ABC's of Me, and other random bullets, brought to you by Blogger's Block

1. We had an appointment Tuesday morning to get Gabby's roadmap for this cycle... It lasts 57 days this time (weird!). She goes for IV chemo every 10 days starting today, and ending on day 41 (so total of 5 times), and has one lumbar on day 31. Then she's off from day 41 to 57!! No meds at home except the bactrim she gets Saturday and Sunday (a "yummy" grape one she likes).
Love.It. :D

2. I went out last night for a 4 miler. The first half mile was fabulous. Around .54mi in, I had a STABBING pain in my ankle, here:

That's the outside of my right ankle, BTW.

Like, stopped me dead in my tracks pain. I tried stretching a bit, but really... how do you stretch out an ankle? Not sure, so I stretched what I could. Jogged another .1 mi, and the pain came back. So I walked it in. Grrr. WHAT. IS. THAT?!?!

I finished out my cardio on the elliptical, which didn't hurt but was H O T. I pretty much dislike sweating, but...

3. ABC's of me...
(A) Age: 32
(B) Bed Size: Queen
(C) Chore You Hate: All? Does that count?
(D) Dogs?: I love dogs. I love big dogs. Specifically, I love Boxers. But no dogs while we're in an apartment.
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Brush teeth. Get dressed. Change my mind, and get dressed again. Repeat a few times. Makeup. Kiss a billion people goodbye. Bolt and get coffee.
(F) Favorite Color: Orange. Or Purple.
(G) Gold or Silver? Silver or White gold.
(H) Height: 5'2"
(I) Instruments You Play: Ha.
(J) Job Title: Customer Service Manager (how did that even happen!?)
(K) Kids: 3 girls, ages 12, 9, and 4
(L) Live: Irvine, CA. Consistently ranked among the safest big cities in the US. Coincidentally, also the most cookie-cutter, sterile place I've ever lived.
(M) Mom's Name: Mary
(N) Nicknames: Giraffy. No, really.
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? c-sections for all 3 kidlets
(P) Pet Peeve: People who are late. People who make plans and flake. Dumb.
(Q) Quote from a Movie: All of Office Space; "I'm not even supposed to be here today!"; almost anything from Firefly and Serenity...
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: 3 - 2 younger sisters and a younger brother.
(T) Time You Wake Up? as late as I can possibly get away with.
(U) Underwear: usually? Is this a trick question? I skip while running, but definite DO for anything else.
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Artichokes freak me out. They're FURRY!!!
(W) What Makes You Run Late: I dislike being late, so the only things that MIGHT make me late are extreme kid issues getting out (highly unlikely), or ridiculous traffic that is at an unpredicatble time (more likely).
(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: kneck, once, in high school after a car accident
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: A lot. Not to brag, but... I'm kind of a good cook. And baker. And I like to do it.
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Giraffe, bears, and seals.

All the cool kids are doing it....

Costuming, that is. For the Disney Princess Half. That's in less than 1 month.

So in LESS THAN 1 MONTH I will be a half-marathoner. Hopefully. Unless something goes terribly awry.

And have I mentioned how, in less than one month, I'll be at Disney World? The happiest place on earth? 'Cause I will.

Anyway, so everyone I know that is going, is costuming.

I (1) have not picked a costume, and (2) am on a spending hiatus for running gear. But I'm pretty sure I've roped my IBFF (Internet Best Friend Forever) into making me a skirt, to wear over my tights. Or shorts, if it's not cold (ha). Which leaves me with a top. And I have a plain white top I can wear, which is fine.

But I'm getting ambitious, and think I might just make a tech top with Baby's picture.

Crazy? Fun? Bizzarro? Weird? Creepy?

I designed this, first...

(only with a less crappy shot of that kid)

(reads, Every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies.)

That seems a little intense. But it's true, and important.

Any ideas?

I'm a few days away from something fun, but not quite ready to post it. Next week, though... it's going to be rad. It's not a giveaway, entirely, but there will be stuff, given away... and hopefully I'll be separating some of you from your hard earned cash, for a good thing.

Happy Friday!

Holy CRAP that felt good.

Phew.

Now that I've proven to myself that I can, in fact, wake up at tooeffingearly o'clock, I suppose I could make use of that time to do the cross training I yapped about staring here... The getting up early isn't what bothers me, so much as the "cold". And by "cold", I mean, it's like in the 50's at 5:30am. Brrr.

Baby update:
She has a chemo treatment today. She has to go to what the hospital calls "The Infusion Center". It sounds so dramatic. But really? Since she has the port, it's just a quick teeny poke, and done. Plus, we have some fantastic numbing cream, so she doesn't even really feel it (true story, I tested it). Next week is another lumbar, and that's the one that always gets to me :(.

Anyway. Have I mentioned this steroid that makes her scary beyond all reason? It also, apparently, makes her extremely kooky. Last night, she was flipping out because I turned a light on. I mean, it was dark, and I don't like to sit around in the dark, so it seemed reasonable. Oh but it was not. Awhile later, this happens:

Mmhmm. Too dark to not have the light on, but - apparently - the light was TOO MUCH for her. And, check.out.that.gut. Sheesh. That kid is gonna explode in the next 6 days (not that I'm counting down).

Oh, and, I also have 2 other kids. Both of whom are really pretty healthy - we haven't had a flu or puking incident in YEARS. Until this weekend, when we bring home the kid with no immune system, at all.... and both kids decide to suddenly run super high fevers (#2) and start puking (#1). Thankfully both are now better, so it was a quick bug, but... Oy. Timing, man. Timing.

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Gratitude....

I've always been one to be really proud of the fact that I am independent. I take care of myself (well, we take care of ourselves). I don't like to ask for help - I'd rather figure out a solution on my own.

I've literally been overwhelmed with the KINDNESS of people the last 3 weeks. People I don't even know, really. People I chat with online. My virtual-then-real-life friends.

I'm touched, beyond words, that someone would do this for me... Running off for a Cause. While I spent yesterday morning (while I was up early NOT running) complaining and wallowing about how lazy I am, Marcia was... doing that. It's humbling, and inspirational. I've cried exactly 4 times since this started - once when we got the diagnosis, once at her second lumbar (I didn't cry the first time, 'cause people were around. That's how I am.), once when Becka did something unbelievably generous for me, and yesterday, when I read that post.

I'm thankful, for all the kind words, all the prayers, all the thoughts. I don't even have words to describe it.



ps. holy crap, eyebrow waxing and frizzy hair. It's like I didn't even look in the mirror this morning. Yikes.

Hella Happy Friday

Baby was released yesterday, and is home, and as happy as can be. At least, I *think* she's happy. It's tough saying. The Steroid makes her moods alternate between quietly simmering and completely exploding.

We were on our own for her meds last night, and it was fine, after reviewing, and re-checking, and re-verifying her schedule. It's a lot to remember - three of them are morning AND night, one is morning and night, but only Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, one is 4 hours before she goes for a treatment... I'm not the most organized mom around - under good circumstances, I manage to get people clothed, and fed, and out to school, and sometimes even bathed. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to keep track of this madness. I see a spreadsheet and calendar in my near future.

I am done waffling, and will just say it. I'm going to Disney World, in 1 month and 4 days. I will probably skip the park-going, which is a bummer, but... I get to run through the Castle, and EPCOT, and that will do for now :D. AND, I'm really stoked that A is coming with B from 50halfmarathonsin50states. I love that kid.

Running. What's that?

I plan on a few miles tomorrow morning, and then starting a new week Monday, as usual. TMB worked out some modifications to my training plan with me, and I trust her judgement. And I normally don't trust people, but she seems to know what she's talking about. :D

Tomorrow is Farmer's Market Saturday - hooray! I'm pretty psyched to get back to eating normally, and cooking, and not feeling greasy all the time.

Finally... here's a video, taken before The Steroid took away her soul made her cranky all the time... It still cracks me up. All fun and games until someone falls off the bed.

Three Things Thursday

1. Baby's port was de-accessed yesterday. Good - she's not tied to an IV, and she no longer resembles Iron Man. Bad - if we don't get released today, she's gotta be re-accessed tomorrow, which involves needles, which always result in tears. Fingers crossed!

2. I am un.motivated. I mean, I don't know when I'd have TIME to run, I stay at the hospital alternating nights, and visit before and after when I'm not staying, so I'm already not sleeping, and I can't cut out work, so I'm not sure WHEN I'd run. But even thinking about it is uninteresting today. That makes me cranky. I'm SURE things will go back to "normal" after she gets released. Right?

3. Le Sigh. Ignore the lint that was tangled in... from one quick brush through :(.

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I'm boring myself with the whiny blogs. Today it ends. Swear it.