So Friday was long but I got things done for work...not enough but a large chunk. I then relaxed while the boys headed to kung fu. Mel was teaching since Paul was taking Skylar to a beach sanda tournament. I then got into less shlubby clothes to head to Kon Tiki with the girls. Erika was home for a bit, Ari just closed on her house and we needed some girl time. I ate too much and drank the right amount, hit At Home on the way home and found a spoopy glow in the dark skull. I was in bed early and didn't hear mel get up on Saturday but managed to get us all out the door on time. I felt bad that mel loaded all of the heavy stuff but made sure we had help to get things going since our folks were late. Mel was grumpy and tired. I was tired and a bit stressed just cause of things but we got setup and ready. It was also bloody hot and we had subterfuge to do. Wander arrived with Poe/Dominique and that was nice.

So a few weeks before we had been told there were going to drive-by our Count Thomas and with so little time to prepare we did a bit of fun to get his cloak and Ari was awesome and did a wonderful laurel wreath for the top of his cloak. Much thanks to MAgdalen for helping get the cloak and my super sneakyness for putting a note on the list that we needed the royal peers of the house would be hearing from Magdalen to pick up their cloaks for embellishment. Ha! But we were nervous and waiting and there were other peerages that day. But it all went off without a hitch and he was gobsmacked. He had no idea it was happening and taht is the best. I hate drive-bys but this worked really well. The other driveby Mel spoke at for Sir Thorin and that had some drama which I think I've finally hit my point with a certain peer and will be having a discussion. Don't break the fucking rules.

Anyhoo, it was hot, court was long with 3 peerages and then the weather started to move in. Its monsoon season and the south Eastern part of AZ is lush green right now. But that means rain daily. The wind picked up and I'm glad at that point Wander was done with the heat and Fiona took her home. They managed to get caught in that storm on the way home while we only had wind and then a very nice drop in temperature. I relaxed a bit once that happened and we moved cars closer. Chatted with folks, planned some things. Also, talking with Poe she will be my student. So we shall need to plan when that will happen. She needs some shoves in the right direction cause she has the skills and now its going to be to make them more period for the art.

We did not stay for closing court cause by that time I was done. I'm sad we missed the offers of MOD and Chivalry to 2 of our local folks. My head was aching and my allergy meds were stopping working. All that green made me itchy as well. We managed home without issue. Got unloaded, including me help getting the tent etc unloaded to the porch and then I got a shower after Benton. He had had a wonderful day of shooting archery and then the kids had a huge boffer battle behind the royal tent. So he had fun and didn't grumble about helping with setup. He got all of the benches moved and assembled and the table up before going off to do teenager things. But he was allergy snuffly and sore when we got home.

I've been feeling off I guess but not sure why. Got my uranalysis back and it was all abnormal and then the culture positive. So I need to call the doc today and see what I need to do. I either have a UTI, a kidney stone or something else. This could explain the back pain I had in SD and here and the general malaise? I dunno. I just know I need to slow down on the alcohol thing so I'm trying...but ugh. So we shall see. Just surprised honestly.

So yeah that was a weird thing to find out on Sunday.

Anyhoo. We all went to bed early on Saturday night. I was zonked. I never heard mel get up on Sunday morning and was up about 830-9am. I was still tired but bladder and coffee said get up. I played animal crossing and had fun for a few hours before I headed out back to SE AZ to pick up my coworker's daughter to get her to the airport. Bob had his knee replaced and his daughter was visiting. So I was a good friend and got to see his farm, meet the doggos, see the chickens and the horse barney and meet his fiance. Plus had a nice time chatting with the daughter who was 10 we first started working and she's now a junior in high school. So it was a fun drive back (Highway 83 is fun to drive in a sporty car). Got her dropped off and then home and I was exhausted. the boys hadn't even gotten out of pjs all day. But Benton had cleaned his room and we had a nummy pasta dinner (thank you honey) and then they played video games and I took an early shower and went to bed early again.

I slept hard and was still so tired when I got up and have had weird twinges of pain and now the burning sensations...so yeah at least a UTI, maybe kidney stones, maybe kidney infection...we shall see. Fun times but at least that would explain the tired...cause man I can sleep for a week.

On the chicken front I finished sewing the small black one for bob, and the crocheting of 2 squares for the toxic one for Graham at work. The Hrafn ladies helped me pick things out for a big ESC for Blossom and I cast that one but have been just beat so its still on the first part of teh tail. Hoping to have some energy tonight we shall see. A lump in bed is really sounding good.

Well, yes, yes I do.  I'm consistently the "strongest" girl but not the fittest.  If that makes sense.  Krista has been working hard and can do so many chin ups...when I can't even pull myself up.  But its not about other people its really about me but it gives a very interesting idea about what people are capable of. I missed last week for the one rep max for squats but I had been doing 155lbs for sets.  I managed to get 155 almost fully myself for a 1RM for bench.  I was tired and didn't have my snack before hand. So I'm probably at 150 with my own power.   Which aint bad honestly.  I want to get to 200 there or so.  Honestly, 225 for squats and bench would be faboo.  Cause you should be able to do that for yourself (i.e. lift your own damn weight).

I'm sore today and even that is okay. 

Talked with my trainer on my diet and macro settings.  And I just need to fucking follow them. So its back to tracking my food religiously....which sucks but it is what I need to do.  Plus it will show my doc some things as well.' 6 weeks of tracking is good and we are going to do measurements on Saturday so I can see where I'm actually at for fat versus what my scale incorrectly tells me.  The weight is part of things I want to loose. I would feel much better in my knees and feet at 20 pounds lighter. But honestly my goal is strength and smaller size.  Weight loss would be a nice bonus but its not the goal fully.

I'm still reading Shattered by Kevin Hearn (#10).  Its now getting good.

 Well, with me figuring out I was having a drug interaction between a prescription med and an OTC med was a realization I didn't need this week but it was good my brain i guess.  I am now taking less allergy meds and that is less than ideal but don't ignore interactions ya'll.  

Wednesday I worked a full day and then ran off to volunteer.  They were nice enough to make me a special dinner so I got a tasty turkey burger lettuce wrap with no dairy.  I appreciated that. I had grabbed food on my way out the door but having more protein is good.  I was supposed to be working inside and got put out on observation outside. Which is fine but I won't do that job in teh daytime. I can't see the ipad with my sunglasses on and eff no wearing them in full AZ sun.  But I got to talk with people...am now trained on the ipad for scheduling appointments and got to chat with folks and cheer them on.  It was tiring though.

I got my second shot and the nurse was so good I didn't even feel the shot at all. I sat down for my 30 mins (having had anaphylaxis a few times puts me in that wait zone. I was doing okay.  I could tell my body wasn't happy but it was mild.  Ran into Duke Craven getting his first shot and we chatted.  Got back on the line and worked until 1030pm  By that point I was tired but wired. I'd had less allergy meds in my system for 36 hours and it was showing.  But I was feeling good and relieved and happy with the work. I got home and showered the pollen off of me, washed my hair and settled into bed. I was restless...i guess is the term? I had taken some tylenol and my evening meds when I got in but was still brain on with a body tired.  I got to sleep sometime after midnight.

I woke up at 7 with my alarm and mel was nice enough to bring me coffee and check on me. I had my first meeting in bed and then got up and dressed and started the day for reals.  Got about 2.5 hours in and then hit a wall. I was tired and nauseous and that didn't feel good. I effed off of work for a few hours, zoomed into a work meeting on my phone and the effed off and only read emails on my phone until I managed to make toast feel okay and then ran and errand for Benton at school.  he did not scowl in this year's pictures yay!  Got more toast and then picked up Benton from martial arts where he had not blocked well and got punched in the head a bit....plus allergy head...poor kiddo needed to zone out for almost and hour before his body said food was a good idea.  I let him relax in his room and checked on him about every 20 mins.  He came out for dinner about the time I was going to check next.  He ate half the last serving of spaghetti and then took a shower and then heated up the last half. So he went to bed tired and full and feeling a bit better.  By the time he was in bed I was feeling better and had a little bit of vanilla non-dairy ice cream and Mel and I let YT go through music for us on my account which means its a strange ass mix.

Went to bed and was hot. We will be turning the coolers on today since the weather is heating up into the mid 90s.  The cooler repair guy is working right now on the main cooler to get it up and running so all good.  I don't sleep well warm so it took a while.  Glad we are getting them turned on even though this feels early but we are home when we normally wouldn't be during the day.  Oh, well. Thems the breaks of working at home.

So, in two weeks I will be full of all of the antibodies and ready to be out and about in the world.  I won't though....home with friends having dinner is more the plan. I'm going to be wearing my mask even when this is over. I like the anonymity and I like the fact that allergens have less of a chance to get me.

Well late sunday night I did something kinda dumb and clutzy....I stood up and walked not realizing my left foot was asleep and my ankle rolled to the floor. I didn't feel it, thank god, but it was oddly numb.  Mel reset it yesterday morning before I put weight on it and I thought that was that but last night it swelled up and today its achey and numb enough I have my feet up and am working from the couch.  Ugh.  This is making me very tired. And work is boring right now and that never bodes well and my muses are "make all of the things" and I'm trying to be good about not ove working my hands and stuff.  Ugh.  Boo hiss.... 

So my legs are healing up well. I still have some scabs from the procedure that are slowly falling off. I'm not helping them since the more you do that the more you scar but I'm sure by next week it will only be pink marks on my skin on most places. I've had some weirdness when my right leg gets cold and that was explained to me on Friday at my 1 month follow-up. The vein they ablated actually means that they cause thrombosis on that vein and now my body is reabsorbing it...so the pulling etc is all normal. I will probably still feel it for 6 months. The Cold though...ugh that makes my leg stiff. So I've increased my walking and have been getting at least 5k steps per day. Yay! Trying to push that to always get the 7k I should be getting. I got signed up for the gym yesterday. Our work gym is awesome. No gym bunnies and $65 per year. They only thing it lacks is a pool/hot tub/ sauna. Plus I always get greeted by name and the regulars are all friendly and I hope to be on the regular list. I gave blood yesterday and didn't feel up to even doing the treadmill...plus Steve the trainer gave me the side eye. So all good. I will go Wednesday and do some core work on the balance balls (I also got one for my house) and then do the treadmill. I'm not supposed to do any weighted lifting for another month and then take it easy. Listen to my body etc. So progress.

I'm also thinking of getting a Fitbit to really see my pulse rate and to look at my sleep. I'm not sure I'm getting enough restful sleep and I'm curious. So, I could just buy it with points so I'm leaning that way. But last years theme was supposed to be self care and the major component was my legs...with those taken care of the rest of me needs to follow suit.

Work has been work.  We have impossible deadlines and I'm wrangling cats and keeping plates spinning and by the end of the day I'm exhausted.  And I've been letting the stress get to me and coping by having a drink and sitting on my ass watching tv.  I realized the issues my brain is having is that I'm not letting the creative parts of me balance the analytical side and that is hard when in a day I don't accomplish anything tangible but moving electrons on a spreadsheet its hard.  So I've been trying to make instant gratification things.  I'm finishing a hat for a present. I've done a crap ton of calligraphy but that is again a job thing (SCA job versus engineering).  So I have been trying to pick things to finish and I painted 2 scrolls and started a 3rd so I can make something and finish something.

Its enlightening.  My craft/head space is cluttered and I just need to finish things.  I have 2 tunics for the boys to finish from Estrella still. Oops.  Then I can get the fabrics out for my clothes and theirs for crown and upgrades.  I'm testing a new neckline pattern on myself before I use it on TRM clothes. So its all practice to make perfect.

So July will be sewing.  Which is good. I'm taking the 2 days in the middle of the 4th of July week off since those were our only 2 work days due to the holiday days and our 9/80. This is good.  Looking forward to it.

Also part of the stress is getting my tubby butt back to the gym.  I've let that slide completely and yeah, need to fix that.  So back at the grind stone.

Its been a week since we were at the Con and I still wish we were there. Seriously, I had so much fun. What I did not have fun with was that my legs /.feet swelled really bad after 4 days of pounding the pavement/con floor in heels, boots and more heels. I have varicose veins and they were screaming at me. I figure I probably walked 40 miles. I did not do what I should have done which was wear my compression socks on Monday (or at the con cause that would have been smart) and I regretted that. I only did my calves and really, the whole leg needed it. I managed to wear them for Tuesday and Wednesday and that did the trick so I could run Wednesday at the gym. I will be making an appointment though with a vascular specialist cause I’m too young to have my legs hurt and look this bad due to the veins.

Anyhoo, so Monday I just came home and then went to scribble where I callig’d a scroll and contemplated drawing something. We were all tired. Seriously tired. But it was a good night.

At work I’m covering for 2 people and had some emergency paperwork that I had to process by this AM. Some people were dumb and it took too long but we got it done. Now I’m trying to catch back up to all of the things I was supposed to be working on versus the emergency/other people’s stuff. Sighs.

The family + Ari and Sioux are heading to the collegium tomorrow. Leaving early but it should be fun day. I think I may pack my spinning wheel for in between classes. I started spinning a merino/yak/silk blend last night that is pretty nice looking. We shall see. I may just bring the knitting since I have lots of things that need to get done so I can start all of the shawls and cowls I want to make.



The food tracking is going well. I’ve lost maybe 7 pounds but about 6-8% body fat if my scale is at all accurate on percentage change. I doubt the number is correct but the percentage change may be. Anyhoo, I’m noticing the difference and my arms have no underarm jiggle at all anymore. My calves, even though they ache and cramp all the time, have really good definition. My waist/hips are less lumpy and are slimming down. I guess I look way thinner which is good even though the scale mocks me. Muscle ways way more than fat and I’m muscling up. That is important.

Benton had a really good time at the con, had done really well at school the two days prior and has had an AWESOME week at school. Seriously, we have the perfect kiddo right now. Who, I’m damn sure, is an inch taller than the last time I checked. Seriously, he does not look little boy anymore but a nice young man. Sighs, wow. It’s a big change since two weeks ago. I honestly think he was way too hungry all of the time considering how much food I kept feeding him and he wasn’t grumpy or acting dumb. Hangry is a Kemp thing obviously. His dad has it, he has it. Boy are the teen years going to be fun.

Well, that is about it.

So, last night was the Knight Light tourney at the park. It always seems like something happens. The lights are goofy (like last night), it monsoons, things are late etc. Its fun though and I know the tourney format runs fast and that works well but things are always rushed and weird. Maybe its just that we only do this once per year and we don't have a flow...maybe its that the park setup is always jacked each year due to unforeseen stuff. Dunno...its just odd and fun at the same time.

Mel took Mariyah as a squire. I took video in the dark so we shall see how that turns out. I have to say, my hubby is so well spoken.

Benton got to wear his shoes that master_thomas made him. He liked them so much that he took one off to use as a teether. Its very cute. I have some pcitures of that but they are all with cell phones since I was lame and forgot my camera.

dvering was awesome and fixed my hand/wrist a bit. Looks like I sprained it...doing what, who knows, but he worked it out a bit and it still hurts but I have better motion. I've got it wrapped up today per instructions and its feeling okay. I have not had any of the shooting shifting pains of it all slamming out of place and having my thumb jiggle uncontrollably since last night. So I call that a win. I see glen on friday. I need to call to make that happen but I will see him.

I'm being smart today..I'm exhausted with two very late nights in a row. I'm gonna not hit the gym today. Between the hand and the tired things would be special I'm sure. I want to go to knit night and frog Benton's sweater without having any physical issues.

Well, on to the paperwork...there is always paperwork.

Well part of it was LJ was down and part of it was we've been busy.

I posted over on my Ianuk At Dreamwidth for a posting last week. I'm wanting a safer place to story this journal and the interfaces are almost exactly the same.

So, last week work was slowish. I'm coping. I head off on business travel on Monday till Thursday next week. This will be the first time I've spent that much time away from the Benton and Mel is going to have a fun time with that I think. He can do it but its a lot of work when we both switch on and off the responsibilities. Its gonna be a trick for me to pump while on travel but I think I can manage things well. Probably just gonna pump and dump since we have plenty in the freezer and I won't have to deal with the transporting it.

Other than that I finished reading Ghost Story on friday and Mr. Butcher did not disappoint at all. Wow, such a good series. If you haven't read it yet, go get Storm Front now.

So, friday I got up a bit later than normal and got the boy ready for daycare. I got him transpo'd and then headed to the gym. Now, it being an off friday hitting the gym means driving to work, working out and driving back home. Its a pain and traffic was the suck to and from due to the hours but I was able to make it home just in time to hit a very quick shower and then we headed off to see the early show of Captain America. It was fabulous! Such a good WWII epic and a rather sad story. You really see what a hero has to sacrifice to be a hero. Hugo Weaving was awesome as always and the rest of the casting was spot on.

After that mel and I grabbed lunch from Chipotle Grill and then drove to pick up Benton for his 4 month Checkup. He did really good with the shots and stuff and he's in the 99th (27.5") percentile for length, 57th percentile for weight (16.1 #)and 30th percentile for head circ (13"). The one thing that Dr. Macmahon was concerned on was his head. We've noticed its been flat but he gets tons of tummy time but he sleeps for 11 hours at a crack and doesn't move. He only likes to turn his head one way and its causing it to be flat on the back and sloped on his forehead.
You can see it here a bit but its really hard to see the forehead thing in pictures. ( Read more... )

So, we got to an orthopedist in two weeks to see what they can do. If he gets a little helmet it will be a few months of wear but hopefully then it will be normal. We also got some vitamins to give him but reading the ingredient list I'm allergic to it. So I have to figure out how to administer it to him without coming in contact with it. I was supposed to give it to him and then feed him but having an allergic reaction on the boobs doesn't sound like the best plan. Any ideas?

Saturday we traveled to Mon's for their A&S. What they lack in quantity of entries they always have in quality. Some really nice pieces. I just wish the documentation could have been better on some things which would have made judging easier. I did judge music and that was fun with Magdalen and Victoria because we all have very different strengths in that category. It was hard though cause the entries were so different and it was hard in one case to give good commentary cause the documentation was poor. Benton did really well but he was tired and a bit cranky from his vaccinations. We gave him some tylenol and that made him feel way better. Course his fussy is not what people call fussy. He fed while I judged music, though i had to apologize for a loud eating baby and he played or slept in the judges room while mel and I were in there. Magdalen had rode with us and she is an awesome traveling companion. Got home and we cleaned up and then headed out to dinner with Tati and Mingo. Our party of 5 ended up growing to 9 when weaverdancer and dverning showed up for sushi. It was awesome family dinner and all of us had a good time.

I had used the The Nose Frida on Benton in the mornings since he had a snotty nose. He didn't like it any more than the aspirators but it sure works great. Crazy to be siphoning my kids head but it works really well.

Sunday I worked on the house and Benton was fussy. He was very hungry all day which I'm sure was in reaction to being so sleepy on Saturday and not eating well enough but I wasn't quite prepared for feeding every 2 hours again. But we managed. I went shopping for a bit before we headed to Matt and Jaylee's for Abigail's 2nd Bday. It was a very different party with almost all of us having kids under the age of 2. Oscar, Oliver, Benton, Holly and Abigail plus 2 other babies made it a very kid friendly event. Benton got his feet wet in the pool which he did not like so we just sat on the yard swing for most of the afternoon. It was cloudy and only in the 90s so it was pleasant. We left about 530 and Benton was uber happy to play when we got home. Fed him and then gave him a bath and put him down for bed and he was cranky. We let him cry for a while but I got him back up and he was hungry again. yeah, I should have figured it out but we had just fed him and a bath is 15 mins. crazy.

Mel worked on getting all of the achievements for Plants vs. Zombies and I knit on his dad's cowl. We were indulging in some beer and I was a bit tipsy when I went to bed. I hadn't had a strong beer in quite a while and well, it was strong. I fell asleep immediately upon getting into bed and then was wide awake at 245. I got up and had water and some pain meds and then tossed and turned for a few hours before finally falling back asleep shortly before I needed to get up. Sighs.

So, its monday. Yup. If my head is still hurting I might not hit the gym we shall see.

Thursday was trying at work and I was tired by the end. I was easily distracted so I only got a limited amount done. I need to kick some things in gear today though. But a funny thing I noticed was that I walked into a door jam. Pregnancy clumsy? I don't think so. I realized that maybe all of my klutziness this week is due to me getting new glasses with a significant change in my right eye. Depth perception is off...lol.

Got home and mel was ensconced on the couch working on nalbinding samplers and looking tired. He was feeling better and my suggestion of pizza for dinner was well received. I picked it up while he was at kung fu and my choices of meat trio and pep/jalepeno were well received. Both of our cats luv pizza and I had a heck of a time keeping them off of the counter. Lol. We sat and snuggled up on the couch and watched two specials of Iron Chef (deep freeze and offal) and then it was time for bed. It was nice and comfy to sit and cuddle up plus mel was awesome and helped me get my toe nails trimmed up. Exciting I know but being preggers I can reach my toes but I can't stay that way for as long as it takes to get them all fixed up and one toe was not happy. I have a great hubby and my foot feel way better.

I slept really, really well and only woke up once to hit the bathroom. Though my deep sleep caused my right shoulder to stiffen up or slip partially out of socket so its all wonky today but I think i can get it to pop with some stretches. I still look really tired but I feel so much better. And if podling had hockey practice last night I never knew it. I think the casein shake before bed helped with that and me not waking up. Been getting some good pokes this AM but I think the extra protein this week has helped out with that.

Well off to work on the concluding paragraphs of multiple sections of my report of doom.