Frustrated

Time to update on my running or lack of running. While on vacation I did 5K's on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. We biked the other days. When we got back home I continued with the running and biking. I was feeling really great. I was able to do 6 miles at WFG on September 1st in 84 minutes. During the following week I was mostly running and only walking hills. My last visit to WFG was on September 6th. I did the 6 miles in 72 minutes. As you can see my times improved. On September 9th while on my way home from a 3 mile run I felt the old familiar pain. I have not run since.

I see that I probably over did it again. I just can't figure out how to hold myself back. I LOVE to run and I love to challenge myself. It is so frustrating to have to walk when I know I could run, be done, and feel great. After I felt the pain I took 3 days off. No running, no walking, no nothing. I took Advil, I iced, I stretched, and I am terrible at being patient.

I made the appointment to see the Orthopedic Surgeon for October 6th. I don't know what to expect. I've seen the sports medicine physician, had a cortisone injection, did two rounds of PT, and I had the MRI. I hope he doesn't say "let's do more PT". I just want this thing fixed for good. I have been dealing with this since January 2006 and I just want to be able to run. I don't really want to have surgery but I don't want to have this problem anymore. I wonder what my options are.

A Little Rain?

We definitely got a little rain. A little too much! The county we live in is listed by the Governor as a "disaster" area. Fortunately, we faired well. The rain started Friday during the day and by Saturday morning at 3:00am, Chief was putting together the 15 gallon Shopvac. We have a foundation that is roughly 100 years old. Needless to say it leaks. Thank God the sump pump works and thank God we did not lose power or we would have had some problems. The good ole Shopvac sucked up over 60 gallons of water over 3 days!

Here are some pictures of the pond that over flowed near our neighborhood.

This kid is walking/balancing on the railing of the bridge. See the other kids in the background?

This is where the pond flooded across the street. Since the street was closed, kids had a blast riding their bikes through the water.

The pond's bank is actually behind the trees in the middle of the picture.

I am again thankful that we were able to come out of this with just a damp basement. I feel really sorry for the people who are not as lucky as us. We will try to stay high and dry for a while.

Missing Dad

He just turned 48 when he left my mom, sisters, and me. The day he died is forever embedded in my memory. What I seem to forgot is what his voice sounded like or how a hug felt from him. I wished he could have been with us when we played sports, graduated, got married, had babies and lived our lives. I wish we had one more moment.

I believe he was and is watching over us. He has to be. He wouldn't want to miss out on anything. I believe that he is happy that our family is close. He probably would want us to get together more. I heard he liked a good party. I am glad that my sisters and mom are getting together tomorrow night at my dad's high school hangout. I wish I could be there too. Hopefully they remember old times and tell stories.

Girls and boys, have pizza and drink beer. Dad would want it that way. Laugh and talk. Remember and make memories. When you say "goodbye" don't forget to hug each other. Please remember what it feels like. Keep the moment alive.

What To Do About Neil?

I love Neil Diamond. I have loved his songs since I was a young girl. Since moving to Chicago, I have been so fortunate to have close friends that also enjoy him. In fact I have gone to every concert that he has done in since 1998.

I am positive that my mom's love for Neil influenced me. So, because he was going to play a concert in GreenBay, Wisconsin I thought it to be a perfect gift to give my mom. She has never been to a Neil Diamond concert. The good news, mom, me and Terri (sister 2) were going to go see him when I was on vacation on August 28th. The bad news, he postponed the concert to September 12. The good news, I got that day off to drive up North and finally enjoy the concert with my mom. The bad news, he postponed until November 4th.

What to do about Neal? I guess, I ask for November 4th and 5th off and pray for good weather. I purposely left the tickets up there in case something happens. My mom still wants to go but if there is any chance of snow I will not be going. I am sure I could get Chief's mom to take my place. Anyway, pray for good weather and no more cancelled concerts.

Back in the Saddle Again

Having a week off of work was fun. We brought the road bikes up north with us. I was not sure how that would work out for me. My ITB seems to flair with riding but I really wanted to try and ride.

We rode twice to Two Rivers and when we got back to Illinois we rode on the Frontage roads. I have some pain with inclines and so I try to keep myself in low gears and less tension. It is kind of hard to ride this way. I really am a masher but this injury is changing those bad habits. I had more problems with my right arm than my ITB. Last year in December I fell and sustained a slightly displaced radial head fracture. This is the head one of the two lower arm bones closest to my elbow. You could say it was a broken elbow but I like the technical terminology. Anyway, I noticed this to be a problem on the trainer and it has continued outside. I guess this too will take time to improved or get used to.

It is fun riding again. September is here and I know I have a few more weekends to enjoy on the rode. Better late than never.

Homeward Bound and Back

We are back from vacation. Last weekend we packed up the boys, the bikes, and all of the clothes needed for swimming, biking, running, and shopping. We headed north to Wisconsin and had a great summer vacation.

We kept fairly busy. Every morning I went for a run, bike, or walk. I was joking when I said it was like going to "fat-camp". I ate healthy and kept busy with the workouts. So what did we do? We started the trip with a birthday party for my niece, which included a water balloon fight. We got to see my side of the family and we had a good time. That was the coldest of the days. It was in the 70's with a breeze so getting wet wasn't the best. I tried to avoid direct hits.

Monday we went sailing off of Manitowoc with Chief's uncle. Uncle David has a 25-foot sailboat called "Poppyseed". It was a beautiful day. Seeing the lakeshore and being on the lake reminds me of how pretty the area is where we grew up. The wind made the waves 1-2 feet that on a fishing boat isn't so bad but a sailboat is so low to the water. I did get a little seasick towards the end. I started with just a slight headache and then my stomach got queasy. I didn't say anything because I don't know when we will get the chance to sail again and I wanted the fun to last. When we got on land I took some Excedrin and ate some pretzels. Within a hour I was much better. Later that evening we got to spend some time with Chief's family. Our niece who is now a kindergartner had too much cake with extra frosting (Ahhh...sugar-high). She was bouncing around the living room and was entertaining me. She is so cute!

Tuesday we went to Door County. Just Chief and I drove up and spent the day together. We took a picnic lunch and ate at a wayside. I was a little sad because on the way up we found out that the Niel Diamond concert that I had tickets for was postponed from Wednesday to September 12th. I was upset because I wasn't sure if I could get off of work in 2 weeks to come back and take my mom and sister to see the concert. I made a desperate phone call to my boss and a few hours later she called to say I could that day off. (I brought her back apple butter and cherry butter as a thank you.) So, after that, my mood was much better and we enjoyed a day of shopping and sight seeing. We went up to Sister Bay. They have a neat restaurant called "Al Johnson's". They have actual goats on the roof of this place that spend the day in the sun eating grass on the roof. On our way back down we stopped at a cool place called Woodard Orchard. They have lots of home made goodies from pastry to flavored butters. There are also a plethora of free samples. It was a good snack for our drive back.

Wednesday we took the boys to the beach. JJ knew exactly where he was and pulled to the water. He jumped right in and swam. He also drank. He drank a lot!!! Dusty did not want anything to do with the lake. We tried to coax him in but he was too smart. I carried him in and gently put his back legs in which was like putting a cat in water. Needless to say Dusty watched from the comfort of the towels while his brother played. Chief said it was one of JJ's best days ever and Dusty's worst. By the way, JJ pee'd a lot that night.

Thursday and Friday I spent with my mom and sister. We went shopping in Appleton and Green Bay. We even got a free lunch at a microbrewery because after waiting over an hour for our food my sister told the wait staff we were going to leave. Apparently she forgot to put our order in. The manager came over and told us that if we stay the meal would be free. So, we waited and ate a very nice lunch. Chief and I went back to the beach on Friday night. We took my niece with us. She is in 8th grade and I gave her the "safety talk". I was glad she went because I was a wimp and didn't go in past my waist. For one, the water was cool and for two, I am a chicken about "under-tow". She and Chief swam way out to the 2nd sandbar and I took pictures and played in the sand. We had a really nice time.

Saturday was our last day. We went for a walk to the local farmers market. I bought corn and apples. We went for our last bike ride to Two Rivers. There is a paved trail that runs along Lake Michigan called Mariners Trail. We took it to TR on Wednesday. It is only about 6 or 7 miles to TR. We really enjoyed the view and it is flat and fast. Some local groups plant gardens and it is just beautiful. In the afternoon we went to a Roncalli High School football game. Chief and I went to Roncalli and my nephew plays for them. They lost but it was a good game.

We drove back to Illinois later that evening. It was the Harley Davidson 105th anniversary weekend in Milwaukee so we saw a lot of interesting people riding bikes.

Now that we are home we are trying to get out of vacation mode. We pick up my sister and brother in law at O’Hare Airport on Tuesday. They are coming back from Germany and I can't wait to hear about their vacation. Then it will back to work on Wednesday.

I had a great time up north. I wish I could see my family more. It's fun spending time with everyone even if it is only for a few hours but I always feel that there isn't enough time. Mostly, I enjoyed being with Chief. We had quality time together. I need to make us a priority more and this was just the beginning.