Category Archives: Family

Coffee, Daily Snippets, Domestic Engineer, Family, Housekeeping, Multiple Sclerosis, Running

Weekly Post #9 – December 13, 2024

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Tired of my daily updates yet? I am, a little, but I’m going to keep it up for awhile. Today was mostly uneventful, but we had some wins. I slept late, until 10:30, because I’m still recovering from three consecutive days of full activity. I was feeling really sore, and my legs were hurting a little from the cold weather outside, but I took a shower and that warmed me up a bit, so it relieved the pain. Nerve pain is no fun, but I’m glad that heat and movement are two things that help.

After my shower I went downstairs to make my coffee and loaded the dishwasher. If you see me going to bed with a stack of dirty dishes left in the sink, that’s a clear signal that I’m dealing with fatigue. I am really bothered by dirty dishes and will usually take care of them as soon as I can, so when I don’t there’s usually something wrong. But, I tend to have a bit more energy in the mornings, so this morning I just took care of them while my coffee brewed.

And then! Then, I started a movie on my laptop and started wrapping Christmas presents. This is not a fun project, ever, but it is one that feels great to have done. I finished after four hours, right as my daughter was coming home from school. Also this evening we finally decorated the tree that’s been sitting bare in our living room for the last 6 days. I guess this means I’m ready for Christmas. Next week I’ll wrap the last of the presents, make batches of puppy chow and roasted pecans.

With me being so busy and it being so cold outside, I haven’t done any running in a bit, but it’s not for lack of thinking about it. I’m sure once it slows down a bit I’ll get back out there. Cold weather runs are really difficult to get yourself out for, but they are always exhilarating and rewarding. Hopefully next week.

Anyway, that’s my update. I’m off to bed!

Daily Snippets, Family, Food, Holidays, Housekeeping, Kids, Multiple Sclerosis

Daily Post #8 – December 12, 2024

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Oh boy, you guys. My brain, my legs, my arms. They are all so tired today. I moved around and did things, but most of the work I did was sitting here at the desk. I tidied up my space a bit, because when I am surrounded by clutter I just can’t think straight. Too much nagging from the objects needing my attention.

I had planned to work on wrapping Christmas gifts today, but the kids had a snow day. That meant my early morning meeting with the school was postponed as well. Again. They had a snow day last week on the same day as my scheduled meeting. Anyway, so no wrapping got done. However! I did organize the gifts, assessed what we have, updated my spreadsheet (of course I have a spreadsheet) and even placed a couple last minute orders. One of them won’t get here in time for Christmas, but it will be close. So I’m ready to devote tomorrow to boxing and wrapping the gifts and I do hope I have the house to myself so I can accomplish that in peace.

On the subject of Christmas, you may remember last Saturday I posted about us going to get our Christmas tree? Yep, and it’s still sitting in our living room, without decoration. The dogs don’t seem to mind, but I talked to the kids and we’ve decided tomorrow will be the day to decorate, so I think I’ll make some peanut butter popcorn tomorrow so we have something yummy to snack on while we decorate. It always feels to me like a daunting task, decorating the tree, but the kids are almost fully grown adults and are super helpful, so it’s really never as bad as I expect. We will have a good time.

And that is all for today. I’m sure there was more I wanted to talk about but I am beat. I did not exactly rest the way my body needed, so I’ll be putting myself to bed once I hit post. Good night, y’all.

Daily Snippets, Family, Health, Multiple Sclerosis

Daily Post #6 – December 10, 2024

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As expected, I am ending the day exhausted from a productive and fun day of shopping with my sister! It started out with a quick trip to the dermatologist to follow up on my rosacea. The treatment is working well, daily ivermection applications and antibiotic treatments as needed when my skin flares up. It flared up after Thanksgiving and I’m almost positive excess sugar was the culprit, so I’ll be sure to avoid that in the future. Okay, that’s a lie, I like sugar. I’ll probably just try to keep it in moderation. It’s impossible to say no to pumpkin pie.

My sister picked me up from the dermatologist so we could get a rapid start. We started out at Five Below where I found a case and charging adaptor for my new phone, as well as some fun gifts for the kids. Then we traveled over to Costco, Target, Marshall’s, and Bath & Body Works. There was a stop in the middle for an appetizer and drinks, just to rejuvenate us for the rest of the shopping. We were holding up quite well, but our brains were needing the break. I arrived home with bags and bags of goodies for the family and I’m ready to start my Christmas wrapping. It was a great day! We have really enjoyed these times and are happy to continue the tradition each year.

That said, I’m exhausted and I still have another full day ahead so I’m praying I can maintain. This is a lot for me so I expect I’ll be dragging my Thursday and Friday. For sure, I’ll be dragging. I know I’m pushing myself beyond my normal limits and just banking on the ability to rest for a few days after. I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to have memorable moments with friends and family. Wishing you all a great night and I’ll talk to you agin tomorrow, Lord willing. Shalom!!

Daily Snippets, Family, Food, Friends, Low vision

Daily Post #5 – December 9, 2024

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I almost forgot my daily post! So, I’m sitting here at my desk, sans cochlear implants (so in the silence) and with my face 10 inches from the screen because I already took my contacts out. Basically, I’m going to make this quick. Today entailed some prayer in my living room with another mom from our school (we do this every other week but normally there are more than just the two of us), then a wonderful brunch with a friend I hadn’t seen since May. We had so much catching up to do and we’ve already planned the next meetup for next month. Then a quick stop at the lab to get my repeat blood work done. Hopefully they get it right this time. Then a stop at Starbucks for a mocha hazelnut latte – 2 pumps mocha, 4 pumps hazelnut. I took a solid nap, and then woke up to find my husband had successfully procured our new phones and service. We are now 4 for 4 an iPhone family which I am honestly not handling well at the moment. Nothing against iPhone, it’s just something new. And I am having significant trouble finding things on the phone and seeing the screens to log in to my various necessary apps, it’s just an exercise in extreme frustration. Both my kids have helped me with this, but a lot of it I need to just figure out on my own. It’s a very slow and somewhat painful process with low vision. I’m reassured by iPhone users that it will be worth the switch, so we’ll see. I hope it is.

That is all. You get one big run-on paragraph and I’m off to bed. We’ll talk again tomorrow!

Daily Snippets, Family, Holidays, Kids, Low vision, Multiple Sclerosis

Daily Post #4 – December 8, 2024

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Another busy day today. I went to church in the morning. That was nice. We had our annual meeting at the start of the service, which just means the board updates the congregation on the state of the church’s finances and other administrative items. Super boring, but crucial because we are a 501(c)3 corporation. And if we were to ask the congregation to come to a meeting, they likely would not show up, so you have to catch them while they are there for the service. A captive audience. Sneaky, I know.

After church the husband and I went back to Verizon to see if we could get the new phones set up. Negative. I had to unfreeze our accounts with the credit bureau (I froze them a couple months back when there was a huge data breach), and they hadn’t updated that information with Verizon yet. It was a weekend, and the guy at Verizon said that was likely the reason. They just need a human to handle it, perhaps? We are hoping that it gets resolved tomorrow because poor daughter is itching to get a working phone back.

The third act of the day was a baby shower. My daughter and I attended, and I’m so glad she went with me because I didn’t know anyone there. Just the mom-to-be and her mother-in-law. It was a solid three hours of estrogen and I was pretty exhausted by the end of it. But, I’m happy for the new parents, and I’m glad we were able to be there.

I finished the day with mundane stuff that needed to be done. Washed dishes, folded laundry, vacuumed, that sort of thing. Took a look at my calendar for the week to make sure I have all my rides scheduled. I still have a blood test I need to get so we’ll see when I can squeeze that in. It’s the test for the JC virus that I’m required to get every six months. My monthly infusions carry a much greater risk of me getting a fatal brain disease, PML, if I test positive for the JC virus, so that’s why we do this. Only I had the test done last month, and they screwed up the order so I need to go back and try again. I’m super grateful I’ve remained JC negative after all these years on the medication (Tysabri) and am praying I continue to stay that way.

In other news, Christmas is coming. Have you heard? My kids have both issued their wish lists (at my urgent insistence) and my sister is taking me shopping this week so hopefully we can find some things on the list. I’ve already been able to do some shopping online but a lot of items are better found in stores, and that’s something I need assistance with. We started this shopping tradition a couple years ago and we had such a great time, we decided to keep doing it each year. It’s a drive for my sister to come up to where I live, but it’s a huge help to me. I’m grateful for her help in finding things and for her patience when I’m not 100% clear on what it is I’m looking for. It will be an exhausting day but productive and memorable, I’m sure.

That about sums up my day. I’m hoping to sleep decently tonight. The last couple nights I’ve been waking up with night sweats, and that’s no fun. Hormones are a hoot.

Coffee, Daily Snippets, Driving, Exercise, Family, Friends, Holidays, Kids, Piper, Punky

Daily Post #3 – December 7, 2024

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Long and crazy day. The original plan was for the whole family to go pick out and cut down this year’s Christmas tree. And that was going to be it, a nice relaxing day.

We ended up doing a lot more than that. To start off, a friend texted first thing in the morning inviting me to join her at the gym. I said absolutely yes, since I had missed the day before and had been itching to go back. I got reacquainted with the elliptical – I hadn’t used one in over 15 years, when I was pregnant with my daughter – and learned very quickly that the elliptical is an efficient way to work out the upper leg muscles. OOF! I’ll definitely be coming back to those. Then, with jell-o legs we went over to the 30 minute circuit and got full body strength workouts in. I was so exhausted after but it felt really good to be moving my body again. And, it’s a nice change-up from running, which can get dull at times. We finished at the gym with chair massages and then went for coffee to do some real catching up. It was a fine morning.

L to R: Mike, Luke, Natalie (leading our golden retriever, Punky) walking toward the trees to search for the one we’ll take home.

Once home and showered, I went with Mike and the kids – and Punky! – to pick out our Christmas tree. That was a blast, as always. It’s a nice tradition we’ve kept through the years and I will miss it when it’s gone.

Natalie kneeling in the snow with our golden retriever, Punky.

So with the tree procured and placed in the living room, we decided to head back out for a special mission. My daughter’s cell phone was broken and needing replacement. Since we all have had our phones awhile and are outside of the contract, we figured now we be a good time to shop for new cell phones/plans. So we spent the entire afternoon driving to various service centers, price shopping. We finally settled on one, and tried to get it all set up, but ran into a snafu so we’re hoping to get that completed in the next day or so. Oddly enough, none of us got frustrated with each other during this whole ordeal. We actually just enjoyed hanging out together. I was extremely grateful for that. And!! For a good portion of the outing my daughter drove! She just recently got her learner’s permit so she’s learning. She kind of hates it, it really stresses her out, but I think she’s doing a great job and will hate it less as she gets more practice.

All in all, it was a pretty incredible day and I’m so thankful for my friends and family, and thankful to have a warm bed to come home to. I’ll be sleeping well tonight.

Books, Daily Snippets, Family, Health, Kids

Daily Post #2 – December 6, 2024

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Here we are again, folks! Daily recap coming atcha…

This morning I had planned to get dropped off at the lab to get some repeat blood work done (the original test was ordered incorrectly) and then walk over to the gym (they share a parking lot). However, when I woke up with the kids my stomach was not feeling right. As I moved around the kitchen it got increasingly worse, and devolved into sharp, stabbing pains. A pain I know all too well as gas. So I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do much until that got resolved. Skipped the trip and went back to bed. Falling asleep in the fetal position did the trick, and a couple hours later I was good as new.

The middle of the day didn’t consist of much. I ate some yummy leftovers and did some reading. I’m listening to The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes and it’s pretty interesting. Since it’s an audiobook I find myself getting distracted pretty frequently, but mostly I’m learning that a lot of what has been researched about the dangerous effects of too much sugar in our diets has been shoved under the rug by corporately funded researchers. All the folks benefiting from the sugar industry have spent a lot of money to keep people from learning that in the large quantities we consume it, sugar is harmful.

The other book I’m reading is The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. I recently finished his other companion book, The Diabetes Code, and I kind of wish I had read them in order because a lot of what I’m learning in this one would have been useful as I muscled my way through The Diabetes Code. I am downright fascinated by the science in this book. And encouraged, because it’s debunking a lot of the closely held yet erroneous beliefs our society has about weight loss/gain. Weight loss/gain is not an exact science, nor is it a simple math equation. The answer to losing weight is not calories in/calories out. There are so many systems in our bodies that play a part in fat production and processing the calories we put into it. So we need to stop shaming people for their size. Okay? Just stop it. I got in a heated debate a few months back on social media with a guy who was griping about people using the motorized carts at the grocery store, saying they needed to leave those carts for the truly disabled. I pressed him on it, knowing I am one who is truly disabled yet doesn’t look it, and found that he was referring to the heavier people. He said they needed to just walk more. Obviously he’s never struggled with his weight.

We need to be kinder, people. Because we really don’t know what we don’t know. We have been fed lies for decades that in order to achieve or even maintain a certain size, we just need to do A, B, and C. Simple right? Except that it never works. All my friends are entering the land of menopause and haven’t changed a thing, and yet we are getting larger. Is it our fault? Of course not! Hormones, baby. They have everything to do with why our bodies hold onto fat and there is not a whole lot we can do about that. I think we’re getting closer to finding answers, but what do I know? I’m just a retired accountant who likes to read about science.

Whew! Getting off that soapbox now. I finished off my day by attending my son’s wrestling meet. I don’t usually get to go, but my husband had come home early so I was able to ride up with him. We had a great time, Luke wrestled his heart out, and then we came home. Saturday we are hoping to go get a Christmas tree, so I look forward to updating you again tomorrow night!

Family, Food, Low vision, Multiple Sclerosis

Dark Mode

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Fun fact – I cannot read normal computer screens. I cannot navigate filling out forms on paper without significant difficulty (and inevitably leaving a lot of fields blank). My visual impairment is unique in that a good portion of my visual field is covered in fog. That’s the best way I am able to describe it. When I look at a “normal” screen (i.e. white background) I can’t see most of what is there. This means that a lot of the apps I use on a regular basis are very difficult for me to use. Over the years I’ve learned to be patient and allow myself more time to complete tasks.

But when I open an app and discover they have added the dark mode feature? Oooh boy, I can’t tell you how relieved I feel! I remember the first time this happened was with Facebook, and while I was elated, it didn’t add much value to my life. Cuz you know, it’s Facebook. But then, much later, I opened up my recipe app, which I use a ton for preparing meals and snacks for my family – something I strive to do well at, whether my family really cares or not – and it was in dark mode!! Let me tell you, that made my whole week.

Then awhile back I had another pleasant surprise when I opened the Android app for Goodreads to find my next book to read and it was in dark mode. I could have cried. I am an avid reader and it’s been so frustrating to not be able to really navigate that app for so long.

My third win for dark mode happened when I finally dug around the interwebs and found tape for my label maker in “white on black”. Guys, I’m having so much fun with this! I am a label nerd, for sure, and the first thing I did with my new readable labels is to tag my leftovers. Because once I put the dishes in the fridge, I never really know what’s there. Not without taking each dish out and opening it up, and even then sometimes I can’t tell without actually sniffing or tasting the food inside, and that’s I think mostly due to the atypical colorblindness. So labels have been a game changer. I’m a very happy woman over here.

For the record, these are my favorite apps that I am able to view in dark mode:
Plan to Eat (my recipe app!)
Goodreads (books!)
Facebook (no explanation needed)
YNAB (my awesome budgeting app!)
VRBO (trip planning)
Booking.com (trip planning)

Now it would be great to have my banks get on board. Out of all the banks we bank with, NONE of them have a dark mode option. So I keep doing my banking on the computer, where I have extensions to view those web pages in dark mode. Tell your programmer friends… we want more dark mode!

Books, Coffee, Disability, Domestic Engineer, Exercise, Faith, Family, Food, Friends, God speaks, Health, Kids, Marriage, Stories

My very brief “75 Hard” journey and what I learned

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I don’t know if any of you have heard of “75 Hard” but it’s this bazonkers challenge that some guy made up a few years ago, and it seems to have quite the following.

The challenge is this: For 75 consecutive days you must complete the following tasks:
1) Drink one gallon of water
2) Follow a diet of your choosing, no cheat days!
3) Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book
4) Complete two non-consecutive 45-minute workouts, 1 of which must be outdoors
5) Take a progress picture

If you miss any of the tasks even once, you have to start all over again on Day One. Oof.

A good friend of mine completed this challenge a couple years ago, and she is now working the challenge once again. When she did it the first time, I seriously gave it some thought but never did anything with it. This second time I felt compelled to hop on and give it a shot.

Now a couple of these things were easy for me. I have been intermittent fasting since March of 2023 so following a diet wasn’t a big deal. I would just be more intentional about sticking with my chosen eating and fasting “windows”. No problem.

Reading 10 pages of nonfiction? I’m a huge reader, and 90% of what I enjoy reading is nonfiction. Again, no problem.

Taking a progress picture is a simple enough task, and thankfully no one would have to see it but me, so the trick was just to remember to do it. Easy peasy.

It’s the gallon of water and 2 daily exercises that were the real challenge for me. I don’t mind drinking water, but I prefer coffee, and that doesn’t count. So I just had to be intentional about sipping from and refilling my water bottle throughout the day. I even bought myself a larger bottle (half gallon) so I would only need to refill once during the day. However, since I had just been coming off training for the Sleeping Bear half marathon, I was already in the habit of daily hydrating so this wasn’t a huge deal.

For the exercising I was doing an outdoor walk and indoor Fitbod workout each day. That was going very well, and with all the water I was drinking, my muscles were recovering well every day. I would feel a bit of soreness but it never stuck around for long. I was feeling really good!

Y’all, I lasted 8 days. That 9th day I had a super busy day morning to night. Doctor appointment for me, orthodontist for both kids, and having to use paratransit to get everywhere means every trip takes awhile and has zero flexibility. But that wasn’t what killed the challenge for me. I had been out of town the weekend prior and the day before I came back, my husband left for a 3 day work trip. So on that bonkers day with all the appointments, that evening I just wanted to spend time with my husband. I had to make a decision – stay home and complete my workouts (because all the appointments prevented me from getting them done earlier) or ride with my husband to take our daughter to her horse riding lesson. I chose the latter, ending my 75 Hard challenge streak, and I have no regrets.

I may try again some other time, but I don’t know. I strongly felt like God had been leading me to that challenge, so I had to really ponder why. I think He was trying to show me how much my daily life had been lacking in discipline. And while 75 Hard was very much an all or nothing thing, installing discipline into your life doesn’t have to be that way. The key is to be intentional. So now I’ve been thinking a lot more about how I can maintain that intentionality but in a way that fits with my impairments and my daily life. I’m being humbled here. I need to cut out a lot of things in my life for awhile that were distracting me. I would spend hours on Facebook or Netflix or the stupid coloring app on my phone, and before I knew it, I had lost most of the day. Since I’m not working, I don’t have anyone telling me what or when things need to be done. I am the boss of my life, and I had been doing a shoddy job of it.

So I decided to make my own list:
1) Read 10 pages of a book
2) Exercise for 30 minutes
3) Drink a half gallon of water
4) Pray/study the Bible for 30 minutes
5) Write for 30 minutes

The times listed are just minimums of course. I just list them that way so I have measurable goals. I found a habit tracking app so I can keep the list in front of me and check things off as I go. It will be satisfying to see streaks of habits, but I’m allowing myself the ability to skip days if necessary. Some days my body and mind need rest, and I’m going to honor that. But I’m working really hard to not slip back into bad habits. While binging on Netflix seems like it would be restful, it’s really not. And it’s discouraging when you come off of a session of 6 episodes of Reba and realize you’ve lost your whole day, and you still need to put away that laundry you washed last Tuesday, and you have no idea what you are going to feed your people for dinner.

So yeah. I’m working on some healthy habits. I was gonna say “new” healthy habits, but then caught myself. These are not new. I’m working on some healthy habits – again. And I should say, it feels pretty damn good.

Moving forward!

Family, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Running, Visually Impaired

Sleeping Bear Training Week 12 of 14

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These weekly posts are getting to be less about the training and more about how life attempts to interfere. Ah, well. Life happens. You adjust and move on!

So this week I completed one task on my training plan, and that was a 12 mile run. I had originally scheduled this long run for the previous Saturday, but I opted instead to watch my son play tennis. So I had looked at the weather for the week and Tuesday looked like a good enough alternate. And then Allison, my guide runner, texted wanting to see if she could join me for a run. We had talked about doing another long run together, but with her schedule thus far we weren’t able to make a weekend work. Luckily she was free on Tuesday, so we made it happen!

I love showing off these trails. Allison hadn’t run them before (at least I don’t think so), so it was fun to show them off to her. I’m very proud of “my” trails 😉 We had great weather. I could have done with a few degrees cooler, but I’m not complaining because it beats running in the rain. Most of the miles were uneventful, but I could tell during the last couple that my left leg was dragging. I made sure to let her know so she would stay close enough for me to grab her arm if needed. I did trip once or twice but I did not fall (just call me Weeble).

Since the Tuesday long run got me off schedule (and I spent a second Saturday watching my son play tennis) I don’t know when I’ll do my final long run. The race is only 12 days away, so maybe it’s too late to be doing long runs, and I should just lean into the taper? When you are trying to fit training into your schedule *and* work around Michigan’s unpredictable weather, it gets tricky. So I think this week I’ll do some shorter runs to keep up the mileage and extra step-ups and stair climbs to keep those hill climbing muscles ready.

I have to say I’m a little concerned about my readiness for this race. I keep hearing about the gnarly hills/dunes, and I’ve been increasingly slacking on both my short runs and my strength training. Hopefully my early commitment to the training left me with some strength I can draw from during the race. I don’t have a time goal, so I really am just hoping to enjoy myself and the incredible views. I heard that Good Morning America voted Sleeping Bear Dunes the Most Beautiful Place in America. That’s high praise. I mean, what about the Grand Canyon? The entire state of Alaska? Hawaii? But no, our little ole Sleeping Bear Dunes ranked #1. And I’m gonna have the privilege of running through it. I can’t wait!