Watch Out for the Glass!

The turn signal lightbulb went out on the truck and Emerson went to change the bulb for me. The bulb was really stuck and in the process of pushing it in and turning it, the bulb broke and sliced into his thumb. It took awhile to stop the blood from spurting, but he seems to mostly be okay. He is just inconvenienced by a very sore thumb this week. Today, Dexter managed to trip while walking out of his bedroom and stabilized himself by putting his hand through the glass of the pantry cabinet door. If you really need to see the results, check out Dexter's Facebook page. Of course I didn't want to be left out, so when I came home and tried cleaning up some glass shards the vacuum missed, one of the shards managed to make its way into my thumb. Feeling rather wimpy at this point, I ended up asking Dexter to pull the glass out for me. It's probably a good thing Dwayne isn't here since he's a fainter...

Challenge Over, Life Continues

The 100-Day Heart Challenge is now over and I came in 4th. In addition to losing 25 pounds, I lost about 3% body fat, brought my glucose down from pre-diabetic to normal level, lowered my blood pressure from a scary high level to practically normal, and made dramatic changes to my triglycerides level. I'm so happy to be healthier and I plan on continuing with what I learned during the challenge. We ended things with a 5K and I even sprinted the last 200 yards of that (because a friend challenged me to). I have a lot more weight to lose, but I plan on doing it the proper way. Emerson and I have been going to the gym together and we're both trying to eat healthier. Some of my coworkers go walking with me for a mile or so most days and we're helping keep tabs on each other.

So here is what our little family has been up to lately:
Emerson is finishing his special education certification this summer. His classes are done and now he just needs to pass off his student teaching and pass the Praxis exam. He has been working like a maniac to get our yard ready for July 4th festivities with the family. Dwayne has moved to Chicago to sell home security systems for the summer. It has been tough for him to be so far away from family and sales work has been very tough. Dexter finished his junior year of high school and he's continuing the job search. He has pioneer trek at Martin's Cove coming up on Monday. I have been very busy at work with various fundraising events. I was happy to get our garden in and it's one of my best sources of sanity. I sure do love to watch things grow!

5K

We have a semiannual 5K where I work. It's the one time we can bring our families and get together. Last year, I wore a "Chubby and Dangerous" shirt (Valentine's leftover with picture of a cupid) for the race. I tried running a little at the beginning and that messed me up for the whole thing. I hurt like crazy and didn't think I could make it at all. Because we went to a turnaround point and came back, it was hard to see so many people on their way to finishing the race when I was only 1/3 of the way done. The nice thing was they all cheered me on and gave me encouragement. It took me an hour to finish and I was the very last person. They were already picking up the cones, signs, and water tables.

Last night, I completed the 5K in 40 minutes, 36 seconds and I was not even close to being the last person to finish. I did what Traci taught me - paced myself by walking 5 minutes, jogging one minute. I adjusted as I felt tired by walking 2 minutes then jogging 30-45 seconds. I even jogged across the finish line!! That was an amazing feeling and I can't wait to see if I can get even better for The Race for Red. We only have 10 days left in this Heart Challenge. It's hard to believe this is almost over.

Promenade

The promenade at the prom. It's huge!! It was actually a lot more fun for me than it would have been if I hadn't chaperoned the choir and gotten to know some of the kids. Still, it's a really big high school and it took a long time to get through all the couples. Dexter's group ended up near the end (of course). It rained a bunch today so they changed their plans some and ended up playing hide and seek in the mall, running around the auditorium of their high school, and miniature golfing (?) around the high school lawn.

It took me nearly an hour to do Dexter's hair in three herringbone braids. I'm pretty safe in saying he had the fanciest hair of any guy there.
Dexter made his corsage for his date. It is a fabric rose on a fabric cuff. He even machine embroidered Prom 2009 on the back of the cuff. His friend Colby taught him how to do it.

Dexter's group was extremely good at coordinating the guys' look with the girls' dresses. Colby and his date were with the group, but had wandered off before we could take a picture. They're really a wonderful group of kids! I got to know most of them on the choir tour.

Dexter's date is Jenna King. She's a delightful, yet quiet girl. They made a very handsome couple.

Utah Proms

Proms in Utah are very different than what I'm used to. Dexter is going to his prom tomorrow and I'm still trying to get a handle on the details. Apparently, the dance itself is not really the big event. These kids make their arrangements in groups. The "group" of 3 or 4 couples plan an entire day's worth of activities for prom. Dexter and his group will begin at 8 am tomorrow with some outdoor games like ultimate frisbee. At some point they are moving on to play board games on the roof of the high school (one of the guys in their group has a dad with keys to the school). The boys have plans too cook dinner at one of the guys' houses. The girls need a couple of hours to get ready and the boys will get ready and occupy their time watching videos until the girls are done. The prom itself starts at 8 pm and is held at the Provo Library ballroom. At 9 pm is the promenade (is that where the name prom came from?) which is the highlight of the evening. Parents, friends, alumni, etc. gather outside and each couple is anounced at the top of the stairs and then parades down the stairs for all to see. My guess is that this was the best way for people to show off their beautiful clothes and get the most for all the money they spent. After the promenade, it's back to dancing until about 11 pm. Dexter says the da full of activities is Utah County's substitute for renting hotel rooms like other kids around the country do. Where my prom was more about the dance and who was dating who, the proms here are more likely to have friends taking friends. One of my friends has a daughter who is going with a friend instead of her boyfriend.... Very different! I'm hoping to get pictures on here tomorrow of Dex. His tux for the prom cost more to rent than what he paid to buy his choir tux!!! He did get a bit of a discount since they forgot to send pants with hix tux and he will have to pick those up tomorrow. Right now he is at a friends house working on the corsage for his date. I heard sewing machines in the background and he said they weren't using flowers, so I don't know what to be prepared for. Last year the prom was on his birthday and he had no money (plus he was only a sophomore) so he didn't go. A vanful of his friends stopped by in their beautiful clothes to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. It was darling! To be continued...

So Sick

I've had a tough time these past few days. My biggest allergy is to cedar and it hit me hard this year. Unfortunately, the aftermath of a bad allergy year is that my sinuses stay messed up and I end up with a sinus infection. I didn't see it coming and it took me down pretty hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly a wimp when it comes to getting sick. Most times I can just get some extra sleep and be done with it or at least tough it out in the meantime. There was no way to tough this one out and I remembered how nice it was when I was a kid and Mom was there to tuck us in, clean up the messes, and supply us with 7-up and chicken soup. I don't like being sick as a grown-up since nobody's there to baby me and everyone still wants me to take care of them. Husbands, kids, and dogs don't seem to understand that it's possible for moms to get sick. I felt bad about missing work since there are some projects I'm working on that nobody else can take care of in my absence. Now that I'm feeling better, I'll have to work harder not to get sick again.

Mourning

I attended a funeral today for the husband of one of my coworkers, MaryAnn Smith. MaryAnn was such a great person to talk to about what was going on with my dad. Her husband had a fatal illness that slowly took him out over a period of two years. He was in a coma for the last little bit. They had chosen hospice care since his disease was incurable. MaryAnn was a great source of strength for me when I struggled with how to feel about Dad's situation. She was relieved when her husband finally passed away since he had suffered so much. She also missed him, of course. While sitting at the funeral, I found myself very overcome with emotion as I listened to their children talk about their dad. He was only a year older than my dad and I found myself jealous of that family because they got to have a funeral. We all knew that a church funeral didn't really make sense for my dad and he had a thing against funerals because of traumatic family funerals had been for him. I still wished I could have given a talk on his life, what I learned from him, the funny stories, and my testimony of the gospel and how we can be a family forever. I'm hoping that I can have a meaningful experience when we get together to spread Dad's ashes. If anyone has an idea on when this might happen, please let me know. My schedule seems to book up fast.

Easter

I find Easter to be a curious holiday. Unlike Christmas, the religious and secular sides of the holiday don't seem to connect at all. As a child, I actually believed the Easter Bunny hid the eggs for us as we slept. In my teenage years, I was allowed to help the egg hiding effort. It's a wonder none of us ever got sick since we hid the eggs while the younger slept and they stayed there all night. Since Oregon weather usually includes rain, the egg hunts were done inside our living room. We had our traditional potato salad made with brightly colored eggs (after 8 hours at room temperature). My biggest Easter memories while growing up involve the chocolate we got in the Easter baskets - baskets of goodies were also hidden around the room. Kathy and I would sort the chocolate into different baskets and then pretend our dolls were shopkeepers selling the candy from their basket storefronts.

When I married Emerson, I was surprised to see that his entire family, regardless of age, participated in the Easter egg hunt. His grandma has been known to outhunt the children! There are no excuses in his family for skipping the egg hunt or the potato salad using those eggs. I found myself pondering this as I prepared for today. The boys are older and don't participate much. I wasn't really in the mood for coloring eggs and hiding them. Eugene, Emerson's brother, reminded me of the importance of keeping the tradition going. I found myself having a lot of fun coloring the eggs (I bought a camoflauge style dye kit) and hid the eggs in the living room instead of the back yard. The toughest part was waiting for Dwayne to get home from work so I could have the boys search for the eggs. I think the boys enjoyed the hunt and I know we all enjoyed the potato salad. I didn't feel guilty at all about having some despite my desire to lose weight.

Blogging

I've been really good about blogging for the Heart Challenge and have neglected posting much here. During the first three weeks of the challenge, I lost 7 pounds. I'm exercising like crazy and watching everything I eat. I've cut portion sizes and try to make better choices on what to eat. I went to see my doctor yesterday and she was shocked when I told her what my beginning assessment numbers were for this challenge. She said I was probably 3-4 weeks from becoming diabetic and if it weren't for all the exercise and change to my eating, I would have been on high blood pressure medication as well. Fortunately, my blood pressure has already come down some and I tested negative for the test they do for diabetes (AC1?). The doctor had me pretty scared and it became very real to me that my health had been in serious jeopardy and I didn't really realize it. I knew I was overweight and not as healthy, but didn't know how bad the numbers were until taking on this challenge. What a blessing that I got selected for this experience!

TAKING THE CHALLENGE

On February 13, I began participating in the 100-Day Heart Challenge. It is a 100-day competition sponsored by Utah Valley Regional Medical Center to see which woman in Utah County can make the most improvement in her heart health. There were 15 women from all parts of Utah County selected for this challenge out of over 100 applicants.
We are working highly skilled heart physicians and experts in exercise and nutrition. First, we were asked to attend a workshop on heart health offered by the hospital. Then, we had a bunch of tests to see what kind of shape we were in at the beginning. The same tests will be performed at the conclusion of the challenge to gauge the success and improvement of all the participants. The woman who improves the most will win a $500 Visa card and a one-year membership to the hospital's Wellness Center. We have weekly nutrition classes, consult with a dietician, and work with a personal trainer on a workout routine. I generally do one hour of cardio three times a week and strength training three times a week. The challenge ends May 29. We are supposed to be blogging about our experiences at http://www.utahadventurer.com/heartchallenge. They have it set up, but no instructions yet on how to log in, so there are no entries to look at right now. I'm pretty excited about this and have already lost 4 pounds in the first 2 weeks of the challenge.