2009

B - bye.

Good Riddance.

Adios.

Smell ya later.

Ok, it wasn't that bad.

I would like to write about what I learned and how much stronger I am from it but - crap - I'm just not in the mood. Quite honestly, I would only be repeating everything I've written over the last 12 months.

Here's some pics of what my year was like. Thank you for stopping by and reading. I look forward to sharing 2010 with you.


So, why would I put up a picture of Valerie Bertinelli on my blog? .... I don't know if it was a lack of training or the hormones from the thyroid or what but I suddenly developed, um, how can I say it without embaressing myself ..... I guess I just did.

One night I'm putting laundry away and Zak walks into my room holding this magazine and says to me, "Mom, did you know you were growing these?" and points right to her chest.

I think Zak is going to be a boob man.



I still can not eat French Onion soup. I miss you French Onion soup. :(



There are certain phone calls we never want to get. The loved one in a car accident, the hubby in a bar fight - bring bail money, or my favorite, your six year old son is dropping the F-bomb in school.



Over spring break I brought the kids to Legoland. They had fun but this was a time I was at the peak of hormone overload and my patience were non-existent.

Can you figure out what's missing from this model of Navy Pier?....

This little boy has know idea just how close he came to being beaten bloody.







Yes, this little green box - or lack of 16 little boxes almost caused me a heart attack on Duathlon Day. Thanks to My Bike of Tinley Park and the Tinley Park Fire Department a complete catastrophe was averted. I hate Wilson rental.

The kids learned to ride 2 wheelers this summer .....

and

got to visit daddy at work.

The family took a trip to Ohio

and

I took a trip to Louisville.

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful friend .

I was blessed to be included in a new life.

I danced and sang like a teenager with my sister at the Bruce Springsteen concert in September ....

and

we relived our teenage years during our summer walks to 7 - 11 for sluperees and twix bars.

What is scarier ..... being 16 and pregnant or 45 and pregnant? Hmmm ......

We'll never know what's scarier- all 4 test came out negative - Grave's disease plays ugly tricks with your hormones.

My mom turned 75 this year - she just doesn't seem that old to me.






We had princess Leah and Snakes Eyes over on October 31st and thanks to our very generous friends Jeff and Barbara, Gracie got her Halloween wish to have decorations in the yard.





We went sledding a lot and and enjoyed Christmas .....

One of the best parts of the year -

I discovered running doesn't completely define who I am.

and

I rediscovered the joy of doing.


Happy New Year. May your 2010 be blessed with good health and happiness. :)

Merry Christmas

Dear Friends and Family -

Please accept my apology for not getting a Christmas card to you this year. Money is tight and about to get tighter with Scott having hip surgery in February. It has been suggested by a dear Minnesota friend to post a picture from Christmas morning. Well, I will but I also thought I would post the one I was going to use for the card this year. I kinda of pride myself on weeding thru all the pics I take throughout the year and send an "in the moment picture" of the kids instead of a posed one. There have been exceptions to this rule, last year Scott's mom made the elf costumes for the kids so I had use it.

So here it is. Along with the saying I would have put on the card. God bless all of you with a healthy, happy 2010.

Love Pam


Merry Christmas
May 2010 be blessed with
uplifting moments of happiness


Love,
Pam and Scott
Zak and Grace

Interesting Running Conversation

So, I'm running with a friend a couple of weeks ago and we start talking about annoying people. And I make the mistake of saying, "I'm not annoying am I? Wait, of course I'm annoying" I say. Just as I'm saying it, I look at my friend and I see him looking back at me with the = geesh, annoying, of course you are, you don't know that by now? ..... who are you kidding?! look on his face :)

Ok, he didn't say any of that but, it was the look. You know, we all know that look. The one we give when we don't think the other person is looking. But every once in a while. The person you are giving the "look" to catches ya. Well, I caught my running buddy.

He denied the "look" and then started talking about something else that annoys him but I know what I saw.

Here's my point. We are all annoying. Some of us more than others but we all have the annoying gene. Those that can tolerate that gene, the most annoying part of us, those are the ones we call our friends.

Thankfully, I have running/cycling friends that somehow tolerate that I get happy and excited when I see someone getting ready to run with us. They ignore how annoying my questions can get and they answer them. They accept that I may laugh at inappropriate times and they let me talk, non-stop about my kids. I could go, but why it could start to get really annoying.

So, thank you training buddies. Thanks for letting me be awkwardly annoying.

Checked Off the Bucket List

I've always wanted to do an Adventure Race. How cool to find your way with a map and compass. So, when Dennis asked if I wanted to do one my answer was a HUGE yes!


Sprint distance, 2 loops around a lake in a kayak (yikes but I know I could manage), 6 miles on a mountain bike (mostly single track) and orienteer your way thru 3.5 miles and 9 check points. UGH, I couldn't wait.


Got to the race site at 7:11 sharp. 7:30 the orienteering meeting would start and I couldn't miss it. Dennis arrived shortly after me. He brought me his old mountain bike since I no longer have brakes or gears on my because it's 20 years old and has never had a tune up.

Made adjustments to the bike, took it for a quick spin around the parking lot. Was asked if I planned on wearing my uggs for the ride by another racer, just laughed and said no. I was starting to think I was definitely a fish out of water here but it was really cold at 7:25 and I knew I had a long day ahead of me, I wasn't about the get cold now.



Orienteering meeting went well. Next, we prepared our gear. Helmet's, check. Compass, check, 1st aid kit, check, uggs off/trail shoes on, check. We were off to the pre-race meeting. Listened to the directions - There were 38 teams, 18 kayaks, the first 18 teams back from finding the 1st check point would kayak, the rest would mountain bike 1st. Then the RD said some more stuff about check point cards and punches but I really wasn't listening. I kept thinking I wanted to be one of the 1st 18 back.


It was time. Very casual start - I think it was a blow horn. We were off. Ran some single track and then found ourselves running through brush and thicket. It was a mad dash and I think we managed our way rather well. So well in fact that we got to the check point and back, we were the 13th team to do so. Oh yeah! We were rock'n it.


Ok, I should have checked my ego at the picnic table right then.



We hopped on our mountain bikes and had to ride a mile up Archer to get to the lake we would paddle on. Speed limit was 55 mph which made me really nervous, the nerves made me ride quicker than I normally do. We actually passed 2 teams on the bike. Got to the lake, dropped the bikes and all our stuff off and found some life jackets. Then a kayak. Crap those things are heavy. Had to carry it probably 500 yards to the lake. Did I tell you how heavy a kayak is?


Feet got wet, really wet getting in. Off we went. We were passed almost immediately after getting in the water by the 2 teams that we passed on the bike. Was feeling no pain our 1st 750 yrds in the water and then .... we started feeling it. We were passed by 2 older gentleman. When I say old, I'm guessing late 50's maybe. Ok, maybe they weren't that much older.


Dennis was in the back, mostly steering. I did the best I could paddling. Honestly, for never kayaking before I think we were handling things just fine. The 3 fisherman at the end of the first loop would not agree with me. 2 of them were screaming at us, which I learned up in Madison in 07, don't scream from the shoreline at people in a boat. You look like an idiot doing it and nothing is ever accomplished.


We switched position for the 2nd loop, I got in the back, Dennis in the front. Managed to get just about every part of me soaking wet. I had a fear of falling in the lake which really wouldn't have mattered because I was soaking wet. I think we got thru the 2nd loop and finished the entire task in under and hour. There was still one more team behind us which made me happy. We weren't in last! Got out of the kayak and prepared to carry it back 500 yrds and the RD asked us for our 1st aid kit. Crap, it's with our bikes. Penalty. We didn't know what it meant we got one and off we went.


I was freezing but managed to get the kayak back to were it belonged. Life jacket back to were it belonged and back on to my bike without turning into a Popsicle. Told Dennis I had to change when we got back to the car.


Competitiveness took over and skipped changing when we got back to the car, just took off my really wet gloves. Got our instructions for the mountain bike portion and off we went. Still had a chance to check my ego but didn't. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. This would be a breeze. 6 miles. No problem. I've been biking a lot lately. I've mountained biked before. I know what to expect. Wee, off we go.


I'm going to keep the next 6 miles as simple as I can, so here it is.


Ride, fall, get up, ride, fall, get up ride. fall get up, walk, get on the bike ride, fall, get up, adjust the seat, ah that's better, ride, fall, get up, ride, fall, get up, walk, ride, fall, hit head, freak out a little cause I heard my neck crack, ooo, wait that actually felt good, ride, the front brake snaps loose, no brake, going down hill, screaming like a little girl. stop myself on a tree. get off bike, no falling this time, Dennis fixes the brake, walk ride ..... you get the picture. Finally reach a parking lot and even surface and pretty much ride the last mile and a half in.

Completely humiliated and deflated we check in 2 hours and some odd minutes after we started our 6 mile journey. (I can share this with you, today, we ran the bike course and did it in an hour 5 - no that's not a typo - 1 hour, 5 minutes or 65 minutes which ever sounds quicker)

Why did I want to do this? What was I doing out here?

We were about to learn what our penalty was for not having our first aid kit. Before starting the orienteering we had to go back to the very 1st checkpoint we found at the start of the race and punch the number 10 on our card.

Unfortunately all that falling didn't deflate my ego and I didn't leave it on the picnic table this time either.

Off we went. No problem.

Um, problem. My legs were killing me from all the falling. I knew I had huge bruises, I could feeling them. Well, I was adding thicket burns while running thru all the brush. Lots of red throbbing thicket burn. Little prickly stickey's were stuck to my spandex, trying to catch a ride on my leg back to the suburbs. We got lost finding the CP and lost trying to find our way back. We evenutally made our way back to the start point after 40 minutes! We had 1 hour 17 minutes to find as many check points as we could. The man handing out the map and directions told us in so many words to keep our searching simple. I could almost hear him thinking that he did want to go out looking for us, he wanted to be home by 4 p.m.

We did. We kept it as simple as possible. We did get lost at first and I was rather surprised to see lots of pages from girlie magazines, beer bottles and a picnic table in the middle of a very wooded area. Really, come on, whatever happened to hiding them under the mattress.

We took our time and found our way and managed to find our 1st check point in about 30 minutes. I was jumping up and down like a little kids on Christmas. It was so cool. Found the next one in about 20 minutes. Again, more jumping up and down. In all honesty, Dennis led the way. In just a short amount of time he got really good at reading the map and figuring out where we were. We had just about 25 minutes to go about a mile and change to get to the next CP. We decided to go for it. I'm so glad we did. We found it and got back with about 9 minutes to spare.

Now the object of this adventure race was of course to find all 9 check points but if you didn't have all of them you had to be back by 2 p.m. If you weren't a check point would be deducted for every minute you were late. So we finished the race with 3 CP's and on penalty.

Pretty good for first timers. I highly recommend this race, the Fat Otter Fall Sprint to anyone wanting to try an Adventure race. It's well supported, close to home and just a lot of fun. And did I mention they have great food after the race?

You have know that I'm hell bent on getting on that mountain bike and riding whenever I can. I believe we would have rocked this race if my mountain biking wasn't so bad. Oh, I've also emailed my friend Sheila who is a great kayaker and got some tips on improving the kayaking as well. Can't wait to try it again. And yes, Dennis actually said he would another one with me. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, it's that time of year again to let you know what I am thankful for, so here it goes ....

1. I am thankful for my health. Something I have taken for granted over the past several years. But not this year. I am thankful to have a strong beating heart and all the stuff that goes with it.

2. I am thankful for Synthroid. See #1

3. I am thankful for the walks that I had with my sister while my thyroid decided to play around with my heart. I enjoyed every step we took together. It was a miserable time for me but those moments walking with her, it was the silver lining in the dark clouds.

4. I am thankful for my friends. My old ones, Debs, Cin, my running tri friends, Caroline, Dennis, Tom, Gil, Scott, Ken and everyone else and for the friends that I got to know a little better this year, Laura :)

5. Of course I am thankful for my husband. He's my rock. Honestly, when you are turned inside out and life as you knew it is no longer the way it was, you need a rock. He's it. Hmm, if he's my rock I wonder what that makes me? What goes with a rock? Another rock?

6. I'm grateful to have my children. They learned how to ride a 2 wheeler this year. Oh yeah! So cool. They make me laugh, cry, crazy, angry, and all the other emotions you can feel. Sometimes all in a 5 minutes. My life would be so incomplete without them.

7. I'm thankful to all the police, firemen, the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force - to everyone that keep me safe here in my little world. Thanks to them I can sleep at night, walk my kids to school safely and run/ride without fear of something bad happening. And you know me, I can think of a ton of bad things happening while running or riding.

8. I'm thankful for Bruce Springsteen and the concert my sister and I went too. It was a blast.

9. I'm thankful I can volunteer at the kids school.

10. I'm thankful for ..... I can't believe I can't think of anything else - hmmm.....

Now what my kis are thankful for ....

Gracie is thankful for

1. Her mom (yeah I get the number one spot again!)

2. My talent for drawing :)

3. My pet bunny :) :)

4. That I get to go to school.

5. The pilgams, because if they didn't become friends we wouldn't have Thanksgiving .

6. I'm thankful for this earth.

One more thing

7. I'm thankful I'm alive ( mom is too Gracie ;))



Zak is thankful for ....

1. Me (whoa, how did I manage that this year :) )

2. Presents

3. Daddy

4. Food

I can't think of anything else, that's all :)

Ok, off to the aunties now for dinner. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Today

Woke at 4:45 - cell phone rang - I was dialed by mistake. I wasn't sleeping so the phone really didn't wake me just got me out of bed.

Went back to bed.

Re-woke up at 7:27 - house phone rang - was the math club instructor telling me there was no math club today. Did my best to sound like I had been up since 4:45. Hope she bought it.

8:30 - Zak fell off his bike. Got him up asked him if he still wanted to ride - YUP -off we went. 8:32 - Zak fell off his bike again. Picked him up, the neighbor straightened his handle bars and off we rode, quickly now, because school starts at 8:50 sharp and the kids have to be in their seats ready to go.

9:00 - checked email. Rescheduled a breakfast with a friend. Another friend is having trouble with her knees, another is working can't run this morning and another is off to Florida.

9:10 - confirm running plans with Randich.

9:30 to 10:30 eat my way into a sugar coma with Halloween candy. UGH!

11:00 - head to Aldi for lunch stuff.

11:15 - get gas

11:20 - get Zak's breakfast bars. Can't buy the Aldi brand cause of the nuts.

11:30 - run 6 miles.

1:00 - turn on the t.v. My knees are hurting from scrubbing the floor yesterday.

1:30 - turn on the movie "The Proposal".

1:50 - Laugh as the dog gets carried away by the eagle. Stop laughing when I think about when the hawk was circling our bunny in the garden last summer.

3:00 - decide to write this post

3:09 - log off to go pick up the kids.

Life is good :)

If I'm Dreaming - Please Don't Wake Me

I realized I wanted children after my nephew Timothy was born. Let me rephrase that, after my niece Jessica was born I learned about the unconditional love of a baby but 5 months later when Timothy joined our family, I knew in my heart I was meant to be a mother.

I could never imagine it though. Never fantasized about. Not sure why but I did know that's what I wanted and I would be good at it.

We learned about 2 years into our marriage that the odds me getting pregnant were slim to none. So life went on. I started running and then thanks to Cin biking and eventually swimming. It helped fill time along with work and spending time with the nieces and nephews.

I'm not looking for pity when I say this but I would cry when the kids would leave or they would say they needed their mom. I was just the auntie, no matter how close you are to a child, no one can replace a mother.

Somehow, someway, all the planets aligned. GOD heard our prayers. We were blessed with twins in 2002 and I believe in my heart that my training days for anything were over. My priority was my family.

Just like the years leading up to our children taught me how to live, the years since having the children have taught me as well.

There is a balance and right now, today, in this moment. I feel as though I have mastered the balance. I usually balk at talking about the good. I worry that karma will show the bad if you brag how good things are but I just can't help myself right now.

I have my health, my husband and children, family and friends. Somehow I have the time to run/bike/swim, laundry, make dinner and volunteer. It is to good to be true. It is the fantasy I never allowed myself to have. I am blessed and will live one moment at a time. I live to the fullest because tomorrow will bring challenges, probably some I don't think I can handle but I will. Anyone reading this, live your dreams, they do come true.

While You're Away

Taking a break from training was tough. I was very bitter for a long time and then gradually gave into the fact that I have to be patient and hopefully my time to run, bike and swim would come again. I was given a taste of that time last summer only to be sidelined in August for 6 more weeks.

Well, shortly after Louisville, I was given the thumbs up from my doc and started training again. It was tough. I think it was harder starting up again after the sinus thing than it was from the thyroid stuff. I was determined though to start out slow and work my way back.

It's funny when you take a break from something you love, you're determined that you will never miss a beat now that you have a "2nd" chance to get out there again. Nothing will stand in your way, you will find the time and there is no excuse that can keep you away.

That's the way I felt, until Sunday morning ....

I responded to an email thread that I would be out there Sunday morning, warmly dressed and ready to ride. Saturday night I prepared for the cold that I knew would greet me once I opened the garage door. Got to bed early (around 9:30) and I couldn't wait to get out there and ride with the cold. Yup, the cold was going to be just one of my training buddies. If wind wanted to join us, fine. The more the merrier. My attitude was polished perfect and nothing was going to get in my way of doing what I love to do.

Well, I didn't plan on Gracie needing a breathing treatment at 11:00. Fell back to sleep around 12. (I ended up breaking down and buying a watch, cause it was only $16 at Penny's, how could I not buy a new one for that price - but I'm not back to timing everything, thankfully, that obsessive part of me has not returned.) How do I know that, well, I remember 12 being the last time I looked at my watch. Was awakened by her coughing around 3:30. Scott was kind enough to get out of bed to give her a treatment. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the medicine, so I was up, in the cold of our house, getting the med. I snapped at him to go back to sleep and he was more than happy to crawl under the warm blankets. I gave my little one her breathing treatment. I found myself drifting back to sleep from the hum of the machine. Only to be awakened by the choking sound of the medicine cup emptying. I have a huge fear (this won't surprise any of you) of the nebulizer tube rapping around one of the kids necks and choking them while sleeping so I do my best not to fall a sleep when they take a treatment. Ok, so I shut of the machine and tuck it way so no one is strangled. It's just after 4:15 now, good, I have an hour and a half of good sleep time left. I take my thyroid meds now, because they have to be taken on an empty stomach and I need to eat when I get up .... blah, blah blah .... take the meds and try to fall back to sleep. Keep checking the time and it's now 5:15. CRAP! Ok, at 5:30 I'm getting up. So of course I fall asleep.

The alarm wakes me up at 6. Now, I feel sleep deprived (although I'm not really). I kick off the blankets to get out of bed and it's freezing! FREEZING!!! I pull the covers back on and whine to myself that I'm not going. NOPE. Not gettin out of bed.

While laying there, I'm thinking how I wrote I would be there. I thought about how I prepared to ride just 9 hours earlier and how I teased Randich a couple days earlier and if I didn't show up I would be subject to endless needling from him.

I got up, ate. Yoga'd. Dressed. Scott helped me duck tape my booties to my feet. I had to drive to the ride because of my procrastinating at 6. Made it to the start with minutes to spare.

We rode just about 28 miles. I held onto the draft almost the entire time. My heart rate stayed pretty steady and for the most part my hands and feet stayed warm. There were 5 of us out there braving the cold. We all thought it wasn't quite as cold as we thought it was going to be but it was cold none the less.

And, right now,

Life

is

Good :)

SI

Hey Everyone!!! - Look - SI is blogging again - check out the scott-i link on the side .....

Louisville - With Pictures

Sorry this post has taken so long to get to. I'm feeling really good now, so while doing my best to keep up with house work and family, volunteering at school, religious ed and training - I have been pleasantly distracted away from this blog. It's rainy here today, the perfect time to sit and write a little something for you to read ....

Laura at the door of our room. One the smallest hotel rooms I've stayed in. I think the rooms on a cruise may be a bit smaller - but not much. That's the room. The whole room. I'm standing next to the desk and the door to get in. The bathroom is just to my left. Good thing we're not big people, and I'm not kidding when I say that. You almost had to stand in the tub to close the bathroom door. If any one is wondering if we shared the bed, the answer is yes, I could say something funny about that but I won't :) Not to change the subject but here's me at the swim out. It was a beautiful afternoon. The water was choppy though. It didn't look inviting at all and I was hoping it would calm down for the next morning. Here are some pics of team spectate!!! Yes, we had a large group down there to watch and cheer on our buddies. I was worried about feeling kind of old or out of place, I'm not much of a party person but I didn't feel out of place at all. These are a great bunch of people. Let's see, I think the official name of the group was "super spectators" - was that it? Barbara was our fearless leader and lead us she did. Thanks to her we knew exactly where to go and stand and not miss a thing. We were up early race day morning. I think it was just before 4 a.m. which would mean 3 a.m. Chicago time! We checked out of the hotel this early cause we weren't sure about the day and didn't want to have to worry about doing it later. Laura and I met Dennis in the lobby of his hotel around 5:15. It was down to bike transition, body marking and then over to the swim waiting area. Seeing transition, I had a tweek of a desire to be there and over by body marking, I felt the sameway. My heart was jumping all over the place by this time. I was wondering if I was having signs of a thyroid relapse or something. Literally it jumped around all that day. I think it was the excitement of the day because it has since settled down. The line to the swim entry was neverending long. It would be enough to unrattled the most prepared athlete. It just kept going, and going and going. Plus it was very dark. Finally we made it to this sign and then waited for just about an hour to start moving again. From this point on it was race time. The athletes were moving and so were we to watch them. It was so much fun seeing them out there. Screaming for them. Here's Val and her hubby, to the right and then Chris, Barbara and Karen to the left. Me and Laura had a plan to spectate the biker's - "more cow bell" .... Thankfully the weather was great. The athletes did an awesome job. The was long. I know, anyone reading this that participated is thinking, huh, really long for you huh?! Honestly it was long for all of us. But I can't think of any other way to spend it. I was glad to be there. Watching. It helped me put things in perspective. And remind me just what I put the hubby and family thru back in 2007. In the end it is all about family and friends being there for you. Being there while you train, being there while you race. Supporting you, even on the days when you think they aren't. I got to see a couple of 1st time Ironman finishers and I got to witness a friend qualify for Kona. Plus, I got to know someone a little better. Me and Laura had a fun ride home. We were tired but made it in 4 hours! It was a day I won't soon forget.

It's Here

Well, it's here.

My 45th year.

Gracie woke me up this morning with a huge smile on her face. She's so excited for my birthday. She has a present for me. It's a surprise! But Scott let me know cause he was so excited he couldn't hold it in. She's taking me out for ice cream after we have dinner tonight.

4 5

Forty Five

Can't believe I'm that old.

Now I get to get my teeth cleaned as a birthday present to myself.

Can't wait to tell you about the Louisville trip. Gotta download the pics though.

:)

Louisville

Driving into Louisville from Indiana Saturday afternoon left me with a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat.

Crap! I thought. This week-end is going to be ruined because I'm suddenly feeling very sad about not racing on Sunday.

Well, I got over. I don't know if it's because I said how I was feeling out loud to Thelma (Laura) or what but the knot and lump shortly dissolved away and shear joy of watching an event like an Ironman unfold Saturday afternoon was a blast!

Over the past several weeks I've wondered if I will have the desire to want to "race" an Ironman distance. The expense of just signing on to do it has soured my feelings toward the race since I lost $450 cancelling my entry this summer.

But after yesterday, I know in my heart I'm meant to try. In my heart I know I should be out there and giving it everything I have. Next time I won't be carrying my phone with me, or stopping on the bike several times to pee or call the family, not taking 20 minutes in transition each time. I need to know what it feels like giving it everything I have. This year my body just wasn't ready for that but I know someday it will be.

I'm looking forward to someday.

Congratulations training buddies. You worked hard, it was an amazing day for you. God bless you Ironmen!

"Life Changing"

Last winter I doubted the term "Life Changing".

I watched the movie "Gone Baby Gone" and couldn't stop thinking about how people throw around the catch phrase life changing. I believed then that we eventually all return to our bad habits and the way we treat people.

Well, it's August and I have to say, I now believe that "life changing" experiences do take place. I have to also say that we are all different, obviously, so what affects one person may not have any affect or impact on the guy sitting next to you.

Since starting this hyperthyroidism journey, I was forced to stop drinking caffeine. I was certain once the problem was taken care of I would return to my morning Cinnamon tea habit. Well, I'm here to say I haven't. As a matter of fact, I don't even like the taste of the tea anymore. Huh, go figure. I still love having some icy cold coca cola or a hot chia tea latte but I don't need it everyday.

But that's not the only thing that has changed. For many, many, MANY YEARS, I have been a time obsessed person. Not in the sense that I'm always on time, (the hubby wishes I were like that) no, I mean in the sense that I had to wear a watch and check the time. Like every 5 minutes obsessed. And I would time everything from a waitress in a restaurant to a movie we were watching. For some reason, that has ended. I no longer wear a watch. I really don't care to. It's the craziest thing. I honestly just don't need to know anymore.

My 45th year is in my drive way getting ready to knock on my door so we can start the party. Part of me is dreading it. I can't believe 44 years of my life have gone by. I'm definitely greyer and the fine lines on the face are getting "finer" but part of me is looking forward to the future. and what tomorrow is going to bring. Why? because nothing is written in stone. Who know maybe I'll even become a better speller. :)

Nasal Sinuses, Where?

So, I've been battling a summer cold for a couple of weeks now.

Blamed the mildew cup but the endocrinologist said that I would have gotten rid of that as quickly as I drank it.

I had enough of dealing with the coughing and not being able to breath and was lucky enough to score an appointment with a nasal sinus guy down by the hubby's new building.

I thought I was feeling better when I woke up the morning of my appointment. On the drive down the cough from the post nasal drip started and I was glad I didn't cancel. I hate coughing in elevators. It was hard holding it in on my ride up.

The door for the docs office had a nose for a handle. Which I guess is cute but you had to put your hand up the nose to get the door open. Kind of gross.

After a brief consult with the doc, he has me sit in what looked a lot like a dental chair. He's talking but I can't really hear what he's saying cause he's approaching with what looks like a thin knitting needle. Um, okay, I'm thinking my nose is about to be terribly violated. And it was. I was seeing red. Did you know if you put a red light up your nose you can see that red light from the inside, without a mirror. I didn't until last Friday. I'll try not to be to graphic with what I'm about to say next - I'll use his words. "I can't see anything, I have to give you a decongestant spray. You go for your CT scan and we'll try again. when you come back" He told me that after he plunged the long stick in and out about 5 or 6 times. OUCH!

Well, the bottom line. My sinuses are covered in infection. He told me he would show me my sinuses on the CT scan but you can't see them, it's nothing but grey on the picture, where my sinuses should be. He went on to say he's not sure what caused it. It could be anything or a little bit of everything, the ablation, the cup, the allergies and so on.

So, I have drugs, lots of them and I will take them. And rest. I have to go buy some more kleenex now.

Family Staycation Day #65

Welcome - pull up a chair, get a cup of coffee and a cookie. Enjoy the following slide show of our family staycation day #65. Ah, life is good.

Oh, and don't worry, tomorrow I won't post a bunch of pictures of what my kids really looked like during the day. This day really was pretty much as good as it could get.

Called the hubby to tell him we arrived - ask him were he is and he tells me to look up - he's in that little cage - the kids were jumping up and down at this point :)

Yes, it's moments like this, when you're lucky enough to capture it in a picture, that make life so great. Then the moment gets topped off when Zak says - "Mom, I'm so lucky I get to wear dads sweat for the rest of the day". And he meant it, now I guessing right around the time he turns 10 or so, he'll make a comment more like, "Get that sweaty helmet away from my head - that's disgusting."

After this pic we kissed daddy good bye and made our way over to the beach.

I was starting to wear thin on our walk over to the beach. What's a suburban mother to do when she starts to run out of fuel - why head into the local Starbucks of course. It worked.

See that long dot in the center of the picture? That's a momma and her baby ducks swimming. Thought it was pretty funny to see them out there. This is considered "Tri" beach, I've never seen ducks swimming in this area before. And she was swimming fast. Must be the training she does out there.

The water was a bit cold for Zak :)

Not Gracie though. She was posed and ready to tackle what ever came her way.

Zak loved hanging on the beach and pretending he was Godzilla, eating the heads off of sand people.

Mmmmm, Starbucks lemon glazed cake. Refreshing after a lake front swim.

Who has time to stop and eat when there is so much sand to dig in?

This picture is one of many attempts to try and capture the kids playing at the beach for this years Christmas card. I don't think this picture will work. The lovely ladies in the back ground may be to much for some of the older card recipients to handle.

Gave up on the pictures and told the kids to just have some fun.

We made a new friend. This little boy spoke very little english. He knew water. They played for about an hour and half and had a blast.

Ok, I know you see my kids, but just in front of them is what I'm trying to photograph. Zak pulled this pile from the lake. There was more than this actually. He wanted to take it home for dad. Hmmm.

He's trying to convince me here that he can carry the load back to the car and not get tired. He succeeded. Half way back to the car though we stopped and dumped about half the load and then guess who carried the bags from there. It wasn't Zak or Grace :)

In order to avoid some of the crazy commuter traffic, we stopped at McDonalds for dinner before getting in the car. We found where we were on the map and I had the kids point it out.

Yes, fries, chicken nuggets and orange drink, the best way to finish a great day.