Dingoes March into Spring...Come and run with us! - Page 4

[1jooj]

Hi Callie! I was thinking about the marathong just a few days ago, out on a walk. We went through a phase where dd used similarly melodramatic language; it has passed (for now), and we are back to her moody, but no longer melodramatic, self.  When she's feeling particularly intense, I try to listen in a way that she really sees me listening, and echo back her words with more appropriate things (i.e. not self-bashing) substituted. And sometimes refute the "garbage" talk.

mommajb, I empathize on the HSer stuff. Kids and I talked about that lately, how it kinda sucks when the kids gel but the moms don't or vice-versa. Then it seems all we get is Park Day and the occasional field trip, because it's not fair to require the other party to put up with their counterpart (and it sounds extreme on the face of it, but really is like that). I've reassessed goals for end of year (for dd) to make things easier on her (and as a result, all of us, of course). Dh was home and underfoot yesterday and stepped in for dd's math. I'd gone for a walk and came back to find her fighting tears. Ah well.

lofty, yoga with a psychologist sounds awesome. If not a solution, at least I am sure your eyes opened wide to the picture.

Nic, I've missed you. I agree with the creativity idea for the students. How, exactly, did they bomb the research paper? Was it more on topic info itself, or style/grammar/format issues pushing things over the top? How do you prep a class for an AP exam? Hold on. Spring will come, and with it the amazing smell of mud and worms, and then grass and trees and blossoming things. I am beginning to develop a small pocket of doom/doubt in my own gut. I know I can't live here much longer, for many reasons, but the thought of 6 months of winter makes me want to cry. And our "third option" is too close to the ILs for me to stomach. Hugs.

Shanti, while you can't necessarily post them here, I hope there are developments, and positive ones for you. 

Gaye, I would love to, but given the logistics, I suppose it is best if I sit things out. That sounded like an incredibly exciting and emotionally draining work shift. Hoping things are not often so intense!

MelW, good luck to your dh. Wish I could send you all a few of our degrees and a couple of our sunny days each week. We have both to spare.

That said, today the fog is so thick I can't see anything. We get these advection fogs here when the temps start really swinging and the humidity starts inching up, and some days it never clears. I was planning to go out and walk this morning, and I suppose if it does within the next hour or so I will. I've been walking daily, and started doing more of my other exercises, and we have also been on our bikes more, and kids and I are swimming a couple days a week. Lots of good movement, but I realized this week my body does appreciate a challenge and I have not given myself one in a long time. So I have started taking the stairs up to the sixth floor apartment instead of the elevator.

Anyway, our weekend is here, and it's been a long, hard week back at school. Kids and I have earned some time off, and I hope we can come up with something relaxing to do with it. Have a great weekend, Dingoes.

[Plady]

Callie - Yay!  Good to see you here!  So sad to hear your dd is having trouble - it sounds just like how mine was talking toward the middle of third grade.  And lots of crying, especially at bedtime.  It's been a long road for her and it's ongoing.  She's been taking Prozac for about 18 months.  I know that she has had less deep downs since she's been on it and much more level emotionally but I hate that she's on it yk?  I fear that her brain will not develop normally having this type of crutch so early in life - but then there were those times when she'd cry that she wanted to die so...  I'm hoping meds are the lesser of two evils. 

Shanti - That knitting you posted the other day was amazing!

Geo - Good luck with the job!  My PT would be jealous of yours as I suspect you're one who will actually remember to do your work like you promise to in the office.

Lofty - Keep us posted.  Am interested in these "specific menopause/perimenopause relationship issues" of which you speak.  And the book, will have to go check it.

Re: SS - It is with true regret that I won't be able to participate this year.  I'm just so swamped I know my sprintee would totally get shafted until midsummer and that sort of defeats the purpose doesn't it?  I'll be interested to hear about what transpires however!

RR: Boxed.  Another good day for that, I had lots of energy and felt strong.  Yay!  Now if I can' get myself to something (anything!) between now and Tuesday's class I'll really be grooving!

Goodnight mamas!

[Realrellim]

Nic-- to you, especially for some sun out your way pronto! I don't have any advice, other than I think a lot of teachers at all levels are feeling pretty stressed by many of the same issues, even if the specifics are different. One other thought on Rwanda: they're young. They're not going to get it the way we do for a million reasons, but the main was is that they're young. That doesn't mean it didn't plant a seed, even in some of the bored ones.

Plady--so happy to hear your voice returned! Also, I think meds are the lesser of two evils, perhaps also from a biological perspective. I think my husband talked about that once, but I don't remember the specifics and he's gone to bed.

Shanti--hope the asthma calms down again.

Geo--That was a beautiful line about the PT.

tjsmama--part of me would love to do SS, but I'm thinking I'd be insane to add one more thing to marathon training/conference papers/Disneyland in the next month. (Or would I? Feel free to convince me in a PM!)

lofty--I'm very interested in the 700-paged tome. Must read soon. Though I think acupuncture might be helping, at least a little. I had my third session this week and am keeping my fingers crossed.

MelW--rats reproduce freakishly quick. So no, they're not returning but they're likely maturing.

kerc--paper writing! Amazing! Send some of that my way. I'm presenting a week from Saturday and haven't written the silly thing yet. And then I'm presenting two weeks after that in Arizona and haven't written that one either. Though if I don't go to sleep, I could work for 6 hours straight....hmmmm.

RR: ran the first RRS Adventure Run of the year, which is stupid fun and free. I made it coincide with the tempo run I needed to do. I think I talked about this last summer, but basically they unveil a map at the starting time and we choose our own routes and collect as raffle tickets as possible within an hour of the map unveiling. I'd spent some time at home staring at maps to see if I could make it to the ones near my house, provided places like Bally's and Little Caesar's were on the map again this year like they were the last time I did the run. Those are the spots that are 3 miles away and worth the most tickets. Turned out I could make it there and back with a couple of minutes to spare (yay!) but still didn't win anything, though. I'd found myself with a pack of guys (young 20-somethings who'd caught up to me but then were held back by slow traffic lights and not knowing where they were going so they followed me for the four locations and then I told them how to get a few more in a location that I was pretty sure I wasn't fast enough to get to and still get back before the hour was up), and one of their members had a ticket pulled not one, not two, but three times!

NRR: J turned 3 on Monday. I'm beginning to think the stuff I was hoping was pre-birthday developmental stuff is just J being 3. If so, it's gonna be a long year. She's absolutely adorable, but has decided that anything I say is optional.

[sparkletruck]

Thanks y'all

Jo - on the meditation: yup, daily. always. Vitamin d: funny you mention it b/c this is the first week of sun we've had and Ive actually made a point of going out in it short sleeved just to cover that base. although my moods are so lock-step with my cycle, and so verbatim what i've read/heard from others that i *know* what's causing them

mamajb and lofty - here's another one that I found useful. you are both SO equanimical about all this. lofty, depending on how low the estradiol is, it could be a real factor in what you are experiencing. any accupuncture/herbalist near you? mamajb, I hope you find some balance in the mood area and friend/kid's friends dept. I'm there with you both too w/r/t the mid-life relationship changes. Actually, that article I just linked explains it so well, although she is citing "Wisdom..." so you've likely already read about reclaiming yourself in the face of a family with the same expectations. i'm seriously thinking about counseling just so we can talk in a less hurtful way. sometimes i think all i do is criticize, but how to elicit change without pointing out what i'd like changed to you both

melw - well done on the job and the running! i'm very happy for you i hope your dh can find some answers. does he have RA?

plady - any news for your dh? when does he find out how he did? I hope the spring pollen doesnt get him down too much.... hurray for a return to feeling normal and boxing and singing

geo - apparently I havent breathed right my whole life, according to my DD's dentist! Yup, i'm a mouth breather Boo on me. alas so is she and we must correct it so she isnt susceptible to all kinds of bad things in life maybe that's been my problem all along. Its not hormones at all! Good luck with the PT. If anyone will resolve this quickly it's you

RR: actually heading to the gym soon. should be u.g.l.y.

NRR: .... first need to register for campsites in yosemite promptly at 7a PST! we have been warned they go in seconds! working on my take-home mid-term (yes, over spring break) 22 pages in, and 2/3 of the way through. I am utterly Meh about school this semester. just trying to get done. Scared of accepting the TA-ship if I cant get a handle on the mood thing. Must accept/decline by april 15...

[calicocj]

kerc - send some of that paper writing mojo this way!! my aspiration is to write (or usually edit student authored papers) at least 1/day but I haven't been able to make much progress lately...

Lisa - that sounds like a fun race!

Jess - did you get the campsite?

Thanks for the DD thoughts... especially around trying to mix together listening, reframing, refuting the really negative, all with a bit of resilience mixed in.... I have the tendency to first want to soothe and then try to dive right in to try to find the underlying problem, and am not doing enough listening, I think....  I'm also trying to do a better job of tracking it over time to see if it is sporadic or more of a regular thing...

[Runningmommy]

Hi ladies!! 

I would love to sign up for SS, but I believe GAYE, is still owed a box of goodies from me.    So I sucked when we were moving.  so sorry!  So I probablly should just send her that box instead of signing up. 

I was commenting to some one a few weeks ago, that this is the first winter in as long as I can remember where I didn't get the blues.  Two things I did differently were taking 3 weeks of 10,000 D3 then dropping to my normal 5,000, and takng the "Alive" daily vitamin women's energy with b vitamins, in additin to the fish oil and other stuff I take.  I want to remember that for next year!  I've also had higher mileage. 

Which brings me to FAT.  SO flipping fustrated!!  I can't fit into any of my old pants and even a blouse was tight on me.  The more I work out, the more I weigh and it just. isn't. fair.  I eat mostly clean, watch my portions, and always pair protein with carbs, I stay low carbs (I've come back from insulin resistance).  Hate looking at the blubber especially when I work so hard at eating and working out. 

RR: 13 miles that were heavenly this morning. 

NRR: friend's (adopted) 3yo that has had a life of health problems due to being born to a drug addict.  two days ago he stopped breathing, mom called ambulance and sent other three kids to our house overnight, dad was out of state working.  In the ambulance the 3yo had a 25-45 minute seizure and has been in the hospital ever since.  Please pray for them if you pray.  Thanks.  

[loftmama]

Callie, Ugh, on the 10yo blues.

Sparkle, another great link. I love you. You always seem to know *just* what I need to read.

Mommajb, 2 things about the book that may/may not be interesting. Everything my friend talked about and that I have read from it seems like it would apply so well - not just professionally - but in my marriage. In retrospect, "leaning in" was how I got my anniversary scuba trip last year. It's basically "leaning in" instead of "leaning back" when the conversation gets either challenging, difficult, invalidating, dismissed, etc. I would say "leaning back" is my de facto way of managing conflict and I want to learn to "lean in" instead. Does that make sense? Interestingly enough, when I found a New Yorker review about the book, it referred to an earlier review by Jodi Kantor that was pretty much based on incomplete quotes from the book. The review was very negative and the NYorker follow-up was practically apologetic. But Maureen Dowd of the NYTimes had already picked up the New Yorker review, and perpetuated the negative review by commenting on the out-of-context / shortened quotes and had to also backtrack. Nevertheless, the damage was already done prompting a whole group of Lean In haters. Of course, I haven't read the book, but based on how my friend was describing it, I'm eager to get it!

It's our anniversary today. Dh has been awesome. But mil was diagnosed this morning with a malignant brain tumor so he has gone to be with her. In the meantime, the hormones are not as bad as those 2 dark months of Jan & Feb. Back to normal, I think.

Yoga: Check

Gaye, will pm you.

Real, great race report!

Kerc, wtg on that writing!

eta: Cross-posted with you RM.

[Geofizz]

I spent my day at the local, rival university to give a talk. I'm beat.

Next I need to torture myself with the bondage band.

Thinking of your friend's son, Lisa. May he come through this with strength. When was the last time you had your thyroid checked?

Sorry to hear your MIL's news, lofty. Any sense on treatment process?

Daily writing works for me as well. Well, it would work for me if I did it.

Evidently DS came home and annouced he had his Worst Day Ever since he turned 7.. DH said he thinks he successfully squelched his gaffaw at the drama.

[MelW]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

melw - well done on the job and the running! i'm very happy for you i hope your dh can find some answers. does he have RA?
 

Psoriatic arthritis. But similarly autoimmune.

lofty, thinking of your family and your MIL. Big hugs. I'm also very interested by Lean In, since I've heard a lot of the media/backlash around it. As with many "big" books, I'll wait for my friend who works in bookstore marketing to read it for me and then pass it on. I have a lifetime of practice at conflict avoidance to work on. Generations, old, really.

RM, prayers for your friend and her DD.

I'm taught my class this morning, subbed in the lab this afternoon, and am working a night shift tonight. I was going to go home between lab and the hospital, but realized that 40ish minutes each way really wasn't a fruitful way to spend my early evening. Instead I'm taking myself out to dinner and buying new socks (I always keep scrubs in my car and my shoes at the hospital, but I'm in a dress and tights and not inclined to keep them on all night under my scrubs). Now I'm wishing I had some running gear stashed at work so I could go for a quick run, since I'll miss bootcamp tonight. Instead I'm wasting time on the internet, and waiting for the Lebanese restaurant to open.

[Realrellim]

RM--will pray for your friend's little one.

lofty--happy anniversary!

Geo--I think I've had some of those Worst Days Ever.

RR: just an easy bike ride as the sun set. Got back before it was completely dark, which was good because my headlight batteries were dying.

ETA: they took pics at yesterday's run (which isn't so much of a race as a free event to get runners to come look at merchandise). Do you think the cars could see me?

Edited by Realrellim - 3/16/13 at 1:06am

[Geofizz]

Lisa, we were mostly laughing at the drama of the Worst Day Ever, all while Mr Literal had to qualify it as the worst day in the last 4 months.

I swam a mile. It took 53:30, including 4 brief rest breaks. DD swam with me. She did 100 lengths of the pool, so 1.4 miles, in 59:52. We came home and she proceeded to eat for a half an hour straight.

My knee is feeling ok. The PT exercises are torture.

[MelW]

My seven year old is enchanted with literalism. A favourite is to ask to play "exact day" in which all language is taken literally (à la Amelia Bedelia). I try to avoid this game as much as I can.

real, looking good!

I did my 19 out of 24 hours working and lived to tell the tale. After a morning nap I met up with my sister and her partner who are in town for the weekend for a walk on the beach. It's herring season, so the beach is covered in roe and seagulls. A day or two of sunshine and the smell will be unbearable there for a while. Today, I am grateful for the drizzle.

[sparkletruck]

Originally Posted by MelW 

My seven year old is enchanted with literalism. A favourite is to ask to play "exact day" in which all language is taken literally (à la Amelia Bedelia). I try to avoid this game as much as I can.

[kerc]

Geo: a mile in an hour is an honest day swimming!

Mel: did you say 19 of 24?!! Oy.

I'm not in for ss. Just cannot do it right now. (most of my Christmas cards are on my desk upstairs).
Cough cough cough.

Lovely day skiing.

[Shantimama]

Originally Posted by MelW 

My seven year old is enchanted with literalism. A favourite is to ask to play "exact day" in which all language is taken literally (à la Amelia Bedelia). I try to avoid this game as much as I can.
 

We named our dog after Amelia Bedelia because we got her when our youngest was in love with those books and all things literal - she was seven too. The fact that the puppy got into almost as much rouble as the original A.B. just made the name stick! I now have a teenager who gets this literal when she gets in a "mood." Not nearly as cute (even if exasperating at times) as a seven year old!

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by kerc 

Geo: a mile in an hour is an honest day swimming!

Lovely day skiing.

Gorgeous picture, even if I do continue to tease the RCs and their trees.

So what would the equivalent swimming pace be for a runner? A lot of what I look up about swimming (like calories burned-- holy cow it makes me hungry!) ties things to 'a mile in half an hour' with little about a mile in closer to an hour. So is the 30 minute milers in the pool equivalent to the 6 minute mile runners, or are they the 7-8 minute milers? Is swimming with the 54 minute miler in the pool like running with a 12-14 minute miler?

Yes, I can over think anything.

In other insanity news, I stared recovering our couch yesterday.

Sewing question: I always have this issue, even for normal fabric. If I start with a rather thin strip of fabric and carefully fold down a measured seam, the resulting pinned strip always curves. I can prove to myself that there's no curve in the original strip. What am I doing wrong?

[sparkletruck]

RR: cardio bike and run/walk for about 70 minutes Friday, weights Saturday. Wow, I dont recommend getting out of shape after 42. Getting back is a bigger slog every time, as every time my basement of fitness gets lower and lower. Weights were ... a challenge. Let's say that in 3 mos. off lifting I can do 50-60% of what I could then. So. Frail. But it felt good.

NRR: after a manageable (not happy but not morbid) 2 weeks pre-AF I thought I'd forego the estrogen patch. Maybe it was all vitamin D after all! ...and then AF started and no estrogen came and it was bleak, as I mentioned. All that to say, I started the patch this month, a week ago. I called the Gyn. on day 3 b/c I was feeling so low/scared to report that the patch wasnt helping and I needed a psych. referral. She said hang in there, the patch takes 4-6 weeks to notice. Meanwhile, by day 5, I think my own estrogen came on board enough to pull me out of the hole, or the patch is kicking in. Who cares. I exercised for the first time in months!

Still slogging through this mid-term. Bleh. Hard in the opposite way as last semester's. My classmate said that one was mind-alteringly hard, and this one is hard like chinese water torture. Badly written test...

RM - praying...

Geo - I dont know anything about swimming or sewing...

[1jooj]

sparkle, either way, that is good news to me. I worry. And yes on losing conditioning. Grr.

And Geo, sadly, I know just as much about swimming and sewing as sparkle does.

My kids are too solidly trained in sarcasm to have ever been literal. If that $#!t ever kicks in, I am so in for it. We speak, in this house in polyglot poetic hyperbole. No one really understands what is being said most of the time, except dh and I.

RR: I have been getting out for my hour every morning. This morning, I listened to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and while I know how weird I must looking talking to my headphones and laughing, it is such a nice listen for me. I have also started to occasionally take the 6 flights of stairs to the apartment.

NRR: Trying to plan a short jaunt to Kenya is surprisingly challenging. But I am trying anyway. And maybe it's dumb but the idea of wildlife has us all drooling.

[mommajb]

Geo, kerc knows more and swimming does make one hungry but a cup of soup or other hot beverage after swimming before eating does wonders to control the appetite in my experience -both for me and my kids. As for the sewing, I understand and it happens to me but the explanation I was given is nt caoming out in sensible words this morning.

sparkle, I hope it kicks in and you don't have a bad cycle this month. Hang in there. The last article you posted - I wanted to quote the whole thing it hit so close to home. I even have a fil with parkinson's. So close to home. Did you notice 10 yo daughters got a special mention?

I have several heartfelt things to say to the dingos but my mind is not functioning. I care deeply and think of you ladies often throughout the day but what I think remains a mystery even to me right now! If I pull it together I will come back with personals later.

RR another solo jaunt this morning before making french toast with caramelized bananas for 10 yo company. Shower and then out to the ice rink because the only solution to a houseful of 10 yo girls is lots of physical activity. Yesterday the mom that had the houseful took these same girls to run a St Paddy's Day 10K and they did it! I don't know if I am more impressed with her or them.

[sparkletruck]

Originally Posted by mommajb 


sparkle, I hope it kicks in and you don't have a bad cycle this month. Hang in there. The last article you posted - I wanted to quote the whole thing it hit so close to home. I even have a fil with parkinson's. So close to home. Did you notice 10 yo daughters got a special mention?

No, I was laughing too hard about the baleful, bloated woman with the spare beach floaty around her waist

Speaking of daughters, its a good thing my 5 year old is the cutest freaking thing on the planet because she found my estrogen patches and stuck half of them all over the walls of the house.... so my walls should have glowing skin and be in a good mood now