Running On Empty...No More

The first whopping dose is down the hatch, as they say. 50,000 IU's. When Doc first told me I'd be taking that much in addition to the 1,000 IU's over the counter, I thought I had to take 50 pills. That would take me an hour to orchestrate. Instead, it's one little tiny pill. I really hoped that I'd hear a choir singing when I woke up this morning, but no dice. No change, in fact. I'm not feeling any differently with my energy today than I did pre-abundance of VD (Vitamin D, people). I am going to wait patiently for the medicine to kick in, but not too patiently. I figured I'd give it two full doses before...not sure what, I'll figure that out in two weeks. Doesn't this cow look pretty harmless? When I was little, the first new life I witnessed being brought into the world was a mama cow giving birth to her calf. It was a magical and eye-opening day for me because I didn't understand prior to then how a baby ever came out of anyone (animal...

Why are people tired? Jack tells us in this energy and charisma-filled video. Get rid of that pooped out itis. I love it, Jack! You were awesome and such a pioneer for healthy living. I am following a good diet (not great, but working on it) and exercising regularly. Yet still have that pooped out feeling (love that one, will use it a lot now, thanks Jack). I cannot believe how difficult it is to keep my head up. I am going to have to catch a nap at lunchtime just to get through the day. If Vitamin D really is the culprit, the medicine better start working soon. I have people counting on me. I have to miss my daughter's field trip tomorrow and she is going to be so very disappointed. Chris is going in my place, thankfully, but it's not easy on him, either. He had to rearrange his schedule to make it happen. But still, Gracie wants mommy tomorrow and there is no way I can keep my head up all day as a chaperone to the aquarium. I have too many things to be healthy for, so ...

It is every parent's dream, to hear another adult say, "Your boy is a fine young man, you should be proud." Honored is more like it. She said it about my oldest son, NC, who has hated school since the 4th grade - ever since I transferred him from a small private Christian school with 9 students in his classroom to the public school with 25 students in his classroom. I remember how much he hated it, but he kept pretty quiet because he knew there was no other way at the time. He was being very grown-up by just dealing with the change. "Kids are resilient." "He'll adjust." "He's so bright, he'll be fine." So many people threw well-meaning phrases my way, because I couldn't bear the thought of my oldest son being unhappy. And thinking back on this very big change and how he coped, I am truly blessed that he is my son. NC in 2nd Grade You see, he's not the type of kid that fits in the mold expected for public school kids. ...

I love the word "anticipation". Most of the fun stuff in life is full of it. Every year, the anticipation for Gracie's birthday gets her all twisted up for weeks before the big day, and it always ends with a bit of sadness to see the excitement disappear. Holidays are the same way for all of my kids, especially NC. He gets so excited about the holidays and parties, in general, and will not stop talking about how much fun it's going to be. Then it comes and goes and he's kinda bummed that it's over. He gets that from me. That's how each of my week's end, with Friday even feels different because of the anticipation of the upcoming weekend. A time to let loose and unwind. I get so excited about the idea of the weekend, but then it comes and goes.  I'm a mom now, and that means the weekends are full of driving and cramming as much in to two days as possible. And now we are back at Monday. BLAH! I hate Mondays. But today is special. Today, with mu...

All I heard her say was, "Try eliminating Ice Cream". The rest of her rambling was not important. You see, I love ice cream almost as much as I love a summer vacation. They kind of go hand in hand. I can give it up for 9 months out of the year, but the summer months? No way! It belongs to summer like peanut butter belongs to jelly, like a baby kangaroo belongs in its mother's pouch, like a bride belongs to her groom. Doesn't this look fantastic?  What she actually said was "Try eliminating dairy for a few weeks and then add it back for a day. If you feel sick again, then you've found the culprit. If not, we'll move on to gluten, etc..." But still, in my world DAIRY = ICE CREAM. But it could be worse. After a day of asking myself "what could be a worse food to give up?", I thought of my mommom, who is almost 97, and unable to eat pretty much all the foods she used to eat. She's eating mostly liquid these days and just about ever...

I find myself asking that question more often every day. Life's a blur because it's whizzing by filled with way too many activities. As a mom, I do for everyone else - and I mean everyone . It's time for me to take care of me and put me first. I've thought about this a lot and am unsure how to make this work, but I'm going to give it a try. My first attempt was yesterday morning. I had my first physical exam in - hold the phone - TWENTY THREE years. Yep. 23 years ago, when I was heading to college, was my last physical exam. And I only went then because it was required. Oh, don't get my wrong. I've been to doctors. I've seen them for lyme's disease, fevers, when I had my three kids, when I got hit by a truck. You know, the usual stuff. And I take my kids for physicals religiously. I thought about why I didn't ever take me and realized I didn't want to go for the very reason I needed to go. The scale. I've struggled with my weight as ...