For the past few years I've been pretty disgusted during some of my trips to the grocery store. It's not the particular store or the food selection, it's the fact that starting around age 6, my first born started asking for brand name food items. I don't mean he wanted the Cheerios instead of the Tastee-o's (or however your spell that generic knock-off) - he was asking for crap food items by brand name.
"Mom I want Pepsi."
"Mom I want Dr. Pepper."
"Mom I want Mt. Dew." - AHHHHH
If I routinely allowed any of those, then it would have been understandable, but I don't! In fact, at this point my husband and I don't really drink soda, and haven't for a few years aside from an occasional diet Dr Pepper. Where was this coming from? Pepsi? Had he had this at a birthday party somewhere? No, all the birthday parties he attended seemed to have soda in pitchers. Mt. Dew?? Seriously! Why does it seem that my now 8 year old is hard-wired to ask for a soda he's never even tried, which has got to be the worst of the worst for him?
Is this a test? Is someone from the Commission on Dietetic Registration sending him scripts to read at the grocery store in hopes of catching me? Are there hidden cameras at the store hoping to catch me at a weak moment? Well, if so they can go watch someone else because I've perfected my eye-rolling and my firm "not in this lifetime" responses.
So I thought this would continue on, with every horrible-for-you food that was offered at the store. Yesterday I got a pleasant surprise that really warmed my heart. I had loaded up the boys and their bikes to go help a friend finish sanding her from porch railings and paint them so her significant other would have to eat his words ["she's never going to finish this"] when he returned home from a trip. :)
We worked for a while and the boys got hungry. She eats super healthy too... actually I think she has me beat by a mile in that regard. So she made this most delicious chicken salad for us, and a sandwich for the boys using up some of the white bread that had only been purchased for recent house guest. My 8 year old thought this was great since they have to suffer through 100% whole wheat bread consistently at our house. I grumbled a bit and commented that, "...I like your healthy bod and I want to keep it that way. If I didn't love you so much I would shove Spaghetti-O's in your face and not care." ...wait for it... here's when my most fabulous moment arrived....
"What are Spaghetti-O's?" AHHHHHH!!! Success! He really has no idea! I was so giddy. While I totally get that some parts of the country start their babies on this staple before they even introduce mashed up bananas, it's got to be one of the worst things to feed your child. And acting as though it's nutritious in any way is just ridiculous. Hold up! Oh, wow they must be nutritious (insert: eyes rolling and most sarcastic voice you can imagine) they have added Calcium. Ugh. Here was my 8 year old brand whore with no clue what it even was! Happy mommy/Dietitian moment.
I did go on to tell him that crap like that wasn't even fit for animals, as evidenced by the Beefaroni incident on Seinfeld. Ah, I don't think Seinfeld references will ever get old for me.
The first part is just the feeding of the Beefarino, but the second video is the effects. Horrible video quality, but seriously couldn't find another clip of it. :(
...but I sure love how I feel after a productive run, and I really like being able to fit into my clothes...
About 6 months back I started having an uncomfortable feeling in my knee. I blew it off for a while, but it just wouldn't go away. I made an appointment with my doctor just to be sure I hadn't really damaged anything. She said it wasn't a meniscus tear and I had most like sprained my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). She sent me home with stretches and strengthening exercises, which I naturally didn't want to do, but occasionally did anyway. But it wouldn't go away. This thing was annoying beyond belief. It didn't just bug me when I was running or walking, it was all day everyday, sitting, standing still, and then some in my sleep too. Not that I wanted to overrule my doctor, but it just seemed like the pain was coming in a weird spot for it to be my ACL. It was on the inside of my knee, but about 1-2 inches below the level of my knee cap. And no matter what I did, or didn't do, it wouldn't go away.
I investigated further and finally came across information on "pes anserine bursitis". They described the location where three ligaments converge and attach to your shin, on the inside just below the knee cap. The ligaments are protected from rubbing on the bone with the aid of a sweet bursa (fluid filled sac) that lies between them and the bone. Buy bad shoes, over-train, accidentally twist your leg while your foot remains planted, sport some tight hamstrings etc., and you can overstretch those ligaments and irritate the bursa.
Wait? What? Back that up? Buy bad shoes??? AHHHHH! Yup, 7-8 months prior I bought the worst pair of Adidas of my life and now I was suffering for it. I love Adidas, they have never done me wrong, so when I saw a pair on sale I thought nothing of it, didn't even try them on. I certainly wasn't over-training... I mean I'm no marathon runner and if my body can't handle 3-6 miles at a time without throwing in the towel, then I'm going to scream!
I read more on this pes anserine bursitis. You have to rest the leg, stretch the hamstrings well, reduce inflammation... hmmm, rest the leg. Rest is not something I relish in. I'll sleep when I'm dead. How was I going to keep myself on "the bench" for even a day after this thing felt better? Our disgusting dog helped with that. A while back (I'd say about 2 years now), I relayed a story of stress incontinence (http://www.mygradeabologna.blogspot.com/search/label/pee) for which I sought help and was granted the most miraculous "anti-pee-your-pants" device without surgery - and this thing changed my whole after mommyhood world. It normally was stored in the safest of places ;) but on this particular day it was readily available in the shower and our adolescent dog was all over it. Needless to say, after being able to run for the past 2 years without having to worry about wet pants, now I was back in that position again. Anywhoo, certainly made it easier to rest my knee while I waited for an appointment to get a replacement device.
So I rested up, my knee felt 100% better, I bought new shoes, I got my new vagina accessory... and it was time again to go for a run. Or maybe not. I've been for 3 runs now, and the dull pain is starting to come back. My knee doesn't feel swollen like it had before (though it was never really puffy, just didn't feel as bony as it normally does), but I know it's only a matter of time if I keep using it. I'm frustrated. I don't have time for this. So I discussed it with a good friend who had knee trouble 100-times worse than mine. She gave me some of the best suggestions, and the next time I see her she doesn't even know the sweet SWEET lovin' she's got in store.
She first suggested using Turmeric (which contains the active component Curcumin). Now this I'm familiar with, because I'd been recommending it to a few people at the nursing home, and I had written up on it's uses as an anti-inflammatory spice, but I guess I was correlating it more to chronic systemic inflammation, not necessarily inflammation that occurs with exercise or arthritis - but she was so right to clear my head on that one - because Curcumin doesn't care what kind of inflammation it is, it helps with it all! So I have some ordered and on it's way - and am so excited to test it out - though I will say I'm not looking forward to possibly orange-colored poop which can happen with so much Turmeric going through you.
hmmm, Curcumin BP? Blood Pressure? No that doesn't make sense. Ah, BP stands for Black Pepper, they use that to enhance the absorption of it.
Then she suggested talking to a Physical Therapist about kinesio tape. Years back when I played Rugby (and I mean forever ago in college) I used to get taped up a bit to support my dumb achilles tendons which had a tendency to strain. I kind of thought it would be the same sort of situation, until I looked up a youtube video to see what she was talking about. Found this one produced by KT tape, which is some awesome kinesio tape!
Went to Walmart last night to see what was available. They have tons, but I think next time I'll just order it off Amazon as the prices were pretty much the same and Amazon had a better selection. There are 2 different types of kinesio tape, Cotton and Synthetic. I would guess the kind used in the video was the synthetic. I grabbed the cotton as it was cheaper and I just wanted to see if I could replicate the video, but next time I'm definitely going for the synthetic. It stays on longer and provides more support.
They have a variety of colors available. I highly recommend going for a color as far away from your skin color as possible - because if you're trying to make it look less obvious, you're going to fail. A flesh-toned tape is going to look like you had some sort of massive skin graft as opposed to looking like you applied the tape, on purpose, for an injury. Just my opinion, but I'm usually right... ;)
So I applied the tape, I think I did a pretty good job of mimicking the video. And I can say that I instantly felt better. It seems weird that tape could do that, no matter how fancy or flexible it is, but it really did. It felt as though instead of those ligaments pulling at that sore spot by my knee, their pull was relocated further up my thigh which felt way better. You don't take it off for a few days, which is fine with me. It stayed on perfectly all night and I even slept better - maybe with 50% of the pain I was used to at night. I'm in love. If you have some other sort of injury, like a muscle or ligament strain, I highly recommend trying this stuff out. KT Tape has tons of youtube videos to show you how to tape just about anything, or you could ask your favorite physical therapist to show you how.
From time to time people jokingly mention how excessive my activity level is. My favorite remark is that if I'm not burning the candle at both ends and twice in the middle I must be on my death bed. But to be honest, I'm just one of those people that really likes to be busy. This doesn't mean I'm incapable of sitting back and relaxing. I do that too. I will sit on my back deck and watch my boys run and jump in the pool, or we'll go camping and leave all technology behind. But on a day-to-day basis I like to keep in motion.
I think this has always been the case for me. When we moved to the west coast it seemed to get worse. Our move to Whidbey Island, Washington was a result of the Navy base in Brunswick, Maine closing. We were fortunate to be able to choose such a picturesque spot to call home, but I found myself missing all my friends and family. I hadn't moved anywhere with the military, and really hadn't been outside of Maine, aside from my first three years of life in New York and then a short stint in Keene, New Hampshire for my Dietetic Internship.
So here I sat without my usual Thursday night of dance classes (and the dinner and beer afterwards), no shifts at Joshua's Tavern, and no sporadic days of work at Parkview Adventist Medical Center to cover for the regular Dietitian. I was bored. I hate bored. "Only boring people get bored". I was lonely too. I hate lonely. I tried to make friends, but I honestly stink at meeting new people. It irritates me the amount of small talk you have to endure just to get to a point where you can figure out whether you want to spend any real time with these new people. What a waste! Over the years, incidentally, I've reverted back to my old "shock and awe" campaign whereby I say something completely intimate and somewhat ridiculous when I first meet people and then judge their expression to determine whether I've scared them (no friend potential), drinking it in (friend possibility), or invite you to hang out (BFF).
So here I sat in a new location, with essentially no intimate friends, and suddenly my husband was gone. And then he was home for a millisecond, and then he was gone again... and let's just put that theme on repeat for the past 4.5 years. I'd like to say this is an exaggeration. But my family was seriously starting to think I had buried my husband in the backyard because he was never to be seen. And my friends actually started acting surprised if they heard that he was home. If there is a short-end of any stick to be drawn, he'll get it. I take comfort in knowing that he is just really good at his job, and of course they want him doing important things somewhere overseas - but naturally I choose to tease him about his inability to give a good blow job or his pheromones that smell of wide open prison ass being the reason they don't want him around the hangar. Teasing is my wifely duty, one I take very seriously. I think it's sad when marriages lack sense of humor. Seems dull to me.
So I started doing things. Soooooo many different things. I didn't want to have all this time on my hands. I didn't want to be bored and start missing my husband - because there's nothing you can do about his job demands and missing him doesn't make it any better; it just makes you angry.
We were living in a rental house at the time. So all my tools were collecting dust.
My eldest sister was chatting with me one day. She had recently opened up her own salon (Oasis Salon, Presque Isle, Maine) after what... 80 years working for other salons? Jeez, she looks good for her age ;) and she would kill me if she read this. She asked if I had ever made body products. Nope. They kind of scared me. I had been making candles for 5 years at this point, but nobody was rubbing soy wax on their body unless they were into some kinky S&M relationship. They scared me because I certainly didn't want to craft something that someone didn't like on their body or that made them itchy, etc. But I also was intrigued. I started researching. I researched oils, butters, herbal ingredients, preservatives, cosmeceuticals, you name it. Clearly I had the time, so why not? In the end I crafted a few products so she could offer her clients unique products for their lavish pedicures. But it was a new endeavor to fill up some of my time, and Uforya.com was born, with more than enough room to grow and keep me motivated.
I applied to go back to school. I had always wanted a Master's degree but didn't think I wanted it in Nutrition. I thought maybe a complimentary field would be better (back when I was wrapping up my Bachelor's degre) - but at this point in my life I actually wanted to continue with Nutrition and really hone my knowledge and skills in that realm. So from September 2011 to April 2014 I was a full-time graduate student.
In February 2012 we bought our house. Now this was my kind of project. It was a foreclosure that was literally 1/10th of a mile from our rental. It has been one of my favorite projects so far - certainly keeping me plenty busy as it just needed some TLC in every room, on every wall and every floor, and then some.
A few months back now, having my Master's degree under my belt, I applied for and was hired on as the Dietitian at a senior community long-term care facility. In addition to that I also took on a few freelance writing projects, writing up reports and nutrition tips on every topic you can imagine - and some topics that were so horrifically dumb I wished I'd never agreed to them.
Bored Now? No way! Quite the opposite. I've got something I could be doing at any second of any day. Some consider me to be Type A. Like I'm somehow neurotic and don't know how to relax. I don't think that's quite the case. If I want to relax I have every opportunity, and I indulge from time to time. It just so happens that my style of coping with my husband's non-stop detachments (deployments where only portions of the squadron leave) is a little more productive than most.
I'm not mad at someone who deals with their separation by pining for their missing partner, but that's just not my style. I don't watch tv, aside from the occasional late night show when I'm going to bed... I <3 The Soup on E! All these reality [garbage] shows irritate me. I hate listening to people singing on shows just to win some sort of music contract that they haven't spent years in the trenches to earn. I don't do much pleasure reading. I honestly hadn't read anything fiction in years because I was so wrapped up in textbooks... that is until the 50 Shades of Grey movie trailer came out and I seriously then had to indulge in that trilogy. Holy Crap! I mean that stuff takes "pleasure" reading to a whole new level... but I digress.
I'm a worker. I like to keep busy. And when my husband is gone, I miss a little adult conversation from time to time, which is what I occasionally use my blog for - like the most ridiculous sort of diary. I don't do it because I think people will actually read what I write - because my life is not exactly a "page-turner". But I do secretly hope some who stumble across it might find something they could do to occupy their time if they're feeling lonely - and maybe they'll stop pinning things and starting doing these things. Maybe they'll see some project I worked on and think they could do that too.
There is no perfect time to start your life. Imagine if I had waited for my boys to both be in school, or for my husband to be home to support me and grant me uninterrupted time to work on my hobbies. I'd still be waiting... and look at all that wouldn't have been accomplished... and imagine how many useless hours would have been spent sitting on the porch watching the grass grow.
Today was a frustrating day. I had spent the last month preparing for an open house for my business. I really just wanted to have an occasion for people to come over, eat some food, socialize, and try out the products I've put so much work into creating. I chose to have the event today because I wanted people to have time to settle down from the back-to-school rush. I created an event on Facebook, because I felt like it was the easiest way to get the word out to people in this area (social media seems to be a prevalent means of communication here). I invited the few people I knew, and asked them to pass the invite along to anyone else they thought would be interested. 13 people RSVP'd that they would come, and another 8 listed themselves as "maybe".
With the date chosen and people indicating an interest, I knew I needed to get things in order. I worked hard. I created a catalog from scratch and had it professionally printed. I meticulously assembled two dozen Pumpkin Creme Brulee pedicure sets. I wrapped bath towels, and hand towels with raffia and placed them in wash basins so visitors could sit down and enjoy a personal pedicure while they chatted with friends. I spent hours preparing products to have available for purchase and created a testing area where all the products could be tried out. I cleaned for two days. Prepared platters full of snacks. As I look back on the month, I was busy getting things ready for today during any free moment that I was not taking care of my boys, or trying to complete work for my classes.
As I was putting food out this morning and brewing a pot of coffee, I chatted with a friend on Facebook who wanted to let me know that she wouldn't be able to make it. Her inability to come was already assumed as she had just been blessed with a new baby boy 2 days ago, but I was grateful for the chance to hear from her and see how she was feeling. The start of the Open House came. The first guest to arrive was a close friend, and then another and another. So was my day wonderful? Of course, because I got to be surrounded by the company of three good friends whose love and support is unconditional. We laughed and talked for hours. But where was everyone else? Where were all these other people who said they were coming, that I had prepared special items for? Was this personal? Why did my inner-self not allow me to do this to others when clearly they had no problem doing it to me? Even though it may not have been done intentionally to hurt me, it certainly did hurt me. Wasn't I worthy of a message to let me know that something had come up?
Today made me wish for my friends from Maine. I absolutely love the few close friends that I have made here in Washington, but why has it been such a struggle to find these loving and genuine people? The kind that would drop anything to be somewhere for you. Why does there seem to be such a large population of people that do not consider trustworthiness and dependability to be precious character traits? Is it something that comes with age? No, I can't believe that because a close friend who moved away months ago had a truckload of character and she was only 25. Tomorrow I will feel better and I will start developing my next business plan (since clearly an Open House won't work), but tonight... after all the work that I put into today's flop... I think I've earned the right to curl up in a ball and be sad for a while.
I received news today that the Ron Trell Studio of Dance would not be reopening this fall. I instantly was speechless. I wanted to cry. How could this be? I know that places open and close all the time. And I knew that Ron couldn't keep going forever, but I was so sad to hear it was over already.
I started dancing at the studio when I was 10. I had just entered 6th grade, which is late to be starting to dance, and my mom asked if I wanted to give it a shot. Sure! Why not?! I was in beginner ballet and had to start in a class with girls who were years younger, but I was okay with that. I worked at it, learned the basic moves, and by the next year I was in ballet class with my friends and also started learning Character (like Broadway musical dance/Jazz/Hip Hop). I loved to dance. Was I any good at it? Nope, but I liked doing it anyway. I continued dancing all through middle school and through high school. Recitals came around every other year, and on the off years we participated in a benefit show to raise money for the nearby Barbara Bush Children's Wing of the hospital. There was something about going out on that stage and performing. The butterflies in my stomach were intense, but I could hardly wait for my next chance to do it. I graduated high school and continued on to college, but would return home and attend dance classes. After college graduation I found myself back in Brunswick, feeling like I had no real direction. My college friends were off still in college or doing other things and here I was working and finishing up my internship, but not quite knowing what to do in this adult world. So I started taking classes again.
It was different this time around. Ballet and Character had a different spot in my life when I was younger. I liked to perform, but the work ethic wasn't there, nor the desire to make a huge fool of myself. Now I found myself wanting to go to class because it gave me an opportunity to push myself in a new way, and I could show off my ridiculous moves and fit right in. I started making life-long friends on those crazy Thursday nights. The kind of friends that are there for you on your toughest day and to remind you that you deserve your shining moments. The friends that don't disappear when you move 3000 miles away. We would dance our asses off for hours, laughing at each other most of the time, and then follow it up with a cold beer and scrumptious food at Joshua's or Pedro O'Hara's. And the laughs never stopped. Somehow 10 o'clock would roll around much too quickly, and we would be heading home just counting the moments until Thursday rolled around again. Dance class was the last place I went while we were packing up for our cross country move, and it was the only place where I really broke down and started crying about leaving all my friends and family.
Was it dance class or my friends that gave me the confidence I continue to possess today... I can't be sure. Does it really matter? I can only imagine how awful my girls must be feeling knowing they won't have classes to look forward to and this break from daily life that was devoted to doing something just for ourselves. I think perhaps my personal sadness comes from the fact that when I'm able to return home for visits, I won't be able to stop in to say hello or sneak in a class. And that down the road another girl like me, who is feeling lost, won't have this inspiring place to find herself.
