A trying tri

Yesterday I competed in my second triathlon and trying doesn't even begin to describe the experience....

I didn't do any workouts the week I was sick and last week I really had to take it easy because I didn't want to have a relapse.  Since I was so far behind on my training, I decided to go on a bike ride last Sunday despite the fact that it had been raining all day.  BIG MISTAKE!  When I was on the way home I hit a patch of mud going up hill (luckily not downhill) and wrecked my bike...nothing major, just bruised my elbow, knee, and ankle where I crashed.  It scared me more than hurt me and I was worried I had messed up my bike to the point it would need to be repaired before the tri.  

Friday night Maison started getting some red splotches which I thought was either a reaction to the vaccinations she received on Thursday or a delayed reaction to the penicillin she was taking for the ear infection and cold she had gotten from me.  Saturday morning she had full blown hives.  I frantically rushed her to the ped's office to get confirmation that she had an allergic reaction to the penicillin.  I took her by myself because we had agreed to do our neighborhood garage sale that day and Adam had to manage the sale.  We had stayed up until 2:00am trying to get everything ready and really didn't have the patience for a major Maison issue, but these things always seem to strike at the least opportune moment.

Saturday night I was still on the fence as to whether or not I was going to do the tri.  If Maison wasn't better I was definitely going to sit this one out, but I decided to pack up everything and get ready just in case she had an ok night.  Adam had agreed to care for her through the night so I could have a chance at making it.  She slept from 7:00pm to 1:00am right through her 9pm feeding which NEVER happens.  Adam got up with her at 1:00 and her hives were clearing up so I decided to go....

My alarm went off at 4:45am, I ate my carby protein breakfast, Adam loaded up my bike, and off I went at 5:15am BY MYSELF in Adam's truck.  Why is this significant?  1) I don't drive Adam's truck on the highway especially with a bike in the back.  2) I don't do directions while I'm the driver.  I'm a horrible driver so the multitasking of driving and navigating at the same time...not a good combo.  3) I had to park the huge truck in a 'parking limited' environment.  I made it there by 6am, I did not get lost, and I lucked out with a 'left turn' parking spot that had a curb on the left side.  Ok, so off to a pretty good start...maybe my crappy luck was changing?

First the swim...I started pretty sluggish, when I made my first turn I literally contemplated stopping and getting out.  I was thinking, "I can't do this...I'm not ready...I'm not well...I'm tired."  Second lap...."I'm not stopping...I'm not going to be that person...the sooner I finish, the sooner I get home to Maison."  I decided to pass the girl in front of me, then another person, then another...I just wanted out.  On one of my passes I did get past by a guy that literally swam over me.  We were swimming in a pool lane so I'm swimming on the left rope to pass and this guy tries to pass me and the other girl at the same time.  He started swimming over me so I had no choice but to push the girl next to me into the rope.  It was not pretty.  

Then the bike....14 mph winds.  Yeah, that was fun.  This was a very hilly course for Texas standards.  Going up hill in 14 mph winds feels like you are trying to pedal while trying to pull a semi truck.  At points I was only going 8 mph uphill into the wind and then 23 mph when I was going downhill with the wind at my back.  Just being in the wind was tiring much less biking in it.

Last the run...still windy, still hilly, still just want to get this over with so I can get home.  The run, like the bike, was 2 loops.  When I finished the first loop I was like, "YEA! almost done"...uh, yeah, that last 1 1/2 miles SUCKED.  I ended up finishing at 1 hr 30 min (I did have a good swim though...5:21).  My goal for this one was 1 hr 25 min.  I thought despite my illness and lack of training, I could at least improve my transition times and eliminate 2 mins off my last tri.   I'm going with "the wind got me!"  

I finished at 9:00am but had to wait to get my bike out of transition so didn't get home until 10:30am.  Maison was doing much better so I decided I would go ahead and play my soccer game that afternoon.  On the way to my game the "low tire pressure" message came on in my car.  Yep, sure enough when I got out at the soccer field the tire was making a hissing sound and was flat and sitting on the wheel rim by the time I called Adam to tell him what was going on.  AWE-SOME...just what I needed....a flat tire on top of a sick child and a sore, tired, wind-burned, sun-burned body.  I never thought I would look forward to a Monday, but it has to be better than this!

Here we grow again Part 3 - WNBA here we come!

Today was Maison's 6 month wellness exam.  Here's how she measured up:

Age Weight Height

Birth 7lbs 9oz 21"

2 weeks 8lbs 11oz 21 3/4"

2 months 11lbs 14oz 24"

4 months 15lbs 2oz 26"

6 months 17lbs 7oz 28 3/8"

Yes...that's right, she exceeded her previous record of growing 2" in two months by 3/8 of an inch.  Is it a bad sign when the nurse said, "By nine months she should be taller than Mommy.  Daddy, you better have lots of money for shoes."  All I could say back was, "I have plenty of shoes...she can wear mine at least through elementary school."  .....sigh.  Look on the bright side, handbags and jewels fit everyone.  At least I have very nice collections of somethings that we can share.

She was 95% + this time for height but only 80% for weight.  If this trend continues she will be VERY tall and some what skinny.  I'm thinking Gaby Reese...tall professional beach volleyballer turned athlete/sports model.  Adam is thinking WNBA....god help me!

Donating to the Ra-tards

So our neighborhood garage sale is this Saturday. I was discussing with my mom and Adam whether or not we should participate because we literally have an entire house worth of stuff in our garage...washer, dryer, 3 glass tables, 3 mirrors, etc. It's a lot of work getting it all together and presentable to sell it so we were just going through everything. I commented that it would suck to have a bunch of stuff left because we would have to haul it up to Goodwill. This is the conversation that followed:

Mom: If you have stuff to haul off you can just call someone with a truck like Salvation Army or the Mentally Retarded

Me: So when you call the Mentally Retarded do you just call information and ask for them?

Adam: You mean the "Ra-tards?"

Mom: No, you just call my house.

Apparently if you have unwanted items you dial 411 and ask for the Ra-tards and they send a truck right over....GREAT...WHO KNEW????

Happy Half Year, Maison Moosen

My little moose is 6 months old today!  I cannot believe it has already been half a year.  She is growing up so quickly...sniff sniff.  Happy b-day Maison Moosen.

      

Sober Sick House

Saturday I went swimming at LA Fitness and shortly thereafter developed a sore throat. I almost always have a sore throat after swimming, most likely because of the large amounts of chlorine that are in public pools, so I didn't think much of it. Sunday morning I went and played soccer, despite not feeling quite right. By the time I got home I really didn't feel good at all and discovered that I had a 101 degree fever. On Monday, it had turned into a full blown cold and I was miserable enough to take myself to the doctor only to find out that due to my breastfeeding and my drug allergies (no penicillin!) there wasn't a whole lot they could do for me other than give me a z-pack and send me on my way. Today is THURSDAY, I have missed 3 days of work, have not been able to tend to Maison since Monday, and I STILL have a fever, and still feel like stir fried ass despite 4 days of a 5 day z-pack....AWE-SOME!

To make matters worse, Maison started running a fever on Tuesday. We thought it could be due to her teething but since she had been exposed to my illness we thought we should play it safe and take her in to see the Dr. Not only does lil M have my illness, she also has a bad ear infection. All of this on top of teething...poor little noodle bug!!!

TOTAL ASIDE STORY:
When we were at the ped's office, this lady that checked in before me was told she had a $73 balance. This is the conversation that followed:
Receptionist: You have a $73 balance on your account that needs to be taken care of before you see the doctor.
The lady: Do I have to?
Receptionist: If you can only make partial payment that is ok.
The lady: Why, is there a balance? ...We were never billed...It's new insurance.
Receptionist: This is the balance remaining after the NEW insurance was filed
The lady: I'm trying to think...

Yes, trying to think...trying to think of another excuse to not pay up! I see why doctors are such sticklers on payment at time of service...

So...back to the story:
I really couldn't decide who had it worse...Adam or me? Adam had to take care of Maison completely by himself since I was not supposed to be around her until my fever broke. So not only am I sick, I cannot take care of my sweet little Maison during her first illness and it's KILLING ME!!!

I have decided I have it worse than Adam because I have been 'sober' through this entire ordeal. Yes, I quit coke on Tues April 5. Like a meth addict that is given painkillers to help with withdrawal, I have started drinking iced tea to help ease my way off caffeine. It pains me every time I drive to Sonic and have to order tea instead of coke and I haven't been to a Race Trac in 10 days, yes, TEN DAYS!!! Nope, can't even bring myself to get gas there because I won't be able to stay away from the crushed ice, fizzy, yummy goodness, of a 44 oz diet coke. Oh, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it....

On second thought, maybe Adam does have it worse than me...he's dealing with a sick child and a sick wife who's going through withdrawal. Yes, Adam DEFINITELY has it worse....time to call Dr. Drew. I need to check into the Sober Sick House!

Opening Day!

Today Adam and I went to the opening day Rangers game. The game was pretty non-eventful (Rangers won 5-4 with a 2 run come back in the 9th) but the crowd did not disappoint, especially in our section. Two of our 'friends' from last year's home opener were there...the guy who "paid for a seat in the sun" sat in the row in front of us and the "I'm just sitting here eating my nachos" guy was a couple of rows up on the right. See last year's post "I paid for a seat in the sun" for their story. They unfortunately didn't provide any entertainment this year, but we definitely had some others that were quite the crowd pleasers...

Maison wore her baseball 'uniform' in honor of opening day:

View from our seats:

Curly haired mullett (such a rare sighting and literally right in front of us!):

Full grown man wearing a Rangers uniform. Complete with Rangers mock turtle neck. As you can see he was sitting across the aisle from Adam so I had to pretend to take Adam's picture in order to get a shot of this guy. As my Nannie would say, "he wasn't quite right" to say the least as he would literally throw a fit every time the Rangers had a bad play. It was quite entertaining....

In the 8th inning the Rangers were losing 3-0 and the Blue Jays had a no hitter going so I was a little bored and took a picture of our 'little piggies'. While doing so I missed the best action of the entire game...

A streaker jumped over the rail at the end of our aisle, ran through the outfield, did a bellflop on 2nd base to which the umpire just pointed at him as if to say "Security, we have an issue here". The guy made it all the way to the pitcher's mound before a security guard body slammed him to the ground. Here is the best documentation I could get with the iPhone...

To wrap up our interesting sightings...we saw an adult Asian woman wearing a catcher's chest protector on her back...yes it was quite an interesting Opening Day this year....

Hoppy Easter!

It is tradition that we have Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast on Easter morning. You know, got to get a good base of sugar before you snack on your Easter basket goodies all day. My parents and Shari came over with the KKs and the Easter baskets my mom had made for Adam and me. Yes, we still get custom made Easter baskets that are tailored with your candy preferences. Maison had a wonderful first Easter...a visit from the Easter Bunny, dinner at Nooey's and G'daddy's, and family pictures. Unfortunately the Easter egg hunt had to be cancelled because of the rain.

Easter Bunny heard Maison liked Elmo...

      

Family Pics before it started to rain...

         

Family Pic during the rain...

Maison is missing!

Around lunch time, Maison went missing and we haven't seen her since. What is really weird is there is this old Jewish midget in her room. He keeps babbling so I could barely make out what he was saying, but I heard him say something about going to Florida for Passover. I really hope Maison makes it back in time for Easter...to be continued.

      

Soapy Splashtown Striptease

Let me preface this story with I was not soapy or the splasher which leaves me being the stripper...got your attention now didn't I...

Since I've been training for my triathlons I have been spending a lot of time swimming at the pool at LA fitness. Normally it's completely uneventful...not crowded, easy swimming, no issues. Wed night was a different story...pretty much issues galore. I headed towards the only empty lane which was the last lane by the wall. As I approached there was water every where...which of course is not that weird since it is a pool but normally there isn't much water on the pool deck since it's mostly used for lap swimming. I sit on the side of the pool to put my swim cap on and it rips. I should have decided then to go do something else but I decided to go ahead since I was already dressed and pretty much in the pool.

So about 5 min into my swim I figured out why there was water all over the deck next to my lane. Thanks to the rather large man next to me trying to swim the butterfly, water was being flung in pretty much every direction in mass quantities. I really don't mind getting splashed but having a wake of water hit my face when I go to breathe is not exactly pleasant. I decided to forge ahead...good practice for future open water swims...right?

Then the teenage Asian girls that put conditioner in their hair BEFORE they enter the pool arrived. I know they probably read in Cosmo that you should put conditioner in your hair prior to swimming because it will protect your hair against chlorine damage. I don't think they meant when you were going to be swimming in a public pool! So these girls get in reeking of Salon Selectives from 1999. Within minutes the entire pool was soapy. Now when the guy doing the fly passes me I get a nice face full of strawberry flavored chlorine water...YUM-EEE...

I've been swimming in a swimsuit I wore when I was pregnant that ties around your neck. I previously had a near wardrobe malfunction so had been tying it in a knot to swim. Apparently soapy water loosens knots...so as I'm swimming in this fab environment my top kept coming untied. Each time I caught it before flashing "the flyer" or the "salon selectives".

Where did I head yesterday after my doctor appt? To the new Keifer swim shop where I purchased 2 new suits and a nice new swim cap. Now for the flyer and the salon selectives...to be continued ;o)

I heart Ryan

No, not Seacreast! Not even Ryan Reynolds (though Adam does have a man crush on him!). Ryan Baby! at least that is what I refer to him as...

On Monday night we went to Buy Buy Baby (BBB) where there is a flamboyantly gay guy named Ryan that has worked there since they opened. He was there the night I registered and when he handed me the registry gun he told me, "It's going to be A-WE-SOME!" in a sing-songy voice that only a gay guy could deliver. From that day on Ryan has been by my side...for my registry completion with Shari that took up 3 carts, for my countless returns with no receipts, for my exchange of broken spendy items with not only no receipt but no box.

Monday night he really carved out a permanent spot in my heart...

I had a car seat mirror to return that I had bought in December that didn't work. It some how ended up discarded in the 3rd row of seats and I didn't even realize it was there until I laid down the seats to load up the weight bench and weights I got Adam for his b-day. When I heard a crunch and saw the light blue material peeking out from between the seats I thought it was a goner. It somehow survived with just a small tear in the fabric.

I made a bee-line for Ryan as we went in, chatting him up like he was my bestie. He of course said he would take the mirror back...no problem and asked if we were going to shop around. When I said yes, he responded "Of COURSE you are!".

When we were checking out I handed him a stack of 10 BBB and Bed Bath and Beyond coupons and told him I wasn't sure which ones were still good, or applied, or whatever. I work full time, have a newborn and a husband, play on 2 soccer teams and train for triathlons. The fact that the coupons were even in a stack ready to go to the store was amazing to me. Ryan, my sweet Ryan Baby, found a way to use EVERY SINGLE COUPON. He said normally they can only use ONE coupon per transaction but because we were such good customers he went ahead and used them all...even the expired ones. And not only did he just 'use' them...he used them smartly...applied the 20% off ones to my most expensive items, and then all the $5 off ones towards the total bill. So how much did my cart of goodies cost after my mirror return and coupon extravaganza? $31...yes, that's right...THIRTY ONE DOLLARS! So when you are considering shopping at the "I feel like I've gone to a foreign country" Babies R US just remember that they would NEVER treat a customer like this much less employee a gay guy. Take your business to BBB...just don't try to steal my Ryan Baby...he's mine!

My Sweet Potato Princess

On Monday, Maison started eating vegetables. We started her out on sweet potatoes since most children are not allergic to root vegetables. We made her a veggie puree (veggie + rice cereal + milk) in her Baby Cook food processor. I normally don't endorse products unless I'm paid to do so (HA!) but the Baby Cook is A-MAZ-ING! It processes, steam cooks, and reheats your baby food all in one little device. I love, love, love it!

Adam and I both LOVE sweet potatoes so we were hoping Maison would too...and she did! She even cried for more ;o)

     

Hippity, Hoppity, Rip-offity

After my plans for Easter dress picture taking went bust on Friday, on Saturday we decided to take Maison to the Shops at Legacy to see the Easter bunny (here on out referred to as EB). I know that most infants are terrified of EB and Santa Claus but thought we would give it a shot. It was a beautiful day and the shops are outside so we thought it would be a nice outing regardless of how the bunny pic turned out.

I had a hair appointment at 4:00 so we only had a small window of time to visit EB and eat lunch so we had already agreed if the line was long we were going to abort the mission. When we arrived at Shops we were pleasantly surprised to find parking, locate EB, and get in line. The line seemed rather short to me but I've obviously never had children until now so what did I know.

When we were 2nd in line, one of the EB assistants (here on out referred to as EB-ette) handed us a sheet with pricing info, etc. For the low low price of $48.95 you could get three 5x7 of your child with EB. WTF? I know I've never been in the position to actually buy these kind of photos until now and possibly with inflation I was a little off on how much I thought it would be but ~$50 seemed rather high to me. So I asked if we could just "see the Easter Bunny" and was informed that they were PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS and thus this was a picture taking endeavor not a meet and greet. I was further informed that most infants don't do well with EB and need to be 'backed into' sitting on his lap and if it didn't go well they could shoot the baby in a wagon filled with live bunnies...which per EB-ette really made a great keepsake for mommy, grand-mommy, etc.

Adam politely said it was up to me, to which I politely told EB-ette we would come back another day when Maison was in her Easter dress (come on...it's a white lie). Uh, why on earth would I spend $50 on a picture that my child will most likely scream through or a picture featuring live bunnies that may give my child rabies? Is there a reason EB-ette couldn't have informed us of the procedures and cost BEFORE we waited through the entire line? In the future, I'll be skeptical of a really short line and will definitely take my EB business to Willow Bend where EB meet and greets are perfectly acceptable!

Poor Man's Arboretum

Last Friday I had big plans to take a vacation day so that I could take Maison to the Dallas Arboretum to see "Dallas in Bloom" and to take pictures in her Easter dress. Trying to pose a 5 mo old for pictures when she can't sit up unassisted is pretty much impossible by yourself so Shari agreed to take the afternoon off and go with me. Shari does NOT take off work very often and when she does it has to be really worth it; so I was very flattered that she had agreed to go with us. Somehow in the almost 30 years we have lived here, Shari has never been to the Arboretum and I have been about 10 times. I'm not sure why that is...

So we planned to meet for lunch around 1:00 and then head to the Arboretum. Unfortunately, Maison planned to get sick several times, each time requiring a change of clothing and resulting in us not arriving at lunch until 2:00. I am always late but an entire hour late is a little much even for me. Needless to say, Shari was not very happy with me when we arrived.

To make the afternoon just perfect, Maison decide to not take her bottle and scream through the latter part of lunch drawing stares from the "parkies" that were eating on the patio next to us. I was mortified, frustrated, and starving considering I didn't get to eat much of my lunch and the morning's festivities prevented me from eating prior to that. We headed to the Arboretum around 3:00...a good 1 1/2 hours later than planned.

On the way, Shari needed to drop off her new car to get the bluetooth phone system set up. The service rep said it would only take 5 min and we should just wait. 45 mins later I was still sitting in the parking lot with a screaming child in the car with me. At 4:00 I decide the Arboretum was a no-go considering they closed at 5:00 and Maison was scheduled to eat again at 5:30 which was impossible to make it home from Dallas in rush hour if we were to leave at 5:00.

So I decided we should just go take pictures in Shari's neighborhood considering I had to be on my way back home by 4:30. We changed Maison into her Easter dress in my car, loaded up the stroller, and walked a couple of blocks to the retirement homes that had the best flowers. Shari and I walked through their flower beds, plopped down Maison in her bumbo chair, and started shooting as many pictures as we could before she cried, drooled on her dress, or got sick again.

We were quite a sight...both of us crawling in the flower beds to pose Maison, getting our jeans covered in mud, while my butt was hanging out as I attempted to take pictures. After what we had been through so far nothing was going to stop me from getting at least a few good shots. Not even a resident who had to fight her way through all our stuff we had politely left on the sidewalk that was the pedistrian entrance to her complex.

Here is the "Poor Man's Arboretum" in all it's glory:

     

Check out the "Private property" sign a few feet behind my head ;o)

     

     

     

Of course HK had to make the trip:     

    

Give me that tulip!

When we got home I found a nice surprise...Maison has a tooth! Yes, the poor little thing had a tooth that had already broken through her gums. No wonder she was so fussy!