleagues from his "away" job. I discovered this morning that my youngest thought he was moving back, which may explain some of the horrific whining and rudeness from our car trip yesterday.

Bec, awesome RR! I'm amazed at your strength to power through on the bike and run!!

Jo, blessed Ramadan.

Sparkle, I bookmarked the Caitlin Moran book for when my library hopefully gets it. Sounds fun! And I want to crash your weekend with Plady. Thinking...(PLADY: how Many ferries to you from Victoria? Can I do it on foot?)

Dimitrizmom- enjoy your break from teaching and your new exercise/tri-training schedule!!

Hi to everyone else!

[sparkletruck]

MelW - That's me doing summersaults about the prospect of you coming to Plady's (and I just wanted an excuse to use that smilie) I am currently google-mapping where you are in relation...

Jo - Blessed Ramadan

[MelW]

I'm a 3 hour drive north of Victoria/Sidney, but I'm can't remember which island Plady is on. It looks possible, though. I work Friday for the college and have a shift booked for the stat on Monday, but might be able to come down Friday evening or on Sat morning of the long weekend and head home on Sunday. For the short turn around I could mayb leave my dinglets at home.

[mommajb]

I feel like I have fallen behind here and everywhere else. I dropped several balls that I was juggling yesterday and went to bed in tears. This mornings workout was the best all week (new shoes!) so that helped as does coming here to find some great reading lists. I used kerc's idea wrt to dawn and h202 on my shirts and dress. The odor is out but the stains remain.

shanti, I wish I had something to add that would be helpful other than to say that you will get this figured out. I know you can do it.

nic, you sound so happy trail running at your parents. Is everybody home now? We didn't hear about the wreck your husband made of the house while you were gone.

jo, Blessed Ramadan.

bec, your race report was the best!

geo, I might go for the underarm pads for special events before I tried botox. There is a drug used for bladder issues that has a side effect of dry mouth and less sweating but I cannot remember the name.

plady, I hope both the cough and the bad chi are self contained and short lived. Enjoy your visit as best you can under the circumstances. And Woohoo for dingo meetups. I have made a few in the midwest but it seems both you and sparkle were here and I lamely could not make it happen.

jaygee I am with bbm on the joy and grimace at more swim meets. You deserve a special treat for sitting through these extremely hot meets.

real, good luck and I hope the construction is at the right stopping point when you leave.

Hi RM! Please don't lose me if the fb group goes secret. I am not very good at keeping track of these things lately.

[Nickarolaberry]

The house was indeed a disaster when I got home Mommajb.  After about 40 minutes of scrubbing and sweeping it was ok. I am reaching the end of my rope. I guess it keeps getting longer as I keep reaching the end but I am slowly but surely laying plans. Life is too short to live in misery. You know?

That's actually my mood today so I'll keep it short. The day started off well with a good track workout but has slid downhill from there with various aggravations and small cruelties. My anxiety level is sky high. ugh. And feeling very much like I have never as an adult felt 'at home' anywhere and wonder if I will.

My girls are coming home on Sunday so that's exciting. 

[sparkletruck]

MelW - I'll be at Plady's Th afternoon -S morning Ah well, I'll just have to make my way to Canada one of these days

MJB - I'm fairly certain that I completely forgot to follow up on a meet-up while I was there. Climbing drama just overtook my brain, like the blob

Nic - knowing yourself and what you want/dont want is the first step in creating a home. You WILL get there

RR: nope

NRR: So I discovered the magazine MORE at my haircutter. Turns out, a mag. for women over 40 really does appeal to this woman over 40 I mention it b/c this months has a segment on book recommendations, wherein a bunch of writers recommend recent books they like. I may follow up on some of those if the one Im waiting for from the library doesnt come through before my ROAD-TRIP next week

[Realrellim]

Nick--so sorry about the mess and the rest of it.

sparkle-- about the magazine. I can see it. At the end of last week's adventure run, I ended up running next to a woman who was obviously in her early 20s and suddenly, it became obvious just how not-in my 20s I am, yk?

mommajb--I think we all feel like we've fallen behind, all the time. That doesn't make it any better, but at least you have company, right?

1jooj--Blessed Ramadan to you.

MelW--hope the trip goes well. It might amuse you to learn that my youngest woke up this morning at her grandmother's house and immediately said "now we can't get home!" when she realized where we were. I assured her that planes fly both ways and she was greatly relieved.

Plady & MelW--have a great Dingo meetup!

JayGee--praying for rain for you. Reading the stories this week brought back memories of '88, though that year the corn barely grew at all. That seems to be the case in Colorado this year because we had such a dry spring, but I don't drive through cornfields every day like I used to in Illinois. I hope it cools off soon.

tjsmama--hope you were able to get some dreamless, peaceful sleep today.

Hi to everyone I'm forgetting.

RR: 6 miles in Rochester. I needed that run.

NRR: horrified by the news out of Colorado today. And one of the latest crazy updates I read said that they were searching to campus research buildings and had sent everyone home. Guess Paul would have been home early if we weren't already on vacation. Of course, that's not nearly as horrible as poor tjsmama being at work when it happened.

Tankless water heater: we only got to use it for a few days before traveling, but I like it a lot. If anyone is thinking about one, I'd strongly advise not waiting until your water heater dies or is leaking to get one because retrofitting is a process. Also, think about having a regular plumber do it rather than going the big box hardware store route, or at least get a couple of quotes. Anyhow, in our case, they had to move the dryer vent and a hose spigot, run new piping to the water heater because it needed to be located on the wall of the house, drill some holes to vent it, and also run a separate gas line along the side of the house to the water heater. They said tankless heaters need a 1" gas line in the house or there won't be enough gas for the heater and water heater in the winter. Ours was only 3/4" so that's why they ran a new line. It's a bit odd as it runs from the side of our house and halfway around the back, but it's mostly hidden by plants (and weeds ) on the side of the house. There are plants in the back too, but they're not quite as tall. It's below the window though, so not a big deal. There are some places in the siding that we need to path or something now, but it's not like our siding is in great shape to begin with so no loss there.

Probably the biggest change is that because the piping is slightly different, we need to run the water longer in the upstairs bathroom to get hot water. Turning on the hot water activates the water heater, and then it just has to get up there. Previously, the water heater was directly underneath the bathroom sink and we didn't have a delay. The delay isn't much because the new water heater is only 6 feet away from where the old one was, but it's the one thing I've definitely noticed. i'll note that we have a bi-level where all the water needs are centralized. When we're in the mountains, it takes for-evah for water to get from the water heater up to the kitchen sink. I usually on the hot water and fill a couple of jugs for watering plants before it warms up.

They say we could run both showers and the dishwasher and more and never run out of hot water. I'm assuming this will be a wonderful thing when R and J are old enough to both be taking showers in the morning!

[tjsmama]

Checking in with a heavy heart...as real mentioned, I was at work last night when the shooting happened, and my hospital received the majority of the victims. We were put on our disaster response plan, which from all accounts ran completely smoothly. Fortunately (I guess), we were pretty insulated from the chaos. We actually all felt really helpless because there wasn't much that we, as OB nurses, could do. Our charge nurse offered up our labor rooms as PACU rooms, if necessary (our C-section patients recover in their labor room), and our labor nurses could do PACU recoveries in a pinch, but it didn't come to that. We joked that, well, we could go down and help start IVs, but that's about it. So all I could do was take care of my patients and keep checking the news to see what the latest was. It was just totally surreal to hear them announce that we were on the disaster plan, followed with "this is not a drill". And then to walk out this morning and see all the satellite trucks lined up... There was a 4 month old down in the ED whose mother had been shot, so one of our nurses took some formula and diapers down for them, and she said it was just an unreal scene: people everywhere with blood all over their clothes. :-( Our poor hospital manager looked like death warmed over when she finally got to do her rounds around 5 am (she had called in another manager to man the command center by then). The shooter was a neurosciences student on the medical campus, and my team captain for the Courage Classic is a neuroscience prof, and we have several neuroscience students on the team as well. It's all just unbelievable.

In happier news, I'm up in the mountains and ready to start riding tomorrow morning for the Courage Classic. As I was driving up this afternoon, I looked at the beauty of the mountains around me and just was so entirely thankful for the opportunity to get on my bike and let nature sooth my soul this weekend. Day 1 tomorrow will be about 55 miles, from Leadville to Turquoise Lake and down to Copper Mountain, followed by an optional trip up (and down) Vail Pass. I'm a little disappointed because they had to reroute the ride due to a major sinkhole in the middle of the highway, so we're essentially doing Day 3's ride backwards, but oh well. I managed to hit my $1000 fundraising goal, so I guess I'll be riding the century on day 2. EEK. It could be very, very ugly.

[Mel38]

Ride like the wind Gaye
 

[Plady]

Morning mamas,

Real - Here's hoping you have a remarkably enjoyable time in NY!

Gaye - Happy pedaling!  I'm so sorry for those poor people!  Even though you weren't super involved in their care it must feel a little satisfying to have been able to help at all.

MelW - I'm on San Juan so the ferry from Sidney to Friday Harbor will get you to us!  I haven't double checked but I think the ferry normally only makes one R/T a day so you'll have to spend the night, but that's okay!  We can swing that!    It will be so fun to look out at your island and you can point toward which mountain is nearest you!  And yes, you can definitely do it on foot!

Whew, another rough night of children coughing themselves to death last night. I was kicking myself as I knew I would after letting dh talk me into cancelling the appointment I had at the dr for Alison.  I don't know that they would have had any better answers but when she was having about the worst time ever at midnight (and 2 and 3 and 4)  I just felt like the world's worst mom with nothing up my sleeve but cold air and my own inhaler which she was too scared to try so I was trying to time a puff in front of her as she gasped for breath between coughs.  I think dh will get to make the call the on-call doc later today.

Jo - Thinking of you and your long long days.  Hope you find it especially reinvigorating. 

Okay, off to farm chores. 

[sparkletruck]

Plady - how long have they had it? My kids have had coughs like that, but the really bad nights last for only about 3-4. The coughing is definitely worse at night, and the whole thing can last 2-3 weeks. Pertussis? We have used an inhaler here and there, but mostly I cant tell much difference. We have found that propping them up to sleep (making a pile of pillows that they lean against while sleeping) is the best way to get them through the night. I hope they feel better They must be so exhausted

[tjsmama]

Courage Classic day 1 is in the books. It was a good day. I spent a lot of it riding by myself, since my one friend ended up being way faster than me and the other ended up being way slower. But, we mostly caught up at the aid stations, so it was all good. The weather was just about perfect, not too hot and sunny. It was a beautiful, hard ride. We ended up doing the optional leg up to the top of Vail Pass after lunch, for a total of 55 miles today. I am tired, but not too sore yet. Tomorrow: the century ride.

[Plady]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

Plady - how long have they had it? My kids have had coughs like that, but the really bad nights last for only about 3-4. The coughing is definitely worse at night, and the whole thing can last 2-3 weeks. Pertussis? We have used an inhaler here and there, but mostly I cant tell much difference. We have found that propping them up to sleep (making a pile of pillows that they lean against while sleeping) is the best way to get them through the night. I hope they feel better They must be so exhausted

I didn't really think pertussis since they don't seem *that* congested and they don't have super long coughing jags.  And, when I brought C in to the dr it never came up as a possibility and since it's an epidemic in the state you think the dr would speak up.  Anyway, it just gets worse at night and then during the day both of them have nearly normal energy and do a full summer day worth of stuff which is why I think it's been hanging on for so long, a month for C, about 2 weeks for me and a week for Ali.  I did buy a humidifier today and taught Ali how to get a bit of a puff from an inhaler, now they're all vapo rubbed up and propped up in bed and I have some hope of sleeping through the night without a huge scene.

Gaye - You are incredible mama!  I was trying to channel your culinary just-do-it-ness as I made jam for the first time ever today from the sour cherries from our tree.  If it works out I may have a new addiction (yeah, just as I embark on a no sugar life )

[sparkletruck]

Plady - sounds like pertussis to me. My kids were never congested, and the cough got worse at night and they were pretty normal all day (we all had it in Jan), with some/less coughing and less energy b/c they'd had bad sleep for too many nights Dh said maybe the dr didnt bring it up b/c there's nothing to be done. The timeline and symptoms sound right to me. It took me 3 weeks. It sucked

RR: we are leaving for our annual trip to the Sierra in 3 days. I am bringing my bike. I have not ridden outdoors since the same trip last year. The road is a category 2. The climbs on the Tour de France are called "beyond category", then there's category 1, and then this one. Its so brutal that you can almost not pedal (like, you are fighting the backward roll with each pedal-stroke.... at least I am) and it goes on for 4 miles (the whole ride is 32, w/ more hills, but this one is the worst, and its the first thing you hit when you start the first pedal stroke). Yes, this will possibly be my first real work-out in months

NRR: prepping for trip.... picking up DD from her second week of music camp (1st was 3 weeks ago, then home, then back...) and I'm excited! This week has gone S.L.O.W.

[Shantimama]

tjsmama - sending so much love to you and hope you all have some good support at work to recover from this tragedy  

[tjsmama]

plady~Yay for homemade jam! It's so easy and inexpensive (relatively speaking) and without all the added crap. I may have to make some more next month when the peaches really come in.

Copying and pasting from my dailymile post because I am too tired to retype:

Woohoo, I did it! And I have proof this year...no crapping out of the Garmin at mile 64! It was a tough ride. Started off by freezing our tushes off riding through the canyon from Copper to Frisco. Had an awesome ride north of Silverthorne on Highway 9. I felt strong and was averaging well over 20 mph. Then it was time to climb Ute Pass, and I didn't feel so fabulous anymore. :-) The view from the top is totally worth it (but do they really have to make us go OVER the pass and then climb back up??).

Back into Silverthorne, not feeling quite so good, but still averaging a pretty good pace. I took way too long at the aid station in Silverthorne, getting my bike tweaked, applying chamois cream, and eating vociferously. the climb into Keystone was pretty painful, especially when it started raining. Luckily, it only rained hard for about 10 minutes. But then I flatted. Crap. Thank you to the two very nice men who stopped and loaned me a little muscle as I changed my (disgustingly wet and dirty) tire. I got into the aid station at Keystone to find them almost packed up because someone had mistakenly told them that there weren't any more riders coming. Boo. Luckily, the mechanic was still there so I had him check my work on the tire change.

The ride got pretty lonely after Keystone. It seemed like most people had cut the ride short because of the rain, or skipped the Keystone stop and just headed over Swan Mountain (cheaters!). I headed up Swan Mountain, not at all excited about the climb. Plus, I had realized that, partially thanks to my flat tire, I was going to have to HAUL to make it to the lunch stop before it closed. I am pleased to report that there was NO crying on Swan Mountain this year! It sucked, but I did it, and did not bonk. I stopped just long enough at the aid station at the top to refill my water bottle, then flew down the mountain and hauled as fast as I possibly could (which was not very) into Breckenridge to the lunch stop. I pulled in one minute before the scheduled closing time. They were nice enough to leave the food up long enough for all the remaining riders to eat, although it was pretty picked over by that point.

Again, I stopped way too long, but my motivation was severely lacking at this point of the ride. I had figured out that I was almost definitely going to miss the team photo, but oh well. I still just wanted to get done as quickly as I could, so I pedaled my legs off. I felt surprisingly good, considering, maybe thanks to the mountain dew I had at lunch. :-) I skipped the last aid station and hit the home stretch. Which, of course, sucked. Hard. My legs hurt SO bad on the stretch from Frisco back to Copper, but I was so close! I hit the main entrance to Copper at 97 miles, so I knew I was going to have to go a little farther to see the magic 1-0-0 on my Garmin, so I passed the finish line, went around the roundabout, and rode back out to the main entrance. Back into Copper, and this time, I made the turn into the village and the finish line! I hit the finish line at 100.2 miles. :-)

One more day. It's gonna hurt!

[tjsmama]

sparkle~Yesterday's ride had 4 category 2 climbs, and today had 2 more. I feel your pain, literally.

shanti~Thank you.

Again, I am exhausted, so copying from my dailymile post about day 3's ride:

OUCH. That's how I felt this morning when I climbed on my bike for the last day of the Courage Classic. I was pretty sure I was going to cry as I shifted into granny gear within seconds of leaving Copper Mountain to climb up Fremont Pass. Fortunately, after the first aid station, the climb wasn't quite so bad, and my quads weren't burning quite so much. Don't get me wrong, they were still screaming, but it was workable. After summitting Fremont Pass for the second time on the weekend, we went screaming down the hill into Leadville. I felt strong on the descent/flats into town, but before long, we were at the junction and had to make the decision...turn right to go around Turquoise Lake, or go left and straight to the finish line? Around the lake, of course! There were a few moments of regret on the long climb up the north side of the lake, but overall, I'm glad we did it. A couple more fun downhills, and we were back on the gradual climb back to town and the finish line.

3 days, 200 miles, a lot of pain, a lot of fun. This event is SO wonderful. The volunteers are absolutely the best out there, the scenery can't be beat, and the best part...supporting Children's Hospital Colorado. I may not be able to move for a few days, but it was absolutely worth it!


I am in SO much pain right now. There will be no working out tomorrow. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

[Realrellim]

WAY TO GO TJSMAMA!!

plady--hope your kids get some rest and that it's not whooping cough.

RR: 3 today, 8.75 yesterday. Hot. Humid. Bleh.

NRR: Mostly a pleasant visit, with some of the usual madness. Some unexpected good stuff too, so that's good. We're in a nice motel tonight (wireless! in-room coffee maker! mini-fridge!!! balcony overlooking the St. Lawrence River, with a view of Canada on the other side!) and I'm loving it. Tomorrow is the cat-hair-infested in-law house that makes me cough the minute I walk in, but only for one more night before we head home.

[Nickarolaberry]

Gaye, wow! You rock mama!

My girls are back home. So happy to have them back. At almost 9 a.m they are still sleeping or lolling about in bed. I don't think they had more than 6 hours of sleep a night for the whole month. I am thrilled they had such a great time. I am astonished at the mess I had to wade through yesterday with laundry, junk, etc. The before and after of overnight camp is not for the faint of heart. 

Woke at 4 a.m. this morning because I had plans to run with someone at 4:45 (h had to leave for work by 6). It was storming so we texted back and forth and decided not to run. Then 4 minutes before I had to leave, noticed it had stopped so we decided to go for it. Blasted out of here with 2 cups of Gatorade and proceeded to have a really good run. I felt so peppy! Blue Gatorade is truly the epitome of nasty but I guess it did its job. 

Much work to do today and the kids are all home....

[bec]

Awesome, awesome, awesome report Gaye!!!  Still on the fence about working up to a century ride.  My low back seems to cramp up, and then, of course, the girly parts are not thrilled with anything over 40 miles!

Plady - I hope that the sickies pass soon.  As a kid, I would always get long, lingering, painful coughs.  They were horrible, and I think allergy/asthma related (so no suggestions, just sympathy).  My mom smoked throughout my childhood, and I'm sure it had a huge impact on my health because I have not had anything like it since leaving for college. 

RR: My tri class is officially over, but the teacher decided to do a 6 week filler class until the fall session starts up again at her house.  It is only $25, and she has basically created a boot camp in her back yard!  We did a mile warmup, followed by a whole bunch of different stations.  She made sure to make them fun, like a trampoline jump, a balance beam tug-o-war, basketball shooting (pushups if you missed), running through a sprinkler/slip and slide, and a bunch more.  She ended with ice cream!  Lots of fun. 

NRR: Worked 8 hours last night until the middle of the night.  Got home around 3 in the morning!  It was kind of brutal.  I like being the reliable, go-to girl on these things, but it would have been kind of nice to have been sent home at 12:30 like everyone else!  On the other hand, I got to do special projects like expand orange to fill some empty wall space.  That, literally being all the direction I got.  I love being able to make my own decisions about merchandising.  But, I don't like doing it in the middle of the night!  If the travel wasn't stupid, I would love to be on the team that goes around and opens new stores.  But, it's like 100% travel.  The people that do that for this company see their homes like one weekend a month!  It's crazy.