So if you follow my blog, you know that back in May I took the 30-day Ab Challenge to prepare myself for vacation and to make my core stronger.
I fought through it and was amazed at how I progressed, as I started out feeling very, very weak and pathetic. I did call "Uncle" on the 110-second plank, however. I tried so hard, but really felt like I was going to hurt myself (for real) if I kept trying to hold it a few more seconds. I decided that a 100-second plank was going to be my final time on the plank and I was okay with it. I never dreamed I would hold a plank 60 seconds, let alone 100. 90 was just about perfect in terms of when I really didn't think I could hold it another second. 100 pushed me just a little more.
So I was sailing along (that's how I like to remember it) with the 30-day challenge fairly well until I got to day 29. I cannot remember why, but I believe I had to skip the day I was supposed to do day 29 and push it over to what should've been my day 30. So when I was ready to do day 30, I didn't. I thought I would get to it the next day, that day came and went and it was time to head to North Carolina.
Thus, I never did complete day 30 of my 30-day ab challenge. HOW PATHETIC IS THAT? I went through 29 days of that thing only to completely skip town on day 30. It's like climbing all the way up Mount Everest only to give up on the final stretch and return to the bottom. Geesh.
Just call me a LOSER.
And what is even more ridiculous..although I felt great after doing those 29 days - my abs were tighter, it made me feel skinnier (even if I wasn't), my clothes fit better, I felt taller, and just all-around better - have I done even one of those exercises since day 29? NO! Ahhhhh...
All that work for nothing!
Last night, I was lying on the floor and I decided to roll over and do a plank. I thought 30 seconds was a good place to start. Then I did some sit-ups, some crunches and leg-raises. It didn't kill me and it wasn't near as bad as when I began with the exercises in May.
I AM going to continue on with these exercises. I am going to find a happy medium and stick with it because I don't want to be remembered (at least in my mind) as that girl who didn't do day 30...
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Friday, July 25, 2014
Our piano player
Last night Madolyn had her very first piano recital. Last October, she began taking piano lessons with our local piano expert, Diane...who is celebrating her 50th year of teaching!
Before we went into the church, Madolyn gave me a quick lesson on how to video with her I-phone. I don't have an I-phone and am technologically challenged at times, but this looked simple enough. "Mom, it is so simple." Yes. Of course, it is. It is Mad's turn and Jay nudges me to get her phone. I grab it and we decide Jay has a clearer view, and then we try to figure out what to do...
Of course, we couldn't...and we're giggling as quietly as possible all the while our daughter is playing her piece. We finally get it going, just missing the first page of her song. Good grief. It is so simple, she says.
As I sat there, I couldn't help but get that knot in my throat and those dang tears in my eyes...Grandma Great would have been so proud.
Madolyn has wanted to take piano lessons for a couple years, but we didn't have a piano. I knew eventually I would receive Grandma Great's piano, but until then, we would just wait. She took guitar lessons and then lost interest so I was okay with waiting a while. We got the piano a year or so before Grandma passed away because her basement kept having water problems and we were all afraid it would damage the piano.
We bought some beginner books for the piano and some stickers to put on the keys to help in the learning process (which I'm sure is a big no-no) and Madolyn monkeyed around on it a little bit, but we didn't quite see the interest yet...so we waited some more.
Last fall about a month before Grandma got really bad she asked me, completely out of the blue, if Madolyn was taking piano lessons yet. I said no, and she seemed disappointed. It wasn't a week later that Madolyn asked if she could start with the piano lessons, also completely out of the blue. We decided that maybe it was time to give it a try.
She began in October and has hardly missed a week of lessons. She practices consistently and without us having to force her, which is huge in my mind. When I took lessons long ago, I had to be forced to practice, or at least that is how I remember it. I was probably in the 3rd or 4th grade and I did not commit to it at all. I'm so bummed now that I didn't take it seriously back then. Of course, I have big plans to some day take lessons again.
Way back when, Grandma Great could only play her piano when Grandpa was outside. For some reason, he hated hearing the piano. I just can't imagine that, especially from someone who was musically inclined like he was. Maybe he just didn't like her choice of music, I don't know. She was someone who played a pretty strong piano. By that I mean, she struck those keys hard. As I'm writing this, I keep wanting to use the term "pounding" on the piano and it is making me laugh...because she would always tell us kids not to pound on the piano. In my mind, she pounded on the piano!
The piano is in the basement at our house and we have no door. So you can't help but hear Mad when she's practicing. But I LOVE it. Jay doesn't mind too much...although over the past few months, this recital piece has certainly been played to death. It will be nice when different songs are coming over the airwaves :) Oh, and we can add Frozen's theme to that too...we've heard it plenty also! The only time I have to tell her to knock it off is if Lane is in bed.
Of course, I'm bias, but I really am amazed at how well Madolyn has progressed with her playing and how committed she seems to it. The recital started with some younger kids and kind of moved on to students who were a little more advanced. A couple girls after Madolyn were very good. And the finale was a piece played by a young lady from Casey I have had the pleasure of knowing from church camp. It was absolutely beautiful and unbelievable all at the same time. I took one look at the pages on her right and couldn't understand how someone could read it or follow it! She obviously has played for a while and it was a good motivator for Mad.
For Madolyn's birthday she has requested piano books of Disney songs. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and since she will be turning 14 in a few weeks, I better start looking. Won't Jay love this? :)
 |
| Diane assisting with page turning. |
Before we went into the church, Madolyn gave me a quick lesson on how to video with her I-phone. I don't have an I-phone and am technologically challenged at times, but this looked simple enough. "Mom, it is so simple." Yes. Of course, it is. It is Mad's turn and Jay nudges me to get her phone. I grab it and we decide Jay has a clearer view, and then we try to figure out what to do...
Of course, we couldn't...and we're giggling as quietly as possible all the while our daughter is playing her piece. We finally get it going, just missing the first page of her song. Good grief. It is so simple, she says.
As I sat there, I couldn't help but get that knot in my throat and those dang tears in my eyes...Grandma Great would have been so proud.
Madolyn has wanted to take piano lessons for a couple years, but we didn't have a piano. I knew eventually I would receive Grandma Great's piano, but until then, we would just wait. She took guitar lessons and then lost interest so I was okay with waiting a while. We got the piano a year or so before Grandma passed away because her basement kept having water problems and we were all afraid it would damage the piano.
We bought some beginner books for the piano and some stickers to put on the keys to help in the learning process (which I'm sure is a big no-no) and Madolyn monkeyed around on it a little bit, but we didn't quite see the interest yet...so we waited some more.
Last fall about a month before Grandma got really bad she asked me, completely out of the blue, if Madolyn was taking piano lessons yet. I said no, and she seemed disappointed. It wasn't a week later that Madolyn asked if she could start with the piano lessons, also completely out of the blue. We decided that maybe it was time to give it a try.
She began in October and has hardly missed a week of lessons. She practices consistently and without us having to force her, which is huge in my mind. When I took lessons long ago, I had to be forced to practice, or at least that is how I remember it. I was probably in the 3rd or 4th grade and I did not commit to it at all. I'm so bummed now that I didn't take it seriously back then. Of course, I have big plans to some day take lessons again.
Way back when, Grandma Great could only play her piano when Grandpa was outside. For some reason, he hated hearing the piano. I just can't imagine that, especially from someone who was musically inclined like he was. Maybe he just didn't like her choice of music, I don't know. She was someone who played a pretty strong piano. By that I mean, she struck those keys hard. As I'm writing this, I keep wanting to use the term "pounding" on the piano and it is making me laugh...because she would always tell us kids not to pound on the piano. In my mind, she pounded on the piano!
The piano is in the basement at our house and we have no door. So you can't help but hear Mad when she's practicing. But I LOVE it. Jay doesn't mind too much...although over the past few months, this recital piece has certainly been played to death. It will be nice when different songs are coming over the airwaves :) Oh, and we can add Frozen's theme to that too...we've heard it plenty also! The only time I have to tell her to knock it off is if Lane is in bed.
Of course, I'm bias, but I really am amazed at how well Madolyn has progressed with her playing and how committed she seems to it. The recital started with some younger kids and kind of moved on to students who were a little more advanced. A couple girls after Madolyn were very good. And the finale was a piece played by a young lady from Casey I have had the pleasure of knowing from church camp. It was absolutely beautiful and unbelievable all at the same time. I took one look at the pages on her right and couldn't understand how someone could read it or follow it! She obviously has played for a while and it was a good motivator for Mad.
For Madolyn's birthday she has requested piano books of Disney songs. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and since she will be turning 14 in a few weeks, I better start looking. Won't Jay love this? :)
Friday, July 18, 2014
My untrained eye
Oh my, we're over halfway through Summer 2014 and it is chilly outside. The high temps this week have barely reached into the 70's. I have been wearing long-sleeves and jackets. Crazy. You just never know what it is in store around here.
We began the summer with a Memorial Day weekend camp-out at our local state park. We had a great time, the weather was perfect (Christmas miracle) and the campground was packed. It was nice to see it being utilized. Memorial Day night, Jay was working, I was in bed and our night-owl of a daughter slipped getting out of the shower and fell hard on her left wrist. All I know about that night is my daughter crawled in bed with me about midnight, told me she had fallen, I asked her if she was okay, she said she hurt her wrist, I went to sleep and spent the night pushing her legs onto her side of the bed.
The next morning, I saw her wrist and could not believe my eyes. It was swollen and horrible looking, red and puffy. I told her I hadn't realized she had really hurt it, like that bad. She said she had called her dad (at work) and then woke her brother up twice (no help there) and crawled in bed with me. Somewhere along the line I have scared her into never waking me up, I guess. Why, oh why would you not come get ME if you were really hurting. I suppose I just should've known. Hmm.
So it's finals week at school and there is no way she can miss. I send her with some Advil and told her I would talk to the PE teacher about PE and make her a doctor appointment for late that afternoon. Her PE teacher made her run anyway (which I really do not understand) and she had a miserable day. By 3:00 when I picked her up for the appointment, her wrist looked worse...if that was even possible.
We had to see a different doctor and within 20 seconds, she said, oh, we might as well send you straight to x-ray. Twenty minutes later, she returns and said as shocked as she was, nothing was broken. Take some Advil. See you later. I was speechless. But they have the medical degree, right?
Two days later, I call the doctor's office again and ask to speak to our regular doctor. The wrist is not better, it's the same or worse. It looks horrific. I had bought her a brace at Walmart and was trying to get her to wear it, but she kept complaining that it hurt too much. Doctor says, bring her in. She goes back, doc says, yeah, it looks bad, the x-ray was clear, here is a brace to wear. Check back in a week if it's not better. We did discover we had been putting the brace I bought on backwards...thereby the rod was pushing her wrist down...which was causing pain. Oops.
A week later, I insist she see us again. They take another set of x-rays, which once again show nothing is broken. I'm kind of at that point where this mama is going to take somebody out if someone doesn't do something about this swollen, completely purple wrist. Apparently I got that point across because they referred us to an orthopedic doctor...and of course, that put us out another two weeks.
Four weeks after falling, the orthopedic doctor sees her wrist and comments that obviously something isn't right. He orders x-rays (they again show nothing is broken), and an MRI just in case; regardless, he will put her in a cast so it can heal. MRI shows fluid at the growth plate, whatever that means. Five weeks to the day she fell, Madolyn got a hot pink cast to wear for two weeks. It is off and she is now taking therapy for a couple weeks.
Although I am very thankful it wasn't more serious, I was very frustrated during this process. I respect medical providers and their education and knowledge, but I was dumbfounded with the idea that an untrained eye (aka Mom) could tell at 24 hours post-fall there was something wrong with this wrist and got nowhere. Why it took three different doctors, three sets of x-ray, an MRI and five long weeks for my daughter to get a cast is beyond me.
Next time, things will go a bit differently. I will remind them of this fiasco and demand a cast. Yes, I will be THAT mother. And our accident-prone daughter has added yet another injury to her very long list...
We began the summer with a Memorial Day weekend camp-out at our local state park. We had a great time, the weather was perfect (Christmas miracle) and the campground was packed. It was nice to see it being utilized. Memorial Day night, Jay was working, I was in bed and our night-owl of a daughter slipped getting out of the shower and fell hard on her left wrist. All I know about that night is my daughter crawled in bed with me about midnight, told me she had fallen, I asked her if she was okay, she said she hurt her wrist, I went to sleep and spent the night pushing her legs onto her side of the bed.
The next morning, I saw her wrist and could not believe my eyes. It was swollen and horrible looking, red and puffy. I told her I hadn't realized she had really hurt it, like that bad. She said she had called her dad (at work) and then woke her brother up twice (no help there) and crawled in bed with me. Somewhere along the line I have scared her into never waking me up, I guess. Why, oh why would you not come get ME if you were really hurting. I suppose I just should've known. Hmm.
So it's finals week at school and there is no way she can miss. I send her with some Advil and told her I would talk to the PE teacher about PE and make her a doctor appointment for late that afternoon. Her PE teacher made her run anyway (which I really do not understand) and she had a miserable day. By 3:00 when I picked her up for the appointment, her wrist looked worse...if that was even possible.
We had to see a different doctor and within 20 seconds, she said, oh, we might as well send you straight to x-ray. Twenty minutes later, she returns and said as shocked as she was, nothing was broken. Take some Advil. See you later. I was speechless. But they have the medical degree, right?
Two days later, I call the doctor's office again and ask to speak to our regular doctor. The wrist is not better, it's the same or worse. It looks horrific. I had bought her a brace at Walmart and was trying to get her to wear it, but she kept complaining that it hurt too much. Doctor says, bring her in. She goes back, doc says, yeah, it looks bad, the x-ray was clear, here is a brace to wear. Check back in a week if it's not better. We did discover we had been putting the brace I bought on backwards...thereby the rod was pushing her wrist down...which was causing pain. Oops.
A week later, I insist she see us again. They take another set of x-rays, which once again show nothing is broken. I'm kind of at that point where this mama is going to take somebody out if someone doesn't do something about this swollen, completely purple wrist. Apparently I got that point across because they referred us to an orthopedic doctor...and of course, that put us out another two weeks.
Four weeks after falling, the orthopedic doctor sees her wrist and comments that obviously something isn't right. He orders x-rays (they again show nothing is broken), and an MRI just in case; regardless, he will put her in a cast so it can heal. MRI shows fluid at the growth plate, whatever that means. Five weeks to the day she fell, Madolyn got a hot pink cast to wear for two weeks. It is off and she is now taking therapy for a couple weeks.
Although I am very thankful it wasn't more serious, I was very frustrated during this process. I respect medical providers and their education and knowledge, but I was dumbfounded with the idea that an untrained eye (aka Mom) could tell at 24 hours post-fall there was something wrong with this wrist and got nowhere. Why it took three different doctors, three sets of x-ray, an MRI and five long weeks for my daughter to get a cast is beyond me.
Next time, things will go a bit differently. I will remind them of this fiasco and demand a cast. Yes, I will be THAT mother. And our accident-prone daughter has added yet another injury to her very long list...
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Time keeps on slipping...into the future.
Ahhh, can you tell it's summertime? I went to my blog page and noticed my last post was way back on June 6. Who can even remember what they were doing that far back?! I'm still alive and well, people...just enjoying summer and it's busyness.
This week's excitement consists of one of my fondest childhood memories: The Martinsville Ag Fair. There is none like it. If you have a chance to come visit, please do so...(unless you're just a fair hater - you better stay home.)
I know some people just don't get into it like I do, but it's in my genes and I cannot imagine a summer without it. I go every day as much as I can and soak it all up. First rule: skip grocery shopping for the week - use the grocery money on fair food!! It can get a little pricey, so that's how I make it work.
A lot of time and energy is demanded to make it all together, and no one really realizes just how much until they've had a family member or friend on the board. I certainly hope that every person who enjoys even just a couple hours at the fair will extend a simple "Thank you" to the fair board at some point.
I was probably considered a "fair rat" when I was younger, spending all day, every day at the fairgrounds running around with friends and cousins, driving the ladies in the secretary's office crazy, answering the phone and giving out somewhat accurate information. Fast forward to the present and my kids are the fair rats running around driving everyone in the office crazy, enjoying their candy and air conditioning, answering the phone, etc.
It won't be long and the week will be over; the fairgrounds will stand empty and still. I often drive by thinking, wow, I can't believe just a few weeks (months, year) ago, that place was jam-packed with people from all over, partaking of the festivities. It's a beautiful little corner of my world, covered in a blanket of the Lord's protection. I firmly believe that.
If you have a chance, stop in and visit the Martinsville Ag Fair. And, please, say a prayer for the board members, volunteers, vendors and spectators. Praise the Lord that we are still able to host such an event with great success.
This week's excitement consists of one of my fondest childhood memories: The Martinsville Ag Fair. There is none like it. If you have a chance to come visit, please do so...(unless you're just a fair hater - you better stay home.)
I know some people just don't get into it like I do, but it's in my genes and I cannot imagine a summer without it. I go every day as much as I can and soak it all up. First rule: skip grocery shopping for the week - use the grocery money on fair food!! It can get a little pricey, so that's how I make it work.
A lot of time and energy is demanded to make it all together, and no one really realizes just how much until they've had a family member or friend on the board. I certainly hope that every person who enjoys even just a couple hours at the fair will extend a simple "Thank you" to the fair board at some point.
I was probably considered a "fair rat" when I was younger, spending all day, every day at the fairgrounds running around with friends and cousins, driving the ladies in the secretary's office crazy, answering the phone and giving out somewhat accurate information. Fast forward to the present and my kids are the fair rats running around driving everyone in the office crazy, enjoying their candy and air conditioning, answering the phone, etc.
It won't be long and the week will be over; the fairgrounds will stand empty and still. I often drive by thinking, wow, I can't believe just a few weeks (months, year) ago, that place was jam-packed with people from all over, partaking of the festivities. It's a beautiful little corner of my world, covered in a blanket of the Lord's protection. I firmly believe that.
If you have a chance, stop in and visit the Martinsville Ag Fair. And, please, say a prayer for the board members, volunteers, vendors and spectators. Praise the Lord that we are still able to host such an event with great success.
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