Dingoes LOVE to RUN through February! - Page 4

[sparkletruck]

Shanti - I will be totally honest and say I think you should have moved on a long time ago. for the yarn store!!

Jo - I might have posted that Hooray for your new groove. Thank G-d they come back around right!

NRR: the peri-menopause drama continues. Short version is that it's for real, with all kinds of symptoms from the textbook (of the bad version) and some I didnt know about but was asked about by the Gyn. I saw this a.m. (arthritis! why yes, it just started!). I'm going on hormones. Yes, hrt. Yes, I have done extensive research, above and beyond, including with Dh who read a 50 page report on the 2012 meeting of the something-or-other society of Ob-gyn's on hormone replacement. He's now ready for his next female patient in her mid-40's who feels like she's suicidally insane Hoping this gets me out of this psychic ditch, because this is a deep dark scary one, and I want my life back. Plus, its fracking hard to do grad school when I dont want to get out of bed.

On that note, off to present to my class!

[tjsmama]

Hooray for the yarn store, shanti! It sounds like absolutely the perfect place for you!

sparkle~ Although I had to laugh at your DH's 50 pages of reading...I probably would have caved after 5! I have journal-reading issues, though.

Taking the good with the bad, today. My HOA sucks, so my satellite dish will be going away. AND I have to send a certified letter to appeal the fine they're trying to make me pay even though I never got their first violation letter. Grr. I was also irritated by the fact that I took in a couple of more items to get scanned for the stupid loan repayment application and it cost me $8.00 instead of the 75 cents I was expecting. Apparently, having to lay something on the glass instead of put it through the feeder ups the charge from .25 to $3.99! Are you kidding me??

So, the good: I picked up my freshly tuned skis today. I will be saving $20/month when I have to switch to cable. I got a good workout in at the Y. I'm taking my valentine out for a nice dinner after school. Oh, and I may have bought myself some valentine candy at the store when I picked up something for DS.

rr~Hamster wheel hill workout for 30 minutes. It's much easier when you haven't done speedwork the day before, FYI. And then spin class. Also easier when you haven't done speedwork the day before.

Happy Valentine's Day, dingos!

[MelW]

Sparkle, I'm really rooting for the hrt to work for you!!

Shanti, good to hear from you and enjoy the yarn shop!

tjsmama, sorry about the HOA Enjoy your valentines date with DS.

I'm battling a cold. Today was our final clinical day and if it was possible to get a sub to do final evaluations I would have. I survived the day and am now cuddled on the couch. Yesterday was exhausting, too, with work and some elementary school nasty girl drama taking up far more psychic energy than I had available. We seem to have worked through it, for now.

[Plady]

Happy Valentine's Day Dingos! What's left of it anyway.

I ate a ridiculous amount of chocolate today, especially ridiculous when you consider that chocolate would not be my go-to sweet binge on any other day.  So tomorrow back on the wagon until Monday when the girls and I head to Seattle for our morning flight to SD on Tuesday.  I;m thinking that I may be going to heavy on the nuts.  I keep thinking "mmm, healthy fats" but I'm sure I've hit the limit and then some.

Jo - Glad the sun has shifted and looking forward to hearing about your visit with your parents.

Sparkle - Will also be interested in HRT updates.

Shanti - Yay for a job you can love!  And I'm with Sparkle on moving forward, though I know that the actual doing something new is hugely different than thinking about doing it.  Still, life is shorter when we are living someone else's dream.

And I'm out of time, as usual.  My schedule these days is pretty non-stop but I'm really enjoying it, so it's all good.

Love to you all!

[MelW]

I am taking a sick day. I'm doing a bit of work from home, but canceled this afternoon's meeting. My youngest is at daycare and the oldest is homeschooling beside me on the couch. I haven't had a one on one day with her for a while, so it's a nice change of pace to give her more attention. My FIL is still here but headed home later today. He's putting final touches on garage shelving at the moment. I'm optimistically hoping for a mellow and healthy weekend with the kids.

I'm feeling the mid-February blahs. Last year I hit the sick, fed up place at the same time. I need more exercise but struggle to fit it into the schedule. Bootcamp tonight is tempting, despite the cold, because I know how good it is for my mental health. What I reallllly want to do is run. Regularly (aka- not a couple times a month). With my upcoming work schedule involving a lot of short-call shifts at the hospital it will be impossible to have a "schedule" for exercise, but I need to get my butt in gear and be motivated to go whenever opportunity arises.

[kerc]

talk to me about garmins. I bought one last year? year before? that had a touchscreen and it sucked. I sold it on ebay. My husband had a 305 that is dying/is dead and he's going to attempt to replace the battery (it isn't designed for a user to do it, but we have a friend who has a electrical tech as a part of his science lab and said friend offered to help out...).

I have an iphone. I use map my run. Most of the time it's ok. Few cases when it isn't: 

a. sucks the life out of the battery. So if the battery isn't close to 80% before I start, I'm sure to have a dead phone when I'm done an hour later.

b. I have no heart rate monitor and IMO mapmyrun.com doesn't do a good job of computing calories (and I'm occasionally a data nut and it would be handy to have a hrm).

c. iphone sucks in cold weather. the battery dies uber quickly. Go back to a.

d. iphone not water proof. Not ideal for running in rain, swimming, or being near open water.

I XC ski (a lot), run (less often now that my knees get tired/sore), would like to open water swim, and bike.

So....mapmyrun is offering me 50 dollar heart rate strap and their more advanced website. For 50 bucks I could get most of that solved.

Or for _____ bucks I could upgrade to my very own garmin.

What do you think? What do you have? Love? Hate?

Hugs to all the strong ladies around this place.

[MelW]

I use my iPhone occasionally, because of all of the issues above. It has to be cool enough to want to pack it (usually light vest weather), not raining, etc. I don't have battery issues (2 hour run only drained about 15% of battery), but I turn the screen off and didn't use any music. The reception is crummy in the deeper forest, though I hear garmins have similar issues here, just not as bad.

I can't see using and relying on the iPhone regularly. It probably comes on only 10-20% of my runs. From what I've seen a garmin will do so much more for your needs. Someone else will chime in with models for you, I hope.

[Realrellim]

tjsmama--that stinks about the dish.

sparkle--I googled perimenopause symptoms and wish I hadn't. That would explain the stupid headaches/migraines that I've been having a for a few months and the emotional stuff and maybe even the extra pound or so that came and isn't going. Bleh. It had reached the pointed that I was staring at the "women's vitamins" in our natural grocery store last week, looking for something, anything that will put a stop to these stupid short cycles I'm having. My next stop is acupuncture (probably would have been the first one except for my complete lack of child care other than DH), but I completely hear where you're coming from. I hope it works well for you. My pastor is doing hrt, iirc, because she said she just couldn't live with the mood swings and all the other stuff.

kerc--I love my Garmin. I got the new and awesome Forerunner 910XT and adore it. Among other perks, you can swim with it (pools or open water). It's decent at counting laps, but it requires a strong wall pushoff and steady pace in the lane. I've had it count some swims perfectly and some too long or too short--though most of it is due to user error (doh!). Its running and biking features mainly seem to be the same as previous versions. It has a 20-hour battery life, which is wonderful. You can program custom workouts and use it for all sorts of non-running activities like snowshoeing or skiing and the like by choosing the "other" mode. Honestly, I could rave about it forever, but I'll link you to the crazy long but comprehensive review of it here: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/10/garmin-forerunner-910xt-in-depth-review.html It's pricey but I adore it. I'm a bit tempted to wear it around Disney just to see how much walking we do, though I also need to work in a 14-mile run that weekend so maybe I'll save the batteries for that.

MelW--hope you're feeling better.

Plady--chocolate, yum!

RR: I actually rode my bike outdoors today. Outdoor exercise, what a concept! I almost bailed and went to the gym in order to avoid the 20 mph wind gusts, but in the ended decided to tough it out and covered 7.5 miles if you believe my Garmin or 7.8 miles if you believe MapMyRun. (My bet's on the Garmin, because my phone was tucked in the bike bag and didn't have the best reception.)

NRR: the usual. DH is DH, the kids are intense, and it's the usual. J had her dance recital today and was super-cute though.

[1jooj]

The perimenopause talk freaks me out. I have no idea what to expect because I come from a long line of women who have had hysterectomies. Or maybe I should fear the worst? Sigh.

kerc, I used mapmyrun on my Samsung phone and it was OK, but when I used it with Pandora, it did suck batteries. I don't have good recommendations.

Shanti  Wish I could offer better than that.

The Internet has been trying to kill me. The local ISP did something over the weekend, and whatever they tweaked here--I wonder whether there is a security thing going on with the convergence of VIPs due to a major defense trade show. Or, rather, whether the security thing is what gave my Internet service the grippe. Anyway, it coincided with maintenance on the kids' school site, and the whole thing had me on the phone with very, very difficult to understand tech people (and I have lots of practice with South Asian accents). A very inauspicious start to what will be the longest week. Dh is at above-mentioned trade show, we have marathon Arabic class tomorrow, and ds has an overnight bday party Fri/Sat (which means I had better get a bday gift), which dh joins for father-son paintballing Saturday. All before my parents come Sunday night. After they have been no doubt worried and fretting while my sister has been hospitalized this past week.

The bright side is that all this has dh thinking Kuala Lumpur looks awfully nice right now. Or rather, in a month or so.

Beach weather is back. And word is that Lufthansa is running a sale from Dulles to Abu Dhabi. You just have to fly before 10 March. Anyone? 

[Nickarolaberry]

Hi mamas!

I've been reading but kind of AWOL about posting. Lots going on here and feeling the grip of my SAD and not so able to muster social energy. 

Shanti, I hope the yarn store job is exactly what you need and puts you in the spiritual, emotional, and financial position to make the choices you need from a position of empowerment. You are an incredible mama and person and we are behind you all the way. 

MelW, hope your cold resolves and you feel better.

Kerc, I have nothing useful to add really about the watch thing. I desperately need something; my basic Timex Ironman died and so did the Garmin 305 I inherited from my brother when he traded up, so I've been attempting to use my phone (LG droid) as a stopwatch and it is the pits. This phone is possessed by its own maverick and malicious will and does what it wants, when it wants, spontaneously, and rarely what I want or need on command.  It also sucks battery life at an unwarranted rate. I do use the phone when I run anyway to stream Pandora, mainly because I have to carry a phone anyway and I'd rather not carry more than one 'device.' Still, I really want to upgrade to an iPhone, and get a Garmin that is smaller and more streamlined than the 305 (can you say UNWIELDY? It is very ... noticeable ... physically when worn) and frankly the new RunnersWorld renew-subscription deal that offers a basic watch as a 'gift' looks inviting because at least then I'd have something. I find though that the DC Rainmaker blog site is the absolute best go-to site for comprehensive reviews and comparisons on these kinds of things.

Jo, sorry about the internet bugaboos! That's so frustrating.

Real and Sparkle, yeah on the perimenopause thing. I have an odd situation in that I had an endometrial ablation a couple years ago now so although I don't bleed much (although that's starting to come back a little) I still have the cyclical hormones and it is totally batsh## whacked now. Short, long...I used to be predictable almost to the hour and the past year or so, not so much. Paired with the lovely night sweats, mood swings, and other extremely fun side effects...bleh! On the up side, I do not have any grey hairs (yet). But I am growing a rather noticeably increased amount of facial hair (sorry TMI) which is alarming and unpleasant. It really is so embarrassing to go for a wax and ask for, like, basically my whole face and chin.  -- literally

So, around here I have been struggling with a 7 year old ds who is an out-of-the-box thinker and bumping up against the corners of his extremely conventional and unimaginative teachers. I had a meeting last week with them and the administrator and they just don't. get. it. They say the right 'words' but seem utterly incapable of putting strategies into practice in a proactive way to avoid the situations where he is bored and getting into mischief. (Example: the secular studies teacher -- all of 23 and just out of school with a post-teenage attitude the size of NYC -- says, "I know perfectly well he can do the worksheet in 5 minutes. He doesn't want to do it so I told him he can't join us at the group table or go to recess unless he does it. He was disrespectful and said, 'this is stupid.'" I replied, "he is not allowed to be disrespectful. My question is, if you know he can do the [single column addition] worksheet perfectly well, why does he need to do that worksheet? Is there some other more challenging activity he can do?" Her reply: "He has to show me he can cooperate and do the worksheet everyone is doing before I give him more work.") WTF????!!!!  In this exchange, it comes out that to calm himself or when he feels out of sorts, he goes to the Lego table to build models. The teachers don't like this because it is 'playing.' I sat there, absolutely astounded, that not only were they refusing to engage him with appropriate work/activities, but they were denying him a LEARNING ACTIVITY outlet AND penalizing him when he attempts to tell them, in 7 year old style, that he is at the edge of his ability to remain compliant, and then when he finally goes over the edge and is disrespectful, they send him to the principal's office!!!

Sigh. Now my beautiful, bright, and loving boy hates school. My options are so constrained I am beside myself. The public school here is the same, but bigger (very conventional, no gifted accommodations, etc.) and the Montessoris, where I would love to send him, are all over $15K a year. Since dh thinks he should just "deal" and because of my marriage and other circumstances I can't pull him and homeschool, I am left with trying to find a way to help him cope with a bad situation. He's very young for his grade (August 23) and the grade level above him has a social dynamic I am very leery of -- I can't move him into that grade (also his motor skills in writing lag behind his intellectual ones and he's not ready for all the writing).

My strategies: 1) I applied to the district for an assessment. Hopefully this will put the school on notice they need to accommodate him and force them to put the interventions into a real plan rather than just 'what do we do now'; 2) getting a book on teaching kids meditation, hopefully to give him tools to calm himself when he goes into his 'vortex of anger' and can't pull himself out without me there; 3) continuing to look for options that might work.

It continues to astonish me that educators can't understand differentiation, and that giving kids who are head 'more' worksheets is not meeting their needs!!!! UGH.

Anyway. So that's on the kid front. As for me, meh. Like I said, I detest this cold weather. We are going to FL for a few days this coming week so that should be fun and take the edge off (although add to the marital stress since dh and I don't travel well really). My running has been way more sporadic than I'd like, because of time -- kids etc. -- and because I seem to be having reactions to things or not realizing there must be gluten or dairy contamination and it is making running...dangerous (like, I need a bathroom Right. Now. and I'm in the middle of nowhere). I hate that feeling.   I am still planning to sign up for the May 26 marathon but am starting to worry I won't be ready.

No run yet today. We were supposed to go into Boston to see dh row in the Crash B Indoor Rowing Championships but the roads are icy, so not going. No childcare at the moment, so no long run yet.

[sparkletruck]

Nic - oh I feel for you! That sounds EXACTLY like what I went through with DS two years ago. His teacher said the exact same thing (needs to show compliance before I give him more challenging work). In my case though, the principal actually called me in for a meeting to discuss the fact that he had "been spending a lot of time in my office" where she had informally assessed him and decided he was bored because he's too smart. They moved him and gave him harder work and its been mostly smooth sailing since. I cant believe you have to wait for an assessment, and that YOU have to order it! Dh was recommended for special ed. in first grade for acting out and his mom called b.s. on the teacher and had him tested herself and of course he qualified to skip the grade! Can you get testing faster if you pursue it yourself? Geo can steer you through that In the meantime, do not back down. Know that you are not the first and trust your instincts. Tell him you are working to solve it. Ask the teacher how many times he would have to do the fracking worksheet to prove he can! 4? 10? Would a week's worth of "compliance" earn him some more challenging work?! Ask her, perhaps, hypothetically, if it's true that he's *just* bored, wouldnt it be in her interests to at least try to meet him where he is, rather than making him meet her? I.e. challenge his claim, and see if he is right (give him the harder work and see if he does better). Sigh. to you

Shanti - Ditto on what Nic said!!!

Real - Yep, headaches for a week at a time (never have headaches), some nightsweats, ARTHRITIS (that one really threw me), but I dont care about any of it compared to the moods. I figure (part of my risk/nbenefit analysis) I didnt have a menstrual cycle really until I was 37. I actually used to get nightsweats much more in my 20's than I do now. So Im coming into this from a pretty low-estrogen background - I think I can stand to extend the ratio, since my ratio is tipped the other way. Plus, there is mounting evidence of the benefits of hrt depending on when you start it (the WHI study having been shown to have all kinds of issues). So, I'm optimistic. Im not starting for 2 more weeks, to coincide with my natural cycle. We'll see...

NRR: Ive been attending graduate forums (2) this month to try to engage more with the dept., and I ran into last semester's prof (director of the program) who said they are highly recommending me for a TA-ship next year, my app. was great, bla bla. And my first thought was "oh shit", because of course it means more pressure on me to earn the trust or justify the expectations people are starting to have of me, and I'm tired! I finally managed to choke out "thank you"

[Geofizz]

I have lots to add, Nic.  First step:  Get the assessment, and see if you can get a "curriculum-based assessment" for math for both 2nd and 3rd grade as well as a "nationally normed achievement" across the board.  I can advise by email or by phone if you need more strategy on how to approach everyone involved once you have that data.  (My experience is with public schools, though, so not everything might not be spot on)

We've also seen the "the child must learn to do school our way before we can meet the child's out-of-level needs" response.  The K-2 mantra is "adjustment to school" as a priority over "learning at school."  Subject acceleration, even for one subject, is often enough for the child to realize that his intelligence is honored and appreciated, and it can help turn around a child's attitude towards school on a broader sense.  For a math subject acceleration, generally a child scoring above 85% percent on the curriculum-based assessment of the year to be skipped should skip with someone (parent or teacher) patching the topics missed on the assessment.

RR:  I discovered the flippers at the pool last night.  It helps balance out the effort between the arms and legs enough that I can swim further without having to take kick-board breaks.  I then came home and fell asleep on the couch.  Evidently 1200 yards took a lot out of me.

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck  Tell him you are working to solve it.

Yes, this.  That goes a long way to help a child.

[Mel38]

Congrats Sparkle - what a huge honor to have people behind you like that! You've really earned those accolades, so try not to worry too much about the future. You can do it!

On the topic of hrt, peri-menopause, etc., I am reading along with much interest but zero knowledge In your situation, with those mood swings and how it affects your life, it seems like hrt might be a good option. And arthritis!? Gad, that's all I need.

Nick - so sorry that the SAD is kicking your behind; longer days are coming And I'm also very sorry to hear that the teacher has such a flimsy understanding of things. That's just really discouraging to hear this my-way-or-the-highway attitude rather than something more creative - in the face of an obviously intelligent child and engaged parents. I hope that you have an awesome trip to FL.

MelW -  I hope you are feeling better, and the longer days will also bring back your mojo.

Kerc, I would probably recommend a Garmin, but I am not up on the newest models. That would probably be like Real's 910. I have the 405 with a touch bezel that I really liked alot. I don't usually carry my phone when I am running. The battery charge problem would drive me batty, and I really don't want to feel tempted to check my email while out on a run every time it beeps at me.

Shanti! I'm so excited that you have that job!! Please post photos of the lovely yarn

RR: Wonderful morning run in the brisk cold with my RP! She's planning to add in a bit more mileage, so we will shoot for a once weekly run together. It was lovely running and chatting with her.

NRR: Our adult kitty is stuck up in a tree ... again! This is probably the 4th time he has gotten himself stuck in a tree, only this time - we can not reach him. The fire department came out today and also could not reach him, mostly because of the electrical lines running right beneath the branch that he is in. So... for now, we wait. It is so chilly out there today.

[MelW]

Nic, I hope you can find a solution that works for your son. As usual, Geo gives excellent advice. I'm always disappointed when a young teacher lacks the enthusiasm for the challenges of the classroom. What she lacks in experience should be compensated for with energy and enthusiasm. Often not the case, but I can wish...

Mel, good luck with the kitty. I hope he comes down, at least close enough for ou to rescue.

sparkle, way to go with the acknowledgement of your awesomeness from our profs!

RR- Didn't make bootcamp Friday, but climbing yesterday and again today. I am finally getting strong and brave enough to climb some harder routes. My forearms are looking more muscular. My 3 year old is a legend at our climbing wall. All of the staff know her, and she's the youngest person to ever make it to the top of the wall. Se spent this morning practicing clipping and unclipping ropes. She's determined to get onto the ceiling, but her inability to unclip the rope stopped her from climbing past the vertical wall yesterday.

NRR- I "applied" to sit on the citizen's advisory committee to review our village's official community plan. I had an email in early Feb saying I would hear by Feb 6th. Heard nothing and assumed I wasn't selected (they were looking for diversity/balance of age, interests, etc). Yesterday while looking on the village website to confirm climbing wall hours I saw the list of names of the committee, including mine. The first meeting is tomorrow evening. I'm arranging childcare under the new assumption that I'm on the committee and sent an email asking them to contact me first thing Monday morning.

[loftmama]

reading along. Not running. Only doing daily yoga for now. Something everyday is my thing for Lent and right now it's just sun salutations. I have too many hard things in my life right now and it's taking it's toll on me. Dh said something to me yesterday in a very rude tone of voice and I just can't seem to rebound from it. Ugh.

Shanti, I love hearing about the store.

Nic, why did you have to get endometrial ablation? Was it painful? Sorry about the school situation. I remember when I had trouble getting ds1 to do his math and it turned out he was so bored with it that he postponed it and dragged it out. I bumped him up a grade. Problem solved. Now he still has to be motivated, of course, but he actually likes the challenge and likes learning something he doesn't already know. So, good luck with that!

Garmin? Don't know. I just use my iPhone and my stopwatch.

[Shantimama]

nic - I am sorry and frustrated right with you about your ds' school experience. I would be livid. I homeschooled ds through grade 4 and looking back, i am sure we would have had the same experience. Compliance and obedience are qualities that can be necessary for safety sometimes but not for learning and growing!

melw - that is great news you get to be part of that committee!

mel38 - how is your kitty today?

I am so frustrated - I have gone over every inch of our furnace and for the life of me, I cannot find where to change the furnace filter! It is an electric forced air furnace and it is running so sluggishly that I realized all the yuck in the air during the flood must have clogged the filter right up. This means it is running constantly while not producing much heat - $$$$$$!!!!!!! I am reluctant to power the furnace off completely and remove the panel I think the filter is behind - but I also don't want a huge service bill to have some guy come over and do that very same thing. Ugh.

Had some very, very intense stuff happen here at the end of the week but with some amazing support I kept my head above water. I really don't know how I am going to manage everything I need to manage. I am dropping everything that isn't truly necessary but it is still too much. Thank goodness my job is fun, creative and brings me some joy. School is a slog right now and finding time and space to concentrate on it when I am not physically exhausted is tricky. I am having a lot of trouble with my hands and arms since emptying the basement which doesn't help when it comes to writing and even holding books sometimes. The kids are great and I have a good routine when h is away so that the housework isn't too big of a deal. I just wish there were some shortcuts I could take with school but it doesn't work that way. 

Today's plan is to dye more yarn this morning, go on a tour of Koigu yarns with my co-workers this afternoon, get the kids ready for the week tonight and then hopefully have some mental energy and a quiet house at some point to plow through some studying. I might need to see if I can squeeze in a 20 minute nap at the end of the day while the kids watch some TV before supper so I can function later in the evening.

[Geofizz]

Shanti-- did you google for the furnace manual?

[Shantimama]

I did but no luck. I have looked at a bunch of videos and online tutorials and it looks like my best bet is to shut off the power to the furnace and go looking. Fun times. 

[kerc]

Does your furnace have a model number? Or a shop sticker on it?  We had trouble until I called the guy who installed it and he told me look here ---> 

Is your furnace the kind with a paper filter or a wrap-around filter (old school)?