This post will not be linked to Facebook. I really need to get some things out there, but I don't really want to lead anyone to it, since it is very emotional for me, and it will tick some people off.
This post has been deleted to protect the stupid. Namely me!
September 19, 2012
September 12, 2012
Epstein Barr Virus Stinks
Yeah, yeah, I know. I haven't blogged in a while. This seems to be a theme with me.
My life has been one big tired blur since Ragnar, and I know the reason why. I have the Epstein Barr virus (EBV). It's the virus that causes mono. The symptoms are fatigue, fever, swollen glands, migraine, and loss of appetite, among others. Chances are you've had it too, and called it the flu or a cold. Even then it's usually a one-and-done. My "active" virus was diagnosed as having been in January 2011, based on the antibodies in my system. I'm supposed to be all better. The doctor told me so. I believed him.
Without going into too much detail let me just say that every time I start running I get hit with a brick in the form of a migraine and fatigue. The migraine lasts only one day, the fatigue can last up to a week. The Ragnar brick hit me the hardest, followed closely by the half-marathon brick. Yesterday I got another lovely brick. Today I'm just drained, so maybe this recovery will be shorter. Knock wood.
So I started doing research. Turns out that it's not always a one-and-done thing with EBV. It turns out that it may be related to chronic fatigue syndrome. Some research is now being done, according to the Google, trying to find out if there is such a thing as chronic EBV. Sign me up!! I'm pretty sure I've got it. It seems to hit when my body has had it; either from my kiddos loving me so much they can't make it through a night without me, my hubby tossing all night long cause our mattress REALLY sucks, or I'm just trying to do too much.
The down-side of my research is that there's no one thing that helps people with EBV. No one diet seems to help; some swear that you should go gluten-free, some say low carb, some say vegetarian. Every site I looked at said exercise is necessary, but vary as to how much is good and how much is too much; everything from 15 minutes 3 times a week, to a slow walk every day for an hour. Grrrr.
So I'm going to start tracking what I do. The changes will come gradually, and I'll try to post them here. So starting tomorrow I'm going to go veggie. Nothing big, just skipping the meat at meals. I'll still eat eggs and have dairy to keep my protein levels okay. And I'll be taking vitamins to ensure I'll have all the nutrients I need.
As for the running...I'll walk uphill for an hour every day.
My life has been one big tired blur since Ragnar, and I know the reason why. I have the Epstein Barr virus (EBV). It's the virus that causes mono. The symptoms are fatigue, fever, swollen glands, migraine, and loss of appetite, among others. Chances are you've had it too, and called it the flu or a cold. Even then it's usually a one-and-done. My "active" virus was diagnosed as having been in January 2011, based on the antibodies in my system. I'm supposed to be all better. The doctor told me so. I believed him.
Without going into too much detail let me just say that every time I start running I get hit with a brick in the form of a migraine and fatigue. The migraine lasts only one day, the fatigue can last up to a week. The Ragnar brick hit me the hardest, followed closely by the half-marathon brick. Yesterday I got another lovely brick. Today I'm just drained, so maybe this recovery will be shorter. Knock wood.
So I started doing research. Turns out that it's not always a one-and-done thing with EBV. It turns out that it may be related to chronic fatigue syndrome. Some research is now being done, according to the Google, trying to find out if there is such a thing as chronic EBV. Sign me up!! I'm pretty sure I've got it. It seems to hit when my body has had it; either from my kiddos loving me so much they can't make it through a night without me, my hubby tossing all night long cause our mattress REALLY sucks, or I'm just trying to do too much.
The down-side of my research is that there's no one thing that helps people with EBV. No one diet seems to help; some swear that you should go gluten-free, some say low carb, some say vegetarian. Every site I looked at said exercise is necessary, but vary as to how much is good and how much is too much; everything from 15 minutes 3 times a week, to a slow walk every day for an hour. Grrrr.
So I'm going to start tracking what I do. The changes will come gradually, and I'll try to post them here. So starting tomorrow I'm going to go veggie. Nothing big, just skipping the meat at meals. I'll still eat eggs and have dairy to keep my protein levels okay. And I'll be taking vitamins to ensure I'll have all the nutrients I need.
As for the running...I'll walk uphill for an hour every day.
June 18, 2012
RAGNAR ROCKS!!!
Some of you are asking yourselves right now "What is a Ragnar?" Well, my uninformed friend, Ragnar is when someone says "Hey, guys! I think I'm going to run to Crazytown 200 miles away. I've got room for eleven more. Who's with me?"
Yep, I was one of those crazies this year. The Justice Legs of America, my team of crazies, was full of couples, ladies who's hubbies agree that they're crazy, and my giant cousin. We've got Superman and Supergirl played by Ryan and Shelli Olsen, Batman and Batgirl played by Ben and Malory Sandgren, Aquaman and Gypsy played by Brett and Kristina Tobler, Wolverine and Wonder Woman played by Jeremy and Andrea Rawlings, Fire by Sunnie Nield, Ice by Megan Grover, Thor by Joey Speredon (whom I can never call Joe), and I played Catwoman. We also had a team Superbaby coming in at 11 weeks and played by Matthew Rawlings.
It was a great time, and we only ran into a couple problems. Our first legs were great, even though it was stinkin' hot, and we were all excited for our second set. We met up with Van Two, took a short break, then ran again in the evening. The evening run was my favorite. Okay, it was really a middle of the night run, which I finished at 2:30 am. It wasn't all uphill or all downhill, but a set of softly rolling hills. Nothing too steep, not hot, not too long at only five miles. I could have done that run a couple times or added a couple miles to it.
We did run into problems after that though, and learned some great lessons along the way. Poor Wolverine had a sandwich after his afternoon run and put some mayonnaise on it that came out of the packet clear. He scraped it off, but still ate the sandwich. After his night run he was feeling extremely sick. We went to Batgirl's grandparents house where we had planned to sleep. Wolverine spent the night "hugging the toilet." After much discussion and debate he decided to not go to the hospital, but rode in the van with us helping to babysit.
Superbaby earned his name by only crying about 5 total minutes. Wonder Woman is one lucky mom!
The hardest runs we had to do were our last legs. three of us were supposed to have no van support on our longest, hottest, hardest runs. We didn't do the no van support thing, since it was so stinking hot and we didn't want to visit the hospital for dehydration. I personally had to run from Francis, UT to the Jordanelle Reservoir. I've decided that I don't want to ever do that again unless I'm being chased by mad axe-men. The part that made it so hard, though, was the heat. If it wouldn't have been so stinkin' hot it would have been hard, but not killer.
At the end of the race we all crossed the finish line together in full costume. It was pretty awesome, even if we were all tired and not feeling too super at the time.
So now to answer your questions: Did you get tired? Are you sore? Was it fun? Will you do it again next year? Are you crazy? Will your toenail grow back? The answer to them all is yes!
So why do we do it? It's a party on wheels and running shoes.
Yep, I was one of those crazies this year. The Justice Legs of America, my team of crazies, was full of couples, ladies who's hubbies agree that they're crazy, and my giant cousin. We've got Superman and Supergirl played by Ryan and Shelli Olsen, Batman and Batgirl played by Ben and Malory Sandgren, Aquaman and Gypsy played by Brett and Kristina Tobler, Wolverine and Wonder Woman played by Jeremy and Andrea Rawlings, Fire by Sunnie Nield, Ice by Megan Grover, Thor by Joey Speredon (whom I can never call Joe), and I played Catwoman. We also had a team Superbaby coming in at 11 weeks and played by Matthew Rawlings.
It was a great time, and we only ran into a couple problems. Our first legs were great, even though it was stinkin' hot, and we were all excited for our second set. We met up with Van Two, took a short break, then ran again in the evening. The evening run was my favorite. Okay, it was really a middle of the night run, which I finished at 2:30 am. It wasn't all uphill or all downhill, but a set of softly rolling hills. Nothing too steep, not hot, not too long at only five miles. I could have done that run a couple times or added a couple miles to it.
We did run into problems after that though, and learned some great lessons along the way. Poor Wolverine had a sandwich after his afternoon run and put some mayonnaise on it that came out of the packet clear. He scraped it off, but still ate the sandwich. After his night run he was feeling extremely sick. We went to Batgirl's grandparents house where we had planned to sleep. Wolverine spent the night "hugging the toilet." After much discussion and debate he decided to not go to the hospital, but rode in the van with us helping to babysit.
Superbaby earned his name by only crying about 5 total minutes. Wonder Woman is one lucky mom!
The hardest runs we had to do were our last legs. three of us were supposed to have no van support on our longest, hottest, hardest runs. We didn't do the no van support thing, since it was so stinking hot and we didn't want to visit the hospital for dehydration. I personally had to run from Francis, UT to the Jordanelle Reservoir. I've decided that I don't want to ever do that again unless I'm being chased by mad axe-men. The part that made it so hard, though, was the heat. If it wouldn't have been so stinkin' hot it would have been hard, but not killer.
At the end of the race we all crossed the finish line together in full costume. It was pretty awesome, even if we were all tired and not feeling too super at the time.
So now to answer your questions: Did you get tired? Are you sore? Was it fun? Will you do it again next year? Are you crazy? Will your toenail grow back? The answer to them all is yes!
So why do we do it? It's a party on wheels and running shoes.
March 23, 2012
Oops Moments
This week has been full of oops moments.
The first is that I promised to do my mother-in-law's taxes on Monday. Umm, yeah. It's Friday and I still have questions I need to ask her. Like my father-in-law's SSN, their birth years, etc. But other than that they're done.
The second is that I didn't run much well this week. Sure I ran every day I was supposed to so far. Only Wednesday doesn't really count, cause I only ran for 10 minutes instead of the thirty-five I should have.
My next one is not mine. Jason ripped his leg open Wednesday. I was driving home from picking up C from scouts and he asked, "Where are the ace bandages?" From there it only got better. I had to force him to the Urgent Care clinic where he got THIRTEEN stitches. Ouch!!! Hopefully the scar isn't ugly, but it will be a big V on his shin.
Now I'm taking a break from fixing one of the oops' from last fall. My kiddos turned my back garden into "Jurassic Park." Now it's a 2 foot deep trench and the dirt is not where is should be. I'd be really ticked if I hadn't let it happen. Okay, I'm still ticked, but at myself.
But looking back it didn't feel like a bad week. With the exception of Jason's leg there were no real catastrophes. Just every day "oops moments" that keep things interesting.
The first is that I promised to do my mother-in-law's taxes on Monday. Umm, yeah. It's Friday and I still have questions I need to ask her. Like my father-in-law's SSN, their birth years, etc. But other than that they're done.
The second is that I didn't run much well this week. Sure I ran every day I was supposed to so far. Only Wednesday doesn't really count, cause I only ran for 10 minutes instead of the thirty-five I should have.
My next one is not mine. Jason ripped his leg open Wednesday. I was driving home from picking up C from scouts and he asked, "Where are the ace bandages?" From there it only got better. I had to force him to the Urgent Care clinic where he got THIRTEEN stitches. Ouch!!! Hopefully the scar isn't ugly, but it will be a big V on his shin.
Now I'm taking a break from fixing one of the oops' from last fall. My kiddos turned my back garden into "Jurassic Park." Now it's a 2 foot deep trench and the dirt is not where is should be. I'd be really ticked if I hadn't let it happen. Okay, I'm still ticked, but at myself.
But looking back it didn't feel like a bad week. With the exception of Jason's leg there were no real catastrophes. Just every day "oops moments" that keep things interesting.
February 24, 2012
Random Musings...
So here are some things I've been thinking about lately.
My puppy. Yep, I bet you didn't know I have one. She's super cute, and acts just like a puppy. Her favorite chew toys are shoes, the kitchen table and chairs, shoe laces, any stuffed animal she can get her mouth on, and shoes.
My kids. I had parent teacher conferences this week. C is doing well, but he can't sit still. As usual he has to be on the move at all times. And then there is the fact that he rushes through everything. He gets good grades, except in math (I think it's the way his teacher teaches it and she doesn't send home homework). I'm taking him to the doctor. Here's hoping! J is doing all around great, except in math where it's a B- instead of her usual A. She buys into the "it's too hard" nonsense. M is doing okay. He has trouble with handwriting, long vowel sounds, sight words, and surprise, surprise math. But we're going to try a few things at home and see if they help. So, all in all I've got some pretty smart kiddos!
My hubby. He needs a sleep only vacation. He's so tired all the time. He leaves at a crazy hour every day and doesn't come back for fourteen-sixteen hours! And then he goes in every other Saturday on top of that. It really is painful when he gets crap from people saying his department are a bunch of lazy, no-good, so-and-so's. The problem with his department is really this: he's got four guys doing the work of eight, and they have a hiring freeze on. So to the guys whining about it: Shut the heck up!!!
Me. I'm still tired a lot, and I've started getting migraines every couple of weeks that take me out for three days. Day one: super crabby, emotional, and tired. Day two: migraine all day long. Day three: fatigue and a health dose of guilt for being such a crappy wife and mother. I'm not so sure birth control agrees with me. Maybe I should get fixed like my puppy. There's a thought!
In spite of all that nonsense I'm actually happy. Sure I want to change a lot about my life, but the big things (hubby, kids, home, friends) I wouldn't change for a second!
My puppy. Yep, I bet you didn't know I have one. She's super cute, and acts just like a puppy. Her favorite chew toys are shoes, the kitchen table and chairs, shoe laces, any stuffed animal she can get her mouth on, and shoes.
My kids. I had parent teacher conferences this week. C is doing well, but he can't sit still. As usual he has to be on the move at all times. And then there is the fact that he rushes through everything. He gets good grades, except in math (I think it's the way his teacher teaches it and she doesn't send home homework). I'm taking him to the doctor. Here's hoping! J is doing all around great, except in math where it's a B- instead of her usual A. She buys into the "it's too hard" nonsense. M is doing okay. He has trouble with handwriting, long vowel sounds, sight words, and surprise, surprise math. But we're going to try a few things at home and see if they help. So, all in all I've got some pretty smart kiddos!
My hubby. He needs a sleep only vacation. He's so tired all the time. He leaves at a crazy hour every day and doesn't come back for fourteen-sixteen hours! And then he goes in every other Saturday on top of that. It really is painful when he gets crap from people saying his department are a bunch of lazy, no-good, so-and-so's. The problem with his department is really this: he's got four guys doing the work of eight, and they have a hiring freeze on. So to the guys whining about it: Shut the heck up!!!
Me. I'm still tired a lot, and I've started getting migraines every couple of weeks that take me out for three days. Day one: super crabby, emotional, and tired. Day two: migraine all day long. Day three: fatigue and a health dose of guilt for being such a crappy wife and mother. I'm not so sure birth control agrees with me. Maybe I should get fixed like my puppy. There's a thought!
In spite of all that nonsense I'm actually happy. Sure I want to change a lot about my life, but the big things (hubby, kids, home, friends) I wouldn't change for a second!
February 03, 2012
You Know You're Blessed When...
1. When you get to spend an entire week with people you love. Last week I was in Disneyland with my family. That means hubby, kids, my parents, my sister, my grandma, my aunt, and my cousin. My sweet sister ran the first ever Tinkerbell Half-Marathon. She did an amazing job. Not only was it the first ever Tink, it was her first race of any kind! She did it in just over three hours. We went to support her, but unfortunately we missed the whole race. But still WAY TO GO CHARITY!!!
2. When your friends take care of you before you know you need it. Wednesday night was the Blue and Gold Banquet for our scout pack. I was in such a high temper before (yelling at my kids, and the like) that I thought going would give me some time to talk to other moms and not think about home for a bit. Well I did stop yelling, but I ended up crying for apparently no reason. One of my friends told me she was going to come take my kids the next day (yesterday). I wasn't going to let her, but when she sent me a text I was just coming into a headache, so I thought "Hey, why not?" An hour later the headache turned into a full on migraine. She kept my kids all day and I was able to relax and when they came home at 6:00 the migraine was mostly gone. Then another of my friends brought dinner for us, so I didn't have to cook. And now I will hopefully remember that when I start crying for no reason I should go home and take ibuprofen before I go to sleep to ward of a migraine the next day.
3. Kids who are old enough to entertain themselves. Today I've got my migraine hangover. They always wipe me out. My brain is roaring and ready to go, but my body is so tired that I can barely move. Hunter is being so good right now. He's playing fetch with the dog, while building a track for his trains. And he's thrilled about it, mostly. The others will probably want to watch TV or play video games when they get home. Then by tomorrow I'll be able to get up and out.
4. A hubby who loves his family so much we never see him. Okay, so that's not entirely true. He loves us so much that he works really hard to bring home the bacon (which we don't actually eat very much, but you get the picture). In fact he works so hard that we really hardly ever see him. It's kind of a mixed blessing. We have more money and security than we've had in a long, long time. But we don't really have him. He leaves before the kids get up, and comes home for dinner, usually, an hour before bedtime.
5. You have the gospel in your life. I happen to be LDS, but not all of my friends are. But they're all good God-fearing people. They know that without Christ there is nothing else. Without the Savior everything we do here will be for nothing. From the first time I lied after my baptism I would have been lost, never to return to my Heavenly Father again. But because Christ atoned for every time I've told a lie, cheated, cursed, whacked my kids, etc I have the opportunity to repent. And boy do I need those opportunities!
So all in all I'm super-blessed. As my little M. used to say as soon as Sacrament Meeting was over "Hooorrraaay!"
2. When your friends take care of you before you know you need it. Wednesday night was the Blue and Gold Banquet for our scout pack. I was in such a high temper before (yelling at my kids, and the like) that I thought going would give me some time to talk to other moms and not think about home for a bit. Well I did stop yelling, but I ended up crying for apparently no reason. One of my friends told me she was going to come take my kids the next day (yesterday). I wasn't going to let her, but when she sent me a text I was just coming into a headache, so I thought "Hey, why not?" An hour later the headache turned into a full on migraine. She kept my kids all day and I was able to relax and when they came home at 6:00 the migraine was mostly gone. Then another of my friends brought dinner for us, so I didn't have to cook. And now I will hopefully remember that when I start crying for no reason I should go home and take ibuprofen before I go to sleep to ward of a migraine the next day.
3. Kids who are old enough to entertain themselves. Today I've got my migraine hangover. They always wipe me out. My brain is roaring and ready to go, but my body is so tired that I can barely move. Hunter is being so good right now. He's playing fetch with the dog, while building a track for his trains. And he's thrilled about it, mostly. The others will probably want to watch TV or play video games when they get home. Then by tomorrow I'll be able to get up and out.
4. A hubby who loves his family so much we never see him. Okay, so that's not entirely true. He loves us so much that he works really hard to bring home the bacon (which we don't actually eat very much, but you get the picture). In fact he works so hard that we really hardly ever see him. It's kind of a mixed blessing. We have more money and security than we've had in a long, long time. But we don't really have him. He leaves before the kids get up, and comes home for dinner, usually, an hour before bedtime.
5. You have the gospel in your life. I happen to be LDS, but not all of my friends are. But they're all good God-fearing people. They know that without Christ there is nothing else. Without the Savior everything we do here will be for nothing. From the first time I lied after my baptism I would have been lost, never to return to my Heavenly Father again. But because Christ atoned for every time I've told a lie, cheated, cursed, whacked my kids, etc I have the opportunity to repent. And boy do I need those opportunities!
So all in all I'm super-blessed. As my little M. used to say as soon as Sacrament Meeting was over "Hooorrraaay!"
January 16, 2012
New Year, New Me!
First off: To all those who read my now deleted post of December 5 and didn't avoid me like the plague that I was, thank you. To all those who read that post and gave me advice, a bigger thank you. And lastly, to all those who read the post and gave me advice and a hug (physical or not), the biggest THANK YOU of all! And to Yami, who got the psycho out of the crazy lady.
So now on to my 2012 Resolutions!
First off I want to get some money saved up. Like big-time money. I need/want a new car, and just can't bear to sign my life away with a loan again. We just paid off the Jeep! So following the Dave Ramsey plan, I'm going to be using the envelope system, and going cash only, and abandoning the debit card at home. I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to buy a new car next year, since my sweet husband works so stinking many hours.
Second I want to lose an average of ten pounds a month, which averages out to two and a half every week, before August. Yeah, I really do need to lose 50 pounds, but you're sweet for saying otherwise. This gives me a couple months of lee-way, just to be safe. So far I haven't been successful at this, but I do have a plan! I've signed up with some friends to run RAGNAR this June, and I'm using their workout plan to get ready. I've even entered my workouts on my calendar, so I can't claim I forgot what I was supposed to do. YIKES!!! Yep that just about sums it up. I'll be going from running a total of 45 minutes this week to a total of 265 minutes (that's 4 hours and 25 minutes folks) two weeks before the race. If I don't lose my 50 pounds this year it's further proof that there's something really wrong with me.
Then there's the one I've already messed up, only eat out once a month. Okay, it's been less than once a week, which is an improvement over last year, but still it's too much. I'm talking visiting the golden arches or calling for pizza, not going to a sit down dinner. That doesn't happen, except when my hubby takes a day off specifically to take me out. That I think I'd be okay with once a week.
And last, and probably the easiest/hardest depending on my day/kids/school/sickness/etc, keeping my house drop-in ready 5 days a week. In general I've been pretty good at this one. It's been a lot easier since I can blackmail my kids with the puppy ruining their toys if she escapes the basement. But I've had a few down days too. Last weekend a friend of mine was having a bad day, so I told her to come on over. When she got here I had to apologize for my messy house. Gratefully she said it wasn't messy, it was lived in. She's sweet, but I called her on the lie. Seriously I haven't mopped my white kitchen floor since before New Year's Eve. And by the way who picks white for their kitchen floor?!
So yes I've got a lot going on this year, and yes this means I'm still crazy! At least I've dropped the psycho part. Let's all hope that the world doesn't end this year, cause I'm already planning for 2013.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)