Weekly Mileage and Virtual YW Camp

found this lovely critter on the wall in the basement. ick!

Monday I ran errands, including getting Ocean's birthday presents while Jeremy did the in-town shopping. Divide and conquer for the win.

After that I made Ocean's birthday cake (a roll cake, per his request) and then had a camp staff meeting. After that was the camp kickoff meeting.

While sitting through those camp meetings, I finally figured out why I don't like zoom calls. You have to look at the screen and look interested, which makes it hard to do anything else with your hands. The problem is that if I'm just sitting there, not doing anything with my hands, I'm zoning out and trying not to fall asleep. Years of experience have shown me that just sitting = falling asleep. Keeping my hands busy = much less likely I'll fall asleep. And as an adult leader, I have to stay on top of what's going on so I can offer an opinion or advice if needed or asked.

the Rescue Bots he got as presents had to help blow out the candles :)

I also had this thought: Ocean was born early in the morning, around 4:30ish I think. I gotta wonder if that has anything to do with him being an early riser. He wakes up early, then wakes his brother up and they go scavenging through the kitchen, leaving the wreckage behind them. We finally bought a get out of bed clock for the boys, which I'd been meaning to do for months, and so far it's actually working. It's red when Ocean wakes up, turns yellow when they have 20 minutes to go (we've told them to make their beds, get dressed, and clean up their room during this time), then it turns green and they can leave their room. They're still awake and making noise, but at least they're not loose in the house. Though I do need to break Ocean of his habit of barging in to tell me that "the light turned green so we can leave our room!" Which I know, because there's an alarm that goes with it as well.

Tuesday started with a staff meeting followed by two small group meetings. I had some time off after that, so I worked on my logo update and ordered some new business cards, designed some stickers, and worked on the color scheme for my logo and site. It's been predominantly black and white in the past, but now I have some more options. I also ordered more waxed canvas so I have the materials on hand when I'm ready to make waxed canvas totes.

I then bounced between afternoon group meetings (the starts were staggered, but the first ended up overlapping the second). There was an evening fireside that Sunshine attended, but I skipped because I just couldn't handle any more zoom.

During the day, between the morning and afternoon group meetings, the girls had a class where they learned a new skill. Sunshine took self defense, macaron making, and cake decorating. There was also sketching, watercolors, something with photography and filters, American Ninja Warrior, shelter building, cooking, and more. They also had time to work on group challenges and other goals, some of which got them outside, away from their computer screens.

a teal macaron

Wednesday started with a staff meeting followed by one group meeting. We shuffled things around so those of us helping with two groups weren't bouncing back and forth.

Afterwards I finalized my sticker designs and okayed the order, then worked some more on my logo colors. Once those were done, I started working on my website updates. The colors, the logo, and the header. I also realized I never transferred the blog posts from my old WordPress website to this Shopify site, so I started that. However that was slow going since most of the early pics were 2 years old or so and I had to figure out where they were on my computer.

Sunshine with her wacky outfit challenge 

Wednesday evening was an adult leaders meeting where we talked about the leadership skills the girls were learning.

Thursday started again with a staff meeting, group meetings (back to bouncing between the two) in the morning and afternoon, and then we had an evening ward meeting. I got to lead out on that one, which was stressful. For all the leadership positions I've been in and the leadership training I've taken, I don't actually enjoy leading group discussions and activities. Doing it over zoom added to that stress. Despite that, I think it went reasonably well.

Sunshine's cake decorating class. We used fondant instead of frosting to cover the outside, which was a good learning experience for both of us (I helped because she wouldn't have had time to do that and prep the frosting).

Sitting in the small group meetings and watching the youth camp advisors (some of the older girls) teach leadership and communication activities to the younger girls in their groups, I realized that they were some of the same ones we used in Wood Badge. I'm willing to bed the guy who put them together (they were used by both the YM and the YW) has gone to Wood Badge at least once. Such a great opportunity for our youth to learn these things now rather than when they're a lot older.

The leather I ordered for handles and straps and more tote bags arrived. But I need to get the site updates done first so that as soon as products are done I can post them to a professional looking website.

Ocean wanted to take Hedwig and Scabbers outside to play, but it had started raining, so I convinced him to leave them inside with me. I set them on a box so they could look out the window and watch him. He thought it was hilarious!

And then later I looked outside and saw this:

And this:

Yes, Ocean is laying in a mud puddle in our driveway.

We took Sunshine's cake outside for some better pictures. You can see the fondant seams better, but like I said, it was a good learning experience.

Friday was our last day of camp. One last staff meeting, one last round of morning group meetings, then a close of camp meeting. Overall, I thought camp went well and was a good experience for the girls, even if a lot of it was on zoom.

Honestly, this week was exhausting for me. I had to get up at a consistent time every morning, regardless of when I actually went to sleep the night before (I actually do try to get up at a consistent time, but I normally have the option of laying in bed for a bit longer if I'm feeling particularly crummy).

I think the real exhaustion comes from an HSP perspective. I had to be "on" for 6+ hours a day on zoom, which is a LOT of interaction after months of very little interaction. It was overstimulating in all senses of the word. Added to that was there was lots of second-guessing myself in what I said and did because my anxiety levels were already higher than normal. I can usually keep the second-guessing to a minimum, but I had a much harder time this week.

One thing our stake focused on was having the YCAs model the leadership roles that should be occurring within our classes. The YCAs led the discussions, taught the communications exercises, delegated daily devotional responsibilities, met with those responsible for the daily devotionals to go over what was expected, and so on. It's actually unfortunate that more of our girls didn't attend and see this in action.

Saturday I finally ordered photo backgrounds and a lighting setup for product photography. I've been putting it off for far too long and realized I needed to get it done ASAP. I continued working on reconstructing the old blog posts. It's taken a lot longer than planned and isn't quite done yet. I can only upload one photo at a time in Shopify (unlike Blogger and Wordpress, where you can do bulk uploads), but I'm getting closer to being done.

Sunday was an in-person church day. Jeremy had virtual drill, so he stayed home with Ocean while I took the older two kiddos to church.

In the afternoon I had a YW presidency meeting via zoom and it was definitely too soon to be back on zoom. So done with it right now. I'm still working on getting my anxiety and stress levels back down, so another zoom meeting didn't help.

Some thoughts on getting up every day for a week straight at a set time: it's exhausting. Combined with all the time on zoom and in front of the computer, it was even more so. I didn't do any leather work this week because I like to work in as long of stints as possible and I needed to get the site updates done. I also had to coordinate stuff with people at the last minute, which is stressful, and thus exhausting in its own way. This has me wondering if I can do actual week long camps and still be functional by the end. I think it will be better without the computer aspect thrown in, but I don't know. My introvert game is super strong right now.

Since I started focusing on my leather work I have drastically decreased my time on my computer, which has been nice. However, it's time to sit down and write more blog posts again.

Weekly Mileage
total- 0 miles

2020 totals

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

164.19 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
18.00 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
200.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
382.19 miles total

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

Weekly Mileage #114 and June 5k

River has my dark brown eyes :)
he's totally cheesing here, though

We had so much rain over the weekend which slowed down our driveway project, but I'll post more on that later this week.

I ate a s'more Memorial Day evening. I know better, but did it anyway and paid for it the next day. I felt so crummy. Reactions like that are making it easier to stay away from sugar though. It's just not worth feeling crappy.

In between all the work we were doing with the Bobcat, we had a mobile sawmill come in and mill the logs from the dead oak tree we had taken down last year. They've been sitting on the ground for the last year, but there was less waste than I thought there'd be. We now have a stack of lumber to finish building the treehouse (a ground floor level and an actual house on the top level) and a mantel for our fireplace.

first planks from the first log

There are some nice wide planks that I want to build something cool with, but I need to figure out what. I'll probably save the nicest pieces once they're dried and store them till I come up with something. We'll need to get a planer though, as this is just rough cut wood. It'll be fine for the treehouse and mantle, but not for building a piece of furniture.

Thursday Mr M took the kids to Busch Gardens, where they all had lots of fun. I stayed home and tried to work through some really high anxiety levels that were making me unable to deal with life. I haven't felt that bad in a really long time, and I think it was the result of several factors.

I was super stressed out about the Bobcat situation (more on that in the driveway post later this week) and the delays in getting our projects done within the time available. I also think all the noise from the machinery running for so many days was just more than my HSP (highly sensitive person) system could handle (noise has always been a trigger for me). I was wearing ear muffs, but it wasn't enough to completely block out the noise of the Bobcat and the sawmill. Add in stress about the mud that was EVERYWHERE (including every room in the house), feeling physically crummy as a result of eating that s'more on Monday, and it was a recipe for disaster.

the boys have sure enjoyed the mud
they have literally rolled in the mud puddles

So I stayed home and tried to minimize stimuli and focus on lowering my anxiety levels. They'd been worsening for several days, but Thursday was definitely the worst. It took all day, but by nighttime I was finally feeling functional and back on an even keel.

Friday I finally finished my last Wood Badge ticket item. I'd hoped to be done by the end of April, but allowed other things to take precedence, so it didn't happen. All I need to do now is make sure all my materials are organized and email my counselor so we can figure out when I'll get my beads.

I heard back from the pediatric endocrinologist. Sunshine's thyroid and hormone levels all look good, so nothing to worry about there. The x-rays of her growth plates put her bones at about an 11-year-olds, which explains the delayed entrance to puberty and slower growth. We'll go back in 6 months and see if she's started growing by then.

Saturday morning River and I ran a 5k. This was my 8th year in a row running this race. I haven't been putting in the mileage I should have, but I was also accommodating his pace, so it was the slowest finish I've had yet on this course. It was hot and sweaty like it always is, but not as bad as it's been in the past- much more manageable this time.

hot and sweaty after the race

2019  44:26, with River
2018  40:21, just me, but so out of shape
2017  33:46, just me!
2016  39:21, pushed Ocean in the jogger
2015  41:19, pregnant with Ocean (34 weeks)
2014  38:11, pushed River in the jogger
2013  40:02, pregnant with River (23 weeks)
2012  39:23, pushed Sunshine in the jogger

On the way home he asked when my next race would be (a four mile race at the end of August). Then he asked if there was any one mile races, and I remembered that I'd seen one advertised for a couple weeks for now. He said he wanted to do it, so when we got home I looked it up and we'll be doing a one mile race in two weeks.

a recent notebook I sold: lined paper and a snap-closing flap

Despite all the anxiety issues I dealt with this week, it was a good one. We ended up under budget on our driveway projects and sawmilling (unheard of, I know!), my Etsy shop sales are picking up, and my RV ebook is being included in a travel bundle in July! I'll receive a commission on sales, but it will also introduce my website to a large audience that may not already be aware of me.

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- 2.00 miles walking and stacking lumber
Saturday- 3.10 miles run and walked
Saturday- 1.17 miles re-stacking lumber
total- 6.27 miles

11 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

58.53 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
15.87 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
154.40 miles total

Weekly Mileage #111 and Fun in the Rain

I'm still working on getting up and moving and not overdoing things. Tuesday I didn't get up early enough to go trail running, plus I wanted something a little less strenuous, so I walked on the treadmill for half an hour.

After music lessons we headed to the park for the weekly meetup. We haven't attended regularly for some time, but I'm determined to get back in the habit. We were starting to be more regular in our attendance at the end of summer, but my broken foot and worsening narcolepsy symptoms moved it to the back burner.

It rained a bit while we were there, but not enough to get super wet. Ocean fixed that problem by standing under a drainpipe and making sure he got gloriously soaking wet. Thankfully I'd finally remembered to put towels and a change of clothes in the car before we left the house, so I was able to dry him off and change him before we went home.

Mr M had his followup sleep appointment after his sleep study. Turns out he needs a CPAP after all. He doesn't have sleep apnea yet, but he does have hypopnea, which is abnormally slow or shallow breathing (apnea is periods of no breathing). So now we're waiting on some insurance paperwork, then he'll go get fitted for one.

Wednesday Sunshine and I went to a friend's naturalization ceremony. Neither of us had been to one before and it was very interesting. Our friend has been working on the naturalization process for 19 years, but others had been working on it even longer. The judge talked for a bit, the applicants swore the oath of citizenship, then they were welcomed by staffers from various government officials. They were also given the opportunity to talk about their journey to citizenship and to thank anyone they wanted to. Only a few people took the judge up on this, but it was interesting to hear what they had to say. Definitely an experience to have if you've never been before. Every Fourth of July they have a naturalization ceremony at Monticello that we've thought of going to, but I usually run a 5k that morning if we're in town.

Thursday I did an easy 10 miles on my bike. I didn't get moving early enough for us to go hiking before we needed to be home.

We spent the afternoon at home, having the annual systems checks done on our house- electrical, hvac, and plumbing. We need to do some electrical work (which we knew) and we got a quote for getting the water pipes replaced. We've had three different leaks now, and we know we're going to have to replace the pipes before we sell the house. The question is whether we'll DIY it or pay someone else. The jury is still out on that one- it won't be cheap, but we may not have the time to do the work. They also tested our water to see if anything in the water was contributing to our pipe problems. The test found that our well water is more acidic than it should be, which is what's causing the joints to fail. So we'll need to install an acid neutralizer system before we do the re-piping. yay.

Thursday afternoon I also got a call from the RV repair place and it's every bit as bad as we thought it would be. They did suggest contacting the factory to see if they can do the job any cheaper, so now we're waiting to hear back from them.

That evening I met with the bishop for the interview portion of the "On my Honor" religious award for adult Scout leaders. That's done and now I just need to turn in the form for my Scouter's Training award. Once that's done, all 5 of my Wood Badge ticket items will be done! I was aiming to have them all done by April, so I'm only a smidge behind schedule. Given all the stuff on my to-do list, I'm pretty happy.

Saturday morning I ran 3.35 miles on the treadmill. I ran two of the miles, alternating walking and running. It's good to get my mileage back up (I've been hanging out at 2 miles for awhile), and now I need to increase my endurance so I can run longer distances without stopping. I have a 5k coming up the first Saturday in June, so it's time to buckle down.

Saturday afternoon Sunshine and River had their recital/session. It's not a traditional recital- the kids sit in a circle and play the different songs they've learned, which is more like an Irish session. If you know the song, you play along. If you don't know the song, you just sit there. Sunshine did a great job on the piano, playing melody for one song and rhythm (chords) for another while other students played fiddle and sang. River did great on the banjo and was so cute when he messed up on one song and had to start over. Mr M had drill this past weekend, so Ocean had to come with us, which is not what I would have preferred. After some initial fussiness and noise, he settled down and fell asleep on my lap partway through.

Weekly Mileage
Tuesday- 1.37 mile treadmill walk
Thursday- 10.00 mile bike ride
Saturday- 3.35 mile treadmill run
total- 14.72 miles

11 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

51.26 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
15.87 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
147.13 miles total

Weekly Mileage #100 and the Blue and Gold Banquet

I had headaches all week and a migraine on Thursday. My headache was lesser today, but still there. I'm not sure if it's part of the detoxing process I'm still going through, but it's at least partly related to the stiff neck I have when I wake up every morning.

Weekly Mileage #97 and the Second Wood Badge Ticket Item

still haven't found those beavers, but they're definitely active right now

I've started going for a hike on Mondays after dropping the boys at preschool and Sunshine at co-op. I've got enough time to do about 2 miles and then run some errands or spend some time on the laptop before picking everyone up. The weather has cooperated pretty well on Mondays, which hasn't been the case on Thursdays (our usual hiking day) lately. This week's problem? Frigid temps and wind. We weren't as cold as some parts of the country, but it was still very cold. Add in the wind, and I didn't want to take the kiddos out in that.

Weekly Mileage #88 and First Wood Badge Ticket Item Completed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

34 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

349.46 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
335.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
686.60 miles total

October Mileage

the boys decided to shove their hands in their pockets and walk funny :)

Like September, my mileage was down. While I did a lot of sitting and letting my foot rest, I still did a lot of walking. I hate sitting still for too long and have definitely been feeling a bit stir crazy.

Despite the boot, I managed to do a lot. Walking around a hilly and rocky Boy Scout camp in a boot probably tops the list, though I also rode my bike with the boot on and took the kiddos on a hike with it.

Since ditching the boot I've been taking the boys on short hikes and have avoided any major pain. Flexing my foot in ways it hasn't for awhile brings a different kind of ache and pain, but I'll take it. It means I'm able to use my foot again. And this is a great time of year to be getting outside, so I'm happy.

At the end of October I finally hit the halfway mark on my 52 hike challenge goal. There's only two months left, so we'll be doing lots of hikes between now and New Year's. Nothing too long and strenuous, but we'll be getting out there and re-building our hiking habit.    

On the other hand, I only need 100 more bike miles to reach 365 bike miles. This is totally doable in two months, as long as I schedule in some bike time, which I haven't been doing. I also only need just over 41 more miles to reach 365 foot miles. I should be able to reach that by the end of November. Overall, I'm not doing too badly, especially when you consider what a slow start I got at the beginning of the year with all my illnesses and being slowed down by my broken foot this fall.              

October mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 5 hikes + 6 outside walking + 8 store walking + 1 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 47.83 miles

52 hike challenge: 26 hikes

365 mile challenge:  265.0 bike miles + 323.70 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles

total miles: 590.84 miles

September mileage:

3 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 3 store walking + 2 races + 2 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 

40.87 miles

52 hike challenge: 21 hikes

365 mile challenge:  260.0 bike miles + 280.87 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles

total miles: 543.01 miles

August mileage:

9 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 1 outside run/walks + 1 race + 4 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 110.23 miles

52 hike challenge: 19 hikes

365 mile challenge:  250.0 bike miles + 250.0 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles

total miles: 502.14 miles

July mileage:

9 treadmill workouts + 6 hikes + 8 outside run/walks + 1 race + 3 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 90.43 miles

52 hike challenge: 15 hikes

365 mile challenge:  215.0 bike miles + 167.27 foot miles + 2.14 kayak miles

total miles: 381.36 miles

June mileage:

4 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 2 outside run/walks + 1 race + 7 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 102.12 miles

52 hike challenge: 9 hikes

365 mile challenge:  190.0 bike miles + 102.88 foot miles + 1.1 kayak miles

total miles: 293.98 miles

May mileage:        

4 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 4 bike workouts = 49.95 miles

52 hike challenge: 5 hikes

365 mile challenge: 120.00 bike miles + 71.86 foot miles

April mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 6 bike workouts = 45.31 miles

52 hike challenge: 4 hikes

365 mile challenge: 85.0 bike miles + 56.91 foot miles

March mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 2 hikes + 1 outside walk + 1 race + 4 bike workouts = 33.43 miles

52 hike challenge: 3 hikes

365 mile challenge: 45.0 bike miles + 51.60 foot miles

February mileage:

0 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 3 outside run/walk + 1 race + 0 bike workouts = 15.56 miles

52 hike challenge: 1 hike

365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 38.17 foot miles

January mileage: 

2 treadmill workouts + 0 hikes + 4 outside run/walk + 1 race + 3 bike workouts = 47.61 miles

52 hike challenge: 0 hikes

365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 22.61 foot miles

Weekly Mileage #82 and Wood Badge #2

Wood Badge ax and log totem and the McLaren tartan

This last week was another busy one, but this coming one should be a bit calmer.

I took Sunshine in for a checkup. She needed an updated physical so she can get a couple more teeth pulled- they just aren't falling out and there's no space in her mouth. She's in the bottom 3% for height, which is lower than it was at her last appointment, which has the doctor a bit worried. She has to go in for a height/weight check in 6 months so we can monitor where she's at. She's at an age where we can do something if she's not growing as expected, but if we wait a couple years, that won't be the case.

I had an appointment with my orthopedic doc and he said I can start weaning off the boot, but only on flat, stable surfaces at first. I thought about bringing a shoe to wear at the indoor portions of Wood Badge, but just opted to wear the boot the entire time. I'd be tempted not to put the boot back on, but the camp is hilly and very rocky and not at all what I should be walking on without the boot.

We haven't been able to pinpoint any other reason for my constant exhaustion, so I was referred to a sleep lab. I had that appointment last week, and I now have an appointment for an overnight sleep study in December. Depending on what that finds, I may or may not stay at the sleep lab for a daytime narcolepsy study after the overnight portion.

Wood Badge prep continued last week as well. I worked on my ticket, fleshing out the details for each goal. I went grocery shopping for our food (we cooked our own meals this weekend, and I volunteered to do the shopping for my patrol to make sure everything was gluten free). I tidied up my uniform patches and re-hemmed my pants (they were too long and seriously bugging me). I packed all my gear. And I worked on the display for our group presentation.

The second session of Wood Badge was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We had to arrive even earlier this weekend, so I was up at 3:15 am, loading the car and heading out. We camped at campsites with tent platforms, but we provided our own tents and did our own cooking.

my little corner of our campsite

Since I was camping without little ones, I decided to give hammock sleeping a try. Of course, the forecast was calling for colder weather than we've had yet this season, so I had to make sure I was properly prepared. I had a mosquito net, rain fly, hammock quilt (hangs under the outside of the hammock, like a taco shell, for warmth), a sleeping pad, and my sleeping bag. As my troop guide said, it's an awful lot of gear for something that's supposed to be simple and easy.

from outside in: mosquito netting, hammock quilt, hammock, sleeping pad (not visible), sleeping bag. Not set up yet: the rain fly to cover everything.

I also brought my tent for my gear and as a backup sleeping location. This proved to be a very good decision, as Saturday night we were hit with rain, high winds, and temps in the high 30s. I ended up quickly grabbing my sleeping bag, pad, and quilt and running for the tent as the rain pelted down. If it had been just rain or just wind, I wouldn't have gone into the tent, but I decided my chances of getting wet  on a cold night were just too high with both wind and rain.

embers from our campfire, shortly before the rain started pelting down, driving us into our tents

It's been 20+ years since I last successfully went tent camping in the cold, but I stayed warm all night and slept pretty well. Mr M and I had an unsuccessful attempt at camping at the Grand Canyon in December a number of years ago. We froze and ended up sitting in the car, waiting for the sun to rise so we could take a few pictures before getting back on the road.

This weekend was much calmer than the first weekend, which was nice. We were still busy, but we also had more time with our patrols during meal prep and such, so our schedule wasn't quite as full.

Friday we did a lot of walking between our campsite and the indoor learning center. Combined with the very early morning and lack of sleep from not being able to fall asleep, despite getting to bed at a decent hour, and I was very tired. Not as tired as I was on Friday of the first weekend, but it was a close second.

I'm not counting hiking around camp as actual hikes, since the distance is broken up by classes and meals, rather than being uninterrupted. I am still counting the mileage in my tally, though.

Now that the Wood Badge training sessions are over, I can take a deep breath and get caught up on some of the things that got pushed to the back burner during the last two and a half weeks. I've got my plan of action for my 5 ticket items and should be able to have them finished by this summer, if not sooner.

My patrol, with our course director (in red), at the end of Wood Badge. I don't think any of us were truly warm all over until we drove home in our heated vehicles. It was a cold day!

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2 miles walked around stores
Friday- 6.5 miles hiked around camp
Saturday- 2.6 miles hiked around camp
Sunday- 2 miles hiked around camp
total- 13.1 miles

22 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

315.84 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
265.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
583.68 miles total

Weekly Mileage #81 and all the Glow Forging

totem etched on leather

We went home from Wood Badge with more homework than I anticipated: finish our patrol project, finalize my ticket (5 projects I need to complete in the next 18 months), make a patrol flag, meet with my patrol twice, meal plan and shop, and prep to plant a tree for the course service project. We're doing our own cooking this weekend, so we have to bring everything for it. Since I know what I need when it comes to being gluten free, I volunteered to do the food shopping. It's one more thing on my plate, but it means I won't have to worry about my food, so it's worth it.

pocket hangers with our totem

Needless to say, last week was super busy and I didn't get everything done that I needed to. Exercise didn't happen, other than walking around while sourcing. While not fast walking, it's tiring on several levels- walking up and down every aisle, the standing while scanning items, the very hard floor, the bright lights, all the different colors of packages, the noise... Those last three are all related to my being a highly sensitive person (HSP). Too much visual and auditory stimulation is exhausting for me, and is why I like things quiet and uncluttered.

smaller feathers for hiking poles, larger for patrol flag

I volunteered to head up making the patrol flag, and I was thinking about how I'd do it as I drove home from Wood Badge Sunday night. My initial thought was to use canvas, but then I realized I had leather and a Glow Forge. I could etch our totem on some leather and use that for our flag. I could also do some little dangly things with the Glow Forge. Then I got thinking about the pole for the flag, and I realized we had some wood that would probably work, so I wouldn't have to buy a broom handle. Then I thought, maybe we have enough wood to make hiking staffs (staves?) for everyone.

I checked the shed, and sure enough, we had the wood I thought was there. We bought the wood years ago for a project, then moved and never built what we'd planned. Two moves later, we're still hauling that wood around, and it's time to start using it.

I met with my patrol on Saturday to put the flag together and discuss all the stuff we need to have ready for Friday. We finished earlier than I thought we would, so I took advantage of the fact that nearby was a Walmart and a Target across the street from each other that I'd never been to. I found some good finds to send in to Amazon, then headed home.

I still need to foam the owl decoy in place on top. It's been sitting in the shed for several years after serving its purpose of scaring woodpeckers away from our porch columns. We were spit-balling ideas for the flag and someone mentioned using an owl decoy, which reminded me that we had one. It's hollow, so it doesn't make the pole too top-heavy.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2 miles walked around stores
Wednesday- 4 miles walked around stores
Friday- .5 miles walked around stores
Saturday- 2 miles walked around stores    
total- 8.5 miles

22 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

303.44 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
265.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
570.58 miles total

Weekly Mileage #80 and Wood Badge #1

80+ degrees in October is just wrong, though it did make for a beautiful hike

Tuesday I rode my bike for 5 miles. I tied my boot to the pedal, and it worked better than I was afraid it would. Even better, as long as I was careful about how and where I was putting pressure on my foot, it didn't hurt.

Thursday the kids and I went for a short hike. I knew I'd be doing some walking over the weekend, and I wanted to get an idea of how it was going to feel. We only did just over a mile, and it didn't feel too bad. It didn't feel great (there was still some pain), but it was definitely an improvement over how it's been feeling. I was pretty slow though. It's awkward to walk fast in a boot that prevents you from bending your ankle.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I attended the first weekend of Wood Badge. Wood Badge is leadership training offered by the Boy Scouts. I've been trying to take it for the last 5 years, and I've finally managed it. The first time I could have taken it, River was born in the weeks between the Wood Badge sessions, so that was a no-go. Two years later (our council only offers it every other year), Ocean was only two months old and still breastfeeding, so another no-go. Last year I was registered and paid and ready to go, and then the council canceled the course two weeks before it was supposed to start because there weren't enough people signed up.

After the course was cancelled last fall, I decided I'd do it in the coming year, and I'd go out of council to do it. I tried to take it in the spring, but ended up waitlisted. I was able to find another course in a different council this fall that worked with our schedule (there were several that didn't work with our schedule) and registered for that one. After I broke my foot I contacted the course director, and he said I could still come- if I needed help getting around, they'd take care of me. It turned out that I was by no means the slowest person, and we have two people that have to get rides everywhere because of their limited mobility.

The first weekend was intense, Friday in particular. I generally don't sleep well and I had to get up super early to get to the camp on time, so I was tired from the get-go. We did a lot of sitting during presentations, but because it was a very long day there was also a lot of walking and a lot of standing. Doing that much in a single day was more than I'd done in the entire preceding month because of my broken foot. The walking would actually be better classified as hiking, since we were camping in the woods. Needless to say, my foot was killing me and I was exhausted. I slept better that night than I have in a long time :)

We slept on cots in canvas tents on platforms, but we ate our meals in the dining hall. I'd communicated with the course director about gluten free options and I was told they'd have gluten free options available, but I brought a bag full of food, just in case. I ended up not eating any of that food though, because the kitchen staff took good care of us. There was 8 gluten free people between participants and staff, so it wasn't like I was the only one. I missed out on a few desserts, but there were gluten free substitutions for everything else, and it's not like I need to be eating desserts. I survived the weekend without getting glutened, so that's definitely a win.

Because I'm stepping up the pace on my sourcing for Amazon, I'm doing more shopping, so my store miles are increasing as well. I'm not completely sure about the miles hiked around camp, but I'll try to be more accurate during the next weekend.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2 miles store walking
Tuesday- 5 miles on the bike
           2 miles store walking
Wednesday- 1 mile store walking
Thursday- 1.07 mile hike
Friday- 3 miles hiked around camp
Saturday- 2 miles hiked around camp
Sunday- 3 miles hiked around camp  
total- 19.07 miles

22 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

294.94 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
265.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
562.08 miles total