Last week was my vacation week. I took time off to be with the kids the week before school starts. Monday is the big day!
Sunday night, Erin came over and we left Monday morning to take her back to Sacramento. Or at least, we tried. First, there was the chicken incident. Joe forgot to close the chicken coop door and Erin let her dogs and mine out without realizing the chickens were loose in the yard. My dogs don't usually chase or harm the chickens, but this time, I guess with Erin and Nick's dogs going crazy, they lost their minds too. Two chickens were killed. The other four flew out of our yard and kept showing back up in intervals throughout the day.
Then, Joe told me his guitar for school was broken and asked if we could find a place to fix it. On the way out of town, we stopped and discovered that it would be too expensive to fix, so right then and there, we bought one of their guitars that were on special. (Can you say OUCH?) I bought the protection plan on this one so if anything happens to it for the next two years, it will be covered.
We finally made it on the road, and got so hungry in Modesto that we stopped for lunch at a Subway. While we were standing outside, a homeless man told us he was hungry, so I bought him and his sweetie lunch and listened to his story, which I shared with the kids. If someone asks me for money, I rarely give it to him, but if someone says they're hungry, then I can't turn them down. When we made it to Sacramento, we got to see Erin's new apartment. We went to Panda Express for dinner and then went to the Dessert Diner for - you guessed it - dessert. It was amazing! Unfortunately we couldn't stay overnight because the kids had orientation on Tuesday, and we had to get back for that. The drive back was uneventful.
Tuesday we spent the day buying school supplies and running people back and forth to orientations. We were able to get most of the school shopping done on Tuesday. Joe has AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, Advanced Guitar, AP English, and Academic Decathlon. Laine has AP European History, Honors English, Trigonometry, Chemistry, Drama, and German II. Johnny has Spanish II, Literature, Geometry, PE, Physical Science, and Social Studies.
Our plan was to go to the beach on Wednesday and stay until Friday, but then Joe said he couldn't leave town because he had an academic decathlon study session. I spent Wednesday instead doing miscellaneous errands. Thursday we left to go to the beach, and we were able to take Kelly with us.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
New Month, New Challenge Group
I started August by joining a "Beach Body" challenge group. I did this mostly for accountability, so I wouldn't quit running now that it has gotten hard. So that I could add to my workout and be confident that others could "feel my pain." So that I would keep eating healthfully, despite all the stresses I feel. So that I could have people who would say, I've been there, I know what that feels like, keep going.
I reached a plateau this month weight-wise. I know it happens, but still - dang it! I keep plugging away, but it's hard when the scale is not moving. However, I am losing inches. My body must look better because people are starting to notice. Running, while still horrible, is getting easier to manage. I'm recovering quicker from my workouts. I'm learning how to self-treat the physical problems I've been having.
The first is that I started having this burning pain between my shoulders while I was running, and also while lying down. So instead of doing the next interval of C25K (run 90 sec, walk 90 sec, run 3 min, walk 3 min; repeat) I made up my own intervals...two minutes of running, two minutes of walking. I paid extra good attention to form. I kept my shoulders loose (jello shoulders), kept my eyes looking forward instead of at my feet, and practiced diaphragmatic breathing, which is hard when you're running. I'm going to do one more day of this tomorrow before switching back to the C25K interval that killed me on Saturday. I had no pain when running, and I found that the breathing decreased my recovery time dramatically. I'm still experiencing some pain when lying down, but I think that will get better over time as I keep my form correct.
Another problem cropped up yesterday, though...my left heel began to hurt later in the day. I researched online and discovered how to treat it...ice, ibuprofen (I really should take out stock in that medicine!), and stretching. Laine coached me through some stretches, and the ice and the pills worked out great. It still hurts a little today, but I'm going to do more stretching, icing, and if necessary, ibuprofen.
Today I put my workouts on my calendar. One more step in my program! Next week school and seminary starts again, so I need to think of ways to help me keep being successful while simultaneously keeping our family on track. One thing I have to do is get up even earlier than I do right now, so that I can get scripture study and prayer in, start a load of laundry, exercise, make food for my kiddos and still get to work on time. My plan is to prepare the week's lunches on Sunday (including my meals/snacks), and to prepare two meals for the week over the weekend. That way, I won't have to cook on mutual night and one other night.
I have asked the Lord to bless my efforts, and I know that he has. I think that he wanted me to pursue this running program and getting physically fit to bless my relationship with Laine, who likes this sort of thing. We talk about running, stretching, doing sit-ups and how to be stronger. I hope it can be a way I can continue to reach her in the midst of her depression. She is really bad off, though the world wouldn't necessarily know it. I'm thinking medication might be necessary. We'll be starting that process soon. If anyone still reads my blog but me, please pray for her.
I reached a plateau this month weight-wise. I know it happens, but still - dang it! I keep plugging away, but it's hard when the scale is not moving. However, I am losing inches. My body must look better because people are starting to notice. Running, while still horrible, is getting easier to manage. I'm recovering quicker from my workouts. I'm learning how to self-treat the physical problems I've been having.
The first is that I started having this burning pain between my shoulders while I was running, and also while lying down. So instead of doing the next interval of C25K (run 90 sec, walk 90 sec, run 3 min, walk 3 min; repeat) I made up my own intervals...two minutes of running, two minutes of walking. I paid extra good attention to form. I kept my shoulders loose (jello shoulders), kept my eyes looking forward instead of at my feet, and practiced diaphragmatic breathing, which is hard when you're running. I'm going to do one more day of this tomorrow before switching back to the C25K interval that killed me on Saturday. I had no pain when running, and I found that the breathing decreased my recovery time dramatically. I'm still experiencing some pain when lying down, but I think that will get better over time as I keep my form correct.
Another problem cropped up yesterday, though...my left heel began to hurt later in the day. I researched online and discovered how to treat it...ice, ibuprofen (I really should take out stock in that medicine!), and stretching. Laine coached me through some stretches, and the ice and the pills worked out great. It still hurts a little today, but I'm going to do more stretching, icing, and if necessary, ibuprofen.
Today I put my workouts on my calendar. One more step in my program! Next week school and seminary starts again, so I need to think of ways to help me keep being successful while simultaneously keeping our family on track. One thing I have to do is get up even earlier than I do right now, so that I can get scripture study and prayer in, start a load of laundry, exercise, make food for my kiddos and still get to work on time. My plan is to prepare the week's lunches on Sunday (including my meals/snacks), and to prepare two meals for the week over the weekend. That way, I won't have to cook on mutual night and one other night.
I have asked the Lord to bless my efforts, and I know that he has. I think that he wanted me to pursue this running program and getting physically fit to bless my relationship with Laine, who likes this sort of thing. We talk about running, stretching, doing sit-ups and how to be stronger. I hope it can be a way I can continue to reach her in the midst of her depression. She is really bad off, though the world wouldn't necessarily know it. I'm thinking medication might be necessary. We'll be starting that process soon. If anyone still reads my blog but me, please pray for her.
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