Quote from death row

"But every person is more than the worst thing they have ever done, and I am no exception."
- David Lee Powell

Running friend Tony Plohetski has been covering the story of the execution of death row inmate David Lee Powell. No matter your position on the death penalty, this quote rings true. I was completely moved by it. Tony was a media witness at the execution on Tuesday (most recent story is here). Well done Tony.

No more running

I'm to the point in the pregnancy where my body does not want to run. I probably could run if someone made me, but it is beyond the point of comfort. Heck, I get to about 30 minutes of walking and I have to pee so bad it is painful. Beyond the bladder compression issues, the muscles in my lower abdomen start to ache at the end of a walk and I have had two episodes of Braxton Hicks contractions during walks recently. No worries. I don't mind shorter, easier episodes of exercise. I'm thankful that my back does not hurt (knocking on wood) nor do I have any other sciatica or nerve issues in my pelvis or legs (knocking on wood again). Those issues are extremely common during pregnancy.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes while I read my book club book. I tried to then get on a stationary bike (this time a recumbent), but my abdomen really hates the bike and only let me do about 7 minutes on it. I can't do the regular upright bike or the recumbent without significant discomfort. So, I got back on the treadmill and walked another 15 minutes. Not bad.

As much as I love running, I must say that walking at the gym while reading is pretty nice as well. I think getting to use the other side of my brain while exercising is really relaxing. Usually I spend my time running either completely zoning out or using the time to think through and work through any stressors of the day. Reading a book on an air-conditioned treadmill made me actively focus on something else, while at the same time feeling doubly productive - I got my workout in plus 40 pages of my book club book. Awesome!

Oh, and a random detail that I was thinking about just now...when you are pregnant, you need to know if you are Rh+ or Rh-. The + or - at the end of your blood type, right? Well, I'm O+, a pretty common blood type. You know what Chad is? The complete opposite of me, AB-. For some reason I find that fitting. I'm curious to find out what our baby's blood type is.

Random Thoughts

As an attempt at non-baby thinking today, I thought I'd share...

• I really like our neighborhood, especially the fact that Bambi and all of his many friends live here and roam the streets.
• Lost killed me last night. I cried. It was fitting. It made sense. I just didn't want it to happen. Chad said 'It is LOST, so you never know', when discussing what might eventually happen with those two characters by the last episode. (trying not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it)
• Chad's favorite character on Glee is Brittany. She is so funny. Whoever does the writing for her lines is a genius. I like Kurt because he is quite a bit more complex, but Brittany is a close second.
• I really want to learn how to knit. Holly, I said I would email you about it, but clearly I have procrastinated. I will email you soon. In the meantime, I may need to visit a craft/fabric store.
• We're doing better now with the passing of Beans. Both Miko and Felicia seem to have moved on and are enjoying their new routines. They have been very sweet to us and each other.
• We tried the new restaurant in the Arboretum (Saks/Starbucks side) called Newk's last night. They sent us a postcard for a free Big Crispy treat, so we went and had dinner. Chad liked his pizza (it smelled divine), and I thought my salad was pretty good. They are still learning the ropes over there, so if you go, know that. We got our free rice crispie treat, which was yummy, and were also given a free piece of strawberry cake to try. I tasted the icing and it was delish! Chad seemed to enjoy it. Newk's is an order at the register and take your number to your seat kind of place. They have sandwiches, salads, soups, and thin-crust pizzas. We like places where you don't necessarily have to tip and can eat a full, non-fast food tasting meal for under $20 for the two of us.
• I wonder if I'll be able to run Boston next year. I'm qualified. I would like to complete the distance and get the experience of doing it again, not to worry about my finish time at all. Chad is qualified, too, and it will be the first time we are able to run it at the same time.

That's all I have to say for now. Carry on.

obsessions

Most of you reading can relate to being obsessed with running. You think about your race, your goal time, your workouts, what you wear, what you eat, what pace you are running, how your body feels. These are all common things that we runners like to think about, talk about, and obsess over (some of us more than others). We obsess over our times and force ourselves to run without a watch. We obsess over distance and force ourselves to just run for a certain amount of time. We've all been there.

Some of us obsess about food. We think about how much or little we're eating. We think about if we're eating healthy or junk food. We count calories. We eat with reckless abandon, not worrying about the calories. We seek out restaurants that fit our own particular 'foodie' needs.

I'm obsessed. I'm starting to 'nest'. This whole nesting thing they pin on pregnant women has little to do with actually preparing the physical part of the baby's living space. No, nesting is rather an obsession of the pregnant mind. Ask me what I think about when I'm not consciously trying to focus on work - and believe me when I tell you that work focus takes lots of effort these days. What am I thinking about? Pretty much everything baby-related.

Being pregnant in general - how big I am, what I'm feeling in my belly, is my belly bigger than last week, is this position that I'm sitting in or standing in good for the baby, what am I going to eat next that is good for the baby, when am I going to fit in my exercise today, do these clothes still fit, do I need more maternity clothes, did I take my vitamin, did I do my birthing class homework....
Preparing for baby's arrival - do we have our lists/registries ready, what are we going to have to buy for ourselves, what do we really need, what do we really want, do I know what insurance will cover, we really need to order our glider if we're going to get one, diapering, baby care stuff, breastfeeding stuff, reading books, thinking about our classes, the actual labor and delivery...wow, we're really going to have a baby.
Preparing the house - we need to get rid of stuff, we need to re-do the closet, why is it so darn cold in here, wow we have so much stuff yet to bring in the house, we really need to get rid of stuff...

The thoughts go on and on. The oddest thought that I had recently (don't judge, just laugh) - "We're going to have a baby. It is going to come out of my body and be there and we can't put it back. You can't 'undo' a baby."

I'm obsessed. 95% of what I think about is baby related. It is also completely uncontrollable. My mind just goes there, and from what I'm told is completely normal. It is nesting.

For those of you who talk to me sometime in the next many months - I really will try to think of something other than the baby to talk about with you. I love hearing about what everyone else is doing. If you want to talk to me about something other than baby-related things, I'm all ears and will eagerly break out of my nesting mind-set to try to be a 'normal' person to talk to.

More preggos

My count is at 34 (due Jan-Oct 2010) including the next five ladies...

Ashley G
Kris E's wife
Steph W
Jane W
Katy TJ

I mean business.

Don't mess with me today. I have been wronged multiple times by a local furniture delivery company in the past week and I am on fire! I have filed a complaint with the BBB - with which the company currently has an 'A' rating. Shocking to me.

See, I do not get treated poorly. If a company is going to treat me poorly, I will not associate with them. If they try to make amends, fine, I'll listen to reason and potentially give them a second chance. However, if they try to mislead me more than once, I am done.

In this situation, I will not patronize the store that uses this particular delivery company either, which is a shame because it is the main baby superstore here in Austin and where my mom works. I have also written a letter to the furniture maker, expressing my disappointment in their association with this store (their 'exclusive dealer') due to their unsatisfactory delivery practices...see if I want any additional matching pieces to the two we already have, including the conversion kits that turn the crib into a toddler bed or full size bed, then we have to purchase it at that baby superstore. grr...

Watch out, people. I'm on a roll today.

If there are any of you strong enough to help Chad move the heavy dresser up one flight of stairs, can you please email me? Your assistance might be needed if this doesn't resolve. We can pay you with beer, pizza, or just continue to appreciate you as a helpful friend. :)

High Mileage Mama!

I had a 'high mileage' day yesterday!!! My total for the day was 6.45 miles! I walked 2 in the morning. After work, Tara came over and we did the 1:30 walk/1:00 run workout for 3 miles (she is coming off of a hip stress fracture - yikes!) and then walked easy together for another 1.4-1.5.

I didn't even realize how far it all was until we were walking at the end.

Yes, I had a water bottle with me the whole time and make an effort to drink to stay hydrated. As a result, I had to pee 4 times in the middle of the night.

Woohoo for 'high mileage'!

Emotional Day

First, let me say that I'm not complaining in any way whatsoever about this sweet baby that I'm carrying. We are so lucky to be pregnant and with a child that as far as we can tell is healthy and thriving. This post has nothing to do with the completely blessed life that I'm fully aware that I have.

Today, however, was hard on me emotionally. I almost threw in the towel and crawled back into bed.

1. We received the news that we're having a little boy. I knew it. I was prepared for it. I'm going to have to take a day or so to let it sink in, that's all. I will be honest in saying that I was hoping that all of the boy signs would be wrong and that she would tell us 'It's a girl!' today.
   
2. Not more than 15 minutes later, I was told by my doctor that I'm too fat. She didn't say it in those words, but she definitely had a frank discussion with me that I am too heavy right now compared to my starting weight. I freaked out and cried and was a blubbering mess. It was really hard to hear, even though I'm completely aware of how much I weigh and know that she is only looking after my health. According to the charts, I have gained too much (almost as much as some women gain in their entire pregnancy) and by gaining too fast I'm putting myself at risk for complications later on. If only I could really control it better. I'm eating a variety of foods and exercising 3-5 times a week moderately, so she told me to stick with it. She suggested two things to focus on so that I don't feel like I have to 'diet' - cut back on simple sugars where I can and do my exercise after I eat. I'll try to do better on those two items, but warned her that I really might just gain weight easily and be 50+ pounds heavier at full term.
   
   The weight thing wouldn't be such an issue if I hadn't gotten up extra early to get my workout in before my weigh in. I also was sure to have caffeine in my tea to help me poop to lighten my load. It is absolutely sick that I feel like I need to work out and be as light as possible before going to the doctor simply to avoid being called out about my weight. I am hard enough on myself when I'm not pregnant.
   
3. One of the pieces of nursery furniture was being delivered today (which we specifically paid to have delivered because of how heavy it is) and they only sent one man to lift it. He arrived with the news that their policy was to only bring the item in the door, not bring it upstairs. I told him that we would not have paid for it to be delivered at all if it couldn't be delivered upstairs. He said that he and another person would be back on Monday to take it upstairs, but right now it is sitting in our front hallway.
   
4. Immediately after the delivery mishap, I was driving out of the neighborhood and a squirrel darted out under my car. I was afraid of killing it, but had no idea I could do worse....I only hit a little bit of him, so he wasn't killed instantly. When I looked back in my mirror to see if I had hit him, he was flailing around and stuck in the road in pain. I freaked out, screaming and crying, a total hormonal mess, and had to pull over the car. The squirrel did die, but his horrible painful death was my fault.

It was not a good day for me emotionally.

From that point on, things have resolved. I had an endocrinologist appointment and my thyroid levels are good. She also said that she had the opposite opinion of my doctor in terms of my weight. She likes to know that her patients are gaining weight so that she knows their hormones are in balance. She thought I was doing well and told me not to worry. I love her for saying that. She also confessed to her own initial disappointment in having a boy first, but that it turned out to be the best thing for her family. She said boys end up becoming good big brothers to their little sisters...made me feel good.

My mom and I also went shopping for baby boy clothes and bought all kinds of cute things - all either on sale, from a consignment store, or with a coupon. We got lots of things for little dough!

quote from colleague

...who is doing an IM 70.3 this weekend.

"I feel ready for the swim and bike but I honestly have not done any run training. I know going in that it is going to be a run/walk/amble. I am hoping to finish in one piece with not too much chafing."

Seems like he is being realistic. Hopefully he remembers body glide for his transition bags. Not that I do triathlons, but I have so been there with the 'not too much chafing' goal.

Love it.

mad at wheat

I'm so pissed at myself. The past 16 hours have been really tough for me. See, I have been slowly been giving myself permission to eat bits of wheat again when I feel like 'the baby wants it'. It started with one biscuit many weeks ago, then a slice or two of 'real pizza' from Papa Johns and has escalated to the point where during vacation I thought it would be okay to have things like sandwich bread, pita bread, half of a muffin, carrot cake (shared), and cookies on the plane. See, my logic was that wheat tends to give me the same symptoms that I have been dealing with recently because of the pregnancy, so if I was going to have to suffer with gas, bloating and intestinal discomfort anyhow, I might as well get to eat the good stuff.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Bad decision. Monday - Pita bread - just gas. Tuesday - 1/2 muffin, sandwich bread at lunch, 1/2 carrot cake slice at dinner, biscoff cookies on plane - gas, intestinal discomfort, bloating. Wednesday - 2/3 foccacia bread pizza at dinner - it almost killed me. I was so miserable. I think the increase in wheat over the past three days caused a corresponding increase in symptoms. I could not sleep. I was in pain. I was swollen. I was in pain. I had the worst bloating and gas since before I decided to go wheat-free last year.

I'm so sorry body. I will do better. If the baby wants 'real' bread, I'll try to tell the baby no. I will not eat bread just because it makes restaurant choices easier. I may slip up and have another biscuit, because let's face it, they are damn good. But really, I'll choose better.

Physically, this has been the worst 16 hours since last year. I'm absolutely miserable right now. Ugh.

Jones Family Humor - Masters Edition

Day 1 of the Masters
Chad enters my office and sees our cat Miko resting on the windowsill - trying to lure her into his office says to Miko, "You know, in my office you can watch the Masters Live. It's like getting to watch birdies.....and eagles.......but eagles are scary..............................You like watching birdies."

We bust out laughing, not at the typical play-on-words humor of cats liking golf because they like to see birdies. No, the unexpected comment, "Eagles are scary" had us cracking up. Miko definitely does not like watching eagles.

In case you are wondering, our cats also have their favorite players that they like to root for when we watch golf -

Felicia always takes Tiger Woods.
Miko roots for Mickelson
Beans would always root for Ben Curtis.

Me? This year I plan to pull for Padraig Harrington. He is my newest favorite player. I still love me some Adam Scott, Justin Leonard, love Phil Mickelson as well, but Paddy is my new favorite.

Chad likes lots of players.

the past few years

Man, time sure does fly when you're having fun! Here we are in 2010 and I have taken a moment to look back at the past five years. So much can change in a short period of time.

2010 - Chad and I spent our first Easter together in Austin after traveling for four years in a row. We are expecting our first child. Neither one of us is training for a specific race right now. Chad now owns his own construction business and we both work out of the house.

2009 - We went to the Masters this weekend in April 2008 and Chad got to meet a bunch of my extended family. I was completing my first training season with Team Rogue and had just started tapering for Nashville. We were also now living in our first house together.

2008 - Chad and I had just gotten back from our honeymoon and he moved into my condo in South Austin. We would register for St. George again this April and I would train with Mac over the summer. Chad qualified for and ran Boston 2008, despite our wedding and honeymoon getting in the way of his training.

2007 - Visiting Tara in NYC this time in April. Chad had not yet proposed. He had not yet qualified for Boston, so we opted to not go that year even though I could have technically run it. I was running with Mac's PR for the 5k/10k group at the time, and we were planning to sign up for Ruth's BQ group for the fall marathon training. We registered to go to St. George again. I had quit teaching and started my current job in January of 2007.

2006 - Tapering for Boston. I had one of my best groups of students that year in school. I had been dating Chad for about 8 months.

2005 - just entered the lottery for St. George. I was running in the PR for 5k/10k group that spring and was planning to do the fall marathon training. Note: I was two months away from meeting Chad.

Thank You Easter Bunny!!!

The Easter Bunny visited me for the first time in many, many years! I
love white chocolate!

Exercise!!

Guess what? In the past week, I have exercised five days! This is the most exercise I have done in a long time. You should be very proud of me. What did I do, you ask?

Sat - Prenatal Yoga (1 hr 15 min)
Sun - really long hike (2hr 42 min)
Tues - walk 1:30/run 1:00 (3 miles)
Wed - easy walk (2.4 miles)
Thurs - moderate paced walk on TLT (55 min - probably 3.5-3.7 miles)

It doesn't look like much, but it is something. Distance is distance, and I did at least 14 miles this week in 4 days. That is more than a lot of people in our city do each week for fitness, plus I did yoga. Time doesn't matter. I can assure you that I'm breathing moderately hard within my limits and the pressure of the bump on my bladder is part of the slowness factor.

I'm also excited about the new shorts and capri pants I received in the mail. See, very few of my running shorts fit over my huge ass. I may look somewhat proportioned in my maternity clothes, but when you see me trying to fit into my regular clothes, you can tell how much my body has changed. Running shorts and pants just don't fit the same anymore, even with elastic waistbands. Those that have a waistband that I can still fit into and manipulate hit my belly right in the middle and compress the bump in a not-so-flattering way so that I have to do the 'roll-down'. The roll-down then hits so low on my widened hip area such that I have a huge muffin top from behind. That and the seat of the shorts/pants is stretched to the fullest. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my 'maternal storage' in the thigh area has gotten large enough so that my thighs now permanently rub together and cause riding up of the shorts in the crotch area. It is not pretty, folks.

Anyhoo, I found some awesome maternity workout shorts and capris that do not cut into my bump or back fat, nor do they ride up in the middle. They are a sturdy material and worth the money that I spent for 4 1/2 more months of feeling good about myself. If they make working out that much more bearable, I figured it was worth it to get a couple pairs.

If you see me out and about working out, tell me my body looks good and to keep up the good work. I need all of the encouragement I can get. (oh and Nedra and Dionn...your comments on FB last Saturday were wonderful for my self-esteem and I didn't say Thank You!!)

Additions to the Prego list

more who will deliver sometime between now and Oct 31.

Katie H

Jennifer W

Sarah A

Laura BT

I expect more to be added...I swear there is a boom right now.

My Sweet Angel

Dear Sweet Beans,

I miss you so much tonight. My heart is aching right now, wishing I could pet your sweet face. I hope you are in kitty heaven right now, purring, eating, and cuddling up on a soft blanket. I wish you were right beside me.

I am heartbroken, missing you. You were the only witness to so many moments of my life. You helped me become the adult that I am and saw me change through many of the biggest years of my life. You were there for me on so many nights when I was all by myself, feeling like my life would always be lonely. I never felt lonely with you there. You saw me through the end of my college years. You saw my first years of teaching and were there to join me in the home office when my career took a change. You saw my first apartment and every single other place that we lived together as a pair. You saw me love and get my heart broken, and when I finally found Chad, you loved him too. You offered comfort, taught me patience, made me laugh when I didn't think I could. You were my little man, and I can't believe you are gone.

A huge piece of my life died yesterday and this hole in my heart weighs heavier than I thought was possible. I hope your last moments were of comfort and that you know how beloved you were to all of us.

I love you little man. I miss you every moment.

Love always,

Mama

Beans Jones (May 1998-March 2010)

http://beansisagoodkitty.blogspot.com

So many pregos

There has got to be a serious baby boom going on. If Iwere to try to list all of the women I know who have either given birth since Jan 1 or are due sometime between now and mid October, I would miss a few because there are just so many...sheesh! Some of these folks are out of town and are people that I may not have all that regular contact with if it weren't for FB, but you have to agree that it is a long list of pregos. (sorry if I missed anyone)

Holly S
Anne O
Ami H
Lisa U
Kim MG
Tara H
Elise C
Tiffany B
Tom O's wife
Shana L
Dana B
Trista H
Kristin B
Christie B
Erin D
Jennifer L
Nichole S
Tammy S
me
Kristy from work
Traci B
Valerie N
Wyoming S
Steve G's wife
Erin M

Beans Update - hopeful

Wow, today did not go how I thought it would go. Two Fridays ago, Beans went in for his transfusion and his PCV was 17. Last week at his checkup on Wednesday, his PCV had dropped a little to 15. I prepared myself for this medicine to not take effect. Beans has been hanging in there personality-wise, staying social with the other kitties and coming to get petted from Chad and me. He seemed to enjoy his little routines throughout the day. All of that, until the past 36 hours...he has vomited twice, started hiding this morning, and seemed to be uncomfortable on his hind legs (a new symptom).

I went to the vet worried and expecting horrible news. I was prepared for his PCV to be down to 10-12 and for us to have the discussion about putting Beans down. I expected the worst. What we got instead was different news...

Beans's PCV went up! Well, without getting overly excited, it went back up to 16-17, so it didn't go up all that much, but it is the first time in a month that it has gone up! Even Dr. Faught expected the number to go down. It was such a pleasant surprise!!! So, we wait another week to confirm that he is continuing to respond to the Chlorambucin. In the meantime, instead of going to extreme measures to determine the cause of the discomfort in his legs, we're going to give him some pain meds to see if the pain goes away on its own. If he still has the spine/leg pain after the meds, then we can talk. That will likely involve an MRI or CT scan (more expenses), so we need to know that his blood counts are going up and that he might beat this IMHA before we spend a bunch of extra money. If we were lottery winners or had a ton of money to throw around, I would have him start looking into the leg pain today just in case.

I'm excited about giving Beans his new drugs tonight. He also got a new anti-emetic to help with the vomiting. He seems to do best when he is on one that is working, so that combined with the pain meds should make for one calm and happy cat.

Oh my gosh I'm trying not to get my hopes up!

Out and About

We have had simply fabulous weather for the past week in Austin, and I'm proud to admit that I went outside to enjoy it almost every day, even if it wasn't for exercise. Today, Chad and I put on our trail shoes and went to the greenbelt to hike. I offered to start at any trailhead he wanted to, so we both picked the Hill of Life (off of Scottish Woods Dr, if you are not familiar). The sun was out, 75-80 degrees, light breeze, just perfect! We descended the hill and checked out the water, which was flowing well. Plenty of people were out swimming, walking dogs, and kayaking, but it didn't seem overcrowded.

We hiked the flat creekside trail to the left and made it to Scupture Falls. During the hike we were able to see a group of three kayakers go down the series of small waterfalls on the way. We also saw them navigate Sculpture Falls in front of a large crowd of onlookers who were out sunbathing, drinking, swimming, and tossing balls to their dogs. I don't think I have ever seen kayakers do rapids/falls like that live (not on tv). It was really cool!

I'm proud of myself for making it up the HOL without stopping (except for two seconds to pet a couple of dogs). I didn't run it, of course, but I did have a pretty steady pace the whole way. Woohoo! For those of you who don't know what the HOL is, it is a huge hill (not sure how long it is, but I would guess somewhere between .6 and .8 mile) and is quite steep and rocky. We used it week after week all summer long to do hill repeats when we trained for Pikes Peak. I have much respect for the hill and can proudly say that if I wasn't pregnant and if we were both walking, I could probably beat most of you who are reading this up the hill Anyhow, it brought back at least one positive memory of Pikes Peak training, the most miserable summer of training I have ever experienced.

Beans on Monday (with pic)

I know you want to know how Beans is doing today. So far, he is doing okay. This past weekend was interesting getting to reacqaint ourselves with his regular personality. The new anti-nausea/anti-vomiting drug he is on (Reglan) has been working like a charm. Beans has been consistently interested in food since Friday evening and ate like a champ all weekend.

One issue that we discovered this weekend is the fact that Beans's new appetite means that he now fully exhibits the signs of an anemic cat...he started trying to eat his cat litter. He has been so nauseated and sick so far that he hadn't really been interested in eating anything, but now that his interest in food has come back, the litter was definitely a surprise to us. If you have never heard of this or think it is gross, google 'pica'. It is a symptom found in anemic animals (as well as pregnant women) when they are trying to get certain minerals into their diet. As you can imagine, it is quite dangerous, especially when we use clumping litter. We immediately replaced the clay litter with the 'Feline Pine' litter so that Beans wouldn't become even more sick. Honestly, I'm still watching him for any signs that he may be 'plugged up', but so far it doesn't appear that he got very much litter in his system. Don't worry, I haven't had any tendencies towards pica during this pregnancy either.

Chad and I purchased some very high quality canned food for Beans at Bark n Purr. We also got a supplement to add to his food in order to try to give him plenty of iron in his diet. The goal is to get him the highest quality food with high levels of iron to try to get him producing red blood cells more easily while the new drug takes effect. Ultimately we need the new drug to suppress his lymphocytes, while his own body to continue to produce new red blood cells.

Beans also got a new bed! He has been feeling so weak and after practically two weeks spent hiding in our closet, I figured he would like a new cushion to rest on. Costco had a super soft bed for 15 bucks that I had already spotted last month, so when we passed by it in the store, I grabbed it and immediately knew Beans would love it. Chad and I joked about how folks buy pet beds with the best intentions and the cat/dog wants nothing to do with it. I think he figured that we would put the bed down in the house and it would sit, empty, while our cats continued to lounge on our chairs, the carpet, or on our bed. Nope. Not Beans! I sprinkled some catnip in the bed and he knew exactly what to do...

He loves it! Beans is actually sitting in it right next to me now as I'm typing, punching (milking) the padded sides and purring. I love this kitty!