Weekly Mileage #131 and the Temple Open House

Monday after I dropped off Ocean I ran 1.25 miles then hiked a couple more. It really is a good way to start the week.

Tuesday Mr M had another cortisone shot in his back, which meant he came to music lessons with us and we left from there for the VA hospital in Richmond. He can't drive immediately after the procedure, so I get to be the designated driver. It's a long, boring afternoon for the kids, but it went faster than the last time we did this, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So far this shot is working a little better than the last one (which was in a different location).

Wednesday Mr M had to take the day off work because of his procedure, but he felt he could handle some driving, so we drove to Raleigh for the temple open house. I drove on the way there, he drove on the way back. It was about four hours one way, and I wasn't confident that I could drive both ways, so sharing the driving was a good way to go.

After those two days of back-to-back driving I've realized that caffeine does help me stay more alert when driving, but Wednesday I was suffering a backlash from the sugar I had on Tuesday, which worsened my symptoms. So in the future, sugar free caffeinated energy drinks when driving rather than the Barqs Root Beer I had Tuesday and the Mt Dew I had Wednesday. A couple flavors of Reign aren't too bad and the splenda aftertaste is much more manageable than whatever aftertaste accompanies Monster and Red Bull drinks (which I can't stand). I guess it's a good thing I've never been big on caffeinated sodas. I don't think they'd be as helpful now if I had a caffeine habit. As stimulants go, there's definitely worse ones I could be taking.

Wednesday was a really long day- we were pushing it to drive there and back in one day, but we didn't have time to spend the night and come back Thursday. We expected it to be pretty slow on a Wednesday afternoon, but that was not at all the case. It was quite crowded and we had to wait awhile for our turn to take the tour. Ocean had a hard time controlling himself after so much time in the car, strapped in his seat. We saw similar behavior on our road trip this summer: he really needs to be able to run around and move and if he can't, he has a really hard time being calm and still.

While at the open house we ran into a family from our ward who happened to be there at the same time. We also ran into a couple who used to live in our ward, but moved to NC several years ago. They were volunteering as traffic help and shoe cover putter-onner. It was good to visit with them for a few minutes.

what our window has looked like since we got home from our road trip in July

Thursday we finally got the RV window replaced. Late last week they contacted me to say the original replacement had arrived damaged and had been re-ordered so we'd need to reschedule for the last half of October. Then Tuesday they said they might have the window in time to still install it on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon they emailed and said the window had arrived and we were good to go for Thursday. Part of me was looking forward to not driving anywhere Thursday, but the other part of me was happy to get the window taken care of sooner rather than later.

our shiny new window

We had originally contacted the insurance company to file a claim, but it was too late at night to do so. By the next morning we'd realized that it might be cheaper to pay out of pocket for the replacement window, just as we do when we replace a windshield. This isn't always the case, but in this instance, it was. We paid about $170 less than our deductible would have been.

River's adjustable banjo strap

Monday I'd finally made a leather banjo strap for River (we'd been borrowing a too-long guitar strap from his teacher for the past year), and while I was happy with how it turned out, I wanted to do a little more with it. Which meant that on Thursday I took it apart, put it in the Glowforge for a bit, then put it back together.

Saturday I finally got the garden boxes in place and mostly filled. The elders came over and helped, went to a teaching appointment, then came back for dinner. They did the hard work of digging the corner stakes in while I hauled rotten wood and dirt to fill the boxes (and logged 2 miles doing so). A little while after they left, we had a soaking downpour, which would have made their job so much easier if it had happened before they came. Ah well, I'm just glad it's finally done and I didn't have to do all the digging (Mr M would be flat on his back for a week if he tried doing the digging). I'll finish filling the boxes and let them settle over the winter, and come spring we'll just have to top them off before planting.

a <not-so-little> friend I found while shifting rotten firewood to the garden boxes

I have to remember to wear my filtration mask when messing around with rotten wood and other decomposing matter (ie anytime I mess around in the woods). I didn't on Saturday, and ended up with a splitting headache, just like every other time I've breathed in moldy leaves or whatnot. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but apparently not.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.35 miles run
Monday- 2.25 miles hiked
Saturday- 2.00 miles walked
total- 5.60 miles

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

92.35 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
216.07 miles total

Sunday Funny

Ocean's usual state: a moving blur

Ocean was jumping around <literally> bouncing off the walls and furniture, yelling "hi yah!"

He then turned to me and said: "I've got ninja moves!"

Yes. Yes, you do.

so much energy in one boy, and no, I really don't know what he was doing here, other than bouncing around in his underwear

Weekly Mileage #130 and the Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

beautiful morning for a trail run

Monday after I dropped off Ocean at preschool, I ran a couple errands at the stores that were open before 10 (fewer than I'd hoped). Then I went to the trails park and ran a mile, then hiked two more. After that, I ran a few more errands (all the stores were now open) and finished just in time to pick up Ocean. It was a tight squeeze, but I won't need to run so many errands every week, so hopefully I can continue with the running and hiking while Ocean's at preschool. After putting away the groceries and taking a quick shower, Ocean and I went to speech therapy. I had a couple hours free, then I took Sunshine to Scouts. Definitely a busy day, but it was a very productive start to the week.

the boys at the bottom of the lower slides

We found a good Groupon deal not too long ago, so Wednesday we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. It's a hotel with an indoor water park and the last time we stayed there was five years ago, before Ocean was born. Our stay was based solely on what would fit in our schedule, but it also ended up being at the same time as a family in our ward and a number of our homeschool friends since it was also Williamsburg's homeschool days. We didn't bother visiting Williamsburg this year- the boys aren't quite old enough to fully appreciate it and we didn't have time for a longer stay.

Ocean laying on Daddy's back on the lazy river

You can stay at the water park after you check out, so we spent most of Thursday at the water park again and got home in time for a late bedtime for the boys.

Sunshine spent most of her time on the slides, so I didn't get any good pictures of her
the wave pool and wave rider thing were behind me when I took this picture

We had fun, though I think everyone else had more fun than me. The disadvantage of an indoor water park is that all the chlorine fumes are trapped inside. I had a headache as soon as we stepped inside. The rides were still fun, but the headache sure was distracting.

River on the wave rider

Climbing the stairs to the top of the slides was definitely a workout, especially when done while breathing chlorine fumes. River went on a couple of the slides, but they weren't his favorite and he didn't ask to go on any of the high ones more than once. The lower ones were ok. Ocean loved the high slides, of course. We figured this would happen, knowing their personalities, so Mr M took Sunshine and Ocean on the high slides while I hung out with River down below. River did like the wave rider thing, though.

while River didn't like the speed of the tall slides, he did like this floating lily pad thing, and climbed across several times

Friday night was our first YW campout. I say first, because the girls had fun and were enthusiastic about doing another one. Not sure when it will happen, since we've got a full schedule of activities already, but it will. Mr M came along as a priesthood holder, so the boys came along as well. They got quite gloriously dirty and had a fine time.

River "helped" get the fire started Saturday morning

This was the same campground we've taken the Cub Scouts to in the past. It's not too far, it's inexpensive, and there's some trails in the woods behind the campground, so it's a great location for getting a feel for how things will go. Aside from girls camp, which in our stake is not real camping, the YW in our ward haven't gone on a campout in.... I'm really not sure how long. Pretty sure it's been a number of years, though.

the park stores some obstacle course obstacles in the campground, which everyone had fun climbing on

Saturday morning we took a short hike with the YW before everyone headed home. After everyone was picked up, we headed home, where I found my car keys rolled up in the tent. I knew I hadn't left them at the campground, but I thought I'd put them in the car somewhere. nope. Too much sugar and carbs this week has not been good for my brain cells. We mostly spent the rest of the day recovering from the last three days. We had fun, but long days and late nights aren't good for any of us.

Sunday morning as we left for church I looked over and saw that a bag of trash had been carefully dragged into the woods before being thoroughly inspected for edibles. Thank you (friendly?) neighborhood bear!

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.12 miles run
Monday- 2.35 miles hiked
Saturday- 1.00 miles hiked
total- 4.47 miles

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

86.75 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
210.47 miles total

Sunday Funny

little boys making faces while pointing to a trail marker

Ocean: "River and I have booger coughs."

Me - "Huh? Oh, you mean you have crud when you cough?"

Ocean: "Yeah!"

Me- "I call that a phlegmy cough, but I guess booger cough covers it just as well."

Anniversary of a Broken Foot

hiking in Shenandoah NP with the kiddos

It's now been a bit more than a year since I broke my foot.

It hasn't bothered me in months, though every now and then it'll swell up a bit where the broken bone was (it took months for the swelling to go down in that spot after I broke it).

There's no pain, though if I twist and turn my foot at just the right angle I can feel a bit of stiffness still. It's not a natural twist and turn though, so it's not like it's something that happens every day ;)

As disruptive as it was to break my foot, I am grateful I did. I think I've mentioned that before, but it is the truth.

If I hadn't broken it, I really don't think I would have been diagnosed with narcolepsy as easily as I was.

That's relative of course, since the process still took a couple months and I've actually had it since my mission, same as celiac disease. But because my schedule changed so drastically and I was still so tired all the time, it was so much easier for the doc to acknowledge that yes, something is actually wrong, rather than just brushing it off as I'm a super busy mom who never gets enough sleep (which is true, but doesn't address the root of the matter).

So yes, I'm glad I broke my foot a year ago.

I'm still working on getting back on a consistent running schedule, but that's more the narcolepsy's fault than my foot. My energy levels changed so much last summer, just before the Great Smoky Mountains Half (which is why I finally talked to my doctor about it), and I'm still figuring out what I can do on an ongoing basis without burning out. It's taken a lot longer than I thought to find my new baseline, but I'm getting there.

It's interesting what children remember. Ocean knows I broke my foot, but he talks more about my knee. In recent months when we've talked about my broken foot he's commented several times that I broke my knee. I didn't, but it was gouged and bloody, so apparently it made an impression on him. The scars have finally faded, but they'll always be a reminder of this experience.

Weekly Mileage #129 and the Court of Honor

fairly certain this was an inadvertent lap selfie, but it was the only picture taken this week :)

Monday was Ocean's first day of preschool this year. Like last year, he's only attending on Mondays. He had a great time and didn't seem to miss his brother ;)

Ocean's speech therapy appointments Monday afternoons and Friday mornings are working out much better than the Wednesday and Thursday early morning appointments. I would still prefer them to be at the old location since the extra time driving cuts into work and school time, but there's nothing to be done about that.

Monday evening Sunshine's troop had their fall court of honor and she received her first merit badge (photography), which she earned in the spring but forgot to turn in her blue card before the last court of honor. She's close to earning her 2nd class rank, but couldn't quite get everything done before the court of honor.

Tuesday Sunshine went to the orthodontist and got her expander put in (it was called a quadrahelix when I had one in elementary school), and they added some brackets to start moving her canines into place. Her mouth has been on the sore side this week. At least she's getting a little bit here, a little bit there, rather than the whole mouth all at once. She'd really be hating life then.

Wednesday I went to the doctor because of all the headaches I've had lately. I don't have a sinus infection, but my sinuses are a bit swollen. So I'm now using a neti pot in addition to my daily saline spray and some flonase. My sinuses do feel much less congested and the sinus pressure in my face has lessened, but I'm still getting headaches. We've had a lot of storms and stormclouds the last month, and I think I'm getting barometric pressure headaches. I haven't really had them here, though I got them all the time in Colorado. I'm a little concerned that I'm getting them at such a low elevation- I always figured they were something that only happened at higher elevations.

Thursday we played glow in the dark volleyball in the gym for our YW activity. It was a lot of fun! I had bought a volleyball with an LED light in it on Amazon, but it only lasted a half hour or so before it started spazzing out. It was more than a little disconcerting to all of a sudden not be able to see the ball, but know it's coming right at you. We also used an inflatable beach ball that had an LED light in it, but that light burned out as well (it had been well used during girls camp) so someone shoved a couple glow sticks in it.

The beach ball actually worked really well for volleyball. It moved slow enough that it was easy for most people to hit and the weight of the glow sticks sent it in unexpected directions :) We taped long necklace glow sticks to the corners and edges of the net so it could be seen and everyone wore at least a couple glow stick bracelets. I'm returning the faulty volleyball and ordering a couple inflatable volleyballs with LED lights in them for next time, as I'm sure there will be a next time.

Saturday we went to visit our former neighbors. They moved this summer, but they're only a couple hours away, so they're close enough to visit on occasion. These are the neighbors that have a boy River's age, twins Ocean's age, and a baby. All the boys would run back and forth between our yard and theirs, having a grand time. They've all missed that, so we went out for a play date that they all enjoyed.

My headaches are finally improving a bit, but I still didn't feel great most of the week and I didn't get any mileage in.

Weekly Mileage
total-  0 miles

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

82.28 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
206.00 miles total

Sunday Funny

Ocean: " I have a chicken balloon"

Me- "What?!"

Ocean: <points to the waistband of his underwear> "There!"

It's a baseball mitt, but I can see where he'd get chicken balloon from.

Weekly Mileage #128 and the Ropes Course

getting ready

Since Monday was Labor Day, Mr M had the day off. We decided to head over the mountain to the book fair to see if we could find any good deals. We bought a couple books for Sunshine to use for school, a couple books about the national parks, as well as a couple other miscellaneous books. We also stopped by Harbor Freight to buy ear muffs for everyone. The boys like to help daddy mow the lawn, but we don't want to ruin their hearing, so we've had to share the one pair of ear muffs we had. We bought another pair when we were using the bobcat, but we really needed more. Now we have enough for the whole family to wear proper ear protection at the same time.

that water is the reservoir below the waterfall we hiked to last summer a couple times
you can't see the waterfall from here, but it's down there somewhere

Bright and early Tuesday morning I took Sunshine to the dentist and she got two more teeth pulled. Hopefully, she won't need any more pulled. These were adult teeth and the healing process has been more painful for her, which isn't surprising, given the length of the roots. They're not meant to come out, after all. But there just wasn't room in her mouth for them and they were preventing her canines from being in their proper position.

Wednesday we were supposed to go to nature group, but instead, I quit the group for now. It was stressing me out too much and given the rough summer I've had health-wise, I don't need more stress. We can rejoin later when I'm feeling better, but for now, it's one less thing to worry about. I've been having sinus headaches for weeks and they are keeping me from getting the things done that I need to, which is also stressing me out. Times like these mean I have to prioritize what gets done and what doesn't. We'll do nature study on our own, so I'm not too worried about cutting out an activity.

Thursday we went over the mountain to the Scout Shop so we could get a merit badge sash for Sunshine. I completely forgot about it when we bought the rest of her uniform. On our way home, we stopped in Shenandoah NP for a short hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Saturday Sunshine and I went with her Scout troop on a ropes course. It was the first time for both of us, and we both had a fun time. Definitely something to do again. I'm not super fond of heights, but I didn't have any problems climbing around in the trees and zip lining. I think the difference was the harness I was securely strapped into. It had two clips and one is always locked, meaning there was no way I could fall, even when moving from one line to another. So apparently it's not so much the height that bothers me, as the falling.

Weekly Mileage
Thursday- 1.24 miles hiked
Saturday-  .75 miles walked
total-  1.99 miles

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

82.28 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
206.00 miles total

Sunday Funny

River talking to random tourists, probably about his Junior Ranger badges

Ocean decided that Devils Tower looked like a volcano, so that's what he called it. Either that or he latched onto the information that it was formed by an uprising of lava in a volcano that never erupted.

In any case, he doesn't say volcano, he says volkeeno. The day after we visited Devils Tower, he asked: "Where's the volkeeno?"

He's talked about it several times while we were traveling and since we arrived home, and it's always "the volkeeno."  😊

August Mileage

shadows walking the 4 mile race

My August mileage was definitely an improvement over the last few months. If you look at my numbers, my bike miles and outdoor miles are pretty much the same, with my indoor miles half that. Ideally I'd like to keep them all about the same, but only because I like the symmetry of it 😉

However, if I'm going to hit 365 miles on the bike and 365 foot miles, I need to get a move on. The same goes for my hikes. I was at about the same number of hikes this time last year, though I wasn't able to do much for a couple months because of my broken foot. So as long as I don't break anything and I'm more intentional with getting outside regardless of how I'm feeling, I'll still hit all my goals.

It's just so easy to sit and read instead of getting up and going for a hike or a run or a bike ride when I'm feeling crummy. And there's been a lot of crummy lately.

August mileage:
5 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 1 race + 1 outdoor walks + 0 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 20.73 miles

52 hike challenge: 16 hikes

365 mile challenge: 80.0 bike miles + 80.29 outdoor foot miles + 41.16 indoor foot miles + 2.56 kayak miles

total miles: 204.01 miles

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 #127 and the Kidney Stone

I saw this in the Costco parking lot. It applies to both the current political situation and my kidney stone pain

Monday evening I had some stabbing pains that at first I thought were some weird period-related pain. My cycle is so much better than it was a year and a half ago, but every once in a while something odd pops up. It still hurt the next day and Tuesday afternoon I was laying on the couch and I could feel the stabbing pain move towards my feet and it dawned on me that it was most likely a kidney stone moving from my kidney to my bladder. By Tuesday night it was in my bladder, and it's still hanging around in there. Every once in awhile it moves and I can feel it, but for the most part, it doesn't bother me, which is nice after a couple days (and nights) of pain.

I drink lots of water, so I'm not sure how I got a kidney stone. Possibly one of the supplements I take caused it? Though I looked into them, and no one else has had kidney stone problems. So it could just be my genetics catching up with  me again. This is my first one and it's definitely not something I want to do again.

Wednesday was Ocean's last 8 am speech therapy appointment. We can't switch to a once a week schedule unfortunately, but we moved the Thursday 8am slot to Friday at 8:30 and the Wednesday 8am slot to Monday at 2. I'm not convinced the 2 pm slot is a good one, but it was the only other doable option. The extra half hour on Friday makes a huge difference. Traffic is practically nonexistent, so we can even leave a few minutes later, and parking is not an issue. Ditching the two early mornings in a row is the best part though.

Thursday was a 5th Thursday, so I took advantage of the extra Thursday to encourage the YW to finish their Personal Progress goals before the end of the year. I found some 'finish your Personal Progress in 12 weeks' schedules, but we have 17 weeks left, so I altered them to account for the extra time and combined the features of the two schedules I found (one included Book of Mormon reading assignments, the other included Value Project hours) to be as all inclusive as possible. I will be endeavoring to complete the program as well and earn my Personal Progress award.

Thursday after YW, Mr M drove Sunshine to her friend's house to celebrate her birthday. S had a 4 day weekend because of Labor Day, so Sunshine got to spend a couple days hanging out and having fun. Her family has moved a bit closer since their last visit at Sunshine's birthday, so the girls might even get an extra visit between their birthdays.

Friday I went to the doctor. I had a period of lightheadness Monday night getting out of the tub and again Thursday while in the shower. I've also been feeling crummy: possibly an infection? I didn't have a fever and my blood pressure is fine, which was my main concern. I also don't have a UTI. When I pass the stone, if I catch it I can bring it in and they'll analyze it so I know what to look out for and avoid. Not the most helpful doctor visit ever, but at least we were able to cross a couple possibilities off the list.

the boys kept themselves occupied while we were at the doctor

Saturday I was still feeling crummy, but now I'm thinking it's something to do with my sinuses. They've been goopy since I got sick at the beginning of July. I haven't been able to get rid of the post-nasal drip and I've had a number of sinus headaches, so there must be something hanging around in there.

No mileage this week since I felt so crummy. The pain and bloating I had most of the week are gone now, so I should be back on track this coming week.

Weekly Mileage
total- 0 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

hanging out with the Target doggy

Ocean at Target:

"I hayving mommy, I hayving. I need canny."

It took me a minute to figure out that 'hayving' = behaving. 

I’m not above bribing the kiddos to behave when we go to stores, but he’d gotten some candy at the previous store we’d gone to, so I wasn’t sure he needed more. He, of course, felt otherwise.