Hypothyroidism and Me :(

I know that I am not the only one who struggles with an inactive thyroid.  Heck, I didn't even know mine wasn't perfect until I thought I was having a heart attack.  Turns out I was having one heck of an anxiety attack while driving my children home from Ohio in May.  I pulled the car over and found a local mall and the girls and I took about an hour and just hung out.  Needless to say this prompted me to make an appointment with my primary care doctor.

I didn't want to go to this appointment.  Why?  My weight has been slowly creeping upwards and I honestly didn't want some man to tell me I should lose weight.  I have been running between 15 and 25 miles a week and have not been overeating but could not explain this gain except age.  You know I did turn 45 this year and ever since 40 I haven't been able to lose weight.  Shoot let's just push that back to since having babies because I have never lost that extra 20 pounds.

So I sat there with him and he listened to me babble on about this and that and told me he didn't think I was having a heart attack.  Whew.  He did want to take some blood work though.  Ok, that's easy enough and I was out of there!  What happened next has opened my eyes to so much that I have been dealing with the past year.  The nurse called to tell me that I had elevated TSH levels and they would like me to retest in 4 weeks.  I immediately got on the computer and have to say I was stunned.  Basically I had ever.single.one of the symptoms for hypothyroidism.  ALL of which I previously blamed on age!

A month later I was back in and my levels had gotten even higher.  They put me on Levothyroxine and sent me on my way.  It hasn't been very successful so far I am sad to say.  The extreme fatigue that I felt is still there, I feel really weird in my chest after taking the pills, I have gained another 5 pounds, I still wake up each night with insomnia, my hair is falling out worse than ever and I have had my period twice in one month.  Not the happy ending I had hoped for.  Right now I am trying to decide what route to take.  I may try and see an Integrative doctor once the girls go back to school.  We'll see.

Why am I writing about this?  Well, I am running another marathon this fall and I wanted a place where I could document what works, what doesn't and how this crazy year is going to turn out.  My training has been dismal so far.  Bless my running partner for putting up with me and my slow butt.  I swear I spend an hour a day trying to figure how to snap my fingers and make myself feel better but that is not an option unfortunately.  It is going to be a slow process, of this I am sure, but I will get back to feeling good again I have to believe that!
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A week on Instagram 9.6.15

Where has the week gone? I have been sick and it is quite frankly kicking my butt! Still have to have the girls to their activities though. I took a personal day on Tuesday and canceled everything :) Well except getting kids to school, laundry, dishes, supper etc... So finally on Friday I am working on this post :)

We, along with everyone else in Charlotte, decided to go to Carowinds on Labor Day. It was another tough day to let the older girls ride those big rides but I did it. They had a ball! Ruby wasn't feeling it so we just followed the older ones around the park. Baby girl and I did have Dipping Dots.
She stays up WAY too late hanging out with me. Thankfully the Walking Dead isn't on so I am only watching Chopped right now. #shelovesmemost
Both girls are in volleyball this year and let me tell you it is HARD! I am having to ask friends for help because this mama can't be at 2 places at one time. Last week one had a game at 11 and the other at 12 BUT at schools across town from each other. I will not stress out. I will not stress out. I will not stress out.
What do you eat after running 17 miles? A Burning Love Burger from Red Robin that is what! #YUM

That's all folks!

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My week on Instagram 8.30.15

It was a crazy week last week and I had intended to post a non-Insta post but that didn't happen. Life with these 3 is crazy! So here is a catch up of what we have been doing.

2nd week of 1st grade and this girl got spelling homework. Like 14 words and 2 sentences! Granted the words were easy BUT then they threw in some signs (cents, dollars etc..) that I wasn't aware of. Sneaky teachers.
Remember when the rainbow looms were all the rage? We lost interest too but they dragged them out last week surprising me and made some foot jewelry. They wore them as hand jewelry to school the next day. I don't remember a lot of useless toys like this laying around when I was growing up.
I penciled in a kayaking date with a few mamas who live near me. Our lake is so far down and you don't realize it until you are out there. It was so nice to do something for me last week that DIDN'T involve marathon training.
This one. She has absolutely no interest in Star Wars but she does like pink and things that light up and potential weapons so...
Marathon training is chugging along. These final weeks leading up to October's race will be my highest mileage runs. It really drains me. I went to bed at 8pm last night because I was exhausted. Mostly because I was up since 3 not able to fall back to sleep more than the running. Each week I dig a little deeper to get me to my goal. I am the kind of person that really needs that goal too because otherwise I would blow off my weekend runs.

That's all. I was so busy I barely took pictures *gasp*. Have a great week!

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My week on Instagram 8.23.15

Instagram is my preferred social media for sure! I love looking at everyones photos without all the junk :) So here is my week!

This one isn't actually from this week but we got season passes again to Carowinds and guess who was tall enough to ride the big rides? Our middle daughter was thrilled to be able to ride the Nighthawk, Intimidator, and The Fury 325! I took this crew by myself so I broke my rule of riding those rides the first time with them and let her go with the gang. Ruby can't take care of herself! Violet had "The Best Day Ever!" We also had a fun filled day of picking apples at Skytop Orchard. It has become a yearly event with our good friends, the Sutherland family. This year we went without dads due to scheduling which meant... More BBQ from Bridges for the mamas - yes we fed the kiddos too :) I happened to find some old school Nascar drivers while I was walking around a local antique mall. You never know who you will run into in Mooresville! Yep, sometimes this is what mama does while the kids are in school :) Now that I am in a certain older age bracket some of the things I enjoyed as a child is now considered "antique". When did I become antique? My great-grandmother had this set of tv tables and I ate my after school snack on them every day while watching Clubhouse Powwww. I just googled it and apparently it was only on for a year. My sister Jenny got on the show and was able to play the game with Barney the weird little cartoon host. Funny how some things stick in your head like that though. I am training for another marathon. I always thought Chicago would be one and done but I felt like I didn't do as well as I could have. SO, I am running the Peaks to Creek marathon on October 24 of this year. It is a hilly course so I am preparing by running through the hilliest area near me. Davidson. How about that? This time around I am doing a run/walk interval and although I see my times as slow I have to remember that it isn't a flat surface and it has been a brutally hot and humid summer here in NC. I am very thankful for these 2 lovely ladies who join me in our weekly 2+ hours of torture at an insanely early time on Sunday mornings.

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First Day of School 2015-16

How the heck are we already beginning the 2015 school year?  Well my last post it was 2013 so I ask where oh where has the time gone?

So what has happened from May 2013 until August 2015?  WAY too much to every post about but I am hoping to blog a little bit more now and then.  Life passes you by and I really love my blog to look back and relive those memories.

Piper is starting 5th grade.  Such an awesome girl.  We are very blessed however she is starting to get that tween sassiness that I know will come full fledged in just a few years.  She tries to boss her sisters around but mostly has no luck.  If I hear it escalating it usually ends up with her cleaning bathrooms or vacuuming stairs.  This girl though is such a special person.  She is giving, sweet, and just a fun kid to be around. 

Violet starts 3rd grade this year.  What?  EOG's?  REAL grades?  Mama isn't ready for this yet but Violet sure is!  Boy has this daughter of ours blossomed in school.  She is a really awesome student and often times gets asked by her teachers to help them with odd jobs.  This year Violet decided to go retro and have her hair cut in the style she did back when she was 4 and donated her hair to Locks of Love.  I think she looks amazing!!

Ruby Su.  Oh.My.Heart  Ruby is starting 1st grade and never even looked back when she hopped in the car.  This will only last a few months though because baby girl tires of school and it is a REAL struggle to get her out of the car and through the doors in the morning.  Once there she is fine but holy hell the morning I have getting her to that point!  I may have resorted to buying Dum Dums and bribing.  Not proud but you gotta do what you gotta do!

I miss these girlies when they are gone.  Monday I ate my breakfast and it WAS STILL HOT!  I picked up the living room and it stayed clean ALL DAY!  What?  Not to mention the fact that I took a shower and wasn't asked "Can I take a shower with you Mama?".  But I missed them so much.  Then they came home and 5 minutes later when the fighting began knew that school is a good thing.  I just wish it wasn't so many days.

Good luck to you all on your 1st days and the 2015-16 school years!

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*tap* *tap*

Let me try this again.
tap tap tap 
  hello?
Today marks a little over 3 months since my last post. I don't think about the old blog much anymore sadly. I look at it, try to think of something to say, and then walk away. Right at this moment we are all just super excited that next week school will get out and then we will be on vacation for summer! Yay! I have some really excited kiddos let me tell you that. They are done with school. 

 Done! Done! Done! <<< that's a lot of done going on over here! 

 Maybe the mama is the most done of the kids. I certainly won't be receiving the "Best Mom" award - at least from the school. Piper learned how to do Powerpoint this year and had a whole presentation. I missed it. It was ON A MONDAY at 7:40 am (really, no lie) and I just forgot. She did it for me using a print out when she got home and told me she understood. Bless my Piper. Then a week later after becoming full on annoyed with our substitute for not sending home information about when the 2nd grade play was to take place my daughter told me "It's in the newsletter mama". Hmmm...maybe I should have read one of those in May huh? 

 
As the "Best Mom" award winner you can also see I still didn't break out the big camera. Nah, why not document one of her production with an iPhone. Did I mention we're done? She did great though, I got her there on time, she sang loud, and did all the moves. Yay Piper!  
 Now, what is new around here?


That is Daisy. We got her last week after going to the pet store to buy food. Right there in front were 2 pigs in cages with a sign that they were up for adoption. The owner was allergic to them and had to give them up. There was a small fee but we got everything included so it wasn't horrible. Daisy is really cute and squeaks when you pet her. She resides in Piperoni's room so Violet started sleeping in there with her so she gets to be by the pig too. Kids.

Violet kept her room clean for a whole month! Baby steps here.  Mostly she succeeded because she was sleeping with us and now sleeps in Piper's room but she did it and got her reward.

4 lessons at a horse farm. Want to hear something crazy? 10 years ago hubs and I looked at that property to buy but it was just land then. We could have had a horse farm but instead we just keep taking in animals here at our own little zoo.

Have I ever blogged about Gigi our Quaker parrot? We got her last year and I have to say she is such a beautiful pet. I had researched them but when they are with you it is a whole different ballgame. For instance, she used to like me :) When we got her she would hang out on me. I opened her cage each morning and we would "talk". Cleaning her cage was a breeze because she would either sit on my shoulder or walk around on the ground. Then something happened. What? I have no clue! Now, she hates me! She wants no part of me and tries to bite me when I clean her cage. I keep trying though because I do love having her live here. If you are a parrot whisperer please contact me because I need you!

Now I am off to enjoy the spring that is finally here! Cold weather hung around and then it got H.O.T! Not complaining because I love it!



 I would also like to say "You're welcome!" to all my local peeps. A few weeks ago I visited our local Goodwill and there were 4 snow sleds there that I decided to buy. Most likely this will mean no snow in Motown until my kids graduate high school.  I am quite positive they will find some sort of alternative activity to use them in the summer though.  Got to love their imaginations.

Until we meet again...

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Is that snow on the ground?

Don't laugh. It snowed here on Saturday night. I am guessing that a lot of it melted at our house right away. I have seen some Facebook pics that friends had a lot more than us. I am not sure we would have gotten a snowman made without it being pretty hairy with all the grass sticking up. Fam was down in the big city watching Yo Gabba Gabba Live when it happened - such a fun time by the way! At intermission I brought the girls to the window to show them the white stuff outside and they wanted to come home and play. Mama was too LAZY It was too late when we finally got home to go then but in true kid fashion they got up at 6:30 the next morning and started begging right off. Finally around 7 I couldn't take it anymore and threw them out. Yep, still in their pj's but without gloves or hats they were off to touch snow. Younger two lasted about 30 minutes but Piper stayed out over an hour playing with the dogs.

Then later that morning it melted. God bless Charlotte NC. My kids saw snow but I didn't have to shovel. Perfection.

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