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Running in the new year with the Dingos: January 2014

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8K views 256 replies 18 participants last post by  bec 
#1 ·
It's the New Year! Time for making goals and looking ahead to healthy living in 2014!

New visitors to the Dingo Thread may ask, "but, what is a Dingo?"

Dingoes are mamas (defined loosely, when needed) who run, walk, cycle, tri, and participate in whatever sport they need to sustain their awesome mama selves in lives that are definitely dynamic. Sometimes, a Dingo is injured, or life takes a turn, and she has to take a break from her chosen sport. Whether active or aspiring, Dingoes support one another in spirit. When two Dingoes are in the same place at the same time, something incredibly special happens. This is called a Dingo Meetup. They are relatively rare, and so we try to record them with photographic evidence.

Are you a Dingo? You just might be, if:

You sometimes perform acts of brilliance in order to squeeze a workout into a busy week.

You're never ashamed of coming in at the back of the pack, even if you're used to coming in faster.

You have found yourself sincerely respecting and admiring moms in all forms, observing how they're doing it for love, and growing from their experiences as well as your own

You won't know until you try, and all comers are welcome.
 
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#102 ·
Jo - when do you hear? And remind me, did you apply to the university I"m in? Yes on using the terms crazy and nervous breakdown loosely, which I resent and yet are sort of appropriate in certain moments (when a moment is several hours). I think the real storm has passed, and that I have likely experienced all the weather systems, so that now when one comes in, I can at least batten down the relevant hatches and wait. But that easier to say when Im not in the middle of a storm, which Im not. I'm hopeful that chinese herbs may be helping control the chaos. Im looking forward to hearing what you will be doing next year!!!

MelW -
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#103 ·
Geo - my Dad has double vision as a result of a fall that caused bleeding in that part of his brain. He has a prism in his glasses, but it doesn't help with close up. He goes to an occupational therapist who specializes in vision issues. Even during the 5 days I was there, his ability to focus at various distances improved. And how great for the school to tap into your knowledge pool to help them with the math curriculum!

MelW - I'll pass on the 4-year-old too! Hope she's feeling better. Good luck with the testing and the grade skip.

sparkle - you sound good. At least you know what's coming and can mentally prepare a little to take the edge off.

tjsmama - DS is probably just trying to adapt to the changes (spending the holiday with his dad, the presence of C in your lives, etc.) He'll get through it. I agree that focused one-on-one time with the activity of his choice might help.

RR - 45 minutes of walk/run at the Y followed by stretching at home.

NRR - DD1 started math tutoring about 3 weeks ago and the gains she's seeing are incredible!!!! She's much more comfortable with her addition facts and the daily non-negotiable practice pages are fantastic reinforcement. So glad we bit the bullet and got her into the program.
 
#105 ·
Hi mamas. Thanks as always for lending virtual hugs. I'm around. Lots of forward motion this week, thanks to weather that allows me to do it in the early morning when my systems are much more likely to cooperate.

Doctor suspects Crohn's and scheduled me for a colonoscopy (ever so pleasant) in March. In the meantime the other, uh, 'comfort' measures
:eyesroll
are somewhat counterintuitive (sorry..tmi) and I'm kind of resistant to them but will, on the urging of my best friend here, do it nonetheless.

I go observe at the public school tomorrow. Ds has seemingly been doing better (what that means is that I haven't heard much...not necessarily that it's true I guess) and has the second phase of his testing through the district in the next couple weeks (OT, academic eval). Not overly impressed with the p.s. principal's lack of forthcomingness (word?) regarding me observing or any info on the school. Bleh.

At work we start midterms tomorrow so I have a bit of time to myself although still a lot of work to do. Hoping for a nice weekend.
 
#106 ·
Hello dingos.

Jayger-so happy you got to see your dad and family and that there are many improvements.

Nic-I'm glad that you are heading toward some answers and comfort.

RR: yesterday and today I haven't. Maybe later today, we will see.

NRR: my 94yo Nana is in the process of passing and I've been driving an hour each way to see her daily. Yesterday was over 4 hours due to needing to pick up my dad who has been bedridden (or bathroom ridden) sick since Sunday. Lack of sleep and keeping any food in him he's feeling horrible. Started up to visit my Nana today but the roads are ice covered. After passing 3 accidents, driving literally 4 mph (which I loved because less chance of accident!), I turned around and white knuckled it home.
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#107 ·
rm~
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Peace for you and your family. Sorry you had such a terrible drive yesterday.

nic~
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that you get some answers soon.
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Back in nanny limbo. Sigh. I had hired a coworker's daughter to take over from my current nanny, who is starting her student teaching next week and needs to be on the other side of town before I would get home from work in the morning. Said coworker's daughter has another part-time job that she loves that she needs to be at 3 mornings a week before I get home, but we thought we would be able to work around between scheduling and the occasional help from my old nanny. Yesterday she calls me to say that her boss is injured and they're going to need her regularly until March at 7 am. Which, at first, I thought ok...we can try to work with that. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought...if that's the case, why wouldn't I just keep my current nanny who has the exact same restrictions?
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So, back to the drawing board.... Current nanny had given me a friend's info who might possibly be interested, so I called her and left a message this morning. And if I don't hear back by the afternoon, I think I'll pony up the cash and reopen my care.com account and post it there. Sigh.

I had a lovely day up skiing yesterday. It was supposed to be girls' ski day with girls from work, but it turned out only two of us could go, so we went, and then C met us up there as soon as he could get out of work. It was cold and windy and kind of miserable on the lifts, but not too bad actually skiing. And it was a fun day, and my coworker has day use privileges for the lodge at the base, so we were able to hit the hot tub for a bit before heading home. DS has brought home smiley faces that past two days and has gotten his work done. Hopefully he doesn't regress now that I'm heading into a miserable stretch where I work 6 out of the next 8 nights. Blech.

Ok, enough putting it off...time to go do my super slow 45 minute run, keeping my HR between 135 and 140 bpm....
 
#108 ·
Somebody tell me this whole HR training thing is going to get better...today's run was so frustrating, shuffling along at nearly 14 minute pace to keep my HR in the prescribed zone. Blah.
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#110 ·
Nic -
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I hope that's not what it is. In the meantime (btwn. now and March), I have a suggestion: when I was deep in gut-health research years ago I came across a probiotic that is medical grade, and that you may be able to get a script for. I took it for a few weeks after being in the hospital for pneumonia on IV abx for weeks (b/c I'm hyper-conscientious, to put it nicely
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). Anyway, it's called VSL #3. I found this extensive review on Amazon that might be useful to you
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It may be that you dont have Crohns and this is helpful, or that you do and its helpful, or that its not. In any case, maybe you could ask your doc about it and about getting a script, since its so expensive. Honestly I think you need to meditate 2x/day too, but I understand
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Gaye - my heartrate has never in my life been in the right zones. I think people can be different? Isent there a way to test for your max heart rate and then gauge % from there?
 
#111 ·
We get the atlantic magazine at our house. cover story:

Surviving Anxiety

I've tried therapy, drugs, and booze. Here's how I came to terms with the nation's most common mental illness.

by the editor of the Atlantic.
 
#113 ·
Nic, the principal probably is resistant to putting much in writing and wants to avoid anything that could be misconstrued as a promise. Sit down, though, on one end or the other of your visit for a "get to know you" and a "let me tell you about my kid and my goals for his learning."

Gaye, how much caffeine is in your system before doing one of those HR workouts?

Many hugs, RM. So glad you made it home safe. Healing thoughts to your dad as well.

kerc, thanks for the article. Skimming...
 
#114 ·
Oh, mamas. Help! Abby has lice. And I got a call from Katie's school that she had it too (although I'm questioning that after giving her a treatment and not finding any nits). So, my question to those of you that have had to deal with this. Do you treat every one in the family, even if they don't have anything? I'm going to give Emily a treatment because she shares a room with Abby. But, I'm wondering if DH and I should be doing it too. Also, Does freezing work? And how long does it have to be frozen? I am planning on washing her bedding in hot water, and her mattress is a foam one from Ikea, so I rolled it up and put it in a huge bag (thank you DH) and it is on the deck in the 32-33 degree weather. Is that cold enough? I was thinking of leaving it out there for the night (it is supposed to get down to single digits) before bringing it back in and then spraying it with the spray that came with the RID lice kit.
 
#115 ·
Bec - please, allow me to field this one
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1. Shampoos dont work, and if they do, they arent worth using b/c they are pesticides, and moreover, you still have to comb and check as you would without them. I used shampoo once. It didnt work. I will never use it again
2. Lice transfer from clothing, bedding, hats, scarves, hairbrushes - NOT by jumping. If your head might have touched anything their heads do, its worth checking. Dh and I always check ourselves and so far we have never had it, even when the kids have had it BAD
3. Checking - When the lice are first found, we check every day, until we have 2 days of finding no lice and no nits. Then we go to every other, then every third. We put the kids in front of a movie (checking one head can take 45 min- 2 hrs, depending on what you find), wet their hair, comb it out, and then use a nit comb on ONE section of strands at a time. I keep the checked hair out of the way with a hair clip (hence, I start the checking with a pile of hair clips next to me). I check section by section, from one side of the head around the back to the other. Also, VERY helpful, wear a headlamp if you have one, even in a bright room! I keep a damp paper towel next to me to wipe off whatever I get off their heads after each comb.
4. Wash - wash everything; clothes, hats, scarves, bedding (including comforters, and pillows, which you can put in the dryer for 30 minutes). We put clean fitted sheets on the kids beds and their sleeping bags for the first week of infestation, and then throw the whole pile: pillow with cases on, sleeping bag, and fitted sheet, in the dryer for 20-30 minutes EVERY day. They dont get their bedding out back on until we've not seen lice/nits for a week.
5. Lice and nits cannot survive the dryer for 20 minutes (I do 30 to be sure), and cannot survive freezing temps (below 32) after 8 hours. Thus, if you are that cold there, you can hang jackets, couch cushions, etc. on the porch at night. On our worst/first infestation, we would just hang jackets on the porch every night and then get them into the house in the morning for enough time to warm up before the kids left for school. Also, all extraneous cushions, pillows, throw blankets, stuffed animals! went in a trash bag on the porch for a few weeks
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I put all pony-tail holders, combs (including the lice ones) and brushes in the freezer. Some of them are still there ("where's the brush!?", "I dont know, have you checked the freezer?")

Its really not that hard to get rid of in the sense that 2-3 thorough combing sessions really will uncover and destroy them all. Its *just* a colossal PITA

Dont worry - EVERYONE gets them. They are like fleas. It doesnt mean you are skeevy! And people who think so just havent had them yet. I like to physically see them die when I pull them out of my kids' hair
mischievous.gif


Good luck

P.S. we discovered that the way our kids (and others at the school) kept getting lice was because all the kids hung their jackets on a rack right next to each other. The school policy is now to keep jackets outside the class in a bag (paper or plastic
lol.gif
) or in their cubbies. I remind my kids frequently to keep their hats and jackets far away from their classmates'
 
#116 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geofizz View Post

Gaye, how much caffeine is in your system before doing one of those HR workouts?
Maybe a cup of tea, if that? I really don't drink all that much if I'm not at work. I did have a cup of black tea with breakfast this morning, that's it. I'm trying to put my faith in my coach and his system, but man, it's frustrating to try to run that slow! I have a very low (like, upper 40's) resting heart rate, but I shoot up pretty quickly with activity. And then I level out in the upper 150s-160s. It's only week 3, I'll stick it out, shuffling along...
 
#117 ·
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sparkle! It's too late on the shampoo (it was already on their heads when I read this). I checked Emily's head when she came home from school. The school nurse missed it. I found a live one on her. She was going to get treated anyway, so no big, I guess. Working through bedding in the washer/dryer. Next load is hats/scarves/coats. They all have individual lockers, so at least that contamination isn't a problem. I heard that a friend of Abby's in her class was discovered to have it too. Abby is constantly hugging her friends, so that is probably where it came from. Blech. Yeah, it took 2.5 hours to comb through Katie and Abby's hair this morning. I am about to get going on Emily. She has the most hair of the kids by far, so, not looking forward to that.

Ugh, Sorry it's all about me.
 
#118 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkletruck View Post

Bec - please, allow me to field this one
bag.gif


1. Shampoos dont work, and if they do, they arent worth using b/c they are pesticides, and moreover, you still have to comb and check as you would without them. I used shampoo once. It didnt work. I will never use it again
2. Lice transfer from clothing, bedding, hats, scarves, hairbrushes - NOT by jumping. If your head might have touched anything their heads do, its worth checking. Dh and I always check ourselves and so far we have never had it, even when the kids have had it BAD
3. Checking - When the lice are first found, we check every day, until we have 2 days of finding no lice and no nits. Then we go to every other, then every third. We put the kids in front of a movie (checking one head can take 45 min- 2 hrs, depending on what you find), wet their hair, comb it out, and then use a nit comb on ONE section of strands at a time. I keep the checked hair out of the way with a hair clip (hence, I start the checking with a pile of hair clips next to me). I check section by section, from one side of the head around the back to the other. Also, VERY helpful, wear a headlamp if you have one, even in a bright room! I keep a damp paper towel next to me to wipe off whatever I get off their heads after each comb.
4. Wash - wash everything; clothes, hats, scarves, bedding (including comforters, and pillows, which you can put in the dryer for 30 minutes). We put clean fitted sheets on the kids beds and their sleeping bags for the first week of infestation, and then throw the whole pile: pillow with cases on, sleeping bag, and fitted sheet, in the dryer for 20-30 minutes EVERY day. They dont get their bedding out back on until we've not seen lice/nits for a week.
5. Lice and nits cannot survive the dryer for 20 minutes (I do 30 to be sure), and cannot survive freezing temps (below 32) after 8 hours. Thus, if you are that cold there, you can hang jackets, couch cushions, etc. on the porch at night. On our worst/first infestation, we would just hang jackets on the porch every night and then get them into the house in the morning for enough time to warm up before the kids left for school. Also, all extraneous cushions, pillows, throw blankets, stuffed animals! went in a trash bag on the porch for a few weeks
lol.gif
I put all pony-tail holders, combs (including the lice ones) and brushes in the freezer. Some of them are still there ("where's the brush!?", "I dont know, have you checked the freezer?")

Its really not that hard to get rid of in the sense that 2-3 thorough combing sessions really will uncover and destroy them all. Its *just* a colossal PITA

Dont worry - EVERYONE gets them. They are like fleas. It doesnt mean you are skeevy! And people who think so just havent had them yet. I like to physically see them die when I pull them out of my kids' hair
mischievous.gif


Good luck

P.S. we discovered that the way our kids (and others at the school) kept getting lice was because all the kids hung their jackets on a rack right next to each other. The school policy is now to keep jackets outside the class in a bag (paper or plastic
lol.gif
) or in their cubbies. I remind my kids frequently to keep their hats and jackets far away from their classmates'
omg, that makes me want to pull my kid out of school. that's extreme, though, so i'll just have be extra careful with jackets. geez. i already am since the flu is going around like crazy. i called the gal who cuts my hair last week and she couldn't work on sat b/c the massage therapist got the flu the week before and died 3 days later. geez. she massaged me 2 months ago. so, yeah, i'm paranoid. that's a huge amount of work, sparkle! knocking on wood...
 
#119 ·
Well so far we've had it 4x in 3 years, so its not like I do it all.the.time But a solid 2 weeks of every school year at least
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(plus, some people say I'm extreme about everything I do, so there's that
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) The funny thing is when we have two chairs side by side with a kid in each and me and Dh with our head lamps on; its the lice-check assembly line around here
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#120 ·
FM to report: 1:30 cycling this morning. First lap was excellent, second was meh, once the people started coming out. That whole walking-on-the-bike-path thing. Hard for me to get past that.

Upside, weather is outrageously perfect. Should be just as nice tomorrow, so planning for an early run. Again, before most of the people come out. OMG what is wrong with me...
 
#121 ·
I know I've been all about me lately. I promise I will be more about others soon.

But, is it possible to be free of this entirely with one good treatment and epic picking session? I spent 5 hours picking through my kids' hair yesterday. And, as of this morning, I found only a couple of nits on Abby's hair. I don't think it was very bad, and I was pretty OCD about it. I have had DH (and middle DD) look through my hair about 5 times and nothing on me or DH. All bedding has been washed and dried (or frozen, washed and dried). I've sprayed, I've cleaned and my skin was still crawling all night long. I felt like I woke up every couple of minutes to scratch. But nothing found this morning. Is it too good to be true?
 
#122 ·
Bec - yes. your experience is par for the course. You can get rid of them in one shot, but sometimes there can be even one nit you missed, and if you dont keep checking for a few days (every other? every third?) and miss it, that one nit can start another infestation. But yeah, that's it. And the skin crawly thing is typical of the first time. You wouldnt believe what DD1's hair looked like the first time
yikes2.gif
and I think we got it all clear after three thorough combings. But every time my head itches I make Dh check me again . Its just so. much. work
 
#123 ·
Lofty - She died? In three days? Yikes.

Bec - I'd keep combing. I recall seeing some chart of a louse life cycle and iirc the nymph stage is the one to be wary of because they are harder to see. I think it's two weeks or something from nit to adult. But yes, the red alert itchy-all-the-time feeling does fade as the days go by. Nothing grosser than the first time.

RM - Happy Birthday! I hope the day brings joy and the year is a lighter one.

Jo - Nice work! I can just imagine you out bopping along in the earliest light.

RR; Nope. C has been home since Tuesday with something, not flu I don't think, a stomach bug of some sort. I just couldn't bring myself to leave her to go to boxing class and then I decided that changing her sheets and taking care of her was more important that boxing at home in that time slot. So I'm down a workout. I'll fit it in somewhere.
 
#124 ·
Oh, Believe me! I am going to be combing and searching for a couple of weeks. Bedding is being dried every day. I have frozen the couch cushions and vacuumed them. Constant vigilance. Meanwhile, everyone went to school, and I have to prepare my house for girl scouts tonight!
 
#125 ·
Oh, Bec, good luck! I'm so sorry you have to go through this!

Sparkle, just wow.

Plady, hope C is feeling better. You'll get that workout in! (Yes, she died. The news has been full of people who have died from the flu, so much so that it's making me both skeptical and paranoid.)

RR or FM: Weights on Wed. Yoga on Thurs. Ran 2, Walked 1 this morning. Yes, running 2 miles feels like an improvement. This is where I am in life. Weights tomorrow (plus yard work) and basketball games. Sunday relax + yard work, then start over on Monday!
 
#126 ·
Lofty - Dh just admitted a 38 year old "otherwise healthy" woman to the ICU last night with pneumonia brought on by the flu. The ICU doc who came down to admit her said that he just lost a 43 yo woman with the same diagnosis. Not incidentally, this was my trajectory 3 years ago: flu turned to pneumonia landed me in the ICU with a 30% mortality rate. Said ICU doc was the one who put in my chest-tube. Apparently the flu is pretty serious this year
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