Monday, December 31, 2018

Weekly Mileage #92 and Christmas

first year that we've gotten all three kids smiling in front of the Christmas tree, and I only took a couple pictures total

Christmas this year was relatively calm and quiet. We didn't have any family visiting, though Mr M did take Christmas dinner to the guys at work (just as he did at Thanksgiving) as a bribe/thank you for working the holiday.

this barbed wire has been there a looooong time

Wednesday I left the kiddos home with Mr M and went on a solo hike. No white Christmas for us, but at least we had great weather for hiking: cool, but not too cold, and sunny. There were lots of people at the park with their families, horses, dogs, etc. I explored another new loop in our local trails park and crisscrossed paths with some horses a couple times.

more barbed wire embedded in a tree, this time with a poison ivy vine growing up the tree as well

Wednesday I also received a replacement GlowForge. My first one developed some issues that couldn't be resolved remotely, so they sent me a new one and had me send the first one in to get looked at. The timing was a pain, since I'd planned on using it on some Christmas presents, but it's just one of those things you can't control. We did something different for the Christmas presents, but I waited for the new one to make our ornaments to send to the grandparents. I'll share a couple more pics in another post.


Thursday I took the kids to the trails park and did the loop I hiked last Saturday. A lot of people were still on Christmas vacation and enjoying the continued nice weather. We crossed paths with dogs and horses and had a good hike.


Friday I biked my last 10 miles of the year and finally hit 365 bike miles. I tried to take it easy, but I was still pretty tired afterwards. As always, my foot was a bit sore afterwards, but not too bad. My foot flexibility is improving as well.

this was what was left of the trail. there's a bench on the left and the river is just a few feet further on, behind me was further evidence of the flood waters that had come through

Saturday I went into town to run a few errands and squeeze in another hike (it rained on Friday, and I wanted to avoid the trails park that was already muddy before more rain dumped on it). I had to change my hiking plans when the trail I'd planned on going to was inaccessible because so many people were out enjoying the weather (sunny and about 63*). I went to another park and explored some new-to-me trails. Parts were down by the river, and it was very obvious that at one point (or several points, given the weather this year), the river had been high enough to wash out the lower trails. The river was still running high, though not at flood stage or flash flood stage.


If you check the running totals at the bottom of this page, you'll see that I am now at 51 hikes for the year! I'll complete the 52nd hike later today. Yay for achieving goals!

rock cairn I found in a clearing

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- 3.40 miles hiked
Thursday- 2.40 miles hiked
Friday- 10.0 miles biked
Saturday- 2.20 miles hiked
total- 18.00 miles

51 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge
385.20 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
365.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
752.34 miles total

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Sunday Funny

I looked over and saw this:



Ocean had climbed up on the bookshelf by the door (he's always climbing on everything) and was looking at River outside on the porch. I kept waiting for someones fingers to get squished, but it didn't happen. Just lots of giggles.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Weekly Mileage #91 and all the Hikes


I did five hikes this past week, and now only have four more to finish by the end of the year for my #52hikechallenge. Although, I just checked my notes, and my first hike of 2018 didn't actually happen until Feb 15, after I got influenza A, but before I got strep. So I technically have a month and a half still to go, but I'm sticking with December 31 as the cutoff. It's also the cutoff for the #365milechallenge, so it's easier just to keep everything on the same timeline.

Monday I hiked a trail in town down by the river while the boys were at preschool. I had a chiropractic appointment, so I found a trail nearby to get a hike in before picking up the boys. After I picked them up, we went for another hike.

Wednesday morning Ocean had his audiology followup. His hearing is actually slightly better than last time, though still not great. And his eardrums are still really stiff. One more week until he gets tubes, and then hopefully we'll start seeing a lot more progress with his ears, hearing, and speech.


That afternoon he and I went for a hike after his IEP meeting. He'll be receiving half an hour of speech therapy, twice a week, but we don't have a start date. At this point, I'm sure it won't be until after New Years. The hike we did was a new one for us. I knew there was some trails at this park, but had never been on them. I think this is the local high school's cross country course, and I would love to run these trails sometime. It's hilly, but mostly wooded, and would be a fantastic trail run. We'll be doing this one again.


I didn't ride my bike Tuesday morning like I usually do because Sunshine had an orthodontist appointment. Her retainer doesn't fit any more because of the way her teeth are growing in. They took an impression and she'll get a new one in a couple weeks. I rode my bike Thursday instead, and was tempted to just knock out the final 10 miles as well as the 10 I had scheduled for the week, but I didn't have time because we all had dentist appointments after lunch. We all came out without cavities (woohoo!) and everyone thought the boys were super cute and well behaved. Which they are, until they get bored ;)

a rare tree with a lot of its leaves still, and some of them are even still green

It was a wet week (again), so I picked a gravel trail in town for our Friday hike. I thought it was going to rain while we were hiking, but we lucked out and it didn't start until we were on our way home.


Saturday I went to our local trails park for a hike by myself. I did a loop we've never hiked, but I'll definitely be doing it again. The terrain on that side of the park is different from the usual trails we hike, which is a nice change of pace. I do like hiking by myself- I can go faster and push myself harder than if the kids are with me. I can also stop for a break when I need to :) I could definitely feel how out of shape I am, but it felt good to push myself.

sunset through the trees

sunset through the trees

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.35 miles hiked by myself
Monday- 1.61 miles hiked with the boys
Wednesday- 1.59 miles hiked with Ocean
Thursday- 10.0 miles biked
Friday- 2.33 miles hiked with the boys
Saturday- 2.50 miles hiked by myself
total- 20.38 miles

48 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge
377.20 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
355.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
734.34 miles total

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Narcolepsy Thoughts

I reached 365 foot miles for the year on Saturday while hiking these slippery boardwalks on the trail to Monticello

Several days after receiving the diagnosis, I was thinking about my symptoms:

I'm pretty sure my narcolepsy symptoms started when my celiac symptoms did. In fact, the fatigue and insomnia I always associated with celiac, were probably due to the narcolepsy. Plenty of other symptoms can still be ascribed to celiac, though. Like the burning fires of Mordor in my stomach anytime I get the slightest bit of gluten in me. But I am wondering about the insomnia that follows getting glutened- is that the narcolepsy or the celiac acting up? Or do they have some sort of symbiotic relationship going on, so it's both of them?

My celiac and narcolepsy issues started the summer I turned 22, when I'd been on my mission for about a year, so 19 and a half years ago. Thankfully I didn't have to come home early, but I was not able to work as hard as I wanted the last 6 months of my mission, which was very difficult.

Yikes. I've been dealing with this for almost half my life now.

When I returned to college after my mission, I was on narcolepsy meds for a year or so, then stopped taking them sometime after we got married because I knew I couldn't be on them while pregnant. It took several more years to get pregnant, but in the meantime, the worst of my symptoms- mainly the insomnia- were pretty much gone. I still had a lot of fatigue and had to ration my energy, but I figured out what I could and couldn't handle, and worked around those limitations. I got very good at coping and at working through the exhaustion. And at saying no to stuff, because I just didn't have the energy.

Fast forward a few more years, and I went gluten free. The constant burning stomach pain and brain fog went away and my energy levels increased. I wasn't nearly as tired all the time and was able to do a lot more than I had previously.

In more than nine years of a strict gluten free diet, I've been able to do so much. Run races, build things, raise our kids, start multiple businesses, and be much more active than I could have imagined possible when I first got sick. My energy levels have fluctuated, but some of that can be attributed to being HSP- certain situations are overwhelming to my nervous system, and therefore exhausting. I did frequently feel tired, but I've spent years, decades even, dealing with near-constant fatigue, so I've gotten pretty good at coping, pushing through, and knowing when to stop, which has allowed me to do so many things.

However, this summer (August, if I remember correctly) something changed and my fatigue levels skyrocketed. Insomnia has been making a comeback and I always wake up tired. Struggling to stay awake while driving (stoplights are the worst) pushed me to go to the doctor and get checked out. I thought it was just thyroid issues or anemia, but all my blood work came back normal. They did another round, testing for Lyme's disease, mono, and the like, and those all came back normal/negative as well.

That was when I got referred to a sleep doctor, who did the sleep study, and here I am.

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As I mentioned in my last post, I've been doing a lot of thinking about narcolepsy and how I feel about the diagnosis.

On the one hand, it's nice to know why I'm always tired and don't sleep well, but on the other hand it's depressing to know that it won't get better without medication (that comes with side effects), and could in fact get worse.

I started taking a medication to help me be more alert during the day, but only lasted four days. The first day I had dysphagia (felt like something was stuck in my throat all day), and while it was mostly gone the next day, I had headaches that worsened to a stabbing migraine by the evening of the fourth day. Which is why I called it quits. I also felt more fuzzy and unfocused than before- definitely not more alert. It took a couple days to get it out of my system and feel more normal. I'm now trying a supplement that so far is promising, even at a low, starter dose.

There is some anecdotal evidence that the keto diet may help with symptoms- my doc mentioned that some people had good results with it. Some people on the forums have had luck with it, others haven't. Interestingly enough, I'd actually started the keto diet the day of my sleep study as an effort to lose weight (and I actually have lost weight- I'm down more than 10 pounds so far, which after watching the scale creep steadily up for the last two and a half years or so, is such a relief).

I think I'm doomed to the low carb thing- my PCOS needs it and a side effect of my celiac disease is that I don't do well with starches and carbs. It hasn't stopped me eating them in the past, but between my weight issues and sleep issues, I think I've finally accepted that it's just going to have to be something I embrace. The good thing about the keto diet (low carb, moderate protein, high fat) is that the fat keeps me from craving all the carbs and starches, which has been a huge issue in the past when I've tried to eat low carb.

From what I've read, a low carb diet, along with exercise and a consistent sleep schedule, are helpful in managing the disease and it's symptoms.

I exercise regularly, but my sleep habits are pretty awful, so I need to work on them. A lot of people with narcolepsy take naps every day, but I haven't had to do that so far, and I'm hoping I can continue to skip them. I just don't have time for them. On the other hand, I don't have time for the repercussions of falling asleep while driving, either.

So far, I've been able to cope with my symptoms, but there have been some times when the only reason I didn't fall asleep at a stoplight was because I refused to close my eyes. Though apparently some people with narcolepsy experience micro sleeps with their eyes open. Just a bit scary. And don't get me started on cataplexy- I'm very grateful I don't have that.

Staying active and busy does seem to help me, but only to an extent. I do reach the point where I'm just too tired to focus and get anything done. Which could explain why I'm not as efficient as I'd like with my work.

As I've done some research, the impact of narcolepsy can be similar to the impact of epilepsy and Parkinson's. But I think that applies to those who have cataplexy (loss of muscle control while still conscious), which I don't.

As exhausted as I constantly am, my symptoms are a lot less severe than many people with narcolepsy experience, so I am grateful for that.

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Thinking about all this, I decided to see if there's a link between celiac and narcolepsy and being gluten free and narcolepsy. I already know celiac and narcolepsy are both auto immune disorders, and once you have one auto immune disease, it's not uncommon to develop others.

There's anecdotal evidence from others with narcolepsy with similar symptoms as me, whose fatigue and insomnia improved when they went gluten free. Others also reported having insomnia when they got glutened. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one with what I thought was a weird, random symptom.

Of course, there's also other people who didn't see any relief from changing their diet. I suspect those of us with more mild symptoms benefit more from changing our diets and exercise. More severe symptoms tend to preclude exercise.

Unfortunately, this is one of those diseases that they just don't know that much about. Classifying it as an auto-immune disorder is a very recent development, based on new research. And like all auto immune disorders, no one presents with exactly the same symptoms, and everyone reacts to treatments differently, further muddying the waters.

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I'm not sure why my narcolepsy symptoms resurfaced this summer. I'm still gluten free and hadn't changed anything else in my diet. Maybe too many carbs or sugars? I've experimented with low carb and paleo diets in the past, but could never stick with them very long. I don't think that I was eating significantly worse than any other time in the past though, so I don't think it was diet related.

Auto immune issues are frequently triggered by some sort of physical or emotional trauma, but since my narcolepsy was triggered almost 20 years ago, I'm not sure if it can be re-triggered? I mean, I've been dealing with it all along, just at a mostly manageable level. I just can't figure out why it's no longer at a manageable level.

Maybe it got worse so I could get a diagnosis and realize that I'm always going to be tired. And I can make changes to improve what I can and change things in my businesses to accommodate my varying ability to focus and think straight. I'm still working on that part, but it's something I am working on.

On the other hand, it has me re-thinking our weekly schedules. We had a busy schedule this past semester, and we won't be repeating it. Sunshine doesn't want to do her nature class in the winter, so we'll be taking a break from that. Her Monday co-op schedule will also align better with the boys' preschool schedule.

We'd planned on doing ski lessons this winter, but I'm really not sure that that's the best use of my energy right now. I want to, but I remember what it was like the last time we did it, when I was pregnant with River, and it was exhausting. Waiting till next year will give me more time to really figure out what I can and can't do, in such a way that I don't spend the next two or three days flat on my back, recovering. I've done that many more times than I should have, and I need to find a more healthy balance.

I started the keto diet (low carb, moderate protein, high fat) the day of my sleep study, three months or so after my symptoms reappeared. I don't know that I've seen any differences in energy/sleep yet, but I do feel better for staying away from starches. Less bloating and fewer intestinal issues, the eczema in my scalp is clearing up (it's caused by eating too many starches and sugars), and I'm finally losing weight. The carb and sugar cravings that usually accompany any low carb, low sugar diet I've tried aren't present, which is a miracle. Not having the cravings means I'm actually sticking to the diet and not feeling like I want to eat all things or turn into a grumpy monster.

Researching symptoms and such has been eye opening. Things that I thought were just me not being motivated enough to do were actually me just being too tired to do. I'm trying to decide if there's a difference between what I've always called being tired, and what the medical community calls excessive daytime sleepiness. I haven't equated sleepiness with tiredness before- in my mind, they're two separate things. But maybe they're the same? Maybe I've been fighting the tiredness for so long that I just don't recognize it for what it is: sleepiness that wants to drag me down every day.

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Narcolepsy feels worse than celiac- more of a sentence. Celiac can be controlled by what I eat. While initially there was a learning curve, I am now confident in my abilities to stay gluten free. It comes at a cost of very rarely eating out, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. Narcolepsy can be improved by diet, but many people rely on their medication to function. Being reliant on big pharma and how much they decide to charge for the medicines they manufacture is not what I want in my life. One medication in particular is super expensive ($100,000+ a year without insurance, and even with insurance the monthly co-pays are expensive), which is ridiculous (right up there with the insulin mess). I know many people are at the mercy of big pharma, but I don't want to be one of them. Losing that sense (illusion?) of control is unsettling.

One thing my doc said to do was to get online and find some support groups. There's a local one that meets once a month, but I haven't had a chance to meet up with them yet. There's several facebook groups that I'm now a part of that have been enlightening, as well as depressing. 

I've found so many people with similar stories as me (and many with different stories and symptoms).  One thing I've seen mentioned repeatedly is the sense of losing yourself, your future, your life. 

I was always a smart kid and graduated in the top 10 students in my class, and was a Commended Scholar (national merit scholarship). I did well the first three years of college, but celiac and narcolepsy were triggered between my junior and senior year.

Senior year I flunked my first class ever, despite talking to the professor and getting a tutor. Thankfully, a lot of students did poorly (it was a 200 level intro to biochem class taught on a 400 level class by a new professor), so there was a significant curve to our final grades. I scraped a D and talked my advisor into giving me a waiver so I could still graduate on time (it was a required class that I'd procrastinated taking). That was such a frustrating time. It didn't matter how much I studied, I could not understand or remember what was going on. 

I no longer feel as intelligent as I once was. I'm still smart, but there's part of me that's gone, and will never return. Literal loss of brain cells (from the narcolepsy) will do that. 

The weird thing is that I've always blamed it on celiac, and while the brain fog is definitely attributable to celiac, lack of comprehension due to always being tired is because of the narcolepsy. And for some reason I'm having a hard time with that. Or maybe it's just reopening old wounds that I'd pushed to the cobwebby recesses of my tired brain.

I'm definitely still a functioning person, and have managed to find ways of working around how I feel on any given day, but it sure is nice to know why I always feel so tired and why some days it can be a challenge to get anything done. I am very blessed that I can be a stay at home mom. I don't think I could hold a full time job and do a good job at it right now. Many people with narcolepsy end up on disability because they can't keep a job (falling asleep, not being able to get up and get to work in the first place, cataplexy attacks on the job, etc).

But I also wonder about my productivity. How much is my type A personality, pushing me to keep going, and how much is the milder symptoms I'm exhibiting? I believe there's testing that can be done to see the state of the brain cells in question, but I think it involves a spinal tap and I'm not sure if I'm up for that.

One thing I've noticed- I very rarely just sit still and do one thing. I don't read as much these days because I'm so busy, but reading is the rare activity that I'm not also doing other things during. I never just sit and watch a show- I'll be on my computer, working or doing something with my hands (making, sewing, etc), so unlike many narcoleptics I can actually make it through a whole tv show and even an entire movie. How much is deeply ingrained coping mechanisms and how much is the milder form?

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As you can see, there's a lot of questions I don't have answers to, but I will continue to think about them and I've got a list of things to talk to my doctor about when I go back in a few weeks for a followup. 

Monday, December 17, 2018

Weekly Mileage #90 and the Diagnosis

heading to the mailboxes

The 9" of snow we got on Sunday meant we had a snow day on Monday. River and I went snowshoeing while Mr M dropped the mower deck and attached the plow to our lawn tractor.

He always seems to do it when it's cold and snowy. The one year I took care of it, and got it done early, it never snowed enough to need it. So I guess doing it later is better than sooner, if it means we actually get snow.

view from the mailboxes- so pretty!

We bought snowshoes two years ago, but this was the first time we've actually gotten to use them. It was a lot of fun, and a good workout. The only issue we had was that River's snowshoes wouldn't stay on- the straps kept loosening up. Considering that they're plastic snowshoes for preschoolers, this wasn't actually a surprise.

Tuesday I rode my bike. I missed it last week because of the sleep study, and Monday night I realized my foot hadn't hurt in several days. Then I rode my bike and found that my foot still doesn't like all the flexing. It's still a bit stiff if I bend it in certain directions, but even that is improving and it's doing good otherwise.

Wednesday I had my sleep study followup. Remember how I said I didn't sleep during the first nap and only dozed off at the end of the second one? Yeah, that's not actually what happened. I fell asleep in the first 2-3 minutes of all four naps, and dreamed during all but one of them. That was enough for a diagnosis of narcolepsy (fast sleep + REM sleep).

No, I don't fall asleep mid-sentence, nor do most people with narcolepsy (that's a Hollywood exaggeration). I have a fairly mild case right now, and my main symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness and disordered nighttime sleeping. I can be tired all day (usually the worst is mid afternoon and when I'm putting the boys to bed around 7, which unfortunately is way too early for me to go to bed), but come 9 or so, I'm wide awake and won't fall asleep until after midnight.



It's an auto-immune disorder with no cure (like celiac disease), but there are medications that can help you sleep at night and stay more alert during the night. They're not perfect and you can build up a tolerance, or they may not work at all, but at least there's things to try. I started off with a daytime medication that I actually took years ago, after my mission, when I was dealing with insomnia and daytime sleepiness. I took it and something else to help me sleep for about a year or so, then stopped taking them, and when I stopped I was mostly just tired all the time, without the insomnia.

I've got a post in the works about what I've learned from research and support groups, and my thoughts as I'm reframing past experiences through this new lens. In the meantime, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I fell right to sleep in all four naps, even though my brain told me otherwise. So weird.

snow and moss-covered rock wall in the woods

Thursday Sunshine led us on a hike to where her nature class was held. There was still snow on the ground, but it was warm enough that the ground was soggy. We did some slip sliding down a couple hills, but it was a nice little hike.

the vine swing she and her class mates would swing on

Saturday I hit the 365 mile point (for foot miles) while hiking after running some errands. Note to self: never run errands in town on a Saturday in December. The crowds were exhausting.



Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.57 mile snowshoe hike
Tuesday- 10.0 miles biked
Wednesday- 2.07 miles hiked
Thursday- 1.03 mile snowy hike
Saturday- 2.32 miles hike
total- 16.99 miles

43 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge
366.82 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
345.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
713.96 miles total

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Sunday Funny

it's blurry, but such a great moment- everyone smiling!

Sunshine, going through screen withdrawals, in reaction to my suggestion to listen to the radio since Pandora wasn't an option:

"But I hate listening to the radio- you can't control what you listen to!"

me: "Back in the day, that's all we had."

her: "Yeah, but it's not back in the day, so I shouldn't have to listen to the radio."

Poor kiddo. Life is so rough.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Weekly Mileage #89 and the Sleep Study

The culvert that stopped us when we had the jogger.

Monday I went on two hikes. The first was a repeat of the hike we attempted last Monday, but since it was just me, I was able to cross the culvert without any problems.


The trail ran fairly close to the river, but it meandered further away at times. It was an interesting juxtaposition of houses and businesses in the background as I hiked through wooded areas. I continued to follow the trail until I came to a river crossing. I was running short of time, so I turned around and headed back.

rock path through shallow water

the actual river crossing, with a rope to help steady yourself (if it's on your side 😉)
After preschool, River and I went to the park and I let him pick which trails we hiked. We also went down to the stream to check out the water. Ocean was home sick with Sunshine (her co-op ended last week), so they weren't along on this little adventure.


Monday night was my sleep study. I went to a hotel next to the hospital, where they have a sleep lab set up. They attached all sorts of wires and electrodes, and then I had to try to go to sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable sleep, but it wasn't the worst, either. The stuff in my nose was to monitor my breathing and how deep I was or wasn't breathing.

this doesn't show all the wires, but it does show a good portion of them. such an attractive look.

I don't have sleep apnea (yay!) so I had to stay for the daytime sleep study. They woke me up at 6 am and I had to stay awake for an hour and a half, then try to take a nap for half an hour. This was repeated throughout the day for a total of four naps. Thankfully they had all the data they needed after four naps and I didn't have to stay for a fifth nap. The whole process was exhausting. I was already tired from a poor night's sleep and I've trained myself not to take naps because if I do, I can't sleep at night. So I had to lay there and try to calm my brain so I could sleep. I didn't sleep the first time, I dozed off right at the end of the second one, and fell asleep during the third and fourth ones. Getting woken up was the worst- I was so tired and groggy each time.

I'd hoped to get some work done in between naps, but that didn't happen. I was too tired and fuzzy. I just couldn't focus. I channel surfed a bit, but I realized that there's still nothing on during the day, even if you have cable, and I'm glad we cut the cord years ago.

got rid of some wires, but had a few more added

After showering all the goop they used to attach the wires out of my hair and off my face (so gross, and my face has broken out worse than it has in years because of that stuff), I was free to go. I took advantage of finishing a bit earlier than planned to take a hike along the river nearby before I headed home. These urban hikes have been interesting- traffic and houses and businesses on one hand, the river and woods and trail on the other.


Wednesday I went for a hike in the snow after dropping Sunshine off at her last nature class of the semester. Mr M was home for the day, using up some PTO, so I left the boys with him and hiked by myself. It was a smidge too warm, so the wet snow didn't stick around, but it was fun to hike as the snow was falling. I love the quiet that accompanies snowfall.




Friday we finally got our Christmas tree. I feel so behind this year.

little tree huggers

Saturday I hiked the yard in an effort to get another hike logged. We have about 1.75 acres and it's about  .3 miles around the perimeter, which means it takes multiple laps just to hike a mile. Not the most exciting hike ever, but I do have a better feel for our property. And it reinforced the idea that we need a much bigger property next time, so I can get some decent hiking in on our own property.

Since we finally had our tree, I decided I should really put up the Christmas lights, as well. And then I
used the mower to mulch and blow the leaves off the lawn one last time. As I put the mower away, I thought to myself that it was about time to get the mower deck off and the plow on.

Speaking of snow, Sunday it snowed all day. In fact, Stake Conference was canceled because they didn't want people driving in hazardous conditions.

Sunday evening, Christmas lights in the snow

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.72 mile solo urban hike
                1.55 miles hiked with River
Tuesday- 2.59 miles hiked along the river in town
Wednesday- 2.05 miles hiked in the snow
Saturday- 1.46 miles hiked around the yard
total- 12.4 miles

39 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge
359.83 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
335.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
696.97 miles total

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Sunday Funny


I took this picture, and my first thought was "wow, that expression is all <my older brother>!"

Sunshine asked about if I'd seen him make that expression, and I said yes, many times. Too funny to see it here :)

Thursday, December 6, 2018

November Mileage

Part of the hike I did on Monday- this trail runs parallel to a river and is surrounded by traffic-filled roads.  This vantage point was not too long after a culvert, and there was another under the road in the background. The mounds of dead vegetation are kudzu, which will make its appearance again come spring.

My foot is healing well and in November I got the ok to start running again. Other than the Turkey Trot, I'm gradually adding in some running, but haven't done much so far. I also worked on catching up on my hikes. I still have a ways to go, but if I'm diligent, I can still hit my goal by the end of the year. I managed more time on my bike for the first time in several months as well.                


November mileage:
2 treadmill workouts + 8 hikes + 1 outside run/walk 1 race + 6 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 95.76 miles
52 hike challenge: 34 hikes
365 mile challenge:  335.0 bike miles + 349.46 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles
total miles: 686.60 miles
October mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 5 hikes + 6 outside walking + 8 store walking + 1 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 47.83 miles
52 hike challenge: 26 hikes
365 mile challenge:  265.0 bike miles + 323.70 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles
total miles: 590.84 miles
September mileage:
3 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 3 store walking + 2 races + 2 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 
40.87 miles
52 hike challenge: 21 hikes
365 mile challenge:  260.0 bike miles + 280.87 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles
total miles: 543.01 miles
August mileage:
9 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 1 outside run/walks + 1 race + 4 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 110.23 miles
52 hike challenge: 19 hikes
365 mile challenge:  250.0 bike miles + 250.0 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles
total miles: 502.14 miles

July mileage:
9 treadmill workouts + 6 hikes + 8 outside run/walks + 1 race + 3 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 90.43 miles
52 hike challenge: 15 hikes
365 mile challenge:  215.0 bike miles + 167.27 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles
total miles: 381.36 miles

June mileage:
4 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 2 outside run/walks + 1 race + 7 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 102.12 miles
52 hike challenge: 9 hikes
365 mile challenge:  190.0 bike miles + 102.88 foot miles + 1.1 kayak miles
total miles: 293.98 miles

May mileage:      
4 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 4 bike workouts = 49.95 miles
52 hike challenge: 5 hikes
365 mile challenge: 120.00 bike miles + 71.86 foot miles

April mileage:
1 treadmill workout + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 6 bike workouts = 45.31 miles
52 hike challenge: 4 hikes
365 mile challenge: 85.0 bike miles + 56.91 foot miles

March mileage:
1 treadmill workout + 2 hikes + 1 outside walk + 1 race + 4 bike workouts = 33.43 miles
52 hike challenge: 3 hikes
365 mile challenge: 45.0 bike miles + 51.60 foot miles

February mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 3 outside run/walk + 1 race + 0 bike workouts = 15.56 miles
52 hike challenge: 1 hike
365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 38.17 foot miles

January mileage: 
2 treadmill workouts + 0 hikes + 4 outside run/walk + 1 race + 3 bike workouts = 47.61 miles
52 hike challenge: 0 hikes
365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 22.61 foot miles

Monday, December 3, 2018

Weekly Mileage #88 and First Wood Badge Ticket Item Completed


Monday we went hiking on an urban trail, but ended up hemmed in by a busy road I didn't want to cross with the boys on one end and a culvert on the other. We had the jogging stroller and couldn't fit on the raised area used to traverse the culvert. Bikes could manage it, as well as people on foot, but the jogger was too wide. So we wandered back and forth on the trails that crisscrossed the disc golf course in the pocket park. The location is convenient to where we do a lot of things, so we'll go back when Ocean doesn't need the jogger anymore.

Tuesday I rode my bike without the boot tied to the pedal. My foot was able to flex a lot more, which wasn't completely comfortable, but didn't hurt. Twisting out of the shoe clip still didn't feel great, but it was better than the last time I tried it.

Wednesday Ocean had his ENT appointment. He's now scheduled to get tubes in on December 31. The doc mentioned that they're really busy this time of year as everyone tries to get everything done before their deductibles re-set. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but sure.

Towards the end of the appointment, he said reassuringly "you're doing the right thing". "Yep, I know- my sister's kids got tubes put in and their speech and hearing issues drastically improved."

I guess some people are a lot more on the fence about getting tubes in? Like a lot of things, there is risk involved, and we know it, but the benefits outweigh the risks in this case.

We were hoping the doc would recommend putting tubes in, so this wasn't the first time we thought about it.

I would love to know the story behind those staircases. I feel like there were some houses there that were torn down so the road could go through (just above that graffitied wall), but I don't know for sure.

Thursday I met with the people who've been evaluating Ocean for his first IEP meeting. We had him evaluated for speech delays after his third birthday, and I think there's been three different evaluations done now? The first to see if there was enough of a delay to warrant more in-depth evaluation, and the last two were to evaluate different aspects of his speech capabilities. He talks a mile a minute and is on track for most things except his articulation and understandability. Because his articulation isn't great (and he has some unusual sound substitutions), it can be difficult to understand him sometimes.

So he will be receiving speech therapy, but we're waiting to see how often he'll be doing that.

Friday I got to go to the dentist to get a loose filling fixed. It came loose Wednesday evening while I was flossing, but I was able to push it back in place. I called Thursday morning as soon as they opened, but they couldn't get me in until Friday morning. They cleaned out the loose filling and put in a new one. Thankfully there was no decay under it, so they didn't have to do any more drilling, which I was afraid would be the case.

Friday afternoon I hiked around the yard, pacing out the distance between our walnut and maple trees. I want to run tubing this year, but I had no idea how much to buy. Yesterday I fell down a rabbit hole while researching how exactly to install the tubing. I've got a good idea now, and just need to round up the materials.

The great thing about the tubing is that I can do a lot of the work now, while the weather is nice, than go through and quickly tap the trees once the weather is optimal. Collection will also be a lot easier, since I will have it running to just one or two collection points (still deciding on that one). We'll still have one maple tree that's far away from everything that will still have the old fashioned bucket, but everything will be much simpler.

Saturday I took the Trainer's Edge course. This is a course that trains BSA leaders to better train other leaders and youth. I needed to take the class for my position as pack trainer, but it was also my first ticket item for Wood Badge. One down, four more to go.

While I was off doing that, Mr M took the kiddos to his work Christmas party, where they all had lots of fun.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.38 miles hiked
Tuesday- 10.0 miles on the bike
Friday- 1.61 miles hiked around yard
total- 12.99 miles

34 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge
349.46 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
335.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
686.60 miles total

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Family Picture Outtakes

When we took pictures of the kiddos, there were some that inevitably didn't turn out. Here's some of the funnier ones.

love Ocean's side eye

all sorts of things happening in this one, tho I do like Ocean's smile

Ocean looks like he's posing for one of those 80's double silhouette photos

River's cheesing it up and Ocean is done

I told them to stick their fingers in their ears. The boys both did one ear.


the boys trying to do "I'm watching you" with their fingers

this is so Ocean: a blur of movement while everyone else does what they're supposed to

Ocean found his pockets!

love River and Sunshine's expressions

Ocean again :) totally looking at the wrong camera