Finding Time To Do It All

Braces Suck as Much as Crutches

Yesterday I got braces on my teeth.  My bite has been messed up for years, and I'm finally doing something about it (and yeah, my teeth were a little crooked too - but I'm really not doing this to fix them; it's just a pleasant side effect).  I planned a meal as if I would be able to eat it...

Unfortunately the pain didn't wait a day (I expected my teeth to be sore but not quite so quickly).  You know how it takes you a day or two to get sore after a big workout?  That's what I was expecting.  Not two hours after getting the damn things on my teeth!

So I cooked a roast in the crock pot.  By the time I cooked the rest of dinner, I just opted for potatoes because I knew by then I wasn't going to be eating much anyway.  And I cooked the shit out of the potatoes, until they were nearly creamy.  It turned out to be a smart choice because I couldn't chew those bitches, either.

Then I got a wise idea to fix toast, because that's soft, right?  WRONG!  When you eat gluten-free bread, the crust is really hard (like French bread).  I couldn't bite through the crust.  So then I tore the toast in half, thinking I could chew the soft middle.  WRONG AGAIN!  I couldn't chew a thing - because every time I did, I shredded some tender part of my mouth.  Turns out that metal is really sharp!

Utltimately I survived the night, but I'm not sure I can survive the weight loss regimen (i.e. not eating).  I love food, people, especially Reese's peanut butter cups, and if I can't eat them, I'll die.  I mean that literally; I will wither away and die.  I have a hard time keeping weight on, and I can't live on milkshakes (I might try though). 

I know, I know, the pain won't last forever.  Just about long enough for me to get over it and then go have the damn wires adjusted...but in eight weeks I'm pretty sure I'll lose more than a few pounds, and I'll look emaciated.

Yes, I admit it, tooth pain is the worst for me.  I've broken lots of bones (98 of them, actually - some were repeats), and yes, they hurt when the break.  They even keep me awake at night with pain.  However, they don't often make me want to CRY when they ache.  Teeth, on the other hand, make me want to bawl my eyes out when they hurt.  I don't know why that is, but it is.  Call me a crybaby if you want to, I don't care.  Just please make my teeth stop hurting!

Hopefully next week will be better - or maybe a run will help me forget about my teeth.  What I'm afraid of though is that all the bouncing will make my teeth hurt.  I can't win, right?

OK, enough ranting.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  And in case you're wondering, I went with all metal (instead of clear) because you can see the stupid things anyway, and I wanted to rock the school-girl smile as long as I could. :)

 

Remembering Mike Cantey

It's been a really tough week for me.  I get all wishy-washy this time of year for a lot of reasons, and this year is no different.  Unfortunately, my usual funk was thrown into a serious twist when one of the best people I've ever met, Mike Cantey, was taken from us.

Mike was the kind of guy who always had something funny to say.  He loved a great cup of coffee and good music.  One of his favourite past-times was playing video games. 

I met Mike in the early '90s when he was a reserve officer and I was on patrol.  He was riding with a K-9 officer who worked the same zone as me, and we ended up on several calls together one night.  I immediately liked Mike - he was cute, funny, intelligent...what's not to like?  Over the next few years I got to know him just by bumping into him on occasion and hanging out on calls and stuff.

Several years passed and I got married, got pregnant, and ended up in childbirthing class.  My husband and I walked into the first class and there sat Mike and his wonderful wife, Mary (turns out Mary and I went to high school together - what a small world!).  We spent the next several weeks hanging out in class and before you know it we both had boys, less than a month apart.

We hung out a lot those first couple of years.  Mary and I got to know each other pretty well, and the boys, A and E, played quite well together.  It was great.

But as things go, we drifted apart a little, mostly due to living on opposite ends of the county and having a little different interests.  I eventually had a second child, P, and ultimately went back to work, which limited my "hanging out" time.  Mary and I lost touch, but I often wondered what the Canteys were up to.

Enter Facebook.  I stumbled across both Mike and Mary within the last several months, only to hear that Mike was battling brain cancer.  In true form, Mike was keeping a sense of humour about it all and doing all he could to enjoy his next cup of coffee.  Mike was unique in that he could make anything seem funny, no matter how awful the subject.

I wasn't able to make time to go and visit Mike, and for that I am truly sad.  However, I was able to keep in touch with him and Mary through Facebook - and they were both great about updating their friends about their situation on a regular basis.  We knew what was going on and could send notes of encouragement or even just "like" a post one of them put up about their lives.

Sadly, Mike's condition took a complete turn on December 11, and he suffered a massive stroke.  He died, peacefully, on Monday, December 12.  He and Mary were married for 15 years, and their son, A, is only nine years old.

I buried a friend today - the first real friend I've had to bury in about 20 years.  Although it saddens me terribly, I am happy to know that he is no longer suffering and no longer battling for his life.  As much as we'll all miss him, Mike is truly in a better place (and I'm not even talking religion here).

The world was a better place with you in it, Mike.  We'll all miss you, brother!

 

I Love My Husband!

I don't know if he ever reads my blog anymore, and it doesn't matter.  I just don't ever do this - or at least, I don't feel like I do it often enough.

I LOVE MY HUSBAND!

I wouldn't trade him for the world.  He's not perfect (and I'm nowhere near perfect, so I should know all about that, right???), but he's close enough for me.  He does those dumb little things that make me happy, and he treats me with strawberries.  Here's an example:

David: Would you like some strawberries?

Me: Yes.  Yes I would.

David walks over with strawberries, blueberries, and coconut, ready to eat.

How fantastic is that?  He does stuff like that all the time - and that's just one very small example.  He also lets me buy ugly shoes and doesn't harass me too much about them when I do!

So, I wanted to officially write a blog post telling you all how great my husband is.  I wish I was as good to him, as he is to me (or maybe I'm really lucky and I've got him fooled into believing I treat him so well?).  I love you David, and I wouldn't trade you for the world! XOXO

Thanksgiving Is Over

Thanksgiving is over, and so is football (for some of us).  Thank God!

I love having time off to be with my family.  The problem is that everybody has expectations about where my time should be spent.  There are parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of the family who only get to see us on special occasions (mostly because we live in different cities and it's just hard to get together).  I love them all, and we actually manage to see a lot of them, but it sure is exhausting.

We did manage to spend an evening with good friends and that was quite pleasant.  I drank way too much and kept the children out late, and I'm sure I embarrassed myself in more than one way.  Fortunately the friends are close enough emotionally that they let me slide on the embarrassing stuff (dancing to the Bee Gees Stayin' Alive and admitting that I loved Barry Manilow - and I believe I belted a few bars of Mandy...) and close enough physically that it was a walk home afterward.  The hangover was hell though, so I paid for at least one of my transgressions.  One or two of those a year is all I can take; I'm too old for that kind of behaviour anymore.

Couple that with the biggest football weekend of the season (well, for in-state rivalries, anyway; this year there wasn't much competition in Florida for anything other than to see who sucked the worst), and you've got one of the busiest weekends of the year - and I don't even do the shopping thing because I just don't see the point in fighting over stuff.

Speaking of football, like I said last week, I love my Gators, but we sure do suck at football this year.  I say "we" because I say "we" when the team is good; therefore I say "we" when the team is bad (and in the South, fans are "the twelfth man").  So yeah, we sucked and we proved it.  I had no idea that FSU was as awful as they were; in the middle of the fourth quarter, they had less than 100 total yards.  I realise that yards is not synonymous with winning the game, based on the four completed passes interceptions that Brantley made to the other team.  It truly was a game of suckage.  But at least the weather was nice!

The Duey men before the game started...

For the first time, I took both boys and my husband to the football game.  I've taken E to a game before and he did well, and we were able to take P this time, and then managed to get David a ticket as well and lo and behold there we all were, even sitting more or less together.  It was really fun and the kids did great.  I'm sure David enjoyed the game more than I did since he's a Seminole fan, but he sure was quiet while watching (he was afraid because he was surrounded by Gators).  But it was fun and the boys were well-behaved and I'll do it again sometime.

But for this year, I'm glad football is over.  I'm always happy when it starts, and I'm always happy when it's finished - but I usually have more fun than I did this year.  I'm hoping next year the dynamic will be a little better (and so will the team), and maybe we can win one more game than this year.  Because a 6-6 record just sucks (but I also admit, it's not 0-10-1).

Yes, I will watch the Tidy Bowl game and cheer for the Gators - but I'm pretty sure I won't be there.

Fall Has Arrived

Yeah, football season is now well underway, and the Gators lost their first game last night to Alabama.  It's only football, but I wish we could have lost to someone besides the Tide (not that I expected to win, mind you; I'm realistic about such things).

The weather has finally cooled off (in fact, it was more like winter here last night, as the temperature got into the mid-40s and the highs the past few days have been in the 70s), and the children are able to play outside without any complaints about the heat - which is amazing because during the summer I couldn't even get them to set foot outside, or so it seemed.

Yesterday I took a 5-mile run and it was glorious.  The cooler temps made it so I could go that distance without water (gasp!) OR shoes, despite the fact that it was almost noon.  Just a few weeks ago there was no way on earth I could have run at that time of day on the pavement without shoes on.  But, it was great - except that it was just a tad too far and my feet are a bit tender today.

So, for the first time in months, I ran in my VFFs this morning.  It nearly killed me to run in shoes, but it was that or not run (which probably would have been better, come to think of it).  I made it about 0.1m and that was far enough to turn around and come home for the shoes.  But once they were on, I was able to fly - and that was nice for a change.  Combination of cool temps and shoes put me at a pace I don't often see (but to most of you out there, it's still pretty slow so I'm not going to brag :-P).

My new job is going great but the hours have been long so far.  I'm hoping that will slow down some in the next week or so.  The worst part about it is that instead of getting off early and being home with the boys, I'm taking them to school and working until 5:00 - which puts me home around 6:00 (I know, some of you commute much longer than that, but that's your choice).  I'm not accustomed to spending so much time in traffic and it's driving me bonkers.  But again, hopefully that will change soon.  At least I'm still finding time to exercise and spend time with the family - I just haven't been able to find much time to blog.

It's not that you're not important to me - quite the contrary.  It's just that my life has been pretty boring the past few weeks so hopefully you are out enjoying your family instead of reading about my new desk job! :-)

Ramblings

Howdy, remember me?  I'm that boring chick who left you earlier in the summer with a semi-announcement and then disappeared off the face of the Earth.  I'm really good at doing that you know.

If you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably figured out the big secret.  I am unemployed!  It's been a great summer being free of the stuff that goes with a job.  My house is the cleanest it's ever been, and hopefully I can keep it that way (not counting on it, but it's nice to dream).  I've spent quality time with my children, worked on my tan (shame on me!), visited friends, and watched movies.  I've been a complete and total slacker and I am a better person for it.  In fact, if you have the means, I highly recommend you take a few months for yourself sometime.

Through the heat, I've managed to stay in shape this summer.  All the housecleaning has allowed me to not sit and watch soap operas and eat bon-bons (soaps watched: 0.  Bon-bons eaten: 0.  Movies watched on Netflix: 6 (one a week)).  I've run as much as I wanted, when I wanted, where I wanted, and not been rushed (for the most part).  Having free time has shown me how long it takes to get a workout in, and I appreciate them even more now than I did when I was working.  In order to get a decent workout, you need about two hours including shower time.  That's a lot of time away from your family in the evenings.  I guess I knew that before, but it's amazing when you have nowhere you have to be at a specific time, that the entire morning is gone by the time you get out of the shower.

I'm on the prowl for a job now, and I am toying with the idea of something a bit different.  I'm enjoying blogging and would love to do it for a living, but somehow I doubt it will bring in the money like a programming job does.  Although, if I can blog on my own time and not have to warm a chair at specific times of day, I think I can do it (even if I have to write six blogs to make any money at all).  Who knows.

So, what have you been up to this summer?  I hope it's been a blast, and that you've been able to find time to whatever it was you wanted to do.  I really hope you found time to spend with the people you love most though; they are what's truly important!

Laughing, Playing, and Having Fun

Hello friends!  I can't believe time goes by so quickly.  It boggles my mind that it's already July!

This week I am home with the boys, so there isn't much going on.  Lots of relaxing and playing, but otherwise not much (maybe a little laundry here and there).  I've even decided to take the week off from doing much exercise - not because I have to, but because I want to.

It's been in the high 90s during the day here, and with an average of about 85% humidity, it's pretty damn miserable.  If I can't get out and run early, I'm not going (because even at 9:00PM, it's still 90 degrees)!  I may do some push-ups or something but either way, I'm taking it easy.

So I hope you're enjoying the summer, and I hope you had a blast this past weekend!

Barefoot Running Made Me More Awesomer

It's no secret that I run barefoot.  I absolutely love it, even though the pavement is now over 100 degrees by 10:00AM (yes, it's true!).  I have to hit the pavement really early or really late to get my runs in these days.  Heck, even if I try to do a sunny trail run, the damn dirt is too hot to run on!  But it's completely worth it.

Although I'm still building up my mileage after a winter of rehab (torn posterior tibial tendon), I'm doing 5k consistently and it's just awesome.  I love my little three-mile runs!  Yesterday I did a trail run for the first time in about 6 months, and it was even more awesome than I remember.  So awesome, in fact, that I did 4.8 miles instead of my goal of 3.2!  How's that for feeling good?  The best part?  I'm not sore today at all.

So anyway...I'm getting to the title of the post...

I started barefoot running for a lot of reasons.   One was that I couldn't get over a weird injury I had.  One reason was that it just sounded fun.  Another reason was that it was a challenge, and I'm always up for a challenge.  One more reason is the sheer weirdness of it.  I pride myself on being different, and you don't get much different than that.  And, living in Florida, I should be barefoot as much as possible - but I wasn't, and running barefoot was an excuse to get back to it.

So once I got the running thing down, I started realizing that I wanted to change a lot of things in my life.  I didn't need more money, or a fancy new car.  The things I wanted to change came from within.  I wanted to be healthier.  I wanted to be more patient (because I'm still a very impatient person).  I wanted to stop being self-centered.  I wanted to be able to play with my kids and enjoy it, even though I despise building things with Legos.

So after the running, I took another step, and cut out canned/processed foods.  It was a gradual process, but one I did make consciously.  For some reason I started realising that I felt better when I ate fresh foods, instead of peas from a can.  I stopped eating packaged cookies and started making them at home (yes, I still eat my share of junk food; it's just healthier than all those preservatives).  After awhile, I noticed that my stomach issues seemed to go away.

While researching all that, I came across the paleo diet.  Now, I didn't need to lose weight, but I wanted to see if I could take my health to the next level.  I was already healthy and fit (at least relatively speaking), and exercising on a regular basis.  But what if I could just feel amazing, all the time?  Enter the paleo challenge, a 30-day regimen of eating whole foods, and no grains.  Being a bread person, this was agony for me.  Amazingly, it worked out great and I found out a few things about myself in the process (one being that I am without a doubt gluten sensitive).  No more "real" bread for me :(.  I thank Robb Wolf's book for turning me on to this information.

So from paleo I ended up on Mark Sisson's site, Mark's Daily Apple.  Mark promotes the "primal" way of life.  This is a modified version of paleo, but it's a complete way of life instead of just a way of eating.  This is the part I was most interested in.  Primal living doesn't mean living in a cave, or a hut, without electricity.  It really means embracing the things that matter most in your life (whether you know it or not).  Eating right, staying fit (easily), playing with your kids, and looking good naked.  What's not to like about all that?

Since incorporating all this stuff into my life, I've become a better person - at least, I think so.  I'm more fit, and I dare say I look good naked.  I've figured out how to play with my boys - and I mean really play with them, not just pretend to play, if you catch my meaning.  I still despise Legos (because I'm not terribly creative), but I love racing them down a dirt road, climbing on the jungle gym, or climbing a tree.  Even when it's hot outside, I'll run around with them (but I admit that I prefer swimming, as long as the water isn't too cold).  I'll go roller skating and spend all my time holding Lil P up, because he doesn't have his legs yet.  We take them to a water park and I spend all day doing whatever they want to do, which is much more fun (and easy) than trying to convince them to always do my favourite ride.  when I watch TV, it's just as likely to be The Regular Show on Cartoon Network as anything else (I still refuse to watch the news though).

So yes, running barefoot made me a more awesome person.  Hopefully it will continue to do so!

Vibram Five Fingers: Observations

I love my Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  I've mentioned before that I have several pair of them and I adore them.  But there is one thing that so many people talk about, that I have not encountered directly... the infamous VFF stench.

This is going to sound weird but mine don't stink.  I have six pair of VFFs. I wear them to work, I wear them on the weekends.  I wear them when the pavement is too hot to run barefoot.  In short, I don't just wear them when it's cold, and my feet surely sweat in them like they do in any other shoes (other than sandals, they are all I wear).  In the winter I wear socks (with only one pair; they are the only ones big enough to accommodate socks).  The rest, no socks.

My VFFs don't smell any worse than my other shoes (meaning my husband can stick his nose in, take a deep whiff, and say, "smells like a shoe").  I'm not saying they don't smell worn; I'm saying they don't smell bad enough to gag a maggot, which is what I hear most people saying.

VFFs smell pretty bad when you buy them, IMHO.

My boys' VFFs

My kids, on the other hand, managed to stink theirs up within just two weeks.  I got each of them a pair the day before Mother's Day, and both pair have been washed twice since them.  My boys will take them off on the way home from school and I have to put the windows down because of the stink.  I've reached the point of telling them they have to keep their shoes on in the car, and when we get home, I spray them with Febreze and take them directly out into the sun to bake and dry.

I don't know if it's the sand, or water/traipsing through puddles, or what...but mine don't smell like that, or even close.  Am I doing something wrong???

 Just an observation, and curious as to why my feet don't stink so badly...

Please note: yes, my poop DOES stink; I'm not saying I'm special, just curious about it! ;-)

Minimalist Shoes - for Kids!

You all know how much I love to run barefoot (when I'm able to), or even BE barefoot (as I type this, I am sitting at my work desk...barefoot!).  Last year I pretty much gave up regular shoes completely.  If there is a raised heel, I don't wear it.  I saved one pair of shoes "just in case I went on a hike or something".  It turned out to be a good decision, because I just spent three months in a boot and needed the height...but that's a different story.

Now that I've freed my feet again, I'm back to my minimal footwear.  I wear moccasins, sandals (no heel), Vibram Five Fingers, and flip-flops on rare occasion.  I have even been known to wear Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats to work with a skirt.  My kids, on the other hand, wear the heaviest shoes known to man: Skechers and Nikes.  There is no way I would wear either of their shoes for longer than 10 seconds.  Of course, these are the tennis shoes they are required to wear to school; when not in school, they are either barefoot or in Crocs.

Apparently, shoe companies are starting to wise up on children's shoes.  Now they are making the same minimalist shoes for kids, that they make for adults, which is uber-cool in my humble opinion.  There is a Fila Skele-toes that comes in kids sizes, and now Merrell will be releasing some in May (w00t!).

Jason Robillard over at Barefoot Running University has done an excellent writeup on the children's shoes (as well as scads of adult shoes), so please check out his site for more information.  If you've never heard of Jason (where do you live, under a rock?), he's a well-known barefoot runner and evangelist.  I've never had the opportunity to meet him (although I'd love to when the chance is available) but we do both belong to the same online "club", Barefoot Runners Society.

It makes me really happy that shoe companies are starting to realise we need to solve the problem before it gets started.  And yes, you can bet I'll be checking out investing in some of these shoes for my boys very soon!