Recently someone gave me a link to a blogger whose entire purpose for the blog is to list three beautiful things that she noticed that day.
It's not quite a gratitude journal, but a noticing of those moments in a day that make your heart smile... those moments that make you laugh... or those really simple little moments that just give you a bit of pleasure in an otherwise mundane day.
My online buddies and I decided that Thursdays would be our 3 beautiful things (3BT) day. Each week on Thursday, during the course of our normal postings to one another, we will include the 3 beautiful things from our day.
Yesterday I was in a ton of pain, so it was kind of hard to play the 3BT game with them. (I've done something to my neck, causing lots of pain and a month's worth of physical therapy... and a diagnosis of probable arthritis already. Ugh! I'm only 47!!!) But I was determined to see those 3BT's and was pleased that I could.
Some days it's so easy to see them. The 3BT turns into an entire day's worth. Yesterday wasn't one of those days! But I did find those moments and thought I'd share them here... because sometimes it's just important to share the simple moments with friends.
Thursday’s 3BT:
1.A moment of sunshine in a very black cloudy day... and the sunshine was warm on my back while I worked at my desk.
2.The sound of excitement in a friend's voice when she heard that I get to meet up with my friends in St. Louis next week.
3.That moment of a first time discovery when I actually figured out what feeling full and not overstuffed was like... way cool.
That third item is a big, big moment for me since I've never been able to figure out the feeling full mechanism in my tummy. I'm taking a class right now on stress/emotional eating issues. One of the things I've figured out about myself is that I actually trained my tummy to never feel full. I did it early in life when I never gained weight and it didn't matter.
But now it matters that I learn how to feel comfortably full. Somehow I managed to work the Weight Watcher's program, lose 50 pounds and never learn the feeling full thing.
Yesterday's moment was one of a great discovery for me!
So today, I'm going to continue watching for my 3BT and see what happens. Sometimes they are big ticket items... sometimes little moments. No matter, they improve my attitude and my spirit.
...may there be mercy as we notice those moments of beauty given to us.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
more life
Not so crabby, but oh so busy!
Taking a class and also joined a new small group. Between them it will keep my evenings a bit on the busy side.
Being very thankful right now that I'm taking extra days off next week before I travel. So I've only got 3 working days until I am on vacation. Yay!
Can hardly wait for a day to sleep in... and a little time to quilt... and to travel to see my friends!
I've got a great story to tell here, but too tired to write it out right now. Soon. Needing sleep!
...may there be mercy and restful slumber tonight.
Taking a class and also joined a new small group. Between them it will keep my evenings a bit on the busy side.
Being very thankful right now that I'm taking extra days off next week before I travel. So I've only got 3 working days until I am on vacation. Yay!
Can hardly wait for a day to sleep in... and a little time to quilt... and to travel to see my friends!
I've got a great story to tell here, but too tired to write it out right now. Soon. Needing sleep!
...may there be mercy and restful slumber tonight.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
life
too much stress... not enough fun... tired and crabby girl.
Work tomorrow. Ugh, but only because I'm simply not rested enough!
Wishing for more time off now, but waiting for the next trip... soon! Gosh but I'm excited to see my friends.
Did something weird to my neck a couple weeks ago and can't get it to stop hurting. Tired of pain at this point... and yet it isn't really something serious. Just frustrating.
But for now, sleep awaits.
...may there be mercy and rest.
Work tomorrow. Ugh, but only because I'm simply not rested enough!
Wishing for more time off now, but waiting for the next trip... soon! Gosh but I'm excited to see my friends.
Did something weird to my neck a couple weeks ago and can't get it to stop hurting. Tired of pain at this point... and yet it isn't really something serious. Just frustrating.
But for now, sleep awaits.
...may there be mercy and rest.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
beginning anticipation
Yesterday I drove 2 hours to have lunch with a couple friends. I do this several times a year. It's the halfway point between the most northerly person (me) and the most southerly person (Q). Some folks I know think I'm nuts to drive that far just for lunch... but these people are sooo worth the drive.
It's interesting how online friendships go. I've been a part of online groups that have failed... spectacularly. Having been part of a successful online group for several years now, I'm still finding that my friends and family are not completely understanding how cool this particular group is... and how unusual it is in that we have not had a major implosion.
Yes, there have been some folks who have joined us and some who have left us. Those who have left us have done so for a variety of reasons, but we haven't had a major fight break out as a reason to leave. Those who have joined us have done so because their observations lead them to want to be a part of this very special group.
The group is diverse as to geographic location, marital status, beliefs, having small kids or grown kids or no kids, religious point of view, politics and everything else. We don't always agree. We simply allow one another to be who we are.
Yes, there are times when each of us does something to bug the snot out of the others. And then there are moments where the outpouring of love and care is so tangible that it moves me to tears.
Some of these folks I've met in person. Some I've been corresponding with for over 3 years and am so anxious to meet.
Which will happen in 5 weeks!
We set a date and a place near the middle of the country to make it easiest for the most people to make it. Looks like about 15 of our group will be converging that weekend... how cool! And a week ago we booked my flight. I'm so excited to see these people!
For me, seeing some of them will be that first time squealy huggy... oh my gosh I can't believe I'm finally meeting you!... kind of meeting.
Some of them will be that long hug which says I've soooo missed seeing you in the last 1 (or 2) years!
Doesn't matter that we talk on the phone or write daily... in 5 weeks I get to see faces and get hugs.
So very way cool!
...may there be mercy in our anticipation of this fun!
It's interesting how online friendships go. I've been a part of online groups that have failed... spectacularly. Having been part of a successful online group for several years now, I'm still finding that my friends and family are not completely understanding how cool this particular group is... and how unusual it is in that we have not had a major implosion.
Yes, there have been some folks who have joined us and some who have left us. Those who have left us have done so for a variety of reasons, but we haven't had a major fight break out as a reason to leave. Those who have joined us have done so because their observations lead them to want to be a part of this very special group.
The group is diverse as to geographic location, marital status, beliefs, having small kids or grown kids or no kids, religious point of view, politics and everything else. We don't always agree. We simply allow one another to be who we are.
Yes, there are times when each of us does something to bug the snot out of the others. And then there are moments where the outpouring of love and care is so tangible that it moves me to tears.
Some of these folks I've met in person. Some I've been corresponding with for over 3 years and am so anxious to meet.
Which will happen in 5 weeks!
We set a date and a place near the middle of the country to make it easiest for the most people to make it. Looks like about 15 of our group will be converging that weekend... how cool! And a week ago we booked my flight. I'm so excited to see these people!
For me, seeing some of them will be that first time squealy huggy... oh my gosh I can't believe I'm finally meeting you!... kind of meeting.
Some of them will be that long hug which says I've soooo missed seeing you in the last 1 (or 2) years!
Doesn't matter that we talk on the phone or write daily... in 5 weeks I get to see faces and get hugs.
So very way cool!
...may there be mercy in our anticipation of this fun!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
back in the saddle
Started doing ding dang exercise once again... at 5 a.m. UGH!!!
...may there be mercy and perseverance in the early hours.
...may there be mercy and perseverance in the early hours.
Monday, August 27, 2007
finally
Apparently we dropped through the cracks. At least that is what the DSL people are telling us. But they only got us back online because I stopped into their local store and raised ho-ly-hellllll with them for the amount of time that we have been off line.
I did it in a very nice way, and very quietly so the other customers in the store didn't have a real clue what was happening. But ho-ly-helllll was raised and it looks like that was what it took to get things fixed.
Ugh!!!
Now we have to get the air conditioning fixed on the truck because that went out 3 days ago and no matter what setting we put it on, it blows massive hot air at us.
Oh well. I'm just glad to have soe progress being made.
Gotta check out what's been happening with all my normal stuff now. Will write a real blog soon.
...may there be mercy and a very cheap fix for the truck!
I did it in a very nice way, and very quietly so the other customers in the store didn't have a real clue what was happening. But ho-ly-helllll was raised and it looks like that was what it took to get things fixed.
Ugh!!!
Now we have to get the air conditioning fixed on the truck because that went out 3 days ago and no matter what setting we put it on, it blows massive hot air at us.
Oh well. I'm just glad to have soe progress being made.
Gotta check out what's been happening with all my normal stuff now. Will write a real blog soon.
...may there be mercy and a very cheap fix for the truck!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
from the coffee shop
Still having internet issues. Will take until the 24th... if all goes very well... before it works at home again.
So I'm posting from the little coffee shop near my work. Thankful for free wi-fi!
...may there be mercy and contentment as we wait.
So I'm posting from the little coffee shop near my work. Thankful for free wi-fi!
...may there be mercy and contentment as we wait.
Friday, August 10, 2007
gratitude
I love when Mama calls me. Her voice just does wonders for my spirit... most of the time! This morning was not one of those times, and yet, at the same time, it was. I've spent the rest of the morning in an emotional state... close to tears and overflowing with tears and trying to express my gratitude the entire time.
Let's start with the part that my sister is okay. That's the most important part anyway. And the reason for the gratitude.
Last night, my sister spent the evening with a friend. They played games and talked and fairly early, she headed for home. She parks in her normal area, a couple houses away from hers. She walks from her truck toward her house. A guy is walking down the street the other way.
My sister is an alert female, needs to be living in the big city, and is aware of the guy... but it's already too late. The guy pulls a ski mask over his face, a gun out of his pocket and grabs my sweet sister.
He puts the gun to her throat and demands her truck keys. She complies immediately, thinking, "this is it. I'm gonna die and this is going to hurt."
She is terrified, rightfully so.
The guy grabs her keys, pushes her away from him and says, "run!"
She runs... and hopes that he won't shoot her in the back.
Thank God that he doesn't! He jumps into her truck and races off. My sister collapses on the ground, pulling out her cell phone. Amazing that she still has it. She calls the police. She calls her friend. Both arrive within minutes.
The police are able to track her truck since she has that Lo-Jack system in it. They have helicopters with lights shining onto the truck within a few minutes. She says it was like being in a movie. They have her truck stopped and the man arrested within 15 minutes!
The truck is returned to my sister immediately. (wow!) She is requested to head down to the police station to pick the guy out of a lineup. She does... and can pick him out immediately since she had seen his face prior to him pulling the ski mask over it.
And there is another guy there. One who was not quite as protected as my sister. This man had been attacked by the same guy a couple hours earlier. The guy had made this man lie face-down on the ground while he pistol-whipped him. The man is okay, he has a massive headache today, but he is okay. He also picked the guy out of the lineup immediately.
The police have informed my sister that she is miraculously lucky. The guy was so high on drugs that it was amazing that he did not accidentally pull the trigger on that gun when he had it to her throat.
I've talked with my sweet sister this morning. Hearing her voice made me cry, which is okay. She's still very afraid and it will take time for her to be okay emotionally.
I'm just so grateful that she is okay and will later be okay on the emotional level.
...may there be mercy and comfort for my sister.
...there has been mercy for me and I am in awe.
Let's start with the part that my sister is okay. That's the most important part anyway. And the reason for the gratitude.
Last night, my sister spent the evening with a friend. They played games and talked and fairly early, she headed for home. She parks in her normal area, a couple houses away from hers. She walks from her truck toward her house. A guy is walking down the street the other way.
My sister is an alert female, needs to be living in the big city, and is aware of the guy... but it's already too late. The guy pulls a ski mask over his face, a gun out of his pocket and grabs my sweet sister.
He puts the gun to her throat and demands her truck keys. She complies immediately, thinking, "this is it. I'm gonna die and this is going to hurt."
She is terrified, rightfully so.
The guy grabs her keys, pushes her away from him and says, "run!"
She runs... and hopes that he won't shoot her in the back.
Thank God that he doesn't! He jumps into her truck and races off. My sister collapses on the ground, pulling out her cell phone. Amazing that she still has it. She calls the police. She calls her friend. Both arrive within minutes.
The police are able to track her truck since she has that Lo-Jack system in it. They have helicopters with lights shining onto the truck within a few minutes. She says it was like being in a movie. They have her truck stopped and the man arrested within 15 minutes!
The truck is returned to my sister immediately. (wow!) She is requested to head down to the police station to pick the guy out of a lineup. She does... and can pick him out immediately since she had seen his face prior to him pulling the ski mask over it.
And there is another guy there. One who was not quite as protected as my sister. This man had been attacked by the same guy a couple hours earlier. The guy had made this man lie face-down on the ground while he pistol-whipped him. The man is okay, he has a massive headache today, but he is okay. He also picked the guy out of the lineup immediately.
The police have informed my sister that she is miraculously lucky. The guy was so high on drugs that it was amazing that he did not accidentally pull the trigger on that gun when he had it to her throat.
I've talked with my sweet sister this morning. Hearing her voice made me cry, which is okay. She's still very afraid and it will take time for her to be okay emotionally.
I'm just so grateful that she is okay and will later be okay on the emotional level.
...may there be mercy and comfort for my sister.
...there has been mercy for me and I am in awe.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
internet woes
So... I'm sitting in my truck, typing madly trying to check email and also check on y'all.
Why am I sitting in my truck to do this???
Oh... yeah... internet issues at home. DSL line is too old for the new modem we needed. Will take up to 10 days to get switched over. Cable lines are too old and still have filters on them to prevent us from "stealing" their worthless HBO channel. These filters also blok us being able to use the cable internet that we signed up to get. So that will take a service call to fix - which is also a several days wait.
UGH!
Thankfully my church has a coffee shop with FREE wi-fi. So... if the church has a coffee shop with free wi-fi, why am I sitting in my truck typing? Why don't I go inside and have a nice cuppa, sitting at a nice table doing this?
Sadly, for 2 days now the gal hasn't shown up to make the coffffffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... yikes!
Hope she's okay!
At least I can check on y'all and get email from just outside the door of the church, eh?
...may there be mercy and peace with what we have.
Why am I sitting in my truck to do this???
Oh... yeah... internet issues at home. DSL line is too old for the new modem we needed. Will take up to 10 days to get switched over. Cable lines are too old and still have filters on them to prevent us from "stealing" their worthless HBO channel. These filters also blok us being able to use the cable internet that we signed up to get. So that will take a service call to fix - which is also a several days wait.
UGH!
Thankfully my church has a coffee shop with FREE wi-fi. So... if the church has a coffee shop with free wi-fi, why am I sitting in my truck typing? Why don't I go inside and have a nice cuppa, sitting at a nice table doing this?
Sadly, for 2 days now the gal hasn't shown up to make the coffffffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... yikes!
Hope she's okay!
At least I can check on y'all and get email from just outside the door of the church, eh?
...may there be mercy and peace with what we have.
Monday, July 30, 2007
under consideration
Church yesterday was interesting. Our pastor is challenging us to consider starting our own ministry. Not a church or even necessarily a big thing... just to find something that interests you and where God can work through you.
Some of the things he mentioned were to:
Start with praying about what that thing might be.
Don't get ahead of God in what or how he wants to do this.
Talk with others to get feedback on your idea.
Organize and plan.
Consider the cost of what you are wanting to do... not just the money, even though that is important. But also the time and energy needed to continue the ministry.
So as our pastor is talking yesterday, all I can think is how to bring my quilting into ministry. I know that it's possible to do... there is a great ministry out there already called Prayers and Squares.
Ministry for me would be to start a Prayers and Squares Chapter at my church... if God and I can come to terms with a few things like time and money!
...may there be mercy as I prayerfully consider how to minister.
Some of the things he mentioned were to:
Start with praying about what that thing might be.
Don't get ahead of God in what or how he wants to do this.
Talk with others to get feedback on your idea.
Organize and plan.
Consider the cost of what you are wanting to do... not just the money, even though that is important. But also the time and energy needed to continue the ministry.
So as our pastor is talking yesterday, all I can think is how to bring my quilting into ministry. I know that it's possible to do... there is a great ministry out there already called Prayers and Squares.
Ministry for me would be to start a Prayers and Squares Chapter at my church... if God and I can come to terms with a few things like time and money!
...may there be mercy as I prayerfully consider how to minister.
Friday, July 27, 2007
all better!
Seems like that nasty staph infection in my leg is all gone, so yay!
Freaky MVP episodes will do what they will do... so "whatever!"
I'm feeling pretty darn good after a couple nights of solid and wonderful sleep.
Going to spend the weekend with my sweet husband and just enjoy feeling good.
...may there be mercy and enjoyment in each other.
Freaky MVP episodes will do what they will do... so "whatever!"
I'm feeling pretty darn good after a couple nights of solid and wonderful sleep.
Going to spend the weekend with my sweet husband and just enjoy feeling good.
...may there be mercy and enjoyment in each other.
Monday, July 23, 2007
freaky things
Some days I wonder about this crazy body of mine. It works just well enough to keep me going, but does freaky things periodically. As evidenced by my last few blogs about health issues, now is apparently one of those times.
While my leg has been healing from the staph infection, my doc told me that I had to go back if I was not 100% today. Having residual redness and a little tenderness this morning, that equates not being 100%. Went back and the doc says that while the "blush" color may take a little time to go away, the tenderness requires a few more days of antibiotics. Easy treatment, so that's good.
While I was there, we had a good discussion about all my heart testing and results. My test results show that my heart is doing well. The mitral valve is apparently acting up a little bit, so we'll watch that. It is not even close to a stage requiring surgery... and I really don't want to take medications yet, so he agreed with me to let it be a watch and wait time.
Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) can sometimes cycle into play and cycle right back out again. That has happened before, although never before to the level of symptoms as in this go round.
...may there be mercy and this cycle settle back down quickly!
While my leg has been healing from the staph infection, my doc told me that I had to go back if I was not 100% today. Having residual redness and a little tenderness this morning, that equates not being 100%. Went back and the doc says that while the "blush" color may take a little time to go away, the tenderness requires a few more days of antibiotics. Easy treatment, so that's good.
While I was there, we had a good discussion about all my heart testing and results. My test results show that my heart is doing well. The mitral valve is apparently acting up a little bit, so we'll watch that. It is not even close to a stage requiring surgery... and I really don't want to take medications yet, so he agreed with me to let it be a watch and wait time.
Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) can sometimes cycle into play and cycle right back out again. That has happened before, although never before to the level of symptoms as in this go round.
...may there be mercy and this cycle settle back down quickly!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
what's your bra size?
So... I'm guessing you are already wondering why I am asking the bra size question. We'll get to it shortly!
Yesterday I did the first portion of the Sestamibi test. And yes, the exercise portion actually DOES get a person to the seventh level of hell where they inect said person with glow-in-the-dark juice and then make same said person continue exercising for a full minute.
It was not fun and if you know me, you know that I really, really like the fun part and really, really hate the exercise part.
The funniest part of the entire day was walking into the treadmill test room and having the tech ask me my bra size. Yep, they gotta know bra size in order to know how much density the camera has to read before getting to the heart... so I told her it was a negative A and that my bra fits better when worn backward. She cracked up.
The technology for the pictures of the heart is pretty cool. Too bad I couldn't see anything since the screen was directly above my head.
Today I went back for the resting portion of the pictures. Don't eat for 4 hours, go have them inject more glow-in-the-dark juice (this time in the other arm so I now have a matching set of bruises), now I am instructed not only to eat, but to eat fatty food. Okay this part cracked me up royally. Doctor's orders to go eat a hamburger and fries or candy bar or ice cream. Right on!! Can I get this doctor for my regular doc?? Oh... that's why I had to lose 50 pounds before. Never mind. Anyway, apparently the fat makes the glow-in-the-dark juice go to the correct places in the body and avoid others. Interesting stuff.
Don't know anything yet because these guys had really good poker faces. Guess I'll have to wait until next Wednesday for my results.
While I am waiting for those results, I continue to keep my leg propped up everywhere I go. The staph infection is healing, but slowly. It's a pain in the backside to keep it propped up at work, (went back to work yesterday afternoon) but there are folks who are willing to be Step-n-Fetchit for me. And it makes my boss happy that I am there, so that's a good thing.
Now to have this dang thig healed up completely would be way cool.
My doctor put the fear of all things into me when he diagnosed this infection. He actually told me that if things go bad, they will be exceedingly bad. The "least" bad thing is that I could lose my leg. The worst bad thing is that I could end up like my precious big brother and have septicimia and/or endocarditis. The thought of any of those things is truly keeping me on the straight and narrow where this is concerned.
In all of this keeping my leg elevated and not being able to run around like I want to do, I have to admit being grateful for several people.
My co-worker who keeps coming by to see if I need anything picked up and brought to me or delivered to anyone in the office.
My dear friends who have been sending cards and making calls to keep me cheerful.
My lovely father-in-law who runs errands for me.
My sweet husband who has been waiting on me at home.
...may there be mercy for healing and blessings on those who have given me the gift of the sacrifice of service.
Yesterday I did the first portion of the Sestamibi test. And yes, the exercise portion actually DOES get a person to the seventh level of hell where they inect said person with glow-in-the-dark juice and then make same said person continue exercising for a full minute.
It was not fun and if you know me, you know that I really, really like the fun part and really, really hate the exercise part.
The funniest part of the entire day was walking into the treadmill test room and having the tech ask me my bra size. Yep, they gotta know bra size in order to know how much density the camera has to read before getting to the heart... so I told her it was a negative A and that my bra fits better when worn backward. She cracked up.
The technology for the pictures of the heart is pretty cool. Too bad I couldn't see anything since the screen was directly above my head.
Today I went back for the resting portion of the pictures. Don't eat for 4 hours, go have them inject more glow-in-the-dark juice (this time in the other arm so I now have a matching set of bruises), now I am instructed not only to eat, but to eat fatty food. Okay this part cracked me up royally. Doctor's orders to go eat a hamburger and fries or candy bar or ice cream. Right on!! Can I get this doctor for my regular doc?? Oh... that's why I had to lose 50 pounds before. Never mind. Anyway, apparently the fat makes the glow-in-the-dark juice go to the correct places in the body and avoid others. Interesting stuff.
Don't know anything yet because these guys had really good poker faces. Guess I'll have to wait until next Wednesday for my results.
While I am waiting for those results, I continue to keep my leg propped up everywhere I go. The staph infection is healing, but slowly. It's a pain in the backside to keep it propped up at work, (went back to work yesterday afternoon) but there are folks who are willing to be Step-n-Fetchit for me. And it makes my boss happy that I am there, so that's a good thing.
Now to have this dang thig healed up completely would be way cool.
My doctor put the fear of all things into me when he diagnosed this infection. He actually told me that if things go bad, they will be exceedingly bad. The "least" bad thing is that I could lose my leg. The worst bad thing is that I could end up like my precious big brother and have septicimia and/or endocarditis. The thought of any of those things is truly keeping me on the straight and narrow where this is concerned.
In all of this keeping my leg elevated and not being able to run around like I want to do, I have to admit being grateful for several people.
My co-worker who keeps coming by to see if I need anything picked up and brought to me or delivered to anyone in the office.
My dear friends who have been sending cards and making calls to keep me cheerful.
My lovely father-in-law who runs errands for me.
My sweet husband who has been waiting on me at home.
...may there be mercy for healing and blessings on those who have given me the gift of the sacrifice of service.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
healing takes time
Well... there is definite progress on the healing so far. The 2 spots on my leg have shown significant reduction in size, which tells me that this process of antibiotics and elevation are working.
Of course I want it to work instantaneously!
And I was told early this morning that the sestamibi stress test is still on after all.
So I'm sitting here with no caffeine in my system... no chocolate to comfort me... leg elevated... trying to type on a laptop... backspacing like crazy because of the typos... and wishing the exercise part was done.
Since there is some pain in this leg, I'm really not looking forward to the exercise part tomorrow.
Oh well. Must be done, so it will be.
...may there be mercy and some answers in the next few days.
Of course I want it to work instantaneously!
And I was told early this morning that the sestamibi stress test is still on after all.
So I'm sitting here with no caffeine in my system... no chocolate to comfort me... leg elevated... trying to type on a laptop... backspacing like crazy because of the typos... and wishing the exercise part was done.
Since there is some pain in this leg, I'm really not looking forward to the exercise part tomorrow.
Oh well. Must be done, so it will be.
...may there be mercy and some answers in the next few days.
Monday, July 16, 2007
postponement
Sestamibi test gets put on hold while I heal up from a staph infection in my leg. UGH!!!
Currently stuck on the sofa with my leg elevated for the next several days. Big gun antibiotics on board.
Boredom factors likely to be very high, very soon.
...may there be mercy and quick healing.
Currently stuck on the sofa with my leg elevated for the next several days. Big gun antibiotics on board.
Boredom factors likely to be very high, very soon.
...may there be mercy and quick healing.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
testing... testing...
Yep, just like I thought, more testing next week. Will be doing a 2-day Exercise Sestamibi test on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
When I called to talk to the Nuclear Medicine folk, they were impressed at how well I could pronounce that Ses-tah-mee-bee word. :-) They were also fun to chat with and calmed my concerns about potential allergic reactions to the dye they will use on me. Having had normal IV contrast dye almost kill me, understandably it is of concern! Thankfully this has no iodine in it and apparently is not an allergy issue.
From what I have been told...
... I get injected with some freaky radioactive dye... eeeuuuuwwwwwww, it's glow in the dark time!!!
... they exercise the living heck out of me... ugh! I truly despise exercise!
... they don't let me eat first... ugh!! I get crabby when I don't get my breakfast!
... they do NOT allow me my coffee or tea or any kind of caffeine for a minimum of 24 hours prior to the test... not even a smidge of chocolate to comfort me in my time of need... YIKES!!! Cruel and unusual punishment!!!
All kidding aside, the reality is that the hardest part for me will be the lack of caffeine. Anticipating a big headache, which is typical for me any time I miss my morning coffee.
Test is fairly straightforward and simple. Show up in non-caffeinated mode, wearing comfy clothing and sneakers, get an IV started, take pictures of the heart, make me do a boatload of ding-dang exercise which I hate, continue that ding-dang exercise until I drop, add more weird stuff into the IV and make me exercise for yet an additional one minute even though I will be past the 7th level of hell by then, stop suddenly without a cool down period and take more pictures of the heart.
After all that, they send me on my merry way (hahahahaha! who's gonna be merry at this point?!) and off I go to work. Feel sorry for my coworkers. Feel very, very sorry for them because I don't think I get to have my coffee at this point... I don't think I get my coffee until after I go back on Thursday. Yep, feel very, very sorry for my coworkers. But at this point I can eat. Thank God for small favors, eh?
Thursday I'll go back and they will take another series of pictures of the heart. Results a week later.
So... are we having fun yet???
...may there be mercy and the crabbies be held at bay.
When I called to talk to the Nuclear Medicine folk, they were impressed at how well I could pronounce that Ses-tah-mee-bee word. :-) They were also fun to chat with and calmed my concerns about potential allergic reactions to the dye they will use on me. Having had normal IV contrast dye almost kill me, understandably it is of concern! Thankfully this has no iodine in it and apparently is not an allergy issue.
From what I have been told...
... I get injected with some freaky radioactive dye... eeeuuuuwwwwwww, it's glow in the dark time!!!
... they exercise the living heck out of me... ugh! I truly despise exercise!
... they don't let me eat first... ugh!! I get crabby when I don't get my breakfast!
... they do NOT allow me my coffee or tea or any kind of caffeine for a minimum of 24 hours prior to the test... not even a smidge of chocolate to comfort me in my time of need... YIKES!!! Cruel and unusual punishment!!!
All kidding aside, the reality is that the hardest part for me will be the lack of caffeine. Anticipating a big headache, which is typical for me any time I miss my morning coffee.
Test is fairly straightforward and simple. Show up in non-caffeinated mode, wearing comfy clothing and sneakers, get an IV started, take pictures of the heart, make me do a boatload of ding-dang exercise which I hate, continue that ding-dang exercise until I drop, add more weird stuff into the IV and make me exercise for yet an additional one minute even though I will be past the 7th level of hell by then, stop suddenly without a cool down period and take more pictures of the heart.
After all that, they send me on my merry way (hahahahaha! who's gonna be merry at this point?!) and off I go to work. Feel sorry for my coworkers. Feel very, very sorry for them because I don't think I get to have my coffee at this point... I don't think I get my coffee until after I go back on Thursday. Yep, feel very, very sorry for my coworkers. But at this point I can eat. Thank God for small favors, eh?
Thursday I'll go back and they will take another series of pictures of the heart. Results a week later.
So... are we having fun yet???
...may there be mercy and the crabbies be held at bay.
Friday, July 06, 2007
zero to 165 in no time
Guess I should start with the "I'm okay" part first.
I am okay!!
I've been debating for a few weeks (while feeling really crappy most of that time) whether to write about health issues yet again. The debate continues in my mind, but I've decided to go ahead and write about what's been happening... mostly because this is the easiest way to express my feelings while also updating those who read my blog and pray for me.
So... health... um, yeah.. that thing.
Over the last year, I've been ignoring some symptoms that I probably should not have ignored. But when a person has had chronic illness, she gets tired of doctors blowing her off and attributing symptoms to stress or being mid-40's or whatever because they are busy and don't want to take the time to figure out what is going on.
Oh. The symptoms... pounding and racing heartbeat, pressure in the chest, sometimes accompanied by chest pain, always accompanied by shortness of breath, sometimes ache and/or pain down the arms, sometimes dizziness... yes, I know, all classic symptoms of a heart attack.
Don't ask why I waited so long to get it checked out. I just did. Not one of my best moves, but there it is.
Since the symptoms were becoming more frequent... and more intense... I finally said something to my doctor when I went for my physical in June. Believe me, it got his attention!
He set me up with the Arrythmia Clinic here in town, and a handy little device called a Heart Card which is extremely cool technology.
A patient experiencing "cardiac events" will carry this Heart Card for up to one month. It's the size of a credit card. Carried in your pocket or purse. When I get these events, I place the Heart Card against my skin in the center of my chest and push the "record" button.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEEP... BEEEEEEP... yep, it was kinda loud for the 30 seconds that it recorded. And yes, it was a little, tiny EKG machine that I carried in my pocket. Cool technology!
The Heart Card holds up to 3 event recordings. When you've got a couple, then you call into the Arrythmia Clinic... they push a few buttons to connect the phone with their computer... and I push the "send" button on the Heart Card while holding the phone to the card.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!!! right back into their computer, where they can tell me immediately what's been happening. Waaaaaay cool technology!
The upshot is that I carryed that Heart Card around for about 18 days and got some good recordings... which show that I've got some atrial tachycardia going on. (and that there is a heart in there... I am not the heartless wretch that some might believe!)
From what I've been able to research about atrial tachycardia, that means that from what should be a simple resting heart rate of 60-80 beats per minute, the heart rate shoots up for no good reason... up above 100... and mine shoots up frequently into the range of 145-170 beats per minute. Usually when doing something very simple like putting on my makeup before work... which is not a stressful thing to do!
The events are not horrible, but they are unpleasant and leave me fatigued or exhausted, depending on how high my heart rate goes.
What does all this mean for me?
The obvious is that this means we have to find out what is causing these atrial tachycardia events. In the research I've done so far, one of the major culprits is Mitral Valve Prolapse. (MVP - normally a fairly benign condition that many folk have... the mitral valve in the heart is not functioning exactly as it should, but usually does not cause problems ever)
Yep, we've known for many years that I have MVP. When it was diagnosed years ago, they told me that I could either act like a cardiac patient or I could treat it like a nuisance and get on with enjoying life. I decided to go with the nuisance option. Cut back on caffeine, take antibiotics prior to dental appointments, and get on with enjoying my life.
If the mitral valve is the source of the atrial tachycardia, then it needs to be managed. What I've found so far is that there are about 4 treatment options.
1. Medication
2. Mitral valve repair
3. Mitral valve replacement
4. Pacemaker
Since I've only just turned in the Heart Card yesterday, and my follow up doctor appointment is set for next Wednesday, I don't know what the actual cause is. But I do suspect the mitral valve as the obvious culprit.
There are several potential next steps in determining the cause of the atrial tachycardia. Most likely scenario is an Echocardiogram... an ultrasound of the heart. Had one of those years ago. It was cool to watch my own heart beating on the TV screen in the exam room.
At this point, we wait until Wednesday to find out what the next step will be. I get these events too frequently for them to be ignored completely.
All medical jargon and clinical attitude aside, while I am concerned about my heart... I am not afraid right now. I think that it's because I'm not looking very far into the future and scaring myself with the "what if's".
Mostly because I'm leaning heavily on my Heavenly Father for today's needs only and not looking with fear at tomorrow's unknown.
I've been told by medical professionals that these events are not heart attacks and I trust their knowledge.
I've been told by my Heavenly Father that I can lean on him today and trust him for tomorrow's needs.
I like that plan.
...may there be mercy and peace as we wait.
I am okay!!
I've been debating for a few weeks (while feeling really crappy most of that time) whether to write about health issues yet again. The debate continues in my mind, but I've decided to go ahead and write about what's been happening... mostly because this is the easiest way to express my feelings while also updating those who read my blog and pray for me.
So... health... um, yeah.. that thing.
Over the last year, I've been ignoring some symptoms that I probably should not have ignored. But when a person has had chronic illness, she gets tired of doctors blowing her off and attributing symptoms to stress or being mid-40's or whatever because they are busy and don't want to take the time to figure out what is going on.
Oh. The symptoms... pounding and racing heartbeat, pressure in the chest, sometimes accompanied by chest pain, always accompanied by shortness of breath, sometimes ache and/or pain down the arms, sometimes dizziness... yes, I know, all classic symptoms of a heart attack.
Don't ask why I waited so long to get it checked out. I just did. Not one of my best moves, but there it is.
Since the symptoms were becoming more frequent... and more intense... I finally said something to my doctor when I went for my physical in June. Believe me, it got his attention!
He set me up with the Arrythmia Clinic here in town, and a handy little device called a Heart Card which is extremely cool technology.
A patient experiencing "cardiac events" will carry this Heart Card for up to one month. It's the size of a credit card. Carried in your pocket or purse. When I get these events, I place the Heart Card against my skin in the center of my chest and push the "record" button.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEEP... BEEEEEEP... yep, it was kinda loud for the 30 seconds that it recorded. And yes, it was a little, tiny EKG machine that I carried in my pocket. Cool technology!
The Heart Card holds up to 3 event recordings. When you've got a couple, then you call into the Arrythmia Clinic... they push a few buttons to connect the phone with their computer... and I push the "send" button on the Heart Card while holding the phone to the card.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!!! right back into their computer, where they can tell me immediately what's been happening. Waaaaaay cool technology!
The upshot is that I carryed that Heart Card around for about 18 days and got some good recordings... which show that I've got some atrial tachycardia going on. (and that there is a heart in there... I am not the heartless wretch that some might believe!)
From what I've been able to research about atrial tachycardia, that means that from what should be a simple resting heart rate of 60-80 beats per minute, the heart rate shoots up for no good reason... up above 100... and mine shoots up frequently into the range of 145-170 beats per minute. Usually when doing something very simple like putting on my makeup before work... which is not a stressful thing to do!
The events are not horrible, but they are unpleasant and leave me fatigued or exhausted, depending on how high my heart rate goes.
What does all this mean for me?
The obvious is that this means we have to find out what is causing these atrial tachycardia events. In the research I've done so far, one of the major culprits is Mitral Valve Prolapse. (MVP - normally a fairly benign condition that many folk have... the mitral valve in the heart is not functioning exactly as it should, but usually does not cause problems ever)
Yep, we've known for many years that I have MVP. When it was diagnosed years ago, they told me that I could either act like a cardiac patient or I could treat it like a nuisance and get on with enjoying life. I decided to go with the nuisance option. Cut back on caffeine, take antibiotics prior to dental appointments, and get on with enjoying my life.
If the mitral valve is the source of the atrial tachycardia, then it needs to be managed. What I've found so far is that there are about 4 treatment options.
1. Medication
2. Mitral valve repair
3. Mitral valve replacement
4. Pacemaker
Since I've only just turned in the Heart Card yesterday, and my follow up doctor appointment is set for next Wednesday, I don't know what the actual cause is. But I do suspect the mitral valve as the obvious culprit.
There are several potential next steps in determining the cause of the atrial tachycardia. Most likely scenario is an Echocardiogram... an ultrasound of the heart. Had one of those years ago. It was cool to watch my own heart beating on the TV screen in the exam room.
At this point, we wait until Wednesday to find out what the next step will be. I get these events too frequently for them to be ignored completely.
All medical jargon and clinical attitude aside, while I am concerned about my heart... I am not afraid right now. I think that it's because I'm not looking very far into the future and scaring myself with the "what if's".
Mostly because I'm leaning heavily on my Heavenly Father for today's needs only and not looking with fear at tomorrow's unknown.
I've been told by medical professionals that these events are not heart attacks and I trust their knowledge.
I've been told by my Heavenly Father that I can lean on him today and trust him for tomorrow's needs.
I like that plan.
...may there be mercy and peace as we wait.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
travel notes
This is gonna be a long one, but if I don't do it now, it may never get done!
Taking a vacation like this one is very cool. Knowing that we were going to be doing things that each of us enjoy, together. Planning the time while leaving room for spontaneity.
Now that we are home, it's hard to put it all into words and describe our fun. But you know I'll try!
Day 1: Long drive! Left home at 7 a.m., heading south to Medford, Oregon. Enjoyed a quick stop in Portland for a fast lunch with a friend who lives there. Nice of her to buy lunch! Back on the road a few more hours, arriving in Medford to find that the hotel has put us in their very last room... a smoking room... and my sweet husband is allergic to smoke. UGH! After a lengthy discussion with the desk clerk, who can't and/or won't do anything for us except call the sister hotel to see if they have a room. They do, but it's $50 more. No, nobody will comp the difference. After asking the clerk if there is a manager available, we find there isn't one on-site at the moment, but she will call the manager at home. Manager gets on the phone and tells me it's all our fault that the room reserved is a smoking room. We must have done it. Oh... the travel agent must have done it. Oh... that's all they had left when we had our room booked because the hotel's bookings had been filled up for weeks. Oh... whatever! She just wanted to find someone to blame and make me go away, without fixing the problem or making things right for us.
The reality is that the person who walked in the door ahead of us asked the clerk, “do you have any rooms for tonight?” and was given a room immediately. So it wasn't booked up weeks in advance as we were told by the manager.
We had written confirmation in hand that showed a non-smoking room. Our travel agent knows about the smoke allergy, so she would not have booked a smoking room.
The manager at this point said she would come down to the hotel to see what we had, if we would wait. She was only 5 minutes away.
Lousy manager never showed up. She called the clerk about 5 minutes later and told her to give us a room with a story of a “phone hold expired” making the room available right that minute. Yeah, right. Whatever the story, we finally were given a non-smoking room so we could get some sleep.
It was not a pleasant process to get a room... but we were not going to let that spoil our trip.
We will, however, be contacting the hotel's corporate office to complain. Their motto is 100% satisfaction, guaranteed. Sorry, not satisfied at all.
Day 2: Another long drive, Medford to Sacramento. Up early and on the road, trying to find radio stations along the way and laughing at some of them. (Bob-FM cracked me up for some silly reason and we've giggled about it since.)
Got to our hotel a bit early for check in, but were given a very nice room anyway. Unpacked a little, grabbed cameras and headed down to the railway museum to see the fun. The walk along the Sacramento river was really nice. About a mile, which gave us a good stretch after so much sitting in the car. As we walk up to the museum, we can hear jazz bands playing... sweet!
We can also hear the sound of a steam train... cool!
And we are in time for the last ride of the day on that steam train... excellent!
While waiting for the train, we got to talking with some of the volunteers who run it. What a bunch of great characters they are!
Train ride was fun, little jazz band on the train playing for all they were worth and getting everyone to sing along. Very fun stuff.
After the ride, we wandered around Old Sacramento to find some dinner and then wandered back to the hotel to plan the next day.
Day 3: California State Railway Museum (www.csrmf.org/) What an amazing place! Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and of course, my man spent the entire time there! The museum begins with a 20 minute movie about the history of trains, a 20 minute tour (with a guy that reminded me of Jimmy Durante!) and then you wander the exhibits. Superb stuff. The exhibits include several train engines that can't be found anywhere else now. My sweetie was like a 5 year old who had just gotten a great visit from Santa.
I had fun watching him... and then watching the jazz band playing inside the museum. They had a couple of 65 – 70 year old ladies, dressed up in flapper costumes, dancing around the big place and having a grand ol' time!
After about 3 hours, I went into train overload. We took a break for lunch together, grabbing sandwiches and eating picnic-style along the river. Then it was back to the museum for him and wander around Old Sacramento for me. It was fun to dink through the shops, talk with people, watch the Mounted Police and their horses “dancing” to the jazz bands as they wandered the streets, enjoy a wine tasting, buy the obligatory salt water taffy that every tourist area has and eventually wander back to the museum to finish the day.
The museum staff certainly know their trains... and are a blast when chatting!
That mile back to the hotel was a bit harder after all the walking we'd already done this day!
Day 4: Wine country. Heading up US 101 into Healdsburg (don't ask why I read this as Heraldsburg before the trip, but that 1st “r” really isn't there!). (www.healdsburg.com/) It was another pleasant drive into some lovely countryside. Vineyards everywhere you look.
After an early check in at our hotel, we took the advise of the desk clerk and caught their shuttle to the town plaza. Good thing we did! Thankfully we are very careful about drinking and driving anyway, but by the time we were ready to head back to the hotel, we really needed that shuttle!
Driver was cool, gave us a brief rundown of the available tasting rooms and shops and let us loose to wander. His first recommend was La Crema Winery. (www.lacrema.com)
Oh... my... yummmm!
Starting there at La Crema's tasting room was a great introduction to the area!
We enjoyed both the beautiful tasting room and the wine! Chatting with Toby as she led us through the day's tasting was cool. She's into trains and history, in addition to wine... which makes her a fun person for us! Favorite wine: The Los Carneros Pinot Noir. It was fabulous. One that I could have just smelled the aromas all day long, so good... and the flavor to back it up!
After we'd determined what wines we wanted to purchase there, Toby recommended that we head next to Selby Winery. (www.selbywinery.com)
Oh...my...yummmm!
Susie Selby definitely figured out how to do wine and do it well. She also has a great staff member in Jen, who was our tasting hostess. (wish I knew what her official title is, whatever it is, she's a great person for the job!)
Jen welcomed us as if we were long lost friends, included us in conversation when local folk came in to buy wine and just made us feel like we belonged in the community. Wow!
Selby winery had about 9 wines on their tasting list for the day. All of them were good, but there were a couple absolute standouts. Favorite wine at Selby: Old Vines Zinfandel. Another that I could sit and smell all day with great aromas, but also that great flavor to back it up!
One of the cool things here at Selby was the number of friends who popped in to talk with Susie and Jen. Each one got a hug or a kiss and we got introduced. Shawn, who had started his brand new catering business that day, gave us our dinner tip of the day.
While we were at both La Crema and at Selby's, everyone kept inviting us to the Tuesday Concert in the Plaza. A free community concert from 6 – 8... cool! The locals bring picnic and wine, passing food and beverages to one another in a real community setting. Lots of laughing, talking, enjoying food and friends. Kids dancing in front of the band. It was awesome!
We caught part of the concert from the Bear Republic Brewing Company, where we had dinner. Yep, beer with dinner in wine country. I know, too funny! (www.bearrepublic.com/) But they have really good beers and really good food!
After dinner, we wandered a bit more around the plaza, listening to the music and just enjoying. Finally, we had to call Bobby, the shuttle guy to come get us. Like I said before, Bobby was a great idea because we would not have wanted to drive at this point!
Day 5: Wine country, part 2. There is a little tasting room I found online called Locals Tasting Room. (www.tastelocalwines.com) The concept is that you try several different wineries versions of the same kind of wine, in a side-by-side taste test. There are so many to try there, that if I had tried everything it would have put me in the hospital! But I did enjoy trying the “flights” of Sauvignon Blanc, Rose', a single Sangiovese and of course, Zinfandel. While we were at Locals, visiting with the owner, Carolyn, one of the local winemakers came in to deliver wine. Joe Ramazzotti is a great guy! Just as friendly as could be, introduced himself and chatted a bit with us. It was very cool that his wines were the ones I liked best. When we open the bottle of his Zinfandel, we will remember his great personality and happy spirit. Favorite wine at Locals: Ramazzotti Zin-Giovese Rose
This is also the “experience” day... with a planned visit to Francis Ford Coppola's Rosso & Bianco Winery. (www.ffcwinery.com/) While the website still says it is unnamed, we were told they named it Rosso & Bianco just a few days ago.
Okay, this place is exactly what one thinks of when envisioning a winery. Glorious vineyards surrounding an old-world style series of buildings. Sweeping staircase up to the tasting room and cafe. Yeah, the guy does movies, so he knows how to dress a winery, but hey... what else should he do??
A couple years ago, I discovered the Rosso wine from this winery and began telling friends about it. Already being sold on the Rosso as the so-called “table” wine, I've gotta say that it was very nice to find that the other wines were wonderful, too. Favorite wine at Coppola's: Director's Cut Zinfandel.
After we did wine tasting here at Coppola's, we decided to wander the grounds a bit with our cameras and then have lunch. That whole not drinking and driving thing still coming into play. Got some good pictures, and more importantly, had a really nice lunch with a great waitress names Lori.
The entire day here was simply lovely. Wine, food, experience, staff, view, everything.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was close to 3. We had decided that there were 2 more tasting rooms on our “really want to get there” list. So we called Bobby the shuttle guy who took us back into the plaza area.
Dropped us off at Toad Hollow. (www.toadhollow.com) Toad Hollow is owned by Todd Williams, whose famous brother is Robin Williams. In chatting with the tasting hostess (dang it, never got her name!) she told us that their mother is an even bigger kick in the pants than Todd or Robin. Interesting growing up, I'm sure!
This one had great artwork and some interesting wines, but the staff was a bit on the standoffish side. Todd was there having fun with clients when we walked in, spoke to us briefly, but he left to run errands shortly after we got there. I suspect this one would have been a lot more fun if he had still been on-site... or maybe the gal was just tired that day. She was pleasant enough, but not even close to the caliber of friendly and fun that all of the other places staff had been. Favorite wine: Erik's the Red... a blend of almost everything red and probably a little of the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure! Complex tasting, but really nice.
Rosenblum Cellars was our final stop on the tasting tour. (www.rosenblumcellars.com) Now I know we can get a variety of Rosenblum wines locally, and everyone knows that “Rosenblum KNOWS Zinfandels”, but I suspected they had some things that one can only get there or online... and I was right!
My sweet husband really enjoys a nice dessert wine after a special meal. I try to keep some on hand... and usually the ones I have are from one of our fun trips. Great memories for us when we open a bottle!
Rosenblum has a dessert wine that is a chocolate infused zinfandel... and incredible! Wow, just wow! Yep, favorite wine at Rosenblum: Desiree Chocolate Dessert Wine.
Staff was indifferent, but that dessert wine certainly made up for them!
Of course anyone who knows me also knows that if I am in a new town, I will find the fabric store! Yep, there was a very cute little fabric store called Fabrications and yep, I did buy some fabric!
After all that wine, we went back to the Bear Republic for dinner. They were so good the day before and we wanted to try a different beer!
Day 6: Giant redwoods. How do you describe something this big around, this tall and this old???
We got up fairly early and just got on the road heading from Healdsburg to Eureka. A lot of windy roads, some down to just 2 lanes, but a beautiful drive.
Once we got our stuff into our hotel room, we grabbed cameras and backtracked a little to the Avenue of the Giants. (www.avenueofthegiants.net/) Have to say that it's really hard to drive in this section because the trees are so incredible that you completely forget the road.
We spent a couple hours just driving from the Northern end of the Avenue, stopping to take some pictures in the glorious “golden hour” late afternoon, early evening light.
Day 7: Giant redwoods, part 2. See question in Day 6 about how one describes these amazing trees!!
Another early morning (wait, aren't vacations for sleeping in??) of grab the cameras and go. We began this day with a little wander through Ferndale, CA. Cute little town that a friend described recently as a Victorian Mayberry.
Ferndale is also home to the Itsy Bitsy Quilt Shop... and yes, I bought fabric there from the very nice lady who owned the shop!
Headed back down to the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants. We figured to have lunch in Garberville and then spend the rest of the day taking pictures of incredible trees.
Of course you know I found a fabric store in Garberville called In Stitches! And you also know I bought fabric. Well, for pity's sake, it was right across the street from the deli and she was having a sidewalk sale! How can I pass up a sale on fabric?
Fabric purchased, on we go to the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants. There, we just drove a bit, stopped to take pictures and wander around a bit, get back into the car and repeat. At one stop, a blue jay flew right up to me and landed at my feet. He hopped around a little bit, let me take a few pictures and then left. Pretty certain all he really wanted was to see if we had a handout for him.
Not being able to do justice to those magnificent trees and the forest and the area in general, I'm just going to post a couple pictures tomorrow and wish they could capture the reality of the place. I'm also going to encourage you to visit the area. You need to see it for yourself.
Day 8: Exceedingly long drive home. We made really good time, but it was a 12 hour drive... a little on the brutal side. Mostly we just wanted to be home and have a day to relax and recover before going to work tomorrow. We left Eureka at 8:30 a.m. and pulled into our driveway at 9:25 p.m. Only made minimal stops for bathroom breaks and filling the gas tank... lunch was all of 25 minutes and we “lingered” over dinner with 40 minutes.
Hitting the freeway in Portland at straight up 6 p.m., we were shocked to find ourselves home as early as we were. Normally it's a minimum 4 hour drive with good traffic...
Day 9: Today... we actually did get up and go to church. But that's about all we've done. Oh, we got the laundry all done, and have spent a bit of time looking at the pictures we took, but not much else. We've been resting up, reading, being lazy... as befits a last day of vacation, eh?
There are moments from this vacation that I will treasure and savor in my memory...
The staff of the Railway museum who were having so much fun showing off their place and enjoying their visitors.
Shawn, Jen and Toby in Healdsburg, who treated us like old friends and wanted us to enjoy their community as much as they do.
Being reminded again that quilters are the same everywhere, joyful and friendly and excited about what you might be making.
The silence of the forest.
The beauty.
The fun.
The joy at being away with my sweet husband.
...may there be mercy and refreshment as we return to work tomorrow.
Taking a vacation like this one is very cool. Knowing that we were going to be doing things that each of us enjoy, together. Planning the time while leaving room for spontaneity.
Now that we are home, it's hard to put it all into words and describe our fun. But you know I'll try!
Day 1: Long drive! Left home at 7 a.m., heading south to Medford, Oregon. Enjoyed a quick stop in Portland for a fast lunch with a friend who lives there. Nice of her to buy lunch! Back on the road a few more hours, arriving in Medford to find that the hotel has put us in their very last room... a smoking room... and my sweet husband is allergic to smoke. UGH! After a lengthy discussion with the desk clerk, who can't and/or won't do anything for us except call the sister hotel to see if they have a room. They do, but it's $50 more. No, nobody will comp the difference. After asking the clerk if there is a manager available, we find there isn't one on-site at the moment, but she will call the manager at home. Manager gets on the phone and tells me it's all our fault that the room reserved is a smoking room. We must have done it. Oh... the travel agent must have done it. Oh... that's all they had left when we had our room booked because the hotel's bookings had been filled up for weeks. Oh... whatever! She just wanted to find someone to blame and make me go away, without fixing the problem or making things right for us.
The reality is that the person who walked in the door ahead of us asked the clerk, “do you have any rooms for tonight?” and was given a room immediately. So it wasn't booked up weeks in advance as we were told by the manager.
We had written confirmation in hand that showed a non-smoking room. Our travel agent knows about the smoke allergy, so she would not have booked a smoking room.
The manager at this point said she would come down to the hotel to see what we had, if we would wait. She was only 5 minutes away.
Lousy manager never showed up. She called the clerk about 5 minutes later and told her to give us a room with a story of a “phone hold expired” making the room available right that minute. Yeah, right. Whatever the story, we finally were given a non-smoking room so we could get some sleep.
It was not a pleasant process to get a room... but we were not going to let that spoil our trip.
We will, however, be contacting the hotel's corporate office to complain. Their motto is 100% satisfaction, guaranteed. Sorry, not satisfied at all.
Day 2: Another long drive, Medford to Sacramento. Up early and on the road, trying to find radio stations along the way and laughing at some of them. (Bob-FM cracked me up for some silly reason and we've giggled about it since.)
Got to our hotel a bit early for check in, but were given a very nice room anyway. Unpacked a little, grabbed cameras and headed down to the railway museum to see the fun. The walk along the Sacramento river was really nice. About a mile, which gave us a good stretch after so much sitting in the car. As we walk up to the museum, we can hear jazz bands playing... sweet!
We can also hear the sound of a steam train... cool!
And we are in time for the last ride of the day on that steam train... excellent!
While waiting for the train, we got to talking with some of the volunteers who run it. What a bunch of great characters they are!
Train ride was fun, little jazz band on the train playing for all they were worth and getting everyone to sing along. Very fun stuff.
After the ride, we wandered around Old Sacramento to find some dinner and then wandered back to the hotel to plan the next day.
Day 3: California State Railway Museum (www.csrmf.org/) What an amazing place! Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and of course, my man spent the entire time there! The museum begins with a 20 minute movie about the history of trains, a 20 minute tour (with a guy that reminded me of Jimmy Durante!) and then you wander the exhibits. Superb stuff. The exhibits include several train engines that can't be found anywhere else now. My sweetie was like a 5 year old who had just gotten a great visit from Santa.
I had fun watching him... and then watching the jazz band playing inside the museum. They had a couple of 65 – 70 year old ladies, dressed up in flapper costumes, dancing around the big place and having a grand ol' time!
After about 3 hours, I went into train overload. We took a break for lunch together, grabbing sandwiches and eating picnic-style along the river. Then it was back to the museum for him and wander around Old Sacramento for me. It was fun to dink through the shops, talk with people, watch the Mounted Police and their horses “dancing” to the jazz bands as they wandered the streets, enjoy a wine tasting, buy the obligatory salt water taffy that every tourist area has and eventually wander back to the museum to finish the day.
The museum staff certainly know their trains... and are a blast when chatting!
That mile back to the hotel was a bit harder after all the walking we'd already done this day!
Day 4: Wine country. Heading up US 101 into Healdsburg (don't ask why I read this as Heraldsburg before the trip, but that 1st “r” really isn't there!). (www.healdsburg.com/) It was another pleasant drive into some lovely countryside. Vineyards everywhere you look.
After an early check in at our hotel, we took the advise of the desk clerk and caught their shuttle to the town plaza. Good thing we did! Thankfully we are very careful about drinking and driving anyway, but by the time we were ready to head back to the hotel, we really needed that shuttle!
Driver was cool, gave us a brief rundown of the available tasting rooms and shops and let us loose to wander. His first recommend was La Crema Winery. (www.lacrema.com)
Oh... my... yummmm!
Starting there at La Crema's tasting room was a great introduction to the area!
We enjoyed both the beautiful tasting room and the wine! Chatting with Toby as she led us through the day's tasting was cool. She's into trains and history, in addition to wine... which makes her a fun person for us! Favorite wine: The Los Carneros Pinot Noir. It was fabulous. One that I could have just smelled the aromas all day long, so good... and the flavor to back it up!
After we'd determined what wines we wanted to purchase there, Toby recommended that we head next to Selby Winery. (www.selbywinery.com)
Oh...my...yummmm!
Susie Selby definitely figured out how to do wine and do it well. She also has a great staff member in Jen, who was our tasting hostess. (wish I knew what her official title is, whatever it is, she's a great person for the job!)
Jen welcomed us as if we were long lost friends, included us in conversation when local folk came in to buy wine and just made us feel like we belonged in the community. Wow!
Selby winery had about 9 wines on their tasting list for the day. All of them were good, but there were a couple absolute standouts. Favorite wine at Selby: Old Vines Zinfandel. Another that I could sit and smell all day with great aromas, but also that great flavor to back it up!
One of the cool things here at Selby was the number of friends who popped in to talk with Susie and Jen. Each one got a hug or a kiss and we got introduced. Shawn, who had started his brand new catering business that day, gave us our dinner tip of the day.
While we were at both La Crema and at Selby's, everyone kept inviting us to the Tuesday Concert in the Plaza. A free community concert from 6 – 8... cool! The locals bring picnic and wine, passing food and beverages to one another in a real community setting. Lots of laughing, talking, enjoying food and friends. Kids dancing in front of the band. It was awesome!
We caught part of the concert from the Bear Republic Brewing Company, where we had dinner. Yep, beer with dinner in wine country. I know, too funny! (www.bearrepublic.com/) But they have really good beers and really good food!
After dinner, we wandered a bit more around the plaza, listening to the music and just enjoying. Finally, we had to call Bobby, the shuttle guy to come get us. Like I said before, Bobby was a great idea because we would not have wanted to drive at this point!
Day 5: Wine country, part 2. There is a little tasting room I found online called Locals Tasting Room. (www.tastelocalwines.com) The concept is that you try several different wineries versions of the same kind of wine, in a side-by-side taste test. There are so many to try there, that if I had tried everything it would have put me in the hospital! But I did enjoy trying the “flights” of Sauvignon Blanc, Rose', a single Sangiovese and of course, Zinfandel. While we were at Locals, visiting with the owner, Carolyn, one of the local winemakers came in to deliver wine. Joe Ramazzotti is a great guy! Just as friendly as could be, introduced himself and chatted a bit with us. It was very cool that his wines were the ones I liked best. When we open the bottle of his Zinfandel, we will remember his great personality and happy spirit. Favorite wine at Locals: Ramazzotti Zin-Giovese Rose
This is also the “experience” day... with a planned visit to Francis Ford Coppola's Rosso & Bianco Winery. (www.ffcwinery.com/) While the website still says it is unnamed, we were told they named it Rosso & Bianco just a few days ago.
Okay, this place is exactly what one thinks of when envisioning a winery. Glorious vineyards surrounding an old-world style series of buildings. Sweeping staircase up to the tasting room and cafe. Yeah, the guy does movies, so he knows how to dress a winery, but hey... what else should he do??
A couple years ago, I discovered the Rosso wine from this winery and began telling friends about it. Already being sold on the Rosso as the so-called “table” wine, I've gotta say that it was very nice to find that the other wines were wonderful, too. Favorite wine at Coppola's: Director's Cut Zinfandel.
After we did wine tasting here at Coppola's, we decided to wander the grounds a bit with our cameras and then have lunch. That whole not drinking and driving thing still coming into play. Got some good pictures, and more importantly, had a really nice lunch with a great waitress names Lori.
The entire day here was simply lovely. Wine, food, experience, staff, view, everything.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was close to 3. We had decided that there were 2 more tasting rooms on our “really want to get there” list. So we called Bobby the shuttle guy who took us back into the plaza area.
Dropped us off at Toad Hollow. (www.toadhollow.com) Toad Hollow is owned by Todd Williams, whose famous brother is Robin Williams. In chatting with the tasting hostess (dang it, never got her name!) she told us that their mother is an even bigger kick in the pants than Todd or Robin. Interesting growing up, I'm sure!
This one had great artwork and some interesting wines, but the staff was a bit on the standoffish side. Todd was there having fun with clients when we walked in, spoke to us briefly, but he left to run errands shortly after we got there. I suspect this one would have been a lot more fun if he had still been on-site... or maybe the gal was just tired that day. She was pleasant enough, but not even close to the caliber of friendly and fun that all of the other places staff had been. Favorite wine: Erik's the Red... a blend of almost everything red and probably a little of the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure! Complex tasting, but really nice.
Rosenblum Cellars was our final stop on the tasting tour. (www.rosenblumcellars.com) Now I know we can get a variety of Rosenblum wines locally, and everyone knows that “Rosenblum KNOWS Zinfandels”, but I suspected they had some things that one can only get there or online... and I was right!
My sweet husband really enjoys a nice dessert wine after a special meal. I try to keep some on hand... and usually the ones I have are from one of our fun trips. Great memories for us when we open a bottle!
Rosenblum has a dessert wine that is a chocolate infused zinfandel... and incredible! Wow, just wow! Yep, favorite wine at Rosenblum: Desiree Chocolate Dessert Wine.
Staff was indifferent, but that dessert wine certainly made up for them!
Of course anyone who knows me also knows that if I am in a new town, I will find the fabric store! Yep, there was a very cute little fabric store called Fabrications and yep, I did buy some fabric!
After all that wine, we went back to the Bear Republic for dinner. They were so good the day before and we wanted to try a different beer!
Day 6: Giant redwoods. How do you describe something this big around, this tall and this old???
We got up fairly early and just got on the road heading from Healdsburg to Eureka. A lot of windy roads, some down to just 2 lanes, but a beautiful drive.
Once we got our stuff into our hotel room, we grabbed cameras and backtracked a little to the Avenue of the Giants. (www.avenueofthegiants.net/) Have to say that it's really hard to drive in this section because the trees are so incredible that you completely forget the road.
We spent a couple hours just driving from the Northern end of the Avenue, stopping to take some pictures in the glorious “golden hour” late afternoon, early evening light.
Day 7: Giant redwoods, part 2. See question in Day 6 about how one describes these amazing trees!!
Another early morning (wait, aren't vacations for sleeping in??) of grab the cameras and go. We began this day with a little wander through Ferndale, CA. Cute little town that a friend described recently as a Victorian Mayberry.
Ferndale is also home to the Itsy Bitsy Quilt Shop... and yes, I bought fabric there from the very nice lady who owned the shop!
Headed back down to the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants. We figured to have lunch in Garberville and then spend the rest of the day taking pictures of incredible trees.
Of course you know I found a fabric store in Garberville called In Stitches! And you also know I bought fabric. Well, for pity's sake, it was right across the street from the deli and she was having a sidewalk sale! How can I pass up a sale on fabric?
Fabric purchased, on we go to the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants. There, we just drove a bit, stopped to take pictures and wander around a bit, get back into the car and repeat. At one stop, a blue jay flew right up to me and landed at my feet. He hopped around a little bit, let me take a few pictures and then left. Pretty certain all he really wanted was to see if we had a handout for him.
Not being able to do justice to those magnificent trees and the forest and the area in general, I'm just going to post a couple pictures tomorrow and wish they could capture the reality of the place. I'm also going to encourage you to visit the area. You need to see it for yourself.
Day 8: Exceedingly long drive home. We made really good time, but it was a 12 hour drive... a little on the brutal side. Mostly we just wanted to be home and have a day to relax and recover before going to work tomorrow. We left Eureka at 8:30 a.m. and pulled into our driveway at 9:25 p.m. Only made minimal stops for bathroom breaks and filling the gas tank... lunch was all of 25 minutes and we “lingered” over dinner with 40 minutes.
Hitting the freeway in Portland at straight up 6 p.m., we were shocked to find ourselves home as early as we were. Normally it's a minimum 4 hour drive with good traffic...
Day 9: Today... we actually did get up and go to church. But that's about all we've done. Oh, we got the laundry all done, and have spent a bit of time looking at the pictures we took, but not much else. We've been resting up, reading, being lazy... as befits a last day of vacation, eh?
There are moments from this vacation that I will treasure and savor in my memory...
The staff of the Railway museum who were having so much fun showing off their place and enjoying their visitors.
Shawn, Jen and Toby in Healdsburg, who treated us like old friends and wanted us to enjoy their community as much as they do.
Being reminded again that quilters are the same everywhere, joyful and friendly and excited about what you might be making.
The silence of the forest.
The beauty.
The fun.
The joy at being away with my sweet husband.
...may there be mercy and refreshment as we return to work tomorrow.
home again
We made it home in one very long drive... and are pretty dang tired. In the next couple days will post a bit more about this wonderful trip. Too tired right now and gotta get to church!
...may there be mercy as we get back to our normal routine.
...may there be mercy as we get back to our normal routine.
Friday, June 01, 2007
heading home
We've had an awesome time on this vacation. Tomorrow we get up early, early and head for home. It's about a 12 hour drive, so we are hoping we can push thought and make the drive in one day.
...may there be mercy and continued safety as we travel
...may there be mercy and continued safety as we travel
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
on the road...
...having a ball...
...wish you were here...
...may there be coninued mercy as we travel and enjoy the time!
...wish you were here...
...may there be coninued mercy as we travel and enjoy the time!
Friday, May 25, 2007
vacation eve
Yep... as of 5 p.m. today, we are officially on vacation! Yay! It's another in our series of "Days of Wine and Railways" vacations. Love it!
My sweet husband and I are heading out early tomorrow. We will have lunch with friends in Portland, and eventually get as far as Medford, Oregon, spend the night, get up early again and get to Sacramento, California by noon on Sunday. There is a railway museum in Sacramento that he has wanted to visit since before I met him... and we've been married almost 20 years.
I'm too tired to fuss with making the all kinds of pretty and perfect "links", so I'm going to give the actual URL's.
Museum link is: http://www.csrmf.org/
Sacramento is also having a jazz festival over the long weekend. Little jazz bands playing all over the city. Cool!
Jazz Festival link is: www.sacjazz.com
On Tuesday, we will head to the Napa Valley and enjoy wineries. There are lists and list and lists of wineries... it's kind of amazing and overwhelming. But... we are going to concentrate our tours in the Heraldsburg area. If you know me at all, ya gotta know I enjoy a good glass of wine! This part of the trip will be lots of fun for me because one of my favorite hobbies is simply trying different wines.
After spending a couple days in wine country, we will head up to see the giant redwoods. On the way, we will ride the Skunk Train. Yep, it's a real train.
Skunk Train link is: http://www.skunktrain.com/
Eventually, we will wind our way home sometime next weekend. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, and sleep is just not coming. Hoping that I can relax enough to fall asleep soon... it's hard to do when I'm this excited!
...may there be mercy, safe travel, joy in one another and refreshment in our time away.
My sweet husband and I are heading out early tomorrow. We will have lunch with friends in Portland, and eventually get as far as Medford, Oregon, spend the night, get up early again and get to Sacramento, California by noon on Sunday. There is a railway museum in Sacramento that he has wanted to visit since before I met him... and we've been married almost 20 years.
I'm too tired to fuss with making the all kinds of pretty and perfect "links", so I'm going to give the actual URL's.
Museum link is: http://www.csrmf.org/
Sacramento is also having a jazz festival over the long weekend. Little jazz bands playing all over the city. Cool!
Jazz Festival link is: www.sacjazz.com
On Tuesday, we will head to the Napa Valley and enjoy wineries. There are lists and list and lists of wineries... it's kind of amazing and overwhelming. But... we are going to concentrate our tours in the Heraldsburg area. If you know me at all, ya gotta know I enjoy a good glass of wine! This part of the trip will be lots of fun for me because one of my favorite hobbies is simply trying different wines.
After spending a couple days in wine country, we will head up to see the giant redwoods. On the way, we will ride the Skunk Train. Yep, it's a real train.
Skunk Train link is: http://www.skunktrain.com/
Eventually, we will wind our way home sometime next weekend. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, and sleep is just not coming. Hoping that I can relax enough to fall asleep soon... it's hard to do when I'm this excited!
...may there be mercy, safe travel, joy in one another and refreshment in our time away.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
challenges
My online Weight Watchers group has been holding a series of 5 week challenges. The challenge is not all about who can lose the most weight. Instead, it's totally about how you work your weight loss program, how you get yourself healthy... and how friends can motivate us to getting there.
We started this process in December with a month long conversation about getting our mojo back and getting back on track on January 1st. The conversations were eye-opening for each of us. We talked honestly about binge eating, stress eating, boredom eating, what will set us off into an eating frenzy, triggers, emotions involving food... just about any part of why we all got overweight and unhealthy in the first place.
At the beginning of the first challenge, I decided to be a cheerleader for the group instead of an active challenge participant. Being only 8 pounds over my goal weight, it didn't seem like such a big deal to get where I wanted... and I didn't want the competition factors to bug me.
So I tried to watch my portions and just manage getting back to my goal weight by myself... while watching and cheering my friends as they made great strides toward their goals. It was fun to make up cheers each week for them.
When that challenge ended, many of the participants had lost at least 10 pounds which was very cool. I had not made any real progress. Decidedly bad for me.
With a week off for the Challenge Mistress, a second challenge was offered. Realizing that I was actually in such horrible shape that I could not get to the top of the stairs at work without being so out of breath that I had to rest, I knew I had to do something. Especially since there is no alternate to getting upstairs at work! We have no elevator, our break room is up there and we store closed files up there. I'm up there several times a day, so this was getting to be kinda scary for me.
Swallowing my pride, I emailed the Challenge Mistress to ask for help on an exercise program. I'd come up with an idea of one, but needed help to know if it was enough exercise to get me into shape. Surprisingly, she actually took away some of the stuff I had put in so I didn't get overwhelmed at the outset. She also tweaked the program I'd come up with so that I would not get bored.
Oh...my...gosh... I hate exercise! I always have.
Bummer for me! That's the only way I'm gonna get in shape and be able to do anything now. Ugh!
So I get myself back on track with my Weight Watchers program and start exercising. I'm doing pretty well... over the first couple weeks a couple pounds come off... and then, my big brother's situation happens.
After a week with that level of stress, I knew I could not keep up the pace of anything extra and keep my sanity. It was enough to get through work each day. I quietly bowed out of the challenge and spent much time praying for my big brother.
Fast forward a few weeks, he second challenge is over and big brother is doing better... finally! At this point, I'm wishing for another challenge to start, but know that the Challenge Mistress has got to be tired of doing this for us. I am amazed when she agrees to do a third challenge... and determine that nothing will stop me from participating. The challenge will run from April 9th to May 13th... today.
Yep, I've been participating the entire time. The timing was interesting because tomorrow is my birthday and we are going on vacation in another couple weeks. I admit that I am vain enough to have wanted to get myself into shape mostly so I could look good for both birthday and vacation.
But, at the same time, today I've got to admit to having learned some interesting things during this challenge.
I learned that I truly do hate exercise! Yep, I do. But... like cleaning the toilets, some things that we hate doing just have to be done. So I've been getting up at 5 a.m. almost every day to do exercise before work. Knowing how tired I always am when I get home, I knew if I didn't do it early, I wouldn't do it at all. Some mornings have been terribly difficult to get out of bed and it was all I could do to not re-set my alarm for more sleep.
I learned that this ding-dang exercise thing actually works. Yep, go ahead and laugh. It was a lesson I needed to learn since when I lost the 50 pounds the first time I didn't do any exercise. Just did it with managing food and portions and working the entire Weight Watchers Program except the exercise part. It also works in that I've lost inches in interesting places! In the last 5 weeks, I've lost 1 inch in the bust (bummer that, but oh well!), 2 inches in my waistline, 1.5 inches in my hips and 1 inch in my thighs. Now that's very cool stuff!
This ding-dang exercise thing (the DDE) has gotten me to the point of being able to fly up the stairs at work without pausing for breath. I have a ton more energy. I feel so much better. It seems my immune system is also responding because I didn't even get a cold this year when everyone at work has been practically coughing up their lungs onto their desks!
I've also enjoyed the fact that the DDE has helped me with my posture. I've always had terrible posture... but since my abs are getting tighter and my back is getting stronger, I've noticed that I'm not sitting all hunched over all the time. Now I notice when I do and straighten up because I've discovered it's actually more comfortable.
Another lesson in all this is that my friends are truly amazing people. I've known that for ages, but they reinforced my understanding of how supportive they are during this challenge. Their celebration with me the day I announced that I could climb the stairs at work without getting out of breath was awesome! They celebrate the pounds lost, the victories of not eating certain foods that are triggers, the days when I can fit into clothing that I'd given up on ever being able to wear again, the normal day-to-day stuff of learning to live with food issues... they encourage me and I am so grateful to each of them.
The weird thing I learned about myself is the fact of how competitive I am. Wow... I didn't realize that would be such a motivator in this process! In all of this, I've worked the challenge hard and managed to stay at the head of the pack. Right now, as of Monday which was the last time the Challenge Mistress posted results, I am 2 points ahead of the next challenger. She's keeping me on my toes and working hard all this week to stay ahead of her. It will be interesting when our Challenge Mistress posts the final results to see if I managed to keep my very slim lead.
Today is the end of this challenge. My scale shows me at 3 pounds UNDER my goal weight and I'm thrilled. I have to admit that I've enjoyed being a participant in spite of the DDE portion. I'm going to have to keep my routine now, and get up early several times a week to do the DDE. I do not want to lose the far healthier feeling I have going on. It really is wonderful to feel good.
...may there be mercy and blessing on Challenge Mistresses and encouraging friends.
We started this process in December with a month long conversation about getting our mojo back and getting back on track on January 1st. The conversations were eye-opening for each of us. We talked honestly about binge eating, stress eating, boredom eating, what will set us off into an eating frenzy, triggers, emotions involving food... just about any part of why we all got overweight and unhealthy in the first place.
At the beginning of the first challenge, I decided to be a cheerleader for the group instead of an active challenge participant. Being only 8 pounds over my goal weight, it didn't seem like such a big deal to get where I wanted... and I didn't want the competition factors to bug me.
So I tried to watch my portions and just manage getting back to my goal weight by myself... while watching and cheering my friends as they made great strides toward their goals. It was fun to make up cheers each week for them.
When that challenge ended, many of the participants had lost at least 10 pounds which was very cool. I had not made any real progress. Decidedly bad for me.
With a week off for the Challenge Mistress, a second challenge was offered. Realizing that I was actually in such horrible shape that I could not get to the top of the stairs at work without being so out of breath that I had to rest, I knew I had to do something. Especially since there is no alternate to getting upstairs at work! We have no elevator, our break room is up there and we store closed files up there. I'm up there several times a day, so this was getting to be kinda scary for me.
Swallowing my pride, I emailed the Challenge Mistress to ask for help on an exercise program. I'd come up with an idea of one, but needed help to know if it was enough exercise to get me into shape. Surprisingly, she actually took away some of the stuff I had put in so I didn't get overwhelmed at the outset. She also tweaked the program I'd come up with so that I would not get bored.
Oh...my...gosh... I hate exercise! I always have.
Bummer for me! That's the only way I'm gonna get in shape and be able to do anything now. Ugh!
So I get myself back on track with my Weight Watchers program and start exercising. I'm doing pretty well... over the first couple weeks a couple pounds come off... and then, my big brother's situation happens.
After a week with that level of stress, I knew I could not keep up the pace of anything extra and keep my sanity. It was enough to get through work each day. I quietly bowed out of the challenge and spent much time praying for my big brother.
Fast forward a few weeks, he second challenge is over and big brother is doing better... finally! At this point, I'm wishing for another challenge to start, but know that the Challenge Mistress has got to be tired of doing this for us. I am amazed when she agrees to do a third challenge... and determine that nothing will stop me from participating. The challenge will run from April 9th to May 13th... today.
Yep, I've been participating the entire time. The timing was interesting because tomorrow is my birthday and we are going on vacation in another couple weeks. I admit that I am vain enough to have wanted to get myself into shape mostly so I could look good for both birthday and vacation.
But, at the same time, today I've got to admit to having learned some interesting things during this challenge.
I learned that I truly do hate exercise! Yep, I do. But... like cleaning the toilets, some things that we hate doing just have to be done. So I've been getting up at 5 a.m. almost every day to do exercise before work. Knowing how tired I always am when I get home, I knew if I didn't do it early, I wouldn't do it at all. Some mornings have been terribly difficult to get out of bed and it was all I could do to not re-set my alarm for more sleep.
I learned that this ding-dang exercise thing actually works. Yep, go ahead and laugh. It was a lesson I needed to learn since when I lost the 50 pounds the first time I didn't do any exercise. Just did it with managing food and portions and working the entire Weight Watchers Program except the exercise part. It also works in that I've lost inches in interesting places! In the last 5 weeks, I've lost 1 inch in the bust (bummer that, but oh well!), 2 inches in my waistline, 1.5 inches in my hips and 1 inch in my thighs. Now that's very cool stuff!
This ding-dang exercise thing (the DDE) has gotten me to the point of being able to fly up the stairs at work without pausing for breath. I have a ton more energy. I feel so much better. It seems my immune system is also responding because I didn't even get a cold this year when everyone at work has been practically coughing up their lungs onto their desks!
I've also enjoyed the fact that the DDE has helped me with my posture. I've always had terrible posture... but since my abs are getting tighter and my back is getting stronger, I've noticed that I'm not sitting all hunched over all the time. Now I notice when I do and straighten up because I've discovered it's actually more comfortable.
Another lesson in all this is that my friends are truly amazing people. I've known that for ages, but they reinforced my understanding of how supportive they are during this challenge. Their celebration with me the day I announced that I could climb the stairs at work without getting out of breath was awesome! They celebrate the pounds lost, the victories of not eating certain foods that are triggers, the days when I can fit into clothing that I'd given up on ever being able to wear again, the normal day-to-day stuff of learning to live with food issues... they encourage me and I am so grateful to each of them.
The weird thing I learned about myself is the fact of how competitive I am. Wow... I didn't realize that would be such a motivator in this process! In all of this, I've worked the challenge hard and managed to stay at the head of the pack. Right now, as of Monday which was the last time the Challenge Mistress posted results, I am 2 points ahead of the next challenger. She's keeping me on my toes and working hard all this week to stay ahead of her. It will be interesting when our Challenge Mistress posts the final results to see if I managed to keep my very slim lead.
Today is the end of this challenge. My scale shows me at 3 pounds UNDER my goal weight and I'm thrilled. I have to admit that I've enjoyed being a participant in spite of the DDE portion. I'm going to have to keep my routine now, and get up early several times a week to do the DDE. I do not want to lose the far healthier feeling I have going on. It really is wonderful to feel good.
...may there be mercy and blessing on Challenge Mistresses and encouraging friends.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
owie!
Well Gang... apparently in honor of the day, it being National Nurses Day and all... I have managed to need to see a lovely nurse named Amber at our local doc-in-a-box. No idea the name of the nice doctor I just saw, but the nurse was very cool.
Probably because she called me a trooper. ;-p
Also probably because she was soooo gentle with me when cleaning off all that blood... and while telling me that I won't be sewing or quilting for a week or two. I think she knew that would be the more painful part!
Oh... ya wanna know what stupid thing I did?
Managed to cut off the side/end of my finger (including a chunk out of the side of the nail bed) with my rotary cutter while cutting a piece of batting for the purple quilt that I am making for a friend to take to chemo treatments.
Ding-dang-dumb thing to do. I always check one extra time before cutting to ensure that I do NOT do this... but got in a hurry.
Just really glad I reacted so quickly and did not get blood on the fabric.
...may there be mercy and a fast healing so quilting can be resumed!
Probably because she called me a trooper. ;-p
Also probably because she was soooo gentle with me when cleaning off all that blood... and while telling me that I won't be sewing or quilting for a week or two. I think she knew that would be the more painful part!
Oh... ya wanna know what stupid thing I did?
Managed to cut off the side/end of my finger (including a chunk out of the side of the nail bed) with my rotary cutter while cutting a piece of batting for the purple quilt that I am making for a friend to take to chemo treatments.
Ding-dang-dumb thing to do.
Just really glad I reacted so quickly and did not get blood on the fabric.
...may there be mercy and a fast healing so quilting can be resumed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
