4 kids

Our daycare provider has been taking one Friday off per month. To attenuate the inconvenience of this, Cole & Kaden's mom and I take turns caring for all four kids.

Today was my day.

It wasn't too bad, really. Adam and Cole are best friends of the permanently-glued kind. They rarely disagree on anything and wear each other out nicely. Kaden is not yet two, so he just kind of wanders around crawling on things he shouldn't. He only needs the occasional shepherding back to his boundaries. Natasha is somewhere between the two, oscillating between playing rough with the bigger boys, hugging Kaden, and being mommy's helper.

I do however, earn the right to vent. Not only is Natasha still experiencing diarrhea, but so is Kaden. Between the two I changed 6 poopy diapers.

To keep on topic, the conversational highlight of the day was when the following dialog took place:

Adam: "Peek-a-butt!"
Natasha: (uproarious laughter)
Adam: "Ha! Ha! Peek-a-butt, Tasha! Like this Butt!" (pointing to his ba-dunka-dunk-dunk)
Natasha: (more laughter)
Adam: "Man, that's a good one. I'm going to have to remember that."

Oh, and as an aside: I think I might not have the most stubborn 4 1/2 year old on the planet! Cole is a very good child, but he's less receptive to my persuasive techniques than Adam.

Language Instincts

I have had a few funny conversations with Adam lately that are illustrative of just how much this kid never fails to surprise me with his verbal acumen.

One conversation:

Me: "Adam, do you feel ok today?"
Him: (all of 4 1/2): "Why do you ask, mom?"

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Another
Jason: "Do you like that pizza, buddy?"
Adam: "I quite believe I do!"

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A few weeks ago we were reading the Night Before Christmas (yeah, we need to put it away) and I got to the part "Then I ran to the window and threw up the sash!"

A few minutes (and pages) later he asks, "what's a sash?"...so I explained what it was and moved on. He then says "he threw it up?" and I failed to catch on to the path of logic this was following.

He rescued me..."Oh, you mean threw up like with his arms, I thought you meant threw up like 'blehhhhh!"

I love the literal brains of 4-year olds!

Kneeded: good doctor

And...check.

I finally got in to see the elusive Dr. Barnes today. I was referred to him via last week's appt. The knee ain't doin' much better. Walking to my office from my car every day involves a .6 mile walk (more like a hobble) with elderly Clinic patients angrily shuffling past me as they glare and curse at the fact that I'm making them late for their glaucoma screen.

It's been 5 years, people. This is ridiculous!

As I mentioned before, I thoroughly expected to be told "don't run anymore". Instead, the former doctor for all of the Professional Ohio sports teams ordered my MRI to determine the extent of the damage. He told me that we'll use whatever combination of therapies necessary to get me back into my running program so I can finish the marathon. I probably won't be doing Med City but I think Grandma's might still be a possibility! He mentioned physical therapy, braces, and possibly "injections". I wanted to hug him.

I thanked him for making the effort to help me continue running and that I feared he'd say "don't"...he laughed with me and jokingly said "yeah, just give it up". He got it.

In the meantime he told me to try biking to keep the cardiovascular fitness. If that doesn't work, swimming.

That's a "can do".

Or at least a "will try".

Waaahh!

I can't walk without the aid of heavy doses of Relafen. I HATE not being able to run. I'm going to miss the 20k run this weekend, which means that I am not on track to do my marathon in less than two months.

I'm going to hold off on determining what my secondary goal is going to be until I find out from the musculoskeletal doc what the extent of the injury is. I suspect it's minor and they'll say "don't run", to which I will reply "go to hell" until they decide to do surgery and give me my new roboknee. I just want it fixed forever. Running is not a choice for me.

Stolen Thunder

Ever have those moments when you are going through an intense personal change, and it's so consuming that you are quite certain it could only apply to you? That you are the only person in the world who could have ever felt this way?

Ok, to be fair, I think I've felt that way since I was like...five, and capable of putting words to feelings. But I go through this every few years. While on the precipice of some new adjustment I'm being forced to make I look around me and see everyone utterly content with their lives and wonder why I am the only one that's not completely well adjusted.

Then I stumble upon an article like this and feel embarrassed yet slightly relieved. I'm not the only one, apparently, who goes through these things. It's just that it's not Ok to talk about them. Apparently it's Ok to blog about them. Just that my blog isn't famous, so not many people are listening.

One day, people. One day. You'll all be forced to listen!

"Thrisis"

Injured List

I was supposed to do 14 miles today. Per Dr.'s orders, I am taking the next 9 days off from running.

After my fitness test earlier this week my knee started aching. I didn't pay attention to that and went for a 4-mile run outside. I'm not quite able to judge my pace outdoors yet, so I am confident I overdid it. On a hard, uneven surface no less.

I woke up yesterday with severe knee pain and was unable to walk on it at all so I went to the doc. She felt it's fine to just rest it and take my Relafen (powerful anti-inflammatory). Then I should gently ease back into the running. If the knee doesn't get better then it's to the sports doc/muscular-skeletal specialist. I'm telling you, I think it's time for a robotic knee. This thing has been plaguing me for five years now.

Scientifically Proven: I'm Fat

I've always said there are a few theories about myself I'd prefer to not put to the test. 1) I have a very high IQ, 2) The only thing keeping me from becoming the next American Idol is that I'm just not that interested, and 3) Despite all outward appearances, I am extremely fit.

So I put the third hypothesis to the test today and had a "wellness evaluation". My VO2 max is slightly above average, though not as great as I had expected. My leg strength is in the 85% of women my age, but...I have a lot of belly fat (duh!) and very poor upper arm strength.

I guess I didn't need modern technology and a young man fresh out of college with a bachelor's in kineseology to prove this to me, but I now have the proof.

My only bit of light in this dark cloud of self-discovery is that these are things that can be improved upon. I will finish the marathon this spring. And I will be much more fit.

Last Sunday I finished my longest run ever. 12 miles. 12 boring, painful miles. Tuesday = 4, Wednesday = 6, today was my day off and tomorrow another 4 miles. The great thing is that it's going to be nice enough to run outside tomorrow!

Yay spring!