Na Na Na Boo Boo?

You know how when you tell someone you love dearly something- like, where you think a lost item is, or that their bike is going to get rusty from being left on the porch because the rain gets there, too or that they can't trust a certain friend, and then it turns out you were completely right and you find the lost item, the bike gets rusty, and the friend commits a blatant act of betrayal, but you don't want to stick out your tongue and gloat about being right because you love the person dearly and you don't like to see them suffering?(Or . That sentence went on so long, I'm not sure whether it ended up being a question or a statement.)  This is like that.  Well, sort-of.  I mean, I don't love Dr. Schmoctor, but I do love running (dur).  I probably don't care that it might hurt his feelings or damage his credibility with his other patients if I limped marched into the office and waved around my MRI results while chanting something like:

You're not a doctor but neither am I

You're not a doctor but neither am I

You didn't want to order an MRI

You didn't want to order an MRI

You said my problem was bur-si-tis

You said my problem was bur-si-tis

That's what we call a swing and a miss

That's what we call a swing and a miss

Sound off!

You were wrong

Wrong Wrong

Sound off!

I was right

Right Right

Na na na na BOO BOO!

I'm not really one to brag, though, about being right.  It is enough to know that I have proof that I told him so.  I told everyone so!  

Since I've been very grumpy whiny busy eating chocolate focused on other things and haven't written a blog post in a while, I'll sum up for you. 

7/4: Flat white flip-flops are the only shoes that match my 4th of July party outfit.  My calves hurt after standing all day in them.

7/8: Marathon training starts, despite my still-hurting calves.

7/9-8/10: Marathon mileage buildup at a totally safe rate.  Seriously.  Calves hurt at the beginning of each run, usually felt better a few miles in.  Around the beginning of August, I took a few days off because my left calf was hurting really bad.  I had a few bad runs because of the pain, but I could still run.

8/10: 12 mile, hilly run.  My left knee started to hurt during the last 3 miles.  Took a couple of days off.

8/21: 1st Chiropractor appointment.  Knee and calf had still been sore, despite only running twice in 11 days. Chiropractor convinced me that the problem was my hips, which makes perfect sense.  She stuck some KT tape under my knee, cracked me from top to bottom, and told me I could run.

8/23: Ran, it hurt.

8/24: Ran, it hurt much, much, much worse, and in a different spot.  My knee felt okay, but my calf and upper shin hurt very badly.

8/27: 2nd Chiropractor appointment.  Same diagnosis, same treatment.  She did check for signs of a clot in my leg since I told her that my left calf was so sore.  Too much pain to run, too much internet reading to ignore the signs of a stress fracture.

9/4: Dr. Schmoctor diagnoses my pain as bursitis, despite the fact that bursitis is usually more knee and less shin.  Injects me with cortisone, says I can run after 2 days, when I should be pain-free.

9/4 (later): Solar Cortisone flare, lots and lots and lots of pain and swelling.

9/6: Pain back to normal level, I run.  It hurts, but I don't care.

9/6-8: Pain much worse

9/10: Pain back to normal level, I run again.  It hurts a lot.  I care a little.

9/13: Second visit to Dr. Schmoctor, he admits that if it had been bursitis, I would be completely without pain.  Orders an MRI.  I don't ask whether or not I can run, because I'm sure that I shouldn't.

9/20: MRI.  It's an even louder "wowd" than I had expected. I fall asleep for 2 minutes at a time, several times throughout the procedure.  Impressive, no?

9/23: Baby's 18-month birthday!  My old friend Will's 34th birthday!  Terrible, awful, frightening migraine!  Phone call on behalf of Dr. Schmoctor with the MRI results.  "Mrs. Knowitall?  You have a stress fracture.  Try to not put any weight on that leg, and come back Wednesday."

Remember my engagement?  It's officially off.  I'm very sad about it, but I'll be alright.  Just like when a relationship ends, it's hard to stop thinking about all the things you're missing.  But then, eventually, you're able to recognize that if the relationship had been perfect, if the other person had been meant for you, you would still be together.  Savannah Rock 'n' Roll and I are not meant to be together.  I'm confident that soon, I'll find my Husband of marathons.  My Race Charming will come along and sweep me off my feet, and those 26.2 miles will feel like I'm riding on a white steed.  

My Prince

Let me ask your advice, for once.  Should I make a big deal about Dr. Schmoctor's misdiagnosis?  

Party Time! Excellent!

3 years, 2 months, and some days ago, we moved into our current home.  3 years and 4 days ago, we realized that we would be hosting a 4th of July party every following year for as long as this house is our home.  See, there's a lovely park just across from the end of our street, about 1/4 of a mile away.  It just so happens that "our" park is where the city holds its Independence Day festivities, and where they set off the big fireworks display.  We have a perfect view of the fireworks from our yard, without the headache of an entire city's worth of people crowded around us.

Although I love hosting parties, our < 1,000 square foot, single bathroomed house just doesn't lend itself well to holding lots of people.  And no, the 'I' in that last sentence should not have been a 'we'.  Husband and 6 y.o., while both being fun-loving, happy, friendly guys, do not much care for large social gatherings.  Therefore, most of our holiday and family get-togethers are hosted by others.

Since it is usually only once a year that I get to throw a party, I tend to want to cram in everything I can think of to make it fabulous.  One year, I made and hung a photo backdrop and provided patriotic-themed props for pictures.

He must love me a lot.

This year, I got new props.

I love cooking and baking, and I think red, white and blue are fun colors for themed food and drinks.  Especially in the Summer, when strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, raspberries, marshmallows, whipped cream, and cherries are abundant.  Two years ago, I served red, white and blue adult sno-cones.  Yes, they turned into super-sweet purple vodka drinks with tiny chunks of ice, but they started out pretty!

Last year, the specialty drink served was a watermelon margarita, made with homemade watermelon syrup, smooth silver tequila, sweet-n-sour mix and fresh lime juice.  This year's concoction was simpler.  I added pureed fresh strawberries to lemonade, and set a bottle of citrus vodka next to the dispenser for me guests to add if desired.

Happy Birthday USA cake.  And, a light saber.

Some of the foods I'm most proud to have served are: Apple pie trifle, American flag fruit-n-treat skewers, homeslavedmade white chocolate ice cream with strawberry sauce, and the cake pictured above.  Inside was a blue layer and a red layer.  This year, Husband bravely grilled the chicken wings that I had bravely (and successfully!) gotten chopped up by the friendly guy from the supermarket's meat department.  They were delicious, and a great addition to the giant spread of food we had (beef burgers, turkey burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, chips and dips, cherry cobbler, and fruit).

The big fireworks show doesn't start until after 9:00 p.m., so we find other ways to keep ourselves and our guests busy.

Sparklers and grocery store fireworks

Water

Football throwing

Not pictured: patriotic sugar cookie decorating (a.k.a. "I bet I can put more frosting on a cookie than you can!") and the educational games.  I've found it difficult to live up to the first party's trivia/scavenger hunt competition during the subsequent two parties.  That year, I numbered and laminated cards with different sorts of questions on American history.  I then hid the cards around the house and yard, and the guests were tasked with finding all the cards quickly (1 prize) and answering the most questions correctly (another prize).  I also reworded the Declaration of Independence, separated it onto several laminated cards, and had the kids search for and then put the words in the correct order.  I'm still pretty impressed with myself.

This year, I hung an un-labeled U.S. map on the wall, with States and Capitals stickers that could be re-positioned.  Teams of 3 people had 1 minute, then 30 seconds, then 10 seconds to get as many stickers as possible into the right spots.  It wasn't a very popular game.  But, when nobody was playing, I was able to get all the capitals into the right spots, without the names of the states on the map, and only needed a tiny bit of help from my dad (I always think Wisconsin is Minnesota.  Not that it matters, much.  Other than that day, I don't think I've ever needed to know which one is which.)

Choosing a special dress for Baby has been fun the past 2 years, also.

It's the only night of the year that we allow 6 y.o. to stay up way past his 7:30 bedtime.  Last year, he started crying as soon as the fireworks show ended, and couldn't stop crying or get any words out.  This year, he handled himself a little bit better, but still seemed totally dazed by about 8:45.

Turns out, I do a bad job of taking pictures of the actual fireworks.  4 years of bombs bursting in air, and I could only find the one half-decent pic up there ^.  You'll have to trust me that it's a good show.  Even Baby enjoyed it!  She doesn't like loud noises ("Sorry, Husband.  I just couldn't vacuum today.  Baby didn't want me to.  She was scared of the 'wowed'.") so we were worried that she'd cry like her brother after 9 p.m., but she didn't shed a single tear.

Just in case there was any doubt re: my photography skills.

Unsolicited advice of the day?  1. It's okay to stop trying to do things you're obviously bad at (*cough* fireworks photos *cough*) after a while.  You're good at other things.  2.  Make sacrifices for those you love, like Husband does for me at least every July all the time.  3.  Be a tradition-setter.  When my kids have grown up, I want them to reminisce about the traditions they loved, and I want there to be no shortage of happy memories, holiday and otherwise.  Those "remember the time..." conversations are much more valuable than pictures of sparkly lights.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?  

Be honest- at least a little part of you is wondering about my marathon training, right?  You kinda wish this post had been about running, don't you?

A Dozen Months & 6 Years

I'm proud, relieved, and too tired to think of another descriptive word to say that both of my children's birthday parties are over for the year, and were quite successful.  I know many parents go a little overboard when it comes to their children's parties, especially when it is birthday numero uno.  Husband and I kinda did the opposite.  In mid-February, I started a list of invitees for Baby's first party.  After a few minutes of writing, I stopped and counted- 42.  As much as I enjoy the number 42, the thought of feeding 42 people, making 42 people comfortable, entertaining 42 people, and hearing 42 voices in our small house was more than a little daunting.  We decided to reduce the number of invitees by less than half, and ended up with 11 guests.  2 friends of mine did amazing Minnie Mouse themed parties for their 1-yr-old girls, I've seen princess themed parties, Sesame Street, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake, farm animals...I chose balloons. Baby likes balloons.  I was only a teensy bit embarrassed to say "balloons" when people asked what theme I had chosen for her party.

"Bah?  Bah?"
"Yes!  Balloons!"
"Bah?  Bah?"
"Yes!  Baby!  Bunny!  Birthday!  Ball!  She's so brilliant."

On Etsy.com, I had seen a really cute wreath made of balloons, and a hair barrette, too.  Instead of ordering those items, though, I decided to make them mycheapskateself.  The wreath turned out okay.  Not photograph-and-blogworthy, but I think most people knew it was a decoration made with balloons.  After finishing the wreath, though, I decided Baby wouldn't care to wear a balloon-decorated barrette.

Like every great mom, I had forgotten all about baking her cake the day before her birthday.  So, I got up early and did a whole bunch of math and guesswork to make her an individual-sized, dairy free, healthy-ish carrot cake with orange glaze.  It tasted a little floury, but wasn't bad, considering.  We had practiced blowing out the candle, although not with an actual flame.  Turns out, that flickering orange guy is really tempting, and she felt she needed to grab it.  Singed a bit, maybe, but she didn't even cry!  I did have to scrape some melted wax off her tiny finger, though.:(

Yay!

She dug into the cake like she was one of those TV babies.  Both hands were grabbing huge pieces of cake, shoving some into her face and flinging others onto the ground.  Eventually, some of the treat I had worked so hard on made its way into her mouth, at which point she promptly scraped it out, spit several times, and threw the spat-out pieces at me.  Lucky for our guests, my dear Mother-In-Law is an expert at making ice cream cakes, and with the help of my Sister-In-Law, they provided a delicious one that nobody spit or scraped out of their mouth.

Daddy helped her open presents.

She received great, generous, mostly pink gifts, and seemed truly delighted by many of them.  All the guests left with full bellies, and the party was over quickly enough that she didn't even have a screaming, exhausted baby meltdown.

The next day was Sunday, 2 days before our son's actual 6th birthday.  We had decided to throw a surprise party for him about 24 hours before he asked us to throw him a surprise party... despite that, he didn't suspect a thing.

He loves the show Wild Kratts on PBS (it's about wild animal adventures), so that was the theme for his party.  On Etsy.com, I found (and actually purchased) a personalized Wild Kratts cake decoration on edible paper for less than $10!

Add plastic jungle animals, sickeningly overpriced animal print candles, and you've got yourself a pretty amazing cake for  <$20!

I could not justify spending $23 on the personalized Wild Kratts birthday banner, so I decided to make one. On...um...Etsy.com, I had seen one that I really liked and figured I could copy.  Turns out, I'm better at cutting paper than I am at gluing balloons.

As is my wont, I forgot to take a picture when things looked best; before the streamers ripped and the other balloon bouquet disappeared, and the stuffed wild animals got played with.  

The kids played charades, attacked the zebra pinata like a pride of lions attacking an actual zebra, ate pizza, animal crackers, cheetos, fruit, crackers-n-cheese, blew whistles until every adult was near tears, misused the self-inking stamps to tattoo their bodies, and played at keeping the non-helium balloons in the air by combining perfectly jumping, hitting, and screaming.

He had plenty of help opening his gifts.

The gifts were, again, generous and greatly enjoyed.  The food was (mostly) consumed, the kids got along well with each other, and 6-yr-old had a really super time.  He did ask afterward why we didn't tell him that we were throwing him a surprise party, and seemed a little confused about some of the ways we had tricked him.
"So, did you really go over there to run?"
"No, I went over there to set up the party."
"Why did you tell me you were going to run?"
"Because I didn't want you to know I was setting up the party."
"So you didn't go running at all?"
"No."
"Why not?"

Not that most of us have much control over these things, but I do recommend not having your children's birthdays within 3 days of each other.  It makes for a very stressful few days.  I also advise you to be honest with yourself about your crafting abilities when you're trying to be thrifty and use Etsy.com for ideas rather than for purchases.  And, if you need any help cutting paper into very simple shapes, you can count on me!

Has anyone ever surprised you with a party?

Best birthday party theme?  Other than the obvious, "balloons", of course.