Since I've Been Gone...

Okay so now I have that dang Kelly Clarkson song in my head. Ugh.  Bad title but it's too late because the song is in my head and I'm not changing it because the song is still stuck.

Life has been nutty, but then what's new?  After the flurry of posting last week, the weekend was a reprieve for my fingertips.  But thank you everyone for all of those comments.  I laughed heartily because before logging on this morning I saw the traffic report, which was zero... and then 6 comments.  Obviously, that report doesn't work for my blog.  If only I could remember how to get it to stop, I would be free of the report.

Saturday morning it was cold.  Florida cold, anyway.  Cloudy, rainy and 48 degrees.  The water temperature at Lucky's Lake was not much warmer.  In my wet suit (which has no arms), I could handle the temperature.  My arms were bright pink when I finally exited the lake, and I'm pretty sure my sinuses were frozen.  I swam with 2 groups for their swim tests.  400m each test.  The turn around point was an orange inflatable kayak.  I was charged with sticking with my swimmers.  One of the ladies was just fine and I had to let her swim ahead, keeping my eye on her while swimming with the other lady.  Lady2 will be just fine, but she refused to put her head in the water because she said it was too cold.  With my wet suit on, I'm strong enough to swim without kicking if I want and that's pretty much what I had to do.  If I kicked I got a head of her.  If I put my head in the water, I got ahead of her.  So there I was pulling letting my body float out behind me, pausing every so often to stay with her.  Like I said, she'll be fine, but I was glad to finally finish that 400m.  My second group consisted of 1 very tall boy, Training Buddy and me.  I have to say that it's a good thing that Training Buddy (who is also rather tall) was with us because the 1 very tall boy got in the water and being about 8" - 10" taller than I am (and a recent college graduate where he was a soccer player on scholarship) he was faster than I was, even with me putting my head in the water and kicking.  Of course, I swam straighter than he did so in the end, I was able to shave some time off my swim and catch up.  And the fact that he switched to backstroke part way through helped a lot too.  But the good thing was that I was worried about his swim abilities, he's not the strongest but he can get it done and being so tall those long limbs keep him pretty quick.  So I actually got to swim the 2nd 400m.  The run was cancelled though (which was a good thing) because we all would have ended up with hypothermia.

Mr. Darcy's field day was cancelled and after having lunch with the guys he returned home.  So the day wasn't as frantic.  The girls had fun at their birthday party and we had a nice time at the Blue Note Ball, even if another woman appeared to be hitting on Mr. Darcy.

Of course, the combination of frigid water (rumor is that it was 59) and a late night made my head cold worse.  Luckily Sunday was a rest day, so I pretty much slept off and on all day peppered with playing with the girls and watching tv with them.  Monday, was pee collection day (mainly because I forgot about it on Sunday).  So that was a thrill.  Peeing into the collection thingy and pouring it into the bright orange bottle and returning it to the refrigerator was a little surreal.  But the best part about it was when Ladybug said she wanted juice last night, looked into the refrigerator, saw the orange bottle and said "OOOH.  What's that?" Like she just hit the million dollar jackpot and I had to explain to her that it was pee.  She didn't believe me at first and told me that we put pee in the potty.  So I told her that the doctor needed me to collect my pee so they could study it and see if they could figure out what was wrong with me.  Her response? "What is wrong with you?"  I told her that we didn't know yet, but that I would be perfectly okay.  To which she replied, "can I have cranberry juice then?"

I spent part of the morning at Quest waiting to return my beloved donation.  It was raining cats and dogs and maybe even some barnyard animals at one point and I woke up a little on edge and tired.  So I sat there with my eyes closed resting.  Henry called me back and we figured out what we could do about the missing paperwork.  I can't remember if he gave it back to me last week or not, but it was no where to be found in the house, and he couldnt' find it in the computer.  He figured out a way to get it taken care of all the same, especially since I knew it was the 24 hour cortisol testing.  We laughed about how we know each other by name and face and talked about why I was there because he almost pulled up the wrong doctor.  Henry made my day really.  I told him that I  had gained 15 pounds in 1 year while training 6 days a week and eating really healthily and we were trying to figure out what the story was.  He told me that I looked good and that I was proportional so not to worry because I don't look heavy.  I wanted to plant a kiss on the top of his bald head.  But luckily, I haven't been to the lab as often as to make that an acceptable action, and I restrained myself.  He also said that they love seeing me in there because I'm always so nice and friendly to everyone and they appreciate the good patients.  Nothing like a good boost to a morning that didn't quite start the way I wanted it to.

Yesterday we were told that Ladybug hit another child for no reason while they were sitting at the table doing puzzles and minding their own business.  Just out of the blue.  Both Mr. Darcy and I talked to Ladybug about it and made her get ready for bed 15 minutes early as punishment.  When I told Ladybug I was disappointed in her behavior, she asked me if I still loved her.  I told her that I would always love her, but that even while I love her I can be disappointed in her behavior. I told her she was a good girl but that she was making some very bad choices.  This morning, Mr. Darcy talked to her teacher and was told that in the past few weeks she has been not listening, not cleaning up after herself, ignoring the teacher (even walking away from her while being talked to), and more aggressive with the other kids.  She used to be one of the best kids in the class and now she is getting to be one of the problems.  And of course, as I am wont to do, I blamed myself 1st for being away so much and 2nd for being moody and short tempered as of late.  I don't hit them or anything like that, but I sometimes yell and get frustrated easily. I know it's hormonal in some way because I can see myself doing it and try to stop and yet I can't.  I've been trying not to be that way with the kids, but I've not always been successful.  So I'm really, really hoping that this issue is figured out quickly.  I'm going to put forth even more effort (which I've already been trying really hard) to keep that in check the best I can.  And Mr. Darcy and I agreed that we would be stricter about discipline.  I'm stricter than he is, but then my parents were uber strict, so it's hard to know if I'm just programmed tighter than he is.  But either way, the discipline is going to be on high and we will be remaining consistent.  Better at 3 than 13, I say.

The good news though is that while I skipped the swim last night in the colder weather, I woke up this morning without a stuffy nose.  I still have a little post nasal drip action going and a minor cough at times, but it is much, much better.  Even though I skipped the swim, I had a 50 minute Go session at the Y to get some weight training circuits for efficient fat burn.  Free weights for squats, dead lifts, incline push ups and pullups, and shoulder presses, and then sprint work on the treadmill.  He had be doing 1 minute at 7:30 pace, followed by 2 minute recovery walking, and repeating 4x. I had told him I was a triathlete, but a slower runner.  So he asked after the 2nd one if I thought I could handle the pace for the minute sprint.  I told him that I could do pretty much anything for 1 minute, and finished out the set.  So once the Princess 1/2 Marathon this weekend and the Wildman sprint tri is over next weekend, I'm going to start getting these sessions in on my own 3 times a week is the goal (in addition to my regular schedule).  I have to admit that I'm kind of sore in my upper back and shoulders today, but I figure I'm just getting stronger.... and hopefully that will translate to faster too.

So here's crossing my fingers that I'll be able to take lunch and get that bike done... until tomorrow.