Chaos

Oddly enough I thrive on chaos.  Not other people’s chaos but my own, I am not a drama queen!  I seem to do well and become super productive at the last minute.  For example, several years ago I was working a job where a requirement was that I did trainings for the employees.  The trainings had to be 60-90 minutes long.  More than once I forgot about the trainings and then the night before prepared something and in my humble opinion, the trainings all went well.  When I was a gospel doctrine teacher I would typically read the lessons a week in advance and the most successful lessons were when I would study Saturday night and finish up the loose ends during Sacrament Meeting.  Once I was teaching a lesson on the Savior coming to the America's and I thought I would prepare weeks in advance because I wanted the class to feel the Spirit.  Unfortunately, the lesson bombed!  After class I asked one of the other teachers for some feedback and she said that I should probably prepare the lessons in advance.  So the moral of the story is I am a procrastinator and I am often reinforced for this terrible habit. 
So lately I have had had several deadlines that I have had to meet, and fortunately for me and all those involved I have come through and hopefully I did a good job.  However, there is a downside to all of this chaos, I get burnt out and then I can't do anything, and right now I am experiencing a bit of the old burn out.  So right now as I am watching TV instead of catching up on my work I am also feeling a little guilty about it, but as Scarlett says, "I'll think about that tomorrow."
So now as I am procrastinating I am hoping that nothing like this happens.



That would be embarassing. 

Nemesis

I know that my last post had to do with the weather and to keep things exciting you need to change things up a bit.  However, I have a few words to say about my excitement for the changing of the seasons. 

I live at the base of a big hill/mountain however you want to look at it.  There aren’t many people that live around me so you would assume that it would be a quiet place to live.  It’s not.  I have only one compliant about where I live and it is all centered around my nemesis.

That's right the bullet bike.  I am a champion sleeper and I rarely wake up at night.  The house could be burning in all around me and I wouldn’t notice, but I do notice the bullet bikes.  When the weather warms up the bullet bikers come out and play and apparently the road in front of my house is their playground.  Every night during the summer the bullet bikers like to race in front of my house.  This occurs at about 3 a.m., and it is DELIGHTFUL!   No really I love it.  I also love it when the longboarders also come out to play early in the a.m.  I have nightmares that I am going to wake up to the sounds of metal and bone crushing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKFi-hv0TrQ&feature=player_detailpage

Generally I have no problems with motor cycles or longboards but please if you are going to do stupid and crazy things please do it during the day when I am not trying to sleep or please please make sure I'm not home first.

Motorized machines

Early morning carelessness

Hindering my sleep

   

Winter Narrative

I have always been a fan of winter.  In fact it has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember.  Growing up in the middle of nowhere we had an abundance of snow days.  For me there was nothing better than a snow day.  I would wake up early (I had to be on the bus about 6:50 A.M.) and listen to the radio just praying that my school would be called and I would get to stay home.  On those days we would be snowed in and there would be drifts everywhere and my siblings and I would go outside and stay there for as long as we could stand and then we would come in the house and dry our clothes out and get warm.  I have fond memories of my mom making homemade chili and cinnamon rolls and all sorts of other goodies during those times.  As I got older and we got less snow I began to snowboard.  I was never one to take the big jumps or slide the rails but I could make it down the mountain in one piece.  I loved it!  During college I was too poor to snowboard to often and I didn't have a car so I spent a lot of time walking too and from classes.  I even enjoyed this.  I am weird I know but I loved getting all bundled up in my coat, hat, scarf, and gloves and I felt that my winder clothes were cuter than my summer ones.  I still do sometimes, but the point is loved winter.  During my second year of graduate school my good friend introduced me to snowshoeing.  My first experience was not the most positive one.  My snowshoes were cheap rentals and they made me walk pigeon toed and plus we were on a groomed run which was a little lame.  I ended up taking off my snowshoes and strapping them on my backpack which worked out better for me.  Once I graduated and had a real job I bought myself a pair of nice snowshoes with the hope that they would improve the quality of my life.  I was right.  I spent a great deal of time that year with Calleen and my snowshoes out in the wilderness.  It was awesome.  At that time I was working three jobs and I was in great need of self care and snowshoeing was just was I needed.  We had several adventures and luckily for me I was never injured.

The next year the winter wasn't quite as awesome.  There was little snow and therefore little snowshoeing.  Not awesome.  Then last year Calleen, our good friend Tessa and I planned a yurt trip to take place New Years Eve.  Traditionally, I like to donate blood on New Years.  In the past awesome things have happened like I became a celebrity and got a free shirt so this motivated me to continue to donate and bring in the new year right.  So several hours before our yurt trip I went to the Red Cross and graciously gave them my blood.  Once this was finished I packed my gear, strapped on my pack and headed out with Calleen and Tessa on our winter adventure.  I was in really good shape at the time but my legs were not working, they felt a lot like lead.  I was feeling very discouraged and a lot like a fat loser as Calleen and Tessa got farther and farther ahead of me.  It was embarrassing.

Luckily Tessa was in PA school and is the smartest person I know and she told me that I had no blood and it was causing my extremities not to function properly.  I don't know if I have mentioned this before but my ultimate goal in life is to be a bad ass and I felt that donating blood then backpacking several miles would help me achieve this goal.  I felt deflated but a little better knowing that I did not completely suck at life I just had crappy judgment.  The 3 miles to the yurt felt like 30 but I made it.  I have never been so happy to reach my destination.

Luckily I have not had too many other embarrassing mishaps while participating in winter sports, unless you count the time when I went snowboarding with Calleen.  Wait no, that was her mishap and she will have to be the one that tells about that but it was a good one.  Anyway winter has been good to me. 
But recently I discovered some other activities besides building snow caves, snowshoeing, and snowboarding.

That's right wearing spandex.  It's my favorite thing.  Backpacking and mountain biking are alright too but spandex, how I love thee!

Tightness on my bod

Aerodynamic hotness

Wicking, drying, fast

Now that I am dealing with the whole drama of the Exercise Induced Compartment Syndrome I have been told that the treadmill is bad for me.  I work until it gets dark and this leaves few cardio options at the gym plus I am too wussy to run during blizzards or ride my bike on ice.  Also it is too cold for me to run around in my unitard.  Just kidding I wish I had a unitard.  The point of all of by babbling is that although in the past winter has been good for me, recently my body has not been good to me and it is feeling really excited for the days that I can once again go outside when it is light without the fear that I will slip on the ice and break my hip, get exercise induced asthma, get hypothermia leaving my house on my bike, and wear my sexy spandex! 

In the Beginning

Have you ever pulled over to help someone out of a ditch only to watch them pull away with the back of their car open?

VerRonica recently reminded me of the day that my love of haiku began (last month). We spent New Year's in Yellowstone and achieved the highly acclaimed title of Winter Junior Rangers. As VerRonica had previous participated in the Summer Junior Ranger program she understood the rigors involved; however I had no idea how MEANINGFUL and challenging this adventure would be. We were required to use very sophisticated equipment (an oven thermometer and small plastic magnifying lenses). According to our calculations frostbite would occur in less than 15 minutes while we were there, but that new-found knowledge was nothing compared to our final task in Junior Ranger certification. This was our assignment: "Here is your chance to draw or write about your winter trip. Before beginning, think about where you have explored and what you have seen. Use all of your senses to "see" winter. Describe it on this page with words, a drawing, or a map, and then share it with others." I took the opportunity to compose a number of poems. Here are a few images that inspired my thoughts and the pieces of my heart that then became word.

Not a single wolf

I looked and looked one more time

Bring binoculars

Deep snowy forest

Nowhere to eat lunch

Except when hiding

mountain icicles

hang down rocky faces

where waterfalls sleep

We did try to hide from some cross-country skiers while we were eating lunch/freezing our fingers off, but our tracks gave us away.

Pain Patches and Cheese

After my triathlon experience last year I took a long break from working out.  Once the triathlon was finished I felt like I had post partum depression.  I've never had a baby so I am just assuming that is what I was feeling.  Anyway, I took a break and started my life back up again.  I started running again in December and when I would run I would feel tons of pain in my right leg.  My leg would feel dead, my knee ached, and there was this spot that would explode with pain.  It was on the lower part of the front of my leg and to the left of my shin.  I had signed up for a half marathon to do in March and was feeling discouraged not only because I had let myself get to out of shape but because I wasn't having much fun running. 
After a month of procrastinating (one of my greatest skills) I finally called the Sports Medicine Clinic to have my leg checked out.  Going into the appointment I was hoping that they were going to tell me that I was just being a pansy and that there was nothing wrong with me I just needed to suck it up and go.  After I met with the doctor and we did an x-ray, it was determined that I did not have a stress fracture but I was afflicted with Exercise Induced Compartment Syndrome.  What that means is that the fascia tissue surrounding my muscle is so tight that it cannot release the blood and causes pain.  This diagnosis was very bothersome to me.  First of all I have HUGE calf muscles and I had read somewhere that the hugeness of my leg would help to prevent injuries.  I was upset to learn that it would not prevent me from getting a syndrome!  After the diagnosis was made the doctor told me to take Aleeve which is an anti-inflammatory thirty minutes before I begin running and if this did not alleviate my pain then we would have to have more testing done then possible I would need to have a "procedure" preformed.  That was not welcome news.  I even asked the doctor if this was a fancy way of telling me that I was being a baby and he assured me that it was real. 
So after some thought and stressing I was reminded that I had a certificate for an acupuncture session.  I am a fan of alternative medicine, however, I have never tried or been exposed to Chineese Medicine.  So I made the appointment and last week was my first session.  I am not afraid of needles, in fact donating my blood is one of my favorite things to do.  So I fearlessly went to the acupuncturist and let him repeatedly put needles all over my arms and legs.  I really didn't feel a thing.  The hardest part was sitting still and relaxing for the 45 minutes my body needed to sit with a couple dozen needles sticking out of it.  Once the treatment was over my new friend instructed me to eat foods that are anti-inflammatory such as fish, vegtables, and fruits and to avoid foods such as candy, red meats, foods that bring me happiness such as El Herradero and Nutella, as well as foods that are made from animal fats.  This includes cheese.  At that point I almost gave up.  Cheese has been one of my favorite foods lately.  There is nothing more enjoyable for me than having some string cheese in between sessions.  It's like my brain food.  But as long as I am afflicted with my "syndrome" I need to lay off of the cheese.  I have a ton of it in my refrigerator and luckily my roommate loves cheese and may love it even more than me.  He also instructed me to only run two times a week and to do more resistance training.  Good thing I love lifting weights.  I love to see the vein in my neck pop out, I feel like it makes me look like a bad ass.  Just kidding I hate the mirrors, I really hate the facial expressions I make and hate seeing everyone else looking so calm while I am sweating profusely and struggling not to make embarassing grunting noises.  But I really do love to lift weights.  So that night after the acupuncture I went to the gym and did some running on the treadmill.  It was the most amazing treadmill run of my life.  There was no pain at all.  It felt like a miracle.  If I didn't have such a short attention span while on the treadmill I could have run all night.  I was sold on this acupuncture deal.  I felt ten years younger and I didn't have to put any pain patches on my leg that night. 
The second time I ran there was a small amount of pain in my leg and a little aching around my knees and achilles region.  So I went in again today for another treatment.  This time he put about three less needles in my leg and arm, and once again the needles weren't the problem.  The problem was that I was so relaxed that I almost couldn't function the rest of the day.  After the needles were put in me I was told to relax for about 30 minutes in a nice warm room.  I practiced my deep breathing and did a little guided imagery and promptly feel asleep.  It was glorious!  I wanted to stay in that room all day.  Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and I had a staff meeting to go to.  Tonight while I was running there was noticably less pain and aching.  I am not even aching now which means, that's right no need for pain patches tonight either.  The point of this long and drawn out story is to express my newfound love of acupuncture and the hope that it has brought into my life.  I am a believer.  While I was on the treadmill I was thinking of an appopriate haiku that would describe my feelings.  I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.

Body pincushion

Anti-inflammatory 

Patches gone cheese none

I am proud to say, "Patches, I don't need no stinking patches!"    However, I am anticipating the day when once again I can eat my cheese and know that it is not going to contribute to the tightness of my fascia.



Happy V-Day to All and to All a Good Night

There once was a counselor great

She came and left from work at eight

Too much sugar today

With no time to play

And now she is punished with head-ache

Calleen

Poetry

Recently my friend, Calleen and I were discussing ways to bring more meaning into our already meaningful and interesting lives. She came up with the idea of writing poetry as a way to process experiences and to document the awesomeness of life. This blog will be dedicatied to sharing the meaning that we have found with others. Enjoy!

The following poems are dealing with a spectacular novel entitled "Pride and Prejudice, and Zombies."

This is one of my favorite books and soon to be Calleen's as well. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. Lizzie is a badass and for those who know me, that is one of the most important aspects of life.

Eliza Bennett
Chomping a still beating heart
Shunned without status
Calleen


Mr. Darcy
Rich man, gentleman, bag of douche?
Lizzie's lover
VerRoncia

We had the opportunity to attend a fantastic dinner party last night.  The food was great, company way good, and it was a great way to begin the week.  Calleen had an especially meaningful experience in a poem she entitled The Weaze

Rhett's roast and potatoes were epic
And believe me I can be a skeptic
Don't like touching raw meat
or sick cows on Food Inc.
But with cake some would say it was magic
Calleen

After the dinner I drove to Twin Falls because I had to be to work early the morning and to be honest, I am not much of a morning person.  I am kindof a nerd and really like to stay in hotels especially nice ones, it is a real treat for me and was a perfect way to start my week.  I am in dire need of more self care.  Anyway, we don't have cable at our house and one of the greatest things about being up before 7 in the hotel is that they do have cable.  This means I can watch Zach Morris
 Matt Lauer  , and Peter Alexander while I am getting ready for work.  This trifecta of awesomeness sure helps me to look pretty and increases my confidence throughout the day.  To commerate my love for Saved by the Bell I have written a poem entitled Jesse's Song.

Caffeine pills are so fun
They help me to get lots done
They're not addictive at all
But let me have a ball
No need for rehab
VerRonica

I spent the day in Twin Falls and last night as I was driving there I was about halfway when I discovered that I had forgotten my purse.  I think that at times I take my purse for granted.  Once this discovery way made I called the hotel to see if they would still let me in without my ID.  Luckily I must sound honest or really pathetic because the nice lady at the front dest said that since I paid with my debit card online that she would let me in.  This was comforting but I still had a bit of anxiety regarding money.  I knew that I could go to the bank and withdrawl some money but that didn't help until later in the day when I would be starving and pressed for time.  You see, I like to work and I work a lot.  So once work was done I had two hours to go to the bank, get some lunch and haul a** back to Pocatello.  Luckily I successfully avoided all law enforcement and made it back with seconds to spare.  This poem describes my experience today.

Twin Falls, no money
Ate cookie size of my face
Valentine heartburn

Happy Valentines Day!