fireside chats

This girl is going to be trouble, I can tell.

lame

You realize how much you take your feet for granted when one of them is suddenly not functioning properly. Friday I started getting a feeling of numbness on one of my toes. It was off and on so I didn't think much of it. Over the weekend it slowly became more constant, and now today at work I don't feel like I can walk on the ball of my foot.  It's not painful really, just alarming that my toe is numb.  I've self-diagnosed it as Morton's neuroma.  Wikipedia has amusingly pointed out that I am in good company with fellow sufferers Steven Tyler and Patrick Duffy, as well as a Golden Girls episode where Dorothy had surgery for her Morton's neuroma.  I guess AARP was right when they sent me that membership card last week.

I'm not amused either, Dorothy.

I'm signed up for a 5k this weekend, but I guess they'll just get my donation. I made an appointment with a podiatrist for next Wednesday, and I feel like I should take it easy until then.  Sad.  What kind of exercises can you do without using your feet?  Water aerobics? Tried that once and I was the youngest person by about 30 years. Awkward and barely a workout. Swimming? I only float around and crave frozen fruity drinks when I'm in the pool. Plus, it's fall.  Rowing machine? Stationary bike?  Maybe, but I'll have to go the gym, and I only belong to a kickboxing gym.  I guess I'll just use my little hand weights for now while I figure out something. Maybe I'll try squats and crunches too. I miss running already. :(

munchkin update

Big E

Almost 6 1/2 and in first grade, E is a high energy kid.  On a scale of 1-10, his volume level is often at 11.  He's super funny, super nice to his friends and super smart. His favorite subject is math.  He struggles with reading a little bit, but is trying hard to learn. We read almost every night and started working on flash cards for sight words. I fell like he will be rainman when it comes to math - just like his dad. The numbers just seem to come to him. He's also very interested in space, which I've learned freaks me out. Anyone else get anxiety talking about space?

E's a hard one to get to stand still for more than a second, but here's a short interview I managed to film.

Em

At 16 months, Em loves music, books and drawing.  She'll focus for a long time on anything with buttons to push. There's one toy with a little keyboard on it and I she played the best song for me. She loves Ring Around the Rosy, Old McDonald, and Twinkle Twinkle Dinosaur (with big ROARS and stomping included, which I totally need to get on camera). If she hears music, that little blond head starts bobbing.

Her communication skills are the biggest advances lately.  She can sign for please, thank you, and milk, and can say "baa" for sheep, "ma" for more/milk, and nods yes or shakes her head no. When you ask her to say the word "please" after she signs it, she'll just make the biggest "cheese" face. It's cute.

I did manage to capture some moments on camera this month.  Loving the easy upload from my phone to YouTube.

Excited for Dada to be home | Eating a lemon | Riding her pony

The best part of all is seeing all the sibling love. They love to wrestle and hug. Em wants anything her big bro is playing with, and sometimes he'll even let her have it. These two sure keep us busy and it's hard work, but I can't imagine life without them. Yup, we're pretty much moving to wherever they go after college. 

september check-in

I've been keeping up my running schedule pretty well.  I try to run 2 miles 2-3 times through the week and 3 miles on the weekend. I set a new PR on distance and speed last week: 9:56 min on my first mile and ran a total 3.5 miles!  Usually I'm at a 10:30-11:30 pace, so I don't know what got into me!  Must be that cool fall air.

It is one thing to run on a straight road or trail with no real feeling of distance. It is quite another thing to run to your son's best friend's house three neighborhoods away and back.  It was only 1.3 miles each way, but it felt like I was so far away from home.  Thinking my watch must be off, I started to get a little anxious about it and turned back before I reached 1.5 miles out. Still a good run for mid-week and Ethan couldn't believe that I ran to his friend's house! He asked if he could come next time, and I told him when he can run around his school trail 12 times without stopping, he could run with me.  That should hold him for a while. (He of course can take his bike on my shorter runs.)

These last couple of pounds have been stubborn, but when I dropped down this morning, I thought I better put it in writing. 

Weight check-in:

   starting weight (Dec 15, 2011): 196
   current weight: 174.4
   goal weight: 160
   pounds lost: 21.6
   pounds to go: 14.4

I'm definitely at my comfortable weight. I have never known anything lower than this.  But I am still motivated to push myself into unknown territory.  I started my water weight cleanse again. I really missed it and it's so good for a re-jump start!

Bought this dress when I was 180 and it was quite snug.  Slipped it on this morning and have room to spare! Holler!

Sept 2012

Flashback! Nov 2011