Is that the...sun?

Well, it has certainly been a lllooooonnnggg winter. Today, it's supposed to be sunny and in the 70's. Can I truly allow myself to believe that it's over? I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with rain and cold. I literally think to myself, "I can't take this anymore." And so now, the sun is shining, and I am a happy girl.

I've been home with my son for the past two days. Poor thing. He's sick with a stomach virus. I was talking to a friend yesterday about how your strength and tolerance changes when you become a parent. He was saying that his stomach gets so queasy that if someone gets sick, he'd start puking right alongside them! I used to be that way. And now...not so much.

On Wednesday night, I heard a strange sound coming from my son's stomach. In the time it took for me to ask, "Willie, are you ok?" Bleeech. All over my pillow and all over me. I wasn't even phased. I sat up, grabbed the trash can, and rubbed his back while he finished. Meanwhile, my husband turns on the light and starts laughing at me...covered in puke.

Um, do you think you could grab me a TOWEL or something?????

So I threw in a load of laundry at 2:30 am, we all switched over to Willie's bed, and went back to sleep. Well, they went back to sleep. I layed in bed for an hour waiting to see if he'd get sick again. So at 3:30 am, I got up and went to the basement to throw the sheets in the dryer and put the next load on. I climbed back in bed and the next thing I knew, my alarm was going off for me to get up and go swimming.

Uh, no. Not today.

I slept until 6:30 am and woke my husband up for work. Thank God for internal alarm clocks.

I spent yesterday sitting on my arse....working on an IEP from home. My bottom was numb by the afternoon! Then I finally got up and started moving around. Willie spent the day watching movies from the couch and napping. He's still not feeling better....he got sick again last night on his bed. So it was down to the washing machine again! I'm so hopeful that he turns a corner today.

Yesterday was the first day I haven't exercised since the last Tuesday in February. I actually think that's a good thing, because I was becoming a bit obsessed. I gave myself permission to take the day off and followed through with it. It was really good for my body to take a break. I needed it. And I was still down a pound this morning. 156 pounds.

My next event is the Frederick Running Festival with Melissa, Kara, and Laura on May 3. We are running the marathon on a relay team. I'll need to run 6 or 7 miles for my part. I'm excited to do this, and I've been working hard on the treadmill to be prepared for it.

Oh! I almost forgot! I wanted to share a HUGE milestone with you. Since I started swimming again, I've really been struggling with swimming the freestyle for a long distance. I am a 3-stroke swimmer, so I alternate breathing to my right and left side, which theoretically gives me ample oxygen during my workout. But I could only go up and back (50 m) before I'd have to stop and rest at the wall, gasping for breath.

So most of my workouts have consisted of interval training. 50 meter breaststroke, 50 meter freestyle or 25 meter breaststroke, 25 meter freestyle. Then I gradually worked up to swimming 100 meters using freestyle, but that was about all I could handle before I was GASPING to catch my breath.

I even Googled "breathing techniques" to try to fix what I was doing wrong. I learned that the breath to the side cannot be used for both exhale and inhale of air....it's not enough time to get a good breath. My problem was that I was concentrating on going fast that I held my breath while I swam until it was time for my next breath that I was just grabbing for air instead of taking a deeper breath.

So last Monday, I decided that I was ready for my next swimming challenge. I decided to slow down (I was swimming 50 meters in 55 sec--Which is considered a moderate pace, but it sure felt vigorous to me!) and concentrate on my breathing.

On Monday, I swam 5 breastroke, 5 freestyle, 5 sidestroke, 5 backstroke (OK!)
On Tuesday, I swam 5 breastroke, 5 freestyle, 5 breastroke, 7 freestyle (Here we go!)
On Wednesday, I swam 5 breastroke, 5 freestyle, 5 breastroke, 10 freestyle (You're doing it!)
Off on Thursday
Tody I swam 5 breastroke, 5 freestyle, 5 breastroke, 15 freestyle (Woot! Woot!)

I cannot tell you how ecstatic I feel, and I am so very proud of myself. I actually believe that I may be able to work up to swimming freestyle for the entire 1/2 mile swim in the Pinchot Sprint Triathlon in June. I NEVER thought that would happen. And I mean NEVER. I had convinced myself that I was a sprint swimmer and would NEVER be able to swim longer distances.

Never say Never.

The most important thing...

Live your best life...

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread.
Give back your heart to itself,
to the stranger who has loved you all your life,
whom you ignored for another,
who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit.
Feast on your life.

-Derek Walcott, from Collected Poems 1948-1984

Image from http://http://wunderbarart.com/category/uncategorized/

Authentic Play. (Warning: Poopie talk ahead)

In education, culminating activities are deemed most effective when they relate to real life. Teachers are encouraged to create projects that mirror an authentic experience that the students may encounter outside of the classroom. In that way, the activities become more meaningful, which impacts learning positively.

With that being said...

Yesterday, my son, who is 3 1/2 years old, wanted to play with playdough. We spread out the mat (which they now provide so it doesn't get all over your carpet), and he arranged the various tools that came with the kit. Some of the tools had been kept in a little plastic baggie, so he dumped them out onto the mat too. Then he decided just what to do with the playdough...

Make poo.

I was on the computer at the time, and just watching him peripherally, until he asked me to help him make the poo. So I went down on the floor with him and helped him to push the playdough through the tool, so that it came out of the tube like a long piece of, you guessed it, poo.

Then I watch my son, pick up the plastic bag, put it over his hand, pick up the poo, turn the baggie inside out, and seal it.

This is EXACTLY how my husband and I pick up Max's poo from the yard!

What a proud moment for me! He has been watching us clean up after Max for three weeks now. When he saw the plastic bag among his tools, he connected it to cleaning up the yard. He had the idea to make poo with his playdough, and then used the plastic bag to mimic cleaning up Max's poo.

It was truly one of those moments when I just looked at my son in awe....

And all because of some playdough poo.

If you are what you eat, then I'm a 100 calorie pack of Oreo Cakesters.

I did it!

I cannot believe how much I have changed in the past 10 weeks. After being stuck for over a year at over 170 lbs, I am finally within reach of my "ideal" weight.

Open yourself to change, and it will transform you.

I stepped on the scale at the Y yesterday morning before my swim, and it balanced at 157 pounds.

157 pounds!

When I weighed in at school, clothed, the scale read 158 pounds. So overall, I began this challenge weighing in at 175 pounds and have lost 17 pounds in the challenge.

Stick to your goals, and your body will trust you again.

So I am within 7 pounds of my overall goal. I may lose more through exercise and training, but once I hit 150 pounds, I'm going to adjust my calorie goal on The Daily Plate to maintain my weight. I do not have a history of successfully maintaining weight, so I'm hopeful that my habit of tracking my food intake and exercise on the website will teach me how to do that. That will be my next challenge.

I was able to exercise every day for the month of March. I crossed out each day on the calendar after I exercised, and I have 31 pink slashes smiling back at me. My new routines: Monday through Friday I wake up at 4:30 am and go swimming for 30 minutes at the Y. Two days a week, I try to use weight machines for strength training. On Saturday and Sunday, I do interval training on my treadmill for an hour each day. Last weekend, I burned over 700 calories each day! That's over half of my calorie allotment for the day! But doing that helps me to continue to meet my goal, because we do like to eat out on the weekends. I also do Hip Hop Abs with my friends at school two days a week (as my schedule allows). I REALLY want to try Turbo Jam, and someone at school has that for me to borrow. The only thing that I need to add is bicycle training for my first triathlon in June, and I need to buy a bike.

So...that's my progress report! I prayed for a difference. I prayed for a change.

My prayers were answered.