Weekly Mileage #135 and the Banjo Concert

foggy morning

It was a super busy week, which I knew it would be, so I took time Saturday evening to write down everything I needed to accomplish in the coming days. I didn't get everything done, but I did get a good percentage of my list accomplished.


Monday started with me calling the pediatrician to see when they could see Ocean. They were able to squeeze him in forty minutes later, which gave us twenty minutes to get ready and out the door (we were both still in our pjs). Ocean's ear had been oozing for almost a week, he was complaining of it hurting, and the ear drops weren't helping. The doctor switched medications, and we were out the door in time for preschool.

While he was at preschool, I went for a run and a hike, then ran some errands. I spent the rest of the week finishing our costumes and accessories (pictures to come later!), working on a talk, working on ornaments for my Etsy shop, cleaning and organizing the basement, and helping River get ready for his first banjo performance.

Wednesday I finally spent some time on my bike. My bum did not appreciate the long hiatus. The last time I rode it was at the beginning of May.

Thursday Ocean had a makeup preschool day, so I squeezed in another hike.

cool spiderweb covered in mist

Friday evening was our ward Trunk or Treat, and I finished our costumes Thursday night, so I wasn't working down to the wire. I'll share more pictures soon.

Saturday Sunshine had an orienteering thing with her Scout troop. While she was at that, my YW counselors and I made and photographed the samples for our fundraiser (we never held it in the spring, so we're squeezing it in now).

Shortly after we arrived home from those activities, my dad stopped in for a weekend visit. He had some training in Maryland during the week, so he took the opportunity to visit us.

We went for a hike to enjoy the fall foliage.

The kids' music teacher had organized a banjo outreach program for the local schools and topped it off with a concert Saturday night. There's not a lot of younger banjo players and she's trying to drum up more interest. The concert was mostly attended by older people, but there were also a few high schoolers.

River and his teacher started things off playing a song, and they were followed by a local lady who was very knowledgeable about the roots of the banjo (west Africa). She's made examples of the various iterations (they were first made of gourds) and played some tunes on them. Super cool! She was followed by a guy who played mostly clawhammer tunes. Jeremy took advantage of the ten minute break to take the kiddos home since it was getting late, but my dad and I stayed for the banjo/guitar/fiddle tunes and the bluegrass band. It was a lot of fun with some great music!

River did a great job and no problem getting up in front of a room full of people to play.

Sunday I spoke in sacrament meeting. It's been a couple years since the last time I did, but I felt less nervous this time, so that's a plus. I think it went well. It had been hanging over my head for a week and a half, so it was nice to finally have it done and check it off my list.

Dad had to leave Sunday afternoon, but it was nice that he had more time to spend with us than he has had on previous visits.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.45 mile trail run
Monday- 1.75 mile hike
Wednesday- 10.00 mile bike ride
Thursday- 2.15 mile hike
Saturday- 1.20 miles hiked
total- 16.65 miles

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

112.38 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
90.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
246.10 miles total

Sunday Funny

This kiddo. I managed to catch this expression that is such an embodiment of who he is: a mischievous, funny, fun-loving little boy, always ready to jump into his next adventure with everything he's got.  I just wish the photo was a little more clear.

Weekly Mileage #134 and Last Camping Trip of the Season

We saw two hot air balloons on the way to preschool Monday morning

Monday morning I managed to go for a run and a hike. Such a good way to start the week.

I spent some time doing sample cuts/engravings on different leathers. I should have done this a long time ago, but didn't. It was a bit time consuming to do the design and enter all the different settings, but it was very informative and should save a lot of time and wasted leather in the future (no more charred leather projects like last week's banjo strap pad). The time involved is probably why I didn't do it earlier.

While the GlowForge was GlowForging away (three different leathers, 4 or 5 samples), I worked on a costume, which was a good use of my time.

the banner I was working on last week

Tuesday morning we squeezed in River's 6 year old checkup and the boys' flu shots before music lessons. We also got Ocean's ears looked at.

Last week Ocean's preschool teachers mentioned that he didn't seem to be hearing them if he wasn't facing them when they were talking: he wouldn't acknowledge them, and didn't participate in story time and singing time like he usually does. We've known something was off with him, but that was the trigger to realize it was probably his ears. Not sure why it hadn't occurred to us sooner. Maybe 9 months of no ear problems made us forget how it used to be. In any case, I spoke with his speech therapist and she watched him more closely during his next therapy session, and she confirmed that he seemed to be regressing in his attention span and speech.

I made an appointment to get his ears looked at Wednesday morning, but I also bought an otoscope camera (I was going to buy an otoscope, but decided to give the camera a try). I looked at everyone's ears, and they all looked good, except Ocean's. His looked pretty icky.

The doctor checked them out and found copious amounts of wax blocking his ears. After cleaning them (an ordeal in itself), the doc decided to keep the appointment the next day to do a hearing screening.

After music lessons, we explored some ruins. We've driven past them every week for the past 6 years, but never stopped in to check them out. I'm trying to get better about such things, and it was a nice day, so we stopped and looked around a bit. The house was destroyed by fire in 1884 (70 years after being built), but the walls were left standing.

After lunch I worked on the treehouse floor frame while the kiddos finished filling the garden boxes. Well, two of the boxes. One more box needs to be moved a bit, then it and the other one right in front of the shed need to be filled.

After building the framework, I started laying out the planks for the flooring and put a half wall up on the end that adjoins the middle level of the treehouse. There will be a mud kitchen somewhere on this level, and I'm thinking of putting it against this half wall. Still deciding.... Lots of walking as I walked back and forth, back and forth.

Wednesday it rained most of the day, so after taking Ocean in for his hearing screening (inconclusive, so we have an actual hearing test at the end of the month, just to make sure he can actually hear), he and I did the grocery shopping. We got wet, but it was a good use of our time.

Thursday we went for a hike at our local trails park to check the conditions of the trails after Wednesday's rain. They were a little damp, but not nearly as muddy as I expected them to be. I also screwed down a few of the flooring planks in the treehouse, but didn't get very far before both drill batteries were dead. They're old and it's past time to replace them, but we haven't needed them much lately. Guess it's time to stop ignoring the issue.

Friday our playgroup went on a hike at the trails park. We stopped and played in the river a bit. The water level was low, but still high enough for a good number of kids to get wet. I planned ahead and brought extra clothes for both boys to change into, as well as a towel. Bonus points to me for being prepared (for once)!

Friday evening we drove up to Shenandoah NP for the last campout of the season so we could dump the tanks. We've been planning this for some time, but I didn't realize that October is the busy season for the park as everyone comes to look at the fall foliage. Needless to say, we weren't able to get a reservation the first time we tried. We found somewhere else we could go, but it was further away, so I held off on making reservations. Last weekend I decided to check one last time, and found one spot available for Friday night!

It was cold, but we were all reasonably warm in our piles of blankets and sleeping bags (no hookups at the campground and our batteries are crap and won't last the night if something is pulling power, like the propane heater, which needs electricity to run the blower). Temps dipped down close to freezing, but we got the tanks dumped Saturday. Now Jeremy just needs to blow out the pipes and we'll be good for the winter.

While we were at Shenandoah, the boys did their Junior Ranger books (Sunshine earned hers several years ago) and we hiked to Dark Hollow Falls and back. It was fun, but the park was more crowded than we've ever seen it.

not a lot of water in the falls after the dry spell we've had the last couple months

 If we go back next year at the end of the season to dump our tanks, we'll have to go during the week, when the crowds aren't quite so bad. We may be able to go to a campground a lot closer next year though. It's closed for remodeling right now, but we've dumped our tanks there in the past.

We headed home mid afternoon and got home in time for Sunshine to take a quick shower before heading off to a stake youth activity.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.35 mile trail run
Monday- 1.75 mile hike
Tuesday- 2.00 miles walked outside
Thursday- 1.50 miles hiked
Friday- 1.32 miles hiked
Saturday- 2.36 miles hiked
total- 10.28 miles

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

105.73 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
229.45 miles total

Sunday Funny

Ocean lining up the dinosaurs on the train table in the Dinosaur NM visitor center. He didn't have time to line them all up before we had to leave, but he was grouping them, matching the color of the dinosaur with the color of the habitat.

Weekly Mileage #133 and Cooler Weather At Last

I didn't sleep well Sunday night, so had to drink an energy drink to get through the day Monday. It made me more alert, though I could still feel the tired under it all. By late afternoon I was feeling pretty crummy though. Definitely not something I want to do on a regular basis.

We celebrated River's birthday a few days late since Jeremy had drill over the weekend. Sunshine and I made an orange cake, as requested. One of her classes this year is to learn cake decorating, and this was our first project. It didn't turn out as I'd hoped, which I blame on the cake mix, not my lack of attention to detail ;) I forgot to check the box to see what size cake it made while I was out running errands. At the next store I went to, I thought of it, but they didn't have the same brand. The brand they did have made two 8inch cakes, so I figured I was good. Nope.

River got his first "big bike"

River wanted a 2 layer orange cake with sprinkles in the middle. I interpreted the sprinkles to be Skittles, pouring out of a hole in the middle when you cut into the cake. That didn't end up happening, as the cream cheese frosting between the layers thinned out way too much when I added mandarin oranges to it. We ended up cutting the cakes in half to get the height it should have had, so it looked a bit like a orange segment, if you squint.

Let's just say it was a learning experience and we now have a baseline to work from. And we won't be adding oranges to frosting again.

I'd already started moving things around when I remembered to take a picture

On Wednesday I took advantage of weather that is finally cooler, and spent some time working outside. This meant a couple hours clearing up the underside of the treehouse and leveling the cinderblocks that will support the framework of the new floor under the upper level of the treehouse. I've wanted to build a floor there since we finished the treehouse originally, but didn't have the time or money to do so. If I stay on point, I've got time to squeeze it in before it gets too cold. I logged a bit more than a mile walking around, moving stuff, and digging in the dirt.

River helped dig in the cinder blocks

working around rocks and roots was a pain

On Thursday Sunshine and I loaded the wood that's been drying in a stack in our driveway into the trailer and re-stacked it by the treehouse. It took 5 or 6 trips, but we moved it all. Now we have 2x4 stock for framing and 1" planks ready for building. After I do the floor, I'll build a house on the upper level, per Sunshine's request. I logged almost two miles loading and unloading all that lumber.

Friday morning we met with some local homeschoolers for games and play time. I knew a couple of the families, but didn't realize that we had quite so many in our immediate area. Most of our homeschool interactions have been with families that live in town or even south of town.

That evening I drove Sunshine and her friend to a Scout Camporee. I thought about spending the night and running the 5k in the morning, but I haven't been sleeping well all week and have just been too tired.

Instead of running the 5k (which I ran here and here) Saturday morning, I helped with an Eagle project.

That's an upside down view of Warren the Charity Bear. Those of us who know how to sew sewed a bunch of them (first the details, then front and back after embroidery) and others embroidered faces, stuffed, and sewed closed. They'll be donated to the local children's hospital.

After that, I headed home and worked on a Halloween costume while running designs I worked on earlier in the week through my GlowForge.

a wood pennant banner (masking still on, no twine/ribbon connecting them)

masking still on a possible ornament design

A banjo or guitar strap pad. It's a bit charred because I didn't run some sample cuts first, and this is the first time I've used this leather in the GlowForge.

Saturday evening I picked up the girls from their camporee and I discovered that several swallows of an energy drink will last about 2 hours (ie, increase my level of alertness) before wearing off. And it wasn't enough to keep me up at night. Score!

Sunshine throwing a javelin at the camporee (it had a gladiator theme)

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- 1.15 miles walked
Thursday- 1.95 miles walked
total- 3.10 miles

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

95.45 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
219.17 miles total

Sunday Funny

Take a picture right here, Mommy!

I guess this tree we found while hiking to see petroglyphs at McConkie Ranch was super interesting?

Weekly Mileage #132 and Wood Badge Beading

Giant $50 pumpkins outside Whole Foods means the boys think they need a picture with them.

This week I didn't go to the park for a trail run and hike. Ocean didn't have preschool and I just didn't manage to get out of bed and moving that morning. It is helpful to have preschool Monday mornings - it's definitely a good start to the day and the week.

I haven't made Halloween costumes the last couple years, but this year I decided to change that. I miss the creative process involved, and even though I don't have a ton of free time (ok, really I don't have any free time, but I'll make it work). It helps that we're reusing costumes for three of us, so I only have to make two costumes. Any ideas what we're going as this year?

I had planned to take the kids hiking Wednesday and Thursday, but it's just been too hot. Temps above 90* do not tempt me to go outside and get sweaty, especially in October. Thankfully, it finally cooled off Saturday and Sunday, but those hot summer temps have hung around way longer than they needed to this year.

Thursday night was my Wood Badge beading ceremony. I finished my ticket in May, but we didn't have time to do the ceremony until now.

Sunshine got to lead the pledge at Round Table, which wasn't her idea of fun, but I think was a good experience for her (doesn't she look cute in her uniform?). The boys did pretty well. Ocean's been going through a phase the last few weeks where he has a really hard time being quiet, but he managed to stay quiet for most of the time we were there. And he even stood pretty still while the ceremony itself was going on. Since he could not keep his mouth shut during General Conference this weekend, that is really saying something. I'm so glad we can stay home and watch conference these days: 8+ hours of conference at church would not go well.

The two guys on the ends are from my Wood Badge course, the one on the right next to Sunshine was my ticket counselor/advisor (what are they called- I'm drawing a blank here) and our senior patrol leader.

Friday we had a store party for our play group. This is an annual thing that the kiddos really enjoy. Each kiddo brings something they made or don't want anymore or whatever, and they sell it with leaves as payment. Fall is the perfect time for this as the leaves are all falling off the trees and they can just gather leaves from the ground. Sunshine made some pipe cleaner cats and something else (I don't remember what). I didn't have the time or energy to help the boys make anything, so we went to the dollar store and picked out some punch balloons for River to bring and some glow sticks for Ocean to bring. They were both a big hit, and so easy on my end :)

I've realized that it's not just my food issues that affect my anxiety levels. Lack of sleep + stressful situations = high social anxiety.  (getting up in front of people is always stressful, so while it was good to achieve my Wood Badge goal and get beaded, it was also a stressful experience for me)

But the social anxiety is different from the generalized anxiety I usually deal with (or don't, if my food is on track). The social anxiety leaves me questioning my reactions and interactions with people. 

The last few weeks have been pretty bad, but it’s been ticking up since last summer. I’ve been in a lot more socially uncomfortable (for me) situations since then, and I haven’t reacted as well as I have in the past when I’ve been in socially uncomfortable situations. It's harder to let things roll off my back and not worry about every interaction. It feels similar to how I frequently felt in junior high and high school. 

Second guessing what I said, wondering if I offended someone, could I have worded something differently, did they understand what I meant? The social anxiety had tapered off significantly through adulthood, and hasn’t been much of a problem for the last ten years or so. I’m guessing it’s related to the worsening of my narcolepsy, just as my general anxiety is related to my celiac disease and what I'm eating. 

While in theory that just means I need to watch what I eat and get enough sleep, life is rarely that simple. A gluten-free diet hasn’t solved all my food-related issues and I’ve had to eliminate other foods as well. I spent the summer eating way too much sugar and carbs and am now easing back into the low carb lifestyle. The worst is trying to get to bed on time, though. There’s always more to do than I have time for and it’s so easy to stay up late to get stuff done. But the boys don’t believe in sleeping in, so I can't make up the sleep difference in the morning. And even if I do get to bed on time, I don't always sleep well (though on average, I do sleep so much better than I used to). It's a work in progress.

General Conference was uplifting, what I heard in between Ocean's constant noise :) Of the upcoming changes, I think learning the new YW theme will be the most difficult. Memorizing things does not come easy for me these days.

I also worked some more on the two costumes I'm making. One is done, other than tweaking a couple of accessories, and the other (more labor intensive one) is mostly cut out. I miscalculated my fabric needs, so I need to buy more before I can finish cutting out all the pieces, then start sewing everything together.

I was sitting at the kitchen table between sessions on Saturday when I looked out the window and saw a bear walking past the car and the shed. I grabbed my phone, but it turned and went into the woods, so here's the best I got.

It's in the underbrush, somewhere. Maybe that roundish looking black spot in the middle of the photo? :) It was on the small side, definitely not full grown. I'm pretty sure it's the one that's been having fun with our trash cans.

The boys think the bear is still hanging around outside. Sunday I caught Ocean locking the doors so the bear wouldn't come inside. We told him bears can't open doors, but I don't know that he was convinced. We haven't had a bear come through our yard in years, but this summer we've had several visits. I'm wondering if it's not because our neighbors moved, taking their Great Dane with them. The Great Dane is larger than the bear, so I'm sure he had some sort of deterrent effect.

Weekly Mileage
total- 0 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