Say what? 39, and other happenings

I think since Scott was gone on drill and I had school projects to do with the kids, I didn't get writing in last Sunday.  This coming Sunday is Mother's Day, so I have a quiet moment right now so I'm writing.  Samuel put himself down for a nap a bit ago and we have a school friend, Elinor Howard, hear to play and she is keeping Eric and Rubie occupied.  It's a no-school Friday day.  I tried exercising this morning and did run for an hour and then tried to get a leg/back workout in but the whole family was downstairs.  Scott has been in Cedar City and St. George all week for work so the kids missed him.  Samuel usually wakes up and gets out of bed no around 6:00 am---Grrrr--so I think Scott spent time with him before working out.  Then when I got home it was play with Sam building roads and buildings and tracks for cars and emergency vehicles in-between each exercise move, and getting food for him in there too.  So it took forever to exercise and then I didn't even completely finish it.  Sam is very adamant and demanding about my time.

So last week after I got sick from Sam and Rubie being sick, my sinus infection didn't clear up within a week.  It moved to my ears and infected my ears.  On Monday late afternoon as we got home from karate and I'm trying to get dinner on and get kids to do homework, I experienced horrendous pain in my right ear.  I had to take like 8 ibuprofen to just take the edge off so I could even function.  I was pretty sure it was fluid built up behind the eardrum and it just needed to break threw.  It did and that was excruciating for a few minutes and then bloody, goopy, liquid began seeping out.  I knew the eardrum had ripped or something so I called the ENT but they didn't seem too worried and couldn't get me in until Wednesday.  I was right about what happened but in the meantime I was put on 2 antibiotics, told not to swim, and still have some pain in the ears.  Mostly it is the constant high pitched ringing that bothers me.  I have a headache by the end of the day from it.  The sound of air and fluid moving through my ears has died down some, but that comes and goes.  And sometimes it is still a little painful.  It's bothersome.  I'm glad that James stopped coaching me because I was tired of giving excuses of not completing workouts because I'm not healthy or because somehow the kids interrupted the workouts.  I don't know what races I may still do, but I just want to focus on exercise for still getting in shape, loosing weight, but I also want to feel free to go on a hike or something like that with the kids because they need that.  I need the workouts to fit within an hour and then an hour for strength.  Maybe next year I'll have a little more time.  I would also like to be able to get in more open water swimming and hope to be able to join the group that goes on Tuesday evenings.  We'll see.

I had my 39th birthday last week.  It was a nice day.  I felt a little better from the ear aches.  It was a Friday.  Friday morning is my time to have Addie Huddleston over.  I let it slip to Katie that it was my birthday.  She really just wanted to go on a bike ride and does not like to go by herself.  So she offered came up with the idea for me to pull our two kids, Sam and Addie, in the chariot and we could ride out on the Murdock trail to at least Lehi/Highland, get lunch at Kneader's, and bike back.  I loved the idea.  We did just that.  We went a little further than Kneader's, got lunch, and then took it to a park so the kids could play too. Then biked back.  Both kids fell asleep on the way home.  I was totally surprised how long it took.  We got off about 10:30 because I had to change a tire and get the chariot set up on my road bike and we got back home just after 2:00.  And it was a work out for me.  It was hard to go fast, especially stopping and starting.  I did not need any additional workout that day.  The weather was beautiful and I totally enjoyed it.  What a treat for me that Katie would spend all that time with me.  Eric had a birthday party after school so we got him to that.  Scott was released from drill and we wanted to go to dinner but no one in the family was happy with any of the choices and I refuse to go somewhere that is not friendly for the kids because then I do not sit at the table and enjoy it.  I would have to walk around the restaurant and outside with Sam.  I guess we did all agree on Chuck-a-Rama, but it was totally crowded.  It was UVU graduation night so that might have been the reason.  So we took the kids to McDonald's.  I sat there while Scott went and got us dinner at Costa Vida and got stuff to make Strawberry Shortcake from Macey's.  Then we brought that home and started a movie, which I never finished.

Sam is growing up so much.  He is talking a lot and says so many words now.  I love the sound of his little voice.  I love how he mixes up the order of how to say words, and will often add an "e" sound at the end.  "Mama, down-e."  "drink-e, juice-e," as an example.  He loves to build "choo-choo-racks" and "race-tracks" and towers for all his cars and emergency vehicles.  He still carries toys all over the house and keeps it playful for us all the time.  He likes to go in the mountains for hiking and on the trail.  When I run with him, he wants to get out at the end and run a little ways with me.  I love it.  He loves to eat pizz-e and hot dogs and cookies and doughnuts and cereal.  He especially loves marshmallow cereal.  Sometimes I really have to work to get him to eat good for you food.  At other times he is a really good eater and loves his vegetables.  He loves his Fireman Sam and Mater shows.  He won't sleep in his own bed anymore so I really have to find the time to read to him.  He is working himself out of naps, though he still needs them.