Weekly Mileage #126 and the 4 Mile Race

Monday Ocean had his 4 year old check up. Everything looks good this year, so no further action needed at this time :)

Wednesday we were supposed to go to nature group, but we didn't go. I've been so tired lately. Too many carbs and sugars are taking their toll, as is a less-than-optimal sleep schedule. I got off track while we were traveling and two months of eating carbs and sugars and late bed times have not been good for me. It's past time to get back on track.

We also discovered lice, but we have no idea where it came from. I only remember having it in 2nd grade, when we moved across the country and stayed with our cousin and his family for a couple weeks. I've never dealt with it as an adult, so it was a learning experience for all of us. The boys had a few eggs, River more than Ocean. Sunshine got it the worst and she's the one who alerted me to it. I ran out and bought chemicals and combs and spent the evening combing out hair and doing laundry. Lots of fun.

I'm soo itchy twitchy now.

Having to continue to comb out hair does not make me feel any less twitchy, either. Hopefully we'll get rid of them quickly.

Wednesday and Thursday Ocean had speech therapy. I'm really not loving the 8am time slot. We have to leave about 7:30, which means I have to start waking up at 6:30. Parking is a nightmare between buses blocking the visitor parking and the drop off line blocking the other parking lot. I'm also not loving having to get up so early, and having to do it two days in a row.

I had hoped the early mornings would help me get back on track with my sleep schedule (ie, getting to bed earlier), but so far I'm just getting less sleep than I need and am super tired. Wednesay I told the therapist it wasn't going to work and Thursday we talked about an alternative time slot, but she has to make sure Ocean's IEP will support the change (a 1 hour slot once a week rather than 2 half hour slots).

I can't express enough how glad I am that we don't have to get up and do the get-to-school thing every day. Unfortunately, that will change next year when Sunshine starts seminary. The class she's supposed to attend based on school district starts at 6:05, but the other class (in the other school district) starts at 7, so I'm thinking that's the class she'll be attending. We'll see. Maybe I'll have things better under control and it won't be such an issue.

I discovered that listbots found one of my sites and spammed my email newsletter form. My newsletter subscribers more than doubled in 2 days, which sounds good, until you look at the emails and realize 500 or so were easily fake and a bunch of the real-looking ones may just be addresses that were scraped and used. I had to go through and delete all the fake looking ones by hand from my email list and my membership site, which took forever and was a pain in the rear. Naturally, there is a much easier way to do it, but I couldn't get it to work with my list.

Then I had to email everyone on my list and ask them if they really want to receive my emails. There's no point having uninterested people on my list, as they won't buy anything or click links in my emails. After a bit of research, I realized that the bots took advantage of the fact that I didn't have my settings set to double opt-in, which should prevent bots from taking over. Fake subscribers are problematic on several levels. I pay my membership site host and my email list host by the number of subscribers I have for each, regardless of the quality of those subscribers. Fake emails that don't go anywhere never get opened or links clicked, which brings down my open rate and my click rate, which are important stats when dealing with companies for sponsored posts.

Definitely not a fun thing to deal with, but important to resolve as soon as possible.

it was cool and cloudy before the race started

Saturday River and I ran a 4 mile race. This was my 5th time running it and his first time. It was a beautiful day, though a bit chilly at first. Neither of us trained for the race so we only ran about a mile total and we walked the rest. This is the longest race River has finished!

pre-race selfie

I love the fact that we run past fields of cows and corn

Sunshine needed service hours for advancement, so after lunch the kids and I helped at an Eagle Scout project (Mr M was at work). I had half-planned on just dropping her off, but the day before I was asked to stick around and be the trained female leader. With three girls planning on helping, there had to be at least one trained female leader present. The prospective Eagle Scout's mom was there, but she's not a trained leader, so she didn't count.

Ocean, Sunshine, me, and River weeding

We helped clear out some garden beds (apparently on the first work day the weeds were 6' tall, so while it wasn't nearly that bad, they'd started growing again) and then helped build and fill raised beds.

River helping shovel dirt, Ocean building a mulch mountain

This week was definitely an autoimmune week/narcolepsy week. I'm debating what to call it when I feel like crap like I did for a good portion of this week. Not everyone knows I have narcolepsy, and I'm not sure I want to tell everyone, which is why I'm leaning towards saying I'm having autoimmune issues rather than narcolepsy issues.

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- 1.12 miles walked on the treadmill
Saturday- 4.03 mile race
Saturday- .5 mile walked - race warmup and cooldown
total- 6.63 miles

16 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.56 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

80.29 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
204.01 miles total

Sunday Funny

On the way home from our four mile race yesterday, I asked River what he thought about the race.

"It was fantastic!"

"Oh? What part was fantastic?"  < I had not received the impression while we were doing the race that he thought it was fantastic- he was more focused on the fact that his feet hurt. >

"The food and the playground!" < he ate at least 2 oranges-worth of orange wedges, 3 or 4 mini cupcakes, a granola bar, and who knows what else while we waited for the door prize drawing, and then he played on the playground that was right next to the pavilion at the race start/finish >

What I Did While My Laptop Was in the Shop for 3.5 Weeks

Walking through Costco, River asked me to take a picture with the trash can. No idea why :)

Between being sick for almost a week, being up in the mountains with limited service, and having my laptop die, I went 6 weeks this summer with minimal time on my laptop. That's the longest break since I started my online ventures about 3 years ago.

It was a bit stressful not being able to work much, but there was literally nothing I could do about it, so I embraced it. I did a small amount of work on my phone, but I really detest typing on tiny phone screens, so I didn't do much.

Instead, I did lots and lots of reading, which I don't usually have time for. A lot of what I read was historical fiction, and I realized there's a lot of poorly written books out there with poor research and glaring anachronisms. Not to mention all the tired tropes that kept popping up.

I don't know about you, but things like that make me think, 'I could write a better story than this'. Which turned my thoughts to my book ideas. I've had the basic plot lines for 3 books floating around in my head for the last 12 years. Well, the first book has been there that long, the other two have made their appearance in the time since.

While I've got the basic plot lines and every once in a while I'll think of some more details, I've struggled to pin things down enough to really get started. So I've just let it simmer in the back of my head.

The ideas are solidifying and I now feel like I've got the major plot details down, but there's a lot of minor details I want to iron out before I start writing. Since I don't have time to devote to writing novels right now, I'm not concerned about how quickly I can get started. But I do want to have as many details (including character backstories) as possible, the main story arc across the books, and the minor story arcs figured out before I get started. That way, when I do have time to write, I'll be able to jump in and know where things are going from the get-go.

In the meantime, I want to find a course on writing dialogue. I don't feel like that's a strong point for me, and I've read enough bad dialogue to not want to be lumped in that group.

My reading experience led me to think about what I did, and didn't, want to include in my books. This got the creative juices flowing and I had some ideas I wanted to research, so I checked out stacks of books from the library. Since anachronisms are a huge pet peeve for me and there are historical elements in my stories, research is a must.

A lot of the books weren't what I was looking for (I requested them online using my phone, so I didn't have the opportunity to flip through them before checking them out), but I did find a few that were helpful. The most interesting books I read were two books written by a guy who wrote for a newspaper in a small town in our county. The books contained lots of details about the early 1900s: families pushed off their land to make room for Shenandoah NP, stills in the mountains, families farming in the mountains where we've hiked, and so on. Trees have taken over in the last 90 years, but it's still hard to imagine farming going on in some of the spots where old homesteads were. So interesting though.

Another book that grabbed my attention is about the genetics of England, Scotland, and Wales and tracking genetic markers through mothers and fathers. It talks about the science and statistics behind those charts you can get when you send in a swab to 23 and me or ancestory.com. I took a genetics class in college and find it fascinating what they can track and how they're able to determine where people lived years and years ago. I haven't finished this one yet since it doesn't actually have anything to do with my novels and I had to set it aside so I could go through the rest of the books, but I will soon.

Weekly Mileage #125 and Gettysburg

River took it upon himself to teach Ocean chess. I don't think he was very successful, but it was still super-cute.

Monday my pink eye was a lot better, thankfully. Also thankfully, the new logic board worked so I was finally able to pick up my laptop that afternoon. I spent the rest of the afternoon updating some things. When the board fried, it caused some problems. Messages weren't syncing with my phone (I got this mostly working, but it's still not completely reliable), my Safari and Chrome extensions disappeared, and my passwords weren't registering. It took a while and some googling around to figure what to do, but I finally got it mostly back to where it should be.

Wednesday I ran and walked on the treadmill.

take a picture of me mom!

Thursday Ocean started speech therapy again. Last year it was at a stand-alone therapy center quite close to our house because the school didn't have enough speech therapists to handle the workload. Now they do, so instead of a 5 minute drive, we have a 20 minute drive, and his time slot is right when all the kids are arriving, so we get to deal with the carpool drop-off line and the school buses. The only other time slot available was in the afternoon, which isn't fantastic, but we may have to do it. I'll give it a few weeks to see how things go. I'm also hoping he's made enough progress that he won't have to continue for too much longer, but we'll have to see.

storm clouds over the lake we hiked around- not nearly as dark as they got a bit later

Thursday evening I took the Laurels and Mia Maids (and River) on a short hike. There was a storm moving in, but River said the opening prayer and prayed that we'd stay dry and not get hit by lightning. We hiked, stayed dry, didn't get hit by lightning, and made it back to the church about 15-20 minutes before the storm hit. It was bad and not a lot of fun to drive home in, but we made it home safely.

super hero friends!

Friday we had a play date with friends and I walked on the treadmill.

Saturday we drove to Gettysburg for a sales spiel. We got 21 free camping nights plus a couple other things out of the deal, so it was worth our time. They were trying to sell us a campground membership, which we passed on for now, but will probably purchase in a couple years before we hit the road full time. It would definitely save us some money when we're traveling and doing a lot more camping.

While we were there, we finished the auto tour we started two years ago on our last visit to Gettysburg. We also came across some reenactors, which was pretty cool.

It was so hot, though, which is the opposite of the last time we went, when it was freezing. We need to find a good mid-point so we can actually hike without sweltering or freezing. We passed on the hiking because of the heat.

Sunday we hung out with some friends we've known since before Sunshine was born. We were at DLI together and she and I would go walking with the kiddos in strollers. He went to law school and went active duty and they've lived all over, but we've seen them a couple times over the years. They're in the area for a year for school, so we'll actually get to see them more often for awhile.

it took a few tries, but we got a good picture of the kiddos!

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- 4.00 miles run and walked on the treadmill
Thursday- 1.12 miles hiked
Friday- 2.07 miles walked on the treadmill
total- 7.19 miles

16 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.56 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

75.76 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
39.06 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
197.38 miles total

Sunday Funny

Mr M doesn't enjoy mud nearly as much as the boys, but he sure got covered in it while trying to move rocks and logs.

Weekly Mileage #124 and Pink Eye

Monday I spent some time on the treadmill and then took Ocean to his ENT followup. His ears look good and the tubes are still in place, though there was some wax build up in one ear. It wasn't enough to be worried about, so we go back in 6 months for another checkup.

Tuesday we went to the spray park. I was finally able to sit with the other moms and talk. In the past I've had to stay relatively close to Ocean to make sure he doesn't run off, but he's more reliable these days. I did check on him throughout the time we were there, but there was no wandering on his part.

That night I heard a thumping on the back window. I finally went to look and found this huge Luna moth hanging out on the window trim. We watched it over the next several days and discovered that it was laying eggs on the window trim. Naturally, we did a bit of research and found that it takes about a week for the eggs to hatch into tiny caterpillars. We'll keep an eye on them and see if we can catch them hatching. The moth hung around for about 5 days, which was longer than I expected.

the black poop looking things are eggs :)

excuse my dirty window- the moth was laying eggs and I caught it on film!

Ocean watching the moth

Wednesday we had nature group and a hike to the river. We got to taste edible plants such as mint, basil, lemon basil, and so on.

nibbling and evaluating the taste :)

River doesn't usually rub mud all over himself like Ocean does, but he had fun rubbing sand all over, then jumping in the river to wash it off

whenever we're near water, Sunshine always looks for paint rocks. She found some and gave herself and a couple other girls tiger stripes :)

Ocean was running with a stick and managed to stab his upper eyelid. I was watching him and he was fine, I looked away for a couple seconds and he stabbed himself (isn't that how it always happens?). I had a first aid kit in my pack but a couple of the other moms had to bandage him because I almost passed out :( Blood and I don't always get along, especially if eyes are involved. Which it wasn't, but apparently it was close enough to make me super queasy. Thankfully it was a fairly superficial injury and has healed well so far, though he'll have a scar.

there's this cool vine cave at the top of the dune next to the river- this is Ocean post-accident, when I told him he couldn't play in the water any more

River found a little frog as we were getting ready to hike back to the car

Thursday I finally did some running on the treadmill, mixed in with some walking. It felt pretty good to be running again, but I am definitely out of shape.

Friday I got pink eye and spent the next 4 days hiding out at home and washing my hands every 5 seconds. I don't know where I got it, but most likely it was a contaminated shopping cart. Ocean had pink eye right before we left on our road trip, but that was long enough ago that I didn't get it from him. I think this is the first time I've gotten pink eye, and I wouldn't recommend it. Ick!

I had hoped to pick up my computer Friday when the new logic board arrived (turns out my logic board was fried), but it had some bad parts and wasn't completely functional. My laptop is old enough that this part isn't made anymore, but my computer guy found a replacement part in San Diego and had it shipped Friday afternoon, so hopefully I can pick it up sometime on Monday!

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.50 miles walked
Wednesday- 1.11 miles hiked
Thursday- 3.30 miles walked and run
total- 6.91 miles

15 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.56 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

74.64 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
32.99 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
190.19 miles total

Sunday Funny

I shared the apple stash on the desk, but I also found one in our wood pile when I was re-stacking the wood so it could dry. I'm not sure if Ocean thought a critter would eat it, or if he just thought it was a good place to leave it. With him, it could be either one.

July Mileage

Ocean liked touching one of the dinosaur bones at the Quarry at Dinosaur NM (pretty sure it's a replica?)

July was a busy trip with lots of time in the RV, two family reunions, and a round of crud that's still hanging around. I added to my kayak mileage and logged some time on a SUP for the first time. Hiking to see petroglyphs was definitely cool. Now that we're back home, I'm working on figuring out a doable exercise schedule and trying to get my mileage back up.

July mileage:
4 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 0 outdoor walks + 0 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 16.32 miles

52 hike challenge: 14 hikes

365 mile challenge: 80.0 bike miles + 73.53 outdoor foot miles + 27.19 indoor foot miles + 2.56 kayak miles

total miles: 183.28 miles

June mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 2 races +3 outdoor walks + 0 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 15.52 miles

52 hike challenge: 13 hikes

365 mile challenge: 80.0 bike miles + 68.53 outdoor foot miles + 15.87 indoor foot miles + 1.25 kayak miles

total miles: 165.65 miles

May mileage:
2 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 0 trail runs +2 outdoor walks + 1 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 19.67 miles

52 hike challenge: 11 hikes

365 mile challenge: 80.0 bike miles + 54.26 outdoor foot miles + 15.87 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 150.13 miles

April mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 3 trail runs + 5 outdoor walks + 1 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 24.44 miles

52 hike challenge: 10 hikes

365 mile challenge: 70.0 bike miles + 49.31 outdoor foot miles + 11.15 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 130.46 miles

March mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 2 hikes + 1 race + 4 outdoor runs + 2 outdoor walks + 1 bike workout + 0 kayak outings = 46.02 miles

52 hike challenge: 9 hikes

365 mile challenge: 60.0 bike miles + 34.87 outdoor foot miles + 11.15 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 106.02 miles

February mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 3 hikes +1 outdoor runs + 1 snowshoe walk + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 42.40 miles

52 hike challenge: 7 hikes

365 mile challenge:  50.0 bike miles + 18.00 outdoor foot miles + 7.15 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 75.15 miles

January mileage:
2 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 1 outside walk + 2 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 32.75 miles

52 hike challenge: 4 hikes

365 mile challenge:  20.0 bike miles + 8.3 outdoor foot miles + 4.45 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 32.75 miles

Weekly Mileage #123 and Lake Day

when there's only one escalator in town, it's a big deal. we may or may not have ridden up and down it a couple times.

Monday I spent more time on the treadmill. Sunshine went to a local lake for Scouts, where they did water safety and kayaking. We really like how many activities there are and how organized this troop is :)

Tuesday Sunshine went in for the top bands for her braces, but they ended up putting bigger spacers in instead. We'll go back in a month and they'll put the expander in. Apparently her teeth are moving faster than expected, so that can go in sooner than they'd originally thought.

Wednesday I spent some time on the treadmill. I'm not up for running that long yet, but I can at least walk it.

Thursday was our first day of school. We ease into things during August, so we don't hit all the subjects right away. Mostly because I never get around to ordering our new books until August... I still need to do a post about our last school year and another about the upcoming school year. Hint: two kids officially in school (and a third who thinks he's in school too)!

That night I went to Round Table, where I was awarded one of the knots I sent in my form for as part of my Wood Badge ticket. Now that I'm in YW, I can't attend Round Table very often, but our activity was moved from Thursday to Saturday, so it worked out.

Speaking of moving our activity, on Saturday we had a combined YW/YM activity at a local lake. I brought the boys so Mr M could go to work. I also brought our kayaks. I was in charge of the activity though, so while others used them, I did not. I was too busy keeping an eye on the boys. Though I was also apparently too busy to take photos, as I have none from the activity.

I'm finally consistently losing weight! I'm currently down 16 pounds from the first of the year. I think it's a combination of eating low carb, finally getting better quality sleep (which lowers cortisol), and Metaburn from Plexus. I even managed to lose a few pounds while road tripping, despite not eating as low carb as I should. I've been eating too many carbs since we returned though, and I need to get back on track with my eating so I don't undo all my hard work.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.25 miles walked on the treadmill
Wednesday- 4.02 miles walked on the treadmill
total- 6.27 miles

14 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.56 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

73.53 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
27.19 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
183.28 miles total

Sunday Funny

When the vibrations of the Bobcat are just too much and you just have to fall asleep.

Ocean is the only one of the kiddos who falls asleep in random spots. I figure this is mostly because he stopped taking naps at a much younger age than the other two and he never gets enough sleep. He fights it hard, but sometimes he just has to give in.