Things I like Thursday: Getting organized

Had a highly productive but restful weekend last week. With a little extra time, I probably could have tackled my “LUNA/luggage room”. Yes, we have a spare room that has nothing but our tons of luggage and all of my LUNA stuff. I’m actually going to have a workday/happy hour to tackle that in a few weeks.

Finished my spice squares. I love Savory Spice shop and the fact you can buy little “try me” bags of things before you commit to one of the jars. They recommended not storing them together, but on a cork board, so that the oils don’t transfer to other bags.

Got my office area cleaned up. It was a disaster post-baby shower and post-sorority event. My office is part running (left side) and part sorority stuff (right side). I also have photo albums and some mementos like medals, my first marathon’s cheering sign, a card from AK for my first marathon, sorority awards, my new paddle, etc.

Most importantly I moved my laptop upstairs. I have a bad habit of keeping it in the downstairs living room and staying on it while we watch tv in the evenings.

Hope to get more organization done tonight. Dan is in Canada, my parents are coming at some point tomorrow. Thank goodness this is one of my cleaning lady’s weeks and my house isn’t dirty! (and Dan isn’t there to make it that way)

Powers of healing

Minus Tuesday, which was a super high stress day at work, I have been feeling GREAT! Like I stayed out until 3 am on Saturday morning and I didn’t take a nap Saturday OR Sunday (although for my adrenals, that a nap probably would have been wise). And I have actually slept at night! Granted, I am still waking up at least twice, but once of those is by alarm to take my early morning dose of thyroid.

What have I been doing other than the new supplements, along with my regular medication?

Yoga. I did Yoga, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. My favorite of course is the class at Lululemon. I wish they were having them there in February. I did a small amount of Galloway before yoga on Sunday and it felt fine. But my issue wasn’t always how I felt, it was what my body reacted to on the inside. I haven’t done it again since. Maybe today.

Giving. I took half a day off on Friday, so I could volunteer for the Rogue 10k/30K packet pick-up. I may have played hookie 🙂 I got to hang out with my gal Jenn and meet some new people.

Fun. Dinner at Garrido’s with Dan and our friend Heather on Friday night.

Is it just me, or does Dan’s steak, over potato cakes with giant roasted jalapeno on top look kind of naughty? Yeah, 90% of their menu is GF, I think he ordered that to keep me paws off of it (the potato cakes aren’t GF).

I got steak too, sorta. We didn’t eat dinner until late, so this was actually a 2nd light dinner for me. There was no way I could wait until 8:30 to eat!

Drive By Truckers show at the new Emo’s east after dinner. If it weren’t for drunk college kids, it would have been the perfect evening. Music heals. This girl doesn’t do front row for ANYONE anymore. But no matter what I say or how crazy the crowd is, I ALWAYS end up in the front row for DBT!

That’s my trying to be artistic pic of my Alabama guy, watching our favorite band from Alabama!

We didn’t get home until 3 am. WHEW! Long Friday was SO worth it. Exactly what we needed.

Saturday and Sunday, I worked on a few projects that were long overdue and did my taxes. Now I am waiting for Dan to do his, to decide who claims the house (depends who benefits more $ from it).

Besides some stress hiccups from work, I am feeling GOOD! Praying this lasts!

Bigger granny pill box

I’ve been so busy lately with work and last weekend’s trip to San Antonio and San Marcos, I haven’t had much time for anything. I’ve been trying to get extra sleep like I was told, but that certainly didn’t happen this weekend and it’s been hard this week. I already feel like I only work and sleep with 7-8 hours a night! I am supposed to be working on 8-10 hours a night. This is especially hard when I wake up 3-4 times a night.

Went to the Dr. today. Saw the nurse practitioner, which was good, because it’s the one I actually like 🙂 I’d originally become upset when I found out I couldn’t see the Dr, but this lady I like, so we were good. She’s a pretty smart cookie, so I don’t mind seeing her. The other nurse, I do not like AT ALL.

I’ve known for almost a month now that I have adrenal fatigue. I cut all working out except walking and yoga at the beginning of the month. I’d just been waiting to talk to someone specifically about the results.

Today she expanded on my test results and what they mean. Yes, I have adrenal fatigue. My seratonin, GABA, and epinephrine are all low. My DHEA is low even though I take DHEA. I was told this is because my body is likely robbing DHEA because of cortisol issues.

My histamines are high. From my report: Histamine value is on a high end especially with Vitamin C on board. Vitamin C blocks histamine excretion from mast cells. GI distress is most likely playing a role in your histamine level and the very low synthesis of serotonin since most of it is manufactured in the GI tract.

Everything she said made sense. My body isn’t using and/or producing hormones like it should. So I have to fix that. I have to supplement what my body isn’t converting, not with more hormones (although I have some that I am already on), but with more supplements.

I now have a load of pills I have to take everyday. I told her I wanted to get off of stuff and not be on pills forever (well except thyroid, that’s pretty much forever). She said 6 months on the supplements and when those hopefully balance my other hormones, we can start backing off of most everything. Gosh I hope so! I need a bigger granny pillbox and a schedule, because now I have way too many pills and times to take things. I went from everything in AM and 1 thing at night, to more stuff in AM, 1 at lunch, and more night stuff. SHEESH! I HATE HATE HATE medication and I never take anything unless I have to, so all of these pills are making me nuts.

Activity. Well I got a pat on the back for walking and yoga (and for sticking to it). She told me I could do really tiny Galloway stints. I think I am going to stick to walking and yoga for at least another week, to give my body more rest. I want to run, but I want to be better more.

Hoping I start healing and feeling better. I feel ok, but I so very much want to feel and look like the old me!

Things I like Thursday: continuing tradition

On Saturday, Omega Phi Alpha welcomes our latest chapter. Not only do I have a “little sister” at Texas State University (where our colony is), but I have a speaking role in the ceremony. I’m excited, I’ve only ever activated one other colony (Oklahoma State in 2004). I didn’t have a little sister for that one. I think this one is more special because they are so close to us! They will be the 4th university in Texas to have a chapter (other than UT, TAMU, and TAMUCC).

Being part of Omega Phi Alpha was the best decision I made in school. It definitely instilled friendship, leadership, and service. I still highly value service (I always have). Leadership, oh yeah, I was an officer every year, including president, district officer for several years, and attended 3 national conventions. That leadership played a huge role in landing my first job out of college, it was great experience dealing with planning, problems, and working with people.

That brings me to friendship. I still keep in some sort of contact with 75% of my sisters on Facebook. One became my very best friend, who I consider my actual sister. I was the maid of honor at her wedding and she’s the nearest and dearest friend i’ve ever had! I’ve met terrific ladies at my chapter and all over the nation through OPA.

I look forward to opening a new door at Texas State this weekend and hope that the newest members of OPA will enjoy and value the experience as much as I do!

Needs

Sometimes you need:

To not change your voicemail that says you are out of the office, even when you have a change of plans and end up there. I worked on Monday since I wasn’t in Orlando. I didn’t change my voicemail or tell anyone I was there. Unless you saw me, you didn’t know I was around. Most productive day ever.
To give. I gave blood for the first time ever today. I hate needles, but heck, really, after all the stupid tests and blood draws I’ve had in the last few years, what difference is it really? It was fine and I was happy I finally did it.
To take a half a day off in the middle of the week for no reason. I had a Groupon that needed to be spent and only could get a 2 pm appt, so I took off the rest of the day. SO nice.
To pamper. I never get my nails done. I will admit, I kind of like them, hopefully this gel is awesome and lasts a long time. Anything would be better than the 30 minutes my last one lasted.
To get back to old traditions. I need to study script and songs for a sorority ceremony Saturday night. Damn I am old, I only remember the 1 regular song and that’s IT!
To expand. I miss running. Yoga and walking are not running. However, I am enjoying using new muscles.
To improve. I want to get better at Yoga. I said I would months ago and it kind of got lost in the shuffle. In the last 11 days, I have taken more Yoga than I had in my whole life. Still trying to find what I like best, but right now, it’s more about what’s convenient.

Recipe review: Whino Chicken

Ok, here’s where you look at me and say, “she’s off her rocker”.

I may not read alot of books, but I read a ton of medical and health blogs, journals, etc. Recently I’ve been looking at the health benefits of organ meats, yes, you read that correctly. They are a muscle and very nutritionally dense.

So I bought some chicken hearts at the store. Yes, they looked gross and it freaked me the hell out.

Went home and scoured the internet for ideas. Most people apparently fry or sautee. I opted for sautee, with a hybrid of several recipes.

Whino chicken hearts

1 pound chicken hearts, split, rinsed, and cleaned
2 T fresh chopped garlic
1 T parsley
1/4 cup soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1/4 cup red wine
sliced mushrooms

I combined everything but mushrooms in a container and marinated for 3 hours. Then sauteed until done with mushrooms in EVOO.

It tastes like chicken, but has the texture of a mushroom. Because I knew Dan hates the texture of mushrooms, I opted not to even try to get him to eat them. I actually couldn’t tell mushrooms and heart apart very well looking at the dish.

I served over spinach and broccoli Normandy.

They were good, I am not sure it’s something I would crave, but I would eat it again. I am interested to see what else is good, I hear beef heart is really good and versatile.

Things I like Thursday: success

Monday marked the 6 year anniversary of when I joined Weight Watchers.

My keychain with 5 lifetime keys, 25 lb disc, 5K charm, and goal star. Not sure why I don’t have a 16 week award. This isn’t my original 10% keychain, that one was destroyed YEARS ago. Now this just sits on my spice rack.

The last year hasn’t been easy with my health issues, but i’m hoping for many more years to celebrate my success!

Long way from last year

This time last year I was running a PR in Houston, only to break that PR at the end of the month at 3M (which is my standing half PR). I had a great time in Houston with June. I didn’t feel well the morning of the race, but I did fine in the race. 3M was great, I couldn’t believe what a great day I had and it was another fun time with friends.

9 months ago I was blogging about running Disney this weekend here. Bought my costume, made my travel arrangements, only to have to cancel it all 😦 I even had a hair appt to die my hair dark for the next month to go with my costume! I’d made plans with friends and family that lived in Orlando and was really looking forward to time with my gal friends who were traveling from Austin.

Instead I won’t be running Disney, or Houston, or 3M, all of which are this weekend. The best I can hope for is a walk or some yoga. I can’t even bring myself to go to volunteer at 3M, which is my favorite race. I’m just too upset about it.

Wonder if people will look at me strange if I go walk in my Snow White costume (meant for Disney) on Saturday morning? Or maybe yoga? I think I could scar some people for life with that.

I am going to keep my scheduled time off, since I had to beg for it. I am going to relax and try to focus more on me and less on work and worrying about everything.

Still waiting on the latest round of tests and becoming impatient. It was supposed to take 7-10 days and it’s been longer than that 😦 Maybe tomorrow I will hear more.

Reminders

I’ve had this as my cell phone wallpaper since I got it:

Dear God, Today I woke up. I am healthy. I am alive. Thank you I apologize for all my complaining. I’m truly grateful for all you’ve done.

It’s a good reminder and the cell phone is a good place for me to see it frequently.

Ways to heal

I think we can all say we have some sort of healing to do. These days, I am in need of more healing than I imagined. Granted, I could be MUCH worse off, so I am trying to limit my whining and not throwing a pity party (ok maybe a small one).

You know what sucks? That I thought I was treating my body well, eating good things, working out, staying fit. Enjoying my life and relieving stress. Instead I was causing more stress on my body. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I thought I was doing everything right. I have friends who eat garbage and are fine. I have friends that barely eat and they are fine. I have friends that run super high miles and they are fine. I have sedentary friends, they are fine. I don’t understand what I did to cause some of the issues I have, and it’s making me sad. Externally, I’ve not had injuries, but what you can’t see, can still hurt you.

Waiting to get tests back to determine my next course of action. But I know most of my hormones are trashed. I hope to heal those and to wean off most of the medications except the thyroid, that’s likely long term. The tests will tell me just how long my workout hiatus will be. Could be a few weeks, could be months, could be longer.

I’m trying to put a positive and fun spin on my new adventures. Walking and yoga. I bought myself several new yoga outfits on Saturday. I need more workout clothes like I need a hole in my head, but I prefer to run in shorts and well, no one wants to see me do yoga in shorts. Retail therapy helps, a little.

Running is a no. All cardio is a no. No until further notice. I’m willing to do whatever it takes though, to be 100% healthy again. I don’t remember what that feels like I am VERY eager to experience it again!