Weekly Mileage #244 and the Learner's Permit

pre-race group selfie

Monday Jeremy drove Sunshine over the mountain to the valley to the DMV.  She successfully passed her permit test and is super excited about being official. She has to log a bunch of hours with a parent (like an actual log has to be filled out to track her practice) and she needs to go to a driver's school. She had to wait till she was 15 and 6 months to get her permit and she can't get her license till she's 16 and 3 months, so she's got some time to get all her requirements finished. Which is good, since she also needs to complete her Eagle project before she gets her driver's license, and she is not as close as she should be.

While they were doing that, the boys and I did the grocery shopping, which isn't happening again anytime soon.

I also worked on some notebook covers.

Tuesday Sunshine and I were supposed to renew our military IDs, but we got a call a few minutes before we needed to leave saying the system was down and they’d call to reschedule once it was up again.  They expired a year and a half ago, but we were given an extension because of things being shut down because of the pandemic. That extension ended at the end of October, but this was the first date we could get an appointment for. Sure hope it doesn't take too long to reschedule. 

We did online music lessons since we were supposed to be out doing our IDs until just before our lesson time. I could have switched to in-person, but I was hoping they’d call and see if we could come in right at the end of lessons. So naturally, they didn’t. 

I sewed my batch of mason jar cuffs. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

large = pint, small = half pint

Karate was mostly a review from last week since there’s only two days of classes this week. We did start a new portion of Universal 10 that we’ll do more with next week. It’s a series of 5 kicks, all done with the right leg while balancing on the left leg. Made my IT bands so sore. I have got to start foam rolling.

After the kids were in bed I did a 1.5 hour phone call interview about my narcolepsy. I did a much more in-depth study a year or so ago with this same group- this was kind of a continuation of that, and more focused on the actual sleep study itself this time. The interviewer was intrigued by the idea of sleep studies being conducted in a hotel, as both Jeremy’s and mine were. Our local sleep clinic is housed in a hotel, which is much less stressful than some sleep clinic setups I've heard about. I got $150 for talking and answering questions go an hour and a half. 

Wednesday I had intended to take Max for a trail run, but I was tired from karate the night before, so I wussed out. After a slow start, I managed to run some errands. Afterwards I made pumpkin and apple pies and red white and blue jello so I didn't have to do them on Thursday.

Thursday morning we ran the local Turkey Trot. It was just over freezing at the start, but it was in the mid-50s by the time we were done, which was quite nice. This is the same Turkey Trot we've done since we moved here, but it was at a new location and a new course. The course has less dramatic hills than the old location, so it's a little easier. 

River after the race, while we waited for Jeremy, Sunshine, and Ocean

I still haven't done enough consistent running. I'm averaging once a week or so, and it is not enough. River started with me, as usual, but left me in the dust the last mile or so. It has begun. He was sad he didn't win anything in his age group (under 10, so it would have been difficult anyway since he's only 8), but I can see him putting a little more effort and consistency into his running in the future. Jeremy walked with Ocean and Sunshine, though Sunshine did run the last bit to the finish line. This is the first 5k Ocean has completed (while he walked last year's Turkey Trot, it was about a mile short for him, Jeremy, and Sunshine).

Sunshine running into the finish line

I pushed it the last little bit and felt pretty close to puking at the end, which I haven't felt like in a long time. Unfortunately, the cold at the beginning irritated my throat and lungs and they didn't feel great the rest of the day (though this was not unexpected as it's happened many times when I run in the cold). I was also pretty tired the rest of the day. It is so frustrating that I can't run hard (with a couple walk breaks) for 37 minutes and still be functional afterwards. When we got home, I had to lay down for a while and I even dozed off at one point.

Jeremy and Ocean walking to the finish

After my nap, I made some gluten free cornbread and some stuffing, Jeremy smoked the turkey, and Sunshine peeled and chopped the potatoes for mashed potatoes.

Friday I slept in, so no trail run, though I had planned on one.

I caught up on emails and bills and had to call the bank because of an unathorized charge to one of my business accounts. It took 4 phone calls to figure out where the charge was from, then to get the unauthorized charge form submitted. (though after thinking about it for a week or so, I'm pretty sure it was me, accidentally making a payment on a credit card from one of my business accounts instead of our regular checking account. oops.)

I finally heard from my accountability partner. She'd emailed me at the end of August to let me know she had covid, but I hadn't heard from her since. It turns out she was hospitalized a week later and immediately intubated because of super low oxygen levels. She spent the next 7 weeks in a medically induced coma. She was woken up at the end of October and finally came home a week ago. She's super weak and has a feeding tube for a couple more weeks, but she's home. Super scary. I'd suspected that she was hospitalized since it wasn't like her to not respond, and I'm happy that she's finally doing better, even if she still has a way to go.

Saturday I got a slow start to the day, but I was able to take Max for a trail run, and she was sooo excited. She was staring at me as I got dressed, nearly vibrating with impatience as I put on my shoes and socks, and not willing to let me out of her sight while I used the bathroom, in fear that I'd leave without her. Which we did on Thursday, and she knew it, so it wasn't a totally unjustified concern.

Afterwards I organized my work space. There's a pile of stuff that needs to go out to the storage container, but my shelves are a bit better organized. I also sorted my leather. The downside of buying online is that I have several sides that I'm not super happy with and don't want to use in products to sell. They are handy for prototypes (I've totally been using them on the mason jar cuff prototypes), but there's still more than I know what to do with. blech. I hate wasting money.

first version of the key fob: has the cool halter snap

second version of the key fob has just a simple key ring (it weighs less than the halter snap)

Sunday Sunshine taught our YW class lesson (she was voluntold by me a few weeks ago when we didn't have any volunteers), River gave a talk in Primary and Ocean gave the prayer in Primary (Jeremy helped the boys). It was a busy 2nd hour, but we survived.

On Friday I bought some leather patterns for half off. Ocean had seen a build video I was watching for one of them and wanted one. I've been feeling more creative lately (finally!)- key fobs, mason jar cuffs, notebooks, etc, but I haven't made something just for fun in a long time. 

I had Ocean pick out the leather he wanted me to use and I sat down and made his bag. It went quicker than I thought it would - it's all hand stitched, but it came together pretty quickly, all things considered. The leather was thinner than recommended, but it still worked and Ocean is happy with it.

Weekly Mileage 

Thursday-      3.08 miles             1.0 hours

Saturday-       1.90 miles             .5 hours

       total- 4.98 miles                             1.5 hours

2021 totals

277.0 outside hours

244.19 miles

Sunday Funny

boys in their natural habitat

River cut his finger just before bed. After I bandaged it up, I sent him back upstairs to get his pjs on. He moved slowly, limping along.

Me: "Why are you limping? You cut your finger, not your leg."

Him: "My finger is connected to my leg!"

Me: "Ummm, only by way of the rest of your body..."

Weekly Mileage #243 and Intermediate Karate Class

Monday I had a slow start to the day, but I managed to finish clearing out all my inboxes. The lesser-used emails are at zero, the more frequently used emails have read emails I'm saving for future use (appointment reminders, receipts to submit, etc). And I've started unsubscribing from lists again. It's an ongoing battle.

I worked on my mason jar cuffs and key fobs and ordered canning jars for a larger size of mason jar cuff.

Tuesday after music lessons Sunshine had her annual checkup. She's grown a bit more and is now a couple inches taller than me, which she is super happy about.

Our karate class was our first day in the intermediate class. It's definitely more challenging than the beginning class, and it's not helped by the fact that we're coming in on rotation 10, which is the last of the intermediate rotations. Next cycle will be rotation 4 (we did 1-3 in the beginner class). Universal 10, what we've learned of it so far, has several jumps and spins, which don't come naturally to any of us, save River. But I think that's more than fact that he's a lightweight who can jump and spin without any problems.

Wednesday I had a slow start to the day, though I did manage a trail run with Max. I was tired afterwards though- probably the combination of karate Tuesday evening and the run that morning, though possibly some ADHD issues thrown in for good measure. It's frustrating. I've got a checkup scheduled for the beginning of February, but I'm debating going in sooner to get evaluated for ADHD. In general I dislike meds, but I'm thinking I'm at the point where I could benefit from some meds.

I made some more key fobs. I'm debating whether to burn my company logo into them or not. Other than that, I'm really liking how they turned out. I'm also pleased with the mason jar cuffs.

Thursday was another slow start (story of my life right now). The larger mason jars arrived, so I adjusted my existing pattern to fit the larger jars, then cut out leather to do a dozen of each size.

That evening I had a 2 hour zoom training for YW/YM leaders in our area. I didn't go into it with a great attitude (I dislike zoom meetings, especially long ones, and I kept my camera off despite them asking us to turn them on) but I'm glad I attended. It gave me some ideas of things to focus on with the girls.

Friday we went for a walk with friends. It was cold and windy, but sunny.

Karate was still challenging, but my jump kicks are already looking better and feeling better, so that's a win.

Since the workout was hard, I laid on my biomat in an effort to not feel like crap on Saturday.

Saturday I felt tired, but not awful, but I laid on the biomat again rather than take Max for a run. Temps were below freezing and I didn't feel like I had the energy for a subfreezing run.

While Jeremy and the kids ran errands, I worked on mason jar cup cuffs and notebook covers. 

Weekly Mileage 

Wednesday-      1.60 miles             .5 hours

Friday-              2.20 miles            2.0 hours

       total- 3.80 miles                             1.5 hours

2021 totals

275.5 outside hours

239.21 miles

Sunday Funny

Me: "River and Ocean, go clean the living room."

River: "Who's coming?"

Me: "No one, the living room is a disaster area." (there were multiple couch cushion forts on the floor)

Apparently we only clean the house if people are coming over?

Actually, this has been the case lately since we've had so few people come over the last year and a half.

Weekly Mileage #242 and Another Karate Graduation

Monday I slept well, but was still tired all day. I've added a new supplement that's supposed to help with energy and focus, but the version I found locally has some other ingredients that might have a calming effect (I need to check on that), which is counterproductive. Or I'm just tired from being cold all weekend, or the time change, or a bit of all of it. (the most likely option)

Tuesday I managed music lessons and groceries, but I was still tired and didn't do a lot else. I did make it to karate class, though.

the boys built a little shelter out of dead branches during Sunshine's piano lesson

Wednesday I was still tired, so no run. I did clear up and put stuff away in my work space in the basement. While I was there, I cut leather with a die so I can make some keychains.

Ocean and I did an extra karate class so he could pass off his last requirement for graduation, which he did. On the way home, we stopped and bought a stuffed toy for Max, in the hope that she would stop stealing Oink Oink and everything else she finds within her reach. She used to have a stuffed animal that she'd carry around, but she eventually destroyed it. I was hoping she'd do the same, but no luck. She pulled out the squeaker, then the stuffing, and still tried to steal Oink Oink.

Thursday I finally had the energy to go on a trail run with Max.

I watched some webinars on email list building and Pinterest idea pins, which are both things I'm figuring out right now. I also did some edge finishing on leather samples to decide what I want to do with the key chains.

For our YW activity we did some Indexing. It's been years since I last did some, but it came back pretty quick.

Friday we went to park day then I ran errands with the kids, which was a good reminder of why I don't like taking them with me to do errands. 

I started working on a new leather project. It's literally been months since I came up with a new, from-scratch project. It feels good.

Saturday morning we had our karate graduation. We are now green belts! It was at the same location as last time, so masks were mandatory (yuck). It was sweltering last time but cold this time, which made it more bearable. With our green belts, we move from the beginners class to the intermediate class. We'll also start sparring and weapons.

Since we were on that side of town, we stopped by an apple orchard to buy a gallon of cider for my dad (it's the good stuff). But we didn't have jackets, only had our karate uniforms, and the orchard is on the top of a ridge that gets a lot of wind. Cold+wind = freezing and we weren't dressed for it. We hurriedly bought what we were looking for, then went home to warm up.

That afternoon the boys got their first covid vax shots and they'll get their 2nd in three weeks.

While Jeremy took them to get their shots, I did some more leatherwork.

Sunday I attended ward council, had a meeting with a member of our Stake YW Presidency, then had a class presidency meeting. So many meetings.

I did manage to delete or file nearly 3000 of the 5000 unread emails sitting in my various email inboxes. 6 months of unread emails. There's still more to do, but I got my main email box done, and that alone had more than 2500 unread in it, which was giving me some pretty major anxiety. I found some emails and receipts I need, so that was good.

Weekly Mileage 

Thursday-      1.87 miles             .5 hours

Friday-                                       2.0 hours

       total- 1.87 miles                         2.5 hours

2021 totals

273.0 outside hours

235.41 miles

Sunday Funny

I just wanted a decent family picture...

During General Conference, Ocean was arguing with me about watching Netflix. He wanted to watch Netflix instead of Conference, but I wasn't going for it.

Comprehension finally dawned and he demanded: "Wait, is it Sunday"

Me: "Yes"

Ocean, whining: "Why?"

Me: "Because Sunday happens every week"

There was further grumping and growling on his part, but he grudgingly gave up on his Netflix efforts.

Weekly Mileage #241 and a Freezing Campout

Monday the kids and I did some product photography at a friend's house. We spent a couple hours and got some good pics, but I still need some more.

Jeremy blew out the RV water pipes, so it's ready for winter now.

Tuesday we went to music lessons. Afterwards I took Ocean with me to vote. Things go faster by myself, but the boys still need to experience going out and doing things. And Ocean actually does pretty well when it's just him and me. 

I'm still working on trying to figure out Pinterest. I worked on some pins, but didn't actually pin them yet because I don't love them and I still need to so some more research. 

After karate class I had a YW presidency meeting, but I almost forgot about it. I remembered just in time.

We had our first freeze of the year that night, so Jeremy got the RV winterized just in time.

Wednesday was a slow morning: slow start, schoolwork, etc.

In between other tasks on Monday and Tuesday I spent too much time trying to run updates on my computer, but they keep stalling out. I have things to get done, so the updates will just have to wait. 

I worked some more on Pinterest, then did some more reading on ADHD and supplements to use for it.

Insomnia Wednesday night meant I skipped my planned trail run Thursday morning. Rain kept us from doing any running the last week or so. Instead I slept in a bit before heading to the chiropractor.

I spent some time organizing and tracking down Scout health forms for the upcoming campout this weekend. It's a never-ending job.

Thursday night I still didn't sleep will, but it was better than the night before, so I managed a trail run with Max Friday morning. Afterwards I finished packing and loading the car for the campout. This was the campout that was scheduled for October, but was delayed because of a staff member getting covid. This campout frequently is cold and rainy (like 9 times out of 10), but on this occasion it was only cold, which is more manageable than cold and wet. Temps were in the mid-high 20s both nights. Brrrr!

Between my new camp cot and stealing Jeremy's Army sleeping bag, I slept better than I have on a campout in a long time. This was despite forgetting my earplugs, feeling slightly claustrophobic in the mummy bag with my weighted blanket, and taking a while to warm up.

Saturday we started the morning with a 5k. There was a decent turnout from the other troops at the campout, but only I and one of the Scouts from our brother troop ran it- everyone else wussed out. I didn't bring my phone with me for once, and I wished I had. The frost was thick on the fields and the sun shining on the frost-covered barb wire fences was super cool. 

I haven't run an in-person race since before the pandemic- New Years Day, 2020. Almost 2 years. It's also been 6 months since I last ran a full 5k. I've only been averaging 1.5-2 miles since then due to my energy issues.

There were different activities throughout the day for the Scouts. I did some rifle shooting with Sunshine and another girl in the troop and we got to keep the earplugs we used, though I didn't end up using them at night because I fell asleep before putting them in.

pretty fall trees above the rifle range

I slept well, though my toes never quite warmed up. I changed my clothes after the race, but I still got chilled and stayed chilled during the day, despite periods of warming up.

Sunday we broke camp, packed up, loaded up, made sure all the Scouts had rides home, then headed home ourselves. Jeremy had drill- virtual, thank goodness. So he was on his computer all weekend. A friend from our ward picked up the boys and took them to church so they wouldn't miss the last practice for the primary program next week. 

We don't always stay Saturday night into Sunday on campouts, but Sunshine is trying to finish her Camping merit badge, which needs 20 camping nights and is an Eagle required merit badge. There just haven't been enough camping opportunities because of the pandemic. She still needs a few more nights before she'll be done.

Weekly Mileage 

Friday-       1.68 miles             4.5 hours

Saturday-   3.10 miles           15.5 hours

Sunday-                                   5.0 hours 

       total- 4.78 miles                   25.0 hours

2021 totals

270.5 outside hours

233.54 miles

Sunday Funny

so  much personality in such a little guy!

I was sifting through old notes and found this from December 2019 or sometime before then.

A snippet Jeremy shared with me:

Ocean was walking around, sniffing, “I smeww something” 

He walked around some more, went to the closet, looked up, looked ahead, looked on the floor. 

“Soda! That’s what I smeww!"

Nice try, kiddo, but we're not buying it.

Weekly Mileage #240 and My Tool Kits Finally Arrived

Monday I went for a trail run with Max, but it almost didn't happen. The gate to the parking lot was locked, even though it was 8:30 and it's supposed to be opened at 7. I started driving away, then saw the county truck, so I made a u-turn and went back.

In the early afternoon we picked up my three pallets of tool kits. The semi driver wasn't told by dispatch to meet me at a local grocery store parking lot, so he tried to go down our gravel road. He went part way, then chickened out (rightly so- there's not room for a semi to turn around, even with the enlarging we've done of our parking area) and called me. I directed him to the grocery store down the road and met him there.

Two trips with the trailer and we off-loaded 70 packages. I'm much happier this time around with the packing job. I'm fairly certain they were shipped on pallets, though my Chinese contact said that cost a lot more to do it that way. Although, given the exorbitant shipping fees I had to pay this time around, maybe it wasn't just because shipping fees have skyrocketed for everyone, maybe I did pay for pallets also. The shipping cartons didn't have the wear and tear I'd expect if they were just tossed around, like the first batch were. Even better, my toolkits were individually packed in a box, with 6 to a shipping carton. 

No breakage that I could see, and they sent 2 dozen empty toolkits (in individual boxes) to make up for the breakage last time around. The only misstep was that I went with the larger cutting mats, thinking they'd fit in the boxes with the toolkits, materials, and stitching ponies. They're too large to fit in the toolkit box, and I still need to see if they'll fit in the shipping boxes. Oops. So much for thinking I'd measured everything and it would work.

I laid on the bio mat for awhile after organizing the boxes in the shipping container, hoping to head off feeling like crap Tuesday.

It stormed enough that Scouts was canceled since we still meet outside. 

I had placed pickup orders for Whole Foods and Kroger, to be picked up after Scouts. So Jeremy went out to get the Whole Foods order. I was wondering why Kroger hadn't texted me with order info. Turns out I scheduled it for Tuesday night 🤦‍♀️ so frustrating- such a stupid mistake.

I made our costumes. I cut t-shirt transfer material in the shape of an m, then ironed the m's on to shirts in various rainbow colors for m&ms.

I woke up in the middle of the night again with acid reflux. It's so unpleasant and disrupted my sleep for a couple hours. On the plus side, laying on the bio mat on Monday did keet me from feeling on Tuesday.

Tuesday Jeremy's brother headed home, leaving just his parents here.  

the boys climbed trees while Sunshine had her lesson

Wednesday I went for a trail run with Max.

We took some M&M costume pics, but missed papa since he was on a work call.

In the afternoon Jeremy and I headed out for a getaway while his parents stayed with the kids. We rented a secluded mountain house an hour or so away. There were no neighbors and we had a great view of the valley below and the stars above.

valley below

hills and trees above

Thursday Jeremy's parents took the kids to the ward fall festival, which got moved up a day due to rain in the forecast.

cool fog layer in the valley Thursday morning

Friday we woke up to wind and rain. The noise of the rain in the downspout is actually what woke me up. We packed up, cleaned up, loaded the car in the rain, and headed home.

rain cut visibility a lot

That afternoon Sunshine and I got our flu shots.

During karate we all passed off Universal 2, except Ocean, who needs to practice a bit more.  

Saturday Jeremy's parents headed home. I went to Target for some props for the product photo shoot I'm doing on Monday.

Jeremy took the RV up to Shenandoah NP to empty and clean the tanks. He just needs to empty the freshwater tank and blow out the pipes and it'll be ready for winter, which is good, since it's supposed to be below freezing this week.

Weekly Mileage 

Monday-         1.60 miles            1.5 hours

Wednesday-   1.58 miles               .5 hours

       total- 1.58 miles                  2.0 hours

2021 totals

245.5 outside hours

228.76 miles