Other Sides

I always feel so strange waiting in line to donate blood. They sit you in chairs numbered from 1-4, and they are never spread far apart. So you sit a few inches from some stranger's elbow. Usually, I'm sitting in between two people. Today it was a young boy, who clearly had poor people skills. To my right was a very nice young girl. She was a chatty Cathy. She asked me about my nails, phone, and purse. I think I was a pretty good midway point in their spectrum. Just thought I would share that despite how people say I'm crazy, there is always someone on the other sides of me.

Does this shamble make me look sexy??

Two years ago, while playing softball, I injured my leg.  I ended up with a pretty good sized lump in the middle of my Achilles tendon.  I finished the softball tournament, of course, because I am too competitive not to.  I hope I learn some day. Especially since I recently played with a concussion and didn't even realize I had one.

Most weekends I am playing softball, and this last one was no different.  The team must be composed of 6 men and 4 women.  You can play with more to give players a break, but those numbers are the minimum.  We had plenty, because someone always gets hurt.  Unfortunately, three of our girls backed out.  So we had just enough to play.  Shortly into our second game, one of our girls hurt her hamstring.  Due to the amount of girls, and the way the line up is set up, I am the only woman available to run for her.  Later on, another girl gets hurt because she slipped off the base.  So now, I am taking turns running for two gimpy girls.

After the tournament, I was getting terrible stabbing pains in my leg.  The throbbing was miserable!!  I made an appointment for the following Monday.  As I mentioned before, I had been experiencing this pain for two years, and I had seen my doctor previously.  When he saw me again, and discovered that I was in for a softball related injury, he suggested that I find a new hobby. After a series of tests, he decided to send me to a physical therapist.

Today was my first appointment, and I have to say it was worse that I thought!  He started with having me do toe raises.  I did this with both legs, one, then the other.  Then he poked and prodded, and asked the age old question, "Does this hurt?"  All the while I am just trying not to scream like a little girl.  He then showed me some stretches to do a few times a day. I was then placed on a table, and he proceeded to put some pads on my Achilles, and whipped out a needle!  I thought, Whoa buddy what on Earth are you doing with that!!!!!  Shots in muscles I can handle, but in my very sensitive, extremely sore tendon.....I don't think so.  I don't know if he actually did inject it into my leg, but he told me, "Now you are going to feel a burning sensation."  I didn't at first, then I would have sworn that my entire calf, shin, and foot was on fire.  This process is called HVGS, high voltage galvanic stimulation.  I am pretty sure it is just a form of torture. 

I have been sidelined.  He doesn't want me to do anything!  I asked about jogging, and that was a no, before I could ask about anything else, he said I pretty much want you to do nothing.  Anything you might think of is restricted.  If you must walk, it will be at a shambling pace.  So now, instead of running from zombies, I am the zombie!!!!  He wrapped up my leg, told me to come back on Friday to get it re-wrapped, and then go back on Monday and Wednesday of next week.  I guess we will see how it goes!

Backpack, Backpack

Getting ready for school is a big deal.  Ryenn has been driving me a little batty with her need to get school supplies.  We start on the 7th this year, and it is coming up soon.  We don't know who her teacher will be yet, and most teachers have a supply list that they require for their class.  I keep trying to tell Ryenn that we don't have this information, and for some reason I still find myself shocked when she is immune to my logic.  I know how John must feel when he talks to me!


I finally break down and take her to Wal-Mart, THE hub for shopping and all things in our booming town. We are going to get the basics, notebooks, folders, pencils, erasers, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, pencil case, hand sanitizer, and tissue.  She is bounding down the aisles grabbing items, chucking them into the cart willy-nilly.  I discretely put things back, like any good, responsible mother would do.  When it comes time to pick out notebooks she chooses two, a Hello Kitty and a Unicorn (reminiscent of the old LisaFrank pieces).  A few notebooks later we spy a TMNT notebook.  Obviously targeting boys, but Leah liked it.  Ryenn decides to steal her thunder, and puts the Hello Kitty notebook back for her love of Michelangelo.  Who can blame her, really, he is a fun, joke-cracking, pizza eating, ninja turtle.  Just to make things more difficult, however, she later decides that other girls will make fun of her for having a "boy" notebook, and she will just use it at home.  This is after purchasing it. Sigh.

She then wants to buy her backpack.  After our experiences with Wal-Mart brand backpacks last year, I was hesitant to buy another.  I mean honestly, we went through a few because straps broke, seams busted, mysterious holes appeared.  So, this year I opted for searching elsewhere.  You know, that magical place that eventually ends up being Amazon. Upon checking the mail that day, I found we received a Landsend magazine.  It featured back to school items, as well as a section on how to choose the perfect backpack for your small child.  I was so excited!  We spent a few hours pouring over the magazine, and we thought we had made our decision.  I check my email, and I have one from Pottery Barn Kids.  Of course I open it, and lo and behold, a back to school section with special emphasis on backpacks.  After much debate over coloring, Ryenn chose her backpack.  Leah did too, but we decided she didn't actually need one.

So, we place the order and wait about three days before receiving shipping confirmation. I thought, "Wow! That was incredibly fast, especially with personalization!"  Four days after that we get a shiny package at our door.  John whips out his Utility Knife (whatever you do, don't call it a box cutter or he gets offended) and we bask in the presence of a superb backpack!  Ryenn is excited, Leah is angry, because we decided against ordering her one, and I am just glad that it is all over!  Until the first day of school when the teacher sends home a list of necessary supplies, and I unsurprisingly missed one!  

Quick and Dirty

Yes, another year gone.  Gone, and all without a single blog.  I did attempt on in October 2012.  I had a draft with about three sentences on it. I won't even promise to keep up this time.  I will just do my best to blog more than once a year.  It is too hard to start, and the most challenging part is wondering where to begin.

Last time I blogged I was whining about my inability to lose weight.  I  set a goal that I wanted to lose weight for Travis' wedding in October.  I worked hard, and ended up a fabulous 148 pounds! Then reality hit, and I remembered that I liked food.  So I gained a few, or 10, pounds back.  Then I got a terrific workout partner in March.  I lost the 10 pounds again. Then she got a job that involved shift work, and I lost her.  Not only did I lose an amazing motivator, but I gained about 20 lbs.  So, I am currently sitting at a very uncomfortable 160, and that is after lots of work to drop 8 pounds.  It is going to be another tough challenge, but I hope to be back down to 150 by this October.  We will see!

During the 2012-2013 school year, Ryenn became a Kindergartner!  We were so excited for her!  She did so well in all over her classes.  She learned to read, loves counting, sorting, and doing math.  She truly is her father's daughter!  In this school year, I also took the opportunity to go back to work with the school district.  I became an aide at the middle school working with the resource department.  It was a challenging year.  I learned a great deal about how kids with disorders learn and develop.  It also gave me the chance to work in the office for the 2013-2014 school year.  I will now be the attendance/scheduling secretary.

We took quite a few trips this year as a family, and just John and I.  We have been very fortunate!  In February 2013 we took a vacation to Utah to see the "Other Nunleys."  The first leg of our trip we stopped in Flagstaff, and stayed in the Little America hotel.  It reminded me of the Overlook Hotel, in that the decor was eerie, and everything was covered in snow.  I was only a little worried that we were going to be murdered.  On the way we stopped to see the Grand Canyon. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have never been, even though I have lived in Arizona most of my life.  It was absolutely breathtaking, then pretty boring.  Yeah, I can't believe I just typed those words! While in Utah, John and Ron spent a day snow boarding.  Brigette and I took a hit for the guys and held down the fort.  The next day was our reward...a girls day.  When the boys are away, the girls will play (or shop). We decided to eat lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  We wandered in and spent some confused time wondering why we were getting strange looks.  It turns out that our lunch date fell on Valentine's Day.  On our way home, we drove through the Petrified Forest. It was a fantastic trip!

Somewhere during all this traveling, Ryenn found time to play some sports.  She tried her hand at playing soccer and softball.  She was terrific at both sports, but she is very much my daughter and has decided that soccer has too much running!

Our second get away was done without our kiddos!  John and I met Ron and Brigette in Napa Valley for wine tasting and fun!  We spent the first day at various vineyards sampling some really terrific, and some fantastically terrible, wines. Our first stop was the Castello del Amorosa.  A winery/castle that is amazing.  The entire property took roughly 12 years to build, but 14 years of research to create!  The wine was yummy and the best part was they paired your selections with chocolate.  What is not to love!  Several wine tastings and a few funny purchases later we stopped for dinner.  I do not remember much about dinner.  The next day we went into San Francisco.  We went to the Fisherman's Warf, toured ships, ate delicious Italian Seafood, and walked for miles.  Eventually we made our way to Chinatown. We had a great time.

The third trip for this year, we decided to take the kids.  I guess they are allowed to have fun with us.  Our destination was Harrisonburg, VA to visit the Cases.  Upon arriving in Baltimore, we were told that there was a bomb threat at the rental car pickup location.  So we had to take a cab to the hotel.  When we got to the hotel they gave us a room with a single Queen bed.  Needless to say, it was a terrible beginning to our trip.  Thankfully, Bob and Mariah made our trip wonderful.  We invaded their home, played with their babies, and had a blast. They took us to DC where we went to various museums, and other historical sights.  We walked from Arlington National Cemetery to downtown, across the National Mall, and back.  It was a long, but really awesome day.  In the Natural History Museum, we found two new friends: Ryenn's pink elephant named Princess and Leah's coyote named Wolf. We went to the Air and Space Museum where we were able to see the Discovery Space Shuttle.  We also learned a bit about the planes that John's grandpa Roland "Buzz" Hamblin flew during his time serving in WWII.  We spent most of our nights playing the fun games: "Monopoly Deal," "Smart A**," and "Quelf."  Those nights were hilarious!  We experienced fireflies for the first time.  They are so beautiful. The last few days of our trip we went to a beach near Virginia Beach. The girls had so much fun building sandcastles, running from waves, swimming, and dancing.  We went to Williamsburg, and walked up and down the main street.  We gawked like tourists at the people dressed in costume, and soldiers in red coats marching up and down.  This only lasted for a little while, as the kids were melting.  Angry, hot kids are not fun.  Sadly, it came time to say goodbye to our friends.  We made our way back to the Baltimore airport, where our plans were dashed again.  This time our flight from Charlotte wouldn't make it in time for us to catch the connecting flight to Phoenix.  We had to get a hotel in Baltimore and try again the next day.After a long day of traveling we made it home around midnight.

This year I was talked into helping coach a Majors softball team for the City of Safford summer league.  The age group was 14-18 year old girls.  It was ridiculously tough!  I am really sad that the desire to play has left kids these days.  I know that I sound like an angry old person shaking my cane, but it is true.  In the beginning of the year they showed they had no will to win, and they are all sure that they know everything there is to know about the game.  It is really disappointing.  However, we had fun, and they finally decided that we knew enough to listen, occasionally. The team ended up getting 3rd place overall.  I am thinking about coaching again next year.  In fact, the middle school is planning on starting a softball team, and I have been asked to assist.  I'm pretty excited about this development in my life.  I always had the best coaches, and it only seems right to pass on the knowledge that they gave me to future ball players.

That is pretty much our year in a nutshell.  It this was a quick and dirty blog, but that is the way is has to be sometimes.

Weekends



 We put another great weekend into the books.  On Friday we stayed home and played Skyrim together.  For better or worse, Ryenn is really getting good at playing this game.  She was so excited when she slayed her first dragon.  Maybe someday she will even have the skills for a surgeon?? 



On Saturday we drove the kids to the "Old Library" so they could play on the stairs and see the fountain.  After running around for a bit, we took them to McDonald's for lunch an more running.  They actually climbed into the tunnels this time.  Neither of them have been very adventurous in the play place, so it was a nice change.  In the evening John and I met up with Bryan and his girlfriend Amy for dinner at Toni's Kitchen.  After all of this dieting an calorie counting, that pizza was the most delicious pizza I had ever tasted!  I might have cried if it had just been John and I.  We also went to the movies to watch "The Dark Knight Rises."  It was an excellent movie.  It had our attention from the second it started until the credits began to roll. 

This afternoon we made a trip up Mount Graham.  It was so nice to get out of the heat.  We grilled lunch, played in the sand, and had a water gun fight.  Being able to have family fun is such a blessing.



Look a birdie



The bird, hopping

It got away

Stuck

After having Ryenn and Leah I was miserable.  I hated the way my body did not look like my body.  I was about 25 years old, around 175lbs, and swollen.  My face was chubby....well, you get the idea.  I was never a tiny beauty queen in high school, and always weighed in at a very solid 159.  I was athletic and muscular with what I thought was a lot of fat around my midsection.  Oh how I wish I had embraced it back then.  How reality and experience changes your outlook. 
About 18 months after Leah was born I was still around 170.  I decided enough was enough.  So I started attending Zumba classes.  I will admit that I felt more that a little silly.  There was no, "Learn the moves" session.  You were thrown into the deep end with ladies that had been doing it for years.  They looked like professionals, and I looked like I was five understudies deep.  I was terrible.  Slowly I realized that if I focused on having fun I would be happier.  So, bumbling and fumbling along I attended Zumba classes in the early morning for a year.  I had so much more energy and lost 15lbs. It was great, up until I decided that I was working out so, "Yes, please give me a giant slice of cheese cake," or "Why of course I want that half of the pan of brownies."  Who was I kidding, leave me alone for an hour with a pan of brownies and there will be no evidence of brownies.  That caught up to me.  I even stopped working out for about 4 months.  I finally reached a point where I was not losing or gaining weight. I was just STUCK!

Ingredients for Green Monster
Forgot the banana..ooops

This week I have picked it back up in earnest and I hope to keep it that way.  I really have a lack in self-motivation, but I am planning on announcing every time I mess up and eat chocolate cake (in large quantities mind you).  I have downloaded an app on my iPhone called "Lose it!"  to count calories, keep track of workouts, and maintain my overall eating pattern.  I have resumed Zumba, and have discussed weight loss competition between John and myself. 

I have also been introduced to a smoothie called "Green Monster."  I learned that the oh so delicious creamer that I had been putting in my coffee (in rough tbsp) was 280 calories total.  YIKES.  More than 2 cups of Cocoa Puffs.  Yeah.  So I am going to substitute the Green Monster for my breakfast and my lunch until I go crazy from lack of food, and switch to just breakfast.  I am officially 156 as of today, and hope to lose 10 more pounds.  New tattoo after that.....maybe.

Bottoms up

The Apple and the Tree or whatever

The girls really love playing with our electronics. Most of the time I don't get to use my Kindle because, surprise, one of them is busy making sheep and finding a very hygienic crocodile water. I never have my phone since Ryenn is playing make a princess or angry birds.
Even the computer is a hot commodity in this house.

Leah's new passion is taking pictures. She is going to be just like mom. She uses my phone to capture weird moments in our lives, and for the most part sections of her face. It is adorable watching her run around telling coffee tables to say, "Cheese!" Here is some of her handy work. Enjoy.