MauldenNews November 2011

Let's see...November...what do I remember...?

I spent the first half of the month doing my twice-a-year inpatient/outpatient neurology rotation at the VA. I like my job and all, but once I was able to turn off the pager, the real fun began...girls' weekend!

Start of the Mesquite Tri-States Marathon (Utah, Arizona, and Nevada)! (Pictures courtesy of Tammy - thanks for your excellent photography - as usual!)

The route was scenic, the weather was GREAT, and it was fun except for the last 3-4 miles when I was feeling the pain. But it was worth it for this...

Seemed like I just got back from Mesquite and it was time for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time with my sister Mary and her family. The kids made creative Thanksgiving dinner drawings which we used as placemats, and we made the most of the nice weather by playing soccer in the park and feeding the ducks and geese with all the kids after the big turkey dinner. (Last year we went sledding - this year - no snow!) 

Other events - we went swimming at Murray City pool (big indoor water slide - whee!)

 - I took Sophia and Alle around the neighborhood playing "bigger and better." We started with a paperclip and ended with a cute bunny doll, a big decorative basket, a hat, and a pumpkin. 

- We made peppermint and gingerbread play-dough, and decorated gingerbread houses.

Last but not least, my book of the month: "Unplug the Christmas Machine" by Robinson and Staeheli. We are "unplugging" this year and I already feel more relaxed. What are your tips for simplifying Christmas and making it a time of true peace, joy, and renewal? Hope to hear from you! 

Mesquite Marathon!

I still can't believe I'm doing this - I finished my second marathon this weekend. I beat my prior time by about 7 minutes, which was great! I had fun and finished injury-free. Yippee!

There were lots of things to like about this race. The scenery was beautiful and interesting. Desert landscape with Joshua trees, cacti, and a surprising number of flowers blooming. Snow-capped mountains in the distance. Red rock canyons.

Weatherwise - couldn't have asked for better. 50s and overcast to sunny, but not too hot. No wind or dust.

The hotel (Casablanca) and food were very good, especially for the price. I liked that this was a small race, so we never had to contend with crowds or lines. I noticed several people (usually older men) stopping by the wayside to pee during the race - made me smile a little - but I totally understood as there was really nowhere to hide - the open landscape just didn't allow for privacy. Luckily for me I did not over-hydrate, but even so I probably could have- and would have- made it to the next porta-potty.

I changed two things about this marathon compared to my first one. First, I decided not to carry water. I relied on the aid stations. That worked fine and it felt good not to have that water belt on. I did carry gel, shot blocks and jelly beans but ended up mostly fueling on the free stuff along the way - bananas, gummy bears, pretzels, M&Ms, and Hammer gel. Great variety and wonderful volunteers at the aid stations!

The other change was my run-walk ratio: this time I tried running 4 minutes, walking 30 seconds (instead of running 4, walking 1 minute). This worked well, especially on the downhill part. On the uphills (of which there were several) I added in some extra walk breaks. I didn't allow myself to push too hard, and I think I did well on the hills. I know I felt stronger going into mile 21-22 than I had at Top of Utah.

Between miles 22 and 26, though, I suffered. I developed a persistent pain in my front left thigh and it steadily increased to become pretty severe at the end. (My smart friend Tammy diagnosed it as a psoas muscle spasm). I was a little worried about a possible stress fracture, but I'd felt this pain before at the end of my first half marathon. I slowed down and unhappily watched 3-4 people pass me in the last mile. I debated walking the rest of the way, but I still hoped to beat my prior time so I gutted it out. At the 25.5 mile aid station, the volunteers must have seen my pain because they looked concerned and asked me if I was all right. I gratefully accepted their offer of ibuprofen and shuffled as triumphantly as possible to the finish. Total time: 4:51:31. Yay!

Walking was very slow and painful for 5-10 minutes until I stretched, rested, drank a lot of water and ate a donut. My psoas muscle let loose its death grip and since then I've been FINE - just the normal post-long-run muscle soreness. Tammy and I blissfully reveled in long showers, a delicious lunch, gentle recovery walk (to get M&Ms - very important, you know!) and a buffet dinner with lots of dessert. It was so nice to have that relaxing evening - and champagne buffet breakfast next morning! - with new and old friends and good food and conversation.

So all in all, a very satisfying weekend. Now I am going to enjoy a few weeks of recovery - shorter, lighter workouts and time with family at Thanksgiving. I am blessed and grateful.

Honesty

I've been practicing gratitude more lately, spurred on by Facebook friends and the season of Thanksgiving. And I truly AM grateful almost all of the time. There is so much to be thankful for.

But...I also realize that most of my blog and my "public image" (like MauldenNews) is highly self-selected to highlight the good stuff and gloss over the ugly realities. And so this post is an attempt to balance it out.

Please understand that I'm not out to vent or rant or complain, either. I'm just stating the facts for the record. I'm hoping this doesn't come off as whining. If nothing else, then when I'm 90 and demented and reading back through this blog to remember what my life used to be, I'll get a fuller picture.

OK, here goes. The uglies:

1. Our kids have both been in trouble this month for poor behavioral control - specifically hitting, clawing, and biting. Sam especially has been aggressive in preschool, to a worrisome degree.  He clawed 2 kids in the face at McDonald's and made 4 of his classmates cry and got sent to the principal's office.  Now I am the mother of the class bully. Today we had another long, protracted tantrum from Alle - uncontrolled rage, screaming, crumpling up her schoolwork. These are getting less frequent, but now Sam is starting to give us a lot more attitude.  Last week I put him in time out and he took off his clothes and pooped on the rug.

Our efforts at discipline seem only partly effective. I don't know how much of this behavior is attributable to our lack of parenting skills, but it's hard to feel there's not at least some correlation. It's stressful. I am worried they won't have friends. I never realized before how much of kids' behavior is deeply internalized by the parent. Even if others promise that they don't feel your kids' bad behavior reflects poorly on you - you feel it does.

While I'm being honest here, I must say that being on anti-anxiety medication has helped me a LOT! :-)

2.  Our house is kind of a mess most of the time. I don't care about this as much as I used to. I'm not really worried about it, but thought I would just put it out there.

3.  Bryan and I argue about plenty of things - these are pretty standard, from what I know, but we are not exempt. Parenting, household chores, TV/computer time, and money are some of our favorite subjects of contention. We aren't very consistent about making time for just the two of us. We used to argue less. Maybe we are getting more opinionated and stubborn with age...uh oh.

4.  I've been eating cake, cookies, chocolate, and too much Halloween candy recently. I tend to wait until the kids are in bed so they won't see me and demand that I share.

5. I've had to wear my glasses for the past 6 weeks (due to a very bad contact lens prescription and bad fitting by someone who made mistakes and didn't know how to fit them - long story, going on for almost a year). I still feel ugly and yucky in glasses. I have to fight the urge to withdraw from society.

6. I've had things on my to-do list for a year and I just don't feel like doing them, so I don't. I never used to do this (procrastinate)...what's happening to me??

7. Sometimes I dress like a real frump.

October MauldenNews

Hello everyone - hope you are enjoying a happy fall season.

October was a good month for hiking. We had mostly warm weather. The colors in the mountains were great this year - maybe because of all the water?

The kids got their school pictures: first grade...

and preschool...

I went to Washington, D.C. for work and enjoyed running and biking in Rock Creek Park. Very nice!

October 30 was a very special day for all of us - Alle's baptism day! At the end she put her hands up to make butterflies on the screen - a nice touch and very much "in character" for her.

And finally - of course - Halloween!

Love you all,

Sarah

one reason why I love living here

We didn't get all the way to the top today, but we had a wonderful time.

Trail was Butler Fork, up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We went part way to Mount Raymond.

prayer for the day

I saw this poem today and wanted to remember it. 


Real Presence


Let my heart be a wide and welcome harbor
where my children come to rest.
May these arms stretch wide and strong
to hold his fear, her hurt, their tattered sense of self.


May there be a solidness within me
on which their pain may crash
and recede
and I remain.


Let my presence be an island to them
in storm-tossed seasons,
rising up from troubled waters to offer
shelter, respite, and firm dry ground.


May they find in me
a haven to tend to battered souls
until the day the certainty of such solid ground
launches them to sail uncharted waters unafraid.


-Tom McGrath

September MauldenNews

Ah, September - you were glorious this year. Warm and sunny, but not too hot. I'm sad you're gone now, especially as we went from 80 to 40 degrees and SNOW in the first week of October...it always seems wrong to me when we get snow before the leaves have a chance to change color. Anyway, on to the news.

Started the month with the Salt Lake Half Marathon, thanks to my friend Tammy (who took the pictures). Of course, she blew me away (yes, she walks faster than I run) - but it was fun, and scenic, so who cares?

Then it was off to church camp.

 Sam got to ring the bell to call everyone in to supper.

 I never get tired of watching hummingbirds!

Next came the Top of Utah Marathon - woo-hoo! It was AWESOME, not only because I - of all people! -  actually ran a marathon, but because I got to do it with my brothers Tim and Daniel, and wonderful friend Tammy (who again left me in her racewalking dust). AND - to top it all off - mom and dad came to visit and cheer us on to the finish!

 Tim, Daniel and me - smiling because the finish is in sight! And you can't really tell that our clothes are all wet, can you?

LOVE my moose medal!


Post-marathon thoughts...every time you do something new, you learn some things. Well, I learned two things. Actually, three. One - don't believe the weather report. Two, don't get rid of extra clothing too soon. We started off with a nice cold, drenching shower at the starting line so our feet were squishing in our shoes. Then we had rain, drizzle, rain, clear skies, rain, lightning, thunder, hail, rain, sun. (The course was beautiful though!) During the "clear skies" I was warm so left my wet jacket at the drop box at mile 7, only to WISH I had it at mile 11 when it dumped buckets on us again along with stinging little balls of hail. Luckily, it cleared up again and we made the final push to the finish in the sun. The last 3 or 4 miles were really hard. Interestingly, I could feel my hips, thighs, and feet hurting but not my knees, calves, or ankles. Rounding the last corner to see the finish line, Bryan, and my mom and dad, was WONDERFUL. Crossing the finish line - even BETTER! and finally being able to STOP running - the BEST!!! Really, it was a crazy, awesome experience that I never thought I would have.

The third thing I learned was that after a marathon, I don't feel much like chasing my kids around. I mean, REALLY...do...not...feel like it.  A babysitter should be a post-marathon requirement. Finally - to quote another Galloway runner as she tearfully crossed the finish line of her first marathon: "I've never been so miserable in my life!...and I can't wait to do it again!"

The last bit of news for September - we ended the month in peach heaven. Our lovely peach tree made outstanding peaches this year. Big, juicy, beautiful peaches. Our apple tree also produced decent apples, for the first time in years. We bought a fruit picker (basket w/prongs on a pole) and went fishing up in the trees for peaches and apples with the kids. Wish I had pictures - but don't - so use your imaginations. It was fun to see the kids cheer for each other each time they snagged a fruit. I'm always looking for cooperative, team-building games for the kids - so it was fun to discover another one.

Final pictures: Alle's many talents: pajama biking, tree climbing and monkey-bar-hanging; Sam showing Grandpa how to use a stomp rocket.