Going down without a blaze of glory

Once I missed out on a day of NaBloPoMo I made my way down the slippery slope of "maybe tomorrow." Obviously that was a lot of tomorrows ago.

The recap:

I went to Richmond for the weekend to race in the NTelos 8K with Buildermama. She and the Builder family were there usual fantastic and entertaining selves. I love having friends where you can just go, hang out and not worry. BM says I was the one who was all into the race, the only reason was I felt like I *had* to do it since I'd signed up months ago, drove 2.5 hours and told everyone I know that I was doing it. The night before the race there was a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms. During the night there were storms and we had agreed, lightning equalled no race. Race morning was warm--68 and 100% humidity, in November, go figure. We made it through the race. BM was having trouble early and since I'd practiced to run all 5 miles I smugly kept going figuring she'd catch up. Around the beginning of mile 3 I had some aches and pains and everyone around me was walking so I bowed to peer pressure. I never lost my breath or felt like my HR was super high, I just felt, well, lazy. I finished in 1:09 and BM finished exactly 2 minutes behind me. I should have waited for her, it would have been loads more fun to chat with her than to run alone. I endured Monkey Man's birthday party, the perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with the Badasses. The lesson, kid birthday parties are the same everywhere, kids, adults, which birthday doesn't matter--loud, chaotic and that is even before they get sugared up. Thanks to BM, MM and BJ for the great weekend. Love ya, mean it!

Then it was home for a week of the grind before my parents and sister came to visit. I was really looking forward to their visit and the Dazzle Dash. DD is a walk through the light display that is a lot of fun. Unfortunately my sister got the stomach flu and didn't get to go with us. Needless to say she was not happy about driving 5.5 hours to lay around my house and run to the bathroom over and over. We had a good time at DD without her, especially since we ran into several friends there as well. By the next morning Mom was sick as well. And, lucky us, they left the germs behind. Abby threw up at the gym on Monday night, Ellie threw up in her bed later that night and I spent yesterday running to the bathroom. Here's hoping that we can all keep Thanksgiving dinner down!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I feel blessed this year as every year for my family, friends and all I have.

It Only FEELS Like I Got Hit By A Truck

I woke up this morning tired. Wow, imagine that. Most mornings I get up, get moving and the feeling soon passes. This morning after much "snoozing" and finally extricating myself from bed I got dressed, got the kids motivated and made it out of the house only about half an hour behind schedule. I called Gman and told him I how I felt and that I hadn't managed to perk up quite yet. I got to work, got a few things done and realized my ankle hurt, my knees too and then there was my head. I promised myself that if I could just make it through my 1:30 meeting I would go home. And home I did go. To nap. I napped from 2:30ish until Gman came home from work. Then I had dinner with the fam and now I am back in the bed. Everything aches a little less after the happy ibuprofen pills but still, mostly like I got hit by a truck.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled reading...

Too Hot to Handle

Poor Boobah, she has got the fever part of the "fever and cough" that have been making their way through the school, the neighborhood and the office. Yesterday morning she got dressed and then told me her forehead hurt. When I reached out to feel it I hadn't touched her and I could feel the heat. So I ended up not getting dressed at all. Of course I couldn't find the thermometer, the Mommy measurement system said she was seriously warm. I called the neighbor to see if PDQ could walk to the bus stop with them, I really didn't want to drag a sick kid to the bus stop in a sub-zero wind chill. It was amazing, an hour after a dose of ibuprofen and she was running around the house. 5ish hours later, in the midst of addressing the Valentine's cards for school, she crashed again. Its amazing how quickly it comes and goes.

Last night after Gman got home I finally ventured out for a thermometer--sure enough 103.3. She was complaining of her head, throat, ears and tummy. This morning we went to "Winter Express Hours" at the pediatrician's office. I love these people, we were in and out in half an hour without an appointment and saw one of our regular doctors. Just a virus, like everyone else in town, was the conclusion. I expected as much but unlike when I was sick, I figured I'd get a professional opinion. My kids are so seldom sick that when they are its hard to tell how sick they really are.

So Boobah and I are camped out on the couch again today. She's curled up under the blanket at my side and I am trying to do some work. As much as I hate that she is sick, I am enjoying spending time cuddled up with her. Those moments are far too few and far between these days.

Night Time Defined

My own personal definition of night time has always extended until 5AM, anything before 5, definitely night time. After 5, maybe not pleasant but okay, I'll admit it is day time. Apparently the radio folks use the same definition. When I got in the car this morning at 4:50 AM to go to swim class the first things out of the announcers mouth "here on After Midnight." My suspicions have been confirmed, 5 is officially the beginning of day.

Having said that the class was actually, dare I say, fun. The people were very nice. Its nice to have someone to run the workout so all I have to think about is executing. I am sure they will get harder but this morning was a good chance to literally and figuratively get my feet wet.

Today I officially feel better, its been a week in coming but I finally feel like I might get through the day without a nap. Bending over to pick something up doesn't make my head feel like it will explode. There was no whining this morning about getting up and ready for school (although there was a temper tantrum over one taking the socks of the other). Obviously we are making progress.

Sending up smoke signals from the house of snot

Tomorrow it will be a week since I went to bed and have basically not gotten out except to do the absolutely necessary--like rinse my sinuses and get another box of tissues. When I woke the girls up this morning and they both complained that they didn't feel well I took pity on their booger crusted little selves and declared it a sick day. They've watched too much TV, played video games and eaten chicken noodle soup. They've had Thumper time and do your homework time. I've worked (yeah, no kidding, amazing huh?) and talked to my sister on the phone about the new babe.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll all be ready to enter the normal world again. I guess I'll find out what I'm made of, my tri training class starts tomorrow--in the pool at 5:15 AM. That in itself isn't so bad, its the getting up prior to 5AM which, as far as I am concerned, still qualifies as night time.

Sunday in Pictures

I managed to crawl out of bed this afternoon, walk a mile through the lights with the kids and actually eat something besides crackers. I am still waiting to see if that holds. I also learned an important lesson--3 days of nothing but blue Gatorade helps your body produce something akin to nuclear waste. Anyway, here was our day in pictures.

PDQs debut in the new children's choir at church.

The whole family in our matching "Dazzle Dash" shirts--of course in the cold with all those people there was very little dashing. I guess this is the official kick-off of the holiday season.

All of the kids ready to "dash"--Boobah, PDQ and D & A of Esmerelda's world.

My holiday sentiments for all of you!

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I am thankful that I feel better, there is nothing like being ill to remind you how happy you are to feel normal. I am also thankful for the holiday season and having kids to remind me of all the wonder.

Crawling out of bed

Wow, I don't remember anything making me feel so awful in a really long time. Even when I had surgery it was the pain, not the feeling bad. I spent all day in bed, keeping warm, sipping Gatorade and eating a few crackers. I ventured as far as half a bagel and a little bit of soup but my digestive system wasn't real keen on that so back to crackers. I've decided it was the "executive box lunch" that might have done me in. Someone else said they got sick on Wednesday night and I didn't feel well most of the day on Thursday--just took awhile for it all to hit me.

Thankfully the Buckeyes took care of the Wolverines this afternoon or I might be hiding under the covers for a whole different reason! That is 6 times out of the last seven, it almost makes me feel a little bit sad for the people from the state up North...almost.

I am venturing out to stamp camp tonight, I really feel like I need to get up for a little bit. Its not exactly strenuous activity (although I worked up a sweat trying to find shoes in our dump of a closet). It may be a very early night.

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I am thankful for my husband who once again took on the Mr. Mom role today--buying birthday gifts, running PDQ to a birthday party and making the cookie deposit. I love you hon.

Perfect End to a Lousy Week

Food poisoning--yep, that pretty much tops off a crappy week (pun intended). I was up all night last night running to the bathroom. It was miserable. I still feel a bit like I've been run over by a truck but my back isn't so keen on me laying in bed any longer.

WhyMommy on Inflammatory Breast Cancer

I am stealing the post below from WhyMommy over at Toddler Planet, she was recently diagnosed with Inflammatory Breat Cancer and is working to get the word out about this fast spreading breast cancer that is often misdiagnosed. I also know a woman IRL who has been fighting the same beast. Please read on, "steal" this post and put it up for your readers to see, and join Team WhyMommy.

From WhyMommy....
We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.
Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.
Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

It snot funny

Well, I guess it is now, but not at the time.

I have this annoying cough. I can sit at my desk and I cough occasionally but it snot so bad. Then I went to run a meeting this morning. We are about 15 minutes in and a coughing jag hits. Bad enough since I am trying to lead these people through a conversation on a rather complex topic. Then a particularly jarring cough hits and I can feel snot sneaking towards the end of my nose. If I can't get it under control I am going to blow snot bubbles. I can feel it. Add that on to the coughing jag and I am now turning bright red and getting blow snot on my colleagues--now there is some team building.

One of the guys asks if he can get me water. I give him the hand and tell them I'll be right back and go sprinting from the room. I get a cup of water which helps marginally. Then I head to the restroom for a serious nose blowing. Really, did I need this today?

The summer sickies

Or is it allergies? Not really sick enough to take a sick day, not really well enough to function 100%. I've got an annoying cough, annoying enough that my friend in an office down the hall came bearing cough drops this afternoon. Apparently she'd heard enough. I must say her Ricola Honey & Herb drops were not bad, I was gag-free. (Yeah, I know, TMI but usually cough drops are worse for me than the coughing!)

Gman isn't fairing much better, he says his throat hurts and he has a swollen gland. We are doing a lot of horizontal parenting these days, mostly to request that the whining stop. right. now. We did give into the request for Rita's this evening. Nothing like something cold to calm the throat. He is currently giving the girls a bath, I haven't heard screams from any of the involved parties so it must be going okay.

Vacation countdown: 7 more work days until vacation
School countdown: 33 days

I'm Melting......

Yeah, not in the weight loss sense unfortunately. I had a high fever on Friday night, my cheeks were seriously flaming and I felt really horrible. Finally the fever broke and I ended up in a big sweaty puddle--yeah, don't you wish you shared the bed with me? I haven't had a fever since but my temperature control mechanism still isn't right. I've been too hot, I've been too cold but I haven't found just right yet. I actually stayed home from work both Friday and yesterday to try and make sure that I was in decent form this morning to face the executive staff of my company and review a project proposal with them.

So I got up this morning and went for acupuncture, might as well go in as well centered as I could be. It was the same way I started the day that I got sick and ran the meeting that precipitated this one. I have little doubt the stress of that hellish event contributed to being stricken by the plague. By the time I got to the presentation it was hot in their suite, they kept us waiting for 20 minutes and I was feeling a bit queasy. Finally I ran to the bathroom--wouldn't you know that while I was gone they summoned our little group--6 men and little old me. The others, all guys, all senior managers went in and took a seat. Thankfully my colleague grabbed chairs out of another room for the two of us while I handed out the presentation (only half of them in color because apparently they've now limited the number of copies you can send to the color printer unbeknownst to me until 2 minutes before the meeting). Finally I got a chance to sit down and two of the female execs pulled a chair up close to the big people table for me right between them. One of them was so close and kept looking at me intently every time I spoke--I wanted to tell her that her knew glasses were great, it was a bit disconcerting having such a great view of them for SO long!

They were ready to start, the exec in charge the project gave a long introduction while I sat there, he ended rather abruptly and I felt myself fall into the abyss--they expected me to start talking and what do you say to follow that introduction? I could feel my face flush, I could feel sweat forming on my forehead and under my arms, I took a deep breath and jumped in. There were a couple of times I looked at the slides that had occupied my weekend in bed and I swear there were words I'd never seen before! The hour went pretty quickly, thank goodness. The peanut gallery that came to meeting to field questions might have said a dozen sentences between them--from the good chairs. I feel like I escaped unscathed, I can't wait to hear the action items I got assigned after we were dismissed. I really did think for just a moment there wasn't going to be anything left of me but a puddle in that chair.

Blog Blast
Parent Bloggers Network is sponsoring its first blog blast in honor of Mother's Day and inspired by LightIris founder and dad Kevin who has been wearing a Preggo Suit all month long. Can he really actually be empathic to what moms go through? And is being a mom just about the actual having of the kids? or the raising of the kids? What is it that makes YOU a mom? Post anytime on Friday May 11 and e-mail a link to parentbloggers@gmail.com for the chance to be included and maybe even win $100 SPA FINDER gift card in a random drawing!

What a couple of days of the plague will teach you

I spent most of my time since Thursday evening in my bed. Friday I tried to go to work for an hour to finish something and got sent home. My acupuncturist stopped by on his way home and worked some of his magic that (in combination with some ibuprofen) made me decide I might live. Being sick occasionally is good for us I've decided. It reminded me that the world can move on without me--Gman took great care of the kids, kept the house as clean as it ever is, and came to check on me asking if he could rub my...insert body part here... My beautiful girls came to check on me and ask me if I was feeling better with great care and concern in their little voices. Stuff got done at work, I had to use what was functioning of my brain to dump the stuff that no one else knew but they managed to get it taken care of way faster and I'm sure better than I could have in the state I was in.

Its not that I think I am indispensable, I just act like it a lot of the time. I want (need?) things done and while I am at it I want it done my way! I have a bad habit of not listening to my body and giving it the rest or activity it needs--but I've been working on that. Somewhere along the line (I am guessing from my very own supermom) I picked up the idea that doing it all was what I was supposed to do. I've learned the hard way I can't and a few days of feeling horrible is a good reminder that Gman and the kids can take care of themselves even if they don't like it very much. It was also a good reminder that Gman is my soul mate and that I probably don't show him nearly enough appreciation for just being him. Stay tuned for my review of Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box: Cut Yourself Some Slack (and Still Raise Great Kids) in the Age of Extreme Parenting. It has been a real think piece for me on the theme of what is expected of us as mothers so I'll post it here and not just on Maven Says.

Back to the grind

I came back to work on Wednesday. By the time I had convinced the girls to get dressed, taken a shower, debated on which pants would hurt the least to button, and gave everyone the appropriate bags, coats and hats I had worked up a sweat. I knew it would be the most difficult part of my day!

I got to work, it was really good to see people again, all in all they are a great bunch of people. I went to a meeting, then our division had our holiday lunch, I spent most of both fidgeting. There is one teeny, tiny stitch that sits right where my pants hit, I felt like my 5 y.o. who is always ready to burst out of her chair to do anything at a nanosecond notice. Thank goodness no one asked me any hard questions or anything I really had to think about, while I thought I was quite witty, my ability to actually make sense of things was pretty limited Probably should have ended the day early and gone home to bed. I did go home a bit early but we'd plan Let's Dish night awhile back and it was the first chance to see my IRL friends in about a month. It was fun but exhausting and bless them all for pitching in to help me finish up--did I mention I am waaaaaaaay slower than normal?

Yesterday was a bit better, I actually went to meetings, spoke in complete sentences and had an executive tell me something was a really good idea-whew! I found a velveteen skirt with an elastic wasit band that might look a bit too Christmas party like but at least I don't act like I have ants in my pants. Last night though I couldn't bear the thought of doing much of anything, we had a quick supper, I laid in bed and finished the scarf that G-man made so much fun of, read to the girls and watched mindless TV.

Today is Friday, finally. Same skirt, we have interviews today so I didn't think the sweatpants would fly. Miss Betty the cleaning goddess is coming today. I'd love to see her face when she finds out that G-man destroyed the great pit of nothingness beside our dresser and replaced it with the rocking chair. Can't wait to see what new hiding place she finds in giving our house a facade of order!

Startin' Something

It seems that everyone I know has a blog, I read them faithfully and keep up with friends from real life, my PIMs (psycho internet mommies) and other assorted people I feel like I know from reading their blogs. Why start now? This week I am at home recovering from having my gallbladder removed so I have WAY more time on my hands hands than usual. Anyway, all that time to both read what others have to say and think about what I might want to say have made me decide its time to begin a blog of my own. My husband does it, my friends read it, somehow I feel like I need equal time, or people need my perspective on our lives. Its an interesting transition coming out of the comments and actually being the instigator for a change.

I've spent most of the week in a drug induced haze, sitting in bed listening to the TV, knitting on my new looms (thanks esmerelda!) and playing mindless internet games. My parents came from Ohio to help out and friends have pitched in to take Princess Drama Queen (PDQ) to skating lessons to leave me with no one depending on me. Boobah has stalked my mother all over the house while she cleans everything that doesn't move. There was a time that would have really bothered me, why wasn't my own cleaning good enough for her? I am over it now--mom, feel free to clean away!

Here is Boobah's take on my surgery, as overheard this evening...Mama went to the hospital, the doctor gave her special medicine so she could go to sleep. He took out her gallbladder and then he sowed her back up and gave her booboos. Then she came home and we have to be very careful because she has owies. Not bad for a 3 year old. I'd been having pain for over a year but never bad enough to make me have anything done about it. In the back of my mind was our secretary who went in to have it done 5-6 years ago and ended up dying. I know there were other circumstances but still, enough to make me pause and think maybe it wasn't so bad. According to DH the surgeon said its a good thing I had it done, I had enough big stone that had it been an emergency situation they would have caused problems. In fact he sent me home with 3 of them in a specimen cup and lots of pictures. I assume that means I qualified as a teaching case and there will be medical students checking out my giant gallstones and my nice healthy looking liver.

So, welcome, thanks for reading and I'll look forward to hearing from you.