Bone Scan at the Beach

Sometimes I can be a bit of a blonde! You know how I was complaining that the bone scan that I am having done today is a 3 hour bone scan? Well, actually it is about a 5 hour bone scan. But here is the deal... I AM ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL DURING A PORTION OF IT! So, I'm not actually sitting on the table having this radioactive MRI type x-ray done for three or four hours straight or anything!

I arrived at the hospital this morning just a few minutes before 8:00am and by 8:30, I was out and on my way to Starbucks. I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty cool right now sitting in the cafe sipping on my triple venti skinny vanilla latte while I blog from my laptop. I channeling my inner Carrie from "Sex and the City."

Of course, Carrie would be at a bar instead of Starbucks and she would be sipping on a Cosmopolitan instead of coffee.

Anyway...

The first part of the scan is done... the technician injected me with the radioactive material (Tc99m MDP to be exact) and took a few preliminary scans of my foot. She then told me that I was free to go as long as I was back at the hospital by noon. The next scan will take a full hour, and then I should be done!

Do you know what this means? I have an entire morning to myself without a wonderfully hyper toddler chasing after me. And the best part... the hospital that is doing my bone scan is located about 10 blocks from the beach. So, once I am done with my coffee and have finished browsing all of my favorite blogs, I'm heading down to the beach to soak up some sun and enjoy the peace and quiet!

Reagan is spending the day with her Daddy, and he decided that it would be fun for her if he took her to work with him. When I left the house this morning, she was dressed for work, complete with her hard hat, and was grinning from ear to ear. She told me that she was the new "boss lady" and that she was going to tell all of her Daddy's workers to "Get to work! Cut that grass! Pull those weeds!" I'm sure she is probably the only one who would be able to get away with bossing those men around that way. She'll have them all wrapped around her little finger before their first break!

Oh! Apparently I could be considered a bit of a nuclear threat if I tried to cross the border in the next 48 hours. The x-ray technician gave me a slip of paper that would allow me to cross the border with the explanation that I am not in fact harboring some sort of nuclear weapon inside my body... it is simply radioactive material used for a bone scan. Thank goodness, because that could have been an exciting encounter with the border patrol should I decide to head down to the States in the next couple of days!

That's it for now. I'm off to the beach and then back to the hospital to finish off my scan. I'm not sure if I will get the results today, but I'm hoping to know what is going on with my foot sooner rather than later. It has started to feel much better after using the boot and taking almost 2 weeks off now from running. I'm itching to get back to my workout routine, so I'm praying for good news!

Advice from Doctor Mommy

The temperatures here are finally getting warmer, and Reagan is loving being able to play outside all day long. Of course, hot sunny days make me think back to that dreadful day two summers ago when Reagan burned the bottom of her feet while playing outside. So, I decided that as DOCTOR MOMMY, I needed to give you some advice and WARNING!

This is a copy of the post I made on July 11, 2007...

This blog has become not only a place for me to keep everyone up to date on everything Reagan, it has also become my "memory" book for her. That means that I must post both the good and the bad, and this particular post is pretty bad. This past Wednesday was the hottest day in history ever for this area. It was between 39 and 41C degrees throughout the lower mainland, which equals 102-105F. So it was hot... South Carolina hot! Reagan and I went to a friend's house for a play date, and naturally the girls wanted to play outside. Reagan was barefooted, but I didn't think anything about it. She plays outside barefooted all the time. She was standing on a sun deck that is made of wood with a vinyl gray painted coating. Very very very common here. I was about 15 feet away from her when I heard her start screaming. I could tell by the way she was standing that her feet hurt, so I ran to pick her up. I knew that her feet must be hot, but I had no idea what I was getting ready to see. In the possible 15-20 seconds that passed before I picked her up, Reagan suffered severe second and third degree burns on the bottom of both of her feet and all of her toes. The skin had instantly blistered and started to peel away. She was in horrible pain, and actually went in and out of shock on the way to the hospital. The ER in Langley was fantastic in that we were in the back and with a doctor in less than a minute. The nurses gave Reagan a shot of morphine, and once it had kicked in they bandaged up her feet. We were back at the hospital this afternoon to have the bandages removed, the burns checked and cleaned, and then new bandages were put in place. This will happen every three days for the next little while (we think for the next 12-15 days). The hardest part now is trying to keep her off her feet because she is so active. It's funny watching her crawl around like a little baby again after we had become so accustomed to her running around like a toddler lately. She is such a tough little girl... she is really handling it all very well.

The picture of her feet that I have attached to this post is pretty gross. But I wanted you to see just how much damage could be done is such a very short period of time.I had never heard of this happening to a child before, but I have since found out that it is a common accident. And from all that I have heard, it doesn't have to be anywhere near as hot outside as it was the other day for this to happen. So be careful with your kids at the park, playgrounds, or even at home when they are barefooted! Check surfaces to make sure that they are safe. I certainly will be doing so from now on!

Reagan ended up being in bandages for nearly a month. She has now healed completely, however she still remembers that day and is very sensitive and aware of her feet!

My New Fashion Trend

This Wednesday, I will have a 3 hour bone scan done of my left foot to try to determine what exactly is the problem. (Seriously, I know my size 10 feet are big, but why in the world will it take 3 hours to scan one foot?!?) My initial x-ray came back negative, so the bone scan has been ordered to rule out a Jones Fracture. At this point, I think I am hoping for it to just be tendonitis!

In the meantime, I am using this oh-so-stylish boot to help me get around without looking like a complete gimp.

Do All Men Use This Logic?

The other day, my husband and I got into a real doozy of an argument. The cause... LAUNDRY.

No, he wasn't complaining that I don't do laundry often enough or that I don't put the clothes away properly. He was mad that I even bothered to WASH HIS JEANS.

This is pretty much verbatim for how it all went down...

Ryan: "Hey Tiff, where are my jeans that were laying on the floor beside the bed?"

Me: "I threw them in the wash with the rest of the dirty clothes. They'll be done before we go out tonight."

Ryan: "Why did you wash them? They weren't dirty."

Me: "Well, I assumed since they were crumpled up on the floor and had been that way for two days now that they were dirty. I mean, if they were clean why weren't they hanging up in the closet?"

Ryan: "I can't believe that you just waste money like that!"

Me: slightly confused now "What does money have to do with washing your jeans?"

Ryan: "How do you think the water bill gets paid? With MONEY!"

Me: starting to get more and more annoyed "I know how the bills get paid in this house because I am the one who does our banking. Again, what does that have to do with me washing your jeans?"

Ryan: "I only wore them one time. They weren't dirty. You are wasting water and money by washing them!"

People he was serious. He was really arguing at this point.  And yes, he has more than one pair of jeans!

I just gave up. I walked away shaking my head. I mean, this is the same man who told me not to fire the maid (which I did anyway) because we could afford to pay her to clean our house. Yet we don't have enough money for me to do laundry?! Can someone please explain that logic to me?!

It all boils down the fact that he didn't want to admit that he should have either hung the jeans back up in the closet or put them in the dirty clothes hamper instead of leaving them crumpled up on the floor!

I am assuming that this logic goes hand-in-hand with putting the milk carton back in the refrigerator when there is not even barely half a sip left and putting the cereal box back in the cupboard when there is only two little crumbs left as well!  

FYI... this logic is often confused with laziness in my opinion!  

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

So you may remember from awhile back that I participated in the Spring Fling hosted by Sara at Domestically Challenged. If so, you may also remember that I won the fabulous prize from that little contest. A week later, I also won an awesome prize from Tanya at Miller Racing Family. Both prizes came in the mail last week, and I finally have the picture to post for all the world to see! Thank you, again, to Sara for the super cool t-shirt and to Tanya for the cupcake carrier. You girls ROCK!

While I'm posting about winning, let me also tell you that I have won two more blog awards recently. Both of these awards also come from Tanya... she sure knows how to make a girl feel like royalty!

With this lucky winning streak that I seem to be on, maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket!

THANK YOU

I have to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has given me such great advice over the past week as to how to push through my weight loss plateau. I plan to use bits and pieces of all your advice to finish kicking my butt into shape. If you haven't done so already, you really should read through all of the comments that I received from that post. Especially if you need some nutrition and fitness advice yourself!

You also may want to check out the gals over at Bookieboo... they have given me some terrific tips and encouragement. I definitely plan to add some strength training to my workouts! You should also check out Makeover Momma. She has featured me on her blog today regarding my workouts, and she will do another feature next week to discuss what I am doing wrong with my diet.

Now, as to WHEN I will actually implement any of these new workout ideas... well that remains a mystery right now. I have been having some really sharp pains in my left foot, and it is getting worse instead of better. I had an x-ray done yesterday to check for a fifth metatarsal stress fracture, which is what my doctor thinks is the problem. I should hear from him today regarding the results of the x-ray and then he will decide if he also needs to order a bone scan of my foot. In the meantime, I've been told to use the R.I.C.E. method and to not exercise until we fully know what the problem is.

I'll keep you posted...

By the Numbers

You have probably seen my weight loss ticker in my right sidebar, and if you have been paying it ANY attention lately, you know that it has not moved in almost 3 weeks. I'm stuck, and I am confused! I have been eating less and exercising more, and nothing seems to be changing. Yes, I know, it is not all about the number on the scale. But the number on my tape measure hasn't changed lately either.

I did abandon my diet completely the first weekend of May for my birthday. And I relaxed my rules a bit while my parents were here visiting. But, all in all, I stuck to my guns. There was even one night while they were here that I cooked ribs and mashed potatoes for everyone, but I ate an egg white omelette, strawberries and yogurt!

I'm not trying to become toothpick thin. I would just like to lose about 10 more pounds. And I would like to lose the flab from my arms, belly and thighs. I want to look toned.

So, I'm doing the unthinkable. I'm going to give you ALL of my stats (GASP!) in the hope that someone out there in blog land can tell me what the heck I am doing wrong. I'll take advice from anyone and everyone. But if you or someone you know happens to be a nutritionist or personal trainer, please pass my numbers along to them as well! Maybe one of the gals over at BookieBoo can give me some advice...

Here we go:

I am a 33 year old female. I'm 5'7" tall. I've had one child. I currently (and for the last 3 weeks) weigh 144 pounds. I had gained up to 160, and lost the first 15 pounds very easily. I usually eat between 1200-1500 calories a day or between 18 - 20 Weight Watchers points. On average, I run about 12 miles a week (4 times a week at 2.5 to 4 miles each time).

Here's a breakdown of my past 5 days to put it all into perspective for you:

Sunday - 1360 Calories, 24.8 Fat Grams, 21 WW Points - Ran 4.2 miles outside & did 30 minute cardio DVD
Monday - 1320 Calories, 18.2 Fat Grams, 19 WW Points - No exercise
Tuesday - 1000 Calories, 9.1 Fat Grams, 15 WW Points - Ran 3 miles on treadmill
Wednesday - 1015 Calories, 20.5 Fat Grams, 17 WW Points - Ran 3.5 miles on treadmill
Thursday - 1145 Calories, 12.3 Fat Grams, 16 WW Points - Ran 2.5 miles outside

So there you have it. I'm eating healthy and I'm exercising. I drink at least 72 ounces of water a day (sometimes flavored with Crystal Light) What else can I do? HELP!

While I'm asking for advice, what are your recommendations for workout videos. I've been dying to try the 30 day Shred, but I can't find it in stores anywhere. For all the time I've spent looking in stores, I could have ordered it online and had it delivered twice by now!

Also, I'm not really doing much in the way of strength training right now. Unless you consider the occasional workout of walking a couple of miles with 5 pounds weights in each hand to be strength training. In my mind, I figured I needed to lose the weight before I tried to build the muscle. Is this wrong? And to that end, who can answer the age old debate for me... cardio then strength in a workout, or strength then cardio?

So there you have it folks? Who has all the magic answers for me?!

I HEART ART

I have to tell you that I was extremely excited when I found out about We Heart Art week!

Domestically Challenged, Three Bay B Chicks and I’m Living Proof that God Has a Sense of Humor are hosting a week long blog carnival Art Appreciation Week called “We Heart Art.”

The purpose? To promote art and being creative both with your kids and as individuals.

During this week, all three sites have been featuring posts about how to get your artsy creative juices flowing. AND, today and tomorrow, they are also hosting a carnival (via Mr. Linky) which will allow you to feature your artwork and/or your kid’s creations.

What mother doesn't want the chance to show what a brilliant artist her child(ren) are? This mother for one is jumping on the chance to showcase Reagan's artwork to the world!

You may remember from a post I did a couple of months ago that my Reagan is a very ENTHUSIASTIC artist. I have video proof for you...
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo PrintingHere is her finished product...
Reagan is not just a genius with the paintbrush either. She can work wonders with stickers. See for yourself...I very proudly display all of her artwork at my desk, so that I can enjoy it while I spend many countless hours in blogland I am working.I love them all, but this one is my favorite!Feel free to join in on all of the artwork frenzy! Just visit any of the three fabulous hosts to get all of the details, to enjoy artwork from others, and to see all of the AMAZING prizes that you can possibly win. There is even a category for grown-up artwork as well!

Or Maybe Not

You may recall from a previous post of mine that the gym that I go to is fairly small and is mainly used by folks who are at least a generation older than me. Truth be told, I quite often find myself to be the only person in the place at all! So I was more than a little surprised when I walked in today to see a girl about my age just getting onto one of the treadmills. I chose the treadmill beside her, and I began my run.

Let me tell you something about myself... I have a very strong competitive streak in me. And let's face it, when it comes to running on a treadmill, there really isn't any competition other than with yourself. So I welcomed the chance today for the little healthy competition that was taking place in my head as I watched this girl set up her machine. She was pretty much the same size as me, and I was immediately telling myself that I was going to have no problem out running this chic as she was starting off at a much slower pace than me. She kept at that same pace for about 5 minutes.

Here's a sample of the pep talk I was giving myself in my head. "Push it, Tiff. You can take this girl. She's got nothing on you. She's a slow-paced wimpy thing."

Um. Or maybe not.

It was as if the girl could hear my thoughts, and she decided to show me just what she could do. She cranked the incline to 2.0 and kicked up her pace a full notch and half faster than me.

People, one of the main reasons that I love running on a treadmill is that I can 100% guarantee that my run will have zero hills in it. NONE! Not even the slightest slope or incline. So there was no way that I was going to try to keep up with the display that she was putting on. She continued like this for about 10 minutes, and then she did something I have never seen before. She slowed down her pace to 4.0, but she jacked up the incline to 4.5. And then...

She turned around. SHE. RAN. BACKWARDS. ON THE TREADMILL.

I was ready to pull the emergency stop on my machine and go hide in the locker room. I was utterly humiliated for thinking that I could take this girl. Instead, I told myself that quitters never win, and I kept running. It got worse.

After she ran backwards for about 5 minutes, she slowed down her pace just a little bit. She then started doing this sideways grapevine type running at the same 4.5 incline. She did approximately 3 minutes one way, then she turned and started facing the other side. I was ready to throw in the towel and start bowing down to this chic.

It was at this point that her foot slipped off of the revolving mat part of the treadmill and instead landed on the base. Her foot stopped, but the rest of her body kept moving. INTO A HEAP ON THE FLOOR BESIDE ME!

Me... I held my head a little higher and decided to run an extra half mile. For some reason, I had just found my second stride with a whole new pep in my step!

Serves her right for showing off!

PS. I did ask her if she was alright. She got back on her treadmill and ran like a normal person for the rest of the time!

Happy Birthday Anna

Imagine the excitement that a six year old little girl must feel when she finds out that she has a new baby sister. I can tell you all about that joy, as I was that six year old little girl 27 years ago today.I remember it as vividly as if it was yesterday. It was in the morning, and I was swinging on the swings at Campbell's Kindergarten in Dillon, SC when my Dad drove up in the brown Driver's Ed car from the high school. (Obviously, he was the the Driver's Ed instructor!) As soon as I saw him, I jumped out of the swing and ran to the gate to meet him. He scooped me up, gave me a big hug, and very proudly told me that I had a baby sister! I was so happy... I can't put the feeling into words no matter how hard I try. And I remember being PROUD. I mean, seriously proud - puff my chest out, hold my head high, and announce to anyone who would listen that I had a baby sister proud! As a matter of fact, as soon as I got to my afternoon kindergarten school at East Elementary, (which happened to also be the same school where my mom was a teacher) I ran into the main office and asked the secretary to announce the big news over the PA system! It was as if I was instantly imagining all of the little sister dress up and pretend play that I was going to experience. And as you can tell, I absolutely loved playing hair and make-up with her!Of course, as much as I loved dolling her up, she had more fun being outside getting into trouble. She loved to climb trees to hide from her Poppy, she would cover herself in the mud from low tide at the beach, and she had more bumps and bruises and cuts and scrapes as a young girl than I can count on all my fingers and toes. And she had no problem with fish guts and slime!But you have to admit that she was one cute kid. Even though I dropped her on her head HARD when she was only a few weeks old while we were camping in the mountains. Or maybe I should say I dropped her on her HARD head!Maybe that incident of dropping her on her head can explain why she has always been such a clown...All joking aside, I couldn't love my sister anymore than I do now. Don't get me wrong, we have had plenty of differences throughout the years. And I'm sure we will have many more in the years to come. But I consider that to just be a part of being sisters. I know that my life would not be the same without her. I feel just as lucky now as I did the day she was born.

So, from then...to now...I love you, Anna! You have grown into a beautiful woman, and I miss you every day! Even though the miles may separate us, we still share a closeness that only sisters can. I always know that I can call you when I need a laugh, or when I need to cry. Thank you, for being my sister, but mostly, for being my friend. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2009 Mother of the Year

I can not begin to tell you how honored I am to have received this award! I wanted to post the news conference clip directly onto this page as a video, but couldn't get the feed to work. You can, however, CLICK HERE to be redirected and see the amazing video for yourself! I'm still in shock that President Obama took time out of his busy schedule to commend me on being such a fabulous mother!

All Packed Up & Not Ready To Go

Pops and Momsey are all packed up, but I am not ready for them to go. They have been here for 18 days, and it's just not enough. It never is. We have had such a good time (as I'm sure you have been able to tell from all of my pics and posts) and it is never easy to tell them goodbye when the visits come to an end. And this time, it is going to be even harder than normal when we take them to the airport tomorrow. Normally, at the end of each visit, we go ahead and plan out the "timeline" for when we will see each other again. Since we are still adjusting economically from Ryan's three back surgeries, and since my wedding schedule is extremely busy this summer (Trust me... this is a good thing! I'm not complaining) it doesn't look like we will be able to make a trip down to SC until sometime after the second week of November. So unless we are able to get Pops & Momsey to make another trip this way before then, it looks like we are going to have to suffer through a 6 month stretch without seeing each other. Even though I'm fairly certain that all it would take is a few phone calls from Reagan begging them to come back, I'm actually crying as I type this from the mere thought of having to wait that long.

If you don't hear from me for a few days or weeks, don't worry. I'm sure that I will be fine. But it may take me awhile to come out from my hiding spot under the covers as I wallow in my own misery. Of course, I guess I will have to get out of bed to come downstairs to pour more wine. And to reminisce about our fantastically fun visit as I watch some of the crazy videos we made while Pops & Momsey were here. Here's a couple for you to see just how wild we all can be!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

All Good Things...

Unfortunately, all good things seem to eventually come to an end. My weekend of birthday celebrations continued into the start of this week, but I think that we can officially call it over now! You may remember from a couple of posts down that we had started celebrating on Friday, May 1 even though my birthday wasn't until Monday, May 4th. I'm a smart girl, and I'll make any excuse I can to have more time for pampering and cake!

On Sunday, my mom and I went to the luxurious Spa Utopia in Langley for a day of the ultimate form of pampering... massages! We started our day in the steam room, and then we lazily made our way to the relaxation room for tea and snacks. Our massage therapists found us there, and they took us into our suite for an hour long Swedish full body massage. It was heavenly. Mom and I were both so relaxed by this point that we could hardly manage to get off the tables! From there, we went back to relaxation lounge, and then we finally made our way to see the cosmetologist. After we both received a "fresh new face" of make up, we decided that we should probably rescue Pops and Ryan who had spent most of the morning playing at Chuck E. Cheese with Reagan. I honestly think that I could have stayed at the spa all day, just sitting there in the peaceful, calm, serene and QUIET atmosphere. Needless to say, Pops & Ryan certainly didn't have the same type of experience that morning as Momsey & I had!

The next day, my actual birthday, I was spoiled rotten with a SECOND cake and lots of presents! Ryan was afraid that we were going to have to call the fire department once all of my candles had been lit, but Reagan helped me to blow them all out. She then proceeded to help me eat as much cake as possible!Then it was time for presents because I needed to be spoiled even more than I had already been with a day at the spa and TWO cakes! Reagan did more of the opening of gifts than I did, but it was nice to have such a cute helper. Reagan and Ryan gave me a water belt to wear while I am running. My biggest problem when I am running is that my mouth gets extremely dry, so hopefully this will help me to improve my distance and time. My parents gave me a 16GB flash drive so that I can do some back-ups of my files and photos. They also gave me some US money that will spend even better in Canada than it does in the States. I even got to open gifts from Ryan's parents as they had left a few goodies, a sweater and a shirt, when they had come into town for Reagan's birthday two weeks ago. So, after all of the hard work of getting spoiled, it was time to do some snuggling with my favorite girl! I'm sure there will come a day when she thinks that dressing just like her Mom is super corny, but for now I love the fact that she wanted to be my pajama twin on my birthday. It was like the icing on my cake... both of them!

Not Me Monday!

I am so happy to be creating this Not Me Monday post knowing that MckMama is finally back at home with her entire "Happy Meal" of children, including that sweet baby Stellan! I am sure that after the hellish couple of months she has been through, that she is going to have a whole gaggle of Not Me's to share today. I, on the other hand, only have a few!

Today, May 4 2009, I am NOT turning 33 years old. That's right, today is NOT my birthday. That being the case, I have NOT eaten two birthday cakes this weekend. I also have NOT eaten just about everything else in sight as I gave up on my diet for the weekend!

I do NOT feel older. I also do NOT feel a little like Mary Poppins. I have NOT been singing "Let's Go Fly A Kite" all day since that is exactly how we spent our afternoon yesterday!I am NOT feeling more than just a little bit spoiled by my parents. The past 2 weeks have NOT been amazing in that I don't even have to lift a finger in my own house. This time next week, I will NOT be an absolute basket case as I try to get back to my normal day-to-day routine of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Reagan!

Finally, I am NOT still a little too relaxed and woozy from my day at the spa yesterday with my mom. I'll have another post later today to give you all the fabulous details of our AMAZING day!

Pops the Pilot

Our Christmas present to Pops this last year was flying lessons, and he "cashed-in" his certificate yesterday. At the time that we purchased the lesson, we thought that Pops and an instructor would be the only ones in the plane during the actual flight. We were all very surprised and happy when we arrived at the flight school yesterday and found out that one other person could go up as well. I immediately volunteered for Ryan to go so that the two men could share the experience together. You will have to go to my parent's blog to READ all about Pop's description of the flying adventure... I'm just going to let my pictures tell you the story.

BUCKLE UP BOYS!

SO EXCITED!

RECEIVING THE FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

TAKE OFF


GOING UP! UP! UP!


UP IN THE AIR


PILOT POPS


VIEW OF VANCOUVER HARBOR


DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER


LOOKING OUT OVER LANGLEY


COMING IN FOR THE LANDING


BACK SAFE ON THE GROUND


HE'S A HAPPY MAN!


THE FULL FLIGHT CREW

According to Momsey, the only problem with the flight is that now Pops wants to do it again and again and again and again and again and again....