Stuff

I've been a little obsessed with reading lately. I read The Hunger Games in just a few nights and then I started Catching Fire on Monday night. Did I say obsessed? :) Anyway, that's a big reason I haven't popped back on here!

I started a Biggest Loser Challenge a couple of weeks ago. It's with Herbalife protein shakes. In 2 weeks, I'm down 5.5 lbs. Whoop whoop!!! And, I finished another BLC that a college friend is part of......and I won it!!! I lost 3.7% of my weight from 12/2 to 2/3. I'm especially proud that I managed to lose a couple of pounds during December, when I typically gain it! Look out size 8's that have been hanging in my closet for 3 years....here I come!

Lacey has been playing indoor soccer the last several weeks. I had talked to her about playing soccer for a couple of years, but she had no interest in it. I think she was just scared to try. But, some of her friends (including a BFF...Mallory) was playing, so she agreed to give it a shot. She's doing pretty well with it, too! I've loved watching her gain more confidence over the last few weeks.

Last Saturday, during the last 2 minutes of the game, a ball was kicked into her chest. :( The coach carried her off and she was crying. But, she pulled it together enough to walk out at the end of the game for the handshakes.

She & Leah both want to play spring soccer, so I know we'll be running around juggling a lot then.

Wrist Injury

Throughout last summer, my right wrist had been hurting. Sometimes it just ached. But, when I would push open a door, or do a push up, it was terrible.

I finally called a doctor and went in for an appointment in September to see an orthopedist whose specialty is hands. He did some x-rays and didn’t see any “secondary damage”, but seemed fairly sure that I had torn ligaments. A couple of weeks later, I had an MRI. As soon as the radiologist started putting the dye in my wrist, he could tell (on the x-ray) that I had tears in my Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC) and he showed me where the tear was. It was pretty cool to see, but I didn’t really know what it meant for me. And, I still had to do the actual MRI, which honestly wasn’t too bad. I think I was lucky to be laying on my stomach – so I couldn’t look up & see how I was confined.

(Sort of digressing here, but I remember Mom going for one of her many MRIs. It was during a thunderstorm and they kept losing power. So, she’d be in the middle of having an MRI done, and it would “stop” with her inside. And, they’d have to start over again. And, again. And, again.)

When I went back to the doctor a few days later, I knew I was in trouble when the first thing he said was “I haven’t seen a tear this bad in a long time”. Why, thank you. At another point, he said my wrist looked like that of someone that had played in the NFL for 10 years. Thanks, again. (And, where is all that money I earned?) The tears were old & new and who knows how I actually injured myself. Sometimes surgery is needed, but he felt that at my “young” (ahem) age we should try to avoid it unless it was really necessary. I think at some point I will end up needed it, but he is hoping to push it off a bit since technology is improving so much with these things.

He prescribed a brace for 2-3 months. Remember, this is my right wrist….and I’m right handed. It made things interesting for sure. But, at least it wasn’t a cast…I could take it off to take a shower, etc.

The follow up appointment in December was a weird one. He told me that it had healed….just by moving my wrist around and pushing in certain areas. And, when I asked about hurting in a different area, he told me “that’s the arthritis”. I thought “secondary damage” was arthritis? And, that I had no secondary damage? I was confused, but he seemed rushed & it wasn’t all really registering with me at the time. So, I have no idea. He told me to stop wearing the brace so much. (But, if it is healed, why do I have to wear it at all?) And, to do some exercises with my wrist to help loosen it up…..then come back for a follow up in 2-3 months.

I don’t wear the brace at all anymore – unless it’s hurting & I want to make sure it doesn’t do anything weird when I’m sleeping. I think that’s only happened once or twice since the last appointment. I try not to do much that could reinjure it, though. It’s frustrating. Cleaning is much more difficult because of that repetitive movement and the strain on my wrist. And, I know this sounds weird, but I would just like to be able to do that. Yes, I would like to be able to clean the bathroom. I feel like I’m making excuses when I get Butch to do it. Yet, I don’t want to clean it myself & cause a new injury that leads to surgery. And, working out is challenging because many of my workout DVDs and the classes I do either do push ups or things very similar that require a lot with the wrist.

Things like this really make you feel old. On top of this issue, I’ve had a shoulder injury for quite some time that needs to be looked at. Lately, I can’t sleep on my left side without having a lot of shoulder pain. I think it's a shoulder impingement.

I have an appointment for a follow up on my wrist & on my shoulder in a couple of weeks.

Random Update

I hadn't realized how long it had been since posting last (2 months). So what's been going on, you ask?

I joined a gym. It's the one that Dee goes to. It's a bit of a drive (25 min.), but it's a women's gym, which is kind of nice.....I didn't think I cared, but I do like it. And, they have an awesome fitness instructor who teaches Turbo Kick. It's a really tough workout, but it's fun & she is so energetic. I was doing her class 2x a week for about.....6(?) weeks. Then, the gym offered the "Get Ripped Challenge". It's a sort of boot camp that was M/W/F for 4 weeks at 5:30 a.m. for 45 minutes. I signed up & it was awesome. I liked getting a workout done at the beginning of the day and it was tough. I kept going to the Turbo Kick classes & added some cardio on at the end of each boot camp class.....thought for sure I'd see some great results by the end of 4 weeks. Nope. Nada. My body fat barely went down.

No, I didn't give up my chai lattes during that time. But, I did (for the most part) give up wine. Between that & all those calories I was burning, one would think it would have worked. I need to chat with Genelle about that. So, I'm still working out 4-5 times a week and I'm getting ready to give up my chai latte. It just isn't worth it!

What else?

We all had colds in May. I ended up going to the doctor and got a prescription for bronchitis. The same day I went, I picked the girls up from Lisa's to hear Lacey complain about her ear. I wondered, but decided to wait.....but by the end of dinner, she was crying every few minutes, so I took her to the urgent care and found she had a double ear infection. So we were both on antibiotics.

And, I've had some car issues. Remember that I had my car worked on because of damage from mice? Well, when I drove it at night a few weeks after getting it back, I found that some lights weren't working --- the backlight for the odometer and the light for the heating/air. A few days later, the SRS (airbag) light came on. So, I took it back in to the shop about 10 days ago. GEICO tried to argue that none of it was related to the initial problem. But, the repair shop convinced them it was. We just picked up my car yesterday. I stopped to get gas on the way home, then stopped at Ledo's to pick up pizza. The car wouldn't start when I came out. Butch came to pick me up & the car stayed. This morning, I was planning to have a repair shop (across from Ledo's) look at it, but it started. I was going to drive it to the gym to see if it would start after that, too. But, I had a flat.

So, I took Dad's car (which we've been borrowing) to the gym. Then, Dad & Rick came to change the tire for me. I drove it across the street & had the tire patched. ARGH! Hopefully it won't refuse to start anymore. I'm just going to use it locally for a bit.

Last Saturday, Butch left for Atlanta to do a college tour. He was gone all week. I got by okay, but I would not want to be a single mom! The kids usually insist on me for baths and bedtime, but Butch is usually doing the dishes or something while I handle the kids. Not last week! It wasn't too bad. The worst was that on Monday night, both kids slept horribly. So, I ended up getting very little (3 hours total?) of sleep. It didn't make for a productive Tuesday! I had to skip Turbo Kick because I was exhausted.

I promise to try to do some more updates in the next few weeks!

Our Weekend

Lacey had her 4 year old well visit on Friday afternoon. On the drive, I prepared her for everything except shots...thinking she wasn't getting any. I promised her a prize (non-doll) at Target if she was good for Dr. Jill. The visit went pretty well. She was 41" tall (75th %ile) and 36.75 lbs (50th %ile).

I asked about nutrition - since Lacey is a very picky eater and has days where she seems to eat like a bird. I listed the meats she will eat (some kinds of chicken nuggets, shaved deli ham and hot dogs) and the veggies (none, except the spinach pockets). She does fine with fruits, dairy & grains. Anyway, Jill's response was "that's a pretty good list". She told me that compared to many picky eater lists, it's really not bad at all for this age. Whew. And, it's common for there to be days where a kid doesn't seem to eat much. She also pointed to her growth chart and showed how it's been very consistant, so no worries.

Then, I asked about this annoying constipation/withholding issue. When I told Jill that I'm sure Lacey gets enough fiber most days, she said it usually has nothing to do with fiber. It's withholding. It's mental/emotional. And, eventually she will get over it, but it might be another year or 2 before she does. Lovely. No health issues to worry about with it at this time, though.

After doing the exam, Jill explained that there would be shots. They aren't truly necessary until the 5 year old well visit, but if we waited, there would be 4 in one day and this doctor's office thinks it's a bit more humane to spread it out. So do I. Lacey had done so well in the fall for her flu shot that I was hopeful....but these 2 shots (Dtap and polio) apparently were more painful and caused lots of tears. So, mommy gave in & promised she could have another Barbie if she wanted one. If you have seen her collection, you would know another Barbie was not needed. But, I'm a softy.

Off we went to Target & Lacey had a nice little time debating on the dolls. Of course, her first 2 picks were $20 Barbie's and I said no way. She eventually found one she wanted that was a reasonable price.

We've had some rough sleep for the last 2 weeks or so. Lacey's sleep fell apart when she got sick. She started waking up around 3:00 or 4:00 and wandering to our room. I tried to take her back to her bed if I was awake enough, but when I was too tired to move, let her climb in. And, Leah's sleep has been rough because of teething. She's been waking up at 5:00 or 5:30 most mornings and one of us (usually Butch) goes in to rock with her until it's a reasonable time to get up. It's hard on work mornings for Butch & I to have time for our routines.

I can't fix Leah's teething issue, but focused on Lacey's. When we were at Target on Friday, I had her pick out a DVD and promised she could have it if she started sleeping better....staying in her bed and not waking me up. It worked. Friday night & Saturday night, she stayed in her bed and didn't call us at all. I feel much better today. And, she's enjoying "Happily N'ever After 2". Amazingly enough, Leah even slept well last night. She didn't wake until 7:00, so it was awesome!

Yesterday, we went to the 9th Annual Hospice Easter Egg Roll. The kids had a great time. Neither one was interested in the egg roll, but Lacey enjoyed the hunt. They had a big bin filled with bubbles and that's what they played with the most.
They had pony rides, which Lacey was quite excited about. I think she went on 2-3 rides through the day. Leah was yelling "neigh, neigh", but once she got on and the pony started moving, she was anxious to get off.


The Easter Bunny was walking around, but neither girl was very interested. At least Leah was okay getting close to him for a picture. Lacey didn't want to get that close.
We bought some raffle tickets for the kids raffle. They had 6 tables set up and you could pick what prizes you wanted to be entered to win. Lacey (of course) picked Barbie related items. With 6 tickets, we won 2 prizes. One was a 3 pack of Barbies and the other was a Barbie with a horse. Lovely. I told her she had to pick 5 of her old ones to send to Aunt Dee's for her toy bin. (She keeps toys for when my kids, and Buck's nieces and nephews visit.) Leah passed out in her carseat within 3 minutes and slept the whole ride home....then went back to sleep in her crib for 90 minutes after we got home.

Not much going on today. We had planned to go to another Easter Egg Hunt that the Optimist Club was doing. But, Dad wasn't going to be there and I wasn't sure if we'd know anyone. It's 35 minutes away and since we'd already done one yesterday, decided to skip it. I went to Target this morning & had some peace & quite while shopping and sipping my vanilla chai latte. Butch is doing a little yard work. Lacey is watching the new movie for the 2nd time and resting. I'm planning to get them both outside for a bit after Leah wakes up. The day is too lovely to be stuck inside.

Exercise!

I've been trying to get myself exercising (and eating well) for months now. I just can't seem to get myself motivated enough to lose the last 10 pounds from being pregnant with Leah. I think I've finally decided that exercise must come first....then the nutrition will follow. I bought a 10 visit pass to the gym that Dee goes to. I haven't joined before partly because of the kids and having to take time to go, but also because it's not really close. It's about 25 minutes from here. But, I need to do something.

They have a turbo kickboxing class that Dee & her friend love. I went on Thursday evening and love it, too. The instructor is really good and it's a HARD workout, which is what I need to get motivated. She teaches the same class on Tuesday mornings. Since I work from home on Tuesdays, that's going to be my lunch hour. Twice a week should get me moving more, right?

I had gotten into Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. It's a great 20 minute workout. I'm just not great at sticking with it. Hopefully I can do that once each weekend and maybe another time during the week.