A return to the familiar

Ahhhh. There is something so nice about doing the same old thing. After a few hectic weeks here at the Napier house, I've pulled our schedule out of the dustbin! It has been so hard to fit in trips to the pool for lap swimming. (Not that I WANT to lap swim.) And eating healthy? Ha! I actually had a bowl of Lucky Charms for dinner one day last week! So in an effort to reign things in around here I've pulled out my charts. Charts for the children. Charts for me. Charts for our food. Charts for our time. It is really so much simpler when your day is pre-planned. And much easier to fit in a workout! I also went to my center and got a weeks worth of Jenny Craig food. (Read- yummy!) I LOVE getting up in the morning and being told what I am going to eat and when I am going to eat it. No fuss. No guessing. Just delicious, wholesome, easy to make Jenny Craig cuisine! I've gone back to eating JC's food a few times since I reached my goal in April of 2008. But this is the longest I've gone w/o it. I think it has been at least 3 or 4 months. I was due for some good meals! In the workout area- I made it to the pool for 45 minutes of swimming at 8 am this morning. Whew... I am beat. Well, according to my schedule it is almost time for bed. Peace out!

Do You Remember?

I was so sad to hear that Michael Jackson passed away this week. What a shock! The past few days I have thought a lot about his family... especially his 3 young children. I have also found myself listening to all his music. Wow- what a great artist he was! I am surprised that I know almost every song. I have been a Michael Jackson fan for as long as I can remember. This is no exaggeration. My older sister LOVED him. And you know what younger sisters love... anything their older sisters do. I can honestly remember singing "Beat It" at 5 years old. In second grade I carried an MJ folder to school. I have searched all over the Internet to find a picture of that folder... and here it is.

Yes- that was the photo on my folder! I remember it distinctly. And this is how I think of him really. I listened to his music through grade school, a little in high school, and then a lot more in college. In recent years Michael has not been high on my radar. When I would see a news story on him- like about something weird he had done or the allegations that were brought against him- I would always just feel bad for those involved... including him. He was such a tortured soul. It is really sad. I've spent some time the past few days watching his videos. There is something charismatic about how he sung and performed. Like he really loved what he was doing. (Go watch "Will You Be There" from the movie "Free Willy".)

Anyway- I know there are much bigger MJ fans and fanatics blogging about him these days. I just thought I'd mention him b/c I really have always loved him as an artist. He made an enormous contribution to music that will be reflected throughout history. And I am sad to hear of his passing. His life was full of public controversy and inner battles. I truly hope that he is resting in peace.

Happy Father's Day!

I love this picture of my Dad and me.  This was the last race we ran together.  It was last November just a few weeks before my family moved out of state.  It was so freezing cold that day.  We weren't prepared for it and we were really taken by surprise.  (That is what happens when you live in Ohio and have to run indoors all winter!)  I remember we both felt like we had inhaled icicles.  But we both raced well and had a lot of fun.  The post-race bagels were great there, remember Dad?  Then I think we went to "Half-Priced Books" afterwards.  Ahhh, what a great day!  Happy Father's Day, Daddy.  Everyone says that I am a complete and total carbon-copy of you.  I think that is pretty cool!  Thanks for teaching me so much about life.  I'll never forget- there is no free lunch.  I love you so much!

Not much else is going on here today.  It was nice to be able to spend a Father's Day w/ Jack at home. The kids loved making the day all about Daddy.  Lisa and I made a little treat for him... It is a cupcake golf course!!!  And it turned out delicious if I do say so myself!  We got the idea from Martha Stewart.  Check out the pic below.

Cortisone Injection Today

OUCH!

I am headed out the door in a few hours for my cortisone shot in my foot. Not the most exciting plans.

And the results are in....

My MRI came back today. My foot is not broken. No tendons or ligaments are torn. I have swelling of the actual sesamoid bone and surrounding tissue. The doctor says my bone is "bruised" or he also called it a "pre-fracture". This is good news. It doesn't have me running a race next week but I am not in the operating room either. The plan of attack is- a cortisone injection next week and then 2 weeks of either a cast or the boot again. I have to be non weight bearing on the ball of my foot. Right. This basically amounts to a severe case of sesamoiditis... that has gone on for months. A quick Google search will turn up plenty of people who have sesamoid problems that they can't get to heal. I am talking over years sometimes. The sesamoids have poor blood flow and are difficult to immobilize so healing takes a long time. Some people elect to have these bones removed when they don't heal.

I am trying to remain hopeful that this will be better soon. I must admit... I am getting discouraged.

Still waiting....

No results on my MRI yet. I am trying to be patient. Meanwhile... I just finished day 3 of potty training Baby Jack. He had no accidents today! I am a little skeptical. Like I think tomorrow he may completely regress and be going all over the house. We will see. He is a riot running around in his Cars undies! If he is really trained I will be in shock. Not to mention- extremely happy!

MRI

I am sorry to be ignoring my blog lately.  So much has been going on.  But no running has been going on... that is for certain.  I miss running so much.  I had a bone scan done a few weeks ago and it came back negative for any fractures in my foot.  I was pretty surprised.  So Tuesday I head back to the hospital for an MRI.  My doctor says the best case scenario is I've just pulled a tendon in my foot and we can do some cortisone shots and some PT and I'll be up and running.  He also tells me the worse case scenario is I've ripped a tendon and will need surgery to repair.  Ugh.  I really hope it is not that.  I am thinking it is just a little pull that hurts so bad just b/c it is in a bad spot.  Hopefully I'll be back to training in a couple weeks and maybe doing a half-marathon in November???  Well, here's to hoping!