10

minute run yesterday along with the 60 minute elliptical and my feet feel great today. I also lifted again on my legs, arms and abs. The running was easier in the latter part of the run so I increased the pace and then I felt really good. According to the doc on Monday my resting heart rate has already decreased to 65 from 80 (last years rhr). I think the d'ribose (naturally found in the kreb cycle) is giving me that kick I needed while working out and the quick recovery rate. Two benefits listed for d'ribose.

I will expound, hopefully on my next post, about my internship from this summer, and the steps I am taking to help the attachment between Mim and me.

Health Update

My total thyroid is 2.60 meaning still too high, my wellness docs are shooting for a number in the 1.00 range, so my thyroid medicine ARMOUR was upped to 105 mcg. I had told my sister who is having the same issue as me with her thyroid that I felt my numbers are better because of my improved energy and a wiggle on the weight loss, but I had predicted it was still too high and I was correct, proving patients are usually correct in how they are feeling, thus once again emphasizing to me that we need to be our own advocates. Remember me fighting for this years ago when I was first diagnosed but the docs (different ones) said having a number in the 3.00 range was normal, but everything I read stated otherwise, and I never lost weight or felt any better, and then I got side tracked with all this cancer and stuff, but now I am back onto my thyroid and I have found the right doctors (my lyme doc)...I knew they were the right ones because they are the ones who told me that they wanted my numbers in the 1.00 range, I didn't have to fight for it.....so still on the road to health improvement...

Eight

minutes of running yesterday along with the 60 minutes on the elliptical and lifting again. My weight is up, but I know that is due to the muscle I am building from the weight lifting. My hips feel slimmer and I feel a lot stronger in all the areas I am lifting. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it will be awhile before I see a swing downward in my weight again.....at least I hope I see a swing downward again. Logically I know why I see the weight gain, emotionally I hate it......

Finally...the garden is ready for harvest

Our garden is late, partly due to the late date we had it planted and partly due to the weather...we have been eating lettuce for weeks now, we keep a huge bowl of freshly picked lettuce in our refrigerator at all times during the summer months. Today we hit the jack pot, our fully flowered cucumber plants and yellow beans have started our preserving season. I canned 2 quarts and 1 pint of yellow beans, and we cut up four huge cucumbers (apparently we missed these) and gave them to the chickens and ducks and the rest we ate a fresh salad for supper and have another on ice.

 today's yellow beans

 today's cucumbers

 Tuki cutting some fresh cukes for supper

 our forest of tomato plants that are full of flowers and green tomatoes, we have 7 rows and we left about a foot of space between but they are huge anyway.

 One of our Russian sunflower plants

 our doubly protected cabbage

 another sunflower in the foreground of our lettuce, carrots, yellow beans and beets

 our swamp of pumpkins, squash and gourds

one of the baby pumpkins

Post of Past Photos

 pond lily at Jordan Lake

 Tuki riding shotgun in the tandem kayak

 Heathcliff running the show as always

 Great Blue Heron

 Mim, Ve and Einstein

 water lily

 Traded dogs, Mim with Zamboni

 The crew as we were leaving for the day

 Tuki and Ve, the injured track warriors

 Mim running in the long jump..she won this event for her age class

The two t-shirts Mim won in the long jump and 400 for her age group.

Zamboni around 3 1/2 months, we have him in obedience class and par for his breed, he is learning quickly

Kestrel Banding

finally got the pictures re-sized for the blog. We went banding with friends back in June.

 The girls with Zamboni

 Comparing the plumage of a male (left) with a female (right)

 Sisters helping each other

 The girls each holding a bird.

 A cool close up of a male

Cool shot of Ve holding a female

Seven

minutes today and just a little faster....I am also trying D'ribose for extra energy (today was the first day)....it was recommended to me by my wellness tick-borne disease doc. All natural body produced sugar.....ATP. We'll see how it works over time..

One more day left of summer school, then Camp Invention next week for Tuki and another week of swim lessons.

The week after that Tuki and Ve will attend VBS (vacation bible school) and Mim will work as a volunteer in one of the classrooms.

The third weekend we will attend a church bible camp in Waupaca with the family, of course.

The week after that Mim starts CC running practice by day and will attend the Worship Band camp by night.

and then the week after that I start school....and we still need to clean the basement and garage sometime in the next month as well....yikes where has the time gone.

Six

miles.... no......are you kidding me, but I did run six minutes today......and my feet are feeling great!!!!

Blueberries galore

Today I moved my first batch (ever) of wine (rhubarb) to its secondary container and I set another 1 gallon batch of blueberry wine in its primary container. Rhubarb wine tasted good but it has about 5 more months to really become a refined wine. This is a new venture for me and so far I like the science behind it and I like that I am making yet another type of consumable from scratch..I hope to have 4 - 5 types of wine available for the holidays.

I also made 12 loaves of summer squash/blueberry bread

and

I am ready to make and preserve some blueberry jam tomorrow.

track meet results for 2013

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June 28, 2013

100m

Tuki                         21.26

Ve                           16.50 

400m

Tuki                         1:51.28

Ve                           1:19.12

Mim’s time was not officially recorded

800m

Mim                         2:49.14

200m

Tuki                          48.03

Ve                            34.21

Mim                           32.58

Long Jump

Tuki                          7-08.00  

Ve                            9-05.50

Mim                          12-05.00

July 19, 2013

100m

Tuki                          20.91

Ve                            15.97

1 mile

Mim                          6:43.93

400m

Tuki                         1:49.74

Ve                           1:32.09

Mim                          1:12.00

200m

Tuki                          48.00

Ve                            34.55

Mim                           34.50

Long Jump

No results on webpage

A lot of improvement from the first to the second meet 

with the exception of Ve, but she developed a severe 

side ache in the 400 and couldn't recover by the 200. 

five minutes

is all I ran today, and it was hard for me..and it was a little over 1/2 mile...so really slow too.....but I plan to add a minute every time I run......and try not to worry about distance as of yet..in addition I did the elliptical for 6o minutes and lifted on my arms, abs and legs....feet hurt a little but was able to stretch it out.

Today has been a busy day for a day off, two hour meeting this am, then off to krazy days for a few hours, then swimming lessons for two hours, and now we are going to a track meet for all ages of kids. Tuki is running the 100, 200, and 400, Ve is running the 100m, 200m, and 400m and Mim is running the 200m, 400m and the mile...they are all competing in the long jump... This is their second track meet this summer and the girls seem to really enjoy it.

Also noticed that my yellow bush beans are here, so we will need to start picking, eating and canning.....

We also received 10 lbs of blueberries yesterday that will need to be processed, so we will have a busy weekend a head of us.

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I was cleared to start walk/running today by my doc, so tomorrow I plan to elliptical for 45 minutes, and then walk/run for 15 minutes....You will probably hear my heart beat and hear me panting from where ever you are since I am so out of shape cardiovascularly.

and

I also went solo at work today and all went well. I think the biggest thing, besides understanding and working with elementary school students, is the confidence I am gaining in knowing that I can handle the job, even in situations that I have had no experience in, I know I can make a decision that I feel will be best for everyone, or most everyone anyway.

Update

Over the fourth we went camping for 4 days at a lake nearby so we could return home once daily for chicken care. We kenneled the dogs so only had to come home once daily. My friend B and her kids came up from Milwaukee as well. In addition, local friends and family came over to the campground for swimming, kayaking, campfires and of course eating.....I think all weight lost may have been returned..ok not all but some.

My nephew Luke also had our annual 4th of July celebration on Saturday. This was usually hosted by my brother Kent, and since he passed away last November, Luke, his son, is continuing the tradition. I am proud of him for doing that.

Our family has worked hard on annually hosting the holidays. Once both parents have past, the tradition of family holidays also end, it takes a lot of planning and effort to keep the extended family together once the glue (parents) that bond are no longer there. We have been doing this now for over 10 years and now Luke carries it on as well...that makes me proud. BTW today Kent would have turned 56...rest in peace my brother

Tuki had finished her softball season, I don't know their season final since they don't really track it that close for 7 - 8 year olds. Ve's team finished dead last, but then in the playoffs, they climbed to fourth place and I couldn't believe they almost had third place until the bottom of their 6th inning....but ended up with 4th and once again Ve earned a trophy to add to her collection. Again it caused much stirring among Tuki and Mim since they have no trophies....yet...... from their sporting activities...poor kids, but this is one of  Ve's gift where as the other two has other gifts that Ve does not possess.

All the girls started a daily month long swim lessons on July 8th and Mim is still running 6 out 7 days. I give her credit, in this case her stubbornness is channeled into determination and that is fantastic... I need to tell her that tonight..making sure to explain that this personality trait can be used for good or bad.....that is where I need to improve, in pointing out where certain traits can be used in different ways...

It is still up and down with Mim's disobedient smart mouth and age appropriate behavior for a 16 year old. Her immaturity causes a ton of stress in the household on the days she acts up...again maybe about 3 - 4  days in between. I guess I should rejoice in that is now 4 days apart versus 2 days apart...that is progress, though little, but some. I have started looking for a therapist for her. I think it is time even though she fights the idea, of course, I know we need to take some step because I honestly feel our issues are more bonded related versus teenage related....you know how it is, everyone who has not adopted just say, oh that is how all teenagers are, but you know down deep that there is something more to this and only other adoptive parents get it.....

Our garden looks good, the lettuce tastes great, and the many plants are full of flowers.....BUT the battle with cottontails have taken a toll. I have resorted to placing chicken wire around the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and pole beans to allow for growth because all those plants were down to the stem....dang rabbits, but now with the second line of defense, it is working..once again a reminder only viney plants on the periphery. I changed it up because I believe in crop rotation, but maybe all we can rotate is the type of vineys and where we place them on the periphery....so maddening some times.

We only have two weeks left of summer school, I feel my internship has gone well so far and working at a elementary school versus a junior high has been an eye opener. It makes some of the junior high issues look small. So many students that have issues at the elementary have not been identified yet so they have not received outside help, thus some of these kids have no coping strategies for stress, whereas by the junior high most have been identified are receiving some sort of help with coping....

Today the girls are at my friend Pam's farm making money helping weeding their large garden, and I am at home doing the laundry and still putting up more chicken wire around plants in the garden. I plan to add photos soon. I am working on a different computer and I need to figure out how to size the photos to get them on the blog.

The oven has been turned on.....

I know my posts have been dominated by my health issues lately, but my lack of health has been a nagging issue for me for over 3 years. Now, my health has been improving dramatically since the end of March, simply because of the Lyme treatment and the change in my thyroid medicine. I use to be on levothyroxine, but at the end of March it was switched to Armour (60mcg SID), it brought my numbers down to low 3's, so my meds was increased to 90 mcg SID (will be rechecked at the end of August to see if it is the correct dosage),  I then started taking zinc and selenium with the Armour every morning, and it has been like turning on the metabolic oven.

Three summers ago, I was biking 11 miles every morning in hopes of losing the weight I had gained from not running (due to my feet, due to the lyme disease)....no weight loss the entire summer. Two years ago, I was getting up at 4:30 am nearly every morning walking for 75 minutes, no weight loss, yes increased muscle tone and increased cardiovascular fitness, but no weight loss. Now, on the new Armour, I actually have an appetite, and I have been walking 2 1/2 to 4 miles nearly every day with the dogs and I have been progressively losing weight.....

 I liken the years without weight loss to putting something in the oven to bake but never turning on the oven, but hoping it would bake anyway...

but now this summer with the new meds, I have a lot of energy which means I can walk at a really brisk pace, feet feel fine, and the oven has been turned on (metabolism) and I am starting to bake the items I place in the oven. My goal, conservative because I was a afraid to get my hopes up too high has been to lose 10 lbs by the end of August, I have only 4 lbs left to lose, my next goal, if the first was successful, was to lose another 10 by the end of December.....maybe...just maybe, I can dig into my second goal before the end of summer...I better be careful so I don't get my hopes up too high again....

I am also now waiting to get the OK from my "plastics, breast doc" to be able to start run/walking....certainly on the right road....